USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 74
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brake and his wife have lived a plain and unostentatious life for nearly half a century, and it is safe to say that there is no more highly respected couple in the county.
LEE W. ELSOM.
One of the younger farmers of Mill Creek township. Union county, Ohio, is Lee W. Elsom, who is a wide-awake and public-spirited citizen of the township where he has spent all of his life thus far. He is a young man of excellent education and, although he qualified himself for the teaching profession, decided to enter the bank at Ostrander rather than become a pedagog. After a few years' experience as a cashier in the bank he decided to devote himself to agriculture and now has a fine farm of fifty acres one and one-half miles northeast of Watkins, in this county.
Lee W. Elsom, the son of Thomas W. and Emma ( Winget) Elsom, was born January 6, 1884. in the township where he is now living. His father was born in Virginia and his mother in Delaware county, Ohio. Seven children were born to Thomas W. Elsom and wife, four of whom are still living: Stewart, of Toledo, Ohio: Mary, who is married and living at Portsmouth, Ohio: Lee W., of Mill Creek township, this county, and Ruth, who is single and living in Dayton.
Lee W. Elsom was reared on his father's farm in Mill Creek township and graduated from the township graded high school in 1900 at the age of sixteen. He had applied himself so thoroughly to his studies while a stu- dent in the high school that he had no difficulty in qualifying for the posi- tion as a teacher in the public schools. However, he was offered a position as assistant cashier of the Ostrander Bank and decided to accept the same. He remained with this bank for two years and then resigned his position to take up farming. He is a progressive farmer and believes in intensive meth- ods, and by the proper crop rotation has made his farm one of the most pro- (luctive in the county.
Mr. Elsom was married October 16, 1907, to Edith V. Latimer, of Union county. She was a graduate of the Mill Creek graded high school and had taught school for three years before her marriage. To this union three children have been born: Donald, aged five: William, aged four, and Mildred, aged two.
Fraternally, Mr. Elsom is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. In politics, he gives his loyal support to the Democratic party and has taken
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an active part in local political matters. He is now serving his second term as treasurer of Mill Creek township and is giving this office his careful and conscientious attention. Mr. Elsom and his wife are held in high esteem in the community where they reside and their influence is always cast on the side of all public-spirited measures which they feel will benefit their com- munity in any way.
FRANK E. ANDREWS.
Sixty years ago Frank E. Andrews was born in Darby township, Union county, Ohio, and his entire life has been spent in this same township. He has been a stock buyer for a quarter of a century and has also been engaged in farming during all of this time in Darby township.
Frank E. Andrews, the son of Rufus H. and Sarah (Wheeler) An- drews, was born in Darby township, Union county, Ohio, July 29, 1855. His parents were natives of Madison county, Ohio, their ancestors having come to this state from Connecticut early in the history of this state. Rufus Andrews and his wife were not married until they came to Union county, and here they reared their three children: Frank E., who is the only one living: H. M., who died at the age of twenty-one, and Clara, who died at the age of twenty-four, after marrying Harry Woodruff. The father of these children died in May, 1902, and the mother passed away February 8, 1907.
Frank E. Andrews received all of his education in the schools of Darby township and remained at home until his marriage, when he began farming for himself. He began with a small farm and gradually increased it until now he is the owner of one hundred and fifty acres of well improved land three miles west of Plain City, Ohio. For the past twenty-five years he has been engaged extensively in the buying and shipping of live stock of all kinds.
Mr. Andrews was married on Christmas eve, 1879, to Alice V. Mitchell, a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Wingfield) Mitchell, who were early pioneers of Union county. The father of Mrs. Andrews died in 1899, and her mother passed away November 3, 1914. There have been born five children to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews: Charles, born March 4, 1881, a farmer of Madison county, Ohio; Edna, born January 8. 1883. the wife of William Davis, a farmer of Jerome township; Merle E., born July 14, 1886, the wife of Phillip P. Koehl. of West Liberty, Ohio: Edgar R., born October
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II. 1895, who is still living with his parents, and Tunys, born February 2, 1900.
Politically, Mr. Andrews has long been identified with the Republican party, but has never taken an active part in political affairs, his extensive business having been such that he has not had the time to devote to political matters, and has never had any inclination to make the race for public office. He is well known throughout the county and is esteemed because of his in- tegrity and strength of character.
