USA > Ohio > Fulton County > The County of Fulton: A History of Fulton County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships; Also a Biographical Department. > Part 29
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JOHN BAUMGARDNER, one of the representative farmers of the ยท younger generation in German township, has here made his home from the time of his birth, being a member of one of the well-known
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pioneer families of this section of Fulton county. He was born on the homestead farm on which he now lives, the date of his nativity being September 11, 1873, and he is a son of Samuel and Barbara (Zimmer- man) Baumgardner, the former of whom was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, and the latter in what is now the German province of Alsace-Loraine. In 1848, at the age of twenty-three years, Samuel Baumgardner immigrated to America, and after visiting various por- tions of the Middle West he located in Fulton county. In his native land he had followed the vocation of cheese-making, but after taking up his residence in Fulton county he learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for some time, being a good workman. As his resources increased he began to buy land, and he became one of the extensive farmers and prominent citizens of German township, having been the owner of five hundred and sixty acres of land at the time of his death, in 1894, and his devoted wife passed away about fourteen months later. Of their ten children four are living : Fanny is the wife of Adam Moll, of Ridgeville, Henry county; John is the immediate subject of this sketch; Emma is the wife of John S. Bruehlman of Alberta, Canada; and Rebecca is the wife of Benjamin J. Weiderkehr, of Phoenix, Ariz. John Baumgardner was reared to maturity on the home farm and is indebted to the public schools of German township for his educational advantages. He continued to be associated with his father in the management of the farm until the latter's death, and since that time has continued to reside on the homestead, owning one hundred and five acres and giving his attention to diversified farming and the raising of good grades of live-stock. His farm is well improved and con- stitutes one of the attractive rural homes of the county. Mr. Baum- gardner is one of the stanch adherents of the Democratic party in his township, having been for some time past a member of the town- ship central committee of the same, and he is also incumbent of the offices of justice of the peace and member of the school board. December 20, 1896, he was married to Miss Eliza Zimmerman, daugh- ter of Jacob Zimmerman, a substantial farmer of German township. where he died in 1904, having been born in this township, where his parents settled in the early pioneer days. Mr. and Mrs. Baumgardner have two children, Roland and Harold.
GEORGE F. BEATTY is one of the thorough and popular hotel men of Fulton county, being proprietor of the Hotel Beatty, at Lyons, and he is also a dealer in all kinds of agricultural implements and machinery, being one of the well-known and reliable business men of this part of the county. He was born in Chesterfield town- ship, Fulton county, on the 16th of June, 1850, and is a represen- tative of one of the pioneer families of the county. He is a son of Holoway H. and Elizabeth (Jefferson) Beatty, both of whom were born in Sussex county, N. J., the respective families having been established in America in the Colonial era. Holoway and Elizabeth Beatty came to Fulton county in 1845, passing the first three years in Royalton township and then removing to Chesterfield township, where the father purchased eighty acres of land, in Section 24,
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reclaiming the same from the wilds and eventually developing a good farm. There both he and his wife remained until death. He died in 1879, aged seventy-seven years, and she passed away in 1887, aged seventy-nine years. They became the parents of eight children, namely: Nancy, who is the wife of James Stutesman; Margaret, who is the wife of Henry Fisher; Sidney S., who is a resident of Morenci, Mich .; Julia, who is the wife of William Gates; Mahala, who is the wife of Isaac Davidson; Elizabeth, who is the wife of George Gorham, and George F., whose name initiates this sketch. The last named was the youngest of the family and was reared on the homestead farm, while he received such educational advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality. On attain- ing his majority he engaged in farming and dealing in live stock, in which he continued until 1900, being very successful in his opera- tions and becoming the owner of a fine farm property in Chester- field township. In the year mentioned he engaged in the hotel business in Lyons, and he has shown himself admirably fitted for the business, his house being most popular with the traveling public, which fact is the best voucher as to its being ably conducted. He purchased the hotel property in 1902, and he still owns his homestead farm, in Chesterfield township. In March, 1905, he engaged in the agricultural implement business, giving the same his personal super- vision and having the agency for a number of the leading manu- factories of implements and machinery, and he is securing a repre- sentative patronage in this department of his enterprise. In politics he is a Democrat, and he is affiliated with Royalton Union Lodge, No. 434, F. & A. M. In 1875 Mr. Beatty was united in marriage to Miss Emma Sellers, who was born and reared in Chesterfield township, being a daughter of John and Lavina (Sanford) Sellers. Of this union five children have been born; Holoway H. is at the hotel with his father; Johnston is in charge of the homestead farm; Ada, who became the wife of Warren Acker, is deceased; and Lizzie and Libbie are twins, the former being the wife of Eugene Tuckerman, and the latter the wife of Wilton Johnston.' William E. is at home in Lyons.
