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 84
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 84
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 84
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In Mr. Teegardin the community had a faithful and unswerving friend, ever alert to serve its best interests and generous in his contributions toward every movement tending to the general advance- ment. Ile served for a year as Trustee of Madison Township, also as Justice of the Peace, and as Captain and Major in the militia. He was deeply interested in educational matters, a stanch advocate of schools, and served as School Director for some time.
This worthy and highly respected citizen, after a life of success and usefulness, was called from the scenes of his earthly labors on the 26th of November, 1887. He was known throughout the section as a man of kind disposition and an intelligent and respected citizen. He was a Democrat in politics and took an active interest in all local political affairs. While not a member of any church, he contributed liberally to the cause of Christianity, and his word was as good as his bond. In charac- ter he was generous, free and frank, and as he was
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keenly alive to the sufferings and misfortunes of others, no one ever appealed to him in vain for aid or consolation. He was a hard worker all his life and tilling the soil was his chosen occupation. Socially, he was identified with the Masonic order. IIis widow resides on the home place and is now enjoy- ing the fruits of a life spent in usefulness and well doing. She is well known in Madison Township, and highly respected as a lady of culture and re- finement.
The portrait of Mr. Teegardin presented on an- other page perpetuates his lineaments for coming generations.
W ILLIAM HENRY TYLER, who is engaged in farming and stock-raising in Paint Township, Madison County, claims New York as the State of his nativity. He was born in Monroe County, November 16, 1837. His parents, Benjamin and Catherine (Kelley) Tyler, were both natives of Herkimer County, N. Y., the former born September 1, 1810, and the latter JJanuary 30, 1807. Their eldest son, Benjamin F., was born July 12, 1835, after which they left Herkimer County and removed to Monroe County. Here our subject was born. The other son resides in Parkersburg, W. Va., and is an oil refiner. IIe is married and has two daughters, Carrie and Ma- bel. On emigrating to Ohio, Mr. Tyler purchased one hundred and thirty-seven acres of land in Paint Township, Madison County, where he re- sided until his death, which occurred April 13, 1879. The paternal grandfather of our subject, William Tyler, was born in Massachusetts in 1765, and, at the age of fifteen, entered the Colonial army during the Revolutionary War.
We now take up the personal history of Mr. Tyler, of this sketch, who was educated in the common schools and assisted his father in the cul- tivation of the farm until his death. He now re- sides on the old homestead, and his home is sup- posed to be the oldest in the county. During the late war, he enlisted in 1861, in the second com- pany organized in Madison County. but as the re-
quired quota was filled, he was not mustered in. Shortly afterward, he was attacked with inflam- matory rheumatism and confined to his home until the next winter. In April, 1864, he again offered his services to the Government, and became a member of Company I, One Hundred and Fifty- fourth Ohio Infantry. He was principally engaged in gnard duty with the Army of West Virginia, and was mustered out in September, 1864. Since the close of the war, he has been engaged in farm- ing with good success.
On the 8th of January, 1863, Mr. Tyler led to the marriage altar Miss Hannah M. Sifrit, of Paint Township, a daughter of Jacob and Emily (Hall) Sifrit. She was born May 6, 1844. Their union has been blessed with five children: Minnie, born October 29, 1865, married Charles B. Sough, of Union Township; Owen D., born September 22, 1870; Katie, born May 5, 1874, died September 1, 1879; William Henry, born June 5, 1879, and Mary Emma, December 25, 1883.
Mr. Tyler cast his first Presidential vote in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln, and has since been a stanch supporter of the Republican party. His son expects to vote for Benjamin Harrison in 1892. Mr. Tyler is a well-known farmer of this com- munity, is an enterprising and successful business man, and has won the confidence and good-will of all with whom he has come in contact.
LGERNON SIDNEY MORGRIDGE. We here present the life sketch of one of the most prominent and well-known residents of Plain City, who owns a large and valu- able farm in Darby Township, where he was born, September 6, 1821. Beside this fine property, he has considerable property in mortgages on farms and other real estate. His father, Richard Mor- gridge, was born at Amesbury, Mass .. November 18, 1771.
