USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 58
USA > Ohio > Morrow County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 58
USA > Ohio > Union County > Memorial record of the counties of Delaware, Union and Morrow, Ohio > Part 58
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
of Mrs. H. N. Curl. This worthy couple held membership with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, took an active part in its work and were consistent Christian people who left the world better for their having lived. In his political views Marshall Max- well was a Republican. His death occurred at the age of seventy-six years and his wife passed away when forty-five years of age, mourned by all who knew them. They had a family of seven children, five now living, while two have been called to their final rest. In order of birth they are as follows: Melville, who is living in Cardington town- ship; Minerva, deceased; Melissa Roby, who is living in Kansas; Johnson, of this sketch; Levi, also deceased; Catherine Scribner, whose home is in Missouri; and Estella Gruber, of Cardington township.
In taking up the personal history of Johnson Maxwell, we present to the readers of this volume the life record of one who is both widely and favorably known in this re- gion. He was reared upon his father's farm, and there made his home until about eight years ago. At the age of seventeen he chose as a companion and helpmeet on life's jour- ney Miss Nancy Stanton, a native of Marion county, Ohio, and their union has been blessed with a family of three children. The eld- est, Clara A., is now the wife of Jerome Cline, of Marion county, and they have five chil- dren. Rolvin Curtis married Estella Shaw, and, with their four children, they reside in Cardington township. Harley J. completes the family. He is now twenty-eight. He pursued his art studies in Rensselaer, Indi- ana, and is now very proficient in crayon work.
The wife and mother having died, Mr. Maxwell was again married, in December, 1869, the lady of his choice being Viola
424
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
Scribner, a native of Morrow county and a daughter of William Scribner, one of the honored pioneers of this locality. Her grandfather, Samuel Scribner, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was one of the earliest settlers of Marion county. William Scribner was born in that county, in 1821, and, after a long and well-spent life, passed away September 22, 1890. He married Susan Sophia Newberry, who was born in Marion county in 1829, and nine children were born to them, of whom seven are liv- ing at the time of this writing, in January, 1895. Mrs. Maxwell first opened her eyes to the light of day in the same county, the date of that important event being August 3, 1852. In the schools of Cardington township she acquired her education, and throughout the community she is recognized as a cultured and refined lady, who, by her many excellencies, has gained a wide circle of friends. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has long been an active worker in church and Sunday-school, doing effective service in the cause of Chris- tianity.
During the late war Mr. Maxwell gave evidence of his loyalty to the Government and the Union cause by enlisting on the 2d of June, 1862, in Company C, Eighty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for three months, at Camp Chase, Ohio. He was then honorably discharged, but his faith- fulness to his duties of citizenship was not laid aside with the warrior's dress. He has given his support to all enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit and his co-opera- tion is withheld from no interest which will promote the general welfare. He votes with the Republican party but has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring to give his time and attention to his busi-
ness interests in which he is meeting with a good and well-deserved success. For the past ten years he has been engaged in deal- ing in fine horses, handling nothing but roadsters. He purchased the farm formerly owned by M. L. Maxwell (and upon that place is now residing Rolvin Curtis Max- well, -one of the leading and representative agriculturalists of Morrow county. )
0 ANIEL W. BROWN, a merchant of Chesterville, was born in Cay- uga county, New York, February II, 1826. His father, Pardon Brown, was a native of Rhode Island, as was also his father, George Brown, and the former was a soldier in the war of 1812 and the latter a Revolutionary soldier. His father, Tobias Brown, was supposed to have been born in Rhode Island and descended front the Browns who came to America on the Mayflower. The mother of our subject, nee Sophia Wilbur, was born in Rhode Island, daughter of Daniel Wil- bur, also a native of that State, who was a farmer and Quaker minister. He took part in sinking the English war ship Kingfisher, during the Revolutionary war. The parents of our subject were married in Rhode Island, but about 1813 moved to New York, locat- ing on a farm near Aurora, Cayuga county. The mother died there, and in 1853 the father came to Ohio, where he subsequently died. They were the parents of nine chil- dren, namely: Lydia; Sophia, deceased; Philena, deceased; Pardon, a resident of Tompkins county, New York; Mary, wife of George Peckham, of Rhode Island; Dan- iel W., the subject of this sketch; Deborah W., deceased; Elizabeth, widow of Albert Parkhill and a resident of New York; and
425
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
Sarah A., wife of August Freeman, of Kansas.
