USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 49
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Mr. and Mrs. Rudy became the parents of eight children, namely : Henry, deceased ; Fannie, deceased; Levi S., born October 8, 1843; Sarah, born March 19, 1845 : David C., born November 1, 1846; Mary A., deceased; Elizabeth M. and Barbara, deceased. All these children received a good common school education. David C. married Julia Chatelain.
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Mr. Rudy is a member of the Mennonite church, and politically he is a Republican. He is a man in whom the people of his neighborhood have placed a great deal of confidence and he has settled thirty-one good estates. He is well informed regarding the statutes of the state of Ohio, and he is one of the most useful and honored men of Sugar Creek township.
ISAAC A. MYERS.
All credit is due the man who starts in life with but little of this world's goods and no influential friends to help him hew his career through the avenue of obstacles that necessarily lie in wait along his future pathway, and he who removes such barriers one by one and wins a place of respectabil- ity and financial ease among his fellow men is undoubtedly the possessor of strong characteristics. Such phraseology might well be applied to I. A. Myers, a farmer and stock man of East Union township, Wayne county, for we shall see by a brief study of his career that he has persevered on his own account until success has crowned his efforts. He was born in Wooster township, this county, March 17, 1866, the son of Milton and Catherine (Kick) Myers, a well known family in that community.
I. A. Myers was reared on the home farm, where he began assisting with the work during the crop seasons very early, and he attended the district schools during the winter months, receiving a very good education. He was ambitious to become a merchant and when twenty-one years of age entered a dry goods store in Fulton county, Ohio, having been employed by F. J. Dimkey, of Archbold, this state, and he remained in his employ for a period of eight years, rendering very faithful service and learning much regarding the mercantile business.
After leaving the store Mr. Myers returned to Wooster, Ohio, and mar- ried Elizabeth A. Sands, daughter of J. W. Sands, long an influential citi- zen of this county.
After his marriage, Mr. Myers rented land for one year, then moved to East Union township in 1895, where he has since remained. He owns the old J. W. Sands farm of one hundred and nine acres, which he has greatly improved and built up the soil until it ranks well with the best farms in the township. He has a very comfortable home, good barn and outbuildings, orchard, garden,-in fact, whatever goes to make a successful country place. No small part of Mr. Myers' income is derived from his successful handling of
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livestock, which he buys, feeds and sells ; being a good judge of stock, a care- ful buyer and knowing how to properly manage all kinds of stock, he finds a ready market for what he has to sell in that line, and he is widely known in this locality and those adjoining as a stock man.
To Mr. and Mrs. Myers have been born two sons and one daughter, Zoma, John and Anthony.
Fraternally, Mr. Myers is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Politically, he is a Democrat, having long taken considerable interest in the success of his party locally, and as a reward for his loyalty his fellow citizens gave him the office of treasurer of East Union township, which position he held with much fidelity and credit for a period of four years. He is one of the influential citizens of this township.
GEORGE BRENIZER.
The respect which should always be accorded to the brave sons of the North who left homes and the peaceful pursuits of civil life to give their services, and their lives if need be, to preserve the integrity of the American Union is certainly due the gentleman to a brief review of whose life the fol- lowing lines are devoted. He proved his love and loyalty to the government on the long and tiresome marches in all kinds of situations, exposed to sum- mer's withering heat and winter's freezing cold, on the lonely picket line a target for the unseen foe, on the tented field and amid the flame and smoke of battle, where the rattle of the musketry mingled with the terrible con- cussion of the bursting shell and the deep diapason of the cannon's roar made up the sublime but awful chorus of death. Among these valiant defenders of the Union and Old Glory was the subject of this sketch and he is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this character.
