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 7
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Mr. Schaaf has but recently joined the ranks of the benedicts, his union with Lillie M. Cook having been solemnized March 16, 1910. She was also born in Seneca county. and her parents. Harman and Mahala Cook, are both deceased. Mr. Schaaf is
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very faithful in his allegiance to the men and measures of the Republican party. and he is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church.
ALBERT F. BLACK .- A man of sterling integrity and wort !. energetic and enterprising. Albert F. Black, residing at 119 West Market street. Tiffin, holds a substantial position among the active and valued citizens of the place. A son of Jacob Black. Jr., he was born September 28, 1862, in Wyandot county. Ohio. His grandparents. Jacob Sr .. and Sarah Black. came from Maryland. their native state, to Clinton township. Seneca county. Ohio. in pioneer days and on the homestead they reclaimed from its primi- tive wildness spent the remainder of their lives.
Jacob Black Jr .. was born May 3. 1828. in Clinton township. Seneca county. and was there reared to manhood. Soon after beginning life for himself he located in Wyandot county. and was there engaged in tilling the soil for many years. Returning to Seneca county in 1867, he bought a farm near Adrian and there followed his chosen occupation until near his death, in October. 1896. He married. November 11, 1852, Elizabeth Miley, who was born March 8. 1833, in Seneca county. Ohio. where her parents. John and Magdalena (Beaver) Miley. located in 1828. coming to this state from Virginia. their native home.
She preceded him to the life beyond. passing away June 19. 1895. Four children blessed their union. as follows: John H., born September 1. 1853. a retired farmer now living at Carey. Ohio: Emma, deceased. wife of Frank Johnson. of Adrian; a child who died in infancy: and Albert F. The father was a successful farmer. owning two well- improved farms of fertile land which he brought to a good state of cultivation. The mother was a member of the United Brethren church and both were held in high estimation throughout the com- munity in which they lived.
Acquiring a substantial knowledge of the common branches of learning in the Adrian special schools. Albert F. Black received a practical training in agriculture under the supervision of his father. with whom he remained until twenty-six years of age. Soon after his marriage he located in Tiffin, where he has since resided. He owns an extensive tract of fine farming land in Big Spring township and personally superintends its management. The farm is highly improved and is devoted to general farming and stock raising. He has other interests of value and is a director and a stockholder in the Citizens' Building Association of Tiffin.
On February 28. 1889. Mr. Black was united in marriage with Electa. M. Walton, who was born in Seneca county, Ohio. July 28. 1866. and was educated in the district schools and at the Fostoria and Greenspring Academies. Her father. Levi Walton. an ex- tensive live stock dealer and farmer, was born January 25. 1833. and died January 23. 1878. while his wife, whose maiden name was Huldah Wood, was born May 2. 1836. and died February 19. 1895. Besides Mrs. Black they had two other children. Edith Emma. who died at the age of thirteen months. and a son who died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Black are the parents of one son, Forrest R.
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Black, born November 3. 1894, who is a student in the Tiffin high school, a member of the class of 1912. Besides the land interests of Mr. Black, his wife is also an extensive land holder. and both of them can ever be counted upon to give their support to all causes likely to prove of benefit to the whole community. The family attend the First Presbyterian church of Tiffin.
MICHAEL L. SCANNELL .- A resident of Tiffin since 1863, Mich- ael L. Scannell. a man of unquestioned executive and business abil- ity, has gained a foremost position among the worthy and respected citizens of this part of Seneca county. Coming here when the city was in its infancy, he has watched with pride and gratification its rapid growth and continually increasing prosperity. and has been conspicuously identified with its best interests, generously using his time and influence to promote the public welfare.
As president and treasurer of the Tiffin Water Works, he has been eminently successful in furnishing the people with an ample supply of pure water for domestic use and a sufficient quantity for protection from fire. Under his efficient superintendency the city water works. established in 1879, have met all the requirements demanded by an up-to-date city. modern improvements being added whenever required. Under the management of Mr. Scannell a direct pumping system has been installed. the pumping station be- ing situated up the Sandusky river, south of Tiffin, and as adequate provisions are made for all emergencies a shortage of water has never been known and is not anticipated. the pumping capacity being eight million gallons of water a day.
The office of the Tiffin Water Works is located at the corner of East Market and Monroe streets. and is under the supervision of Mr. Scannell, who has an efficient and obliging corps of assistants. who vie with him in attending to the needs of the patrons of the department. Mr. Scannell holds a noteworthy position in social and business circles, being in every respect a man of honor and a perfect gentleman.