Daniel Wilbur Brown was reared to farm life at his native place, and worked on his father's farm for one year after his marriage. During the following four years he was engaged in the canal-boat busi- ness, running from Aurora and Albany to New York city on the Erie canal. He next taught school four winters in New York. In 1853 he came to Ohio, purchas- ing and locating on 250 acres in Chester township, Morrow county, where he was extensively engaged in buying, selling and shipping produce and in stock-dealing until 1882. In that year Mr. Brown sold his place and embarked in the grocery and butcher business in Chesterville, in which he is still engaged, and to which in 1889 he added a hotel known as Brown's Hotel. In political matters he affiliates with the Re- publican party, and served as Township Treasurer for many years. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 204.
December 28, 1847, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Adeline M. Squires, born in Cayuga county, New York, Decem- ber 29, 1825, a daughter of William H. and Anna (Duel) Squires, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Rhode Island. The paternal grandfather, Asa Squires, was a native of Connecticut. The maternal grandfather, Reuben Duel, was a native of Rhode Island. He purchased a soldier's claim in Tompkins county, New York, to which he moved his family in an early day, and is buried on the farm. Mrs. Brown is the sixth of eleven children, ten of whom grew to years of maturity, viz .: Harriet, Theodore, Phedora, William, Eliza, Ade- line, Henry, Helen, Sidney, Anna and Marian. All but three are still living. Our
subject and wife are the parents of three children, -Francis A., wife of William Van Eman, for many years a traveling sales- man for a wholesale house in San Francis- co, California; Marian A., wife of Marshall T. Smith, a prominent dealer in horses at Mount Gilead, Ohio, and they have one daughter, Anna Maude; and Cassius Clay, who married Ollie Rogers, now deceased; they had two children, Daniel H. and Grace M.
R. H. H. SHAW, one of the lead- ing practitioners of this locality, was born in Franklin township, Morrow county, in 1825, a son of David and Elizabeth (Hardenbrook) Shaw, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Jefferson county, Ohio. They came to Ohio in 1810, remaining the first year in Pickaway county, and spent the remainder of their lives in Franklin township, Morrow county. The father departed this life in 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw had seven chil- dren, -Henry H., Newton, Emily, Albert, Asher, Harriet and Clarissa A.
H. H. Shaw, the subject of this sketch, began the study of medicine with the firm of Lord, Swingle & Brown in 1850, and, the partnership having dissolved one year later, he was then with Drs. Hewitt & Swingle three years. After attending a course of lectures at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and grad- uating at the Medical College of Columbus in 1854, he began the practice of medicine at New Hartford, Butler county, Iowa, re- maining there until 1859. From that time until the spring of 1861 Mr. Shaw practiced medicine in Mount Liberty, Knox county, Ohio, and then removed to Johnsonville, Morrow county. October I of that year the
426
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
Doctor enlisted as a private in the One Hun- dred and Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company I. About the middle of January, 1865, he was cited before the Examining Board and appointed Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Regi- ment, and held that position until mustered out of service in 1865. Since that time Dr. Shaw has followed the practice of medicine at Mount Gilead.
He was first married to C. Amanda Chamberlain, a daughter of Squire C. H. Chamberlain. Of their four children one daughter, Ola A., is now living. The Doc- tor's second marriage was to Mrs. Shipman, a widow lady.
OBLE WEAR, a farmer of Ben- nington township, is a son of Noble Wear, Sr., who was born in county Fermanagh, Ireland, and was a farmer and weaver by occupation. He participated in the battle of Waterloo. The mother of our subject, formerly Annie Irving, was a native of the same county. They were married in Ireland, and came to America in 1833, locating for a few years in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and then settled on an improved farm. The father lived to the age of 102 years, and the mother to the age of 104 years. They were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters. Mr. Wear was an active worker in the Democratic party, his first Presidential vote in America having been cast for Andrew Jackson. Both were members of the Pres- byterian Church.
