USA > Ohio > Fayette County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 28
USA > Ohio > Madison County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 28
USA > Ohio > Pickaway County > Portrait and biographical record of Fayette, Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 28
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Our subject is a member of Temple Lodge No. 227, I. O. O. F., at Washington C. II. His political views bring him into sympathy with the Demo-
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cratic party, but he also belongs to the Farmers' Alliance. He ranks as one of the most enterpris- ing young farmers of the county and is a most pleasant and agreeable gentleman to meet. His father-in-law, Elias Parrett, makes his home with his family and is now eighty-one years of age.
R EV. HENRY MITCHELL, B. A., Rector of St. Philip's Church at Circleville, was born in Plymouth, Devonshire, England, Febri- ary 4, 1849. Ilis father, James, is likewise a native of that place and is a stone-cutter by trade. Grandfather Mitchell was killed in a stone quarry in England, and during the cholera plague at Plymouth, in 1849, his wife was the first to fall a victim to that dread disease. In 1853, James Mitchell emigrated from England to the United States, and during the following year his family joined him in Westchester County, N. Y., where he worked at his trade.
In May, 1861, James Mitchell enlisted in the Seventy-ninth New York Highlanders, and parti- cipated in the first and second battles of Bull Run, Vicksburg, Knoxville, Chancellorsville, and numer- ous engagements of less importance, although not less hazardous to life. In June, 1864, he was mustered out as Sergeant, and was offered a com- mission, but refused on account of his family. He was twice wounded at the first battle of Bull Run, but the injuries were not severe and he was never prevented from active duty on account of sickness. After the close of the war, he continued to work at his trade until old age compelled him to cease from active labors. He still resides in New York, at the age of seventy years (1892). He is universally esteemed, and in the community where he has so long resided is regarded as a man whose word is as good as his bond.
The maternal grandfather of our subject, Erastus Stephen, served in the English navy and partici- pated in the Crimean War. His death occurred in England when he was quite old. His daughter, Jane E., was born in Plymouth, England, and now makes her home in New York. Her union with
James Mitchell brought them thirteen children, four of whom are living. The eldest son, William S., served in the Civil War, enlisting as a member of the Twelfth New York Infantry.
The fourth in this family was Henry, who was a child of about five years when he accompanied his mother from Plymouth across the broad Atlantie in the sailing-vessel "Martha Ann," to New York, the voyage being a stormy one and occupying eight weeks and four days. He received common-school advantages in New York until he was fourteen, when he became clerk in a store. " In 1865, he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a printer and was employed in that way for more than seven years. Feeling the need of a broader and more liberal ed- ucation, he entered St. Stephen's College in Janu- ary, 1873, and five years later graduated with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts.
Having resolved to become a minister of the Gospel, our subject entered the General Theologi- cal Seminary in New York and completed the course in 1881, after which he was ordained as a minister in St. John's Cathedral, at Denver, Colo., Bishop Spalding officiating. His first charge was as missionary at Pitkin, Colo., and after remaining in that connection one year, he returned East, and during the three following years was assistant Pastor of the Trinity Church, at Pottsville, Pa. In 1884, while in that city, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop M. DeWolfe Howe, Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.
After being Chaplain of St. Luke's Hospital in New York City one year, Missionary in Pennsyl- vania the same length of time, and Rector at Phil- lipsburgh, N. J., two and one-half years, in April, 1890, Rev. Mr. Mitchell came to Circleville and has since been Rector of St. Philip's Church. This church is one of the oldest in the State, having been organized in 1817, by Philander Chase, and the congregation now worships in a magnificent edifice, erected at a cost of $16,000. The work ac- complished by Rev. Mr. Mitchell since he took charge of the church can hardly be over-estimated, and through his instrumentality the congregation has increased in numbers. He is a forcible and pleasing speaker, a genial companion and faithful pastor, and, as may well be imagined, occupies a
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high place in the esteem of his parishioners. He is prominent in the Diocese of Southern Ohio and well known throughout the country. His ministerial duties occupy his attention to the almost entire exclusion of public affairs, but he believes it is a part of a man's religion to take an interest and keep well informed on political matters as well as all the great issues of the day; therefore he identi- fied himself closely with the Republican party and never loses an opportunity to cast his ballot in its behalf. Socially, he is a Royal Arch Mason and prominent in the order. He is a welcome guest in the social circles of the city, where his genial dis- position . and sparkling wit enhance the enjoy- ment of the occasion.