ARTHUR BEEBE, one of the representative young farmers of Chesterfield township, Denson being his postoffice address, was born on the old homestead farm, not far distant from his present resi- dence, on the 17th of November, 1884, being a son of David L. and Eunice E. (Butler) Beebe. He was reared on the home farm and continued his studies in the public schools of Denson for a period of ten years, after which he was a student in the high school at Morenci,, Mich., for one year. Since leaving school he has given his attention to systematic and successful farming, owning a fine landed estate of two hundred and sixteen acres, which he is man- aging with marked energy and discrimination, though he has but recently attained to his legal majority, in November, 1905. He is a Republican in his political proclivities, and in a fraternal way is identified with the lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America at
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Lyons. He is distinctively popular in the community which has represented his home from the time of birth and is a member of one of the prominent families of this section, a review of the career of his father being incorporated in the succeeding memoir, so that it is not demanded that the record be repeated in the present connec- tion. On Christmas day of the year 1904 Mr. Beebe was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Mead, who was born in Chesterfield town- ship, April 13, 1887, being a daughter of Oscar J. and Cora (San- ford) Mead, the former of whom was born in Fulton county, in 1859, and the latter in Michigan, in 1869, and they now reside on their homestead farm, one and one-half miles northwest of the vil- lage of Lyons, in Chesterfield township. Mr. and Mrs. Mead have five children, namely: Mabel, wife of Clarence Force, of Weston, Mich .; Ethel, wife of the subject of this sketch; and Myrtle, Lloyd, and Velma, remaining at the parental home.
DAVID L. BEEBE, one of the prominent farmers and extensive landholders of Chesterfield township, is a member of one of the influential pioneer families of Fulton county, which has been his home from the time of his nativity. He was born in Chesterfield township, June 20, 1853, and he was here reared and educated, being afforded the advantages of the common schools and growing up under the grateful discipline of the farm. February 19, 1874, Mr. Beebe was here married to Miss Eunice E. Butler, who was born in Chesterfield township, May 29, 1853, being a daughter of John S. and Lavina Butler, early settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Beebe have five children, namely: Roa H., who is the wife of Walter Fay, a successful young farmer of Chesterfield township; Arthur, who is individually mentioned on another page of this work; and Myrtie and Clara, who remain at the parental home. Mr. Beebe is the owner of three hundred and forty-four acres of valuable land, and in addition to his extensive agricultural operations he is also a large grower of and dealer in live stock of all kinds. In political matters his support is given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are valued members of the church. David L. Beebe is a son of Lyman L. and Hulda Beebe. The father was born in Bloomfield, Ontario county, N. Y., July 7, 1808, being a son of A. M. and Lucretia (Huntley) Beebe, both born in Con- necticut, while they passed the closing years of their lives in the State of New York. For his first wife Lyman L. Beebe married Miss Julia Clement, who was born in Ontario county, N. Y., a daughter of John and Esther (Niles) Clement, the former born in England and the latter in New York State. Mrs. Julia Beebe died on the 4th of September, 1849, her children having been as follows: Nel- son, born December 14, 1836, died February 22, 1855; Esther, born May 26, 1839, died September 13, 1849; and James W., born June 12, 1842, died December 6, 1849. In Fulton county, on the 12th of February, 1852, Lyman L. Beebe consummated a second marriage, being then united to Mrs. Hulda Lee, widow of David Lee and daughter of Peleg and Sarah (Hamlin) Standish, both of whom
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were born in Massachusetts, the latter's death occurring in 1821, while the former died in 1853. Mrs. Hulda Beebe had two children by her first marriage, Adaline, born November 27, 1842; and Peleg S., born November 27, 1845. Of the second marriage David L., sub- ject of this sketch, was the only child. Lyman L. Beebe was one of the early settlers of Fulton county, having here taken up his residence in 1840, and having purchased a tract of land in Ches- terfield township, where he developed a farm, also building the first steam saw-mill in the township and county, in 1844, and twelve years later he erected another mill, in Section 13, this township. Lyman Beebe died March 25, 1885.
