Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio, Part 13

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 570

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 13
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USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 13

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MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF

Warren C., at forty-seven; another daugh- ter in infancy; Hetty, who was born Novem- ber 21, 1815, and who is still living; John W., who died at the age of seventy; and Jedediah, who is now seventy-two, and who is a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana. Whit- ing Allen came to Delaware county, Ohio, in 1846, and here passed the rest of his life in retirement. His widow died March 24, 1852, at the age of seventy-six years. Hav- ing thus briefly outlined the ancestry of our subject, we now turn for a glimpse of his own life.

John L. Wolfley received a high-school education in his native town, and early in life learned his father's trade and became connected with him in business. This con- nection, as above stated, was continued un- til 1892. In the spring of 1873 he began traveling for the firm of which he was a member, and for a number of years was on the road in the northern and central part of Ohio, representing his business in seventeen counties.

Ever since he became of age Mr. Wolf- ley has been actively identified with the Re- publican party in Delaware county, and, with the exception of four years, has all this time been a member of the Central and Executive Committees. For two years he was Chairman of the Central and Executive County Committee and two years Chairman of the City Committee. He served five years as Treasurer of the Central Commit- tee. He has been a delegate to each and every Congressional convention since 1874, and a number of times to State conventions. In January, 1883, he was appointed Com- missioner to fill a vacancy and served the rest of the term most acceptably, after which he declined nomination for that of- fice.

Mr. Wolfley is prominently identified with various fraternal organizations. He has been a Mason since 1885, and for about a quarter of a century has been a Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. He was the first one initiated in Lenape Lodge, No. 23, K. of P. He has a membership in Hiram Lodge, No. 18, and Delaware Chapter, No. 25, A. F. and A. M. ; and Alentangy Lodge, No. 53, Delaware Encampment, No. 52, and Delaware Canton, No. 7, I. O. O. F. He is a charter member of Delaware Can- ton, and is also a charter member of Na- tional Union, No. 393, Whitstone Lodge. His church relations are with the Metho- dists, he being a member of Asbury Metho- dist Episcopal Church. During the first four years of the existence of this church he was its Recording Steward, and at pres- ent he is one of its Trustees.

November 16, 1871, Mr. Wolfley mar- ried Miss May Galleher, daughter of N. J. Galleher, and they have two sons, John Willard and Walter G. The older son is a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University and is making a specialty of electricity.

For twenty-two years Mr. Wolfley has resided on North Union street, where he has a comfortable and attractive home. He is also interested in a farm near the city and has real estate in Bowling Green, Ohio. Besides being the owner of this property, he is a stockholder in the Deposit Banking Company of Delaware.

0 LIVER E. LINCOLN, who is a resident of Allen township, Union county, and whose post-office ad- dress is Milford Center, demands in this connection, that precedence to which he is clearly entitled, as being one of the

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

prominent and prosperous agriculturists of the county. He was born in Rush town- ship, Champaign county, Ohio, on the date in 1846 that marked the anniversary of our national independence. His father, the late Charles Lincoln, was a man of much prom- inence in the section and had a State repu- tation as a breeder of fine stock-particu- larly short-horn cattle. He was born in Windham county, Connecticut, in 1809, and was left an orphan at the age of seven years, provision being made for his welfare by hav- ing him "bound out" to Anson Howard, who was one of the prominent pioneer set- tlers in Champaign county, Ohio. Charles was reared on the farm and did his quota of the work incidental to its operation, attending the district schools during the winter months, and thus gaining a substantial basis for that practical education which he subsequently gained in the experiences of life. Attaining his majority, he began work on his own re- sponsibility, hiring out to John McDonald, a farmer, at the rate of $8.333 per month for one year; the second year his wages were raised to $13. He then rented a farm and began work for himself, but at the comple- tion of his year's work he returned to the McDonald farm, where he secured a stipend of $26 per month. He was abstemious and economical, and with the money which he had saved he was enabled to buy a tract of wild land in Darby township, this county. He cleared this land and improved it to a con- siderable extent, after which he sold the property and returned to Rush township, Champaign county, purchasing 240 acres of land lying between the towns of Lewisburg and Woodstock, and, by subsequent acces- sions, increasing the acreage of his estate until he finally became the possessor of 1, 100 acres, the place being known as Loam

Land Farm. This farm has ever been rec- ognized as one of the best in the county. Mr. Lincoln was one of the pioneers in the breeding of short-horn cattle, and his show animals always secured premiums when ex- hibited at various places in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and other States, his herd being second to none in the Buckeye State.