Noble Wear, the subject of. this sketch, was born about 1829, and received his edu- cation at Vernon and Gambier, Ohio. He remained at home until twenty-one years of
age, and then located on a partially im- proved farm in Liberty township, Knox county, which he put under a fine state of cultivation, and lived there until coming to Morrow county in 1861. In his home farm he has 170 acres, and also owns fifty acres west of Marengo and 104 acres in Chester township. In addition to his farm prop- erty, Mr. Wear owns two good city lots in Columbus. He has just given the old home farm in Liberty township to his son.
In 1850 he was united in marriage with 1 Sarah Ann Bird, a native of Liberty town- ship, Knox county, and a daughter of Elisha Bird, an early pioneer of that county. Mrs. Wear departed this life in 1878. Our subject and wife had seven children, viz .: Cordelia, at home; Frank, who married Rosie Bishop, and resides in Bennington township; George W., at home; Annie, wife of David Green, of Chester township; John, of Los Angeles, California, married Dora Grubb, and has three children; Jennie R. is the wife of E. J. Harris, of Benning- ton township, and has three children; Isaac, married, resides in Los Angeles, and has one child. Mr. Wear is a member and active worker in the Democratic party, and for several years has served as School Di- rector. He is a member of the Methodist Church.
ICHARD WORDEN, a farmer of Canaan township, Morrow county, was born in Seneca county, New York, April 29, 1822, a son of Richard and Polly (Roberts) Worden, who resided in Seneca county. Richard was left an orphan when quite young, and was reared from childhood by Alexander Purvis. He was brought by him to Ohio when about
427
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
eight years of age, and settled in Cardington township, then Marion county. At the age of sixteen years our subject began life for himself, working at anything he could find to do. The year after his marriage he came to Canaan township, locating on a part of his present farm, which he rented for six years. He then purchased ten acres, to which he has added from time to time until he now owns 407 acres, nearly all of which is under a fine state of cultivation.
March 6, 1844, Mr. Worden was united in marriage with Lucinda Schooley, born in Virginia in 1824, a daughter of Samuel and Nellie (Graves) Schooley, early pioneers of Cardington township. Our subject and wife have six children living, namely: Sarah F., wife of William Sexton; Hannah, widow of Frank Williams; Alfred W. married Minnie Hardman, and resides in this county; Samuel R. married Olive Bratton; Emily Annette, wife of Samuel Fate; and Sophia, at home. Mr. Worden affiliates with the Republican party, has served as School Director for a number of years, as Township Trustee, and has frequently been a delegate to county conventions.
HOMAS FERMAN WURTS- BAUGH .- The man who by his own efforts and as the result of in- dustry and perseverance not only receives a good education, but widens the field of his usefulness and influence, deserves to be given full credit for his labors. This Dr. Wurtsbaugh has done. He is essen- tially a self-made man, as the story of his life which follows will disclose.
Dr. Wurtsbaugh was born in Keene town- ship, Coshocton county, Ohio, June 8,
1845, a son of David Harrison and Lucinda (Spiva) Wurtsbaugh. His father was born near Dresden, Licking county, Ohio, April 21, 1819, and was of German descent, his parents coming to America from that coun- try. He died of servile gangrene May 27, 1889, at the age of seventy years. He was one of sixteen children, seven of whom are still living. He followed farming during his life-time, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. The mother of our subject, who resides on the home place, three miles southwest of Rich- mond, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1824. She is descended from an old New England family, being the daughter of John and Harriet Spiva, who came to Ohio at an early day and settled in Coshocton county. Mrs. Wurtsbaugh has two half-sisters living,-Elizabeth, wife of Henry Van Aukin; and Sarah, who married William Banto. They both reside near Richmond, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Wurtsbaugh had twelve children, -Sarah, John, Thomas, Emanuel, Samuel M., Han- nah, James, David, Nancy, Frank, Mary, and Laura. Sarah married a farmer named Ross Dougherty, and they reside in Coshoc- ton county; they have six children. John, who married Sarah Babs, is a farmer two miles northeast of Richmond; he has five children, -Alice, Della, Jennie, Bessie, and May; Alice and Della are married, the for- mer to Howard Kinney, a farmer near Rich- mond, and the latter to Vestus Grindall, a blacksmith of Mount Victory, Hardin coun- ty, Ohio; the remainder of the children re- side at home. Emanuel died in infancy, in Coshocton county. Samuel M. was killed at Fort Buford, Montana, in 1874; he was serving as First Sergeant of the Seventh
.
