USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 103
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As has been stated, the home of Walter R. Weidman, the subject of this sketch, has always been in Marysville, the place of his birth. He at- tended the public schools and from these received the practical education which fitted him for a successful business life. After his school years he found employment in the factory of the Robinson & Curry Company, and remained in that employ for several years. He then formed a partnership with William Kennedy in the contracting business. This partnership was dissolved after about three years, and Mr. Weidman then associated him- self with his brothers, James O. and William L., in the same line of busi- ness. Later, they took into this partnership their brother, John C., and formed the company under the firm name of Weidman Brothers, and en- gaged in the manufacture of exterior and interior mill work. This partner- ship still continues, and the business has been growing steadily from the start and is now well established. They have twenty to twenty-five men in their employ, and a trade that extends to several of the surrounding states.
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On the 22d day of May, 1902, Mr. Weidman was united in marriage with Laura Lentz, daughter of Charles F. and Lydia Mooney Lentz. Mr. and Mrs. Weidman have their church relationship with the Presbyterian society. Fraternally, Mr. Weidman belongs to Palestine Lodge No. 158, Free and Accepted Masons: Marysville Chapter No. 99, Royal Arch Masons; S. S. Jewel Council No. 89, Royal and Select Masons; Raper Commandery No. 19. Knights Templar. Politically, his affiliations are with the Democratic party. Mrs. Weidman was born at Cardington, Ohio. For history of her parents. see biographical sketch of J. M. Lentz, in another place in this volume.
FRENCH G. REYNOLDS.
One of the most highly esteemed business men of Milford Center, Union county, Ohio, is French G. Reynolds, who was born within fifty feet of the bank where he is now employed as cashier. He has been engaged in office work practically all of his life, working for several years in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, and afterwards spending several years in Chicago, in the office of The American Sheep Breeder, a live stock journal. He has been connected with the banking interests of Milford Center for more than a quarter of a century, in which time he has built up a reputation for integrity and honesty which has won for him the unqualified confidence of everyone in the com- munity.
French G. Reynolds, the son of Elisha L. and Mary E. (Burnham) Reynolds, was born in Milford Center. Ohio, September 10, 1846. His parents were natives of Union county, Ohio, also, and reared a family of five children : French G .: George B., deceased; Henry C., of Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania : Hattie E., deceased, who was the wife of A. E. Waters: and M. Lou, of Milford Center, Ohio.
Elisha L. Reynolds was a merchant in Milford Center for many years. and served two terms as treasurer of Union county. He died in 1900, and his widow in 1892. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Reynolds were Elisha and Elizabeth ( Witter ) Reynokls. They were pioneers of Union county, dying here at an advanced age. The grandparents of Mr. Reynolds reared a family of five children: Elisha L .. Imer, Ira, Mrs. Hilah Woodworth and Mrs.
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Martha J. Winget. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Reynolds were Harvey and Eliza ( Carpenter) Burnham, natives of the Eastern states and early settlers at the present site of Milford Center. Mr. Burnham and his wife had four children, Mary E., George, Henry C. and Martha.
French G. Reynolds was reared in Milford Center and attended the public schools of that place. Upon reaching manhood, he went to Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, and for nine years was bookkeeper for a firm of live-stock brokers in that city. He then returned to Milford Center and for the next nineteen years was cashier of the Milford Center Bank. He left Milford Center to take a position as office man in the office of The American Sheep Breeder at Chicago and remained there for seven years. When the Farmers and Mer- chants' Bank of Milford Center was organized in 1908, Mr. Reynolds was unanimously elected to the position of cashier and called home from Chicago to take the place. He has since been filling this position to the entire satis- faction of the directors and the patrons of the bank. The president of the bank is Lewis F. Erb. The bank has a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars.
Mr. Reynolds was married January 17, 1877, to Mae Stokes, the daugh- ter of Iliram and Clara (Chapman) Stokes. To this union one daughter has been born, Edna L., who is the wife of Dr. F. D. Burnham. of Linden Heights, Ohio. Mrs. Reynolds was born in Milford Center, and her parents were early settlers in this county. Her father was a general merchant and also handled grain extensively. He owned a fine farm adjoining Milford Center, the same farm now owned by Cone Howard. Mrs. Reynolds' father died in 1887 and her mother in 1874. Four children were born to the parents of Mrs. Reynolds: Mae, Clara, John C. and Bertha.
