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 39
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ALBERT DOWELL stands as a worthy representative of one of the prominent pioneer families of Fulton county, being a son of William Dowell, who recently died on his old homestead, in Fulton township, and who is made the subject of a special tribute of honor on a succeed- ing page of this work, so that reference may be made to the article in question for data as to the family history. Albert Dowell is the owner of a fine farm and is also a skilled mechanic, with marked inventive genius, as will be noted further on in this context. He was born on the old homestead farm, on a portion of which he now resides, on the 26th of September, 1853, and there passed his youthful days, being afforded the advantages of the local schools, while he early manifested distinctive mechanical talent, as had also his father before him. He is a skilled artisan in both wood and metals, and he erected his own house and barn, which are models of convenience and adaptability to the purposes for which they were built. His barn was erected in 1899, is thirty-four by forty-two feet in dimensions, and has a self-supporting roof. The attractive residence was built in the same year and has many conveniences and accessories which show the ability of Mr. Dowell in a mechanical way, as well as his appreciation of the higher artistic values. He has always been an indefatigable worker, and has so overtaxed his physical powers in past years that his strength is grievous- ly impaired, though he is in the very prime of life. He remained at the parental home until his marriage, in 1893, save for such intervals as he devoted to work as a machinist and general engineer, having been employed at railroad work for several years, and he also owned and operated a steam threshing outfit for some time. For the past twenty years Mr. Dowell has been working earnestly to perfect an in- vention which partially suggests perpetual motion and which is a greater conservator of power. After years of patient thought, study and experimentation he has finally perfected to his satisfaction an ap- pliance radically different from all existing types of motors, the prin- ciple involved being brought to practical work in such a way as to re- quire in the operation of the motor only one-thirtieth the power, while the other twenty-nine thirtieths are made available for the operation of machinery. It is his intention to bring his wonderful device into practical use as soon as possible. Mr. Dowell is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, in whose faith he was reared, and while he has never held or desired office he has never failed in public spirit and loyalty to all the duties of citizenship. He remained on the old home- stead until the death of his loved mother, whom he considered a type of perfect womanhood and whose memory he reveres with all of filial appreciation. He was married in 1893 and has since given his atten- tion to the improvement and cultivation of his farm, which comprises eighty acres. He and his wife lived in a nearby tenant-house until 1899, when he erected his house and barn, as has already been noted, and he has since beautified his house and grounds in every possible way, setting out a good orchard and making other excellent improve- ments of a permanent order on his farm. April 30, 1893, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Dowell to Miss Delilah Habel, who was
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born in Fulton township, September 25, 1869, being a daughter of Peter and Anna Elizabeth (Shuck) Habel, both of whom were born in Germany, and they passed the closing years of their lives in Fulton county, where they were pioneers. Of their children it may be recorded that Margaret, wife of Daniel Mohr, died in middle life; Jacob died in Fulton township, aged fifty-four years; Lena is the wife of Christ Ottgen, of Amboy township; Caroline is the wife of Sylvester Munson and they reside near Swanton; Mary is the wife of Owen Dowell, of Lytton, this county, her husband being a brother of the subject of this sketch; George is a farmer near the village of Ai; John resides on the old homestead farm ; Peter is a gardener near Toledo; and Samuel is a farmer near Delta, this county, and Delilah, the youngest, is the wife of him whose name initiates this article. Mr. and Mrs. Dowell became the parents of four children, one of whom died in infancy, and those living are Lona, Naman and Lorena.
