USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 52
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 52
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 52
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About 1839 Judge Colc was married to Dorothy Barden Witter, who had been his pupil in school. Her parents, David and Sarah Witter, were among the carly settlers of Ohio, coming here about 1814 or '15 and settling two miles below Milford Centre in
Union township, Union county, where hcr father purchased 1, 600 acres of land. David Witter was born in Pennsylvania, son of Elijah Witter, and from his tenth year was reared in Genesee county, New York. His father, Elijah Witter, living on the frontier as he did, suffered greatly from depreda- tions committed by the Indians and on three occasions had his house burned by them. He was appointed to look after the women and children of the settlement and to pro- tect them in the forts during the Indian raids. On these occasions they frequently suffered from want of provisions, especially salt. His wife at one time made a trip of fifty miles on horseback to get salt, and re- turned in safety, having passed many Indi- ans. In early life David Witter was a trap- per and hunter and later he carried on both this business and farming. When the war of 1812 broke out he entered the service as an officer in the New York militia, and was in the battle of Qucenstown. It was soon after the close of that war that he and his wife came to Ohio, as above stated. Here he carried on che stock business on an ex- tensive scale and found a market for his droves of stock at both Philadelphia and Detroit. He also did a large real-estate business. Previous to his coming to Ohio he was elected to and served as High Con- stable in New York, and about 1827 he was elected Sheriff of Union county, being one of the first to hold this office here. About 1828 he erected a brick hotel in Marysville, which he conducted for some years in con- nection with other business operations, and few men in the county were better known than he. In 1851 he moved to Illinois. There he passed the residue of his life and died, his death occurring about 1864.
Judge Cole and his wife became the
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parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, all occupying honorable and use- ful positions in life. The sons, all following in the footsteps of their honored father, are engaged in the practice of law, and one of the daughters is the wife of a prominent lawyer. We refer briefly to each of them. as follows: Ulysses D., an officer in the civil war, at one time a member of the Indiana Legislature, and now a prominent attorney at Rushville, Indiana; James B., a graduate of the West Point Military Acad- emy, served five years in the United States cavalry in Texas, was discharged in 1871 at his own request, came home and entered his father's law office, and since his father's death has been engaged in the practice of law alone; Cornelia, wife of C. W. Fairbanks, an attorney of Indianapolis, Indiana; Ed- ward E., engaged in the practice of law at Columbus, Ohio; Jessie, wife of A. Y. Lowe, a traveling salesman, Marysville; and Dorothea, wife of Captain John L. Sellers, a Marysville cigar jobber.
Mrs. Cole is still living and is an hon- ored resident of Marysville, having attained her seventy-fifth year.
H. HARLAN, a prominent attor- ney and enterprising and progress- ive business man of Mount Gilead, Ohio, dates his birth in Noble coun- ty, this State, March 22, 1851.
His father, Caleb Harlan, was born in Harford county, Maryland, August 20, 1808, and in 184I came from there, with his wife and two children, to Ohio, locating on a farm near Quaker City. In the early part of his life he worked at the trade of cooper, but after locating in Ohio he gave his attention to farming. In 1857 he came to Morrow
county and purchased and took up his abode on 160 acres of land, two miles southwest of Mount Gilead. Here he died December 4, 1864. His father, John Harlan, was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and went from there when a young man to Baltimore, Maryland. He was married in Maryland, passed his life on a farm there, and died in Harford county, that State, in 1824. His father and grandfather were each named Joseph and his great-grandfather was Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a son of George Harlan, a native of England, who came to this country with William Penn and settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he held high official position at the time Penn was Governor of Pennsylvania. George Harlan was a son of James Harlan, whose whole life was spent in England. The Harlans on down to the present generation have been identified with the Society of Friends, and the subject of our sketch has a birthright in the church.
