USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 31
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 31
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 31
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In politics Mr. Ruhlman lends his sup- port and influence to the Republican party, and he has held official preferments of trust, being now the incumbent as Township Clerk, and having hitherto served for six years as Clerk of the city corporation. He was also a member of the local Board of Education for some time. Fraternally he is prominently identified with the Masonic order, being a member of Cardington Lodge, No. 384, and of the Royal Arcanum. In connection with his business enterprise he manufactures all the sheet-iron work util- ized in the George S. Singer Olentangy incubators and brooders, which business involves several thousand dollars per an- num.
February 6, 1881, Mr. Ruhlman was united in marriage to Miss Louvina Miller, daughter of Elias and Mary (Gable) Miller, and the issue of this union has been three children, namely: Myrtle B., Hartley M., and Ethel G.
J OHN H. OSBORN, a farmer of Bloomfield township, Morrow coun- ty, was born in New London, Con- necticut, October 7, 1816,,a son of Thomas Osborn. His father was supposed to have been killed, and Thomas was bound out to a sea captain and taken on board ship at the age of seven years following the sea until he married and located on a farm in Connecticut. He came to Knox county in 1816, purchased Government land, erected a log cabin, improved his farm, and died there at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother of our subject, née Olive Man- ning, was born and reared in Connecticut, a daughter of Gilcrist Manning, of English descent. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Osborn were the parents of eight children, all of whom grew to years of maturity, namely: Abigail (deceased), Amanda (deceased), John H., James M., William N., Sarah Ann, Rilla and George (deceased).
John H., the third child and eldest son, was brought to Knox, now Morrow county, when an infant. At the age of sixteen years he left home to work at the cabinet- maker's trade at Mount Vernon, but six months later returned home and assisted in building a sawmill on a branch of Dry creek. He was next apprenticed to the carpenter and joiner's trade, continuing that occupation four years, and erected many of the houses, barns and other buildings throughout Morrow and adjoining counties. After his marriage, Mr. Osborn located on his present farm, in South Bloomfield town- ship, which he has put under a fine state of cultivation, and erected a good residence.
October 7, 1838, he was united in mar- riage with Nancy Sevare, a native of Knox county, Ohio, and a daughter of Jesse Se- vare, one of the early pioneers of Knox
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county. Mr. and Mrs. Osborn had seven children, viz: Douglas B., deceased; Clar- inda, deceased; Thomas E., of Mount Gilead; Laduskey E., widow of Orange Holister and a resident of Mount Vernon; Byron H., of Bloomfield township; Mary J., at home; Rose L., wife of Thomas Scott, of Bloomfield township. The wife and mother is deceased. Mr. Osborn is a Deacon in the Christian Church, and is identified with the Republican party.
S A. McNEIL, one of the representa- tive and highly respected farmers of York township, Union county, was born in a log cabin in Clai- borne township on the 13th day of April, 1844. His great-great-grandfather, Samuel McNeil, and his wife, formerly Sarah Skillen, came from Ireland to Chester county, Penn- sylvania, in the year 1740. His great-grand- father, Alexander McNeil, was married to Ann Porter, in 1770, and served in General Washington's army through the Revolution. His grandfather, Andrew McNeil, Sr., was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1777, and was married to Margery Young in 1799. His father, Andrew McNeil, Jr., the seventh child of Andrew and Margery, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1811. During his younger years he came to Ohio and is numbered among the early settlers of Union county.
He was married February 28, 1833, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, to Mary Cris- well, who was born in that county, Novem- ber II, 1809. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church at Faggs Manor, and both belonged to old Presbyterian families, very prominent in church circles.
The young couple began their domestic life in the Keystone State, but five years later, in 1838, emigrated to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, making the journey by team. The following year they came to Union county. November 9, 1839, they, with thirteen other persons, organized the York Presbyterian Church, and Mr. McNeil was chosen as one of the Ruling Elders, which office he held until his death. His worth and ability soon made him one of the lead- ing citizens of this community and he was frequently called upon to serve in positions of public trust. For two terms he served as Auditor of the county and two terms as County Commissioner. He also served as Trustee of Claiborne township and Clerk of York township. He was a robust Chris- tian, tenacious in what he thought was truth and duty, and was unflinching in his loyalty to his country during the Civil war.