WILLIAM HART TABER .- For a quarter of a century W. H. Taber has lived upon and operated his valuable and attractive farm in Reed township and has proved an effective factor in the attain- ment of that high degree of prosperity and enlightenment which Seneca county enjoys. He is entitled to honor not only as a good citizen, but also as a veteran of the Civil war. and his family. of which he has record for many generations. is one of the oldest in the land. his maternal ancestors. the Alvords, having set foot on American soil only a few years after the Pilgrims.
Mr. Taber is a native son of the county. his birth having oc- curred in Venice township. October 13, 1845. His father. Record Taber, and his mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Alvord, were born in Cayuga county. New York. They emigrated to Ohio in the year 1842 and located in Venice township. where the father soon won recognition as a worthy citizen. He was a hard working man and one of modest means, but he assisted in every way he could to advance the schools and the churches, contributing
Esther Tilorane Van Voorhees Millan Van Voorhees
1
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liberally from his small store. He was first a Whig in political faith, and upon the organization of the Republican party became identified with it.
Mr. Taber received his education in the Seneca county schools and although he was scarcely seventeen years of age at the breaking out of the Civil war, he joined the one hundred day service. Ile was a member of Company G, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio, and was under Colonel John C. Lee, who was later elected lieuten- ant governor of Ohio. He has by no means lost interest in the com- rades of other days, and his remembered experiences of the days of the conflict between the states are interesting. Although Mr. Taber is a successful farmer, his interests are not limited to his vocation and he finds time for the cultivation of the more aesthetic side of life. He has a good collection of books and is a great reader and he enjoys taking his violin and playing the old tunes. He is a stanch adherent of the policies and principles of the Repub- lican party and he has several times served as trustee and justice of the peace. Although a good soldier in other days he has never been a recruit to the ranks of the Benedicts. He resided with his parents for many years, taking care of them until their demise, that of the father occurring February 27, 1876, and that of the mother on July 4, 1893.
As previously mentioned Mr. Taber can trace his ancestry on the maternal side through many generations, or from 1632 to the present day. In tracing it back through the years the name Alvord is found to be spelled in many different ways, such as Alvorwrd, etc. In the genealogical record an interesting incident having to do with the then current belief in witchcraft is related. One of the Alvords was collecting taxes in his locality in the state of Massachusetts and he called upon one Barnard Bartlet, whose wife protested against paving them. Finally convinced of the impossi- bility of avoiding payment the Bartlet woman declared that al- though Alvord might get the money his wife would be sorry. Upon returning home Alvord found his wife insane and she subsequently committed suicide by drowning. It was held that Mrs. Bartlet had bewitched Mrs. Alvord. The first Alvord in America was Alex, who came from London, England. in 1632 and located in Salem, Massachusetts.
DAVID J. AUBLE .- Among the prominent citizens of Reed town- ship, Seneca county, David J. Auble has given efficient service in various offices of public trust and he is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits on his fine farm of eighty acres, one mile distant from West Lodi, where he has resided since 1863. He was born at West Lodi. Seneca county, Ohio, on the 8th of August. 1863. His father. Peter Auble, was born in the state of New York and he emigrated to Seneca county, Ohio, about the year 1837. His parents homesteaded in Thompson township and he received his education in the district schools and in the Seneca County Academy at Republie. Leaving the academy at about twenty he returned to his father's farm and at the time of the inception of the Civil war he served in the Union army for a period of ninety days. There-
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after he was constable of Reed township, and he now resides in the village of Republie. £ Ile married Miss Lyda Stout, who was born in Sandusky, Ohio, of parents who were originally from Pennsyl- vania. The children born to this union were: Clara, who married Charles Unser, resides in Green Springs, this county; Emory, is deceased; Harley, resides in Reed township; Myrtle is deceased ; and David J., is the immediate subject of this review.
David J. Auble was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, in whose work he assisted during the summers, attending the district schools during the winter terms. Besides diversified agriculture he is deeply interested in the raising of high grade stock, including Poland China swine. He is treasurer and was one of the promoters of the West Lodi Creamery Association, which is capitalized at $5.700. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the cause of the Democratic party and he has served as constable of Reed township for a period of twelve years. For two years he was personal property assessor and he has also served two terms as township trustee. In the fall of 1910 he was elected county infir- mary director by a majority of one thousand six hundred and ninty- one votes. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has passed the various official chairs in the same. . He attends and gives his suppart to the German Reformed church, in which his wife is a devout member, and he is essentially progres- sive and public spirited in his civic attitude, giving his aid in support of all worthy measures projected for the good of the general public.
