USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vo. II > Part 50
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Mr. Smith is a stanch Republican in politics. is identified with the ITome Guards and the Spanish War Veterans' Association. besides which he is affiliated with Fostoria Lodge. No. 288. Free and Accepted Masons; Fostoria Lodge, No. 935, Benevolent and
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Protective Order of Elks; and is also a member of the Fostoria Commercial Club. He holds membership in the Presbyterian church. Mr. Smith is a bachelor.
REV. JOHN RIDLEY .- One of the valued clergymen of the United Brethren church, who latterly has given effective service iu the cause in the capacity of an evangelist and who also answers to the calling of an agriculturist. is the Rev. John Ridley, well known and esteemed throughout the state of Ohio. He is a veteran in the field and can look back over forty years' labor for the uplifting of humanity. He was born October 10, 1837, in Franklin county. Ohio, and is the son of Jacob and Mary (Hershey) Ridley, natives of Pennsylvania. The father first began his life as a wage earner in the capacity of a miller, but later took up farming as a life work. He was of the United Brethren faith, a layman, and was a model for his piety and right living and for many years labored zealously for the upbuilding of the church. He came from his native state to Ohio and it was in 1849 that he located in Seneca county, taking np land about three miles east of Tiffin. He subsequently removed across the line into Sandusky county and bought a farm of eighty aeres, where he resided throughout the years which remained to him. This worthy man and dauntless pioneer was born Sep- tember, 1798, and was married in 1821 to Mary Hershey, who passed on to her reward when Rev. Mr. Ridley was but a year and a half old. The father was a Republican in his political convic- tions and took much interest in public matters, always giving his support to those measures likely to result in the greatest good to the greatest number.
The Rev. John Ridley is of the best type of self made man and what education he succeeded in acquiring was largely through his own efforts. Having received his preliminary educational discip- line in the district schools of this township, at an early age he entered the ranks of the wage earners and he was more than twenty-one years of age when he came to the resolve to become the master of a thorough education. This he inaugurated with a course of reading, and every opportunity to broaden his general knowledge and culture was seized with avidity. When he was about thirty years of age he was taken into the conference of the United Brethren church and his services in that ministry have been of an eminent character. He is widely known as an evange- list, his eloquence and convincing oratory making him generally sought at great meetings.
On January 17, 1861, Mr. Ridley took unto himself a helpmeet in the person of Miss Delia A. Brunner. She was born December 26, 1841. a daughter of Jacob and Mary Brunner, natives of Read- ing county. Pennsylvania. After his removal to the Buckeye state he took up land and was employed in its cultivation. He was born December 27, 1794, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. After the declaration of peace he returned to his home in Sandusky county. where he engaged in not only farming but stone quarrying. furnishing the stone. used in the construction of the township
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roadway bridge. His wife was born in 1800 and their marriage took place in the year 1818. Mr. Ridley's wife was the youngest of eleven children. only four of whom are living at the present day.
The marriage of Mr. Ridley and his wife has been blessed by the birth of nine children, including: Arletta M., born February 20, 1862; Martha, born November 24, 1863; Marshall M. L., born November 3. 1866; Jacob W., born October 5. 1869; Edward L., born March 13, 1872: Orlando J., born March 2, 1874 ; and Harry. born April 5, 1883. All of them have attained to useful citizen- ship. Arletta M. became a professional nurse and resides in Buffalo. Martha became the wife of John Biner and makes her home in Fremont ; Marshall took for his wife Ada Hutchins. their union being solemnized April 7. 1894. and they reside on a farm north of Greenspring; Jacob W. married Sarah Sample January 11, 1893, and eight children are growing to manhood and woman- hood beneath their roof tree. Orlando is a citizen of Chicago, where he holds a responsible position in the Pullman works.
Rev. Mr. Ridley has had several charges. all of them in the Buckeye state. He first entered upon his labors at Republic. He was transferred to the Fremont missions, and thence to Sycamore. from there to Rising Sun, and from that place to his present charge at Greenspring, which town has been his headquarters ever since taking up his evangelistie work .. He puts his whole heart into his campaign for righteousness, and the result has been accordingly.
WALTER M. WITHERSPOON .- It has been given Mr. Wither. spoon to attain success and prestige as one of the younger members of the bar of his native state and he is engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Fostoria, where in addition to his private practice he is serving as claim agent for the Nickel Plate Rail- road Company.