His wife died on the 6th day of October, 1861, leaving three children: Miriam R., who was married to James D. Stanley; Amanda, who was married to Hugh Ross, and Samuel A. The father was afterwards again married, his second union being with Catherine McCrea Patterson. The ill-fated Jane McCrea, massacred by the Indians near Saratoga, New York, whose tragic story is celebrated in the annals of the Revolution, was her great-aunt. Mr. Mc- Neil died December 31, 1889. Catherine McCrea McNeil died October 27, 1893.
Union county was to a great degree a frontier settlement during the boyhood days of S. A. McNeil, and with the family he went through the experience of pioneer life. He acquired his education in the schools of the neighborhood, and through the summer months worked on the farm, aiding his father in the development and cultivation of
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the old homestead. Early in 1861 his father arranged to send him away to school, but the great war cloud had gathered and hung over the land, and young McNeil, stirred with patriotic impulses, felt that his country needed the services of all her able- bodied sons. In consequence, on the 17th day of August, 1861, although only seven- teen years of age, with his father's permis- sion, he enlisted as a member of Company F. Thirty-first Ohio Infantry, for three years. He was with his regiment and took part in almost every important battle in which the Army of the Cumberland was en- gaged from Mill Springs, Kentucky, to Mis- sionary Ridge, Georgia. In the last named he was severely wounded by a minie ball which passed through his neck. In January, he re-enlisted as a veteran and was promoted to Sergeant. He was "present for duty" every day from the opening of the Atlanta campaign to Johnston's surrender to Sher- man in April, 1865, and until he was honor- ably discharged, July 26, 1865.
A H. KOLLEFRATH, an honored and representative citizen of Marys- ville, Union county, Ohio, and one who, at the present time, holds the marked preferment as Mayor of the city, must consistently come forward for specific attention and recognition in a work which purports to take up the life history of the leading residents of the county.
A native of the "Old Dominion," our subject was born at Charleston, now West Virginia, August 11, 1850, the son of Au- gust and Magdaline (Neun) Kollefrath, the former of whom was a native of Baden, Germany; the latter of Bavaria. At the age of thirteen years the father was appren-
ticed to learn the shoemaker's trade, and with this line of industry he continued to be identified for the extended period of sixty-three years. He did not confine his field of operations to the fatherland, but became cosmopolitan in his methods, work- ing at his trade through Spain, Switzerland, France and England. He emigrated to America, having determined to try his for- tunes in the United States. He landed at New Orleans, where he remained but a short time, after which he proceeded up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, thence on to Cincinnati, and finally to Charleston, West Virginia. Here was consummated his mar- riage, and here he remained until 1851, when, with his family, he removed to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where they continued to re- side for some four years. Then the migra- tory spirit carried them to Dubuque, Iowa, where they remained one year, after which they returned to Ohio, locating at Spring- field, Clarke county, where the death of the honored father occurred August 1, 1893, at which time he had attained the advanced age of seventy-six years. His widow is still a resident of Springfield.
They were the parents of eight children, touching whose individuality we are per- mitted to offer the following data: August H., the eldest, is the immediate subject of this review; Amelia is the wife of Julius Grahs, of Springfield; Louisa, who resides at Springfield, Ohio; Mary, wife of Henry Deitrich, of Springfield; Albert, who is en- gaged in the butcher business at Springfield; Alice, wife of Richard Lodenhortz, of the same city; Anna, of Springfield; and Ed- ward, who occupies a clerical position at Cleveland, Ohio.