On the 24th of December, 1884, Mr. Auble was united in mar- riage to Miss Kate Hensinger, who was born in Adams township. this county, and whose parents were natives of Pennsylvania. Her father is deceased and her mother is now residing at Tiffin. Ohio. at the venerable age of seventy years. Mr. and Mrs. Auble are the parents of the following children : Maudie Elora, Perry Blane. John Harley, Mabel Elmira and Noble D., the latter of whom is the wife of Andy Powers and resides in Scipio township.
MILTON VAN VOORHEES-The history of the Van Voorhees family of which the immediate subject of this article is a member is interesting. The following details of Elijah Van Voorhees and his family may be depended upon as of authority. They are drawn from the "Genealogy of the Van Voorhees family in America" by the late Elias W. Van Voorhees, of New York. Van Voorhees is the anglicised surname form of the Hollandie words "van voor Hees," meaning from before, or in front of, the town of ITees. The earliest ascertained ancestor of the American family was Albert Van Voor Hees, whose name signified one Albert who lived near Hees. Few Dutch colonists of America came to this side of the Atlantic with surnames of established usage after the English fashion, and when, in conformity with English custom. they began to adopt fixed family names they usually took parental or other Christian names or names of localities in Holland. The town of Hees, the native place of this family, is a small community in the province of Drentha. Albert Van Voorhees, first of the
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name, had nine children, the eldest of whom was Coert Albert Van Voorhees who lived in Holland. Of his seven children the eldest, Steven Coerte Van Voorhees, was born in or near Hees, province of Drentha, Holland, April, 1660. He came to America with his wife and eight children, on the ship Borelekre (Spotted Cone), and settled on Long Island. He bought from Cornelius Direksen Hoogland, November 29, 1660, for three thousand guelders, certain landed property, a house and house plot and a brewery and apparatus in what is now Flatlands. In 1664 he was one of the magistrates of that place and his name appears under date 1667 on a patent, and under dates 1675 and 1683 on assess- ment rolls. He and his second wife were members of the Dutch Reformed church of Flatlands in 1667. Steven Coerte Van Voor- hees' will is dated August 25, 1677, and he died in Flatlands, Feb-
ruary 16, 1684. His first wife's name is lost. She bore hini
five sons and five daughters, all in Holland. The two of them
who did not come to America with him came later. All of them married, creating numerous lines of descent from him in the Van Voorhees and other families. His third child, Coerte Steven Van Voorhees of Flatlands, Long Island, born 1637, died after 1702. He married before 1664 Gersstre Van Voorhees and had nine chil- dren, the seventh of whom was Cornelius Coerte, born January 23, 1678, who was an ensign of militia in 1700 and who bought a farm in Flatlands May 14, 1702. He had five children. Coerte was
He signed born in 1698 and his will was filed February 11, 1775. his name "Koert Voorhees." He had six children, of whom the fifth born was Coerte, August 21, 1735, and who died September 11, 1817. He married first Ealy Van Pelt, then Helen Hoogland, and lived at Dutch Neck, Mercer county, New Jersey. He had eight children, the eldest of whom was Coerte, born February 28, 1756, who died March 9, 1821. He married, May 27, 1779, Ann Updike, born March 27, 1760, who died July 13, 1845. They had nine children, Catherine, William, Cornelius, Ann, Elizabeth, Mary, John, Major and Elijah. Major was born May 12, 1796, and died December 16, 1880. He married, January 6, 1820, Athalia Cub- berly, born August 7, 1799, and had no children. Catherine mar- ried William H. Conover, February 20, 1801, and had seven chil- dren : Mary A., Phoebe, Elijah, Voorhees, Caroline, William and Cornelius. She settled in New Jersey.
Elijah, born in New Jersey, June 5, 1802, married Jane Rozelle December 21, 1825, and in 1835 they moved to New York and in 1836 to Sandusky county, Ohio, traveling by canal to Buffalo, thence by lake to Port Huron, Michigan, where they got ox teams with which to continue their journey to Fremont, then a mere village. Until they could build a log cabin for their occupancy they lived with Mr. Van Voorhees' brother-in-law, Charles Rozelle, south of Fremont. Their first domicile was windowless, doorless, floorless and otherwise primitive. The family consisted then of the father, mother and four children. Mr. Van Voorhees cleared five acres and sowed some of it to wheat. He cut his wheat with a cradle and threshed with a flail.