George Brenizer is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, having been born in Canaan township, and is the son of John, Jr., and Susan (Irvin) Brenizer. John Brenizer, Jr., was born in Canaan township in 1821 and died in 1902, while his wife, who was born also in Pennsylvania November 7, 1821, died March 24. 1878. The subject's paternal grandfather, John Brenizer, Sr., was of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock and was himself born in the Keystone state, from whence he came to Wayne county, Ohio. The subject's maternal grandfather. George Irvin, was a native of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and came to Wayne county in an early day. John Brenizer, Jr., was a carpenter by trade,
GEORGE BRENIZER AND FAMILY
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but eventually went to farming, buying a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Canaan township. To this he later added sixty acres and he cultivated this farm until late in life, when he disposed of it. He was a Democrat in politics up to the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln, when he became a Republican and afterwards voted that ticket. He was a member of the Dunkard or German Baptist church. He was the father of nine children, namely: Catherine, George (the subject of this sketch). John F., Samuel, Edmond A., Franklin, Albert L., Clara E. and one that died in infancy unnamed.
George Brenizer of this review received his education in the district schools of his home neighborhood, his studies being interrupted at the age of seventeen years by the outbreak of the Civil war. The firing on Fort Sun- ter had fired all his youthful patriotism and on October 8, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In the engagement at Chickasaw Bayou, Kentucky, under Morgan and DeCour- sey, he supported a battery and later participated in a charge, during which he received severe wound in the head caused by the explosion of a shell, render- ing him unconscious and causing him to be left on the field as dead. For three days he lay there unconscious and finally was placed with hundreds of dead in a trench for burial by his comrades. Franklin Feeman, a drummer boy of his regiment, came along and was looking over the faces of the dead to see whom he recognized, when he thought he saw signs of life in Mr. Brenizer. Help was summoned and the injured man was carried to the camp fire, for it was in the cold of winter. The warm fire aroused Mr. Brenizer so that he showed unmistakable signs of life and he was at once taken to the hospital boat and thence conveyed to the Stearns Hospital at Paducah, Kentucky. There shattered pieces of skull were removed from the right side of his head and he began slowly to recover, although the surgeons prophesied his death. Four months afterwards he was taken to the City Hospital at Columbus, Ohio, where he began to convalesce, and two weeks later he was removed to the hospital at Camp Denison, where he remained until able to travel, when he went to Cincinnati and was there formally discharged from the service. After his return home he still felt the effects of his terrible wound, being partially paralyzed on the left side of his body, but this disability gradually left him, in a measure, though for several years he was unable to do any heavy work and still feels its effects. Eventually, however, he took up farm work and later worked at the carpentering business, being naturally an adept in the use of tools. He engaged in school teaching, being so employed during four terms, and then did some canvassing. He is now living practically retired. and is
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living in Pleasant Home, Congress township, where he lives in a comfortable home. He is a man whom to know is to honor and he enjoys the confidence and regard of all who know him.
On the 7th of June, 1870, Mr. Brenizer was united in marriage with Eliza- beth Ellen Atkinson, who was born February 18, 1847, at Wooster, Ohio, the daughter of James T. and Mary (Long) Atkinson, residents of that city, where both died. To this union have been born two children, namely : George Elvin, born April 18, 1871, a machinist, and Appalonia Grace, born November 26, 1876, who is the wife of Frank Weltmer, a farmer of this county.
In politics Mr. Brenizer is a supporter of the Republican party when national politics are involved, but in local elections he votes for the man best qualified for office. He is opposed to the liquor traffic and whenever possible casts his ballot against the liquor interests. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church. Socially he is a member of Wooster Post No. 133, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has served as post chaplain and assistant inspector. Mr. Brenizer is a quiet, unobtrusive citizen, busily occupied with his own affairs, and is now enjoying that rest which he has so richly earned.
AMANDUS W. BRENNEMAN.
It was a tedious, difficult, if not a dangerous journey which John R. Brenneman, father of the gentleman whose name initiates this sketch, took when he left his native hills in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1837, and came overland across rugged heights and through well-nigh fordless streams, wending his way westward to the newer and inviting county of Wayne in the Buckeye state. But he was a man of courage and determina- tion and consequently he was not appalled at the vast stretches of wilderness that confronted him here, but, like the sterling pioneer that he was, he at once set to work with a will and soon had a good start. Settling in Greene township, he later moved to East Union township, where he lived the re- mainder of his days, battling with a resisting nature until he won from the soil not only a good living for himself and family, but something to lay by for the days when old age forbade him taking an active part in the affairs of life. He married Eliza Walter and to them eleven children were born, eight of whom lived to maturity.
