USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
Jonas Moneysmith section 1. Wm. L. Ross, section 1. Edward Cook, section 6.
1 842.
Henry York, section 36. James Carr, section 30.
1845.
Bertha and Reuben Wilkins, sec- tion 13.
William Hudson, section 13. John F. Roche, section 27.
1846.
James C. Nortin, section 5.
1847. Richard R. Barington, section 11. Thomas Longworth, section 13. John F. Miller, section 13. John Hoak, section 13.
John F. Bosche, section 15. Wakeman H. Gordon, section 21. Jackson Botkin, section 25. Herman H. Fledderjohn, section 25. H. H. Wirrville, section 25. William Botkin, section 27. Charles Walker, section 28. John F. Bosche, section 31.
John T. Bosche, section 35. Conrad Basink, section 35.
1848. Robert B. Gordon, section 1. Joseph L. Smith, section 1. John Anderson, section 6.
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
659
John Blue, section 6. John W. Stoker, section 17.
Thomas Douty, section 23. Wm. Botkin, section 25. Leonard Lintch, section 25. John B. Newman, section 36.
James Wilkins, Jr., section 11. John F. Bosche, section 23.
Esq. W. Douty, section 23. Samuel L. Lintch, section 25.
Wm. Luterbeck, section 25.
Gerhard H. Welmeyer, section 36.
Henry Triedlin, section 21. John Foulk, section 23.
Herman H. Fledderjohn, section 25. Henry S. Dickerson, section 28. Benj. W. Preston, section 29. Wm. Preston, section 31. Joseph Walters, section 5.
J. A. Marshall, section 8. James R. Bryant, section 14. David M. Hinkle, section 20. John D. Hobrey, section 31.
John W. Stoker, section 17. Henry W. Morgan, section 17. John F. Granes, section 20. Aaron A. Smith, section 21. Christian Handstedt, section 29. Thomas Hilyard, section 30. James Badgley, section 30 Jacob G. Graybill, section 30.
Henry Kellermeyer, section 19. James Davis, section 19. Duren T. Hunt, section 19.
G. F. W. Goulhonlt, section 19. Michael Milligan, section 19.
John F. Bosche, section 19.
1849. Horatio I. Hamilton, section 21. Jonas F. Coffield, section 23. Frederick C. Drewes, section 28. Asa H. Smith, section 28. Jacob Clingman, section 29.
John F. Boshe, section 31. Samuel Anderson, section 5.
1850. Mary Wetmore, section 14. Jacob Bradley, section 20. Elijah Hudson, section 24. Henry Nicking, section 33.
1851. James A. Marshall, section 17. Thomas C. Casper, section 17. Andrew I. Smith, section 20. Asa H. Smith, section 29. Wm. Schwenk, section 29. Stone Miller, section 30. John Miller, section 30. Lewis Pearce, section 28.
1852. Lewis H. Heusch, section 19. Carl Dohse, section 19.
1853. Franklin and Holdridge, section 19.
1854.
John F. Bosche, section 29.
2855.
Sabert Scott, section 19.
No entries made within the next seven years.
1863.
Franklin and Holdridge, section 17.
660
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
In 1839, the township records were destroyed by fire, and twice since that time they have been consumed in conflagrations. It is impossible therefore, to give the tenure of officers from a date prior to 1881. The following is a list of the officers from that date:
Trustees.
John Barington, C. P. McKee and F. Koehl in 1881. Charles McKee, John Barington, and F. Koehl in 1882. John Barington, F. Koehl, and Charles McKee in 1883. F. Koehl, C. P. McKee and John Barington in 1884, Louis Doenges, S. R. Giddens, and F. Koehl in 1885. F. Koehl, S. R. Giddens, and Louis Doenges in 1886. S. R. Giddens, F. Koehl, and Louis Doenges in 1887. Thomas Barington in 1888. John Tangeman in 1889. S. R. Giddens in 1890. T. Barington in 1891. John L. Tangeman in 1892. S. R. Giddens in 1893. Thomas Barington in 1894. John Tangeman in 1895. C. H. Bloomhorst in 1896. Thomas Barington in 1897. William Dowty in 1898. C. H. Bloomhorst in 1899. C. J. Riebe in 1900. William Dowty in 1901. Henry Dannemeyer in 1902. C. H. Bloomhorst in 1903.