Politically, Mr. Reynolds is a Republican and has always taken an in- telligent interest in political matters. As an indication of the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens, he was elected treasurer of his town- ship, holding this office for fifteen years. Mrs. Reynolds is a member of the Catholic church. Fraternally, Mr. Reynolds belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He is a man of quiet and unassuming demeanor and has always so conducted himself and his affairs as to win the unqualified indorsement of those with whom he has had any dealings. He is a fine type of the American citizen, who believes in good judgment. good citizenship and a high standard of civil- ization.
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FRANCIS M. WHIPS.
A veteran of the Civil War, a highly respected citizen of Washington township and a farmer for the past half century, Francis Marion Whips is eminently entitled to representation in the history of his county. Mr. Whips had two brothers in the Civil War and he himself was badly wounded on two different occasions in the fearful struggle.
Francis M. Whips, the son of Mathias and Cinderilla (Chaney) Whips, was born in Perry county, Ohio, February 9, 1846. His father was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, and his mother in Pennsylvania, while his parents were married in Licking county. Ohio, where his father died. After the death of her husband, the widow of Mathias Whips came to Marion county to live. She died in Marion county, Ohio. There were thirteen children born to Mathias Whips and wife, four of whom are still living: William, a soldier in the Seventy-sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry; George W., a soldier in the same regiment with his brother; Francis M., of Washington township, and Joshua, a painter living near Carbondale, Indiana.
Francis M. Whips was reared in Perry county. Ohio, and when a small boy went with his parents to Wisconsin, but remained there only a short time, returning to Ohio and living in Licking county until the opening of the Civil War. In February, 1863, the month he was seventeen years of age, he en- listed in Company H, Thirty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. He was in the Army of the Cumberland and participated in the battles of Stone's River. Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain and all of the battles which Sherman fought on his march through Georgia to the sea. He was wounded in the left leg at Resaca, and shot through the right shoulder in another engagement. The wound in his leg was never satisfactorily healed and this still gives him trouble. He has always been deeply interested in the Grand Army of the Republic, and was a charter member of Cooper Post, Marion Ohio.
After the close of the Civil War. Mr. Whips returned to Licking county, Ohio, where he lived until 1866, when he came to Marion county to make his home in Marion township. He is now living on the Oglesbee farm, two and one-half miles north of Byhalia. He has engaged in general farming and stock raising, but has now practically retired from active work on the farm.
Mr. Whips was married in 1878 to Caroline Doebert, a native of Craw- ford county, Ohio, and to this union have been born six children. four of whom are now living : Hiram, who is employed in the Malleable Iron Works
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at Marion, Ohio; Harry, a farmer in Washington township; Stella, the wife of Parl Williams; Etta, the wife of Chester Moody.
Mr. Whips is a Democrat in politics, but has never taken an active part in political affairs. He is a member of Richwood Lodge No. 147, Free and Accepted Masons, and has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years.
JOHN T. DRAKE.
The sixty-one years covering the career of John T. Drake have all been spent in Union county. Ohio, where he was born. His parents were early settlers in this county and contributed in no small measure to the advance- ment of the community in which they lived. Mr. Drake has been active in furthering the interests of the county in every way, and his whole life has been such as to bring him the hearty commendation of his fellow citizens. In his younger manhood he taught school for one term and later engaged in farming. and has made this his life work. His present farm of two hundred and two and one-half acres in York township and in Logan county bears ample witness to his success as a tiller of the soil.
John T. Drake, the son of Francis M. and Mary ( Harriman) Drake, was born on the farm where he is now living October 1, 1853. His father was born in Warren county, Ohio, the son of Chordy and Sarah J. Drake. He came from Warren county, Ohio, to Logan county in 1831. Chordy Drake spent his declining years at the home of his son-in-law, Thomas Skid- more, and died there June 8, 1878. His widow also spent her declining years at the home of her son-in-law. Thomas Skidmore, and died there on July 6. 1880. There were eight children born to Chordy Drake.
