USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 52
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Henry Snyder was born in Perry county, O., and was reared and educated there. He married Lydia Ward, who was born in Hocking county, a daugh- ter of Daniel and Deliliah Ward. Daniel Ward was a direct descendant of Nathaniel Ward, who was commander of the Patriot forces at Boston, Mass.,
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in the early days of the Revolutionary war, before General Washington took command. After marriage, Henry Snyder and wife moved to Miami county and settled in Washington township, and also, at one time lived in Allen county and also in Van Wert county. Grandfather Snyder gave each of his children a farm of 160 acres but Henry Snyder never lived on his tract, trad- ing it for sixty acres of the farm which his son, Charles F., now owns. He died in Cynthian township in March, 1866, and his burial was at Sugar Grove, O., in the cemetery of the Brethren church. His widow continued to live in Cynthian township until 1900, when she moved to South Whitley, Ind., where she died in September, 1905, and her burial was also at Sugar Grove. They were well known and highly respected people and were parents of eight chil- dren, namely : Daniel W., who died in 1877, at Peoria, Ill., was aged twenty- four years ; Mary A., who is the wife of John P. Golly, of Cynthian township; John W., who died in 1897, at the age of forty years; Isaac, who lives in Cynthian township; Christiana, who lived but ten months; Charles F .; Jerd, who lived but six days; and Henry, who is a resident of Dayton, O.
Charles F. Snyder received his early school instruction in the Forest Spe- cial School District but when fourteen years of age was transferred to the Hopewell district, where he attended for four years and then returned to the Forest district and later attended school at Sidney. In the fall of 1883 he took charge of a school in Van Buren township, where he taught for three years and then taught for one year in Dinsmore township. After his mar- riage he moved to Botkins, and from there, in the spring of 1891, to his present home farm of eighty acres having bought out the other heirs and his mother's dower in 1900; he added to this a fifty acre farm in 1905, and in 191I he and his son Virgil W. purchased 120 acres in Michigan, where he has done a large amount of improving in the way of draining and building.
In 1886 Mr. Snyder was married to Miss Adella Blakeley, who was born in Dinsmore township, Shelby county, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Blakely, the former of whom was born in Franklin and the latter in Licking county, O., and their parents, respectively, came to Shelby county in 1832 and 1835, being pioneers. To Mr. and Mrs. Snyder were born children as fol- lows : Virgil W., who lives at Beaverton, Mich., married Bessie Ward; Mel- senia, who lives in Turtle Creek township, married R. Schmidt; Carl W., Israel Blakeley and Cora M., all of whom live at home; May, who died when aged twenty-three days; and an infant daughter who died at birth. Mr. Sny- der is one of the enterprising and public spirited men of the township, was one of the incorporators and is secretary of the Farmers Telephone Company and lends his influence to further all movements which promise to be for the public welfare. He was reared in the republican party and has always given it support and has been one of its leaders in the county, formerly serving as a member of one of the important county organizations. At pres- ent he is serving in his third term as a notary public and since 1898 has been a member of the board of education of the Forest Special School District, of which he is clerk.
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SIMON WEHNEMAN, one of the representative men of Loramie town- education of the Beech Grove Special School District since 1902, carries on general farming on his plate of 176 acres, in which he has a one-half interest. He was born here November 8, 1852, and is a son of John Henry and a grandson of John Andrew Wehneman.
John Henry Wehneman was born and educated in Prussia-Germany and was twenty-one years old when he accompanied his parents to America and all settled in Miami county, O., where the parents died and John Henry lived until his marriage, when he came to Loramie township. Here he secured eighty acres of the present farm, it being wild land covered with timber and to the clearing and subsequent cultivating of this land he devoted his best years. His birth took place March 16, 1817, and his death, July 20, 1874. He was an honest, upright man, a hard worker and one who performed every duty of life to the best of his ability. He married Ann Elizabeth Ficken, who was born in Germany April 30, 1825, and died August 15, 1893, the burial of both being in the cemetery at Houston, O. They were members of the United Brethren church. They had the following children, all born on the farm of eighty acres : George, who resides on the homestead with his brothers, Simon and Frederick, who follow him in order of birth; Hannah, who is the wife of Lloyd G. Hoon, residing at Bell Center, Logan county, Ohio; John, who married Elizabeth Stein, who lives on the grandfather's old farm in Miami county; Anna Elizabeth, who married David Christian, residing in Darke county, O .; and Barbara Elizabeth, who is the wife of L. D. Fessler of Loramie township.