MARION DOWELL, one of the representative farmers of Fulton township, where he has lived from the time of his nativity, is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of the county, being a son of William Dowell, concerning whom detailed mention is made in the review that follows this one, so that further reference to the family history is not re- quired in the present connection. Marion Dowell was born on the old pio- neer homestead, in Fulton township, on the 24th of April, 1857, early be- gan to assist in the work of the farm, and he secured his educational training in the public schools of the locality, fitting himself for the proper handling of business affairs through good, practical discipline, both at home and in school. He continued to be associated in the operation of the home place until his marriage in 1886, when he took up his resi- dence in the village of Ai, where he remained three years, still contin- uing to be engaged in agricultural pursuits. The ensuing three years he passed on a farm near his birthplace, and he then, in 1892, located upon his present farm, which embraces eighty acres of excellent land, of which all but ten acres is available for cultivation, being highly pro- ductive and devoted to diversified farming, which Mr. Dowell makes profitable, having ample experience and being endowed with indomit- able energy and good business acumen. He also gives special attention to the raising of sheep, breeding the full-blood Shropshire type and having a fine herd of the same. He sells many sheep for. breeding pur- poses and is an adept in this department of his farm enterprise. He also raises hogs for market, as well as horses, and in the breeding of cattle he keeps up a good herd of milch cows, whose product he sells principally at the cheese factory in Swanton. In his political proclivi- ties Mr. Dowell is a stanch Democrat, and he takes a loyal interest in all local affairs of public import. He is a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 528, I. O. O. F., and Fulton Encampment, No. 197, of the same order, at Delta, being past grand in the subordinate lodge and Past Chief Patriarch in the Encampment. Both he and his wife are valued mem- bers of Berry Grange, No. 1111, at Ai, and Mrs. Dowell is the only woman who has ever been honored with the office of worthy master of a Grange in Fulton county. She is at the present time the head
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officer in Fern lodge, No. 543, Daughters of Rebekah, at Swanton. She is a devoted member of the Baptist church, taking an active part in religious work and being most popular in the best social life of the community. Mr. Dowell has marked natural talent as a musician, and his children all inherit this graceful gift. He was a member of the Ai cornet band for a long period, and for twelve years was its leader, and he is also a good vocalist. The pleasant family home is one in which the refined amenities are ever in evidence and it is a center of a most gracious hospitality. October 13, 1886, Mr. Dowell was united in mar- riage to Miss Nina Odell, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Wick- ham) Odell, concerning whom detailed mention is made in the sketch dedicated to their son, Dr. Samuel Odell, on another page of this work. Mrs. Dowell was born in Huron county, Ohio, on the 17th of January, 1865, and there her marriage was solemnized. She completed her edu- cational discipline in the Western Reserve Normal School, at Miland, O., and was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Huron county for three years, prior to her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Dowell have been born four children, all of whom are living except one. Mahlon Ellsworth was born August 28, 1887; Loyd R. was born July 18, 1890; Clayton E. was born July 27, 1893, and died on the 2Ist of October of the following year; and Herma H: was born April 26, 1897.
WILLIAM DOWELL, deceased, was one of the well-known pio- neer citizens of Fulton county, was a native son of the Buckeye State, and resided on the homestead, in Fulton township for more than sixty years, commanding at all times the esteem of the community and ever playing the part of a loyal and public-spirited citizen. Mr. Dowell was born in Ripley township, Holmes county, Ohio, on the 9th of Feb- ruary, 1821, and was a son of John W. and Sarah (Wells) Dowell, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and the latter in Maryland. John W. Dowell was a member of one of the prominent pioneer families of Kentucky, and was a valiant soldier in the War of 1812. He passed the closing years of his life in Indiana, and his wife was a resident of Fulton county, Ohio, at the time of her demise, both reaching advanced age. They became the parents of twelve children, only one of whom is living, James, who is a resident of Michigan. William Dowell was reared to manhood in Ohio and received such educational advantages as were afforded in the schools of the early pioneer epoch. As agent for a fur-trading company he had several times visited Fulton county. prior to 1844, in which year he took up his permanent residence here, purchasing a portion of the old homestead, which was on the "disputed strip," claimed by both Ohio and Michigan, and the matter of a very bitter controversy between the two States, the contest even calling out an armed conflict along the border. In the earlier years his principal source of income was hunting and trapping, and from the sale of his furs and game he was enabled to pay for his eighty acres of wild land within the first year of his residence here. In following his hunt- ing dogs through this section he often waded in water to the depth of his waist, and he was seldom less than knee-deep in water during his
