USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > Portrait and biographical record of Auglaize, Logan and Shelby Counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the Presidents of the United States > Part 70
USA > Ohio > Logan County > Portrait and biographical record of Auglaize, Logan and Shelby Counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the Presidents of the United States > Part 70
USA > Ohio > Shelby County > Portrait and biographical record of Auglaize, Logan and Shelby Counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the Presidents of the United States > Part 70
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
On being re-elected in 1863, the present system of militia was established, and Gen. Amos had the settlement of the Ordnance Act between the
585
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
State of Ohio and the United States Government. During his incumbency of the position of Adjutant- General, our subjeet seeured the exchange of the old condemned arms for the new improvements now used by the State. On the elose of his tennre of office, he embarked in the newspaper business. He came to Sidney in 1876, and soon after pur- chased the Shelby County Democrat, of which he is still proprietor and editor.
Gen. Amos is a man of distinguished ability, whose liberal views are in accordance with his broad culture. Since assuming the editorship of the paper, he has greatly elevated its tone, bringing into it besides a purer political atmos- phere.
Gen. Amos was married September 9, 1856, his bride being Miss Naney J. Craig. They have reared a family of eight children, whose names are: Emma, Delia E., Clara E., Kate J., William T., Ernest V., Howard Allen and Frank Beeman. The eldest daughter is the wife of M. C. Pegg. Delia is connected with her father on the paper.
D AVID K. GILLESPIE, a prominent grain dealer in Kirkwood, Shelby County, Ohio, is one of the substantial and successful business men of the plaee. Ile is well known for his hon- esty and uprightness and for his sterling integrity and excellent business acumen. Ile first saw the light in Warren County, Ohio, November 29, 1821, and is a son of William Gillespie, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1783, and the grandson of George Gillespie, who was born in Ireland and of Scotch- Irish descent.
The grandfather emigrated to the United States about 1740, located in the Keystone State, and was there married to Miss Jane Allen, who bore him ten children. About 1795, he removed to Butler County, Ohio, and there passed the remainder of his days. dying in 1823. Ilis eldest son entered the Revolutionary War as a substitute for his fa- ther and was wounded. Mr. Gillespie was one of
the very first settlers of Butler County, and Ind- ians and wild animals were numerous.
William Gillespie, the youngest of the ten chil- dren mentioned above and the father of our sub- ject, was about twelve years of age when he came to Ohio. The family came down the Ohio River on a flat-boat to where Cincinnati now stands, and had to be very watchful for fear of being captured by the Indians. Mr. Gillespie had very limited educational advantages, for he spent most of the time in clearing the farm and making possible the pleasant homes of to-day. In 1816, he married Miss Mary Kimmens, a native of Pennsylvania, whose parents emigrated from there to Ohio when she was a little child. She was of Scotch-Irish descent.
In 1838, Mr. Gillespie removed to Shelby County, settled in Washington Township at an early date, bought land in the woods and began his career as a pioneer. He built a log cabin with clapboard roof, and as wild game was still quite plentiful, his table was always supplied with meat, although he eared very little for hunting. The country did not agree with the family, for nearly all fell ill, and as his means were limited, Mr. Gil- lespie saw some hard times, losing a whole year's crop on account of siekness. They raised, spun and made their own clothing, and as. the children grew up around them, easier times appeared. Mr. Gillespie died in 1862, at the age of eighty years, and his widow followed him to the grave in 1872, when seventy-three years of age. Ile served in the War of 1812 and held the rank of Orderly Ser- geant. During his residenee in Shelby County, Mr. Gillespie served as Trustee of his township and was active in all enterprises for the good of the county. Ile was a member of the United Presbyterian Church and was an earnest worker in the same, as was also the mother.
Four of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie are still hving and our subjeet is the third in order of birth. After fifteen years of age, all his schooling was received at home, a neighbor's family and the Gillespie family joining together and having school at night. In that way, our subjeet received his schooling, and although in later years he assisted in building a log school-
586
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
house he never attended. It must not be supposed that Mr. Gillespie has not improved his early edu- tional advantages, for he has been a student all his life, and being a man of observation and good common-sense, he is, perhaps, as well posted as many men who have had much better facilities for an education. He remained under the parental roof and assisted his father in clearing the home place until twenty-eight years of age.