JOSEPH B. ZIMMERMAN.
A native-born son of Darby township, who has spent his whole life thus far in the township where his birth occurred, is Joseph B. Zimmerman, who is now operating his father's farm of one hundred acres three and one- half miles northwest of Plain City. He is an enterprising young man who has been married about two years, and is just at the beginning of his career as a farmer and stock raiser. In fact, the first chapter of his life history is being written now, and half a century from this time it will be possible to give more a nearly complete sketch of his life, but it is evident from the success which he has attained thus far that he has a long and prosperous ca- reer before him.
Joseph B. Zimmerman. the son of Cyrus H. and Lydia E. (Ganz) Zim- merman, was born in Darby township. Union county, Ohio, January 5, 1887. His father was born in Springfield, Ohio, and his mother in Hamilton county, this state, and their marriage took place in Springfield, where they lived un- til about 1881, when they came to Union county and settled in Darby town- ship, where they have since resided. His father is now mayor of Plain City, being engaged in the real estate and insurance business in this village. Five sons have been born to Cyrus H. Zimmerman and wife: Albert, an attor- ney and manager of the American Surety and Trust Company, of Toledo, Ohio: Walter, the cashier in a bank, now living in the state of Washington ; Joseph B., of Darby township; Edwin, a hardware merchant of Plain City, who is still living with his parents, and Ralph, who is assistant salesman for the C. D. Furgeson Auto Company, of Plain City.
Joseph B. Zimmerman was educated in the schools of Darby township. and resided at home until he was married, since which time he has had the management of his father's farm in Darby township. He raises full-blooded
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Duroc Jersey hogs and other high-class stock, and is already forging to the front as one of the enterprising and progressive agriculturists of his town- ship. The subject's father made all the improvements on the place, the house being modern in every respect, including hot and cold water, gas lights, sewer, etc.
Mr. Zimmerman was married March 5, 1913, to Ida Powell, a daugh- ter of Edgar and Amanda ( Kilbury ) Powell, natives of West Mansfield and Union county, respectively. Mrs. Zimmerman's parents are now living in Canaan township, Madison county, Ohio.
Politically, Mr. Zimmerman is a Republican, but thus far has not taken an active part in political matters. Fraternally, he is a member of Pleasant Valley Lodge No. 193, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Plain City.
JOSEPH E. HURD.
The Hurd family of Union county, Ohio, worthily represented in this volume by Joseph E. Hurd, have been residents of the county for many years. The parents of Joseph E. Hurd are both natives of this county and many of their children are still living here. Mr. Hurd is a valuable citizen of Taylor township, where he has been living since his marriage and in the welfare of which he has always taken a deep interest.
Joseph E. Hurd, the son of Hiram and Minerva (Glasscock ) Hurd, was born in Liberty township. Union county, Ohio. September 23. 1877. Both of his parents were born in this county, his father being deceased, while his mother is still living. Ten children, all of whom are still living, were born to Hiram Hurd and wife: Rosa, the wife of Marion Southall ; C. O., of Marysville; Albert, a farmer of Indiana: Clayton, a farmer of Union county ; Jason, a carpenter ; Joseph E., of Taylor township: Garfield, a farmer ; Henry, Robert and Clarence.
Joseph E. Hurd was educated in the schools of Liberty township and remained on the home farm until his marriage at the age of twenty-two. He then began farming on his present farm of sixty-three and six-tenths acres in Taylor township, where he has met with excellent success. He is inter- ested in the raising of Duroc hogs and feeds most of his corn to his hogs. His farm is well improved and is ample witness to the thriftiness of the owner.
Mr. Hurd was married September 12, 1899. to Sarah T. Reid, a native
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of Ohio, a daughter of John and Olive C. (Hurd) Reid, the father a native of Canada, of Scotch-Irish parentage, and a soldier in the Union Army for over four years. He was wounded and received an honorable discharge and a pension. He died June 1, 1900. He was a resident of Union county from young manhood. To this union four children have been born : Thelma, who died in infancy; Anice L., who is now eleven years of age; Josephine died at the age of nine months; Martha; and Ruth L., born October 28, 1910.