G EORGE LUDWIG, a prominent farmer of Pickaway, and proprietor of one of the finest and most productive farms for which the famous Pickaway Plains are noted, is a native of this county, and a son of that excellent old pioneer, .Iacob Ludwig, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Ludwig was born June 16, 1835, in the first brick house ever built in Pickaway County, on the old Lud- wig homestead, that stood in the southeast corner of Circleville Township. He attended the district school, but, like many of the boys of his time, and even of the present day, was not fond of study and was not anxious to avail himself of the eom- paratively poor advantages afforded by the schools of that day. The one that he first attended was kept in the old-fashioned log house, furnished with slab seats, and a slab hewed with an adz and placed against the wall served as a writing desk for the scholars. The room was dingy and poorly lighted, and evidently offered poor attractions compared with the elegant modern structures which now dot this fine section of country, and it is little wonder that so many, like our subject, pre- ferred to remain at home and assist in farm work, or spend the time in clearing.
Mr. Ludwig continued an inmate of the paren- tal household until he was twenty-five years old,
and then, in 1860, he married the lady of his choice, Miss Eliza Jane Young, a daughter of James Young, and a native of this county. Her father was also a native of this county, and a son of William Young, one of its early settlers, coming here from old Virginia in 1806. He was a descen- dant of one of the old families of that State. James Young was reared amid the primitive scenes of pioneer life in this county, and became one of its prosperous farmers, owning and ocenpying a farm in Piekaway Township, upon which he died in 1873, at the age of fifty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig have two sons: Jacob L., who is mar- ried and is a prosperous farmer in this township, and Charles E., who is at home with his parents, and has had charge of the farm since 1885. He is well educated, having attended the district school and the Commercial School at Columbus.
After his marriage, our subject turned his atten- tion to farming, devoting his whole time to it. and lived in various localities in this township until 1882, when he came into possession of his present fine farm on section 5. Ile has since added a commodious and well-built frame house, and various other substantial improvements. The soil is a rich, sandy loam, easy of cultivation, and as productive as any in the Seioto Valley. In 1885, Mr. Ludwig turned over the management of his farm to his son Charles, as before mentioned, and has since lived in retirement.
Pickaway Township and County are noted for the numerous traces of the aboriginal settlers of the Northwest found within their borders. Sev- eral Indian mounds are found near our subject's farm, and he is quite familiar with their locality and distinguishing features. His farm is noted as the site of an old Indian burying-ground. com- prising about five acres on the west side of it, the spot being marked by four ancient oaks. Many Indian relics have been found on the farm, and there are parts of it that, if thoroughly explored, undoubtedly would reveal many curious and interesting facts concerning the vanished dwellers of this soil in past centuries.
Mr. Ludwig is prominent in local politics as a time-honored Democrat, who is well known in the councils of his party as delegate to county, dis-
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trict and State conventions, but he is not an as- pirant for office. IIe is a zealons member of the United Brethren Church, being active in church matters, while his wife is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ACKSON BAKER, a capitalist and one of the wealthiest as well as most successful farmers of Monroe Township, is a native of Pickaway County, descended from its early pioneer stock, and is potent in advancing its inter- ests. He was born February 21, 1830, into the pioneer home of Daniel and Mary (Davis) Baker, the former a native of Sussex County, Del., born in 1800, and the latter a native of Ross County, a daughter of one of its earliest settlers.
The paternal grandfather of our subject, Pernal HI. Baker, was a farmer and a miller by occupation, and a native of Sussex County, Del. He came to this county in 1820, journeying across mountains and a wild country generally with a team. He settled in Williamsport, this county, and estab- lished himself as a miller, being the pioneer of that industry in this part of the State. He built a grist- mill on Deer Creek, the first one erected on the banks of that stream, and he operated it some years. He then bought a quarter-section of land in Perry Township, and erected the first gristmill there on Deer Creek, which is now known as Crownover's Mill, and he had that under his management many years. Hle also partly developed his farm, and died in the comfortable home that he had built thereon at a good old age, leaving behind him a golden record as one of our most useful pioneers. He was a Whig in politics and in religion was of the Methodist faith, a church-member. Ile and his wife, Sarah Baker, reared three boys and three girls. The mother lived to be over a hundred and four years old, and was also a devoted Methodist.