Mr. Witherspoon was born at Wellston. Jackson county, Ohio, on the 15th of February, 1880, and is a son of James A. and Sarah E. (Erwin) Witherspoon, both of whom died in that village when the subject of this review was a boy. Walter M. Witherspoon was doubly orphaned when he was but twelve years of age and he had previously availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native town. Afterward his elder brother secured him a position as office boy in the Wellston office of the Chicago. Hamil- ton & Dayton Railroad. He finally learned the art of telegraphy and while employed as a telegraph operator he began the study of law. later continuing his professional studies in the law department of the Northwestern Ohio Normal School, at Ada. He was ad- mitted to the bar of his native state in 1900, in which years he located in Fostoria and where he was employed in the offices of the Nickel Plate Railroad until 1906. in which he has well proved his ability and gained distinctive success. He is a stanch Republi- can in politics, has served as city solicitor of Fostoria and in the . spring of 1910 he was candidate of his party for the office of . prosecuting attorney of Seneca county. Ile is affiliated with Fostoria Lodge, No. 935, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks ; Fostoria Lodge, No. 86, Knights of Pythias; Knights of the
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Maccabees ; Junior Order of the United American Mechanics: and is also a member of the Railroad Telegraphers' Association. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Witherspoon married Miss Verina Friesner, who was born and reared in Fostoria, and who graduated from its high school. Mr. and Mrs. Witherspoon have one child. Mildred, who was born on the 15th of July, 1904.
CHARLES WILLARD SKEGGS, M. D .. senior medical and surgical practitioner of Greenspring, Seneca county. Ohio, was born in Mansfield, Richland county. Ohio, in 1854, a son of Captain John L. Skeggs, an early settler there, later a prominent architect and bnilder and a veteran of the Civil war. in which he served as captain of Company A, in MeLaughlin's famous cavalry squadron. Captain Skeggs was born in 1817. married Angeline Schnurr in 1838 and died in 1889. She was born in 1819 and died in 1873.
Dr. Skeggs began the practice of his profession in Lucas county, Ohio. In 1877 he married Miss Emma Isabella Tucker. a teacher in the Lucas village schools. They have had three chil- dren, as follows: Angie Isabel, born July 5, 1880, died August 12. 1880. Florence Jane was born October 21, 1881. She became a teacher in the Greenspring schools. On October 28, 1893. she married Hamilton B. Ward. and she lives in Bucyrus, Ohio. Leonard, born April 30. 1890, now at Miami University. Oxford. Ohio, is a student and a teacher. Mrs. Emma Isabella (Tucker) Skeggs is a danghter of Aurelius Tucker, who is best remembered as a successful educator. In his younger years he was a farmer and stockraiser, and in his last years he was employed in that way. He married Miss Isabella Alexander in 1849. She was a daughter of Peter Alexander, a descendant of Judge Alexander of Behnont connty. Ohio. and his wife, Jane (Mitchell) Alexander. of that county. Judge Alexander and his wife were of Scotch descent and in their lives conformed to the views of the Covenanters.
Aurelius Tucker was born in 1828 and died in 1897. Isabella (Alexander) Tucker was born in 1826 and died in 1894. He was a son of John Tucker, who was born in Henniker. New Hampshire. in 1792, and moved to Richland county, Ohio. in 1818. In 1821 he went back to New Hampshire and married Miss Mary Ward. and they made their wedding journey to their home in Monroe town-
ship, Richland county, Ohio, in a one-horse wagon.
