USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 17
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1051
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
The subject of this sketch was reared in the Berea home, and early be- came acquainted with the manifold duties of the farm. He attended the com- mon schools until the age of fourteen years. He conceived the idea that specializing in farming and gardening could be made a success and that his belief was well founded was abundantly proven in his later experiences. In his youth he followed his idea, raising large crops of onions, beets, and other garden truck, in which he was engaged for a number of years. He also en- gaged in the milk business to some extent. About the time of his marriage, in 1887, he moved to Creston and entered the business of growing celery, going into partnership with W. C. ("Celery King") Johnson, of Carey, Ohio, their land being located just outside of Creston. Celery and onions were their specialty and their success was pronounced from the start, the muck ground occupied by their gardens being capable of wonderful productions of vegetables. Eventually Mr. Jordan purchased the interest of his partner and continued the business alone until his death. He added to his original land holdings from time to time and at the time of his death he was the possessor of a handsome competence. He was a pioneer in the preserving business and at one time was a heavy raiser of tomatoes and cucumbers. The land com- prising the farm was at one time wild and considered practically worthless. but under the magic touch of a practical hand the land became very valuable. a single acre of land giving employment to several persons. The business thus inaugurated and established has had a beneficial influence on the business of the community, and is numbered among the most prominent enterprises of the township.
Mr. Jordan possessed a marked taste and talent for music and for a num- ber of years was a prominent member of the Shubert Orchestra and the Berea Band. He also had an interest in military affairs and was a member of Com- pany D, Fifth Regiment Ohio National Guard, known as the Berea Light Guards. On the 20th of January, 1886, he was commissioned by Governor Foraker first lieutenant of this company, having been elected by the company.
In religious belief Mr. Jordan held that of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was an earnest and consistent member, while his fraternal membership was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been a charter member of the subordinate lodge of this order at Creston. In politics he was an ardent Republican and always took a live interest in the success of his party. He inherited from his mother and his grandmother, who were prom- inently connected with the Crusader movement in this state a number of years ago, an intense hatred for the liquor business and was active in efforts to pro- mote temperance in his community. More especially when children of his
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
own grew up about him did he feel the force of the question and thereafter he was more personally interested than ever before. In 1900 he was placed on the Republican ticket as the candidate for mayor of Creston, but having business interests in the South to look after, he did not give much attention to the canvass and was defeated by four votes. In 1902 he was again nominated and this time the issue was the temperance question. He took a firm and uncompromising stand for a "dry" town and on this question he was elected mayor of Creston. He gave the city a satisfactory administration and in 1905 he was again put on the ticket on the same issue and was again elected. His only official service prior to his election as mayor had been in the capacity of member of the council and of the board of education. He was serving as mayor at the time of his sudden death. This deplorable event occurred on January 31, 1907, during a heavy snow storm. He was walking with one of his workmen along the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad tracks when a train suddenly approached and he jumped hastily aside to escape injury .. A train was approaching on the other track, however, of which fact Mr. Jordan was ignorant, and he was struck and killed. The sad event cast a gloom over the entire community, Mr. Jordan being one of the most popular men who resided in this section of the county.
On the 20th of October, 1887, Mr. Jordan was married to Estella Mary Anthony, a native of Rockport, Ohio, and the daughter of Edward M. and Sophronia Anthony, early settlers there. They were originally from Brook- field, Madison county, New York, the mother's family being traced to old Connecticut stock. Mrs. Jordan's parents came to Ohio in 1826 and here the father entered a farm, which he cleared and developed into a valuable prop- erty, the same being still in the possession of the family. The father died in 1891, while the mother is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. Jordan were born the following children : Edith A., who is now a student in Wooster University ; Ralph W. is a graduate of the Creston high school and is now managing the business formerly conducted by his father, and which is now run under the name of Jordan Brothers; Carl M. is a student in the high school at Creston ; Florence R. is in the high school : Frances G. and Raymond Usher.
The honored subject of this review was ever found faithful to duty, under whatever aspect it presented itself, never sacrificing integrity and honor to personal expediency and so living as to command unqualified confidence and esteem as emanating from those with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. No undue eulogy but rather simple justice is done to the memory of such a man when perpetual record is made concerning his life and
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
accomplishment, and this has been attempted in this simple tribute to one who stood "four square to every wind that blows," who attained definite success in temporal affairs and who was one of the representative citizens of Wayne county.