In 1850, he embarked in the grain business at Lockington with a capital of $600, bought and shipped grain by canal to Cineinnati and Toledo, and continued thus engaged for fourteen years, being very successful. In 1864, he purchased a farm of four hundred acres three miles north of Piqua, in Miami County, and tilled the soil for fourteen years, making a decided success as an agriculturist. In the fall of 1877, he located at Kirkwood, Shelby County, and again engaged in the grain business, which he has now been carrying on for fourteen years. He handles a great deal of grain and is doing a flourishing business.
The original of this notice was first married in 1851 to Miss Martha McKee, a native of Washing- ton, this county. Her parents were originally from Pennsylvania and of Scotch-Irish descent. This union resulted in the birth of two children, both of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Gillespie died in 1854, and in 1856 Mr. Gillespie took for his second wife Miss Maria McKee, a cousin of his first wife. She died in 1875, leaving eight children: William H., engaged in the grain business in Lockington; James M., educated at Monmouth (III.) College, and a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago, lo- cated at Welda, Anderson County, Kan., and died at Monmouth, Ill., in 1886, one week after marriage; Lee W. married and is now in business at Kirk- wood with his father. The latter attended college at Ada, Ohio, and is a wide-awake, prosperous young business man. Jennie L. (deceased); Annie S., at home; David K. and Mattie (deceased); and one who died in infancy.
The third marriage of our subject occurred in 1878 to Miss Sarah J. MeKnight, a native of this county and a cousin of his second wife. Mr. Gilles- pie is a Democrat in polities but is a strong Prohi- bitionist and has voted that ticket for twenty years.
He voted that ticket in Shelby County before any- one else voted it and has ever been active in pol- itics. He has held various township offices and was elected Commissioner of Shelby County in 1860, and re-elected in 1863. Ile has represented the Prohibition party repeatedly in county, district and State conventions. He and Mrs. Gillespie are members of the United Presbyterian Church, and he has been a member since twenty-three years of age and Elder since 1859. He owns sixty-five lots in Welda, Kan., also owns warehouse, residence and lots in Lockington, a corn and wheat elevator in Kirkwood and a house and lot there. Kirkwood Station was named in his honor, it being his second name. Ile is a self-made man in every sense of that term and what he has accumulated is the result of his own industry.
IMEON MAXSON. Mr. Maxson is one of the large farmers of Jackson Township, Shelby County. He is a son of Jacob D. and Electa (Wells) Maxson. The former was a native of West Virginia, and was born in 1803, a son of Simeon and Lydia (Davis) Maxson, natives of New Jersey, who settled in West Vir- ginia after the War of 1812, in which Simeon took part.
Our subject's mother was a native of Muskin- gum County, Ohio. Her husband was a charter member of the Masonic order at Marietta. Jacob Maxson had five children by a former marriage and two of these are living. They are Charles G. and Elizabeth. The former lives in Jackson Cen- tre; Elizabeth, the wife of George Mitchell, lives at Port Jefferson. After his second marriage, Jacob Maxson settled on a farm in Pike Township, Clarke County. He cleared the place and lived in that locality until 1838, when he moved to Shelby County, and settled on section 10 of Jackson Township, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1860, our subject's
587
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
mother having passed away in 1847. Prior to his death, the old gentleman took unto himself a third wife, whose maiden name was Lois Stiles. Of the two children that were born of this union, both are deceased.
Simeon Maxson is one of eleven children who were born to his father. Only four of these are now living. They are Dr. J. S. Maxson, Simeon, Syl- via E. (Mrs. Simpson), Mary M. (Mrs. McBurney). Our subjeet's father was a very good man, living a most exemplary life. Hle and his wife were members of the Seventh-day Baptist Church, in which he was a Deacon. Politically, he was a Republican, and in ante-bellum days was a strong Abolitionist.