Mr. Hurd and his wife are both active members of the Methodist Epis- copal church and take a deep interest in all church and Sunday school work. Mr. Hurd is the present superintendent of the Sunday school of his church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and is a past noble grand of the Odd Fellows. Po- litically, he gives his loyal support to the Republican party, and although he has never been a candidate for a public office, he is interested in all meas- nres which pertain to the public welfare of his community.
STEVEN V. R. YOUNG.
In the spring of 1861 Steven V. R. Young came to Union county, Ohio, to make his home, and has resided in Claibourne township since that year. For five years previous to that time he had been in the West, work- ing in the gold mines of California. Mr. Young has engaged in general farming and stock raising in this county for the past half century and has met with a success commensurate with his well-directed efforts.
Steven V. R. Young, a son of Elijah and Amy (Larkin) Young, was born October 26, 1831, at Galena. Delaware county, Ohio. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and came with his father when a small boy to Delaware county, Ohio. His mother was born in New York state, and his parents were married in Delaware county. Morgan Young, the father of Elijah Young, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and lost the sight of both eyes in that struggle. Morgan Young came to Delaware county, Ohio, early in its history and lived in that county until he reached the ad- vanced age of ninety-six.
Elijah Young was married in Delaware county to Amy Larkin, and to this union were born nine children: Joseph, deceased; Nancy, deceased ; Zeruah, deceased: Steven V. R., of Claibourne township: Bruce, of Penn- sylvania ; Hannah Jane, deceased: Andrew, deceased: Riley, a resident of
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Indiana, and Morgan, a farmer of Claibourne township. Elijah Young and his wife later went to Michigan, where they both lived the remainder of their lives.
Steven V. R. Young received a good common school education in the rude district schools of his boyhood days and in the spring of 1856 started for the West. For nearly five years he worked in the gold mines in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and in the spring of 1861 returned to his old home in Delaware county, Ohio. Shortly afterwards he came to Union county and he and his brother, Morgan, bought a farm of one hundred and fourteen acres adjoining the town of Richwood. Later S. V. R. Young bought his brother's share in the farm and on this place he and his family lived for over thirty years.
Mr. Young was married October 1. 1861, to Berthena Belfield. the daughter of William and Margaret ( Sutten ) Belfield. Mr. Belfield and his wife were both natives of England and Mrs. Young was born in England. March 19, 1843. Her mother died in her native land and Mr. Belfield and his family later came to the United States and located in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1848. Later Mr. Belfield came to Columbus, where he clerked in a grocery store. Late in life he made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Young until his death in 1875. Mr. Belfield and his wife were the parents of nine children, six dying in childhood, and the other three. William, Margaret and Berthena, coming to the United States with their father. William enlisted for services in the Civil War and was killed at the battle of Atlanta. He was a member of the Eighteenth Regiment United States Infantry, and was serving under General Sherman. Margaret is the widow of Harry Wells and now lives in Kentucky. Berthena is the wife of Mr. Young.
Mr. and Mrs. Young are the parents of three children, only one of whom is now living. Willis E. Young, who was born June 19, 1864, and married Mary Bell Benedict, of Union county. Willis is the manager of the Ben Franklin Printing Company of Akron. Ohio. He and his wife have one daughter, Helen Louise, who was born in June. 1909. Lutell, another son of Mr. and Mrs. Young, died in 1902, at the age of thirty-five, leaving his widow. Alice (Cox) Young, with four children, Harry L., Bertha A., Willis E. and Rancy, who was accidetally killed by a street car in Akron, Ohio.
Harry L. Young, one of the grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Young, was married August 21, 1913. to Minnie May Wallace, a daughter of William P. and Emma (Gray) Wallace, and to this union one son has been born. James Steven Young, born May 26, 1914. This baby won the
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prize at the Richwood fair for being the largest baby on exhibition. The baby weighed twenty pounds when he was four months of age. Harry Young lives with the parents.
Margaret C. Young, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Steven Young, was born November 10, 1874, and died when she was two years of age. Mr. Young was engaged in active farming until 1904, when he bought prop- erty in Richwood and retired from the active management of his farm. He has been a stanch Republican all his life until a few years ago, when he became a member of the Prohibition party. He and his family are all mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and are very much interested in its welfare.
JOHN J. WATTS.
