USA > Ohio > Hardin County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 29
USA > Ohio > Marion County > Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio > Part 29
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G FORGE WASHINGTON ARMSTRONG makes his home on his farm situated on sec- tion 8, Goshen Township, Hardin County. The place comprises one hundred and sixty acres, one hundred of which, formerly covered with heavy timber, were cleared by him. There are several miles of tiling on the homestead, which is also improved with good buildings, fences, etc. The owner is a practical business man and thor- oughly understands agriculture. He has served as Township Assessor, Land Appraiser and County Recorder. To the last-named office he
was elected in 1874, on the Democratic ticket, and was re-elected, serving six years altogether.
The eldest in his father's family, G. W. Arm- strong was born in Richland County, Ohio, Oc- tober 7, 1831. He was five years of age 011 coming to this county, and continued to live with his father until reaching his majority. He ob- tained what education it was possible to acquire in the district schools of that day, and subse- quently he taught in the local schools for eight ternis. He was an expert in mathematics, and was a champion in the spelling-schools of the dis- trict. When a lad of seven or eight years he was chosen first by the captain of one side and then the other, and it was not a rare occurrence that he came out ahead of all participating.
April 13, 1854, Mr. Armstrong and Rachel Baker were united in marriage. She is the daughter of Morris and Mary (Campbell) Baker, and sister of James M. Baker, of this township. The young couple settled on the old homestead of eighty acres, on which they now live, and which was valued at $500, Mr. Armstrong paying down $100, and agreeing to meet the balance of the amount by teaching. He put up a log cabin, which is still in a good state of preservation, and this was their home for a number of years. During the winter season he taught school, re- ceiving in payment from $14 to $18 a month and board. During the summer he worked indus- triously at clearing his farm and in raising crops. This farm he continued to operate until 1874, when he moved to Kenton to fill the office of County Recorder, and there he made his home for the next six years. The following six years he had no special business aside from the super- vision of his farm. In 1886 he returned to the homestead where he is still living, engaged in carrying on his farm.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong has been blessed with eight children. Thomas J., who has been a successful teacher, is now a farni- er in Putnam County, Ohio; Morris B. is named in honor of his grandfather, and is a fariner of McDonald Township, on the old Scioto Marsh, in this county; Oscar N., an agriculturist of this township, served for one term as Deputy
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under Sheriff Neville; Mary M. is the wife of Curtis Emmons, a farmer of this township; Will- iam J., a graduate of. tlie Kenton High School and of the Delaware . (Ohio) 'College, is now an employe of the Champion Iron Company at Ken- ton; Ruth A. married Frank Barrett, owner of a farm and sawmill in this township; Fannic and Frank are twins. Fannie is the wife of David T. Emmons, a brother of Curtis Emmons; and Frank has followed the teacher's profession for several years.
About 1872 G. W. Armstrong met with a very severe accident, while stepping from the train at Carey, Ohio, at dusk. He slipped and his right foot was crushed by the carwheel to such an ex- tent that amputation was necessary. The Arm- strong family are members of the Church of Christ in Kenton, and take great interest in its various departments of usefulness and activity.
A life-long Democrat, Mr. Armstrong has long been recognized as one of the leading men of his party in Hardin County. In the fall of 1874 he was a candidate for the office of County Recorder, being elected by a handsome majority, and in 1877 was re-elected, holding the office six years. This fact alone attests his popularity among his fellow-citizens.
The father of G. W. Armstrong, who bore the Christian name of Thomas, was one of the pio- neers of this township. He was born in West- moreland County, Pa., June 14, 1804, to William and Ann (McQuown) Armstrong. About 1820 Thomas Armstrong settled in Richland County, Ohio, and there married a distant relative of his mother's, Margaret McQuown, in 1830. To them were born three children: G. W .; Eugenia, Mrs. Elias McPeek, of Van Wert County, Ohio; and Margaret Jane, who died in the fall of 1861.
Thomas Armstrong was a man of exceptional intelligence, and had been well educated. He was thoroughly versed in Greek and Latin, and was a good mathematician, besides being well posted on questions of general interest. He also knew something about surveying, and was once a candidate on the Democratic ticket for the county office. Though lie had never been engaged in active practice, he had studied medicine and was
much better qualified to put his knowledge into use tlian were many of the pioneer physicians of that day.