Following the death of the father, Simon and Frederick Wehneman took charge of the farm and when the mother died in 1893 bought the place, the additional land having been purchased in 1883 from James Clark. General farming and moderate stock raising have been the successful industries and the land is all called very valuable. Simon Wehneman with his brothers and sisters obtained their education in the township schools and in these same schools, although under more favorable conditions, Mr. Wehneman's children have been educated. He married Miss Anna Christina Roeth, a daughter of Charles and Catherine Roeth, the former of whom is deceased but the lat- ter survives and resides at Covington, O. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wehneman, namely: Charles Henry, Albert Frederick, Lawrence Edward and Bertha Catherine. The beloved mother of the above children was born April 24, 1868; and died June 26, 1903. In every relation of life she was an estimable woman and with her husband and children belonged to the Lutheran church. Politically Mr. Wehneman has always been identified with the democratic party but has never accepted any office except member- ship on the school board, being induced thereto by his desire to advance the educational interests of his community.
JOHN C. FEY, for many years a prosperous farmer of Franklin town- ship, Shelby county, O., where he owns sixty-two acres of well-improved land, is at present (1912) interested in the building of a handsome brick residence
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at Swanders, O., proposing to retire to this pleasant town in the near future. Mr. Fey is a citizen whose removal will be a loss to Franklin township but Swanders will gain thereby. He was born in Dinsmore township, Shelby county, August 1, 1848, and is a son of Henry and Margaret (Dinehart) Fey.
The parents of John C. Fey were born, reared and married in Germany and from there, in 1845, they came to the United States and then continued their journey until they reached Shelby county. Henry Fey was a tailor by trade but later in life became a farmer and subsequently moved with his wife to Maryland and there both died. They were members of the Lutheran church. Their children were named as follows: Anna, Catherine, Lizzie, Mary, John C., Christian, Edward, Caroline and Eva.
John C. Fey had but meager educational opportunities in his youth as public facilities were very different then from what they are now, and he remained assisting his father on the home farm until he was twenty years of age. Then he learned the wagonmaking trade and followed the same for ten years, but in 1883 turned his attention to general farming and bought his place in Franklin township from James Swanders. In politics he is a republican. At different times ,he has served as school director and also as road superin- tendent, and has been a reliable and public-spirited citizen.
In 1874 Mr. Fey was married to Miss Eva S. Hartman, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Peter and Savillia (Swanders) Hartman, and they have two daughters, Bertha and Emma. Bertha married J. W. Dickensheets and they have two children: Ethel and Ernest. Emma married Asa Fogt, and they have two children: Richard and Mary Eva. Mr. Fey and family belong to the Reformed church at Swanders, in which he is an elder. He is identified with the lodge of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, at Anna, O.
G. S. POLHAMUS for many years was a leading citizen of Washington township, Shelby county, O., where he was a substantial farmer and the owner of the old Polhamus homestead of 120 acres of well-improved land. He was born on that farm, December 31, 1855, and died there May 16, 191I.
In the Washington township schools Mr. Polhamus secured his education, which was afterward supplemented by association with people in different sections and much reading and probably there were no better informed men in the community than he. His fellow citizens recognized his excellence of judgment as well as his personal integrity and elected him to public office and at the time of his death he was a trustee of the township. After leaving the home farm in early manhood he spent four years in Colorado and then returned to Shelby county and for nineteen years resided on and operated the William Booher farm. In February, 1907, he took up his residence on the old homestead and until the close of his life carried on farming and stock raising with marked success.
Mr. Polhamus married Miss Sarah Lawrence, who is a daughter of John Lawrence, a farmer in Shelby county, and two children were born to them: Elsie, who married Glenn Knouff, who operates the farm above mentioned;
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and Margaret Grace, who resides with her mother. Mr. Polhamus was a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and a liberal contributor to its differ- ent lines of usefulness. His death was a distinct loss to his community and his memory is held in tender regard not only by his family but by many others to whom he had been a kind neighbor or sympathetic benefactor.