Charles Lincoln married Allura Johnson, a woman of culture and excellent family, and one who had attained particular success as a teacher. In the connection it is inter- esting to recall the fact that after her mar- riage to Mr. Lincoln she acted as his in- structor, as he studied the branches higher than those he had been able to touch in his school days, and as the result of this de- voted discipline he became well informed and a man of much greater intellectual force than would he had his life companion been a woman of the average type. Mrs. Lincoln's parents were Joseph and Lyda Johnson, prominent pioneer settlers in this section of the State.

Charles and Allura Lincoln became the parents of ten children-six sons and four daughters-of whom we offer the following brief record: Lydia, wife of John Hudson, who lost his life in the war in 1861; George, who was a soldier in the late war; Harriet, deceased; Charles P., a resident of Cham- paign county, to whom individual reference is made on another page; Oliver Edward, our subject; Ira, deceased; Willianı; Ada Allura, wife of P. N. Pratt; Ella, and Dwight, both of whom died in childhood. Charles Lincoln was a distinctive type of the self-made man, attained a noteworthy success as the result of his well-directed ef- forts, and gained the respect due to an hon- est and honorable citizen. In politics he was a Republican,

MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF

Oliver E. Lincoln, the immediate sub- ject of this review, was reared on the old farm and imbibed the spirit of honesty and industry so typical of his father's character, his educational discipline being gained in the district schools and supplemented by his business career. He continued to reside in Champaign county until 1874, when he pur- chased 193 acres in Allen township, Union county, and here took up his abode, the original purchase comprising a portion of his present magnificent farmstead of 480 acres. This land is that along the rich alluvial bottoms of Big Darby Creek, and is unexcelled in productiveness by any in the State. The family home is unmistak- ably one of the most attractive in the county, being of modern architectural design and erected at a cost of $9,000. The equip- ment and accessories of the interior is prob- ably not equalled by that of any rural home in the section, the general furnishing show- ing an elegant simplicity, and the various rooms being supplied with gas and water furnished by effective systems operated on the place. The other permanent improve- ments on the farm are consonant with the superiority of the residence. In connection with general farming Mr. Lincoln has de- voted particular attention to the breeding of fine draft horses, including the Percheron, Norman and Clydesdale strains. He is now giving particular attention to Rambouillet Merino sheep, which are proving the most prolific and popular line as producing wool and mutton. He has one of the best flocks in the state, and he has secured prizes wherever he has placed the animals on ex- hibition, winning six first prizes at the great St. Louis fair in 1894.

February 20, 1871, Mr. Lincoln was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Coolidge,

daughter of Washington and Paulina (Hale) Coolidge, both of wliom are now deceased. Mrs. Lincoln is a woman of refinement and gracious presence and presides with dignity over the beautiful home.

Our subject and his wife have five chil- dren, namely: Dwight, who is at home and who is associated with his father in the stock business; Ora Effa, Mary Bertha, Oliver Edward, Jr., and Walter Washington.

In politics Mr. Lincoln is a stanch sup- porter of the Republican party, and he has served as Assessor of the township and as a member of the Board of Education, being always alive to public interests and ever ad- vocating in public lines the progressive, yet safely conservative methods which have con- tributed to his individual success and ad- vancement. He is a man of broad intel- lectual grasp and general information, is frank and genial in nature, and enjoys a marked popularity in the community.

0 R. J. G. GROVE, a skillful and popular young dentist of Delaware, Ohio, was born in this city Sep- tember, 29, 1871, son of J. G. and Lizzie (Thomas) Grove. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and for many years was engaged in the manufacture of harness, being a resident of Delaware from 1854 until the time of his death in 1890. Mrs. Grove was a native of Ohio. Her death oc- curred in 1883. Their family was composed of one daughter and four sons, the doctor being their second born.