428
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
Regiment, United States Infantry, when he was murdered by a fellow-soldier named Wilson, who was tried for the crime, found guilty, and sentenced to be shot, but the sentence was afterward changed to imprison- ment for life in the penitentiary at Colum- bus, Ohio, by President Grant. Harriet married Isaac Smart, a prosperous farmer four miles south of Richmond; they have two children living, -Lawrence, who is a cripple for life, the result of necrosis of the tibia; and Laura, a well-educated lady, who has for several years been a successful and popular school teacher. James died of typhoid fever at the age of twenty years. David is a carpenter by occupation, but his present residence is unknown. Nancy is the wife of Benjamin Reed, a resident of Bucyrus, Ohio. Frank, a farmer by occu- pation, married Jennie Mulvane, and they reside one mile west of Richmond. Mary has been twice married; her first husband, Perry Bacon, died at his home four miles south of Richmond in 1891, about a year and a half after his marriage, leaving one child; her second husband is Malcolm Cam- eron. Laura died in infancy.
When Thomas F. Wurtsbaugh, the sub- ject of this sketch, was two years of age his parents moved to Union county, settling on fifty acres of land seven miles south of Richmond, where his father remained until his death, in 1889. During his boyhood Thomas attended school but very little, and at thirteen years of age he began work as a farm hand. In July, 1864, being then nine- teen years old, he enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served as a private. He was in the engagement near Decatur, Alabama; at Overall creek, near Murfreesboro, December 4, 1864; ten days
later, December 7, participated in the battle of the Cedars; and was discharged from the service May 31, 1865, at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati. After return- ing home he was an invalid and threat- ened with consumption. After partially recovering his health, Mr. Wurtsbaugh entered the academy at Ostrander, which he attended four terms; next became a student at the Richmond high school, after which he taught school nineteen terms, teaching during the fall and winter, and farmed dur- ing the summer, a part of the time on rented land, and for four years on his own place of thirty-six acres four miles west of this city. He next entered the Eclectic Medical Insti- tute at Cincinnati, taking the regular course, and graduated June 1, 1886. Before enter- ing the latter institute, he began practice under the preceptorship of Dr. W. B. Duke, of Richmond, and for six years after gradu- ating he practiced at Claiborne. From that time until 1888 he followed his profession at North Louisburg, when he came to Rich- mond and formned a partnership with Dr. W. B. Duke. This firm continued three years; it was dissolved by mutual consent in 1891, and Mr. Wurtsbaugh then opened his pres- ent office. The Doctor is a member of the Ohio State Eclectic Medical Association and of the Ohio Central Eclectic Medical Association. He holds a special diploma from Butte Medical College, as a graduate in ophthalmology and otology, also holds certificate of preceptorship from the Eclec- tic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, in which he filled the chair of anatomy in 1885-6. Politically the Doctor is a Republican, and is a member of the Board of Health of Richmond. Socially he is a member of Richmond Lodge, No. 443, I. O. O. F., also of the Encampment of Mount Carmel
429
DELAWARE, UNION AND MORROW COUNTIES, OHIO.
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of the National Fraternal Union.
Dr. Wurtsbaugh was married October 30, 1870, to Miss Abigail F. Wilson, born in Delaware county, September 12, 1847, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Wilson, both now deceased. Mrs. Wurtsbaugh has one sister and brother: Henrietta, who married Thomas Onion, and they reside in Os- trander; and Henry, who married Emily Riley, and resides in Richmond. They have three children. Doctor and Mrs. Wurtsbaugh have two children: Ferman, born February 22, 1873; and Howard, born December 17, 1876. Ferman will graduate at the Nada Pharmaceutical School in De- cember, after which he will enter the Eclec- tic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, to fit himself for the medical profession. How- ard is attending the Richmond high school.
3 OHN ANDREW MOODIE. -- The good old Scotch name which the sub- ject of this sketch bears is one that has, in its several collateral branches, been identified in a conspicuous way with the history and development of various sec- tions of the Union, and in this line his father gained distinction as one of the early pioneers of the Buckeye State. All these circumstances lend a particular consistency to the incorporation of a brief history of the life of John Andrew Moodie, who is him- self an honored resident and successful farmer of Union township, Union county, Ohio, where he was born (on the old Webb farm) July 7, 1833.
