USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 37
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1244
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Jacob B. Bechtel, father of Tillman O., was reared in Pennsylvania where he received his schooling. In 1842 he came to Wayne county, Ohio, and settled in Wooster township where he managed a sawmill, one of the largest in the township, becoming widely known as a mill man, being one of the earliest of the township, and he continued in this line until his health failed. His death occurred on the place where he first settled, having lived there continuously. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob B. Bechtel fourteen children were born, eleven of whom grew to maturity. Jacob Bechtel lived a quiet life ; politically he was Whig and later a Republican. He was a member of the German Reformed church and was a good and upright man.
Tillman O. Bechtel likes to tell of his trip to this county from his old Pennsylvania home, which was made in a covered wagon, the trip being somewhat arduous owing to the rough roads and unbridged streams. He was then only a boy and he received his education in the common schools of Wooster township, where the family settled when they arrived in Wayne county. He began working on the home place when very young and he has always followed farming. He is now the owner of sixty-one acres of good land in Plain township. He came to this vicinity in 1874 and bought the farm he now owns about 1894.
Tillman O. Bechtel was one of the loyal sons of the North who served in the defense of the national integrity in the early sixties, having been a member of Company F, One Hundred and Second Regiment, Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, for a period of three years. In the same company and regi- ment also served I. J. and W. D. Bechtel for three years, and George H. Bechtel for more than one year. They all took part in the various engage- ments in which the regiment was involved.
After the war Tillman O. Bechtel returned home and took up farming and has since led a quiet life, devoting his attention exclusively to his farm.
Mr. Bechtel was married in 1869 to Magdalena Lawrence, daughter of George Lawrence, the son of Christian Lawrence, whose sketch appears in another part of this work. The subject and wife are the parents of the. fol- lowing children: J. W., living in Iowa; W. D., living in Los Angeles, Cali- fornia ; E. L., living in Akron, Ohio; Nellie married George Keets, of Plain township; J. A .; Elizabeth married Zeno Miller, living in Chester township : Eva Rebecca, who married Irvin O. Stair, died in April, 1909.
Religiously, Mr. Bechtel is a member of the Reformed church, and his fraternal affiliation is with the Grand Army of the Republic.
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
JOSEPH H. RITTENHOUSE.
It is with no little degree of gratification to be able to point to an an- cestry of the honorable and progressive type of those of J. H. Rittenhouse, for they were of that class of pioneers who took a delight in developing new countries and paving the way for subsequent civilization and progress. J. H. Rittenhouse was born in Plain township March 30, 1856, the son of Samuel and Mary (Stair) Rittenhouse, the former a native of Pennsylvania. and the latter born in Germany. The paternal grandparents of the subject were Jesse and Catherine (Metz) Rittenhouse, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Wayne county, Ohio, in an early day and settled in Plain township, buying one hundred and sixty acres, which they cleared, developed and lived on the rest of their lives, both Mr. Rittenhouse and his wife being buried there. The father of J. H. Rittenhouse was born on that place and he died there, having followed farming throughout his life. He was a Republican and a German Baptist. He was rather quiet, avoiding public display. His family consisted of seven sons and two daughters. The maternal grandpar- ents of J. H. Rittenhouse, of this review, were John and Christenia (Mosier) Stair, who were both born and reared in Germany, marrying in that country. She died there, after which event John Stair married again. In 1834 the family settled in Plain township, buying about eighty acres of land in timber, but they cleared the same and John Stair lived there until his death.
To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rittenhouse, parents of the subject, the following children were born : John, Jesse, Mathias, William (died in child- hood), Joseph H., Samuel M., Daniel, Mary, Sarah and George.
J. H. Rittenhouse was educated in school No. 2, Plain township, which he alternated with farming, remaining on the home place until he was eigh- teen years of age, after which he spent fifteen years in Indiana, working in the timber. He delighted in the free life of the woods and in their midst grew to a sturdy manhood. He returned to Plain township, near Jefferson, and for seven years followed farming, two years of which time were spent on the home place. Although he was making a success of farming, he saw a good opening for a general store at Jefferson and he accordingly launched in the mercantile business, in which he has been engaged ever since continu- ously at that place, having built up quite an extensive and satisfactory pat- ronage with the surrounding country, always carrying a new and carefully selected stock and his prices are never above what they should be, according his customers.