LOUIS O. BENNER has been engaged in the jewelry business in Fayette for more than thirty years, is a veteran of the Civil war and is one of the well-known and highly-esteemed citizens of Fulton county. He was born in Low Hill township, Lehigh county, Pa., on the IIth of August, 1839, and is a son of Israel and Judith (Rupp) Benner, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, being representa- tives of pioneer families of the State and of stanch German lineage. The father taught school for more than thirty years, in Lehigh and Schuylkill counties, and was also a jeweler, being engaged in business for a long term of years. He was a man of much ability and of sterling character, commanding the esteem of all who knew him. In later life he devoted his entire time to watch-making, having been a skilled workman. He died in Kutztown, Berks county, Pa., in 1885, at the age of seventy-three years, having there been engaged in watch- making up to the time of his demise. His ancestors settled in the old Keystone state many years prior to the Revolution, in which a number of representatives of the family were patriot soldiers. Judith (Rupp) Benner was born in Low Hill township, Lehigh county, Pa., and she died in 1904, at the very advanced age of ninety-one years, and her remains rest beside those of her husband, in the cemetery at Kutz- town, Pa. Louis O. Benner secured his early education in the com- mon schools of Schuylkill county, Pa., and supplemented this dis- cipline by attending night school, and he had the further advantage afforded by a cultured and refined home. He was the first in order of birth in a family of ten children, of whom two died in early childhood. Elias F. is a resident of Rome City, Ind .; Rose is the wife of John Saunders, of Reading, Pa .; Samuel is a watch-maker and resides in Kutztown, Pa .; Louis O. is the immediate subject of this review ; Eliza resides in Kutztown, Pa., and the others of the family are deceased. As a boy Louis O. Benner worked with his father at the jeweler's trade, he learned the silversmith and engraving trade under the direction of a skilled engraver employed by his father, and he also became proficient in the chemical part of goldsmithing,- including plating, and is thus a master of all details of the watch-making and jewelry business, being known as one of the most expert workmen in this section of Ohio. In 1859 he came to Ohio and located in Wadsworth, Medina county, where he was engaged in the watch-making business at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. September 14, 1861, at Cleve-
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land, he enlisted as a private in Company G, Second Ohio volunteer infantry, proceeding with his command to St. Louis, Mo., and being thence ordered to Fort Scott, Kan., the regiment being identified with the operations in Northwestern Missouri and Southern Kansas, taking part in several fights with the Indians and with the Confederate guerillas and border outlaws, and continuing in service until he was attacked with fever, which rendered him unfit for further duty, so that he was honorably discharged in 1863, on account of physical disability. He then returned to the parental home in Kutztown, Pa., where he was associated with his father in business for one year. In 1865 he came to Fayette, Ohio, and established himself in the jewelry busi- ness, in which he has ever since been engaged, being thus one of the pioneer business men of the town, and he has a well equipped and appointed establishment and commands a representative patronage, do- ing a general manufacturing and watch-making business, including repair work, and he also has an excellent optical department, having learned this branch of the business under the instruction of his father and making a specialty of the same. He is an excellent musician, having much talent in the manipulation of brass, reed and stringed instruments and taking much interest in the art. He is a Republican in politics and is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. In 1866 Mr. Benner was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Jane Ely, who was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., being a daugh- ter of Caleb Ely, who came to Fulton county in the pioneer days, set- tling in Franklin township, where he became a successful farmer. Both he and his wife are deceased, and their remains are.interred in the cemetery at Montpelier, Williams county. Mr. and Mrs. Benner have five children : Minnie is the wife of Charles Lewis, of Paulding, Ohio; Cora is the wife of Frank Fish, who is engaged in the clothing business in Fayette; Orilla is the wife of Frank Roberts, of North Adams, Mich .; and Zoe remains at the parental home.