After improving a farm in Richland County, Thomas Armstrong started to seek a new home, driving through Wyandot and finally coming to this county. One mile east of the eastern line of Hardin County, he bought a tract of new land, about eighty acres. A few of his neighbors had located here two or three years previously, but he was among the first to make a permanent home in that section. One Thomas Shanks took up land about 1832, and his home was the head- quarters for all prospective settlers. Alexander Pool, Robert Loughrey, Samuel Crawson, Will- iam Baker and David McQuown came prior to 1836, and the only representative of these fami- lies here at this writing is James B. Pool, who is still living on his father's farm. At one time during his early residence here Thomas Arm- strong served as Township Treasurer. He lived on his first farm for twenty-six years, but from 1862 until his death, which occurred September 7, 1888, he made his home on the farm of his son, G. W. Until his last years he was well preserved, and on his eightieth birthday planted corn. Three years before his demise he was stricken with paralysis, but lived to see his eighty- fourth birthday. His wife departed this life Feb- ruary 13, 1892, aged eighty-two years.
ILLIAM OHLER, one of the successful farmers of Hardin County, and the owner of a valuable estate on section 29, Round- head Township, was born in Richland County, Ohio, June 17, 1831. His parents, John and Hannah Ohler, natives of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio in 1830 and settled in Richland County, where the father worked at the trade of cabinet- making for six years in Monroe Township. In
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1837 he removed to Allen County, and, purchas- ing forty acres of unimproved land, gave his at- tention to its cultivation until his death, ten years later. His widow is still living. Politically he was a Democrat, a loyal supporter of his party's platform throughout life. In religious faith he was a Lutheran.
The parental family consisted of nine children, one of whom died in infancy. The others are as follows: Elizabeth, deceased; William, of this sketch; Andrew, who married Laura Mitz, and lives in Auglaize County, this state; Arbana, wife of Milton Tam, also of Auglaize County; Elizabeth; John, who was killed by a falling tree in 1877; Margaret; and Isaiah, who is married and lives on a farm in Auglaize County.
June 11, 1855, William Oliler and Miss Martha E. Lusk were united in marriage. Mrs. Ohler was born in October, 1835, and is one of five children comprising the family of Benjamin and Anna Lusk, natives of Virginia. Nine children were born to bless their union, of whom the two eldest, John and Lafayette, are deceased; James Oswell is a prominent attorney of Lima, Ohio; Anna is the wife of W. J. Zimmerman, a farmer of Roundhead Township; Marion married May Davidson, and lives upon a farm in Marion Town- ship; Elizabeth is the wife of Edward McClund, of Roundhead Township; William married Em- ma Jones, and cultivates a farm in this township; Ida, who for three terms was a student in the Normal University at Ada, Ohio, is an accom- plished young lady, and has taught school for three years, meeting with success in that profes- sion; and Floyd, the youngest of the family, re- sides with his parents.
From an early age our subject was obliged not only to support himself, but also to assist in the maintenance of the family, whom his father's death had left in poor circumstances. For a time he rented land in Uvion Township, Auglaize County, remaining there about eight years. On coming to Hardin County, he leased a farm, op- erating rented land in Roundhead Township for a period of thirteen years. In the spring of 1863 he bought one hundred and twenty-one acres on section 29, and here he resided until April, 1895,
at which time he removed to Kenton, where he owns a large, handsome residence on Franklin Street. At the time he purchased his farm there was an old house on the place, which, aside from a few acres which had been cleared of timber, was the only improvement it bore. He moved his family into the house, and at once began the task of cultivating the land. Success rewarded his efforts from the first, and somewhat later he was enabled to add forty· eiglit acres to his origi- nal tract, making a total acreage of one hundred and sixty-nine. Of this tract, one hundred and fifty-five acres were placed under cultivation, and the larger part of the land had been tiled, thus increasing its value. In addition to general farin work, he also paid some attention to stock-rais- ing and had upon his place a number of fine horses and cattle.
In his religious belief Mr. Ohler is actively identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and may always be depended upon to support party candidates and principles. His education was exceedingly lim- ited. The nearest school was three miles from his father's farm, and he was obliged to walk the entire distance. The building itself was a prin- itive affair, constructed of logs and furnished with hewed-log benches; light was admitted through holes in the walls, over which greased paper had been placed. Though his advantages were few, yet he has achieved more than ordinary success, and is now the owner of as fine a farm as may be seen for miles around.