Caleb Harlan was married in the Friends' Church in Harford county, Maryland, May II, 1837, to Pamelia Benson, a native of that county, born February 20, 1814. She survived him a number of years, and died September 10, 1879. Her parents, Levi and Mary (Malsby) Benson, were both natives of Harford county and were married there December 12, 1806, the mother being of Welsh descent. Mrs. Harlan's grand- mother Benson ran away from her home in England and came to America, on account of her father's insisting upon her marriage to an English Lord whom she did not love. The Bensons also were Quaker. Caleb Harlan and his wife were the parents of the following named children: Edward, born May 19, 1838, died June 23, 1867, from in- juries received in being kicked by a horse,
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and he left a widow and two daughters; Mary Jane, born November 5, 1840, died May 31, 1866, leaving a husband and two children; Lewis, born September 14, 1843, was injured in a railroad accident, and died from the effects of his injuries October 9, 1864, being unmarried; Oliver, born Feb- ruary 22, 1846, met his death April 19, 1878, by an accident in a steam sawmill, and is survived by his widow and one child; Phœbe A., born December 24, 1848, is the wife of Robert F. Mosher, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Morrow county, Ohio; Henry H. is the subject of this sketch, and John W., born January 5, 1854, re- sides at the old Harlan homestead in this county.
Henry H. Harlan was six years of age at the time his parents came to Morrow county, and on his father's farm he was reared, receiving his education in the dis- trict schools and in the Union school at Mount Gilead. While still in his 'teens he began teaching school. The close confine- ment of the school-room, however, did not agree with his health, so he resumed farm- ing, and took charge of the home place, his father having passed away a few years be- fore. Subsequently he and his younger brother purchased the interest of the other heirs to the farm, and they have since held it jointly. After his mother's death, which, as above stated, occurred in 1879, our sub- ject attended school for one year at Dela- ware, after which he began the study of law under the instructions of General J. S. Jones, with whom he remained from 1880 to 1881, when he was taken sick, and tem- porarily dropped his studies.
In the summer of 1882 he married Mar- tha Mosher, daughter of Nathan N. and Sarah (Bovey) Mosher. They resided on
the farm until 1891, when they removed to Mount Gilead. In the meantime he com- pleted his law studies, and was admitted to the bar in 1885. In 1890 he formed a partnership with Mr. C. H. Wood, under the firm name of Harlan & Wood, which association still continues. Mr. Harlan is prominently identified with various interests in his town and county. Besides being in partnership with his brother in the farming operations at the old home place, he is in- terested with his brother-in-law, Mr. R. F. Mosher, in both farming and stock raising. He is a director in the First National Bank of Mount Gilead, a director in the Hy- draulic Press Manufacturing Company, and a member of the board of managers of the Mount Gilead Dry Goods Company, Limited.
Politically he is a strong Prohibitionist, active in the interest of his party, and is the only Prohibitionist attorney in the county.
R OBERT F. MOSHER, a prominent citizen of Gilead township, Mor- row county, Ohio, was born in Cardington, this county, Septem- ber 4, 1848, son of Nathan N. and Sarah A. (Bovey) Mosher. The genealogy of the family is as follows:
Hugh Mosher, the progenitor of the family in America, was born in England in 1640 and made his first settlement in this country at Bristol, Rhode Island, whence he removed to Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1689. He died in 1714. His wife was Lydia Dixon, and they had six children: Nicholas, Joseph, James, Daniel, John and Rebecca. Nicholas was born in 1665. He had a son Joseph, born July 16, 1693, who married Mahitable Smith in 1718. Their son Barnabas, born December 28, 1720,
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DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
married Bethiah Wollsen in 1743. Their son Lemuel, born October 21, 1749, mar- ried Ruth Gifford in 1770, and their daugh- ter Bethiah, born July 23, 1771, died in 1856. She married Asa Mosher, February 27, 1794. Their son Robert, born March 27, 1800, married Edith Nichols February 14, 1822. She died February 14, 1894, and he May 5, 1886. Their son Nathan N., born February 2, 1827, married Sarah Ann Bovey April 15, 1847, and their son Robert F. is the subject of this sketch.
Hugh Mosher's youngest son, John, and his wife, Experience, had a son John, Jr., who married Hannah Duvall. A son of theirs, Obediah, born January 12, 1731, died March 24, 1808. He married Hannah Brownell, who was born July 22, 1732, and died March 8, 1825. Their son Asa, born November 25, 1771, died March 4, 1843. He married Bethiah Mosher February 27, 1794. Therefore the last named Asa and his wife, Bethiah, the great-grandparents of our subject, were both descendants from Hugh Mosher, Asa through his youngest son and Bethiah through his oldest son.