Mr. Rittenhouse was married in 1882 to Esther Lenton, and the fol-
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
lowing children have been born to them: Ray and Roy (twins), the latter dying in infancy, Ray now being at Creston, this county ; he married Blanch Holenstein, and they are the parents of two children, George and Mary. Mabel Rittenhouse married Ora Johnson, of Wooster, and they have one child, Mildred.
J. H. Rittenhouse has been twice married, his last wife being Melinda Swartz, whom he espoused in 1891, and three children have been born to this union, Sylvia, Mary and Charles.
Mr. Rittenhouse is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church and politically he is a Republican. He has long taken considerable interest in local political affairs, and he very creditably served as clerk of Plain township for a period of two years, being elected to a second term in 1909.
ROBERT WHORTON.
Born of rugged Canadian stock and he himself a native of that northern country, Robert Whorton, a well known farmer of Plain township, Wayne county, is an example of that type of men who win success in life because they persevere in whatever they have in hand until the goal has been reached, regardless of obstacles that may beset their course. He was born in 1837, the son of Robert and Eliza Whorton. The subject came to the United States in the spring of 1865 and located in Plain township, Wayne county, Ohio, and for many years after coming here he followed the carpenter's trade, which he learned in his native country. In 1870 he was married to Harriet Lawrence, since which time he has devoted his attention to farming, owning at this writing an excellent place of eighty-five acres in Plain township, which yields him a very comfortable living. He and his wife are the parents of the following children: Ira, who married Dora Metcalf, and they are the parents of these children, John Robert, Clarence, Herman and Forest ; Dallas Whorton married Carrie Anderson and they are the parents of these children, Vida Eliza, Dorothy, Erma and Harriet.
Daniel Lawrence, the father of Mrs. Whorton, was born three miles west of Wooster, in 1824, the son of Christian and Magdalena (Etley) Lawrence, the latter the daughter of Philip Etley, who came to this country from Germany when a young man and settled in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Christian Lawrence was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in 1780. He
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
was the son of John Lawrence, who lived in Middletown until his death. In that town Christian Lawrence practiced his trade of blacksmith for a period of thirty-three years. He was drafted for service in the United States army in 1812, but the war closed before he saw any service. In 1836 he drove a five-horse team from Pennsylvania to Wayne county, Ohio, and settled on a farm of one hundred and eighty acres, three miles west of Wooster, clear- ing much of the place. He became the owner of seven hundred and eighty acres in Wayne county, all through his thrift and excellent management, becoming one of the leading agriculturists and citizens of his locality. Until within a short time of his death he lived on his original one hundred and eighty acres. In the early days his buildings came near being destroyed by a forest fire, but, by hard work, he and his sons kept the fire from destroying their home.
Daniel Lawrence was educated in the home schools and for thirty years he was a veterinary surgeon, spending about ten years of that time in this exclusive practice ; however, his farming usually took precedence of his veter- inary work. In 1847 he bought forty acres where he now lives, adjoining the eighty acres which his father had given him, and he has since been located on the farm in Plain township, having cleared over fifty acres of the place. He was married in 1844 to Rebecca Wagner, who came to this county from Pennsylvania when eighteen years of age, accompanied by her uncle, who settled west of Jefferson, she walking nearly the entire distance from the old home in Pennsylvania. To Daniel Lawrence and wife nine children were born, namely: Harriet, wife of Robert Whorton, subject of this review : Mary Ann, Eli, Samuel, Rebecca, Amanda, Curtis, Effie and Isaac. Mary Ann married Ira B. Hale, a Baptist minister in Colorado. They have five children. Eli, who is the father of five children, has been married twice, first to Abbie Quick, then to Ellen Carson. Eli was a professor in a college in Texas and died in that state. Samuel, who lives in Indiana, married Ma- lissa Obenaur. Rebecca married Henry Filger, who died about fifteen years ago, and she now lives in Plain township; she is the mother of three children. Amanda married Asa Tyler, of Ashland, and they have a daughter.