Amandus W. Brenneman, one of the number, was born in East Union township, this county, August 20, 1854. The other children were Elva A.,
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Charles, Walter; Ellen became the wife of Elmer McAfee (deceased ) ; Emma A. married W. C. Orr; William married twice, first to Lois Shreve, who died, after which event he married Lizzie Musselman; Frank married Cora Stauffer ; Ida has remained single; Mary is the wife of E. J. Steele ; Samuel married Nettie Redwine.
Amandus W. Brenneman was reared on the old homestead and a great deal of work fell to him on the farm, which he performed uncomplainingly,- in fact, he took naturally to farming and did not care to do anything else; he also delighted to accompany his father on his trips with his threshing machine about the country. But he found time in the midst of his active life as a boy to attend the district schools, later going to school at Smith- ville, Ohio. Applying himself very diligently to his studies, he became equipped for a teacher, which he followed for three years, but not finding the life of a teacher exactly to his tastes, he turned his attention to farming and also to carpentering, which he has since continued, the two making him an excellent living and permitting the laying by of a competency for his old age.
Mr. Brenneman was married in 1883 to Savilla M. Bechtel, who had been married to H. Brenneman. She is the daughter of John Bechtel, a well-known citizen of Orrville, this county. She became the mother of one child by her first marriage, Bertha M., born in 1880, and died in 1909; she had married J. C. Odenkirk. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Amandus W. Brenneman, namely: Harriet E., born in August, 1891, and Allen J., born in September, 1897.
Mr. and Mrs. Brenneman are members of the East Union Lutheran church, the former being one of the elders and a liberal supporter of the same. Politically, he is a Republican, and he served as trustee of Greene township at one time, and he is at this writing the land appraiser of East Union township. He has always proved worthy of all trusts reposed in him, being honest and industrious.
GUY M. RUDY.
The well-directed efforts of Guy M. Rudy, one of the best known of the younger generation of agriculturists of Sugar Creek township, Wayne county, have brought him success, his life demonstrating what may be accomplished by the man of energy and ambition, who is not afraid to work and has the perse-
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verance to continue his labors, even in the face of seemingly discouraging obstacles, possessing many of the sterling traits of his honored ancestors who have figured prominently in the affairs of this locality since the pioneer days. He is the son of Levi S. Rudy and the grandson of David Rudy, and the great-grandson of Christian Rudy, who was the first member of this family to settle in Wayne county, Ohio, where he came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. For a full history of these ancestors the reader is directed to the sketch of David Rudy, on another page of this work. Guy M. Rudy was born August 8, 1875, in Sugar Creek township, on the farm where he now resides, and is the second son of Levi S. and Elizabeth (Ervin) Rudy. When he arrived at the proper age he assisted on the farm during crop seasons and in winter he attended the district schools until he was about eighteen years of age, then he spent one term in the Dalton high school; he was a good student and obtained a fairly serviceable education. After completing his education, Mr. Rudy turned his attention to farming and stock raising, which he has since followed in a most successful manner.
Mr. Rudy was married in 1899 to Lulu King, who was reared near West Lebanon, Wayne county, but she was born near Mount Eaton, this state, May 21, 1877. Her people have long been influential in that vicinity. She received a good common school education. This union has resulted in the birth of three daughters, Maude, born October 3, 1901 ; Ethel, born June 19, 1903; Mary, born August 10, 1905.
Mr. and Mrs. Rudy are members of the Presbyterian church at Dalton, of which Mr. Rudy has served as trustee. In politics he is a Republican, and takes considerable interest in the local affairs of his party.