Clerks.
C. B. Whiteman in 1881. John J. Hauss in 1882-83. R. B. Gordon in 1884. D. A. Clark in 1885-91. John L. Smith in 1892-97. C. L. Hunter in 1898-1903
Treasurers.
David Armstrong in 1881. William Limbacher in 1882-83. David Armstrong in 1884-85. L. Carr in 1886-87. C. F. Limbacher in 1888-1900. H. D. Koeper in 1901-1903.
Justices of the Peace.
E. F. Gross in 1881-82. E. F. Gross and Michael Ennis in 1883-84. Charles Fritsch and Lewis Weadock in 1884-88. Charles Fritsch, E. F. Gross and Michael Ennis in 1888-91. Charles Fritsch and Lewis Weadock in 1891-95. Charles Fritsch and Hay in 1895-1900. A. V. Noble and Charles Bullock in 1901.
CHURCHES.
The churches of St. Marys township date back to 1825, when a society was organized by Rev. James B. Finley at the village of St. Marys. Services were held for a number of years in the old log school house, situated on a lot south of lot 5 in the west addition to St. Marys. The society became known as the "Mission Church of St. Marys." About the same time so- cieties were organized at Celina, Shane's Crossing, Fort Amanda and Wapakoneta. After the erection of the court house in
661
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
. St. Marys, services were held in the court room until 1840, when a frame church was built on a half lot back of Edward Hollings- worth's brick residence. In December of the same year it was removed to the present church lot, where it stood until the present elegant edifice was erected.
Two United Brethren churches, located in the southeastern portion of the township, are commodious buildings, and in archi- tectural design, are model country churches.
SCHOOLS.
The public district schools of St. Marys township were the first ones established in the county. Ten frame or brick build- ings provided with all the modern school appliances afford ample provision for the education of all the youth of the township.
PIKES.
St. Marys township was one among the first to take advant- age of the law authorizing the construction of free turnpikes. Since the construction of the first pike in 1876, the work has gone steadily along until every public road in the township is now a free turnpike.
ST. MARYS.
The town of St. Marys is the oldest one in the county, and the only one in St. Marys township. In August, 1823, Charles Murray, William A. Houston, and John McCorkle, three of the earliest settlers of the county, laid out a town of sixty-eight lots. It is situated on the St. Marys river about one hundred and fifty rods north of the junction of the three branches forming the river. The location of the town is a good one, surrounded by beautiful and rich farming lands. Like all the towns of this section of the state its growth was slow until after the construc- tion of the Miami and Erie Canal. This may be noted as the first period in the history of the town. The second period dates from 1838 to the discovery of petroleum in 1886. Since that date St. Marys has enjoyed a period of rapid growth and great prosperity. In 1903, it attained to the dignity of a city.
The following is the plat and dedication of lots, as recorded in the county recorder's office at Greenville, Ohio, August 26, 1823:
662
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
Town of St. Marys in Section Three (3) Township six (6), South Range four East. This town is laid out upon a variation
ORIGINAL PLAT OF ST. MARYS.
NORTH STREET
57
56
37
36
13
12
58
55
38
35
14
11
59
54
15
10
40
39
34
33
60
53
16
9
HIGH STREET.
61
52
32
17
8
.
ST.
ST.
62
51
31
MAIN ST.
20
5
SPRING STREET.
WHARF ST.
65
48
21
4
42
41
28
27
66
47
22
3
67
46
43
26
23
2
68
45
44
25
24
-
SOUTH STREET.
FRONT
PERRY
63
50
30
19
6
64
49
WAYNE ST.
COURT ST.
'18
7
29
of thirty degrees west of north according to the magnetic merid- ian, containing sixty-eight (68) lots as numbered on the plat.