JOHN C. WARD, whose finely improved farm of eighty acres is situated in Perry township, is a well-known and representative man of this section. He was born in Muskingum county, O., May 12, 1850, and is a son of Thomp- son and Lucinda (Cargill) Ward. They also were natives of Muskingum county and came to Shelby county in 1853, where their subsequent lives were spent, the father being a farmer. His death occurred on the home place in Perry township, on March 29, 1869, on which his widow still resides.
John C. Ward attended the district schools. When his father died he was eighteen years of age and he assumed charge of the property and carried on the usual farm industries there until 1884, when he moved to his present farm, which he purchased from Joel Drake. Here he erected a commodious resi- dence, new barns and other farm structures and has been equally careful in enriching and cultivating his land. A general farming line is successfully carried on.
On September 30, 1876, Mr. Ward was married to Miss Susan D. Staley, who belongs to one of the old pioneer families of Shelby county. Both of her parents, Nicholas and Mary (Baker) Staley, are now deceased, their burial being at Port Jefferson, O. They had the following children: Margaret, who is the wife of John Bruner; Henry; Mary, who is deceased; John T .; Jennie, who is the wife of Port Blue; Susan D., who is the wife of John C. Ward; David C., who is deceased; and Squire Nicholas.
Mr. and Mrs. Ward have four children and one grandchild: Roland G., who married Clara Abbott; Edith, who married Samuel Rolfe; Verne, who married Chloe Apple and they have one son, Virgil; and Pearl, who married Oscar Key. The Ward family belongs and gives generous support to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Ward is one of the trustees. In politics he is a republican.
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT KIGGINS, who is a retired farmer, since 1905 has been a resident of Sidney, O., where he is well known and highly respected and was born in Shelby county, O., September 3, 1855, on a farm of forty acres, the old home place, situated in Orange township, which he disposed of at the time of retirement from active life. He is a son of John Robert and Sallie Ann (McCloskey) Kiggins. John Robert Kiggins was born in Miami county, O., and was a son of Robert Kiggins, who was a native of Ireland. After marriage John Robert Kiggins came to Orange township. and settled on the above mentioned farm and continued to reside there until his death in 1898.
John C. F. Kiggins was reared on the home farm and spent forty-nine years there, all his life practically until 1905, with the exception of five years
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following his marriage, when he rented land. When he contracted to pur- chase the homestead he had no capital, but afterward he developed a large amount. of business sagacity which not only enabled him to honestly clear off this indebtedness but also to make other wise investments. At one time he owned a farm of seventy-two acres, situated in Logan county, which property he sold one year later to great advantage. Another farm of eighty acres, located in Jackson township, near Jackson Center, he owned for three years and then sold at a much higher price than he had paid, the difference being between $85 and $117 per acre. Mr. Kiggins then went on a prospecting tour to Houston, Tex., and in that vicinity bought 320 acres, paying $38 per acre, which he held for an advance in price, and recently sold one-half of the tract for $45 per acre, still retaining the rest of the land. Still later he purchased twenty acres, for a town site, paying $250 an acre, and this valu- able property he still holds. When he decided to retire and move to Sidney, he bought his fine residence on South Miami avenue and began to consider propositions for the sale of his homestead, on which he had made excellent improvements. . When he finally disposed of the forty acres he received what was regarded as a record price, $150 an acre. That the land is worth that and still more has been evidenced by a still later change of owners, the last pur- chaser paying $175 per acre, this giving a pretty fair idea of the general value of Shelby county farm land when it has been properly developed.
In the fall of 1884, Mr. Kiggins was married to Miss Laura Ella Cozier, who was born at Piqua, O., a daughter of Theodore Cozier. Mr. Cozier and family lived at Piqua until Mrs. Kiggins was sixteen years of age, when he traded his city property for a farm in Green township, Shelby county. Mr. and Mrs. Kiggins are members of the First Baptist church at Sidney, in which he is a deacon. He has been identified with the order of Odd Fellows. for many years.