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excursions of this sort, the entire locality being practically a swamp, with gigantic forest trees and tangled undergrowth. He was among the first in the county to engage in ditching for the purpose of making the land available for cultivation, and after a few years the settlers began to utilize lateral ditches and underground tiling for the same purpose. North of his present home, and partially surrounding it, was a lake of more than two hundred acres in area, and the same has now entirely disappeared through effective drainage, and the land, as well as much other land which seemed the most undesirable, is now among the most fertile sections of the county and State, yielding rich returns for the arduous and protracted labors put forth in its reclamation. Mr. Dowell was practically without any financial resources of a tangible sort at the time when he thus sought a home in the wilderness of Fulton county, and here he literally "worked out his own salvation," and his contri- bution to the general development and progress in material and civic affairs was a generous and commendable one. For some time he was even unable to purchase a gun, and his hunting was done with the aid of his faithful dog, by the utilization of traps, dead-falls, and other primitive devices of the pioneer in woodcraft. Finally he traded a three-year-old steer and paid in addition ten dollars for a very ordinary gun, which he used for some time, but he was not satisfied with the weapon, and this led to his bringing his natural ingenuity and me- chanical genius into play in the personal construction of a gun ac- cording to his own ideas, the result being a fine double-barreled rifle carrying an ounce ball. With this fire-arm he did valiant execution in traversing the wilds in search of game, and the gun is still in the fam- ily. The making of this gun led Mr. Dowell to exercise his mechani- cal skill in other directions, and without serving an apprenticeship in any trade, he became an expert workman in both wood and iron. He has made many guns in his day, and for years did general repair work for others, in various mechanical lines. He also erected his own house and barns and his versatility with tools was practically unlimited. His shop was a veritable curiosity, being well-equiped with lathes, tools and other useful devices of his own manufacture. He was engaged in the general merchandise business at Ai for four years, and aside from this his life in Fulton county was passed on his old homestead farm, which comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and he also owned an- other farm, of eighty acres, near Swanton. On the home farm twenty- two acres are still covered with fine native timber. The burden of constructing gravel roads has been onerous, the cost being assessed against the farmers at an average of fully a dollar an acre, but the re- sults justify the expenditure, and in this work, as in other public en- terprises, Mr. Dowell lent a ready co-operation. He was always an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and for fifteen years he served as constable in his township, and for more than forty years he was a valued school officer. March 28, 1847, Mr. Dowell was united in marriage to Miss Caroline A. Warner, who was born February 20, 1827, and who died January 31, 1890, having been a faithful wife and helpmeet. Their children were: Oliver, who was born February 2, 1848, and who died on the 26th of the following
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month; Emily, born March 15, 1849; Owen, born April 27, 1850; Olive, born September 22, 1851 ; and Albert and Marion, who are in- dividually mentioned on the preceding pages of this work. Olive be- came the wife of John Shepler, and her death occurred August 29, 1882. On October 3, 1905, Mr. Dowell passed away on the old home- stead, beloved by all who knew him.
PETER DRUM, proprietor of the Broadway meat market of Swan- ton, was born in Williams county, O., June 6, 1874. He is the son of John and Rachel (Dunlap) Drum, both natives of Pennsylvania, who removed to Northwestern Ohio in 1865 and located on a farm in Wil- liams county, where they now reside, engaged in general farming. They are the parents of the following children; the eldest died in in- fancy ; Allen E., a retail liquor dealer of Montpelier; Cassie, the wife of James Wilson of Jonesville, Mich .; Ellen, who died in young wom- anhood on December 24, 1903; Peter ; Cora M., the wife of Ora Moore of West Unity, O .; Stella May and Bertha, both still at home. Peter Drum grew to manhood on the home farm and received such an educa- tion as the public schools of his day afforded. At the age of twenty- two years he quit the farm and engaged in buying produce for the firm of Miller, Bond & Hilton, of West Union, remaining in their em- ploy for three years. In 1898 he came to Swanton and for a year and a half operated a dray line. His next venture was in the livery busi- ness, which he conducted successfully for a year and then sold at a lib- eral profit on his investment. For the next four years he was engaged in the restaurant and retail liquor business. Early in 1905 he bought the meat market which he is now conducting with marked success. The fact that he owns one of the best equipped establishments in his line in the county is due to his close attention to business and his thorough knowledge of stock-raising. In this business he keeps two skilled work- men constantly employed. He is identified with the organizations of the Foresters and the Odd Fellows. In his political views he is quite liberal, usually supporting the national candidate of the Democratic party, but independent in local elections. On January 23, 1896, he chose as his helpmeet in life's journey Miss Nora Juillard, of Stryker, O., the daughter of Louis and Margaret (Pruden) Juillard, both nat- ives of France, the former deceased at the age of forty-five years. To Peter Drum and wife one son has been born, named Harold J., who died August 13, 1901, aged four years and twenty-one days.