Mr. Van Voorhees' original place is now a part of the old Van
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY
Voorhees homestead, owned by Oliver, son of Elisha Van Voorhees, and occupied by the latter's son George. His surroundings were
truly primitive. Ilis white neighbors were few and far between, Indians often crossed his land going to and coming from Upper Sandusky and the woods were full of game, the streams alive with fishes. Mr. Van Voorhees died February 11, 1863, his wife, June
24 following. They had ten children. Ann was born May 18. 1827; Alexander, July 24. 1828, died August 2 of that year; Mary E., October 5, 1829; John M., February 29, 1833; William II., Feb- ruary 16, 1834; Andrew. July 19, 1836; George, March 28, 1839, died December 8, that year; Amanda Jane, October 23, 1840; Oliver D., July 12, 1842; Ezra E., September 2, 1846. Ann mar-
ried Amos Mull and had six children, of whom the following ac- count can be given: Cordelia is the wife of Thomas Jackson. of Sandusky county, Ohio; Enos, married Irene Sager, of Michigan ; Edwin, married Mary Sachs, of the state of Washington; William, married and is living in Colorado; Vienna, is the wife of Brough Maul, postmaster at Greenspring. Ohio; Sylvester, is living in Orleans, Nebraska, with his mother; Amos Mull, died there, having gone there from Ohio some years ago; Mary E .. married Samuel Mull, of Sandusky county, Ohio, and had six children; Ermina Jane, is the wife of J. K. Huttle, of Spartansburg, South Carolina : Ellen, became Mrs. Pitman and died in 1897; Henry P., born April 25, 1855, died June 12, 1889; Olive (Mull) Fisher, born September 26, 1857, died May 26, 1900; Alice, married William Forshay, of Detroit, Michigan. The Rev. Charles V. Mull is a minister of the United Brethren church at South Bend. Indiana. Mary E. (Voorhees) Mull died December 27. 1888; Samuel Mull died at Ligonier, Indiana, April 26, 1896. John M. Voorhees married
Sarah J. Winters and they had children : Major Jerome, married Ann Havens and is living in Sandusky county, Ohio; Amanda, is the wife of J. H. Michaels, of Kansas, Ohio. William H. Voorhees
married Catharine Mowery and they had two children : Milton. the immediate subject of this article. and Milo, now of Scottsville. Michigan, who married Lena Gamertsfelter. William's first wife died and he married Rebecca Stoner. who bore him two children : Elijah Van Voorhees, of Bettsville, Ohio, married to Lorena Kenan. and Anna, who married Charles Baker, of Bettsville. William died
February 8, 1894. Andrew Van Vorhees married Mary Mowery.
Their only child, Frank Van Voorhees of Gibsonburg, Ohio, married Orpha Fry. Mary (Mowery) Van Voorhees died February 9. 1859, and Andrew married Margaret Jackson and they had three daughters : Clara, wife of R. H. Chapman ; Florence, wife of James Wichert; and Nina, wife of Chester Edgerton. Margaret (Jack- son) Van Voorhees died and Andrew married Fannie Hailey, who survives him, he having died March 24, 1896. Amanda Jane Van Voorhees married Jeremiah Winters and bore him three children : Arilda Jane, wife of Frank Havens of Sandusky county, Ohio ; Chauncey, who married Sarah Myers; and Herman, who married . Stella Hughes, of Fremont, Ohio. Anna died February 6. 1905. Oliver D. Van Voorhees married Lucina Schock. of Betts- ville. Their only child, Mary Jane, married Frank Brokaw, of
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Eagle, Michigan. Lucina died and he married Sophia B. Stahls, of Fremont, Ohio, who has bore him children: Verna B., wife of Russell Shannon, of Tiffin ; Benjamin W., of Bettsville; Irena (Mrs. Heiser) of Tiffin; George II., who married Dora Dundore ; Fred O., who married Dora Soloman; Karl S., who married Lulu Kenan ; Sherman O., of Rye Valley, Oregon. Ezra E. Van Voorhees mar- ried Katharine Stiger, and they had six children : Jennie, wife of Mark Day, of Bettsville; Ella, wife of A. A. Rider, of Bettsville; Carrie, wife of George Shearer. of Fremont; Edith, wife of Welby Stahl, of Bloomville, Ohio; Minnie, wife of William Mitchell, of Burgoon, Sandusky county, Ohio ; Hazel, wife of Robert Emmons. of Bettsville.