Of the Bovey family, we record that Christopher Bovey emigrated from Lorraine, then in France, during the latter part of the last century and settled in Maryland. He had a family of children as follows: John Jacob, Christopher, Adam, Mary and Mar- garet. John Jacob married Elizabeth Burgher, and their daughter, Sarah Ann, the mother of our subject, was born Febru- ary 28, 1824, in Frederick county, Mary- land. Her parents removed with their family to Ohio in 1832 and settled in Knox county, where they made their home for six years, coming in 1838 to Morrow county. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Robert Mosher came to Ohio from New
York State in 1818. He was thirteen years of age at the time of the battle of Lake Champlain, which was fought near his father's home. Nathan N. Mosher and his wife were married in Morrow county, in the spring of 1847, and after their marriage settled in Cardington, where he carried on the business of wagon-maker for a while. He moved to Warren county, Iowa, in 1853, and farmed there for four years. Then he returned to Ohio, and three years later went back to Iowa, where he spent five years. In April, 1861, he enlisted in the Union army, but was not mustered in until June 4, when he became a member of Company G, Third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at Keokuk, Iowa. He remained with his command, participating in its nu- merous engagements until the fight on the Hatchie river, when, on account of ill health, he was ordered to the hospital. He afterward served as nurse in the hospital, and was sent in charge of sick and wounded to Jackson, Tennessee, where he was given the position of ward master. There he was discharged by the Medical Inspector of the United States Army, after having served in the war over two years. In 1865 he moved to Kansas and located in Douglas county, where he engaged in freighting, and whence he subsequently removed to Page county, Iowa, and resumed farming, also teaming there. In 1867 he came to Warren county, Ohio, and farmed there until 1872, after which he kept a hotel at Waynesville, Ohio, for six years. Following that, he was for three years employed on the Cincinnati Times. He now resides on a farm in Gilead township, Morrow county. He and his wife became the parents of ten children, two of whom are now deceased. Of the children we offer brief record as follows: Robert
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F. is the subject of this sketch; Mary E., born December 22, 1850; Edith, born Feb- ruary 28, 1853; Martha, November 11, 1855; John Jacob, born January 8, 1857, died June 9, 1894, leaving a widow and three children; Amanda, born December 22, 1858; Samuel F., February 14, 1861; Gideon, born February 5, 1864. died No- vember 1, 1881; Charley, born April 6, 1867: and William, January 28, 1870. All the surviving children, except William, are married, and all are prospering in life.
Robert F. Mosher received his educa- tion in the district schools and at the Waynesville, Ohio, high school, being a student in the latter for three terms. He began life on his own responsibility when he was twenty-one and when he was twenty- two he left home in Warren county and came to Morrow county. Here he worked one year for his grandfather Mosher. After his marriage, which occurred in 1873, he settled on the farm on which he now lives. He rented this place for five years and at the end of that time purchased it. It com- prises ninety-four acres, all well improved and in addition to this he has a half interest in an adjoining farm of 112 acres. His ele- gant residence, built in 1893, is one of the finest homes in the township. He gives his attention to general farming and stock-rais- ing, making a specialty of sheep and heavy draft horses.
Mr. Mosher was married April 29, 1873, to Miss Phœbe A. Harlan, who was born in Noble county, Ohio, December 24, 1848, daughter of Caleb and Pamelia (Benson) Harlan. The Harlans came to Morrow county in 1857, and both parents died here. Mr. and Mrs. Mosher have five children, namely: Ralph N., born October 2, 1874; Henry H., born December 27, 1877; Mary
M., born August 30, 1881; Samuel J., born October 30, 1884; and Phobe H., born May 17, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Mosher both come of old Quaker families, and are themselves active members of that church. He is a Sabbath- school Superintendent and his wife is a teacher in the Sabbath-school. Mr. Mosher has always been interested in educational affairs and has afforded his children good educational advantages. He has served as Director of his school district for fifteen years, and as a member of the Township Board for twelve years He has also served as Road Supervisor several terms. In this capacity he clearly demonstrated what could be accomplished by the application of busi- ness principles in discharging the duties of his position. His road district is well graded and drained and a large portion graveled, -this being accomplished by the agency of only the ordinary road tax. Politically he has been identified with the Prohibition party since its organization, in 1869, and has served on both the County Executive and Central Committees and the State Central Committee. He has also been the candidate of his party for County Au- ditor, Recorder and Commissioner. Few men are better known or more highly re- spected in Morrow county than is Robert F. Mosher.