The lots between Front Street and Main Street, from number one (I) to twenty-four inclusive, are five poles square. The lots numbered 29, 30, 31, and 32 are five poles long and eight poles wide, and all other lots numbered on said plat are five poles wide and ten poles long. Main Street and Wayne Street are each five
663
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
. poles wide. Court street is forty-five feet wide. Wharf Street is one hundred feet wide, and all other streets are four poles. The alleys are all twelve feet wide. The large lot not numbered adjoining Wayne, Spring, High and Court Streets is ten poles wide and twenty poles and twelve feet long, and is given as a donation to the county for the purpose of erecting thereon county buildings, etc., should the seat of justice for the county of Mercer be located in said town. The two lots shaded yellow adjoining South and Perry and north are each five poles wide and ten poles long, and are set apart and donated by the proprietors to any regular organized society of professing Christians that may erect thereon suitable churches. We the undersigned proprietors do hereby certify that the foregoing is a correct plat and description of the said town of St. Mary's in the county of Mercer and State of Ohio. Prepared by us for record. Given under our hands and seals this 8th day of August, 1823.
CHARLES MURRAY. [ Seal ]
WILLIAM A. HOUSTON. [Seal]
JOHN MCCORKLE. [Seal]
The State of Ohio :
Before me, the undersigned, a justice of the peace in and for said county, personally apeared the within named John McCorkle. Charles Murray, and William A. Houston, who severally acknowl- edged the signing and sealing of the within certificate of the plat and description of the town of St. Mary's, and desire that the same may be entered on the records of the county of Darke, to which the county of Mercer is at this time attached. Given under my hand and seal this 8th day of August, 1823.
JOHN INGRAHAM, Justice of the Peace.
Filed August 20, 1823. Recorded August 26, 1823, by the Recorder of Dark county, Ohio.
The following is a list of taxable lots and value thereof, as returned by Isaac Applegate, Lister and Isaiah Dungan, Ap- praiser, June 7, 1824: -
Charles Murray, lots numbers 3, 4, 22, 27, 28, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 63, 64, 67, 68.
James Lord, lot number 21.
Leander Houston, lot number 2.
James Miller, lot number 54.
John Manning, lots numbers 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 31, 30.
William Houston, lots numbers 1, 5, 23, 24, 25, 26, 41, 29, 47, 48, 51, 52, 61, 62, 65, 66.
664
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
Christian Benner, lots numbers 7, 8, 17.
The foregoing 68 lots in St. Marys, valued at $68.00, were taxed $0.005 each, or a total of $0.34 (thirty-four cents).
TOWN OFFICERS OF ST. MARY'S SINCE 1836.
Mayors.
Stacey Taylor 1836.
Frank Koehl 1863-64.
Henry Lloyd
Wm. Sawyer 1865-73.
George Timmons
J. S. Hickman 1874-75.
Wm. Hudson
David Simpson 1876-77.
J. J. Rickley
James Ennis 1878.
Wm. Smith
Theo. Nieberg 1880.
A. H. Trimble 1849-50.
J. H. Patterson 1881-82.
C. W. Cowan 1851.
C. F. Bullock. 1882-86.
Levi Hamaker
1852.
Charles Hipp 1886-88.
Wm. L. Smith 1853.
E. F. Gross 1888-92.
Donald Cameron 1854.
D. A. Clark 1892-94.
Henry M. Helm. 1855.
W. L. Smith. 1894-96.
'S. Scott 1856-58.
J. A. Hay 1896-98.
L. H. Heusch. 1859.
L. E. Lambert. 1898-1900.
David Simpson 1860.
Jno. Anderson. 1900-1902.
James Wilson
.1861.
T. A. White. 1902-1903.
G. W. Mclaughlin.
1862.
Dr. N. T. Noble 1903.
Clerks.
W. L. Ross 1849.
C. W. Cowan 1850.
A. Dieker 1851-52.
E .M. Phelps 1853-54.
G. W. Mclaughlin. 1855.
H. G. McLain. 1882-90.
J. A. Hay. 1890-93.
John Keller 1858-63.
M. J. Mooney 1893-96.
L. C. Sawyer. 1864.
C. T. Hoffer 1896-1900.
Jno. McLain
1865-66.