Simeon Maxson was born October 8, 1837, in Pike Township, Clarke County, Ohio. He was but an infant when brought to Shelby County, and was reared on this farm, remaining at home until twenty-three years of age. He purchased eighty acres of land on section 10, which was known as the Stephenson Farm. On the breaking ont of the war, the original of this sketch enlisted in Company E, of the Benton Missouri Infantry, s private organization at Sidney. They went first to St. Louis, Mo., and were there detailed as body-guard for Gen. John C. Fremont. After a service extending over various places and battle- fields, Mr. Maxson was honorably discharged, Janu- ary 8, 1862. He again enlisted, September 15 of the same year, in Company I, of the One Hun- dred and Tenth Ohio Infantry. The regiment was first sent to Clarksburg, then to New Creek, Va., under Gen. Milroy. He was with his regiment in the following battles: Winchester, Va., Stephen- son Station, Opecau Creek, Berry's Ford, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, the second battle of Winches- ter, the siege of Petersburg, Mine Run, and all the engagements until the surrender of Gen. Lee's army at Appomattox, when he was sent to the Lin- coln General Hospital at Washington, whence he was discharged June 15, 1865. He took part in the Grand Review at the National Capital. Mr. Max- son's military history embraces fifteen of the noted battles of the late Rebellion.
On returning from the war, our subject was mar- ried December 15, 1865, to Miss Catherine Showell, a native of Orange Township. this county. She
was born May 7, 1839. The farm known as the Ware Place was their home until 1866, when they moved to Green Township, upon a farm pre- viously owned by Robert Buckles, and there they lived until 1873, when they moved to Sidney. After several other changes, the family returned to Shelby County and settled in Sidney, where Mrs. Maxson died in 1876. She was the mother of two children, one of whom, Della May, still lives.
The present Mrs. Maxson was a Miss Maggie Littlejobn. She married our subjeet January 16, 1879. She is a native of Clarke County, and was born May 20, 1846. After the marriage, the Maxson family settled upon the farm which they now occupy. Two children have been added to the household. They are: Mary Nevada, born April 12, 1880, and Maggie Belle, February 19, 1883. Both our subject and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Jackson Centre, in which the former is a Class- leader. They are both enthusiastic workers in the Sunday-school, Mrs. Maxson being a veteran in the work. Their children are given exceptional advantages in an educational way, and the eldest daughter is proficient in music. Our subject is a Mason and also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republie. In politics, he is a Republican, and both he and his wife are warm advocates of the cause of temperance.
R. WILLIAM Mc K. HOUSMAN. This name has become a familiar one to the people of Logan as well as the surround- ing counties, and his genial, sincere nature, no less than his professional ability, has tended to bring about this result. Ile was born in Sidney, Shelby County, on the 28th of June, 1853.
Our subject's grandfather, David Housinan, was of German deseent and was one of the pioneers of Ohio, having settled near Cincinnati at a very early period. He followed farming there and died when ninety-six years of age. Ilis son, John P.
588
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Housman, father of our subject, was born in Ohio and was a carpenter by trade, erecting houses, bridges, and building boats, and was a very skill- ful workman. Ile built a number of boats at Cin- cinnati that floated on the Ohio River for many years. At an early day, he located at Sidney, Ohio, followed his trade there, and married Miss Mary J. Hopkins, of Shelby County. There his death occurred when about thirty-two years of age. Our subject was the only child born to this marriage, and his mother subsequently married George W. Kemp and now resides at Fletcher, Miami County, Ohio. She has four children by this union. Her father, the Rev. E. Hazzard Hopkins, was a native of Kentucky, born near Paris, in 1807. 1Ie mar- ried Miss Sarah Brown November 27, 1832, in Miami County, where he studied and practiced law from 1840 to 1845. 1Ie then entered the minis- try and was in active connection with the Delaware Conference for a number of years. He was a man of power and an active thinker and a telling orator. He was a direct descendant of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The members of the large family to which he be- longed were all distinguished men. In his earlier days, he was a Whig in politics but later advocated the principles of the Republican platform and was a strong Abolitionist. Ile organized companies at Salem Church and had a son in the army. In 1880, at the time of his death, he was seventy-six years of age. The family is of Scotch descent.
When but a little boy, our subject was left by his mother with her people and he was reared on the farm until fourteen years of age, receiving a good practical education in the district schools. After this, he went to live with his Grandfather llopkins at De Graff, and there attended Union School for one year. He then removed with his grandfather to St. Paris and attended school there for five years, after which, when about nineteen years of age, he began clerking in the drug-store for an unele at that place. One year later, he began the study of medicine under his uncle, Dr. R. Hop- kins, studied one year, and then studied for fifteen months under another unele, Dr. D. O. Hopkins, of Coffee County, Kan. Returning to St. Paris, he again studied under his unele Dr. R. Hopkins, and
continued with him eighteen months, after which he attended medical college at Cincinnati, being graduated from that institution in the spring of 1877.
