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 56
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the same room. The automatic cut-off is a wonderful piece of ma- chinery, doing its own work and cutting off the tile perfectly and regularly. The machinery conducts the clay from the man who feeds the crusher to the man who sets it on the wheel-barrow, a per- fect green tile, without any help from human hands. The daily output of the plant is ten thousand three-inch tile, and. the plant is kept in operation usually from April until October. The kilns used are of the Stewart patent, while soft coal is used as fuel. Each of the two kilns has a capacity of twenty-five thousand three-inch tile, and it requires from thirty-six to forty hours to burn each kiln. In . each of the seasons of 1904 and 1905 thirty-seven kilns were burned, and the average amount of tile in stock is about 500,000, ranging in diameter from three to twelve inches. Mr. McKimmy has never yet shipped any brick or tile from his plant, the farmers in the sur- rounding country using the entire output. He employs a corps of ten men during the season of manufacturing, and keeps one man in the yards during the winter season. In 1897 he built a reservoir, 95x300 feet, and this furnishes an adequate supply of water at all times, while in the winter it yields ice not only for the ice-house in the yard, a building 24x50 feet, but supplies many of the farmers in the locality. From the local ice-house also many families are sup- plied in the summer season. Mr. McKimmy was but twenty-four years of age when he started for himself in the brick and tile busi- ness, but by his energy and integrity he has built up an enterprise that is not only of great benefit to himself but also to the farmers of this section." In his political allegiance Mr. McKimmy is a stanch Republican, and in a fraternal way he is identified with Sanders Tent, No. 421, Knights of the Maccabees, in Metamora. January 1, 1893, he was married to Miss Agnes Boyce, daughter of Stephen and Mary (Dumeresq) .Boyce, of Delta, this county, and four children have been born of this union-Ora L., Lester I., Ellis L. and Iva M., the last-named being deceased.
HAULCEY MANN, a prominent and successful farmer of Wau- seon, is the son of Francis Price and Mary Elizabeth (Lyon) Mann, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of New Jersey. His grandfather, Charles Mann, who was a pioneer settler of Knox county, O., came to that county from New York. He married Miss DeWitt, a native of Knox county. As far as the subject of this sketch knows Charles Mann had no brothers or sisters. Francis Price Mann, born near Mt. Vernon, Knox county, in 1815, came to Wil- liams county, O., from Morrow county, same State, in 1857. In 1862 he removed to Franklin township, Fulton county, where he bought a farm and lived on it for several years. Then he removed to Morenci, Lenawee county, Mich., where he died in 1882, aged sixty-seven years. His wife was born in Essex county, N. J., January 11, 1822. Hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three years, she enjoys the best of health and makes her home with the subject of this sketch. She is the daughter of Haulcey and Harriet (Rose) Lyon, and the grand- daughter of Samuel Lyon. The following are the children of Francis
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Price. Mann and wife: Francis Lyon Mann, of Lenawee county, Mich .; Charles Mann (deceased), who died in Royalton township, Fulton county; Haulcey Mann, the subject of this sketch, and John Borough Mann of Lenawee county, Mich. Haulcey Mann, reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of his home county, chose farming as his occupation. He first farmed in Franklin town- ship and then removed to Dover township, where he bought a farm. Selling this place he bought a farm in Clinton township, Fulton county, which for the past thirteen years he has owned and suc- cessfully operated. His farm is in a high state of cultivation and is rated as one of the best in the county. Having been reared on a farm and carefully trained for that work it is no wonder that he is now one of the most prosperous farmers in that section of the State. He married Miss Mary Ann Dennis, daughter of John and Nancy (Dodd) Dennis, both deceased, who came to Fulton county from Delaware county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis are: Wil- liam Dennis, of Clinton township; Charles Dennis, of Franklin town- ship; Alfred Dennis, of Dover township; Mary Ann, the wife of the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. Susan Hittle (deceased).