August H. Kollefrath passed his boy- hood days in Springfield, Ohio, receiving
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his education in the public schools of that city, and completing the course of study in the Gundry & Hollingsworth Commercial College. Following in the footsteps of his father, and under the direction of the latter, who was a skilled workman, he learned the shoemaker's trade, thus doubly equipping himself for meeting the exigencies of life, and giving evidence of his practical belief in the old and true business axiom, that it is the duty of every young man to learn some trade. He worked with his father for some time, and while thus devoting himself to honest manual labor he showed the in- nate democracy of his principles by other and mental labor, undertaken with a view to fitting himself for a wider sphere of use- fulness in life. He simultaneously read law with Judge F. M. Hagen, of Springfield, and secured admission to the bar August 13, 1876,-the Centennial year. The same year he was a candidate for Prosecuting Attorney on the Democratic ticket in Clarke county. Soon after this he engaged in practice at Springfield for one year, and there celebrated an important event in his life, April 26, 1877, when he was united in marriage to Miss Anna B. Noelp, of Union county, Ohio.
August 29th of the same year he came to Marysville, and here opened an office for the practice of his profession, associating himself with Andrew Stevenson, which alli- ance continued for one year, since which time our subject has maintained his prac- tice alone. He has established a reputation for marked professional ability, a thorough and discriminating knowledge of legal mat- ters, and a capacity for successfully hand- ling all cases and other business in which his efforts are enlisted. Logical in his de- ductions, dignified in his methods, and not
lacking in forensic ability, it has come in natural sequence that he has retained a large and representative clientele, the re- spect and high estimation in which he is held in the community having been shown in divers ways, as will be duly noted farther on in this connection. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Kollefrath has for some years been associated with Mr. J. M. Ken- nedy in the successful conduct of a pension agency.
After having been for many years an un- compromising Democrat, he finally became convinced that the policies and principles advocated by the Republican party were best intended to conserve the interests of the people, and, true to such convictions, he arrayed himself with the latter organiza- · tion, with whose local interests he has been closely identified since 1889. In the spring of 1894 he was elected Justice of the Peace on the Republican ticket, and also won a marked victory at the polls in his election to the Mayoralty of the city of Marysville. He has made important changes in the ad- ministration of the municipal government, his inaugural address being a clear-cut, in- cisive and fearless document, in which his policies were ably defined, and in accord- ance with which he has administered the affairs of the city with sound and judicious methods. In the hours when there has come severe criticism from various sources, the Mayor has not flinched, nor lacked the courage of his convictions, and his decisive, fearless, and straightforward maintenance of a position once assumed as expedient, and justified by the facts and circumstances involved, has gained to him both confidence and respect, which will not be lost him by reason of certain fanatical protests.
Mr. Kollefrat his the er-officio president
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of the Board of Health, and in the duties of this office his interest is something more than nominal. A stalwart Republican, bright and daring when principles are at stake, opposed to all rings and cliques in a political way and zealous in fos- tering whatever tends to the public good, tlie Mayor holds a winning card in the mat- ter of official preferments.
In his fraternal relations, Mr. Kollefrath is identified with the Knights of Pythias, Marysville Lodge, No. 100. While a resi- dent of Springfield he was a member of the Ohio National Guards. Our subject is es- sentially a self-made man, is full of pluck, enterprise and determination, honest in his convictions, loyal to his friends and unflinch- ing in the face of ill-advised opposition. In religious belief he is a Lutheran of the lib- eral order.
Mr. and Mrs. Kollefrath are the parents of five children: Alice, Frank, Leonard. Julius and Howard. The family home is located in the south part of the city.
EORGE R. DENTON, who is one of the well-known and substantial agriculturists of Westfield town- ship, Morrow county, Ohio, finds the place of his nativity in merrie old En- gland, having been born in Lincolnshire, on the 12th of September, 1831.
His father was Jonathan Denton, who was a native of the same English shire and who was a farmer by occupation. He died at the age of sixty-six years, having never left his native land. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Frances Swabey and she likewise was born on English soil, coming to America when well advanced in years and dying in the State of Kansas, at
the venerable age of about eighty-five years.