Francis M. Drake grew to manhood on his father's farm in Logan county, Ohio, and upon reaching manhood was married to Mary Harriman, the daughter of Simpkin and Sarah ( Green) Harriman. She was also reared in Logan county, Ohio, both of her parents being natives of Pennsylvania. .Francis M. Drake and wife were the parents of three children: Chordy L., who married Anna Knox : John T., of Union county, and Angelia, who died at the age of sixteen.
John T. Drake was reared on his father's farm in York township, in this county, and educated in the district schools of his home township. He applied himself so diligently to his books that upon leaving school he was able to secure a teacher's license and for one term taught school in Washing-
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ton township, Union county. He then engaged in farming and has met with marked success in all of his farming operations. He is interested in the Union Banking Company, of West Mansfield, and is now president of this company. The other officers of the company are as follows: Edward S. Moore, vice-president; W. N. Plotner. I. R. Winner, J. N. Wilgus, E. W. Elliott. J. T. Drake, E. S. Moore and H. E. Southard, directors ; T. F. Wilson, cashier, and A. L. Votaw, assistant cashier.
Mr. Drake was married December 25, 1875, to Mary M. Henry, the daughter of George and Margaret (Cook) Henry, both deceased, late of Logan county, and to this union three children have been born : Maggie May, born July 18, 1878, who graduated at the West Mansfield high school with the class of 1897, now the wife of Loren Flickinger, and the mother of six children, three of whom are living: Perry R., born September 29. 1879. who was drowned August 20, 1893: John Reed, born February 21, 1895, graduated from the West Mansfield high school with the class of 1913.
Mr. Drake and his family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Bethel, and Mr. Drake has been a member of this church for more than forty years. His father was a charter member of this church, as was his grandfather. His father was a member of the building committee which erected the first church building and served as trustee until his death. Mr. Drake is now serving in this same capacity. Politically, Mr. Drake has al- ways been identified with the Republican party and has taken an intelligent interest in township and county political affairs. Mr. Drake is a highly re- spected citizen who has lived such a life as to win the hearty esteem of every- one with whom he is associated.
URIAH STOTTS ALDEN.
The oldest merchant in Milford Center, Ohio, is Uriah Stotts Alden, who has been a continuous resident of this village for more than seventy years. He comes from old Puritan stock, being a direct descendant of John Alden. who landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, in the "Mayflower" December 22, 1620. He has lived in Milford Center since he was about two years of age and has witnessed all of the changes which have elapsed during his seventy years residence in this county. He served with distinction in the Civil War, and since that time has been engaged in business in Milford Center. He built half of the Alden-Lyons building, the first Milford Center Bank, the big flour
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mill and several other buildings in Milford Center and the surrounding com- munity.
Uriah Stotts Alden, the "grand old man" of Milford Center, Ohio, is the son of Chester and Margaret ( Stotts) Alden, and was born in Madison county, Ohio, May 25, 1842. His parents were both natives of New York state and pioneers in Madison county. His mother died in 1844 and his father then went west and located in Tama county, Fowa, near Muscatine, and engaged in farming. He died near Chicago in 1854, being about seventy- five years of age at the time of his death. Eleven children were born to Chester Alden and wife: Chester, Avers, Andrew, Dr. John Milton, George, Edmund, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret, Charles Hiram and Uriah S. Of these children only two, Charles H., who now lives at St. Augustine, Florida, and Uriah S., are living.
After the death of his mother in 1844, Uriah S. Alden was brought to Milford Center to live with his aunt and uncle, Dr. Reuben P. Mann, and his whole life has been spent in Milford Center since that time, with the excep- tion of the three years he spent at the front during the Civil War.