J. H. Rose. 1900-1903.
Benj. Kelsey 1867-69.
F. F. Aschbacher 1903-
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ST. MARYS.
In the absence of reliable records it is difficult to give strictly accurate dates regarding the early schools and teachers of St. Marys, but so far as can be ascertained, the following will be found to be mainly correct :
The first schools taught in St. Marys were called "pay schools," that is, the pupils were taught for a certain charge apiece, usually fifty cents per month, or one dollar and a half for a quarter of twelve weeks. A school of this kind was taught
John McLain 1870-75.
Charles Hipp 1876.
R. S. Marshall 1877-78.
O. E. Dunan 1880-82.
A. Dieker 1856-57.
665
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
by James Lard in the old log school house, situated in the south- western part of the village, from 1825 to 1831. Lard was an Irishman, noted for his witticisms. In 1832 he delivered a fourth of July speech, which, for the merriment it produced, has not been surpassed since that date. His peroration closed with the declaration that "whoever will come for to go, or go for to come to strike at the heart of liberty, he must first pierce my own heart."
James Lard was succeeded by James Watson . Riley who taught in the court house during the year 1831-2. In that year he performed the triple duties of teacher, county clerk and county surveyor.
Mr. Riley was followed by a Miss Abbott, a lady of superior ability, who taught during the years 1833-4-5 and 1836.
As the village grew in population the schools increased in number. It is difficult to assign dates to the following teachers who are known to have taught at times from 1826 to 1852. In 1837, Mrs. McGinley taught in the log school house. In the following year, Miss Sarah Henry taught in the same building. Later Mary and Susan Barrington taught in rooms owned by Mr. Stattler on Main street. Schools were also taught by Miss Ward on Wayne street, by Miss Almira Mclaughlin on Main street and by Rev. Cameron in the old court house. Rev. Cam- eron was succeeded by Levi Hamaker who served in the dual capacity of school teacher and collector on the Miami Canal from 1851 to 1853.
In 1853 the village schools were reorganized, under the re- cently enacted school law known as the "Akron Law."
The following is a list of the principals of the schools since 1853:
A. Rodgers 1853 to 1855.
John Fairbanks
1855 to 1857.
Templeton
1857 to 1858.
G. H. Richardson
1858 to 1860.
S. F. DeFord
1860 to 1864.
J. B. Peaslee 1864 to 1866.
W. F. Torrence 1866 to 1879.
J. A. Barber 1879 to 1881.
J. A. Shawan 1881 to 1883.
C. S. Wheaton 1883 to 1889.
J. D. Simkins 1889 to 1903.
Elmer Hotchkiss 1903 to present time.
666
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
CHURCHES.
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH of St. Marys was organized in 1825, by Rev. Robert Finley, father of Rev. James B. Finley, who organized classes at Celina, Shane's Crossing, Wiltshire, St. Marys, Fort Amanda and Lima. The classes organized consti -- tuted what was, at that time, called the "Mission Circuit." The first regular services were held in the old log church located in. the southwestern part of the village. After the erection of the court house, services were held in the court room until 1840,. when a frame building was erected on a lot in the rear of Edward' Hollingsworth's brick residence. There being some dissatisfaction about the location of the building it was .moved to the site of the present elegant edifice of that denomination.
The following ministers preached in St. Marys from 1825 to. 1840: Rev. John Alexander, Rev. P. Warham, Rev. John O. Conoway, Rev. Isaac Bennett, Rev. John Stanley, Rev. George Armstrong, Rev. Martin Welsh and Rev. Liberty Prentice.