Locating in Bloom Centre, Logan County, Dr. Housman has practiced here for fifteen years. He was married on the 3d of July, 1881, to Miss Sarah E. Halboth, a native of this township, born January 14, 1862. IIer father, Andrew Halboth, was a native of Bavaria, Germany, born March 1, 1823, and was a son of Nicholas Halboth, also a native of Germany. The latter pursued the occu- pation of a farmer in his native county and died there when sixty-six years of age. He married and reared six sons and one daughter, as follows: Margaret, John, George, August, Ludwick, Wil- helm and Andrew. The latter was the only one who set foot upon American soil. His mother died when eighty-six years of age. Both parents were members of the Lutheran Church.
The father of Mrs. Housman received a good practical education in his native country and there learned the weaver's trade. Seeing a better open- ing for him in America, he sailed for this country in November, 1844, and was forty-three days in making the voyage. After reaching this country, he worked in a cotton factory a short time in New York City and then in a woolen factory in Lancaster County, Delaware, where he remained four or five years. There he was married, but he subsequently came to Logan County about 1855 and first settled where Gretna is now lo- cated, where he resided until 1857. In that year, he came to Bloom Centre and was one of the first settlers. He opened a store at that place when his was almost the first house there and when the country was covered with timber. Wild turkey and deer were plentiful and he experienced all the trials of the early settlers. He bought one acre of land, built a hewn-log house and here entered on his career as a merchant. He was married, in 1848. to Miss Magdalena IIuber, a native of Wurtem- berg, Germany, and they became the parents of twelve children, nine of whom are living: Louisa, Henry, Emma, Jacob, Sarah, Ella, Ida, Louis and Charley. The mother came to America in 1847. Mr. Halboth has been engaged in merchandising
.....
589
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
here for thirty-five years and is one of the most reliable and upright business men. He is well known and universally respected over the county, owns three acres in the town and eighty acres a half-mile north of here, all improved. Ile has car- ried on mixed farming in connection with mer- chandising for the past eighteen years, and for nineteen years, off and on, he has been Postmaster at this place. He is a member of the Lntheran Church and his wife of the German Baptist. In politics, he is a Democrat and has held a number of local positions in the county. He bas seen nearly all the growth and development of the country, has contributed his share toward its ad- vancement, and is a much esteemed citizen.
Dr. and Mrs. Housman became the parents of three children: Bessie C., Dottie P. and R. Gaylon. In 1883-84, our subject attended medical lec- tures at Jefferson College, Philadelphia, took the entire course and then an extra course for gradu- ates on anatomy and surgery and diseases of women and children. He carries on a general practice, is very successful and has had numerous surgical operations, his practice extending over a wide scope of territory. Ile was a member of the Miami Medical Association, and he and Mrs. Hous- man are members of the Methodist Church. Soci- ally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics a Republican, holding the office of Postmaster at this place for six years. Our subject owes much of his success in life to the counsel of his Grandfather Hopkins.
NTON W. GERWELS. The writer knows of no calling that has been dignified and graced in modern poetry more than that which in practical life is generally most prosaic. Longfellow and Schiller, especially, have thrown a veil of romance and heroism abont the towering form of the blacksmith, that while it stands out in all its muscular strength possesses an awe-inspiring majesty. He whose name is above
has been connected with this calling nearly all his life and has reaped substantial results from the oc- cupation. He was born in Minster, Ohio, on the 22d of January, 1849, but his parents were from across the seas, as his father, John J. Gerwels, and his mother, Anna M. Gerwels, were born in Ger- many, the former in March, 1811, and the latter on the 26th of June, 1811.
The elder Mr. Gerwels was a tailor in his native country and there followed his trade until 1839, when he crossed the ocean to the American conti- nent. He located. at Minster, Ohio, and there worked at his trade. He came alone to America, but in March, 1840, he was joined by his wife and two children. In 1849, he died of cholera in Minster. The mother afterwards married Mr. llenry Frierott, and lived to be ahout seventy-one years of age, her death occurring in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Gerwels were both members of the Catholic Church and were good, honest, upright citizens. They were the parents of seven children, only one beside our subject now living. Mrs. Gerwels' second marriage resulted in the birth of one child, who is now living.