The father of our subject had not attained his majority when he accompanied the family to the new home in the wilderness of this county. He was married a few years later, and in the course of time became a prosperous farmer, working hard to
reclaim his homestead of one hundred and eighty acres, and placing the most of it under cultivation. His farm was just over the line in Fayette County, and there he died at the age of fifty-two years, in the midst of a busy career. IIe was a worthy mem- ber of the Christian Church, interesting himself earnestly in its welfare, and his wife, who died at the age of fifty years, was likewise a member of that church, being quite strict in her religious views. He was a Democrat, sound and true, in politics. The following are the seven children reared by himself and his wife: Sarah, Mrs. Cut- right; Elizabeth, Mrs. Nye; Mary, Mrs. Kemp; Jackson; Hester A., Mrs. Chaffin (deceased); Lu- cinda, Mrs. Chaffin; and J. Couuts. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Jesse Davis, a na- tive of Delaware. He was one of the early pioneers of Ross County, where he developed a farm of about fifty acres, and there died at the age of sev- enty-five years, having been the father of five chil- dren.
The subject of this biographical record passed his early life as most other farmers' boys, and was educated in the primitive log schoolhouse of pioneer days, which was heated by a rude fireplace; had a clapboard roof, held down by logs, and was furnished with slab benches, a board against the side of the room serving as a writing-desk for the scholars. He was young when his experience of farm work began, and at the age of twenty-one he commenced to work out at twenty-five cents a day. He subsequently obtained possession of a piece of land, comprising sixty-five acres, lying partly in this county and partly in Fayette County, and after his marriage he took up his residence thercon. A few years later, he sold it, and after renting land for a year in Fayette County, bought his present farm in Monroe Township in 1856. This consists of four hundred and seventeen acres of fine farming land, nearly all under cultivation and in a high state of improvement. The build- ings are of a good class, a large frame residence, built in 1878, and a barn, put up in 1868, adorn- ing the place, beside other necessary outbuildings. Mr. Baker devotes his farm to mixed farming, raising grain and stock. He raises and fattens many cattle each year, but he has made much of
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W™ M HOTT
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his money by raising hogs. He bas nearly aban- doned that of late years, however, on account of the cholera. He derives a part of his income from loaning money, and is one of our most extensive capitalists. He rightly attributes his success to close attention to business and to judicious man- agement of his affairs. He has been School Direc- tor, but he never aspires to office, preferring the pleasures and comforts of his own cheerful fireside to the cares and vexations incidental to public life. He is a Democrat in his political views, and stands firmly by his party.
Mr. Baker was wedded in 1853 to Miss Elizabeth A. Fisher, who was born in Fayette County Sep- tember 15, 1835. She is a woman of great worth, and for over twenty-five years she has been a con- scientious and upright member of the Methodist Church. Her marriage with our subject has been a true union and has been fruitful of eight chil- dren, of whom these five are living: Oren, Rosette A. (Mrs. McCafferty), John W., Lawson S. and Ed- ward. The names of those deceased are Austin J., Charles G. and Alva.
W ILLIAM M. HOTT. No theme is more agreeable to the biographer than that of pioneer times, and the life story of one who passed through that trying period and made his way to comfort and prosperity through hard- ships and privations is of great interest to every reader. Of especial interest, therefore, to the intel- ligent reader, is this sketch of Mr. Hott, whose portrait appears on the opposite page.
A pioneer of Harrison Township, Pickaway County, Mr. Hott was also one of its most esteemed and respected citizens. He was born in this town- ship, and in such men we find true loyalty to the interests of their part of the State. They under- stand, as it were by instinct, the needs, social and industrial, of their vicinity, and have a thorough knowledge of its resources. They are therefore better adapted to succeed here than a stranger could be and are probably without exception warmly devoted to the prosperity of their native
place, at least such was the case of the subject of this sketch. His birth occurred on the 3d of Au- gust, 1829, and he was a son of Jacob and Cath- erine (Coon) Ilott, natives of Virginia and early pioneers of Harrison Township, Pickaway County, Ohio.