Born and reared in an educational cen- ter, Dr. Grove had the best of school advantages. He attended the public schools and the colleges of his native town, and in 1893 graduated in the Dental department of

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

Harvard University. That same year he entered upon the practice of his profession, and has since met with excellent success.

Dr. Grove is a member of the Delta Sigma Delta Fraternity, Gamma Chapter, of Harvard University.

R OBERT J. COX is beyond doubt the most extensive contractor of Delaware, and is numbered among its leading business men. He was born in the city which is still his home on the first of September, 1838, and is a son of Thomas W. and Ann B. (Jones) Cox. His father was a native of England, his mother of Wales, and in early life both crossed the Atlantic to the New World. Thomas Cox was a painter and contractor and built up a very extensive business. His wife, who was born in 1810, died in September, 1892. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cox aided in the organ- ization of the Church of Delaware and for the long period of twenty-three years he served the society as senior warden. He is still living at the age of eighty-three, and makes his home with his son Robert.

Mr. Cox of this sketch was reared in his native city and in his youth received good privileges. He attended the public schools and afterward entered college, where he pursued his studies until 1851. In that year he crossed the water and in London attended the first World's Fair that was ever held. The family remained abroad for nine months, during which time they visited many points of interest in the Old World, and then returned to their home in Dela- ware. Here Robert Cox again spent one year in college, after which, at the age of fifteen, he entered a clothing store, where he

was employed as a salesman for about five years. He then entered the Commercial College of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was a student at the time of the breaking out of the late war. Soon after he returned to Delaware and entered the nursery business, but in a short time he responded to the country's call for troops and joined the boys in blue of. Company C, Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry, with which he served for nine months. On the expiration of that period he enlisted in Lincoln's Body Guard, Light Horse Cavalry; with which he was connect- ed until the close of the war.

When the South had laid down its arms and peace was once more restored, Mr. Cox returned to Delaware and took up his fath- er's old business of painting and contracting, which he followed for about two years. In 1867 he again went to Europe, attended the Paris Exposition, and traveled quite exten- sively in the southern part of that continent. In 1868 he returned and since that time has been engaged in business as a painter, tak- ing large contracts. He undoubtedly has the largest business in his line in Delaware county, having obtained this liberal patron- age by fair and honest dealing and straight- forward business methods.

Mr. Cox is one of the trustees of the cemetery of Delaware. Socially, he is con- nected with the Grand Army of the Repub- lic, and in politics he is a Republican, being one of the most active members of the party in this locality. For sixteen years he has been a member of the County Central Com- mittee, serving as its chairman for five years, and at this writing he is chairman of the Republican Congressional Committee. He is recognized as a inan of sterling worth and his excellencies of character have gained him high regard. Of broad and liberal mind,

MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF

he is a great reader and possesses the finest general library in Delaware county, contain- ing about four thousand volumes.

I SAAC BRODRICK, Jr. - Among the old and prominent pioneers of Union county the subject of this sketch occupies a position of distinc- tive priority, and it is certainly germane that in this connection he be granted that relative precedence which is consequently due. He retains his residence on the old homestead, where he took up his abode when a boy of nine years, and his father, who is one of the patriarchs of the State, has been a resident of Ohio for ninety-one years, being undoubtedly one of the oldest men in the Buckeye commonwealth.

Our subject, Isaac Brodrick, Jr., was born in Warren county, Ohio, June 23, 1825, the son of Isaac Brodrick, a native of New Jersey, his birthplace having been in the immediate vicinity of Burlington, where he was born October 1, 1802. He was the son of Isaac Brodrick, who was born in New Jersey, the son of Captain Thomas Brod- rick (or Bradrick, as the name was then spelled), who was of Irish birth, and who had followed a seafaring life for many years, having risen to the position as captain of a vessel. William Brodrick, brother of the last-named, Isaac Brodrick, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution and served for seven years in the Colonial army. While acting as a courier, under a flag of truce, he met an uncle, General Bradrick, who was an officer in the British army, and the latter endeavored to prevail upon him to leave the American army and join that of the mother country, -an overture which he refused to consider for a moment.