JOHN HARTZLER.
This family represents several generations of farmers, the first of whom came to Ohio in the early half of the last century and figured in several dif- ferent communities. They were originally Pennsylvanians, from which state John Hartzler, grandfather of the subject, came to Wayne county and set- tled near Smithville on the wild land then offered freely by the government. He married Sarah Zook, by whom he had six children, including a son named Joel, the father of the subject. He grew up on his father's farm and at maturity made shingles by hand as his chief source of income. He married Sarah, daughter of Nicholas and Catherine (Kurtz) Yoder, who came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to Holmes county, Ohio, where they ended their days. After his marriage Joel located in Milton township, Wayne coun- ty, on a farm purchased by hard labor, which he improved and put in a good state of cultivation. In 1854 he moved to Greene township, and bought a good farm of one hundred and twelve acres, which he cultivated until his death, in 1875. He was a member of the Amish Mennonite church and a man of quiet, unobtrusive manner who never disturbed or wronged any one. The four children by his marriage were Elizabeth, wife of J. C. Borntrager, of LaGrange county, Indiana; John, the subject; Jacob, a farmer of Greene township, and David, who died when twelve years of age.
John Hartzler, second of the family, was born in Greene township, Wayne county, Ohio, January 25, 1855. He remained under the parental roof until 1887, meantime picking up a desultory education in the somewhat inferior schools of those days. On November 6, 1887, he married Lydia, daughter of Christian and Catherine Berkey, of Wayne township. The latter was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. The former was a native of France, who came to the United States when seventeen years old and first located in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, but later removed to Ohio. He bought a farm in section 14, Wayne township, subsequently purchasing an- other in section 25. He died at Orrville, Ohio, in 1903, and his wife in 1893, after becoming the parents of three children: Christian, deceased; Lydia, and Emma, wife of Daniel Liechty, of Greene township. To Mr. and
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Mrs. Hartzler have been born two children, Mahlon and Effie. After his marriage Mr. Hartzler located in Wayne township, section II, on the farm known as the Joshua Zook place, where he has since lived and carried on agricultural operations. He owns one hundred and seven acres on which he has expended much hard work and made many improvements. In 1903 he built the commodious house in which he now resides and is enjoying the com- forts that have come from a life of industry and frugality. He carries on general farming, raising all the cereal crops suitable to this latitude and a small amount of stock sufficient to consume the surplus products. He enjoys the reputation of being a good farmer and judicious manager. He is a member of Oak Grove Amish Mennonite church of Greene township and, though he votes the Republican ticket, he has neither held nor sought for office. Since 1902 his venerable mother has found a comfortable home under his roof.
JACOB STAM.
Though many years have passed since the subject of this sketch passed from the life militant to the life triumphant, he is still favorably remembered by many of the older residents of Wayne county, and because of his many excellent personal qualities and the splendid and definite influence which his life shed over the entire community in which he lived here during many years, renders it particularly consistent that specific mention should be made of him in a work containing mention of the representative persons of the county. A man of high moral character, unimpeachable integrity, persistent industry and excellent business judgment, he stood "four square to every wind that blows," and throughout the community he occupied an enviable position among his fellow men.
Jacob Stam was a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where he was born March 14, 1805. He was a son of George and Elizabeth ( Baker) Stam, who also were natives of the Keystone state, where they had lived for many years. His father having died when the subject was very young, the latter was reared by his maternal grandfather Baker. In 1830, at the age of about twenty-five years, Jacob Stam came to Ohio, locating near Moorland, Wayne county, where he entered a tract of land, which was practically all covered with the primeval growth of forest trees. A small clearing was made and a cabin erected, and then the worthy pioneer applied himself to
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
the herculean task of creating out of the forest a home, and in this effort he was eminently successful, and in due time came to be recognized as one of the leading agriculturists and influential citizens of the county. To his original one-hundred-and-sixty-acre tract he added thirty-one acres on the east and sixty-two acres on the west, making a total of two hundred and fifty-three acres owned by him at the time of his death. He was a hard-working man, and with his energy was combined a spirit of progressiveness that enabled him to accomplish much that to others would have seemed impossible. He was public-spirited in his attitude toward all movements calculated to ad- vance the best interests of the community and gave a hearty support to all beneficent projects. In his death, which occurred on the 27th of Au- gust, 1878, the community suffered a distinct loss, and his memory is held sacred by those who knew him. In politics he was first a Whig, but on the formation of the Republican party he allied himself with it and remained faithful to that party during the rest of his days. He was active in local public affairs and satisfactorily filled a number of local offices. His religious membership was with the German Lutheran church, in which he was a very active worker, and his remains now lie buried in the cemetery of that church in Franklin township.