Mr. Alden enlisted June 5, 1861, in Company F. Thirteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into the service on October 6, of the same year. This regiment was in the battle of Carnifix Ferry, against General Floyd, and here Ransom Reed was killed, being the first soldier from Union county, of Company F. to give his life for his country. The Grand Army of the Republic post at Marysville is named in his honor. The first soldier killed from Union township was Silas Kimball, also of Company F, who gave his life for his country's sake at the battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1862. The Grand Army of the Republic post of Milford Center is named in his honor. In 1862 the company of which Mr. Alden was a member was drilled by Col. W. S. Smith, a graduate of West Point. Before the end of the wat Colonel Smith was made brigadier-general, and Major Hawkins, of Marys- ville, became colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment. Mr. Alden was in the service three years and eight months, when he came home in ill health from long campaigning in the field. After many months of good nursing, he par- tially regained his health and on the 12th of January, 1866, he embarked in the mercantile business in Milford Center and has continued in the same line of activity in this village ever since that time.
Mr. Alden distinctly remembers when the militia was being mustered into the Mexican War, and recalls the feverish interest in the gold-fever rush to California in 1849. In 1852 he attended a private school taught by Miss Mary Parkinson at her home in Milford Center. Of the three pupils of that
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school, only two are now living, Mr. Alden and Jane Reed Burnham, who now resides in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. The other pupil was Samantha Spain, who died many years ago. During the years 1854 and 1855, Mr. Alden went with Doctor Mann, his uncle, to collect geological specimens along the Scioto river and in the state house yard at Columbus where great quantities of fossiliferous rocks were used in the building of the state house. The state prisoners were doing the work and Doctor Mann had the privilege of going among the labor- ers and collecting the fossils and rock curiosities, all of which he later donated to the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. During the years 1857 and 1858 Mr. Alden attended the college at Delaware and had for his classmate the Hon. Edward Powell, of Columbus. In 1859 Mr. Alden attended a select school in the Reynolds building taught by Rev. Jeremiah Slocum. In the years before the opening of the Civil War, he attended school in the Odd Fellows hall, the school being taught by the Misses Mary and Jennie Coe. Dr. Calvin H. Reed. now of Toledo, was one of his classmates.
Mr. Alden was married January 31, 1876, to Mrs. Mattie Freeman, widow of Frank Freeman and daughter of Harrison and Mary Apple, of North Lewisburg, Champaign county, Ohio. To this union seven children were born, Eugene, Clifton, Clyde, Bessie, Daisy, Don and Pansy. All of the sons are now deceased, having died unmarried. Bessie is the wife of John Opphile and lives in Marysville. They have four children. Daisy became the wife of Albert Fay Terry, of Anderson, Indiana, and has two children, Ada May and Don Alden. Pansy is a hairdresser and now lives in Carson, California.
Mrs. Alden was born in Virginia in 1852, as were her parents. The family came to Ohio and located in Champaign county, near North Lewis- burg, early in the history of that county. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Apple: Mrs. Jennie Church, William, Elizabeth, Mattie, Isabel, Annie, Sadie, John and Elisha. Of these nine children, William was wounded in the Civil War and died soon after he came home; Isabel became the wife of John Underwood.
Mr. Alden is a loyal member of Ransom Reed Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Marysville, and is also a member of Milford Center Lodge No. 274, Knights of Pythias. Politically, Mr. Alden has been a life-long Re- publican and served for about thirty years in the village council of Milford Center, beginning his service in 1872. He has experienced some business reverses at times but, by energy and determination, has overcome them, and now has a comfortable competence for his declining years.
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LEWIS SCHEIDERER.
Among the sturdy German element who have done so much toward the development of Union county, none deserve more credit than the Scheiderer family to which the subject of this sketch belongs. Members of this family were among the early settlers and have labored here since the days when most of the country was an unbroken forest. The founder of the family was born in Bavaria, Germany, and came to this country in the early part of the eighteenth century. Following the tide of emigration he first located in Franklin county, Ohio, and after a short time came to Union county where he remained during the rest of his life.
The founder of this family in Union county was John M. Scheiderer, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Coming to this county he found abundant opportunity for hard work in clearing up the forest and getting the land in condition for cultivation, and to that arduous work he applied himself. By industry, thrift and economy he soon established a home and had a productive farin of sufficient acreage to live in comparative comfort.
The maiden name of his wife was Eva Schroll, to whom he was married before coming to this county. To this union was born ten children, namely : Casper, who was a soldier in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War : John Philip, George Peter. Magda- lena, who married a Renner; John Christopher, father of our subject : Bar- bara. Gottlieb, George Frederick, and two who are deceased.