When twenty-one years old, the father went to Vermont, and there married in May, 1800, Miss Sally Emerson. They came to Ohio in 1816, and
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first located in Licking County, where they re- mained three years, and then removed to Madison County, and made their home in Darby Township, establishing themselves upon a farm. The father died here, August 10, 1843. He was a Democrat of the Jacksonian type. His father, Samuel Morgridge, was a native of Massachusetts, and a ship carpenter by trade, a son of John Morgridge, who was born in England, and settled in Massa- chusetts at a place which was afterward known as Morgridge Point.
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Our subject's mother, Sally Emerson, was a na- tive of New Salem, N. H., where she was born August 18, 1781. She was the eldest child of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Bailey) Emerson. Mr. Emerson was born in Massachusetts. May 7, 1756, and carried on farming throughout life. He was the son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Mitchell) Emerson, the former of whom was killed, or died in service, during the French and Indian War, leaving this only son, who became the grandfather of our subject.
The parents of our subject had nine children, five of whom were sons, and four were daughters. Their eldest, Charles Grandison, was born June 23, 1801, in Washington County, Vt., and died in 1872 ; Samuel was born November 17, 1802, and died June 21, 1817, in Licking County, Ohio; Fan- nie, who was born April 4, 1805, and Anna, who was born June 24, 1807, have both passed from earth, and Sally, whose birth took place June 11, 1812, died October 21. 1836, in Madison County; William Jacman was born January 12, 1810, and died October 16, 1836; Joshna Bailey was born August 2, 1814, and Harriet Byron, who is dead, was born March 27, 1817.
Our subject was the youngest of the household, and received his education in the log school house in Darby Township, and that was the only insti- tution of learning with which he was connected as a scholar. It was, indeed, a primitive school, with rude benches and puncheon floor. He re- mained with his father until he reached the age of twenty-one, and after that he taught in the district school for five winters, part of the time in Clarke County, Ohio, and he cherishes as a souv- enir of those early times a certificate, which he re-
ceived from Peter Smith, in Clarke County, in 1840.
After closing his career as a teacher, Mr. Mor- gridge devoted himself to farming and cattle-rais- ing, and he has fed cattle for market for forty winters. In 1861, he left the farm upon which he had lived from childhood (with the exception of the time he was in Clarke County), and located where he now resides. He commeneed his stock- raising with about five head of young calves, and has wintered, some seasons, as many as eighty head of steers. Ile is now a man of wealth, and has reached this position by economy and a strict at- tention to business. He has a fine estate of five hundred and seventy-five acres, which is well-im- proved, and much of this land he has in the hands of tenants. Beside his property here, he has an estate in Marysville, Ohio. He voted the Demo- cratic tieket until the Civil War broke out. but since that time has been a stanch adherent of Re- publican principles.
h ON. JOHN B. KOONTZ, the present Mayor of Washington C. H., was elected to that honorable position April 5, 1890. He is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Shelby County, August 22. 1845, and is a son of Joseph W. and Hannah ( Baldwin) Koontz, natives respectively of Rockingham and Green- brier Counties, Va. The father of our subject emi- grated to Shelby County about 1815, and the mother accompanied her parents on their removal to the same county about 1812.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Koontz re- mained in the above-named county for a number of years, and in the spring of 1846 removed to Madison County, which was their home for a period of twenty-one years. They then came to Fayette County, where the father died in July. 1870.
Mr. Koontz of this sketch was given an excellent education, finishing his studies in the schools at London, and the Lebanon Normal, from which latter institution he was graduated. He was en- gaged in teaching school for a period of five years,
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during which time he determined to follow the profession of a lawyer, and, pursuing a diligent course of reading, was admitted to the Bar in May, 1872. Mr. Koontz located in this city for practice and has been actively identified with its interests since that time, with the exception of three years. He has built up an extensive clientage, and devotes his entire time and attention to his profession.
Our subject was first elected to the Mayoralty in 1873, and is still serving. In politics, he is a Democrat, and, although this city is Republican by five hundred majority, yet our subject has the confidence of the community to such extent that he has been elected five times to the Mayoralty. He has been Justice of the Peace for some time and takes an active interest in the progress of public events. He is an enterprising business man, of broad and intelligent views, and enjoys the entire confidence of the community.
February 11, 1872, our subject and Miss Mary B., daughter of Joseph and Nancy Adams, of High- land County, this State, were united in marriage. They are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in social matters Mr. Koontz is an Odd Fellow, and a Knight of the Golden Eagle.