The writer has failed to secure a list of the ministers who have preached in St. Marys since that date. The membership of the church at the present time is four hundred. The Sabbath: school enrollment is three hundred. S. D. Murlin, Superintend- ent. The estimated value of the church and parsonage is six thousand dollars. Rev. Charles W. Sutton is the minister in: charge.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. - "This church was organized No- vember 14th, 1848. Rev. J. L. Bellville and I. A. Ogden, of Miami Presbytery, met at the court house, St. Marys, with the people of the town, for the purpose of organizing a church,. which organization was effected with the following member- ship: H. W. and Elizabeth Hazzard, A. P. Hart, J. H. and Eliza de la Mater, Thomas Pierce, Rachel Van Nuy, Elizabeth Bigger, and Mary Peterson, under the title of "the First Pres- byterian Church of St. Marys, Mercer County, Ohio." Thomas. Pierce and A. P. Clark were chosen ruling elders; J. H. De la Mater and H. W. Hazzard deacons; and J. H. De la Mater clerk.
The membership at the present time is two hundred and ten. A graded Sabbath school under the superintendency of Mr. Charles A. Robison meets every Sabbath day. The church and
667
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
ยท parsonage are valued at six thousand dollars. Rev. Henry Jones is, at the present writing, (1905) minister in charge.
DISCIPLES' CHURCH. - The church building of this denomi- nation is a comfortable frame structure, located on the corner of North and Perry streets. The church and grounds are valued at two thousand dollars. The denomination has a membership of one hundred and twenty, and a Sunday-school enrollment of sixty, under the superintendency of Mrs. Margaret Moxley. Rev. W. W. Miller is the pastor in charge.
BAPTIST CHURCH .- This denomination was organized about 1840. It has a membership of one hundred and twenty, and a Sabbath school enrollment of seventy-five. The church and grounds are valued at six thousand dollars. Rev. T. B. Ashton is pastor.
The GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH was organized about 1860, has a membership of four hundred, and a Sunday-school enroll- ment of one hundred and twenty-five, under the superintendency of Frederick Vornhold. The church building and other proper- ties are valued at ten thousand dollars. Rev. E. Kohler is pastor.
The UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, organized a few years ago, has a membership of one hundred, and a Sunday-school en- rollment of one hundred and twenty, superintended by George Conkle. The estimated value of the church building and other properties is four thousand dollars. Rev. D. T. Adams is the presiding minister.
ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH. - The pioneer residents of St. Marys were Catholics. The Jesuit traders established a store at St. Marys immediately after the treaty at Greenville. Prof. Horstman of Glandorf, Germany, was the first priest who held services in the village. We have no information of Catholic ser- vices at the post prior to 1831, when Father Horstman com- menced his missionary career. The few devout adherents of the church attended services at Minster and Wapakoneta from 1831 to 1850, when a small church was erected which served for church and school purposes until 1867, when the present church building was erected at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. A few years later a parsonage and a parochial school building were erected. The parsonage is valued at two thousand five hundred. dollars, and the school building at eight thousand dollars.
668
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
The church membership is one hundred and fifty, and the average daily attendance in the parochial school is two hundred. Father Francis Kessing pastor in charge.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
JOHN HAWTHORNE was born in Ireland in 1790, and came to the United States in 1811, locating first in Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming until 1824, when he moved to St. Marys and engaged in boating between St. Marys and Fort Wayne. He continued in this business for a numbeer of years when he purchased a farm near St. Marys, on which he resided until his death, which occurred in January, 1877. When he settled in St. Marys, the country surrounding the place was an unbroken wil- derness, filled with wild animals of many varieties, and the sav- age Shawnee Indians.
Boating on the St. Marys river afforded the only means at that time of accumulating money. The consequence was, that nearly all of the first settlers were boatmen.
Mr. Hawthorn raised a family of ten children of whom Mrs. William Barington is the only survivor.
AARON A. SMITH was born in St. Marys township, Decem- ber 14th, 1824. His father Henry A. Smith was a native of Dela- ware, who came to Ohio with his mother when a boy, and lived near Cincinnati until his marriage. In 1821, he came to Auglaize county and settled among the Indians. He selected a farm in section nine, now within the corporate limits of St. Marys. He endured many hardships in the development of his farm, but by unremitting labor and skillful enterprise he prospered financially. until death terminated his career in 1843, at the age of forty- four years.