Ile was a
farmer and a teacher. In all he taught sixty terms of school. His thorough work and his success gave him wide celebrity. In his day the granting of certificates to teach in the public schools was a function of the court. and it is on record that he triumphantly passed every examination to which he submitted himself. was also a skillful surveyor, and was much in demand for work of that kind. Ezra Tucker, father of John Tucker, married Eliza- beth Lucas in 1777 and settled in the townsite of Henniker, New Hampshire. He was a soldier in the French and Indian war. and when the Revolutionary war began he espoused the cause of the colonists and took arms in their defense, becoming a second lieu- tenant in Captain Emory's company of Colonel Baldwin's regi-
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ment. He served in different commands during the continuance of the struggle and was in many historic engagements, notably in that at White Plains, New York, October 28, 1776, where he was on dangerous duty. He died October 26, 1804; his wife, Elizabeth (Lucas) Tucker, died October 22, 1801. Their son, John Tucker, previously referred to, was born in 1792 and died in 1879. The latter's wife, Mary (Ward) Tucker, was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, in 1800, and died in Kosciusco county, Indiana, in 1876. The line of ancestry of Mary Ward is as follows: Jesse Ward, her father, was born in 1762 and died in 1809. He married Susannah Booth in 1790. Josiah Ward, born in 1741, died in 1797. He married Sarah Goodale (or Goodell) at Marlboro, Massachusetts, in 1761 and moved to Henniker, New Hampshire, in 1764. There he at once became a man of importance. In the year of his ar- rival he helped to organize the first church at that place. He helped, too, in the laving out of the town, and in March, 1774, he was commissioned captain of the Eightieth Company, Fifteenth Regiment, New Hampshire Militia. Phinneas Ward, born in 1705, died in 1756. He married in Marlboro, Massachusetts, and his wife Mary bore him six children. Joseph Ward, born in 1670, died in 1717. He married Abiah Wheelock at Marlboro, Massa-
chusetts, in 1700. Samuel Ward, born in 1644, married Sarah Howe in 1667 and died in 1729. William Ward, born in 1607, died in 1687, four-score years old. He was one of the Yorkshire Wards who settled in other English counties. From Durham, England, he came to Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1639. The arms of his family are given thus: "Azure-a cross baton or crest, wolf's head erased." He married in 1625 and his wife, Eliza- beth, bore him fourteen children, of whom Samuel Ward was eighth in order of nativity.
JOHN H. BENNEHOFF, who for years has figured as one of the leading citizens of Tiffin, Ohio, was born in Adams township, Seneca county, this state, a son of Solomon and Ann (Rader) Bennehoff, natives of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. About 1837 Solomon Bennehoff left his home in the Keystone state and made the journey to Seneca county, Ohio, on horseback. At that time he bargained for forty acres of land in Adams township, and in 1840 he moved his family to this place, cleared away a' patch in the forest and erected a log cabin, and here in primitive style he pio- neered. He was a wagon-maker by trade, and mnade many wagons for the early settlers of this vicinity. After the death of his wife, which occurred in Adams township, he moved to Scipio township, where he died. Of their eight children, only one -- John H .- is now living.
Up to the time he was eighteen John II. Bennehoff worked on the farm and attended the public school near his home. Then, having acquired sufficient knowledge to teach, he entered the rank of rural schoolteachers, and thus paved the way to a higher educa- tion. From his early boyhood he was studious and energetic. worked and earned his own school books, and after teaching a brief time he further pursued his studies and subsequently entered
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Heidelberg College, where he took a course, making a speciaity of mathematics, in which he excelled. For twelve years he was eu gaged in teaching. and while yet a teacher was induced to become a candidate for the office of county recorder. and was duly elected. A good penman and mathematician, he was well qualified for the position and filled it in such a manner that in 1881, and again in 1884 he was re-elected to the office. each time by a flattering majority and in all served six years as county recorder. While thus oreu- pied he not only became acquainted with every land-owner in the county, but also with the location of every tract of land, and at the close of his term of office he was perhaps better fitted to engage in the abstract business than any other man in Seneca county. In September, 1886, he copyrighted his work on abstracts, known as "Abstractor's Aid and Digest to Records of Real Estate." And since his retirement from office he has been engaged in the abstrar! business. Both in the management of his own affairs and then entrusted to him. Mr. Bennehoff has shown superior ability as a financier. In addition to his interests here he has real estate holdings in New Mexico.
It was at the hands of the Democratic party that Mr. Benne- hoff was shown official preferment as above stated. and from time to time he has been the recipient of other honors, in recognition of his long and ardent party service. He has served as a member of the City Council and at present is clerk of the Board of Education. being still a member of the latter, and he was chairman of the Finance Committee while a member of the City Council. While the incumbent of the Recorder's office. Mr. Bennehoff was secretary and vice president of the Recorders' Association of Ohio. He he- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Encampment and Militant-Canton. in all of which he has filled all the chairs. R .. ligiously both he and his wife are identified with the First Re- formed church of Tiffin.
Mrs. Bennehoff. formerly Miss Ida A. Hensinger. is a native of Adams township and a daughter of John and Catharine Hen- singer. She and Mr. Bennehoff are the parents of two sons living : Vinton A. and Olton R., the former a graduate of the Tiffin High School and also of the class of 1910 at Heidelberg College. At present he is a law student at the University of Michigan at Anu Arbor.