HEODOR MATTHAES. The citizens of Ohio who have come from Germany have invariably brought with them such traits and habits of life as have rendered them of value in their new home. Their industry, frugality, and rugged perseverance have helped to achieve such a degree of success as enhances the prosperity of their neighbors. Such an one do we find in the man before us, who, twenty-two years ago, began life a poor boy, and to-day is one of the wealth- iest citizens of Darby Township, Pickaway County. His large estate has been accumulated through his persistent industry, which almost invariably wins success.
Mr. Matthaes was born in Saxony, Germany, on the 18th of June, 1830, and is the son of Henry M. Matthaes, also a native of the Fatherland, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. Of his
father, the grandfather of him of whom we write, but little is known, other than that he was a prom- inent physician in his native land. Henry M. Matthaes departed this life when sixty years of age, firm in the faith of the Lutheran Church. He had married Miss Anna Sifert, also born in Saxony, Germany, by whom he became the father of six children: Henry, Charles, Caroline, Margaret, John, and Theodor. Mrs. Matthaes also died when about sixty years of age.
The original of this sketch was reared on his father's farm, and, like all German youths, was given a good education, attending school from the age of five to thirteen. When reaching his twen- tieth year, he served for two years in the regular army, and embarked alone for the New World in 1852, being twenty-six days en route. On landing in New York City, he made his way directly to Col- umbus, this State, near which city he found em- ployment in a sawmill. He was thus engaged for a twelvemonth, when he changed his occupation, and for four years worked in the State Stone Quarry, four miles west of Columbus. When aban- doning that line of work, he began farm labor, be- ing in the employ of one man for two or three years, and later worked ten years, by the month, for another party.
Mr. Matthaes, after having cultivated a rented farm for two years, returned to Germany, in 1857, where he spent the winter. On. coming again to his new home in this State, he purchased, in 1870, his present farm, which then was little more than a wilderness, bearing but slight improvements. Ile borrowed money, for which he had to pay ten per cent. interest, and with a family of eleven children to care for, he often became discouraged, fearing that he would not be able to pull through. But, in his vocabulary, there was no such word as "fail," and he bravely pushed on, overcoming ev- ery difficulty and surmounting every obstacle that beset his path, until he was able to pay both prin- cipal and interest of his borrowed money, and lay by a handsome competency to be enjoyed in his later years.
May 10, 1858, Miss Anistene Schilling became the wife of our subject. She was born in Saxony, Germany, and on coming to the United States, when
RESIDENCE OF JOSHUA MAHAN, MADISON TP., FAYETTE CO., 0.
RES. OF THEODOR MATTHAES , DARBY TP., PICKAWAY CO., O.
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twenty-five years of age, with her parents, located in Franklin County, this State. Six of the eleven children born of their union are living, viz: Iler- man, who was born November 18, 1860; Lonis, July 25, 1863; Caroline, June 1, 1867; Francis, March 17, 1870; William, December 5, 1871; and Nora, June 17, 1876. Those deceased were Oscar, who was born June 6, 1859, died August 11, 1887; Bertie, born January 7, 1862, died April 9, 1891; Emma, born December 24, 1865, died June 10, 1889; Minnie, born September 19, 1868, died Oct- ober 21, 1888; and Ida May, born May 30, 1873, died March 27, 1889.
Mr. Matthaes is engaged in mixed husbandry, and, in addition to raising the cereals, breeds num- bers of cattle, hogs, and horses, making a specialty of the Norman breed in the latter. He is the owner of two valuable estates, the home farm con- taining one hundred and twenty-two acres, and the farm located one mile north numbers one hundred and thirteen acres. His present large frame residence, a view of which is shown else- where, was erected in 1878, and bears all the com- forts and conveniences which indicate its inmates to be people of means and culture. ITis barn, which is one of the best in the township, was built in 1873, and is admirably adapted to the storage of grain and shelter of stock.
Both our subject and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the Methodist Church at Harrisburgh. Coming to this country a poor boy, with no other means of gaining a liveli- hood than strong hands, Mr. Matthaes to-day ranks among the wealthy and progressive citizens of Pickaway County, and it gives the biographer pleasure to be able to herewith present to our nu- merons readers a sketch of so worthy a gentleman.