ILLS BROTHERS, proprietors of a flouring mill at Cardington, Ohio, are among the most enter- prising young business men of the city.
Their father, Richard T. Mills, was born and reared on a farm in Marion county,
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Ohio, and after his marriage he engaged in the grocery business in Caledonia, that county, where he remained until 1868, at
that time coming to Cardington. His father, Jesse W. Mills, a native of New Jersey, was one of the early pioneers of Marion county. In the spring of 1865 he removed from his farm in that county to Cardington and bought the mill above re- ferred to, being engaged in its operation for some time under the firm name of Mills & Dawson. After his death his son Richard T. took charge of the mill, becoming its owner in 1880 and continuing to operate it until 1892, when he died, at the age of fifty- two years. He was a man of sterling qual- ities, having many of the characteristics of his Scotch ancestors, and was well known and highly respected throughout Morrow county. In politics a stanch Republican, he was for a time Mayor of the city of Cardington, served on the School Board, and at the time of his death was a member of the City Council. When the civil war came on, he enlisted in the first year of the struggle as a member of the Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was honorably discharged on account of disability. He was a member of the G. A. R. at Cardington and was Commander of his Post, and in the I. O. O. F. he was prominent and active, at different times serving as representative to the Grand Lodge and Grand Encampment.
The mother of our subject was before her marriage Miss Lottie Kermickle, she being a native of Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, where she was reared and educated. She is now a resident of Cardington. Her children are five in -number and are as fol- lows : Minella, J. G., H. A., J. W., and Ralph. Jesse W. has for the last four years
been employed by the clothiers, Curl & Glauner.
J. G. and H. A. represent the firm of Mills Brothers. The former was born in Caledonia, Marion county, Ohio, May 4, 1868, and was six months old at the time his parents moved to Cardington, where he has since lived, having been connected with the mill since he was eighteen years of age. H. A. Mills was born in Cardington May 14, 1870. After the death of their father they took charge of the mill and have since operated it successfully. This mill has both water and steam power, is equipped with roller process, and has a capacity of fifty barrels per day.
Both these gentlemen are members of the Cardington Lodge, No. 194, I. O. O. F., and of Lodge No. 427, K. of P. ; and J. G. is also a member of the Masonic order, Cardington Lodge, No. 384.
J AMES R. LYTLE, attorney at law, Delaware, Ohio, has for a number of years been an important factor in the affairs of this city and is thoroughly identified with its interests. He has resided here since 1864, when he came to Delaware for the purpose of attending the Ohio Wes- leyan University.
Mr. Lytle was born on a farm near Lan- caster, Ohio, son of James and Catharine (Freymeyer) Lytle, who were of Scotch- Irish and German descent and who are both deceased. His father was one of the pio- neer farmers of Ohio, and for his many ster- ling qualities was honored and respected by all who knew him. Politically he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. In re- ligion he was an Episcopalian, while his wife was a Lutheran. They had four children,
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viz .: Catherine A., widow of John T. Ev- ans, a resident of Delaware, Ohio; John B .. who died at the age of twenty-one years; James R., whose name appears at the head of this article; and William, who was a member of Company I, Ninetieth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, was captured by guerrillas while he was out foraging and has never since been heard of.
James R. Lytle spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and received his early training in the district schools. In the fall of 1861 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity, and spent one year in hard study, after which he returned home and remained until the spring of 1864. On the 2d of May of that year he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the 100-day service. Previous to this time he had been a member of the Home Guards and had done some service during the Morgan raid. When the time of his enlistment had expired he returned home, and in the fall of 1864 again entered college, as above stated. Here he graduated in the class of 1868. During his vacations he studied law in the office of Jones & Hipple, of Delaware, and in June, 1869, was ad- mitted to the bar. He was married soon after his graduation and moved to Fremont, Ohio. He remained there, however, ouly one year. While on a visit to Delaware, his preceptor, General J. S. Jones, offered him a partnership in the law business, which he accepted, and they have since been asso- ciated in practice, Mr. Lytle giving his at- tention to the office business. Mr. Lytle has made a specialty of securing pensions for the old soldiers and their widows, and in this line of work has been eminently suc- cessful, having secured upwards of 1,000 pensions in this part of the State. Both his
natural and acquired abilities fit him for a successful lawyer, and added to these is his absorbing love for his profession. And he is not only a successful lawyer, but he is also a good financier. He owns a valuable stock farm in Union county, and has a pleasant home in Delaware, at No. 60 South San- dusky street.