CHARLES A. HENRY, a native of Jackson township, Seneca county, Ohio. is a son of Daniel R. and Anna (Simmons) Henry. Daniel R. Henry, of Massachusetts birth and a millwright by trade. came early to Seneca county, locating on a farm in Big Spring township. Anna Simmons. of German nativity, came to America with her parents when she was about four years old. The family settled on a farm in Big Spring township, where she lived until her marriage. Soon after their wedding Daniel R. and Anna (Simmons) Henry made a home for themselves in Jackson town- ship, where children named as follows were born to them : Lucinda F., who is Mrs. George Sylvester; Isabelle, who became the wife of
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Henry Kissebeth ; Matilda, who is the widow of A. K. Ruse ; George W .. who lives at Fostoria ; Charles A., who is the immediate subject of this notice. Mr. Henry died in Jackson township and Mrs. Henry at Kansas, Ohio.
Charles A. Henry was taken by his parents to London town- ship when he was about six years old. There he was reared to farm work and was a student in district schools until, in his seven- teenth vear, he went to Fostoria to become a clerk in a store. Later he was for fifteen years a stockfarmer in the employ of Governor Foster. of Ohio. In 1904 he identified himself with a business enterprise at Kansas and in 1907 became cashier of a branch of the Mechanics Banking Company now the Union National Bank of Fostoria. Ile gives considerable attention to real estate trans- actions and has been from time to time more or less intimately concerned in various enterprises of importance.
Mr. Henry married Miss Delilah H. Fox, a native of Seneca county. Their niece, Mamie Hall, is a member of their household. Politically Mr. Henry is a Republican. . Socially he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Follows and with the order of Gleaners.
NORMAN D. EGBERT .- Farming, the oldest of the industries. has in recent years presented one of the richest fields of scientific investigation, and one of those progressive young Ohioans who represent the cause and who have not only lent their assistance to these experimental endeavors but who have also profited by them very materially in the cultivation of their own land, bringing their acres to the highest possible point of productiveness and managing so cleverly that the resources of the soil were never depleted. but constantly renewed, is Norman D. Egbert, who owns and operates a farm in Pleasant township.
Norman D. Egbert was born May 16. 1872. in Clinton township, and is the son of Norman D. and Susan C. (Holtz) Egbert, the former a native of Ohio. The grandparents were Jeremiah and Lucy (Rule) Egbert. the former having come here when quite young with Uriah and Susannah (Williams) Egbert, natives of New Jersey, who had made their home upon the Susquehanna river. Their identification with this part of Ohio preceded the organization of the county and the land which they entered was the fourth section in Pleasant township upon which Mr. Egbert still resides. the land being redeemed from its rawness by hard work and determination. Uriah Egbert was a God-fearing man and a Methodist of the old type, who believed in promulgating Christianity by strenuous methods if necessary. It was he who donated land for a church and cemetery, and he contributed large- ly to the meeting of the expenses of the erection of the former. IIe was a publie spirited man and he was equally active in assisting the kindred cause of good education. He died as he lived, a stanch Christian and member of the Methodist Episcopal faith.
His son Jeremiah, grandfather of the subject. was a successful man and at one time was the owner of a half section. He followed in the paternal footsteps in the matter of religious conviction. and
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he voted the Republican ticket, whereas his father had been a Whig. Uriah became the father of nine children: Susan, who married a Mr. Strickland ; Nancy; Cromer ; Pricilla, who married a Mr. Carl ; Jeremiah ; Thomas; Jackson ; Jessie and John. The children of Jeremiah were six in number. as follows: Norman D .. Newton A., John, Elizabeth. Isaac and Lillian. Norman and Newton both served their country at the time of the Civil war. The former enlisted twice. first in the one hundred day service as a member of the One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry. subse- quently becoming first lieutenant of the One Hundred and Sixty- fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Newton was also a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth.
Shortly after the termination of the war. either in the year 1866 or 1867. Norman D., father of the subject. married. and after residing for about a year with his wife's parents. secured the land upon which he now resides. The wife was Susan C. Holtz and she and her husband became the parents of four children. all of whom have achieved prominence and esteem. The eldest, William. married Mary Von Blom. and they reside upon a farm situated near Greenspring. He had the advantage of a thorough education. having attended Heidelberg College at Tiffin, the Ohio State Uni- versity at Columbus, and Lebanon College in Warren county. They are the parents of two children. The second son, Knott C .. is in Oregon, where he has a position in the government school. He attended Heidelberg College and the Ohio State University and took post-graduate work at Cornell. He married Eliza Shannon. Frances, now the wife of T. C. Crable, was educated at Heidelberg College.