On September 1, 1853, Mr. Stam was united in marriage with Mar- garet Hagye, the daughter of John and Margaret (Long) Hagye, who were natives of Baden, Germany. They were the parents of eight children, of whom Mrs. Stam is the only one living. Mrs. Stam was born in Germany on the 19th of August, 1829, and at the age of eight years she was brought to America by her parents. They first stopped in Knox county, Ohio, but a few years later removed to Holmes county, where they lived until the death of Mrs. Stam's stepmother. Mr. and Mrs. Hagye were members of the Lutheran church and their remains lie buried in the cemetery of that church in Holmes county. To Mr. and Mrs. Stam were born the following children : Albert, who is now a resident of Knox county ; Eliza, who remains at home with her mother; Adolph died on August 30, 1906, and is buried in the Wooster cemetery ; George, who lives in Knox county, married Estella Blue, and they have five children, Lillie Dean, George Carlton, Walter Lee, Lena May and Opal; Jacob, who lives in Colorado, married Hannah Goodyear and they are the parents of five children, Henry Jacob, Edna, William McKinley, Maude Eliza and Elsie Margaret; Wilson is a successful stock buyer in Nebraska : Joseph is at home; Margaret became the wife of Charles Kimber and they have five children ; George R. and Helen LeGrand are at home.
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Mrs. Stam, who still resides on the old homestead, is a lady of many womanly virtues and by her kindly ways and sweet qualities of character she has won and retains the warm friendship of all who know her, her at- tractive home being ever open to the visits of her friends.
DR. BENJAMIN STUDER.
Each calling or business, if honorable, has its place in human existence, constituting a part of the plan whereby life's methods are pursued and man reaches his ultimate destiny. A study of a career like that of Dr. Benjamin Studer, one of Orrville's best known citizens, shows what may be accom- plished while yet young in life if proper ideals are persistently applied. Doc- tor Studer is a native of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he was born in February, 1879, the son of Fred and Louise (Bright) Studer, an influential family of that county. Doctor Studer is the next to the youngest member of the family and a brother of Rudolph Studer, of Sugar Creek township. He was reared on the home farm, which he worked when he became of proper age; this was in Holmes county, for when he was one year old his parents moved from Tuscarawas county to Holmes county, this state. Benjamin received a good primary education, having attended the district schools dur- ing the winter months for several years or until he was seventeen years of age, after which he devoted his attention exclusively to farm work. But, believing that some other line would suit his tastes better, he started to learn the blacksmith's trade, but he did not follow this long until he started in the creamery business, learning the buttermaking trade. He followed this very successfully for a period of four years. Having long desired to become a veterinary surgeon, he abandoned all business and entered the Veterinary College of the Ohio State University and took a full course, embracing three years, from which he was graduated in 1906, with the degree of Veterinary Surgeon, having made an excellent record for scholarship.
Doctor Studer at once located for practice at Cincinnati, Ohio, and re- mained there over eighteen months, where he enjoyed an excellent patronage from the first. But desiring to return to Wayne county, he established an office in Orrville in 1908, and, although he has been here but a short time, he has built up a very satisfactory practice which is constantly growing, for he is well grounded in his profession and is a man in whom everyone places the utmost confidence.
BENJAMIN STUDER
1057
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Doctor Studer was married, in April, 1909, to Emma Herman, a native of New Philadelphia, Ohio, and the daughter of a fine old family there, and they have been blessed wtih a daughter, Sophia Alice, born May 19, 1910.
The Doctor is a member of the Reformed church at Orrville, and polit- ically he is a Democrat.
MENNO PETER YODER.