LUTHER GILBERT MARSH, a farmer and Civil war veteran "of Swanton, was born in what is now Swan Creek township, Fulton county, then Lucas county, December 14, 1841. His father, Richard Marsh, was born in Rochester, N. Y., on September 10, 1810, and came in young manhood to Maumee, Lucas county, O., where he married Miss Sarah Barnes, also a native of New York State, who came to Maumee with her parents when quite a child. Richard Marsh was a carpenter and joiner by trade and worked for some years at the Maumee ship-yards. In an early day in the history of this locality he located on a farm and walked to and from his work at Maumee, a distance of twelve miles. This land is now within the corporate limits of Swanton. He enlisted as a private in Company I of the Thirty-Eighth Ohio volunteer infantry and served for more than two years, notwithstanding he was past the age of compulsory military service. The Thirty-eighth Ohio was organized at Defiance, on September 10, 1861, under the command of Colonel Barber, and it was re-organized as a veteran regiment at Chattanooga, Tenn., De- cember 26, 1863. Mr. Marsh's company was once commanded by Gen. M. R. Brailey, whose life sketch appears elsewhere in this work. On his return from the war Mr. Marsh was appointed postmaster of Swanton and served in that capacity for a number of years. Subse- quently he was elected justice of the peace. On November 20, 1880, he passed away at his home in Swanton and was survived by his widow, who was born November 9, 1818, and died February 10, 1897. They had a family of the following children: Velina Louisa, who was born May 12, 1837, and died October 19, 1871; William Henry Harrison, born July 16, 1840, and died October 5, 1892; Luther Gil- bert, subject of this sketch, who was born December 14, 1841; Julia Maria, born February 19, 1844, and died March 29, 1846; Calvin Chandler, who was born February 19, 1847, and died October 20,
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1874; Frederick Alonzo, born July 14, 1853, died April 7, 1875; Wil- lard Arthur, born November 20, 1855, died September 29, 1857; Charles Edgar, a painter of Swanton, born February 2, 1858. Luther G. Marsh grew to manhood on the parental farm, receiving 'a com- mon school education. On September 13, 1861, when less than twenty years old, he enlisted in the same company to which his father belonged and experienced a very active military career until he was mustered out of service on September 13, 1864. His com- mand served in the Army of the Cumberland under Generals Rose- crans and Sherman and participated in the following engagements: Battle of Wildcat, Ky., Mill Spring Campaign, Siege of Corinth, Miss., Perrysville, Ky., both battles of Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Tenn., Mission Ridge, Tenn., Resaca, Ga., Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., Atlanta Campaign, Jonesboro, Ga., Campaign of Georgia, Siege of Savan- nah, Campaign of the Carolinas, Battle of Raleigh. Mr. Marsh did not re-enlist because of his disabilities that disqualified him for fur- ther military service. On his return to Swanton he took up carpen- tering and farming, and he has since followed this occupation as far as his health would permit. He owns the old parental homestead at Swanton, having acquired it partly by inheritance and partly by pur- chase. Under his management the farm has been made very produc- tive, being fully equipped with all the necessary buildings. He is an enthusiastic member of the Republican party; of Quiggle Post, Grand Army of the Republic; of Swanton Lodge, No. 528, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and with his wife and his daughters, is iden- tified with the Methodist Episcopal church. On January 19, 1873, he was wedded to Miss Josephine M. Hood, born in Hartland, Huron county, Ohio, and the daughter of Horace and Maria Lois (Lee) Hood. Horace Hood was born in New York State on October 13, 1815, and died October 2, 1855. His widow, who was born March 6, 1822, survived him until February 14, 1886. Of the eight children born to these parents five are still living. The names follow: Morti- mer L., born May 10, 11843; Mable L., born April 6, 1845; Alice J., born August 11, 1846; Emily M., born November 24, 1847; Andrew E., born May 10, 1849; Horace E:, born November 24, 1851; Henry L., born September 26, 1854; and Josephine M., born August 1I, 1855. To Luther G. Marsh and wife there have been born three children, as follows: Bertha Viola, born Nov. 16, 1875, the wife of George Paschen of Swanton; Vida Belle, born June 27, 1879, now Mrs. Claude Babcock of Swanton; and Beulah Lenore, born Feb- ruary 1, 1892. The names of the five grand-children, all the children of Mr. and Mrs. Paschen, are Arnold Gilbert, Mable Viola, Georgiana Leslie, Martin and Dora May. Mrs. Marsh is an enthusiastic mem- ber and deputy president of Fern Lodge, No. 543, Daughters of Rebekah, at Swanton, Ohio.