UGENE S. ARNOLD. Just six years ago this ambitious young man embarked upon the perilous waters of journalism, then to him an untried sea, and nobly has he succeeded. At that time he became part owner and editor of the Standard, published at Dunkirk, Hardin County, and in no way does the paper belie its
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name. It is kept up to a liigh standard of excel- lence, is ably conducted, and strives ever to ad- vance the best interests of this community.
Our subject was born on a farm in Wayne County, Olio, January 11, 1855, about six miles from the pretty town of Wooster. His father, J. P. Arnold, was a native of the same locality, his birth having occurred on a farm a mile away from the one on which our subject was born. The grandfather was also a native of Wayne County, whither his father had gone at a very early day from Pennsylvania. Grandfather Ar- nold, his wife and several children all died of ty- phoid fever in the same year. J. P. Arnold was in the Union service during the late war, as was also his brother George, who died at Clarksville, Tenn., his life a sacrifice to his country. The mother of E. S. Arnold, who bore the maiden name of Melinda Smith, is also a native of Wayne County, and is a daughter of P. P. Smith, one of the early settlers in that section. His brother, N. W. Smith, who was a wealthy and very phil- anthropic man, was one of the founders of Woos- ter University, remaining on the Board of Direc- tors up to the time of his death. He served as one of the boys who wore the blue in the War of the Rebellion.
The boyhood of Mr. Arnold was passed on his father's farm in Wayne County, his education being such as might be gleaned in the district schools. His higher studies were pursued at Ver- million Institute of Hayesville, Ohio, after which he began clerking in a drug store in that town, remaining in that capacity for eight.years. April 1, 1889, he and his brother, H. H., entered into partnership and bought out the former propri- etors of the Standard. January 1, 1891, Mr. Ar- nold purchased his brother's interest, and lias since been sole manager of the paper. He pos- sesses superior business ability, and rapidly made his journal a power in the community. The cur- rent events of the day are presented in a clear and forcible manner, and on political questions the organ is unbiased and independent.
Mr. Arnold has never married, and still makes his home with his parents, who are now living in Dunkirk. He watches over their welfare with
dutiful and affectionate care, trying to smooth the pathway of their declining years. He is popular with all the foremost citizens of this county, and stands well among the members of his profession.
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ARCELLUS S. WOODARD. Seven miles north of the city of Kenton lies a finely improved farin, which is known for miles around as one of the best in Hardin County. It consists of two hundred and fifty acres, situated on section 36, Jackson Township. Through an excellent system of tiling, ditching and piking, the land has been brought under a high state of cultivation, and the value of the property greatly increased. Upon coming here in 1870, Mr. Wood- ard first made his home in a log cabin. The land was low and swampy, but as the place under his skillful guidance rapidly developed into cleared and cultivated land, yielding abundant harvests, all the surroundings underwent a transformation, the result of hard and patient toil. The farm is improved with attractive and substantial build- ings, plainly attesting the prosperity of the owner.
Born in the Wyoming Valley, N. Y., March 7, 1834, our subject is the son of John and Aurela (Mann) Woodard. His parents removed from New York to Pennsylvania, tlience came to Ohio and settled in Kenton, Hardin County, . when Marcellus S. was a lad of fifteen. After a short sojourn in the city, they moved to the old Mc- Elree Farm in Jackson Township. When the war closed, the parents went to Michigan, and the father died in Montcalm County in August, 1894, aged eighty-three years. Tlie widowed mother still inakes her home in that county.
March 3, 1859, in Pleasant Township, Hardin County, Marcellus S. Woodard was united in marriage witlı Miss Elizabeth, daughter of John and Susan ( Pever) Gardner, natives of Pennsyl- vania and Maryland, respectively. Mr. Gardner
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removed from Richland to Hardin County in 1833, and settled in Pleasant Township, two miles north of Kenton. There his first wife, Sarah Williamson, died. Later he married Miss Pever, who liad. accompanied her parents from Maryland to Hardin County in lier girlhood. He devoted his attention to the improvement of his farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and there he continued to reside until his death in 1864, at the age of about seventy-five. His wife survived a number of years, dying in 1877.
For some time Mr. Woodard owned and con- ducted a factory in Kenton, engaging in the man- ufacture of rakes, brooms, etc. In 1864 lie went to Cincinnati and enlisted in the United States service with a company fromn Kenton. Proceed- ing down the Mississippi to the Red River, he took part in the expedition down the latter stream, serving as Quartermaster of his division of the flotilla. After a year of active service he was dis- charged on account of sickness and returned home, expecting to die. A vigorous constitution, however, enabled him to conquer disease, and after a time he regained his former health. Dur- ing his service on the gunboat "Ft. Henderson," under Captain Pierce, he had many exciting ex- periences and can narrate many thrilling incidents connected with his arıny life.