The family of this name became identified with Wayne county at an early period by the incoming of the founder, who was among the first settlers of Wayne county. Samuel Yoder, a son of this first settler, was a boy at the time his father arrived. The latter bought land in section 30, Greene town- ship, and after spending his life in farming ended his days on the old home- stead. Samuel was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and remained with his parents until of age, when he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land west of Weilersville, Ohio. He spent much labor in clearing this tract and eventually converted it into a valuable home. He died March 31, 1878, aged seventy years, four months and twenty days. In early manhood he mar- ried Catherine Naftziger, a native of Germany, who died September 4, 1892, aged over seventy-five years. They had eleven children: Bene, married and both are deceased; Jonathan, who was a farmer and horse dealer in Greene township, first married Leah Stoltzfus, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who died in 1881, and second, Mary Zook, of Goshen, Indiana, who again re- sides at that place, and he died November 4, 1896; Barbara is the wife of David Hostetler; Jacob N. is a resident of Greene township; Levi N. is a farmer, at Holden, Missouri; Elizabeth (deceased), wife of A. K. Kurtz; Martha is the wife of Ames Smucker; Samuel D. died June 2, 1873, aged twenty-two years; Menno P .; the tenth child, David V., died in infancy ; John A. married Sarah Newhouser and is a farmer in Wayne township.
Meno P. Yoder, ninth of this family, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, March 24, 1856. After securing a fair education he taught three terms of school in Greene township. In 1878 he located on section 15, in Wayne town- ship, where he has since resided. On January 22, 1878, he married Veronica Yoder, of Wayne township, daughter of Joash and Catherine (Smucker) Yoder. Mr. Yoder has no children. He has been engaged in farming all of his life and has met with a fair amount of success. He is a member of the Oak Grove church in Greene township.
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1058
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
About the year 1720, Barbara Yoder, widow of a man who died at sea on his way from Switzerland to this country, arrived at Philadelphia. This was one of the first Amish Mennonite families that came to Pennsylvania, and they located in the eastern part of the state, either in Lancaster or Berks county. She was the mother of eight sons and one daughter, the latter be- coming the wife of Christian Byler. Seven of the sons married and reared families. Christian had eleven children, Jacob, Anna, Christian, John, Fan- nie, Elizabeth, Barbara, Henry, Yost, Joseph and David. The latter was the grandfather of Joash Yoder. His first wife was Jacobin Esh, who also came from Switzerland and arrived at Philadelphia in 1780, after a long and perilous passage of over six weeks on the ocean. She had three sons and five daughters : Daniel, born 1791; Rebecca, wife of Jacob Zook, born October 18, 1793; Jonathan, born September 2, 1795, married Magdaline, daughter of Zacharius Wagner, who was brought to this country from Hesse, Ger- many, during the Revolutionary war and died in Berks county, Pennsylvania ; Joseph, born September 13, 1797, married Catherine Lantz, of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, where he lived many years and taught English and German schools. In 1838 he moved to Juniata, Pennsylvania, and in 1846 to McLain county, Illinois, where he bought a farm on which he lived until his death, in February, 1888; Magdaline, born April 23, 1799, married John Lantz and died in 1832; Fannie, born April 11, 1802, married Joel Yoder, of Center county, Pennsylvania; Maria, born April 11, 1804, married John Yoder, of Center county, Pennsylvania; Leah, born December 8, 1806, married Yost Yoder, of Center county, Pennsylvania. In 1849 she and her family moved to Juniata county and from there to McLain county, Illinois, still later to Kansas. David Yoder, grandfather of Joash, went with his family from Berks county, Pennsylvania, to Mifflin county in 1811. He bought a large farm, which after the death of his wife he lost as the result of financial dis- asters, and died in 1820. His son, Jonathan, who became the father of Joash, was a man of great strength and more than ordinary intelligence. Though he had little schooling, he could read and write German and English, and could solve many difficult problems. When about thirty years old he was called to the ministry of the Amish Mennonite church and served in that capacity to the end of his life. He received no compensation, but worked for the love of the cause, and showed a great deal of ability. He worked for fifty cents a day, yet by industry and the help of his good wife they lived comfortably. Eventually he owned a small home place, four miles west of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Shortly after his marriage he learned the carpen- ter's trade and made his living chiefly by that kind of work for some time.