George R. Denton was the eldest of ten children and he passed his boyhood on the paternal farm, receiving his educational training in the common schools. At the age of thirteen he hired out by the year, working almost thirteen years for different farmers. In the fall of 1854 he got into trouble by shooting a hare, sometimes called jack rabbit in America, the game-keeper claiming his gun or a lawsuit. He gave up the gun in preference to entering into a lawsuit. Soon after this he went to Lon- don, where he spent the winter months, working most of the time for the Great Northern Railroad Company. In the spring of 1855, he bade adieu to relatives and friends, also to the crown of Great Britain. He remained in his native land until he had attained the age of twenty-seven years, when he emigrated to America, coming direct to Marion county, Ohio, and thence to Morrow county. For two summers he worked by the month, then by day piece work on shares, etc., keeping bachelor's hall two years, and in 1864 he married Mrs. Eliza Jane (Trickle) Yagala, widow of George Yagala, thereupon locating upon his present farm of eighty-four acres, to the cultivation and improvement of which he has since devoted his attention.
Mr. and Mrs. Denton are the parents of three children, namely: Rachel F., wife of Albert Goorley, of Mount Gilead, this coun- ty; Samuel J., a resident of Dentonville, Kansas; and Benjamin E., who remains on the parental homestead part of the time. In the spring of 1877, his first wife died, at the age of forty-seven years. For his second wife he married Mrs. Christina Mitchell, a native of Scotland, born in the city of Dun- dee and reared by friends, her parents hav-
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ing died while she was yet a child. She obtained her education by attending school half of each day, working in the factories the other half. Her first husband died a short time after their marriage, in 1873. She came to America, locating in Brooklyn; from there she went to Marion, Ohio, then came to her present home. Mrs. Denton visited friends in her native isle in 1890. She is a woman of perseverance, and has many true friends.
In politics Mr. Denton is identified with the Republican party, and he has taken a somewhat active part in forwarding its inter- ests in a local sense. He has never sought poli- tical preferment, but for one term he served as Road Supervisor in his township, proving a most capable official. Strictly in opposi- tion to our present style of making smooth tracks by the ditch, he prefers filling ruts, giving a smooth track in the center of the public roads at all seasons.
Religiously, he is prominently identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, being . a steward of the local organization and con- tributing liberally to the support and ad- vancement of the same. A man of deep integrity and unswerving honor, he has gained and held the respect and esteem of the community, and in him is reposed the most perfect confidence.
OSEPH GROVES, of Cardington, Ohio, was born in this city April 22, 1837, and his ancestors were origin- ally from Holland. His father, Benjamin Groves, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, but came to Ohio in a very early day, locating in what is now Canaan township, Morrow county, and was a miller by occu- 15
pation. About 1835 he located in Card- ington, and operated the old Bunker Mill near the dam, having been the first miller in the old water mill here. Three years after- ward he moved to Lima, Ohio, and his death occurred there in 1847. Mr. Groves married Ann Haight, a native of Guernsey county, this State. They had four sons and two daughters, four now living, namely: Joseph, Augustus, William and Martha Jane. The father had been previously mar- ried to a Miss Hight, and their son, Samuel S., is now living in Canaan township, Mor- row county.
Joseph Groves, the subject of this sketch, learned and followed the blacksmith's trade in Jasper county, Missouri. In 1860 he went to Kansas, and in the following fall located in Pekin, Illinois. April 25, 1861, he enlisted for service in the late war, enter- ing Company F, Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the first regiment sent out by the State of Illinois into the Rebellion. They were drilled at Cairo, and were discharged at the close of the three months' service. Immediately re-enlisting in the same regi- ment, Mr. Groves was promoted to Corpor- al, and served as such until after the battle of Fort Donelson, when he became Sergeant. He took part in the capture of the Rebel flag at Columbus, Kentucky, December 22, 1861; participated in a midnight skirmish at Norfolk, Missouri, and served in the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Jackson, Holly Springs, Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, Black River, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, and took part in the entire siege of Vicksburg, lasting forty-seven days. While there his gun was struck by a piece of shell and knocked him down, and, al- though disabled, he remained at his post.