On his return to Kenton, as soon as his health permitted him to enter business, Mr. Woodard bought a meat-shop, and this he carried on for two years. In 1870 he purchased the farm where he now resides, and, leaving his pleasant home in Kenton, he began farm life in a log house, amid many discouraging circumstances. His arduous labor, however, has not been without its reward, and he now has one of the finest farms in the county. He also owned a sawmill at one time, and has handled and improved other farms. The winter season lie usually spends in Florida, his ample means permitting him to secure all the comforts afforded by change of scene and travel. Politically he is a Republican, and has served as a member of the County Committee of his party. With his wife and children he holds membership in the Blanchard River Cliristian Church.
Mrs. Woodard was born on her father's old
homestead October 28, 1840, and by hier union with our subject lias become the mother of the following named children: Ellen, wife of William Frederick, who lives near Dunkirk, Olio; Elnier, who married Maggie Higgins and makes his home on a farm in Jackson Township; Viola, who is an accomplished and well educated young lady, and has been for four years a teacher in Pleasant and Jackson Townships; Frank, who married Maggie Kritzler and is a resident of Pleas- ant Township; Oscar, a student in the Normal School at Ada, Ohio; Marcellus, who assists in the cultivation of the liome farin; Maud and Mabel, twins; and Laura. The children have been the recipients of excellent educational ad- vantages and are upright, honorable and cul- tured sons and daughters, of whom their parents may well be proud.
CHARLES J. COOPER, Master Mechanic of the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad Car Shops at Kenton, was born in Lockport, N. Y., June 13, 1851. He is the son of William E. and Sarah (Harrison) Cooper, natives, re- spectively, of Vermont and England. His fa- ther, who was a man of far more than ordinary ability and inventive genius, designed and pat- ented many useful articles that were successfully applied by the railroads. In various old publica- tions on railroading his name appears frequently, and his work was of suchi a character as to bring him the regard of the members of his profession, by whom he was looked upon as a benefactor. As early as 1838 he was Master Mechanic of the Lockport & Niagara Falls Railroad, and ran one of the first engines on the Erie Railroad, being with that company until about 1878. He died in Galion, Oliio, in1 1888, at the age of about seven- ty-six years.
The mother of our subject was born in Eng- land, and started with her parents to America, but her father died during the voyage and was
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buried in midocean. She is still living and inakes her home with a daughter in Akron, Ohio. Her brother, Jamies Harrison, was a locomotive engineer, and ran the first engine across the sus- pension bridge at Niagara Falls. Our subject is the next to the youngest of a family of five ehil- dren, having two brothers and two sisters. His brother, William E., Jr., is an engineer of the New York & New England Railroad, running out of Boston; Antoinette was first married to Alexander McDonald, an engineer, who was killed in a railroad wreck; afterward she became the wife of I. C. Brown, who at the time of his death was Auditor of the Valley Railroad, with headquarters at Akron, Ohio; Mary R. married H. A. Cooper, formerly a train dispatcher, and now purchasing agent of the Toledo & Ohio Cen- tral Railroad, with headquarters at Toledo; and H. A. is general foreman for the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad at Hornellsville, N. Y. Thus it will be seen that every member of the family is connected with railroad work.
When fifteen years old, the subject of this sketch entered the shops of the Erie Railroad at Dunkirk, N. Y., of which his father was at that time Master Meelianic. He mastered the me- chanical part of the business by the time he was nineteen, after which he was for ten years in the employ of the same road at Hornellsville, N. Y. Later, going to Pennsylvania, he accepted the po- sition of general foreman of the mechanical de- partment of the Bradford branch of the Erie Road, and remained in that capacity for three years. For the five ensuing years he was Master Me- chanic of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad, and then became connected with the Cincinnati, Saginaw & Mackinaw, now a part of the Grand Trunk Railroad at Saginaw, Mich.
The road being built at that time, Mr. Cooper had charge of its equipment with rolling stock, and also figured prominently in the sale of the road to the Grand Trunk. For a time after this he was not connected with the railroad business, being interested in the Kilby Manufacturing Com- pany of Cleveland. However, he was too closely wedded to the railroad business to remain long out of it; besides which lie was too well and favor-
ably known in railroad circles to be permitted to retire from the work permanently.