The mother of Aaron A. Smith bore the maiden name of Elizabeth A. Hinkle, and was born at Mill Creek, near Cincin- nati. She was the daughter of Captain Asa Hinkle who com- manded a company of soldiers in the war of 1812. Captain Hinkle was so favorably impressed with the quality of the land, and the lay of the country around St. Marys that he returned and entered two hundred and forty acres in section twenty-two. These lands he afterwards distributed among his children.
669
AND AUGLAIZE COUNTY
AARON A. SMITH, JR., is the third child in a family of eleven children, and his brother Asa H., was the first white child born in the township.
Aaron A. grew to manhood on the paternal farm, and is familiar with every phase of pioneer life. The settlers of that period have been termed "home-livers," subsisting on what they could raise from the land and on the game which was so abund- ant. Even the clothes that they wore were of homespun, manu- factured by the wives, mothers and daughters from the flax grown at their door, and from wool from their sheep. In his boyhood and manhood, Mr. Smith farmed with the clumsy im- plements of a past age, turning the sod with wooden mould- board plows, and stirring the soil with wooden teeth harrows. The school house in which he received the rudiments of an edu- cation, was a rude structure of logs, primitively furnished with slab seats, and a slab placed against the wall served as a writing desk for the pupils, while an old-fashioned fireplace, extending across one end of the room, served for heating purposes.
Mr. Smith was married in 1845, to Miss Rachel Smith, who was born and raised in the same neighbrohood, and was one of his school mates. Their families, however, were not related, al- though bearing the same name.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of six children, namely : Charles, who is married and lives on an adjoining farm; Jane, wife of Charles P. McKee, a farmer in the neighborhood; Elza, who lives at home with his parents; Mary, wife of J. C. Doty, a resident of Middletown; Loretta, at home with her parents ; and Flora, wife of L. J. Berry, who lives at Troy, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church at St. Marys. Mr. Smith has borne an active part in the administration of local affairs as trustee of St. Marys township, and in whatever position in life he has been placed. has always fulfilled his duty manfully.
THOMAS STURGEON was one of the first settlers of St. Marys township, and stood high in the estimation of all who knew him. He was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, in 1803. In 1819, he accompanied his parents to Miami county, this state, and in 1829 was married to Mary D. Ross, who was also a native of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania. The following year he and his
670
HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
young wife came to St. Marys to locate on the quarter section of section four that he had entered in 1826. They found the country still in all its natural wildness and beauty, with but few attempts at development. They led a typical pioneer life, under- going all the discomforts and trials incident to life on the frontier of civilization. There were no good roads. The one leading .south to Piqua, where they went for flour and other articles, be- ing scarcely more than a rough pathway marked by biazed trees. Indians still inhabited all parts of the county. They frequently called at Mr. Sturgeon's house to ask for food or to exchange a haunch of venison for a loaf of bread. Mr. Sturgeon would sometimes kill a deer, but he did not care for hunting. His sole capital after he settled on his farm was fifty cents. He split timber to make the frame for his dwelling, split puncheons for the floor and clapboards for the roof. In that humble abode he and Mrs. Sturgeon began housekeeping. His axe, drawing knife, maul and wedge were the only tools with which he was provided in building his house. He prospered and became one of the solid men of the township. He died May 5th, 1875. He was a quiet, reserved man of few words, which were always to the point. He held various local offices, and helped to organize the Presbyterian society at St. Marys, acting as elder of the church until his death. His good wife died before he did, her demise occurring December 5th, 1868. They had eight children, four of whom grew to maturity. Three of them are still living.
THOMAS MCKEE was born in Pennsylvania in 1801, and came to Ohio when he was three years old. His father was of Irish birth, and one of the early settlers of Athens county. His son Thomas labored on the home farm until 1822, when he entered upon business for himself. In 1827 he married Annis Reynolds, and in 1833 removed to Auglaize county and settled in St. Mary's. Here he lived for two years, in which time he purchased two hundred and twenty acres of land in section ten, on which he resided until his death, which occurred in 1874.
Mr. McKee was a man of fine social qualities, genial manners, and benevolent heart. He was prominent and well known as a pioneer and citizen, and was held in high regard by the com- munity. For many years, he was an elder in the Presbyterian
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.