A successful farmer, stock raiser, merchant and stock buyer of Union county. Ohio, is John J. Watts, who now makes his home in Broadway, Union county, Ohio. While he has been engaged in merchandising for twenty years, he has devoted much of his attention to the buying and shipping of live stock. He has also been interested in the elevator business in Broad- way and successfully managed the grain elevator at that place for a number of years. He is strictly upright in all of his dealings and because of his excellent judgment and foresight, has accumulated a fine farm of four hun- dred and forty acres adjoining Broadway.
John J. Watts, the son of Hiram and Sarah J. (Goldsmith) Watts, was born in Franklin township. Franklin county, Ohio, November 25, 1847. His parents were natives of New York and Ohio, respectively, and reared a family of six children : Horace, a farmer of York township: John J., of Broadway: William J., a farmer of York township; Eletha J., deceased, the wife of I. J. Siegler ; Charles D., of Columbus, Ohio; and Carrie, the wife of A. J. Davis, of Toledo, Ohio.
Hiram Watts was about four years of age when he came from New York state to Ohio with his uncle, his parents having died in New York state while he was still a babe in arms. He grew to manhood in Franklin township, Franklin county, Ohio, and moved to Union county at the close of the Civil War. He farmed here until 1905, when he returned to Franklin county, where he lived until his death in March, 1911, being ninety-one years, three months and twelve days old at the time of his demise. His wife died
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in September, 1905, at the age of eighty-four. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The paternal grandfather of John J. Watts was John Watts. He was a native of New York state and lived there all of his days. He was killed when about forty years of age by the kick of a horse. His wife. Elizabeth, also died in middle age. There were five children born to John Watts and wife, Nicholas, Joseph, John, Catherine and Maria. The maternal grand- parents of John J. Watts were Thomas and Nancy Goldsmith, natives of Scotland and Pennsylvania, respectively, and early settlers in Franklin town- ship, Franklin county, Ohio. They lived there the remainder of their days and reared a family of two children, John J. and Nancy J. Thomas Gold- smith and his wife, Nancy, had both been previously married.
John J. Watts was reared on his father's farm in Franklin county, Ohio, and attended the public schools of his home neighborhood. He remained on the farm until he was twenty years of age and then began clerking in a store in York Center, where he remained for five years. He then came to Broad- way and clerked in a store here for a short time, after which he operated an elevator in Broadway for five years. He then went to Cincinnati and traveled on the road for McCrea, Barnes & Donnelly Company, remaining in their service for a year and a half. After leaving this company, he returned to Broadway and bought out a general store in that village and engaged in merchandising for fourteen years. He bought and operated the elevator here for five years. During all the time that he was in the merchandise busi- ness, as well as managing the elevator, he was engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock. He invested in Union county land and now has one of the best farms in the county, comprising a total of four hundred and forty acres. He has a beautiful home in Broadway.
Mr. Watts was married in September. 1870, to Orpha K. Safford, the daughter of Pelatiah and Azubah (Austin) Safford. To this union two chil- dren have been born, Maude A. and Lennie H. Maude A. is the wife of R. C. Turney, of Delaware, Ohio, and has four children living, Mabel, Dallas, Theodore and William. Lennie H., who married Anna May Shirk, is a farmer of Taylor township and has three children, Dode, Lucile and Quinton. The first wife of Mr. Watts died July 3, 1873, at the age of twenty-two.
June 11, 1874, Mr. Watts married Mrs. Mary M. Yearsley, the widow of Nathan Yearsley, and the daughter of Sewell G. and Harriett S. (Safford) Hartshorn. To this second marriage, one son, Sewell G., has been born. Sewell G. is now a partner with his father in the live stock shipping business. He married Lacy Mckinnon and has two children, Ralph and Evelyn. Mrs.
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Watts had a daughter by her former marriage, Estalla, who married J. E. Shelton, of Broadway. Mr. and Mrs. Shelton have twelve children living, Dwight J., Claude E., Ethel M., Dode W., Paul E., Nathan, Esther, Jane. John E., Sewell B., Fern and Edith.