As a farmer Mr. Rudy has been abreast of the times in every respect, owning an excellent farm, well improved and well managed, which yields abundant crops from year to year. He is also interested in stock, especially horses and Jersey cows. He finds a ready market for his stock owing to the fine quality of the same. Mr. Rudy is a young man of fine character- istics and is well liked by the people of his community who have known him since childhood. and can vouch for his big conception of true American manhood.
PHILIP G. TAWNEY.
One of the most successful farmers and best known citizens of Chippewa township, Wayne county, is Philip G. Tawney, who was born August 28. 1856, on the farm where he now resides and which he owns, the son of Abra-
MRS. P. G. TAWNEY
PHILIP G. TAWNEY
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ham and Margaret (Sickman) Tawney, the former born in Stark county. Ohio, in 1826, and the latter where the Lutheran cemetery is now located, in Baughman township, Wayne county, in 1823. The paternal grandparents of the subject were John and Christina Tawney, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Pennsylvania. The father of John Tawney came with his wife and children to Stark county, Ohio, in 1814. There John Tawney was married in 1818 to Christina Slusser, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. In 1835 John Tawney and family came from their home south of Canton, Ohio, and bought the farm of one hundred and fifty-seven acres where Philip G. Tawney now lives, having purchased the same from a man who entered it from the government in 1822. It was still nearly all in timber when John Tawney came into possession of it, and he deadened the trees, later cut and burned them and made a home in the wilderness, building a barn in 1842 which is still standing and in use, the foundation having been made of straw, clay and large stones. The subject's maternal grandparents were Philip and Hannah (Critz) Sickman, the former born in Allegheny county, Pennsyl- vania, and the latter in Washington county, that state. They came to Wayne county, Ohio, in an early day, having been preceded many years to this locality by the great-grandfather Sickman, who bought two farms, then returned to Pennsylvania and sent his two sons, Philip (grandfather of the subject) and John, to take possession of them. Philip sold his place in Wayne county and went to Medina county, Ohio, and he died about 1859. his wife dying about 1872 or 1873.
Abraham Tawney, father of Philip G. Tawney, came to Wayne county, this state, with his parents and has since lived on the homestead, retiring some years ago from active business. When he first came here the country was almost a wilderness, and most of the houses were built of logs. When new- comers arrived, especially from Pennsylvania, the neighbors would assist in building their houses, which was the prevailing custom. There was plenty of game. The early settlers hauled grain to Canal Fulton before the canal was built, up to about 1828. In his younger days Abraham Tawney was a car- penter and he helped to erect several of the larger barns in his neighborhood. He cut grain with a sickle and cradle, and at one time he and Henry Sickman cradled sixty acres of wheat in five and a quarter days. In 1846 Mr. Tawney worked in a warehouse at Canal Fulton, sleeping on the counters in the store, and he used to handle wheat in two and three bushel sacks, day and night, for fifty cents per day, working from four o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock at night. He always liked to tell of the trip the family made from their old home in the Keystone state, which was made overland in wagons, requiring
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several weeks. The father of Abraham Tawney made one trip to Baltimore, Maryland, and returned on foot, walking from four o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock at night each day. Abraham Tawney was a Whig and later became a Republican, taking an active interest in local political matters, but he never sought office. His father voted for General Jackson first, but was later a Whig. Several generations back the Tawney family were members of the Reformed church; the father and grandfather of the subject, however, were members of the Methodist church, and many campmeetings have been held by the Methodists on the farm of the elder Tawneys. On the Sickman side of the house the family were members of the Lutheran church:
John J. Sickman, son of Philip and Hannah Sickman, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, June 18, 1821, and died at his home in Marshall county, Indiana, December 13, 1894, in his seventy-fourth year. His wife departed this life on September 1, 1894. He was married to Elizabeth Kinney, August 28, 1844, and to this union five children were born, three boys and two girls, all of whom are living except the oldest daughter, who died in infancy. He moved from Wayne county, Ohio, to Pulaski county, Indiana, in the fall of 1848, living there for over nineteen years, after which he moved to Marshall county, Indi- ana, where he lived in Tippecanoe township until his death. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Eighty-seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, in which he served until honorably discharged from the service. While in the army he contracted a disease from which he never recovered. In early life he united with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he remained a con- sistent Christian. He was a member of James Shields Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He is buried at Pleasant Hill cemetery. He was a good man and had no enemies that he knew of.