CHARLES E. BENNETT, M. D., a prominent and highly suc- cessful physician of Wauseon, was born in Evansport, Defiance county, of that State, March 1,' 1856. He is the son of Dr. J. H. and Triphena R. (Denman) Bennett, both natives of New York State. His grandfather, Joseph Bennett, was a native of Bennington, Vt., whose father, a Scotchman by birth, was a Revolutionary hero from the Green Mountain State. The family came to New England in early Colonial times and became thoroughly identified with the stirring events of the Revolutionary period. The subject of this sketch is also connected with the struggle for American Independ- ence through his paternal grandmother, who was Miss Lucinda Bonney, of French birth, and whose father was a New Jersey soldier in the Continental Army. Dr. J. H. Bennett was born in Genesee county, N. Y., in 1824, and graduated from Starling Medical college of Columbus, O. In 1849 he located at Evansport for the practice of his profession, and there established an enviable reputation as a skillful physician and surgeon, attaining to a high degree of prominence as a public man. He served as coroner of the
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county by appointment of the Governor and filled various other professional offices with honor to himself and with satisfaction to his constituents. In October, 1863, Dr. J. H. Bennett moved to Wauseon and for many years maintained high rank in the medical fraternity of Fulton county. He continued in active practice until about ten years before his death, in March, 1904. His wife, who died at the age of thirty-six, was the daughter of Israel and Eliza- beth (Hardenberg) Denman. Israel Denman was born in Tomp- kins county, N. Y., and from there removed to Defiance county, O., being one of the earliest settlers of Tiffin township, when Toledo was a small trading post on the shore of the lake. He died in Wauseon in 1895, at the ripe age of eighty-seven years. Dr. Charles E. Bennett is the only memeber of his family living in Fulton county, having lived in Wauseon since his seventh year. He received a liberal education in his youth, and at an early age decided upon medicine as his life profession, having been led to this decision by his father's devotion to the profession and his unusual success in it. In 1876 he graduated from the Detroit Medical college and at once engaged in practice at Wauseon, being associated for some years with his father. In a short time he succeeded in establishing a large and lucrative practice, which has continued to grow with passing years. The doctor has also held prominent official positions of a professional nature, being surgeon of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern and the Detroit Southern railway companies for many years. In 1878 he was elected county coroner and re-elected in 1880, thus serving four years in that official capacity. He has always been devoted to his profession and has never sought official honors of a strictly political nature. The tongue of public_repute places him safely at the head of the medical profession in Fulton county. In keeping abreast of his high calling he has for many years affiliated with the leading medical societies of the county, State and nation, and surrounded himself with the current literature of the times. In recent years he has been associated with Dr. Jay H. Miller, a talented and successful physician, whose connection with the firm lightens the burden of professional life during the rigors of encroaching. 'years. Politically Dr. Bennett has always affiliated with the Repub- lican party and has manifested a deep interest in the supremacy of its principles. Of the social fraternities he is a Mason of exalted rank and high standing in the counsels of this time-honored fra- ternity; he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and has been honored with important positions in connection with each. In religious affiliations the family attend the services of the Congrega- tional church, of which Mrs. Bennett is a zealous member. Dr. Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Celia, the daughter of Joel Brigham, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work. She is also closely related to the late Col. J. H. Brigham, whose life history is an integral part of Fulton county's historical annals. The sketch of this distinguished man also appears elsewhere in this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Bennett have a son and a daughter, the elder of whom is Walter, a student at Howe Military school at
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Lima, Ind., and Florence H., a student in the Wauseon public schools. The names of the Doctors Bennett, father and son, have been house- hold words in Wauseon and vicinity for considerably more than forty years, and the good they have rendered to suffering humanity is incalculable. The venerable father traversed the country in the early days, in all kinds of weather, and over almost impass- able roads, and who can say that the pioneer physicians endured the hardships and perils of those days for the few paltry dollars which their nightly vigils brought to their pockets? True, that was a consideration, but the relief of human suffering was vastly greater, since many of the early physicians, and Dr. J. H. Bennett among them, often performed this philanthropic service without the thought of remuneration. This was notably true during the Civil war while the "boys" were at the front and their dependent ones at home. For many years the practice of Dr. J. H. Bennett was bounded only by his powers of endurance, and no other physician in this section of the state was more widely or favorably known. He was the first surgeon appointed for the territory west of Toledo, for the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway, and officiated in that capacity during most of the years that he remained in practice. He was well known in high official circles and counted as personal friends some of the Nation's leaders.