There is still another generation of the descendants of Elijah Van Voorhees' branch of the Van Voorhees family. The grand- children of Ann (Voorhees) Mull are Inez (Jackson) Brubaker. Charles Maule. Zella Maule, Howard Maule, Harry Maule, Fay Mabel, Orville Mull, Grace Mull. Florence Russell, Bert Mull. The grandchildren of Mary Van Voorhees Mull are Frank, Alice, Olive. Edward, Jane and Charles Hottell. Mand Pitman, Charles Forshay. Dot Forshay, Irma (Forshay) McLane, Margaret Mull. The
grandchildren of John M. Van Voorhees are John M. Van Voorhees, Jr., Guest Michael Ash. The grandchildren of Andrew Van Voor- hees are Harry Chapman, Russell Wichert, Ada Wichert, Raymond Milchler. The grandchildren of William H. Van Voorhees are Edna Esther (Van Voorhees) Hull, Leon Milton Van Voorhees, Florence, Mildred and Helen Van Voorhees, Clarence Baker. Sylvester, Clara, Orpha, Jennie, Murtie, Fannie, Howard. Elma and John Van Voorhees. The grandchildren of Amanda Jane ( Van Voorhees) Winters are Flavel Havens, Robert. Esther ( Havens) Smith, Oliver Winters. Ed Winters, Ada Winters and Clarence Winters, Ray Havens and Willis Havens. The grandchildren of Oliver D. Van Voorhees are Voorhees Russell. Nathan Vaughan. Phyllis Van Voorhees. Oliver. Winnie and Mark Brokaw. The grandchildren of Ezra E. (Enos) Van Vorhees are Carrol, Enos and Don Stahl, Grace and Olive Day, Merle and Blake Rider. (adopted). Thelma Rider. Garnit Shearer, Ray and Doratha Mitchell. Still another generation has taken its place-great-great-grandchildren of Elijah Van Voorhees: Esther Cecilia Hull and Thelma Marie Baker, great-grandchildren of William H. Van Voorhees; Carlos Wichert, great-grandchild of Andrew Van Voorhees.
Milton Van Vorhees was born in Jackson township. Sandusky county, Ohio, March 25, 1856, a son of William H. and Catharine (Mowery) Van Voorhees. William H., came with his father, Elijah Van Voorhees, from New York. The elder Van Voorhees entered land on Wolf creek, where he made a farm and lived out his days. Catharine Mowery was a daughter of John and Eliza- beth (Strayer) Mowery, who came to the United States from Ger- many about 1810, and she was born in 1829. The Van Voorhees and Mowery families were prominent in their vicinity and leaders ' in public affairs, and most of them became well to do, if not wealthy. The original Van Voorhees land purchase of eighty acres was ex- panded by subsequent acquisitions into a fine estate of seven hun-
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dred acres. The Van Voorhees were United Brethren and active and efficient in church work. They were originally Republicans and as such were elected to important township and county offices.
Milton Van Voorhees was educated in public schools and reared a practical farmer. He remained with his parents, assisting in the management of the homestead till his first marriage, October 18, 1878, to Miss Sylvesta Mitchell, daughter of William and Jane
Her (Stewart ) Mitchell, and a native of Sandusky county, Ohio. parents were natives of New York. She died February 17, 1880. having one child, born January 27, 1880, Sylvester, now a resident of Enderlin. South Dakota, train despatcher on the Great Northern Railroad. He served three years in the Philippine war under
Captain Betts. Hle was honorably discharged as a corporal. He married and has two children, Edna and Cora; great-grandchildren of William Van Voorhees. Milton Van Voorhees married Esther Floraines Blue October 19, 1882. She was born June 18, 1864, a daughter of Dennis and Mary (Good) Blue, he a native of Virginia, she a native of Pennsylvania. Dennis Blue was a son of Dennis and Rebecca (Hayes) Blue, who came to America from Ireland. The elder Dennis Blue located in Liberty township. being a pioneer there, and Dennis Jr., was born in a log cabin which stood on land not long taken from the government.
After his marriage Mr. Van Voorhees engaged in farming on his own account, and he has become one of the leading farmers and stock raisers in his part of the county. Politically he is a Repub- lican, a man of public spirit who has been called to important town- ship offices, particularly in connection with the schools, in which he takes much interest. He is a member of the order of Knights of Honor. Mr. and Mrs. Van Voorhees have two children. Their son, Leon M. Van Voorhees, born March 25. 1890, gained his primary education in public schools and took a course in the depart- ment of agriculture in the University of Ohio at Columbus, a mem- ber of the the class of 1909. Their daughter, Edna E., born August 29, 1883 is a graduate in music from the Adrian Conservatory of music and is an accomplished artist in pastel. She married Howard A. Hull and bore him one child, Esther C., born July 9, 1908. Mr. Hull died October 18 of the same year. In 1909 Mr. Van Voorhees built a modern residence with up-to-date appoint- ments, including a heating and lighting plant. Leon M. Van Voorhees has been called to the important duties of erop reporter for Seneca county and is performing them with signal ability.
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