His father was Henry Moodie, who was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, the son of Roger Moodie, whose parents were na-
tives of bonny Scotland. Roger Moodie was a native of Maryland, where his ances- tors took up their residence in the Colonial days. He became a pioneer of this county, coming here at a very early day, and taking up his residence on a tract of wild land in Union township, where settlers were few and far between, and when the forests were still given over to the dominion of Indians and wild beasts.
Henry Moodie was reared on the frontier farm, and recived such educational advan- tages as the pioneer settlement afforded, attending to his studies in the old log scho ol- house with its slab seats and primitive equip- ments. He married Elizabeth Moodie, who was born in 1812, a native of Virginia and and the daughter of John A. Moodie, who was called out for service in the war of 1812, but who participated in no battle, as the victory had been gained ere he reached the scene of action. He was a half-brother of Roger Moodie, paternal grandfather of our subject.
In 1834 Henry Moodie and his wife took up their residence on a tract of fifty acres, in Union township, the same being still un- reclaimed and heavily timbered. Wolves, deer, turkey and 'coons were yet abundant, but soon the forest aisles re-echoed the sturdy blows of his ax, which felled the trees and made way for the cultivated fields. He developed a good farm, but did not live to enjoy the same, death coming to him in the prime of life, -at the age of forty-two years. He left to the care of his bereaved widow three children: John A., subject of this sketch; Aaron Gilmore, who died at the old homestead; and Mrs. Nancy Spratt, of Richwood, this county. The mother sub- sequently consummated a second marriage, being united to Moses Blake. She is still
430
MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
living, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. The father of our subject was a Democrat in his political faith, was a con- sistent member of the Christian Church, and was a man honored by all who knew him.
John Andrew Moodie was reared on the old home farm in Union township, and early became enured to the sturdy labor re- quired in its operation. He received his educational discipline in the district school near his home and duly profited by the meager instructions there meted out.
He was one of the brave boys who bore arms at the time of the late war of the Re- bellion, enlisting, in May, 1864, for the 100 days' service, as a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. During his term of service he was stationed at Alexandria, Virginia, and at its expiration he was honorably discharg- ed, after which he returned to his home in this county.
Mr. Moodie was married April 2, 1863, to Sarah Emily Dawson, who was born in Pickaway county, this State, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (James) Dawson. Mrs. Moodie is a devoted member of the Christian Church.
Mr. Moodie is a member of Silas Kim- ball Post, No. 570, G. A. R., of Milford Centre. He is a man of intelligence, is fair and honorable in his dealings, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all who know him.
He has a good farm and the same is cultivated with much care and discrimina- tion, thereby rendering tangible returns for the thought and labor expended. The fam- ily residence is a substantial frame structure, and other permanent improvements about the place are of excellent order.
H. WILLS, M. D .- We are now permitted to take into review the life history of one of the repre- sentative and honored profession- al men of Union county, Dr. Wills, who is a resident of Milford Centre, where he is en- gaged in the practice of medicine and sur- gery and where he retains a most represen- tative supporting patronage.
The Doctor is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Franklin county, February 6, 1850, the son of John Wills, who was born near Zanesville, this State, and who is now a resident of Columbus, his lineage tracing back to Germany. He has reached the venerable age of seventy-five years, but retains a virile strength of both mind and body. The mother of our sub- ject, née Elizabeth Compton, was born near Reynoldsburg, this State, daughter of Ezekiel Compton, one of the pioneers of that section, and a native of the old Key- stone State.
John and Elizabeth Wills became the parents of five children, namely : Jennie, deceased; W. H., subject of this review; Caroline; Charles, a prominent business man of Columbus, Ohio; and Emma. The venerable father was successfully engaged in farming until the time of his retirement from active business life. He has been a stanch Republican for many years, and is a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Dr. W. H. Wills was reared on the old homestead farm and was given exceptional educational advantages, completing his more purely literary education at Delaware, where he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University. He engaged in teaching district school be- fore he had attained the age of fifteen years and for some time he bore the appropriate
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.