OSHUA MAHAN. One of the most con- spicuous figures among the agriculturists of Madison Township, Fayette County, is the gentleman above named, who makes a spe- cialty of breeding Polled-Angus cattle, for which he receives the largest prices paid. As is usually the
case with one who makes a specialty of anything. he is something of an enthusiast regarding the stock which is his favorite, and has many statistics to give showing their superiority over other breeds.
Our subject was born near Chillicothe, Ross County, this State, December 18, 1836, and is the son of Joshua and Sophia (Beck) Mahan. His father, who was born near Richmond, Va., was a farmer, and died when Joshua was eighteen months old. The parental family included three chil- dren, of whom Martha Jane, the eldest, died when eighteen years of age; Harriet married a Mr. MeCoy, and makes her home near Chillicothe.
The original of this sketch was given a fair ed- ucation in the country schools, and, when eleven or twelve years of age, his mother was married to James McCoy. His step-father dying four years later, his mother sold her interest in the estate, and located upon a farm in Ross County. which our subject aided her in paying for. In 1858. they traded that property for the estate where Mr. Mahan is at present residing, the mother taking as her share one hundred acres. and our subject sixty.
The lady to whom Mr. Mahan was united in marriage, September 13, 1859, was Miss Marga- retta Plyly. She was born in Ross County, Sep- tember 23. 1836, and is the daughter of Joseph and Mary A. (Baldwin) Plyly. To them have been born a family of six children: John Carrey. who is engaged in farming in partnership with his brother, Spencer; Hattie Jane, who was born May 29, 1868, and died July 31 of that year; Mary Belle, who was born July 17, 1869, and died Jan- uary 8. 1885; Roscoe Lee, December 26, 1876; and Della May, April 25, 1878, now at home with her parents. The mother of our subject made her home with him until her decease. March 21, 1877. His half-sister, Mary McCoy, was also an inmate of his household until her marriage. Mr. Mahan purchased the home farm from his mother, and now has an estate which comprises two hundred and ninety acres. He has erected thereon a hand- some dwelling and all the necessary outbuildings, and by thoroughly draining the place has made of it one of the best in the township. A view of the estate is shown elsewhere in this work.
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Originally inclined toward the Whig party, Mr. Mahan cast his first Presidential vote in 1860, for Bell and Everett. In 1864, he voted for George B. McClellan, the Democratic candidate, and was a member of that party until 1891, when he joined the ranks of the Farmers' Alliance. In 1878, he was elected County Commissioner, which office he filled most acceptably, and has also served as a Delegate to the various county, congressional and State conventions. In 1873, he became a Mason, hold- ing membership at Bloomingburgh with Lodge No. 449.
OIIN WALLACE, the versatile and genial editor of the London Enterprise, whose energetic character and indomitable will have triumphed over the affliction of the loss of eyesight that would have been an insuper- able bar to further progress to most men, has had a wide experience in public life, and is one of our best-known and most honored journalists.
Mr. Wallace is a native of London, and was born June 4, 1839. He was only twelve years old when he left school to enter the office of the London Sentinel, a paper published by G. W. Sprung, and during the five years that he was there he acquired a thorough knowledge of print- ing, beside gaining a good insight into the methods of conducting a newspaper. In the winter 1855-56, friends secured him the appoint- ment of page in the Ohio Senate, through Lieut .- Gov. Myers. At the organization of the Senate in January, 1860, through the influence of the Hon. R. A. Harrison, he was elected Second Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms, and was given charge of the postoffice department of the Senate.
Our subject's early experience in the office of the Sentinel gave him a taste for newspaper work, and deciding to adopt the editorial profession, in 1863, in connection with .J. B. Stine, he purchased the London Union, now the London Times, and engaged in its publication one year. Disposing then of his interest in it advantageously, he devoted himself to other pursuits for some years,
but January 1, 1872, he resumed his journalistic labors, establishing on that date the London Enterprise, which has steadily gained in popularity with each passing year, and is held in high esti- mation by its many patrons as a well-edited news- paper, and as a pure, high-toned family journal, whose influence is elevating and healthful. Not- withstanding that he has been totally blind since 1880, Mr. Wallace has continued the publication of his paper. For some years it was independent in politics, but in April, 1879, at the solicitation of the Republican County Executive Committee, it was made a Republican organ, and has con- tinued to give vigorous support to the policy of the Republican party. In October, 1890, the paper was made a semi-weekly, and is the only semi- weekly paper in Madison County, and it is stead- ily increasing in circulation and business generally.