Mr. Egbert was the third in order of birth of the children of the family. He resided under the home roof until he became seventeen years of age, receiving his education in the public schools and then going to Wisconsin, where he worked for a num- ber of years. He returned to Ohio in 1894. After his marriage in 1901 he located on the old homestead of his grandfather and took up the work of general farming. As previously suggested he is very modern in his methods. He has devoted a good deal of attention to the raising of alfalfa and has several aeres in cultiva- tion, which average five tons to the acre. For the past four or five years he has taken great interest in the state experiment sta- tion, and according to its principles has raised corn, alfalfa, pota- toes and soy beans, with gratifying result to himself as well as to the station. At the time of the World's Fair in Chicago in 18933 Mr. Egbert spent the summer in that city, representing the Ever- green Nursery Company of Sturgeon Bay. Wisconsin, at that expo- sition. He is the exponent of progressiveness in every line and is esteemed in the community in which he and his forbears have for so many years made their home.
Mr. Egbert was married February 12. 1901, to Ida V. Loose. daughter of John and Julia (Busy) Loose. of Lancaster county. Mrs. Egbert was born February 14. 1879. The subject and his wife have three children: Margery, born January 2. 1903: Cath- erine, born July 17, 1905; and Norman D., born July 13, 1908.
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GEORGE W. EARHART, one of the most popular and well known citizens of Greenspring. has been engaged in the bakery business for forty years, twenty-eight of which he has spent in the town in which he now makes his residence. HIe has several claims to dis- tinetion, being an adept in his trade; a valiant veteran of the Civil war; a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, and the good friend of the cause of education. Mr. Earhart was born April 15. 1845, in Fairfield county, and is the son of George and Eliza- beth (Hill) Earhart, natives of Maryland. who came to Ohio some- where about the year 1820 and settled in Fairfield county. The father was a miller by trade and his political sympathies lay with the Democratic party. The balance of his life was spent in the Buckeye state.
George W. Earhart received his education in the schools of Lancaster, Fairfield county. and after leaving his desk in the school room he served an apprenticeship in the baker's trade. His career in this useful business. as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. has been of forty years duration, and during twenty-eight of them Greenspring has been fortunate enough to be the scene of his activi- ties. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Ninety-eighth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry. He has given faithful and efficient service in the office of township treasurer, which he held for two terms and he has been a member of the school board for six years. during half of which he held the office of president of that body. He is an enthusi- astic lodge man, belonging to the Knights of Pythias, in which order he has filled all the chairs. His comrades have honored him by mak- ing him post commander of Potter Post No. 105. He has the record of being the first Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias in Green spring. He has been treasurer of the lodge and was several times chosen as delegate to the Grand Lodge. He is Presbyterian in religious faith and is one of the valuable workers in the church.
Mr. Earhart was married shortly after the conclusion of the Civil war, to Mary Hill. their union occuring in September. 1865. She was born December 20, 1843. and is the daughter of Martin H. and Lucinda Hill. A native of Lancaster. Ohio, she was educated in that town. Mr. and Mrs. Earhart have children as follows: Talema, born September 1, 1866; Lucinda M., born May 12, 1872; Martin D., born June 16, 1874; George F., born August 21, 1884. The sons have inherited their father's patriotism and have given laudable service to their country. Martin D. served in the Sixth Artillary. of the United States Army. during the Spanish-American war. He subsequently contracted malaria while stationed at Fort Hancock, New Jersey, and was sent on a ten days' furlough after which he was honorably discharged by order of the secretary of war. the papers referring to his service designating it as "excellent." He took up the occupation of clerk and baker with his father upon his return to civilian life and later branched out independently in the building owned by Robert Smith on the old Smith homestead, the Mr. Smith in question hav- ing been one of the principal builders of Greenspring. In polities he is an Independent Republican.
Martin D. Earhart laid the foundation of a household by his
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marriage on February 16, 1899, to Lulu Billman, daughter of John and Anna (Hoffman) Billman, and a family of seven children are growing up beneath their roof. They are as follows: Bea- trice, born October 3. 1899; Emerson, March 9. 1901; Loyal. April 18, 1902; Nora, January 11, 1904; Elizabeth, March 21. 1906: Mar- tin, January 20. 1908: and Mary N .. June 6, 1909. The younger Mr. Earhart was born in Toledo Ohio. and there spent the first two years of his life, the residue, with the exception of his service in Battery M., Sixth Regiment of Artillery, having been passed in Greenspring. ;
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