The following children were reared by Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Lawrence, in addition to their own family: Jesse Dockardy, John Wagner, Rachel Wag- ner, Howard Lawrence, Charles Lawrence and Ollie Lawrence.
Daniel Lawrence is a Democrat, and religiously he supports the Methodist Episcopal church ; however, he was formerly a Lutheran. Both the Lawrence and Whorton families are among the most highly respected and influential in Plain township.
1248
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
WILLIAM A. LEWIS.
Although a young man, William A. Lewis has succeeded in leaving the imprint of his personality upon the people of Chester township, Wayne county, and at an age when most men are just getting started in their life work, he finds himself the possesser of valuable property and occupying a position in the business and social life of the community that should be the source of gratification to anyone. He was born on the old Beninger farm, where he now lives, north of New Pittsburg, November 30, 1880, the son of John and Malinda S. (Emery) Lewis, the latter born on the same farm as the subject, while the father's birth occurred in the state of Pennsylvania ; but when a young man he left the place of his nativity and came to Wayne county, Ohio, and, for a short time, made his home here. The subject's maternal grandparents were David and Mary (Beninger). Emery, Mrs. Mary Beninger having been born in Pennsylvania in 1832 and she came from that state with her parents, Peter and Frances ( Barkley) Beninger. On April 19, 1836, Peter Beninger bought eighty acres of land of David Countryman where William A. Lewis now lives. The original farm has been added to until it now consists of one hundred and twenty-nine acres. Peter Beninger and his family made the toilsome overland trip to this county in an old-fashioned covered wagon. They occupied the log buildings that were on the place at the time of their coming, and they cleared the major part of the land, transforming it into an excellent farm. In this old home are to be found today many articles brought from Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, when the family first came over, among them being two old guns, a churn (still in use), the top of the covered wagon, also the hubs. The sub- ject and his aged mother carefully preserve these old relics of a bygone day. David Emery, the grandfather of the subject, enlisted as a "Squirrel Hun- ter" during the Civil war. Peter Beninger and wife lived on the old farm the remainder of their lives, as did also David Emery and wife. David Emery was born in Plain township, Wayne county, Ohio, April 6, 1827, and died September 30, 1893; he was married April 8. 1855. By trade he was a carpenter, also an extensive farmer and thresher. Peter Beninger was a shoemaker by trade. Mrs. Lewis is the only child of David Emery.
William A. Lewis, of this review, is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. John Lewis. He received a good education in his native community, and he is a general machinist and electrician and is regarded as one of the most skillful in his line in the county. At present he is the representative of the Fairbanks-Morse Company, gasoline engines. He also does repair work on automobiles, electric bells, gasoline engines, bicycles, etc. Besides his
WILLIAM A. LEWIS, MOTHER, GRANDFATHER AND GRANDMOTHER
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
many duties in this line, he also superintends the work on the old farm, and has a very comfortable income from the two sources. Politically he is a Democrat ; however, his father always voted the Republican ticket. David Emery was a Democrat, while Peter Beninger was a Republican and a Lutheran, as was also his wife.
JAMES GARFIELD SHELLY.
While the gentleman whose names introduces this sketch may not have the capacity of a statesman or a general, he has some of the characteristics that make for success, like the distinguished American for whom he was named, for, although yet a young man, he has achieved a standing in the business world, at an age when most men are merely starting on what we are pleased to call "the battle of life." He was born in Plain township. Wayne county, July 23, 1881, the son of Christian and Sarah (Wiler) Shelly, the latter a native of Wooster township and the former born in Plain town- ship. Sarah Wiler is a sister of W. H. Wiler, whose sketch appears on an- other page of this work, where the ancestry of James G. Shelly is fully dealt with, consequently it will not be repeated here.
James G. Shelly was educated in the Union Hall School No. 3. Plain township. He first followed farming with his father and remained on the home place in section 13, Plain township, until December, 1906, when he located on one of his father's farms in section 15, Plain township, where he has since resided. He is the owner of one of the best and most highly cul- tivated farms in the township, consisting of two hundred and forty-four acres, including one hundred acres in a quarter section of Plain township, section 24, which his great-grandfather Shelly entered, cleared and lived on the remainder of his life. Mr. Shelly carries on general farming and stock raising in a manner that shows him to be a man of excellent tastes and sound judgment. He has a beautifully located dwelling and substantial barns, everything about the place showing thrift and good management.