ALEXANDER C. MOODY, one of the prominent and influen- tial citizens of Delta, is an able solicitor in the employ of the North- western Mutual .Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and stands high in the esteem of the community in which he makes his
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home, being a man of high intellectuality and sterling attributes of character. Alexander Campbell Moody was born in Wapello county, Iowa, on the 15th of February, 1858, and is a son of Rev. John F. and Mary Ann (Parker) Moody, both of whom were born in Ohio, their marriage having been solemnized in Morgan county, this State. In 1852 they went to Iowa, becoming pioneers of Wapello county, where the father secured eighty acres of government land, near Ottumwa. In 1856 he exchanged this farm for a quarter section of land in Nebraska, about twenty miles west of the city of Omaha, which was then a mere frontier village. On that farm the mother died, in 1859, and her remains were the first interred in the cemetery near the homestead. Of this union four children were born, the subject of this review being the youngest. Rufus G., the eldest, is at the present time assistant postmaster of Topeka, Kansas; Josiah was a teacher for twenty-one years, the greater portion of the time in the State of Nebraska, where he died in October, 1901, at the age of forty-eight years, leaving a wife and one son and one daughter ; Rev. Samuel Parker Moody is a clergyman of the Christian church and now has a charge in the city of Clinton, Ohio. After the death of his beloved wife Rev. John F. Moody returned with his children to Mor- gan county, Ohio, where he still maintains his home, being venerable in years but still doing more or less active service in his noble calling, having been a clergyman of the Christian church since 1866, and having been a faithful and successful worker in the ministry. In 1862 he consummated a second marriage, his wife dying in 1874, leaving no children. In 1877 he married a third time, and this wife passed to the life eternal in 1903, leaving one daughter, Alice, who remains as the companion and housekeeper for her aged father. Alex- ander C. Moody secured his educational training in the public schools of Morgan and Athens counties, Ohio, having been graduated in the high school at Nelsonville. He initiated his independent career by engaging as a teacher in the schools of Morgan county, and he devoted his entire attention to the pedagogic profession for the ensu- ing nine years, meeting with much success, and he has since taught a number of winter terms. Since 1882 he has been employed as a solicitor in various lines, and has proven exceptionally successful in this field of endeavor. For the last seven years he has given his attention exclusively to soliciting for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, being one of the valued agents of this strong and well-known company. In Morgan county, Ohio, in the year 1879, Mr. Moody was united in marriage to Miss Louise Price, who had been his childhood friend and school-mate. She is a daughter of William and Henrietta (Walter) Price and was born and reared in Morgan county, being one of a family of three children. Her elder brother, Isaac W., is a mechanic by vocation, and the younger brother, Robert M., remains on the old homestead farm with his parents. To Mr. and Mrs. Moody have been born seven children, concerning whom the following is a brief record: Mary, born May 19, 1880, died December 16, 1884; Martha, born August 18, 1882, died December 8, 1884; the next child, a son, died in infancy; Edna, who remains at
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the parental home, is book-keeper and stenographer for the Delta Milling Company; Eva and William are attending the public schools of Delta; and Rex is a fine youngster of three and one-half years at the time of this writing, in 1905. Mr. Moody has long been an ardent worker in the temperance cause, and his fearless opposition to the liquor traffic has caused him to gain the antipathy of the saloon element in his town, a fact in which he takes pride. Though not- a political Prohibitionist, he is ever ready to lend his aid in effective temperance work, and in politics he maintains an independent attitude. He and his wife are members of the Christian church, and the family stands high in the best social life of the community. Mr. Moody has been a resident of Fulton county since 1882, having maintained his home in Fayette until 1901, when he removed to Delta, where he owns an attractive home, opposite the Pommert House. He has twenty- two and one-half acres of land, adjoining his residence, and this is utilized for pasturage and small farming.