ALBERT EDGAR is another of the successful and popular farmers of Royalton township who is deserving of specific representation in this historical work. He was born in Royalton township, September 28, 1869, and is a son of William S. and Susannah ( Pontious) Edgar, the former of whom was born in county Armagh, Ireland, and the latter in Pike county, Ohio. William S. Edgar is a son of Samuel and Mary (Parks) Edgar, who came from Ireland to America in 1857, settling in Henry county, Ohio, where the latter died. Her husband later re- moved to Ingham county, Michigan, where he passed the remainder of his life. Daniel and Elizabeth (Leist) Pontious, the maternal grand- -
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parents of the subject of this sketch, were of stanch Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and were pioneers of both Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio, in which latter both were residents at the time of death, the former pass- ing away at the age of eighty-three and his wife at the age of eighty- one. William S. Edgar was born in county Armagh, Ireland, on the Ioth of July, 1833, and came to America in 1854, about three years earlier than did his parents. He took up his residence in Henry coun- ty, Ohio, where he was employed in a saw-mill for the ensuing three years, after which he there engaged in farming, on the bottom-lands of the Maumee river. In 1864 he came to Fulton county and located in Clinton township, where he remained until 1868, when he purchased a farm in Royalton township, becoming one of the representative farm- ers of this section and continuing to reside on the homestead until the autumn of 1904, when he and his devoted wife removed to the village of Delta, where he is now living retired. His children are five in number, namely: William R., Alva, Elmer, Albert and George. Al- bert Edgar, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to man- hood on the old homestead farm, and has passed his entire life thus far in Royalton township, in whose public schools he secured his edu- cational discipline. He is now the owner of a fine farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres, improved with good buildings and maintained under a high state of cultivation, while forty acres of his land is a part of the old homestead on which his father settled in 1868. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he is a loyal and public-spirited citizen, being at the present time a member of the board of education in his township. He and his wife hold membership in the Christian church at Lyons and they enjoy marked popularity in the social life of their home community. September 21, 1893, Mr. Edgar was united in mar- riage to Miss Mamie E. Mann, daughter of Charles and Mary (Hinkle) Mann, of Royalton township, and they have one daughter, Ila May, Mable Irene, the oldest child, being deceased.