Mrs. Mary M. Watts is a first cousin of the first wife of Mr. Watts, and was born at what is now Raymond, Union county, March 24, 1846. Her father was a native of New Hampshire, and her mother was born in Ver- mont of Scotch lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Hartshorn were among the first settlers of Licking county, Ohio, and shortly afterwards came to Union county, where her father followed the occupation of a carpenter and farmer. He died on a farm in Liberty township in 1874, at the age of seventy-five. His wife died August 20, 1891, at the age of eighty. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hartshorn, Sarah A., George P., David S., Mary M., and two who died in infancy. Ethel Shelton, the granddaughter of Mrs. Watts, married Edgar Welch and they have one daughter. Thelma, who is the great- granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Watts.
Mr. Watts is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. In politics he is a Republican and has served as treasurer and justice of the peace of his township.
DANIEL C. PARISH.
A life-long farmer of Claibourne township, Union county, Ohio, is Daniel C. Parish, who came to this county with his parents in 1847 when he was one year old. He grew to manhood in this county, served in the Civil War and since the close of that struggle has been engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. He has been successful in his agricultural operations, as is evidenced by his well improved farm in Claibourne township, where he has long made his home.
Daniel C. Parish, a son of Joseph and Keziah ( Ramey) Parish, was born November 26, 1846, in Muskingum county, Ohio. His father was a native of New Jersey, and when a lad of about twelve years came to Ohio with John Rachels and located in Muskingum county, where he grew to man- hood and married Keziah Ramey. Ten children were born to Joseph Parish and wife, five of whom are living: William A., who lives in Marion county, Illinois, near Fairman ; Daniel C., of Claibourne township : Elizabeth. the wife of James Moore, a farmer of Jackson township: Josephine, the wife
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of Thomas Fisher, of Springfield, Ohio: Louie, the wife of P. G. Baker, a farmer living one mile east of Richwood.
Daniel C. Parish moved with his parents from Muskingum county to Union county, Ohio, in March, 1847, and located with them in Claibourne township. His father lived on the farm until a few years before his death, when he retired to Richwood. His wife died in Richwood and Joseph later returned to the farm and lived with his son until his death.
Daniel C. Parish was reared on his father's farm in Claibourne town- ship, and received such education as was afforded by the country schools of his boyhood days. When he was seventeen years of age he enlisted as a member of Company F. Thirty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was discharged June 18. 1865. He was mustered out at Camp Chase after having been in the service for about fifteen months. Two years after the war he was married and then settled down to the life of a farmer and has engaged in agricultural pursuits since that time. At the present time his son-in-law has active management of his farm.
Mr. Parish was married November 26. 1867, to Rachel Ann Gray, a daughter of John Gray, a pioneer settler of Union county, and to this union four children were born, only one of whom is living. The three deceased children are Emma, who died at the age of eighteen: Ulysses, who died at the age of six, and Joseph E., who died at the age of thirty-five. The mother of these children died in 1876.
The one living child of Mr. Parish is Jennie, who was married April 26, 1908, to George Hageman. He was born in Marion county, Ohio. Sep- tember II, 1858, and is a son of John and Susan ( Pfeifer ) Hageman. His parents were both natives of Germany and came to the United States in 1853 and located in Perry county, Ohio. John Hageman was a soap and candle maker by trade, and later engaged in the cigar manufacturing busi- ness. John Hageman died in 1884 and his widow passed away in 1904. Five children were born to John Hageman and wife: Emma, of Marion, Ohio: Christ, of Columbus; Minnie, the wife of William Paulus, of Colum- bus : George, who married Jennie Parish, and Callie, the widow of Albert Andrews, who now makes her home in Marion, Ohio. Mr. Hageman is an excellent farmer and a wide-awake and public-spirited citizen, being high- ly esteemed in the community where he lives. He is a Republican in poli- tics and has served as justice of the peace in his township. He and his wife are members of the First Reformed church of Marion. Mr. Hage-
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man is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees.
Mr. Parish is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to the post at Richwood. He is a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Richwood, and his wife was also a member of the same denomi- nation.
CHARLES H. BYNNER.
The "Crystal Spring Farm" of one hundred and forty-four acres three and one-half miles south of Ostrander, Union county, Ohio, is one of the finest farms in Mill Creek township. The owner of this farm, Charles H. Bynner, is one of the representative farmers of his county and a public spirited citizen who is fully alive in every movement which looks toward the betterment of the community in which he resides. Although Mr. Bynner has lived in this county but a few years, yet he has already become thoroughly identified with its interests.
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