While yet an infant, Isaac Brodrick, Sr., the father of our subject, accompanied his parents to St. Clairsville, Harrison county, Ohio, and later, to Warren county, Ohio. His mother, whose maiden name was Beu- lah Engle, was born in New Jersey, Decem- ber 29, 1772, the daughter of Abraham and Taichens Engle, the father of the former having come from England to America in a very early day, becoming one of the first settlers in New Jersey. Isaac, Sr., was reared in Warren county, and upon attain- ing his majority he was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Wood, who was born in Warren county, October 15, 1804, the daughter of Aquilla and Hannah Jane (née Shepard) Wood, the former of whom was a native of the redwood region of Pennsyl- vania, and the latter of Ohio.

In 1833 the father of our subject re- moved to Logan county, this State and there remained one year, after which he came to Union county and settled on the farm which is now operated by our subject and upon which the venerable father still retains his residence. At that time the section was an unbroken forest, there having been but one white family within a radius of eight miles of the place, -this being a squatter's family who lived in a log cabin to the north. Wolves, deer, and other wild game was abundant, and occasionally painters and cat- amounts were to be encountered. Here the father of our subject built a primitive log cabin on the south end of the farm and there lived for two or three years, after which he built a new house of logs, locating the same near the public highway. This house was destroyed by fire, and, in order to accelerate the construction of a new dwelling, a "bee" was arranged on the fourth day after the fire, and forty-five men, with axes and ox-

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

teams, lent their assistance, and a good log house was completed before nightfall, and the family at once took possession of the same.

Isaac and Hannah (Wood) Brodrick be- came the parents of four children-two sons and two daughters-of whom we are en- · abled to offer the following record: Mary, deceased, was the wife of Richard Wells; Isaac, Jr., is the immediate subject of this review; James, was a soldier in the late war of the Rebellion, having been an engineer on a river steamboat, and his fate was un- certain, as he was reported in the list of those missing; Hannah Jane, deceased, was the wife of Charles Van Wye, and left six children. The devoted wife and mother was summoned into eternal rest April 3, 1875. Isaac Brodrick, Sr., still finds abid- ing place on the old farm, which has been his home for the past sixty years, being nine- ty-two years of age at the present time (1894.) He retains to a phenomenal ex- tent his mental and physical vigor, being strong in physique and weighing 180 pounds. In politics he was originally a Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he espoused its cause and has ever since been identified with the same. He has always been a stanch temperance advo- cate, and was one of the first of the early pioneers to refuse to provide whisky for the men at raising bees and during the harvest seasons. He is a Quaker by birthright, and has led an active, honorable, and upright life, gaining the confidence and the esteem of men, and being revered as one of the noble and gentle patriarchs of the county.

Isaac Broderick, Jr., was nine years of age when his parents took up their abode in this county, and here he has passed all the long intervening years. As a child he roamed at will through the dim forest aisles of this sec-

tion and became familiar with all the sights and scenes which have left a halo of romance about the early pioneer epoch. As his mus- cles waxed stronger, he gave effective assist- ance in the work of clearing up the old homestead, and in its cultivation, and every acre of the old place is familiar and dear to him from long association. He now has a finely improved farm of 175 acres, the fam- ily residence being a substantial and com- modious frame structure of two stories, erected in 1852. The homestead is located on the Marysville and Lewisburg turnpike, seven miles distant from the former place, the county seat, and five miles north of Milford Center.

April 10, 1851, Mr. Brodrick was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Hoff, who has been his devoted companion during the long years, which have granted their due quota of happiness. She was born in West Vir- ginia, but was a mere child when her par- ents removed to this county. Her father, Anthony Hoff, was the son of William Hoff, who was of German descent, and who was an active participant in the war of 1812. Her mother, née Elizabeth Poling, was born in West Virginia, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Poling. Anthony and Elizabeth Hoff became the parents of five children, namely: Sarah P., wife of our subject; Rachel J., Samuel M., Rebecca A. and Minerva J .- all of whom are living at the present time.