For a number of years Mr. Lytle has been active in political circles, being a strong advocate of the Republican principles. He was Chairman of the Executive Committee in 1892, and for six or seven years prior to that was its Treasurer. In 1893 he was placed in nomination by the Democratic party for the office of Probate Judge, -and this without his laying aside his Republican principles. The election gave Mr. McKin- ley for Governor a majority of 969, while Mr. Lytle was defeated by only 337 votes. This proves conclusively his popularity. He has served as a member of the City Council, member of the Board of Cemetery Trustees, and at this writing is secretary of the Board of Associated Charities. Fraternally he is identified with Hiram Lodge, F. & A. M., and also with the George B. Torrence Post, G. A. R.
Mr. Lytle was married in 1868 to Miss Cornelia A. Chase, daughter of Rev. Ira Chase, and they have three children, namely: James W., a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University with the class of 1890, and for three years assistant postmaster of Dela- ware, is now located in San Francisco, Cali- fornia; Viola M., also a graduate at the Ohio Wesleyan University, in 1894, and, being a talented musician, has since gone abroad to complete a course in music and German in Berlin; and Frances C., better known as "Nellie," is now a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University. The family are
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all members of St. Paul's Methodist Episco- pal Church. For twenty-five years Mr. Lytle has been a member of its official board, for the past fifteen years has served as Recording Steward, and for five years has been Treasurer.
Thus in religious, social, political and business circles Mr. Lytle is a leading spirit, and his influence is always directed for good. More might be said of his active life and ex- cellent qualities, but enough has been given to serve as an index to his character and place him, where he belongs, among the most worthy citizens of his town.
p R. CADY, a respected farmer of Lincoln township, Morrow county, Ohio, forms the subject of this article. The Cady family were for many years residents of the New En- gland States. Noah Cady, the father of this gentleman, was born in Windsor county, Vermont, in the year 1784, son of Parley Cady, also a native of the Green Mountain State. Noah Cady married Miss Hannah Davis, daughter of Ezekiel Davis, both of Vermont, and in that State he and his wife reared their family, passed their lives and died. They had eight children, only one of whom, P. R., is now living.
P. R. Cady was born on his father's farm, August 4, 1815, and spent the first seventeen years of his life there. Then he left Vermont and went to St. Lawrence county, New York, where he made his home several years, and where, in 1837, he married Sophronia Granby, a native of the Empire State. The year following their marriage they came west to Ohio and settled in Card- ington township, then Marion, now Morrow county. For several years he worked in an 25
ashery, and he also helped to build the first bridge across Whetstone creek. About 1840 he settled on a farm in what is now Lincoln township, this county, the farm having a log house and a small clearing. Subsequently he traded this place for another farm a little further east, and moved to it and began the work of clearing and improving. Here, August 18, 1857, his wife died. - Of their children, five in number, we make record as follows: Nor- man, born November 2, 1837, married Annie Mott and has six children, their home being in Miami county, Ohio; Lucius, born May 13, 1839, is a resident of Kansas City, he and his wife, nèe Annie Lee, having two children; Myron A., born November 12, 1843, a resident of Cardington, Ohio, mar- ried Mattie Wiseman and has four children, Mary L., born May 5, 1848, is the wife of Francis Conklin, Sauk county, Wisconsin, and has six children; and Harriet M., born March 24, 1850, is the wife of Van Kirk- patrick, Wisconsin, and has six children.
In 1858 Mr. Cady married Mrs. Harriet (Warner) Benson, a native of Dutchess county, New York, and a daughter of John H. and Julia (Robinson) Warner. Her father was born in Connecticut, October 12, 1785, and her mother in New York, January 31, 1787, and they were married in Dutchess county, New York, October 1, 1808, and settled in that county. Soon afterward they removed to Poughkeepsie, New York, still later to Onondaga county, that State, and from the latter place came to Ohio in 1833, and settled in the woods of Lincoln town- ship. Here her father died, January 25, 1852, and her mother September 25, 1862. They had nine children, as follows: Eme- line Wheeler, of Wisconsin, is eighty-three years of age; Mrs. Cady, aged eighty; Eliza
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