Mr. Wallace was married May 26, 1862, to Miss E. F. Baker, of Franklin County. She died July 6, 1887, leaving two children: Elizabeth S., and Milton II. Her memory is tenderly cherished in the hearts of those who knew and loved her for her amiable disposition and true womanhood.
OHN G. DUN. This well-known name is borne by one of the most prominent and wealthy residents of Madison County, its owner having prosecuted his worldly af- fairs so well that he has acquired ample means, and has for a number of years been the largest resi- dent tax-payer in Deer Creek Township. He is at present residing in a fine house, surrounded by all the conveniences and adornments of modern farm life, where means are not lacking to procure what- ever is desired. The large estate of Mr. Dun has been acquired by his own industrious, long-con- tinued and wise efforts, as he began his career with- out other means than his natural ability and the fundamental education acquired in early man- hood.
The Dun family was one of the first in this sec- tion of Ohio, representatives of that name having come here in an early day. The father of our subject,
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Walter Dun, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died near Lexington, Ky., while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Ann Mary Angus, was born in or near Petersburgh, Va., and died in Co- lumbus, Ohio. John G. Dun was born in Chillicothe, Ross County, this State, September 21, 1814, and was a lad of eight or nine years when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Lexington, Fayette County, Ky. He grew to manhood near Lexington, and supplemented the knowledge gained in the subscription schools of that vicinity by a course in the Transylvania University, from which institution he was graduated. Mr. Dun, after completing his college career, learned the art of surveying, and came to Madison County, re- surveying some of the property which belonged to his father in the Virginia Military District, in the counties of Madison, Union, Logan, Hardin and Champaign. His father had been Military Surveyor in that district for eighteen years. After completing that work, our subject returned to the Blue Grass region, but, at his father's request, again came to Madison County, in 1836, and took possession of a tract of twenty-five hundred acres of land, which he improved.
Mr. Dun resided in this locality for two years, or until his father's death, which occurred early in the fall of 1838, when he was called home to Kentucky, and became executor of his father's large estate, which he succeeded in settling in the spring of 1842. He then returned to Madison County, and since that date has been a permanent resident of Deer Creek Township. While in Ken- tucky, settling up the estate of his father, John G. Dun was married to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Jane B. (Claypool) James. They were natives of Virginiaand New Jersey, respectively, and the mother was a daughter of Col. A. G. Clay- pool, a native of Pennsylvania. The date of the cer- emony was October 6, 1841. Mrs. Dun was born Oc- tober 11, 1821, and by her union with our subject has become the mother of nine children.
Mr. Dun is a stanch supporter of the Demo- cratic principles, and has been honored by being elected to several offices of local responsibility. His possessions include three thousand acres of land in Madison County, in addition to which he
has large interests in other parts of the State. Mr. Dun is considered to be one of the wealthiest men in Madison County, which is noted for its promi- nent and well-to-do citizens. He has always been singularly successful in money-making, and through his own exertions attained success.
ALEM S. M.CLELLAND. Through un- aided exertions, this gentleman has become prosperous and well-to-do and is the owner and operator of a splendid farm on section 20, Salt Creek Township, which he purchased in September, 1866. Since its purchase, he has de- voted his attention to its improvement, and through the introduction of the latest methods of agrieul- ture, as well as the use of modern machinery and proper rotation of erops, has made his estate one of the best in Pickaway County. The residence which he erected after locating here is a substantial dwelling, and the other buildings are in keeping with the apparent thrift on every hand.
About 1792, Col. James MeClelland, grandfather of our subject, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio and settled in Fairfield (now Hocking) County, where he entered land, some of which is still in the possession of his descendants. By his marriage, he became the father of seven children, three of whom still survive. Ilis son, Alexander, was born in Hocking County, Ohio, June 3, 1807. and grew to manhood upon his father's farm. After gaining an education in the neighboring schools, he engaged as a teacher in his early manhood, and in that way earned sufficient money with which to purchase the old homestead. In the house where his eyes first opened to the light of day, they closed upon the scenes of time November 3, 1888, when he had reached the good old age of eighty- one years and five months.
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