JOHN F. MEIGHEN, one of the substantial citizens and experienced farmers of Orange township, residing on his well cultivated farm of eighty acres, which is situated six and one-half miles southeast of Sidney, O., a part of the old Bull homestead, was born in Warren county, O., November 6, 1849, and is a son of Amos and Julia Ann (Long) Meighen.
Amos Meighen also was born in a Wrren county and for some years was a farmer there but in 1867 moved to Shelby county, where the rest of his life was spent, his death occurring at the age of seventy-five years. He married Julia Ann Long, who was born in Pennsylvania and died in Shelby county, in her sixty-third year. They had three children: Mrs. Mary Anderson, John F., and Mrs. Alice Hetzler.
John F. Meighen attended the public schools near his father's farm in boyhood and after assisting his father for some years rented land for himself and has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits. In 1906 he came to his present farm and here carries on general farming and raises stock for his own use. Mr. Meighen married Miss Johanna Bull, who was born in Orange township, is a daughter of Hiram Bull, and they have three children: Minnie,
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who is the wife of Denton Simes; William, who is superintendent of the Children's Home, in Shelby county; and Edna May, who is a teacher of music in the township schools. Mr. Meighen and family belong to the Baptist church. In politics he is a democrat.
WILLIAM H. FRISTOE, one of the leading men of Shelby county, and one who is known in democratic politics all over Ohio, came to this county in 1864 and it has been his home ever since. He was born on a farm in Hocking county, O., March 22, 1851, and is a son of Charles and Anna Maria (Beery) Fristoe.
Charles Fristoe was born and reared in Virginia and was twenty-one years of age when, in 1833, he came to Licking county, O. He was married near Bremen, in Fairfield county, to Miss Anna Maria Beery, who was reared there and was a member of one of the old, prolific and substantial families of that section, of Virginia ancestry. The Beery family still holds yearly reunions and William H. Fristoe is president of the organization. After marriage, Charles Fristoe bought a farm near Gore, in Falls township, Hock- ing county, and moved to Shelby county in 1864 when William H. was thir- teen years of age, and here Charles Fristoe died in May, 1876. His widow survived many years, passing away at the home of her son in 1890.
William H. Fristoe was reared on the home farm and first attended school in Hocking county and afterward in Shelby county and when he started out for himself spent the first season working on a farm south of Sidney, in Orange township. Afterward he was employed in a brick yard in Turtle creek township, but in 1874 came to Sidney and learned the carpenter trade and for some years worked at bridge carpentering all over the state. In 1884 he was elected town marshal of Sidney and served for four years but in 1889 went into the implement business, as a member of the firm of Fristoe, Stewart & Co., five years later becoming an independent dealer and conducting his business alone for four years, when he was elected sheriff of Shelby county, in which office he served for two terms, from January 1. 1898, to January I, 1902. Mr. Fristoe then bought the old Fielding farm in Clinton township, near Sidney, and carried on agricultural operations here for five years, during which time, through his efforts in securing the petition, he succeeded in having the fine turnpike road built which was named in his honor. After selling his farm he resumed the implement business at Sidney and continued until 1908. when he disposed of it to the firm of Arnet & Son. He has been active politi- cally since early manhood and has served in many public offices and capaci- ties as indicated above and for four years was a member of the city council of Sidney. In June, 1910, he was elected deputy state oil inspector of Ohio. and in January, 1911, was elected a member of the county board of infirmary directors and is clerk of this body.
In the fall of 1884 Mr. Fristoe was married to Miss Uretta Hall. a daugh- ter of Marion Hall, then a well-known citizen and locally noted as an atc- tioneer, whose death occurred in February, 1911. Mr. and Mrs. Fristoe had two children born to them: Charles Marion, who is a soldier in the United
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States army; and William Robb. The mother of these sons died July 20, 1907. Since 1873 Mr. Fristoe has heen an Odd Fellow, in which organiza- tion he has advanced to encampment membership, and since 1892 has been identified with the Masonic bodies.