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
In 1828, when his son Joash was ten years of age, he removed to Half Moon township, Center county, Pennsylvania, and bought one hundred acres of land on which he lived eight years and then removed to Juniata county. Jonathan and Magdalena died in Center county. Nine children grew up, married and reared families, their names being as follows: Leah, born March 28, 1818; Joash, born December 23, 1819; Elias, born October 16, 1821; Elizabeth, born January 5, 1825; Sarah, born December 17, 1826; Amos, born Decem- ber 17, 1828; Jonathan, born September 21, 1830; Magdaline, born July 13, 1832; Asa, born January 24, 1835; Catherine, born September 10, 1836, and Annie, born February 7, 1840.
In 1846 Elias removed to McLain county, Illinois, near Bloomington, and afterwards other members of the family joined him. In 1850 Jonathan and his wife followed with the remainder of the family. The parents died and were buried there. When fourteen years of age, Magdaline Yoder was bound to Christian Smucker, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Her mas- ter removing to Mifflin county, she accompanied him and remained with him until eighteen years old. She early became a member of the Amish Mennon- ite church and was a kind and benevolent woman, as well as the most loving of mothers. She spun all the cloth used by her family, from shirts to over- coats, and wove all of the clothing with her own hands and made all the clothes for the family.
Joash Yoder was born December 23. 1819, in Derry township, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and remained at home until twenty-one years old. He did all kinds of farm work, went to the log school house and had all the ex- periences of the pioneer boy. He studied hard and could read and write English and German. An unusually good scholar at the age of nineteen, he began teaching and kept this up for several years. In 1841 he married Bar- bara Kaufman, daughter of Christian Kaufman, of Mifflin county. He left Juniata county and lived in a small log house, fourteen by fifteen feet, which belonged to his father-in-law. He cut wood and cleared for fifty cents a day, which was the prevailing price in those times. He had only one son, Eli L., who now lives in Nebraska and has seven children. His wife died October 12, 1851, and in the fall of 1853 he married Catherine Zook, a widow and daugh- ter of Christian Schmucker. She had three children by her former husband and two by Joash Yoder : Veronica, the eldest, is the wife of Menno P. Yoder ; Amos died when four years old. Catherine (Zook) Yoder, when married, was living on the farm later occupied by herself and Mr. Yoder. The farm belonged to her three sons, but she owned a life estate. Later Mr. Yoder bought this farm and devoted the rest of his life to its cultivation after he
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
came to Wayne county, and ended his days on this old homestead. He was one of the most prominent and esteemed men in the township. He had an excellent memory and was well posted on current events. Of amiable disposi- tion, fair and just in his dealings, he had many friends.
SAMUEL MATTY.
A large number of the best citizens of Wayne county, Ohio, have come from Switzerland and, without exception, they have greatly benefited them- selves since coming to our shores, for they are thrifty and soon get posses- sion of valuable property. One of this number is Samuel Matty, whose birth occurred in Switzerland on February 10, 1851, the son of Samuel and Mag- dalena (Reben) Matty. His maternal grandfather was Stephen Reben, and his paternal grandfather was John Matty, both natives of Switzerland, in which country they spent their lives. Samuel Matty, father of the subject, was also born in Switzerland, in which country he kept a tavern, and his death occurred in 1858; his widow and three children came to America, where the mother lived until her death, in 1897. Besides Samuel, of this review, there were two daughters. The trip to the United States was made in 1868. The family first located in the state of Tennessee, but after a short residence moved to Ohio, where they remained for two years; then lived one year in ยท Wisconsin, after which they returned to Wayne county, Ohio, locating at Overton in 1871, and they have lived in Chester township ever since. For a period of twenty-one years the family lived on the Rumbaugh farm as renters. In 1892 the son, Samuel, bought seventy-six acres of the Guidlesperger estate near Burbank. This place was first rented, then sold, and later Mr. Matty bought the William Howman farm and moved thereto; from that farm he moved on the farm on which he now lives, which was for some time known as the old Lehr farm or Felgar farm. Mr. Matty is the owner of two hundred and seventy-five acres of excellent land which he has so skillfully managed as to cause it to yield abundant harvests from year to year. He remodeled the dwelling and barn, making them comfortable and up-to-date. He handles a good grade of all kinds of livestock, and in connection with his general farming, they net him a fine annual income. Mr. Matty now lives practically retired, his son doing most of the work about the farm.
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