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In July, 1863, Mr. Groves participated in the battles of Clinton, Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. He was detailed by General Canby to place the stars and stripes on the battle house in Mobile, Alabama, on its sur- render, and successfully accomplished the task. He was veteranized January 5, 1864, and was promoted to Orderly Sergeant. He carried the regimental colors through the later battles of the war. August 28, 1865, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company F, Eighth Illinois Volunteers, and January 20, 1866, was made First Lieuten- ant of the same company, both having been issued by R. J. Oglesby. Mr. Groves was ordered for duty in Texas, and served there until finally discharged at Springfield, Illi- nois, in June, 1866, after a continuous ser- vice of five years and one month. Just be- fore the battle of Shiloh our subject went outside the lines to get squirrels for a sick comrade, and, while hunting, a rebel order- ed him to drop his gun and proceeded to march him to Corinth. On the way Mr. Groves put his hand in his pocket for to- bacco, where he also had a loaded revolver, which he drew upon the rebel and turned the tables, marching him to General Leg- gett's headquarters. He then went back after the squirrels. Mr. Groves took part in twenty-three battles in all, and was never wounded.
In the fall of 1866 he went to Wisconsin, but two years afterward removed to Michi- gan, and in 1874 came to Cardington, Ohio In his political relations, he affiliates with the Republican party. Socially, he is a member of the I. O. O. F., also of the En- campment and Rebekahs, is Commander of the James St. John Post, No. 82, G. A. R., and is a member of the U. V. L., No. 89, of Mount Gilead.
Mr. Groves was married, in 1868, to Alvira Benson, who was born in Lincoln township, Morrow county, March 29, 1847, a daughter of Darius and Eliza A. (Warner) Benson. Our subject and wife have four sons, -Otto J., Arden B., George F. and Charles S.
J P. MORSE .- It now becomes our privilege to touch briefly upon the life history of one who stands fortlı as one of the representative farmers of Union township, Union county, and one who enjoys a most marked popularity by reason of his genial and sympathetic nature. He was one of the valiant boys who went forth in his nation's defense at the time of the late civil war, and his military record is one that remains to his perpetual honor.
He was born on the farm where he now lives, -the old paternal homestead, -De- cember 28, 1839, the son of the late Ray G. Morse, who was one of Union county's prosperous, influential and popular citizens for many years. Ray G. Morse was a native of Coventry township, Kent county, Rhode Island, his birthplace being in the vicinity of the city of Providence. The date of his nativity was November 16, 1808, and he was a son of Joseph Morse, who was also a native of the Union's most diminutive State, and a descendent of one of the most prominent old families of that common- wealth. When Ray G. had attained the age of ten years his parents determined to seek their fortunes and establish a new home in the West, and accordingly they set forth with an ox wagon to traverse the long stretch of wild country lying between their Eastern home and the State of Ohio. With this primitive and unpretentious equipage
d. P. Morse
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DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
the journey was made in the dead of wintre and was not completed until forty-nine days had elapsed, when they reached their desti- nation at Rice City, a little settlement in the vicinity of the present thriving village of Milford Center, this county. Here they established their home and here passed the residue of their days, both parents having been laid to rest in the section which mark- ed the scene of their early endeavors in clearing away the forests and aiding in the development of the county to its present position of prosperity. Though their son, the father of our subject, was but a mere child at the time the eventful overland journey from the East was accomplished, yet he remembered almost every detail of the same until the hour of his dissolution.
Ray G. passed his youthful days at the parental home in this county, and finally engaged himself to serve an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, serving five years under Colonel Fairfield, who was one of the prominent men of Milford Center in that early day. He became an expert artisan in working iron and steel and by sturdy efforts at the forge he acquired the funds with which to purchase his farm, that which our subject now cultivates. April 17, 1838, he took up his residence on his place, settling in the woods, where he built a log cabin and made a home for his family, and then set himself the arduous task of felling the forest monarchs and preparing the soil for the plow. This place was his home until the time of his demise, and he lived there for more than an half century, being thus permitted to enjoy the full recompense for the indefa- tigable toil which had been his in reclaiming the farm. His death occurred December 10, 1893, at which time he had attained the venerable age of eighty-five years and
twenty-four days. In the fulness of years was thus gathered to his fathers one whose life had been one of activity and usefulness and one whose name will be held in lasting honor by all to whom remains the knowledge of his sturdy rectitude and noble character. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Parthemor, and to whom he was united December 20, 1830, died July 10, 1888, at the advanced age of eighty-four years and eleven months.
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