Jolin Christopher, the father of our subject, was born'on the farm in this township, December 23. 1851, and lived on the home place until he was grown. The neighborhood is known as the German settlement, composed principally of thrifty natives or descendants of that race. Coming to the age of maturity the father of our subject married Anna M. Doelinger and settled on a farm and has continued in the occupation of a farmer. Previous to this, he had worked for sometime in a tile factory. ITis education was received by attending German and English schools during his minority, at such times as he could be spared from work on his father's farm. Ile was married to Anna Doelinger, April 25, 1878, and to this union seven children have been born, namely: Dora; Lewis, our subject : Elizabeth, who married Elsie Ebert of Manistee, Michigan; George, Anna, and Alma. Dora mar- ried Jolm K. Gunderman, and to this union the following named children were born: Walter. Esther, Martha. Elizabeth married Herman Bosse and they have three children, Elsie, Alfreda and Edward.
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Lewis Scheiderer, our subject, was married October 4, 1910, to Clara Coleman. daughter of William and Magdelena (Greenbaum) Coleman. They are members of the Lutheran church. Our subject owns a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-one acres, located on the Wadkins road, about two miles east of Marysville, the same farm on which his father lived and where the family was reared. In politics, Lewis Scheiderer is a Democrat.
GEORGE MICHAEL NICOL.
One of the most extensive farmers of Darby township, Union county, Ohio, is George Michael Nicol, who has been a life-long resident of the county. He owns a fine farm of five hundred acres in Union and Darby townships, all of which he has made by his own industry and his good management.
George M. Nicol, the son of Conrad and Lena (Colbaker) Nicol, was born in Darby township, Union county, Ohio, July 9, 1857. His parents, both of whom were natives of Germany, came to the United States after their marriage and settled in Darby township, in this county, where they lived the remainder of their lives. Conrad Nicol and wife reared a family of six chil- dren, four of whom are still living: John, a farmer of Darby township; George M., with whom this narrative deals; Mary, the widow of George Gase, of this county; Martin, a farmer of Darby township. Conrad Nicol died in 1906, and his widow passed away three years later.
George M. Nicol was educated in the schools of this county, lived at home until his marriage, and then began farming for himself and has met with unusual success in every venture in which he has been interested. He is one of the largest stock raisers of the county and sells several car loads of stock each year.
Mr. Nicol was married in May. 1881, to Anna Gase, a daughter of Christopher and Barbara (Raush) Gase, and to this union ten children have been born, Mary, Clara, Lucy, Ernest, Christopher, Martin, August, Alfred, Gehardt. and Peter, who died in infancy.
Ernest C. Nicol was born in Darby township, Union county, May 26, 1888. He received a good education in the schools of his township and finished his education and training in the high school at Marysville. He was married April 27, 1913, to Elizabeth Nicol, a daughter of George and Cath- erine ( Danger ) Nicol. both of whom were natives of Union county. Ernest is farming one hundred and twenty-five acres of his father's farm in Darby
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township. The father of Mrs. Nicol died about eighteen years ago and her mother is still living in this county near Marysville.
George M. Nicol and all of his family are loyal members of the Lutheran church in Darby township and are generous contributors to its maintenance. Politically, Mr. Nicol is a member of the Democratic party, but has never taken an active part in political affairs. He has preferred to give his entire time and attention to his extensive agricultural interests, rather than engage in political campaigns. Mr. Nicol is a highly respected farmer and a public- spirited citizen who well merits inclusion among the representative men of Union county.
WILLIS EPPS.
One of the sterling pioneers of Allen township, Union county, Ohio. is Willis Epps, who was born in this township more than sixty-five years ago. His long career has been devoted solely to agriculture and his fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres three miles south of Pottersburg is sufficient evi- dence that he has met with success in his life 's work
Willis Epps was born in Allen township, April 4, 1848, and is a son of Thomas and Clarissa ( Smith) Epps. His father was born near Lewisburg, Ohio, while his mother was a native of Champaign county, in this state, Four children were born to Thomas Epps and wife: Rosetta, deceased; Rosina, the widow of Fred Beltz; Mary, deceased, and Willis, of Allen township.
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