The subject of this sketch was early inured to the hardships of pioneer life and was educated in the primitive log schoolhouse of those early days. Although his advantages for receiving an educa- tion were limited, he was a great reader, and by his own observations became well posted and unusually intelligent. When twenty years of age, he started out to fight life's battles for himself, and when his father moved to Circleville, Ohio, and there died, our subject began working as a farm hand. This he continued during the summer months for several years, receiving as compensation $12 per month with board. During the winter season he received fifty cents per day for chopping, making rails, and clearing. He was hardworking and a man of indomitable will, the same being evinced m his youth by his determination to succeed at whatever he undertook.
On the 25th of February, 1854, Mr. Hott was married to Miss Sarah E. Ward, a native of Walnut Township, Pickaway County, born January 3, 1834, and the daughter of Richard C. and Matilda Ward. Mrs. Hott is a sister of Sidney J. Ward, of Pickaway County, in whose sketch further men- tion is made of the Ward family. After marriage, Mr. Hott and wife located on the farm now owned by A. C. Nothstine, in Walnut Township, this county, and seven years afterward they removed thence to Circleville, Ohio. Less than three years later, they came to Harrison Township, Pickaway County, and here Mr. Hott died on the 21st of September, 1890.
In every private relation Mr. Hott was known as a true friend and affectionate father and hus- band; he generously responded to every enterprise worthy of note, and has left behind as a heritage a spotless name and fame for those who came after him. In religious work he was active and especially interested in the Sunday-school. He had frequently been solicited to fill local offices in his township, but refused all, preferring to attend to his farming in-
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terests. He was a self-made man in every sense of that term, for he started with nothing, and what he accumulated was the result of thrift and energy on the part of himself and wife. In those early days they had nothing to rely upon except their own willing hands and sturdy independence. In politics, he was a Republican. During the late war, he enlisted for one hundred days as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Ohio Infantry.
Mrs. Hott was a true helper, not only to her husband, but to all who come within her influence, and is a faithful member of the United Brethren Church. She is a lady of refinement and excellent business capacity, and superintends her farm of ninety acres so as to secure the best possible results. The confidence in which Mr. Hott was held is proved by the fact that he was administrator for various estates and also acted as guardian fre- quently. The confidence thus reposed in him was never abused, for he was ever considerate and thoughtful in his relations with others.
E MANUEL WESTENHAVER is a representa- tive of the old pioneer stock of Pickaway County, and for many years he has held an important position among its farmers as the pro- prietor of one of the large and well-ordered farms of Walnut Township, located on section 12. Our subject was born in Circleville, in one of its early pioneer homes, September 16, 1824. Ilis parents were Jacob and Rebecca (Miller) Westenhaver, who were natives of Virginia and both of German extraction. In the early years of the settlement of Pickaway County, they came hither, at the same time that the IIedges family came, and located at Circleville, which was then in its infancy and had but few inhabitants, and there Mr. Westenhaver engaged at his trade as a cabinet-maker. His wife's father had settled in the woods in the northern portion of Walnut Township, and here came Mr. Westenhaver with his family in 1832, and also took up his abode in the forests, where he died in the year 1846, a most worthy man and an hon- ored pioneer. His wife died in Fairfield County
at a ripe age. They were the parents of eight chil- dren, of whom our subject and his sister Frances, wife of Absalom Ashbrook, of Kansas, are the sole survivors. The names of the deceased are Nancy, Peter, Elizabeth, Susan, Joseph and Sophronia, re- spectively.
The subject of this life record was a boy of eight years when his parents came to Walnut Township to live. He grew up to a vigorous manhood, ex- periencing all the vicissitudes, trials and priva- tions of pioneer life, as well as its compensations, and he early became inured to the hard labor necessitated by their environments. When a boy, he attended school in a log cabin that was rudely furnished with slab seats, and the only desks were boards resting on pegs driven into the walls. IIe has always followed agricultural pursuits and has a farm of four hundred acres that compares favor- ably with the best in Walnut Township in regard to tillage, drainage and substantial improvements. He is an example of our self-made men, persistent industry, forethought and sensible methods of car- rying on his work contributing to his prosperity and giving him high financial standing in the community where he has dwelt as boy and man for sixty years, and he is known by all the people, who hold him in the utmost respect. In his social relations, he is a member of the Masonic order.