HIRAM L. MOSELEY, a retired capitalist of Wauseon, was born near Rochester, Monroe county, N. Y. He is the son of Hiram and Hannah (Olcott) Moseley, the former a native of New York and the latter the daughter of Thomas Olcott, an officer of the American navy in the War of 1812. Hiram Moseley was born near Hamilton, in Madison county, N. Y., having been educated at Hamil- ton, N. Y. Farming was his chosen avocation. Taking a deep inter- est in public affairs, he served as township trustee and commissioner of the county. He died at his home. in 1865, aged sixty-five years. Arannah Moseley, his brother, served throughout the Civil war in the One Hundred and Fortieth New York regiment with the rank of captain. For eleven months he was confined in Andersonville prison, from which he was extremely fortunate to escape with his life. Hiram L. Moseley, subject of this sketch, began teaching school at the early age of seventeen years, which calling he followed with marked success for seven years. He then traveled for several years as a business representative throughout the Southern States. In 1867 he came from Rochester, N. Y., to Wauseon, where he engaged in the mercantile business for eight years. Prior to his election as treas- urer of Fulton county he served for twelve years as school-examiner of that county. From 1875 to '79 he served as treasurer of Fulton county, elected the first time by a large majority by the Republican party and re-elected practically without opposition. He administered the duties of the office to the entire satisfaction of all parties, thereby gaining their good-will. In 1892 Governor Mckinley appointed him probate judge to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Newel. Mr. Moseley married Miss Adelaide Beach, daughter of Spencer and Clementia Beach. Mrs. Beach died in Wauseon at the age of eighty- two years. She was a Christian woman and highly esteemed by her neighbors and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Moseley are actively identified with the Baptist church .. The children of the subject of this sketch are : Spencer Beach Moseley, a graduate of Michigan University of the class of 1893, is a civil engineer by profession, and resides at
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Kansas City, Mo .; Zella and Nellie, both of whom are still at home. Mr. Moseley is enabled to live a retired life, having accumulated a competency by close application to business and his remarkably suc- cessful business and official careers. He has just cause to be proud of what he has accomplished, feeling certain that the world has not been made worse by his living in it. It is to be hoped that he may live for many years to come, enjoying to the fullest extent his well- earned riches.
F. W. MOYER, a prominent and successful merchant of Wauseon, was born in Lehigh county, Pa. He is the son of William and Sarah (Rabenold) Moyer, both natives of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Daniel Moyer, was born in the same house in which William and F. W. Moyer were born, the former's father having in an early day bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres when he settled there. William and Sarah Moyer had the following children: Emeline Ru- fena, Levy (deceased), Alfred, Isabella, F. W., the subject of this sketch ; Charles B., Louisa, Agnes, Peter, Eunie, Ambrose, Morse, Caroline (deceased), and Calvin (deceased), all the living children being residents of Lehigh county, Pa .. , except F. M., and Charles B., the latter of whom resides at Saginaw, Mich. At the early age of nine years F. W. Moyer left the parental roof to fight his own battle in life. In 1877 he began his successful business career as a clerk in a store. For ten years he was engaged in the dry-goods business and after that for some years in the hardware business. Since 1893 he has successfully conducted a large grocery store. Having during his clerkship undergone a thorough training for business, he has met with marked success in every line that he has undertaken. In Masonry he ·has taken a very active part, as is shown by the fact that he is a Master Mason and that he has taken the Royal Arch, the Scottish Rite and the Consistory degrees of that order. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Merchants' National Union. He. married Miss Mary Schamp, the daughter of Henry and Catherine (Batdorf) Schamp, of York township, Fulton county, where she was born. Henry Schamp was born in New Jersey and came to Ohio, first settling in Wayne county and afterwards in Fulton county. Grandfather Batdorf also came to this county from Wayne county. The children of Henry and Catherine Schamp here follow : James, of York township; John, of Toledo, O .; George, of York township; Lucy, of.Fulton county; Mary, the wife of the sub- ject of this sketch. The children of F. W. Moyer and wife are as follows: Pearl, James H., of Bowling Green, O., a graduate of the Columbus Dental College; Cecil, Florence, and A. D.