Mr. Shelly was married on April 12, 1905. to Ida N. Stuckey, daughter of Christian Stuckey, a well known and influential resident of Richland county, Ohio. To the subject and wife one interesting child has been born. . named James Leroy.
Fraternally Mr. Shelly is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees, and in politics he is a Republican, and while he does not find time to take a leading part in political matters, he is interested in the general progress of his com- munity and does what he can to that end.
(79)
I250
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
A. S. ALEXANDER.
Although the early life of the gentleman whose life record is briefly touched upon in the following paragraphs was one of hard toil, his industry has been well rewarded and he finds himself after a half century spent in his native locality in comparative ease as a result of his good management and former years of industry.
A. S. Alexander was born in Plain township, Wayne county, in 1859. the son of Samuel K. Alexander. He was educated in the home schools, which he attended during the winter months, working on the farm during the crop seasons. He entered Wooster University and passed through the pre- paratory department, making an excellent record for scholarship. After leaving school he turned his attention to farming, and, believing that oppor- tunities existed for him in Kansas, he spent thirteen years there farming and stock raising, making a success of both and becoming well established. But tiring of the Sunflower state and having an opportunity to get possession of the home farm in Plain township, Wayne county, Ohio, he returned here in 1898 and has followed general farming ever since, improving the old farm and managing it in such a manner as to reap rich rewards for his painstaking efforts. He always keeps some good livestock of excellent qual- ity : however, the major part of his attention is given to his farming opera- tions.
Mr. Alexander was married in 1887 to Ida Soliday, a native of Plain township and the daughter of an old and highly honored family, Mr. and Mrs. John Soliday, natives of Plain township. To Mr. and Mrs. Alexander one child, a son, Ralph, was born ; he is a bright lad, now a student in the high school at Wooster, where he is making a splendid record.
Mr. Alexander is independent in his political beliefs, preferring to vote for the man whom he deems best fitted for positions of public trust rather than vote for the party.
WILLIAM M. GILL.
All honor should be accorded the brave "boys in blue" who, when the ominous clouds of rebellion gathered over our national horizon, sacrificed the pleasures of home, business opportunities and all that makes life happy and went forth "to do and die." if need be, on the fields of carnage in the south, thus saving a great and united country to succeeding generations. William
125I
WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
M. Gill is one of that loyal host and, incidentally, one of the most highly honored citizens of Plain township, Wayne county, where he was born Sep- tember 18, 1844, the son of George and Anna (Miller) Gill, the former a na- tive of Ashland county, Ohio, and the latter born in the state of Pennsyl- vania. The paternal grandparents of the subject were Isaac and Eva Gill, natives of Pennsylvania. Thomas Gill, father of Isaac Gill, was born in Ireland, in which country he was married and where several children were born to him and his wife. He came to America, however, in a very early day and made his way westward, finally settling in Wayne county, Ohio, later moving to Ashland county, but eventually moved across the line back into Wayne county, where he died, having lived the picturesque life of the pioneer farmer. In his early life he was a member of the Evangelical church, but later became identified with the Church of God.
The maternal grandparents of . William M. Gill were Jacob and Anna (Neidigh) Miller, natives of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, who, in about 1833, came to Wayne county, Ohio, and settled on a farm near where the subject of this sketch now lives. A little later Mr. Miller bought the farm where the subject now resides, consisting of two hundred and forty acres, it having formerly belonged to Esquire Miller. The place then had a few log build- ings on it and a small clearing had been made. Here he lived until his death. It was in 1840 that Isaac Gill came to Wayne county; later he bought a farm in Ashland county and still later one in Wayne county. George Gill came here with his father. He received a limited education in the primitive schools of his time, and devoted his entire life to farming. He was born in 1819 and his death occurred in 1860, at the early age of forty-one years. When he married he moved to a farm in Plain township, later went to Indiana, where he bought a farm in Greene county, where he spent one sum- mer, then returned to Wayne county, Ohio, making the trip by wagon. Upon his return in 1851 he bought the old Miller farm, where the subject now lives, and erected the buildings that now stand here, making this their home until their deaths. George Gill was a strong Whig, moral, upright and pronounced in his views against slavery. He was a member of the Church of God and an active worker in the same, serving in the capacity of what we now term a class leader. To George Gill and wife were born five sons and two daughters, namely : Isaac, who died in infancy ; Jacob ; William M., of this review; Jennie, S. G., Mattie and David.