Mr. Westenhaver has been twice married. His first marriage, which took place in 1845, was with Miss Caroline Doan, who bore him a number of children, of whom three survive: Frances, wife of Simon Miller; Lorette, wife of John Clements, and Addie, wife of Josephus Oman. Our subject's sec- ond marriage with Miss Sarah Courtright has brought him two children, Jesse and Annie. His present wife is a sister of John and Judge Samuel Courtright, of whom biographies appear in this volume.
G FORGE S. REICHELDERFER. The village of Tarlton contains a large number of at- tractive residences, and among them there is, perhaps, none more elegant or perfect in every detail than the home of Mr. Reichelderfer, which
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is a frame building, modern in its style of archi- tecture and neat in its interior furnishings. Be- sides this residence, he owns two hundred and thirty acres of well-improved land in Salt Creek Township, and is numbered among the prosperous citizens of Pickaway County.
The father of our subject, Venus Reichelderfer, was born in Berks County, Pa., in 1823, and ac- companied his parents, Jacob and Rebecca Reichel- derfer, to Ohio when he was quite small, settling with them in Salt Creek Township, the grandfather residing here until his death, June 25, 1875, at the age of eighty-two years. Venus R. here grew up, and engaged in farming, which occupation he followed until his decease, September 19, 1856. He was the father of two children, our subject and Sarah Jane, who married Stephen D. Crites, and died July 19, 1873.
The maternal grandfather of our subject, John Mowry, emigrated from Berks County, Pa., where he was born August 1, 1805, to Ohio, when he was a lad of five years, and made his home in Pickaway County until his death. His daughter, Leannah, first became the wife of Venus Reichel- derfer, and after his decease was united to Elias Crites, her home being at present in the Buckeye State. The birthplace of our subject was in Salt Creek Township, and the date thereof April 18, 1850. He was the recipient of splendid educa- tional advantages, of which he availed himself to the utmost, and, after completing his common- school studies, entered Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, in 1868, remaining there for two years, diligently engaged in the acquirement of knowledge. He completed his commercial course in Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., after which he embarked in business.
The first occupation of Mr. Reichelderfer was as an employe in a railroad office at Stoutsville for a short time, and afterwards he was with the Eureka Planing Mill Company, at Laurelville, in the ca- pacity of book-keeper for a while. Subsequently. he located at Tarlton, and has since followed the profession of a teacher, having taught fifteen terms of school during the winter seasons, and in the summer engaging in various occupations. He has an enviable reputation as a thorough instructor
and efficient disciplinarian, who gains the affection and confidence of his pupils to an unusual extent, and secures their advancement in their studies through creating a love for knowledge and an en- joyment of mental research.
In 1873, the marriage of Mr. Reichelderfer to Miss Lucy A. Hlousel, of Pickaway County, took place at the residence of the bride's parents, John A. and Catherine (Alexander) Housel. The par- ents of Mrs. Reichelderfer were born in Northum- berland and Columbia Counties, Pa., respectively, whence they moved to Ohio at an early day and were married in Pickaway County. During the past forty years he has been engaged in the grocery business, and is a reliable dealer, an enterprising citizen, and an upright man. His wife belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and he aids with liberal contributions the various benevo- lent and religious enterprises, in which he is greatly interested.
In her childhood, Mrs. Reichelderfer received a thorough education in the schools at Tarlton and the Normal at Lancaster, and was a teacher in Fairfield County for nine years. She is the mother of one child, John Jacob, born January 24, 1874, and an intelligent young man, to whose education his parents have devoted constant attention. Mrs. Reichelderfer clings to the faith of her parents, and is a devoted member of the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church, while the belief of Mr. Reichel- derfer is that of the Lutheran Church, with which he is identified. In politics, he is a stanch Demo- crat, and is well informed on all the prominent issues of the day which engage the attention of thoughtful men.
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