CHANCEY BERKEBILE, assistant superintendent and foreman of the A. D. Baker Manufacturing company of Swanton, is a native of Spencer township, Lucas county, where he was born on a farm three miles northeast of Swanton, on January 31, 1871. . He is the son of Levan J. and Mary (Farner) Berkebile, both natives of Penn- sylvania, who settled in Northwestern Ohio in pioneer days. Levan J. Berkebile was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools. He is both farmer and mechanic by occupation. At present he and wife are residents of Swanton. Chancey Berkebile was reared and educated principally in Spencer township. On March 1, 1895, he entered upon an apprenticeship to the machinists' trade with his present employers. As a master iron-worker he has become so proficient, that, notwithstanding his youth, he has been promoted to his present responsible and lucrative position. During the four years he has had charge of the shops the business has grown very rapidly, until it is no longer limited even to the county. His skill as a workman and his ability to direct those under him have been largely instrumental in bringing about this satisfactory state of affairs. Mr. Berkebile is a Republican in politics and holds member- ship in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Wood- men of America and the Knights of Pythias organizations. On August 8, 1893, he was wedded to Miss Laura Salsbery, a native of Lucas county and the daughter of William and Alice (Barnes) Salsbery, now residents of Toledo, O. To these parents there have been born two daughters. Fern was born April 28, 1898, and died April 6, 1899. The younger daughter is Levern, born April 15, 1900.
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JACOB T. BIDDLE. who was an honored pioneer of Fulton county, was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1801, and was there reared to manhood, receiving such educational advan- tages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. Upon coming to Ohio he first settled in Wayne county, where he maintained his home about a quarter of a century, after which he passed about five years in Knox county and two years in Richland county, whence he came to Fulton county in the year 1855. A few years later he removed to Missouri, in 1869, but in about seven years later he returned to Fulton county, where he again established his home, but he died soon afterward while visiting his former home in Knox county. He devoted his entire active career to agricultural pursuits, and was especially fond of fine horses, a predilection mani- fested in the entire family. Mr. Biddle was twice married, first to Mary Hay, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1799, and who died about two years after her marriage, the only child dying in infancy. Mr. Biddle later married Miss Sarah Duncan, who likewise was born and reared in the old Keystone state, and of the eight children of this union the following is a brief record: Rachel is deceased ; Joanna is the wife of John Wineland, of'Knox county, Ohio; George D. is individually mentioned later on in this article; Jacob is a resident of Goshen, Indiana; Mary Jane is deceased and Andrew died in Missouri; James is a resident of Wauseon, this county, and Daniel of Delta. George D. Biddle, eldest son of Jacob T. and Sarah (Duncan) Biddle, was born in Salt Creek township, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 3d of November, 1830, and his educational advantages were limited to the somewhat primitive schools of the pioneer days. His vocation throughout life has been farming, and he has also dealt somewhat extensively in horses. He has been a resident of York township since 1855, and he has occupied his pres- ent residence since 1859. He has a well-improved farm of fifty-five acres and is one of the popular citizens of the township, having served two years as township trustee, and his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. In Richland county, Ohio, on the 13th of October, 1852, Mr. Biddle was united in marriage to Miss Julia Ann Aungst, whose death occurred March 26, 1895. They became the parents of three children, namely: Samuel A., who is individually mentioned in this work; Stillman, who is a successful farmer of York township; and Nora who is the wife of Edward W. Ruppert, of this township.
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