When the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad Company was about to establish their car-shops at Kenton, in looking about for the proper man to take charge of this extensive work, they de- eided upon Mr. Cooper, with whom negotiations were at onee opened. . Accepting the offer of the company, he came to this city and superintended the eonstruction of the buildings, since which time he has been in full charge of the works, hav- ing about sixty-five men under him. He is a thorough and competent man, and is fully con- versant with every detail of the railroad business.
While living at Hornellsville, N. Y., Mr. Coop- er married Miss Mary E. Fitzgibbon, who died at Bradford, Pa., in 1888, leaving one son, C. T., now a young man and a machinist in the shops at Kenton. As a business man, our subject is efficient, progressive and energetic, while as a citizen he is interested in all measures having for their object the promotion of the welfare of the people.
OHN DEERWESTER is engaged in general farming on section 25, Taylor. Creek Town- ship, Hardin County, and has been especially successful as a stock-raiser and shipper. Soeially he is identified with a number of fraternities. November 5, 1871, he joined Odd Fellows' Lodge No. 583, at Mt. Victory, and in 1880 was one of the charter members of Ridgeway Lodge No. 693. He is also connected with the Union Veterans' Union of Kenton, "Pap" Thomas Commandery No. 14, Knights of the Golden Eagle No. 62, and Sunset Lodge No. 306, Order of Rebekah. In 1884 he was commissioned a Notary Public, and has served in that capacity since. Politically he is an adherent of the Democracy.
Our subject's father, George Deerwester, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, October 7, 1815.
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
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His wife, who bore the maiden name of Rebecca Lewis, was a native of Montgomery County, Ohio, born June 17, 1825. They had thirteen children,. as follows: Sarah J. (deceased), born July 12, 1845; William P., September 26, 1846; Eliza, January 26, 1848; Mary E., June 30, 1849; Matilda (deceased), May 15, 1851; Rebecca, Jan- uary 1, 1853; Minerva, June 27, 1854; George (deceased), May 7, 1856; Almira, July 17, 1858; Martha, March 28, 1859; Harriet, February 17, 1862; Charles, December 16, 1865; and our sub- ject, who is the eldest.
The boyhood of George Deerwester was passed on his father's farm. He was the youngest of nine children, and two of his brothers are still in this state. On reaching his majority he com- menced working on the Ohio River, running be- tween Cincinnati and New Orleans for seven years. He then married and settled in Hamilton County, Ohio, and in 1847 bought fifty acres of wild land in Logan County. He put up a log cabin, into which he moved in 1849, and three years later sold out, after having cleared about ten acres. Going to Clermont County, he rented a farmi of one hundred and seventy-five acres, and June 11, 1856, he returned to Logan County, where he bought fifty acres of unimproved land, on which he erected a cabin 20x24 feet in dimen- sions. In the spring of 1864 he moved to Rush Creek Township and resided on ten acres of improved land for the next twelve years. In 1876 he went to Harrison Township, Paulding 'County, Ohio, where he purchased a tract of forty acres, on which he lived until his death, January 7, 1889. He cast his first vote for General Har- rison. He served liis fellow-citizens as Trustee, Supervisor and School Director, and religiously was a Lutheran. His wife is still living on the old homestead.
John Deerwester was born near Simstown, Hamilton County, Ohio, October 17, 1743, and remained under the parental roof until he was in his seventeenth year, when, June 8, 1861, he en- listed in Company F, Thirteenth Ohio Infantry, under Capt. I. R. Gardner. From Camp Denni- son he was sent to Parkersburg, Va., thence to Oakland, Va., and July 16 was stationed at Pow-
ell's Gap on guard duty. There the forces were defeated and fell back to Oakland. September Io he took part in the battle of Carnifax Ferry, and afterward was in an engagement at Cotton Mountain, which lasted about four hours. Some time was spent in camp, and then he was sent to Louisville, Ky., where mules and wagons were secured and his company marched to Elizabetli- town, Ky. They were detailed to guard a rail- road bridge on the Louisville & Nasliville Road, and a month later joined the regiment near Bacon Creek. February 6 they went to Bowling Green, Ky., then proceeded to Nashville, arriving there March 6, 1862. Soon after, our subject took part in the battle of Shiloh, and April 7 was in the battle of Savannah, wliere lie received a slight wound. Next, going to Corinth, he was in the siege of that stronghold, and subsequently helped erect a fort at the mouth of Battle Creek. From Louis- ville, Ky., he marched to Perryville, although he was not called into action.
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