JACOB W. RICHARDS, an honored veteran of the Civil war, to which great struggle he dedicated three years of early manhood, is one of the prominent and substantial citizens of Turtle Creek township, where he owns 240 acres of valuable land. He was born in Miami county, O., November 23, 1836, and is a son of Richard and Sarah (Timmons) Richards.
Richard Richards was probably of Welsh ancestry but was born in Virginia and married after coming to Ohio. He followed farming throughout a long and industrious life and the family has always been held in respect in the communities in which it has been known. To Richard and Sarah Timmons the following children were born: Henry, Jacob and Jennie ; Sarah, wife of Amos Fee; and Samuel and Martha.
Attending the district schools and helping on the home farm describes in general terms the life of Jacob W. Richards before the death of his father. At that time he was nineteen years of age, and as changes came about then in the home, he hired out to work by the month and so continued until he enlisted for service in the Civil war. On August II, 1862, he became a member of Company H, Ninety-ninth Ohio Vol. Inf., and for three long years camped and marched and fought, a cheerful, obedient and courageous soldier, often facing almost certain death on the battle field but being mercifully preserved from all serious injury. After the end of his military service he returned to Shelby county and ever since has followed an agricultural life, in 1872 purchasing his present farm. For some years afterward he was obliged to labor very hard as little clearing had been done on this land, but it has well repaid his efforts and is now one of the most valuable properties in the township.
In 1871 Mr. Richards was married to Miss Martha McClure, who was born in Shelby county and is a daughter of Andrew and Jane (Hutchison) McClure, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. McClure the following children were born : John and Andrew; Margaret, who married Samuel Stevenson; Mary Ann, who married James Hutchison; James and William ; Sarah, who is the wife of William Fee; Rachel, who is the wife of Thomas Spence; George; and Martha, who is the wife of Mr. Richards.
To Mr. and Mrs .. Richards four children were born, namely : Emma, who is the wife of Grant Ike and they have children-Cora, Carl, Erma, Catherine and Kenneth: Lorenzo, who married Bonnie Miller and they have children-Willa, Willis and Lowell; Charles, who married Sadie Enders, and they have children-Jennette and Frances: and Nora, who is the wife of Franklin Hill, and they have one son, Gerald. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a republican in
JACOB W. RICHARDS
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politics but his ambitions have never been in the direction of office holding, his preference for a quiet life after years of war making him a contented as well as successful tiller of the soil. Mr. Richards is widely known and is held in high esteem.
W. O. AMANN. Among the old and reliable business houses of Sidney, is that of W. O. Amann, jeweler and optician, who has been established in this line and at his present location. No. 112 North Main avenue, for the past thirty-three years. He was born at Sidney, O., February 17, 1855, and is a son of Ferdinand and Catherine (Wagner) Amann.
Ferdinand Amann was of French extraction. By trade he was a tailor and in the forties established himself at Sidney and later went into the hotel business, owning what is now the Wagner hotel, which he conducted during and after the Civil war. He became prominent in county politics and served out two terms as county treasurer, one of his sons, Benjamin B. Amann, suc- ceeding him in the office. He married Catherine Wagner, a member of a very widely known and substantial family of this section. Ferdinand Amann died at Sidney in 1874 but his widow survived into advanced age. her death occurring in 1904.
W. O. Amann was reared at Sidney, where he has always lived with the exception of two years, during which period his parents resided at Fort Wayne, and he was educated in the public and parochial schools. He learned the watchmaking trade with the late C. Schwerer and later purchased his instructor's business and has conducted it ever since, in point of business being the oldest man in this line in the city.
Mr. Amann married Miss Catherine Robertson, a daughter of Wallace WV. Robertson, of Sidney, the latter being a brickmason, who died at Sidney in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Amann are members of the Catholic church. In politics he is a democrat and for the past twelve years he has been chairman of the democratic judicial district, which includes Shelby, Auglaize, Mercer and Allen counties.
ELVA N. MIDDLETON, one of the representative men and substantial general farmers of Green township, where he operates a tract of 100 acres, forty of which is his own and sixty belongs to his father, was born October 12, 1873, on a farm one and one-fourth miles north of this one, the latter being situated in Shelby county, O., seven and one-half miles southeast of Sidney. He is a son of James G. and Margaret ( Nutt ) Middleton.
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