William M. Gill was educated in the home schools. He has always followed farming, having begun to assist with the work on his father's place when quite young, and he has remained on this place ever since the year 1851.
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Mr. Gill enlisted in Company J, One Hundred and Sixty-third Regiment Ohio National Guard, for one hundred days. His brother Jacob served three years in the Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
The subject has followed general farming and stockraising in a manner that proves him to be fully abreast of the times. For several years he has made a specialty of raising Jersey cattle and Plymouth Rock chickens. He has a rich and well improved farm, a good dwelling and outbuildings.
Mr. Gill was married on January 31. 1871, to Etta Strauss, daughter of Peter and Julia Ann (Renner) Strauss, who were born in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Gill lived and died in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, but her maternal grandparents came from that state to Wayne county, Ohio, locating in Plain township, later moved to Seneca county, this state, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Peter Strauss came to Wayne county in 1850 and followed farming on the home place in Plain township. To Mr. and Mrs. Gill two children have been born, Hershel and Edith. The former, who married Maude Wright, is a traveling salesman for the Ohio Rake Company; he and his ivife have two children, Paul and John. Edith married Iras Sparr, a farmer in Plain township.
William M. Gill is a member of the Church of God and Mrs. Gill belongs to the Reformed church. He is a Prohibitionist, and he has served his town- ship as trustee for one term, though he takes no special interest in political subjects.
PHILIP KRICK.
Wayne county could boast of few more progressive and successful farmers and stock men than the late Philip Krick, who was long well and favorably known in the eastern part of the county, having operated excellent farming lands in the vicinity of Orrville for many years, being considered one of the leading citizens of that community. He was enterprising, law- abiding, neighborly and hospitable, combining within himself those qualities of sterling manhood that make not only a useful member of society, but a man whom any locality might well be delighted to honor, for, in looking to his individual interests, he never lost sight of his duty to his fellow men and in many ways he contributed to their well-being and happiness, yet all in a quiet, unassuming manner, seeking to do good yet avoiding public display.
Philip Krick, like many of the useful citizens of Wayne county, was an American by adoption only, having been born in Rhein, Bavaria, March 4.
PHILIP KRICK
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WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
1836, the son of Jacob and Margaret ( Worth) Krick, who were both born, reared, married and spent their lives in Germany, the father being a shoe- maker by trade, a very skillful workman and a man who, by reason of his good management and superior skill, collected considerable means toward the latter part of his life.
Philip Krick received a good common school education and while yet a young man, having heard of the great opportunities that existed in America, decided to try his fortune here, consequently he set sail for our shores in 1854 and after a long and tedious voyage across the Atlantic and scarcely less tiresome journey across the Eastern states, he found himself in Louis- ville, Kentucky, where he remained several months, and in the spring of 1855 he came to Orrville, Wayne county, Ohio, and, liking the outlook here, decided to make it his future home. He had learned the shoemaker's trade under his father before leaving the Fatherland and in order to get a start here quite naturally began working at his trade. After working in Marshall- ville, this county, for six months he worked for A. Hard for a period of five years. In 1860 he began business for himself and was prosperous al- most from the first, having built up a very large business by honest hard work. He sold out on January 14. 1909, to McCarthy & Geagley. Forty-two years ago he erected a substantial and attractive home, which is beautiful in all its appointments, situated on North Vine street, Orrville. He purchased two excellent farms near Orrville which were the source of a good income during his latter life and which are still owned by his widow, a woman of many commendable traits, the favorite of a large circle of friends.
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