The educational advantages of our subject were rather limited in youth, for he was obliged to branch out for himself when quite young and left school when thirteen years of age. He early turned to business life and exhibited almost before out- growing his boyhood a sound judgment and a keen enterprise. At the age of seventeen, he began to learn the blacksmith trade under Il. Goeke and served an apprenticeship of three years, after which he worked for Mr. Goeke for four years. Later be went to Cincinnati, followed the blacksmith trade there for one year, and in 1874 he returned to Minster, where he purchased a shop and began business on his own responsibility. He is also en- gaged in carriage and wagon making, etc., and dur- ing the time lie has been engaged in business here, he has turned out a great many buggies and wagons. He is an excellent workman, thorough in all that he does, and lias accumulated a handsome compe- tency by his industry and close attention to busi- ness. He purchased an interest in the Star Brew- ing Company in November, 1890.
The marriage of our subject on the 2d of Feb-
590
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ruary, 1874, to Miss Mary A. Osterfeld, a native of the thriving little town of Minster, brought to him three children: Ilenry, Anna (deceased), and Matilda. The mother of these children died on the 22d of October, 1882. Mr. Gerwels' second marriage occurred on the 22d of May, 1883, when he married Miss Mary Anna Miller, a native of Germany, whose parents died in the Father- land. She came to America in 1882. Five chil- dren are the fruits of the last union, viz: Katie, Louisa, Mamie, Allie and Josephine.
In politics Mr. Gerwels is a Democrat and has held the office of Township Treasurer four years. Ile has also been a member of the Council for four years and is now President of the School Board. Ile and his brother have a well-improved farm of ninety aeres in Shelby County, and besides he is the owner of considerable town property in Min- ster. Ile started out in life with nothing and by hard labor and good management he is now one of the substantial men of town. Honest and up- right in all the walks of life, he is highly esteemed by all. He and Mrs. Gerwels are members of the Catholic Church.
OHN SMITH. It is a fact unnecessary of denial that a person is better fitted to fol- low the occupation with which he became familiar in early life, than to engage in an undertaking learned in later years. This truth is borne out by the career of Mr. Smith, who from a boy has known all the minute details of agricul- tural life. To this acquired knowledge may be added a natural faculty for that calling, for his father, Andrew J. Smith, was also a farmer.
The latter was born in Ohio, August 8, 1818, and still makes his home in this State. His father, Alexander Smith, was a native of Cumberland County, Pa., and of German descent. Grandfather Smith was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was one of the first settlers on the site of the city of Marietta, having located there the latter part of
the eighteenth century. In early life, he followed rafting logs down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans and would then walk back. He was very large and muscular and was considered the best man physically of the crew. After a short residence at Marietta, he moved to Delaware County, Ohio, and was among the first to settle there. He improved a farm in the wilderness and died there in 1855, when seventy-six years of age.
The father of our subjeet was reared on a farm and agricultural pursuits have ocenpied his atten- tion all his life. 1Ie has held all the township of- fices where he lives and served two years as Sher- iff of the county, displaying much efficiency and bravery in discharging the duties of this office. In polities, he is a Democrat and he was elected to his present position over a fifteen-hundred Republican majority. He was a member of the State Board of Equalization in 1870, and is one of the prominent men of his county. In his religious views, he is a member of the Episcopal Church. He selected as his companion in life Miss Mary Glass, a native of New Jersey, born May 10, 1822, and the fruits of this union have been five children: Jay D., John, Franeis A., Jane A. and William R. The mother is still living and is a member of the Episcopal Church. Her father was of German, and her mo- ther of Scotch-Irish, extraction.
From an early age, our subject became familiar with the duties of the farm and divided his time in youth in assisting on the same and in attending the district school in Delaware County, Ohio, his native county, where his birth occurred March 14, 1845. Ilis marriage, which occurred April 9, 1868, to Miss Mary C. Wright, a native of Kokomo, Ind., born September 10, 1847, was blessed by the birth of two children: Nellie B. and Mabel M. After marriage, Mr. Smith settled in Delaware County and farmed the home place until March 22, 1874, when he came to Bloomfield township, Logan County. He purchased eighty acres one mile north of where he now lives, all in the woods, and cleared and improved all but two acres. In 1885, he moved on his present farm, and although no improvements had been made, Mr. Smith went to work and by his energy and thrift has nearly all of the one hundred and sixty-seven aeres improved.
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.