Mrs. Hanna Sickman died in River Styx, Wayne county, May 28, 1874, in her seventy-second year. She was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania. and emigrated to Ohio when thirteen years of age. In her fourteenth year she was married to Philip Sickman, by whom she had fourteen children, nine of whom survived her. When these parents married they commenced life in the wilderness in what is now Baughman township, this county. They had when they commenced, their "clearing," one horse, a saddle, an ax and a gun. They lived upon the farm they cleared up until 1850, when they sold it and bought and moved upon what is known as the "Canada Smith" farm, in Montville. Mr. Sickman was a sterling character and for many years he had but one shirt, and often when out at work and a rain came on he would pull it off, place it under a log to keep it dry ; this man finally got to be worth thirty thousand dollars. Mrs. Sickman was a woman of more than ordinary
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ability-order and promptness were the leading traits of her character. She was a member of the Lutheran church nearly all her life. She was charitable and kind to the poor. She was patriotic and sent five of her sons into the Union army, two of whom, Jonas and Barnhart, died while in the service. She was a truly good woman and her end was that of the tried and true Christian.
Philip G. Tawney, the immediate subject of this sketch, was educated in No. 7 school, Chippewa township. He began farming early in life and has always lived on the old place, which he has worked. He formerly did a great deal of sheep shearing, but now follows farming only. In May, 1901, he bought the home place, his mother having died in 1900. She and Mr. Taw- ney had lived together fifty-two years, and the parents of Philip G. Tawney and three other couples whose farms all practically joined all celebrated their golden wedding anniversaries within eight years. Now only Abraham Taw- ney and two of the widows of the neighbors of the four couples are living. The father is now eighty-five years old.
Philip G. Tawney was married in March, 1901, to Irena Kauffman, daughter of Adam Kauffman, whose father came to this county from Penn- sylvania and located in Franklin township, near what is now the Agricultural Experiment Station, their advent in this county having been in 1829. His wife was Serenda Carpenter, whose people were natives of Virginia. The Kauffman people were from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Philip G. Kauffman was living in Wood county, Ohio, when she was married. This union has re- sulted in the birth of one child, Inez Jane.
Mr. Tawney is a member of the Lutheran church and a Republican in politics. He delights to recall incidents of former days and talks interestingly of his forefathers. He remembers when the first mower and binder was brought to the Tawney farm. His paternal grandfather pounded out the bul- lets he used in hunting. In his day all kinds of game was abundant here and the old pioneer shot many deer roundabout, and the father of the subject at one time killed nine squirrels in one tree. Both the Tawney and Sickman families have always borne excellent reputations and had hosts of friends throughout this locality.
ALBERT M. RUDY.
In all the relations of life Albert Rudy, a well-known farmer of Sugar Creek township, Wayne county, has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact. His capable manage-
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ment of his own business interests and his sound judgment have brought to him prosperity, for he is a hard worker and has always had the interests of his community at heart. He is the representative of an excellent old family, members of which have figured prominently in the affairs of this and Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, for at least four generations. The birth of Albert M. Rudy occurred in Sugar Creek township, this county, November 18, 1860. He is the son of Daniel L. Rudy, who came to Sugar Creek town- ship, Wayne county, in 1832, from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, with his father, Christian Rudy, a hardy pioneer, who obtained land here in the wilderness and became a prosperous farmer. Daniel L. Rudy also became a well-to-do farmer.
Albert M. Rudy was the third member of his father's family, and when he became of proper age he worked on the home farm, attending the district schools during the winter months until he had received a fairly good education. He later attended the graded schools at Dalton for four years. From the age of twenty-one to twenty-six years he worked for his father and thus became well grounded in the basic principles of agriculture, which he has made very successful ever since.
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