Our subject and his wife became the parents of eleven children, of which num- ber nine are living: Charles W .; John M., a prominent attorney of Marysville, con- cerning whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this volume; Samuel J., a resi- dent of Allen township, and the subject of an individual sketch on another page; Isaac

MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF

W .; Benjamin F .; Emo L. and Eva L. (twins), the former being the wife of Oliver McCollough, and the latter the wife of J. R. Benton; Anna R., who is an accomplished musician and a successful teacher in that line of art; Olive E .; William S., deceased at the age of seven years; and an infant son, deceased. The children were all afforded exceptional educational advantages, and John, Samuel and Isaac have been success- ful teachers.

Politically, Mr. Brodrick is a stanch Republican, and he has been an active worker in the local ranks of his party. He served his township as Clerk for seven years, as Constable for one year, as Justice of the Peace for nine years, and Treasurer for one year. So great a confidence is reposed in him that he has been often called upon to serve as administrator of estates, having taken charge of the affairs of nine different estates, and having acted as guardian of thirteen minor children. During the war he lent an effective aid to the Union cause, having been a member of the war commit- tee of the county, and having acted as a recruiting officer. He has served on various judicial bodies, having many times been a inember of the petit and grand juries of the county, and having once served as a member of the grand jury in the United States Court at Columbus, Ohio. Religiously, he is an active supporter and zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Lewisburg.

Mr. Brodrick is a man of fine physique and much virile strength, weighing 210 pounds. In manner he is frank and cour- teous, and he enjoys a distinctive popularity in the section where he has labored so long and so well, being one whose honest and honorable character begets objective respect and confidence.

EVI SNUFFIN, who is one of the prominent men and extensive land- holders of Allen township, Union county, and who has passed his en- tire life of upward of sixty-three years in this township, must assuredly be accorded attention as one of the representative agri- - culturists of the county and as one well de- serving of biographic honors.

He was born in Allen township, October 31, 1832, the son of Amos Snuffin, who was born in New Jersey and who was the son of James Snuffin, who was a native of the old Keystone State, and a soldier in the war of 1812. James Snuffin married Sarah Haines, who was born in Pennsylvania. They left their Eastern home in the year 18-, and with team and wagon made the long and wearisome overland journey to this State, settling in Allen township, where the grand- sire of our subject passed the residue of his days, his death occurring in 1852. His widow died in Champaign county.

Amos Snuffin passed his youthful days on the paternal homestead, and devoted himself to the work of felling the forest trees and clearing and "grubbing" the land and pre- paring it for cultivation. The little pioneer settlement in the woods offered meagre ad- vantages in the educational field, and ac- cordingly his scholastic discipline was very limited in scope. As a boy his chief play- fellows were the young Indians, and his principal diversion the hunting of the wild game, which abounded in this section. At- taining mature years he married Sarah Baldwin, daughter of Jeremiah and Rachel Baldwin, pioneer settlers of this county. Amos Snuffin passed his entire life in this section, living for a time in the adjoining county of Champaign, and his life was de- voted to farming. He and his wife became

DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.

the parents of four sons and four daughters, namely: Rachel, Rebecca, Levi, Hannah, Thompson, James, Mary, and William. Of this number only two are living at the pres- ent time: Rebecca, who is the wife of Samuel Milligan, of Taylorville, Christian county, Illinois; and Levi, the subject of this review. The father died at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother is living at the home of her only surviving daughter, in Illinois, having attained the venerable age of eighty-eight years. Amos Snuffin was originally a Whig, but upon the organiza- tion of the Republican party he transferred his allegiance to the same.

Levi Snuffin was reared in Allen town- ship and received his preliminary education in the district schools, which he was enabled to attend during the winter months, assist- ing in the work of the farm during the bal- ance of the year. The lessons which he re- ceived in the home training were those which go to make up the truest manhood, -he was taught that industry was the most honorable accomplishment and that honesty was the highest attribute of character. These les- sons have stood him well in hand during his life, and have conspired to the securing of the marked material success which has been his, and to the gaining to him the respect and ' confidence of his fellowmen. The greater portion of his life has been passed in Allen township, and he has consecutively been concerned with agricultural industry. In 1882 he took up his abode on his present farm, which comprises 477 acres and which is conceded to be one of the best in this sec- tion of the county. On his estate there are five dwelling houses, while the other perma- nent improvements are of excellent order. The place is under a most effective system of cultivation, and in connection with gen-

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Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio, Part 13

Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 570

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 570