ELMER EDGAR .- It is gratifying to note the large number of representative farmers of Fulton county who are of the second genera- tion of their families in this section, many being native of the county, and who have found it expedient and satisfactory to follow the voca- tion to which they were reared, thus aiding in upholding the prestige of agriculture in this section, carrying forward the work inaugurated under so vastly different conditions by those who were the pioneers of the county. An able representative of this class of farmers is Elmer Edgar, whose well-improved landed estate is located in Royalton township. He was born in Clinton township, this county, December 9, 1866, being a son of William S. and Susannah (Pontious) Edgar, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Pike county, Ohio. The paternal grandparents, Samuel and Mary (Parks) Edgar, immigrated from county Armagh, Ireland, to America, in 1857, settling in Henry county, Ohio, where the latter died. Her husband, who had been there engaged in farming, soon afterward removed to Ingham county, Michigan, being a pioneer farmer of that section, where he passed the remainder of his life. They became the parents of ten children, name-
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ly: Susannah, Robert, Lucinda, Mary J., Joseph, William S., George, John, Hugh, and Margaret. The maternal grandparents of Elmer Edgar were Daniel and Elizabeth (Leist) Pontious, who were born in Ohio, and of Pennsylvania German parentage, the families having been pioneers of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio. Daniel Pontious died in Royalton township, Fulton county, at the age of eighty-three years, and his wife died in Clinton township, aged eighty-one years. William S. Edgar was born in county Armagh, Ireland, July 10, 1833, and was there reared and educated. In 1854 he came to America, settling in Henry county, Ohio, where he was employed in a saw-mill for the en- suing three years, after which he there engaged in farming in the bottom-lands of the Maumee river. In 1864 he came to Fulton county and located on a farm in Clinton township, and in 1868 he removed to Royalton township, where he became a prosperous farmer and influen- tial citizen, accumulating nearly five hundred acres of land. He re- sided on his homestead farm until 1904, when he removed to the village of Delta, where he has since lived retired. He is a Democrat in poli- tics, and both he and his wife attend the Presbyterian church. They have five sons : William R., Alva, Elmer, Albert and George, all of whom are well established in life and proving worthy of the honored name which they bear. Elmer Edgar has been a resident of Royalton township since he was two years of age, and has always been identi- fied with agricultural purusits, and he received his early education in the public schools of his native county. He now owns and operates the old homestead farm, which comprises two hundred acres, and is one of the wide-awake, enterprising and successful farmers and stock-raisers of the county. He is a stalwart adherent of the Republican party and is serving as one of the trustees of Royalton township, and he has also served in other local offices of public trust. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Christian church. December 25, 1901, in fitting observance of the gladsome spirit of the Christmastide, Mr. Edgar was united in marriage to Miss Emma J. Smellie, daughter of Gavin and Julia (Whittaker) Smellie, of Dover township, and they have a fine little son, Doyle S. The parents of Mrs. Elmer Edgar are of Scotch de- scent.
BERT C. ELDREDGE, a veterinary surgeon of Swanton, born in the village of Tedrow, Fulton county, O., on October 19, 1870, is a descendant of early New England pioneers, the maternal line being descended from Perigene White, the first white child born in Plymouth colony. Dr. Eldredge's great grand-father, Thomas Eldredge, re- moved from the State of New York to Stark county, O., about the year 1809, and was drafted from that county to serve as a soldier in the War of 1812. He died in Illinois and his wife in Stark county. Stephen Eldredge, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Stark county on December 19, 1824, and he still resides in Fulton county, at the ripe old age of eighty years, enoying good health and quite active in choring and attending to his home interests. Bert C. Eldredge is the son of William A. and Eva (Clark) Eldredge, the
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former a native of Wood county, O., and the latter of Kalamazoo, Mich. They were married in Fulton county on September 2, 1869, and the wife died July 21, 1875. Bert C. is the only child born to this union. The maiden name of William A. Eldredge's second wife was Hattie Evans. To these parents, both still living, there have been born four children. They are: Orville A., a machinist of Swanton ; George Otis, Lura B. and Lela. The family has resided on the home- stead farm adjoining Tedrow for about thirty years. Bert C. Eldredge grew to manhood on the homestead and received his education by at- tending the Tedrow public schools and the Fayette, O., Normal, gradu- ating from the commercial department of the latter institution. In the fall of 1900 he entered the Ontario Veterinary college at Toronto, Canada, and graduated on March 28, 1902. In May following he came to Swanton, where he has since practiced his profession with gratify- ing success, ranking high in his profession and enjoying the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens. In politics he is a Republican, as were his ancestors since the birth of that party. On December 24, 1894, he was married to Miss Mildred M. Somers, a daughter of Martin and Ellen (Fitzsimmons) Somers of Dover township, Fulton county. Martin Somers served as a soldier during the Civil war and died of cliseases resultant from army life on June 19, 1903. His widow sur- vives him and still resides on the homestead. To these parents three children were born. They are: Orrin E., a farmer; Mildred M., now Mrs. Eldredge, and Belva M., now Mrs. Porter, whose husband operates the homestead. To Dr. Eldredge and wife there was born on September 19, 1904, a daughter, little Eva Ellen.
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