CASPAR MURBACH is justly entitled to a feeling of pride and gratification in being the owner of one of the model farms of Fuiton county, and he has passed his entire life in this section, having been born in Spencer township, Lucas county, across the road from his present farm, on the 20th of March, 1859. He is recognized as one of the progressive farmers and stock-growers of the county,
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where he has a host of friends. His parents, who are now living retired in Swanton, this county, are Jacob and Elizabeth (Rudy) Murbach, both of whom were born in Switzerland, where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. Soon after this important event in their lives they immigrated to America, and eventually settled in Lucas county, Ohio, and they have ever since maintained their home in this section, where they have the unqualified esteem of all who know them, the father having followed the voca- tion of farming during the major portion of his active career. Of the seven children in the family five are living, Caspar being the eld- est. Jacob R. is likewise a successful farmer of Fulton township; Lizzie, who has never married, resides with her parents in Swanton; Edward is deceased, his death having resulted from injuries received in being kicked by a horse, and he is survived by his wife and two children; Amelia became the wife of Frank Schaeffer and is now deceased, having left one child; Katie is the wife of Jonas Wicks, a farmer of Fulton township; and Richard is a plumber and electrician, residing in the city of Cincinnati. Caspar Murbach was afforded the excellent advantages of the public schools at Swanton, and he has been identified with the basic art of agriculture from his boyhood days to the present. In his youth he learned the carpenter trade, but his knowledge of the same has never been utilized to any extent save in connection with work on his own farm. In 1884 Mr. Murbach was married, and he forthwith located on his present homestead, in Section thirty-six, Fulton township. The place at that time com- prised fifty-three acres, but he has since added to its area until the farm now includes one hundred and seven acres, practically all being eligible for cultivation, and the improvements are of the best, includ- ing an attractive modern residence, with slate roof, and a large and substantial barn, which likewise has a roof of slate. Mr. Murbach devotes his attention to general farming and stock-raising and is ready at all times to adopt measures and principles which will facilitate and improve the operation of his fine farm. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank in Swanton, in which he is still a stockholder, as is he also in the Pilliod Milling company and the A. D. Baker Manufacturing company, of the same place. His inter- ests aside from his farming enterprise are extensive and important, and his marked capitalistic reinforcement stands as the direct result of his own efforts, as he had but little when he initiated his independent 'career. His farm is a model in every respect, and it may be noted that he has installed platform scales for the weighing of stock and produce; has a wind engine and elevated tank, so that water may be carried to any part of the farm, and in the connection is supplied a device for modifying the temperature of the water in cold weather. In his political allegiance Mr. Murbach is a stanch Republican, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Alliance church. February 26, 1884, Mr. Murbach was married to Miss Mary Meister, of Elmira, German township, this county. Her father, John Meister, was an early settler of the county, and her mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Zimmerman, is likewise a member of one of the
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old and honored families of this part of the State. Mr. and Mrs. Mur- bach have one child, Carrie, who is now the wife of Simon Raber, of Graymont, Livingston county, Ill.
WILLIAM R. McMANNIS is the own- er of valuable land, eighty-five acres in one farm and forty acres in another, eligibly located, in Clinton township, two miles north of the city of Wauseon, the judicial center of the county. He is a member of one of the prominent pioneer families of the county, where the major portion of his life has been passed, and he was one of Fulton county's representatives in the Union ranks during the War of the Re- bellion. He was born in Wayne county, Ohio, September 29th, 1837, and is a son of Charles and Nancy (Jones) McMannis, the former of whom was born in Washington county, Pa., in April, 1808, and his wife was born in the same State, in 1805, their mar- riage having been solemnized in Wayne county, Ohio, where they maintained their home the greater part of their lives. In 1833 they came to Fulton county, being accompanied by three children, and five more were born after the removal to this county, there having been in the family four sons and four daughters, of whom five are yet living. The maternal grandparents of the subject of this review were William and Elizabeth Jones, and they likewise came to Fulton county with his parents. William Jones was a great hunter, and his old-fashioned flint-lock rifle proved the means of supplying the fam- ily larder with much fine game in the early days. The first experience of this family in Fulton county was when there was not a house nearer than nine miles except the Indian huts. Trees were cut and from them puncheons were constructed and used in lieu of chairs. Charles McMannis became a successful farmer of Fulton county, developing a tract of wild land, in Clinton township, and here con- tinuing to reside until his death, in February, 1895, his devoted wife having passed away in 1867. It may be noted, in passing, that the first house of hewed logs to be erected in Fulton county stood near the site of the present fine residence of William R. McMannis. He has made farming and stock-growing his life work, has done his share in the reclaiming and developing of the lands of this county, and also in the civic advancement of its people, and he is held in high esteem in the community which has been his home for so long a term of years. He has resided on his present attractive farm since 1864, and has improved the same and made it one of the model farms of the township. In 1861, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, Mr. McMannis enlisted as a private in Com- pany I, Fourteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, serving nearly four months and then re-enlisting, for a term of three years. About
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