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 60
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and manager of the telephone system in Delta; William is a black- smith by trade; Della is the wife of George W. Shaffer, a merchant of Delta; and Eugene is a painter and decorator by vocation, residing in Delta. Mrs. Pratt was summoned to the life eternal on the 7th of March, 1905, after having been her husband's loved and devoted com- panion and helpmeet for fifty-five years. Her death was the great loss and bereavement of his life, and he reveres her memory and in his evening of life is sustained by the thoughts of the gracious asso- ciations of the years that have gone. He attributes his success in' the earlier years to a large extent to his wife, who aided and en- couraged him and bore her full share of the burdens and responsi- bilities of the home. She was a zealous member of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Pratt also has been a member for many years, and in politics he has always been aligned with the Democratic party, though never an aggressive partisan. He served for some time as a member of the school board, but has never sought office of any description. He reared and educated a large family of children and assisted his sons in establishing themselves in business. He is one of Delta's best-known and most honored pioneers, and during a resi- dence here of nearly sixty years he has witnessed manifold changes in the town and county. The little hamlet of Delta when he came here was a mere backwoods settlements of a few aggressive pioneers, and no railroads had yet penetrated this wild forest country, in which even the ordinary roads were few and primitive. Times were hard, money scarce and of uncertain value, and about the only thing the pioneers had in unstinted quality was the ague, engendered by the miasmatic swamps, which everywhere abounded. Mr. Pratt and his estimable wife endured their full quota of deprivations and discom- forts, but they worked hard and lived frugally in the early days, thus paving the way for a competency for their declining years. Their children, carefully reared and afforded the best possible educational advantages, left the parental roof, one-by-one, until the parents were left entirely alone. Then, after years of constant and loving com- panionship, came the separation which brought irreparable loss to the honored pioneer to whom this sketch is dedicated. It is said that misfortunes never, come singly, yet it seems almost that the misfor- tune which came to Mr. Pratt's daughter, Mrs. Dillman, in the death of her husband, about the same time as the demise of her mother, proved a benefice to Mr. Pratt, in that it gave him the society and companionship of his daughter, thus rendering the home less deso- late, and the daughter's grief was rendered less poignant by her re- turn to the roof which had sheltered her in her childhood. Mr. Pratt believes it better to "wear out than to rust out," and he finds satis- faction in keeping at work in his shop, where he has manufactured two complete wagons, including painting, entirely by himself, within the past few months.
ISRAEL R. PUTMAN, one of the successful farmers and stock- growers of Fulton township, is another of those worthy citizens of the county who claim the old Keystone state as his place of nativity.
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He was born in Somerset county, Pa., January 29, 1851, and is a son of William and Julianna ( Barnes) Putman, the former of whom was born in Somerset and the latter in Bedford county, Pa. William Putman was a farmer by vocation and passed his entire life in his native county. He went forth to do yeoman service as a Union sol- dier in the Civil war, and he died while at home on a veteran fur- lough, at the age of forty-three years. His widow is still living in Pennsylvania. They became the parents of two sons and two daugh- ters, Israel R. being the eldest. William Michael is a farmer in Som- erset county, Pa .; Mary A. is the wife of Smith B. King, of that county; and Lucretia is the wife of Simon Nicholson, of the same county. Israel Putman was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, where he remained until he had attained the age of twenty years, when he started westward, passing a few months in Noble county, Ind., and then coming to Delta, Fulton county, Ohio. Here he worked by the month about one year, after which he engaged in farming on his own responsibility. In February, 1881, he purchased his present farm, of eighty acres, of which forty acres have been re- claimed by him, and he has erected good buildings on the place and has made other excellent improvements. When he purchased the farm the residence on the same was a log-house. In 1897 he erected - his present attractive farm residence, and his large and well-equipped barn was built in 1901. The place is divided into ten-acre lots, all being well fenced. Mr. Putman devotes his farm to diversified agri- culture and also gives considerable attention to the dairy business, selling milk to the condensing plant in Delta. He is a stanch ad- herent of the Republican party, and is a public-spirited, enterprising . citizen. He has held school offices in his township, but has never been a seeker of official preferment. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. July 4, 1871, is recorded as the date of Mr. Putman's marriage to Miss Mary C. Bratton, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Bratton, of Fulton town- ship, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Putman was born in this township, on the 29th of November, 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Put- man have two children: Archibald B. married Miss Ella Fauble and resides on a farm adjoining that of his father; and Chloe D. is the wife of Clarence Smith, principal of the public schools of Lyons, Ohio.
JOHN F. RAKER is a veteran of the Civil war, was long a suc- cessful and popular teacher in the schools of Fulton county, and is the owner of the fine old homestead farm on which his parents took up their residence in the early pioneer days, in Swan Creek township. Though he has lived practically retired for nearly a score of years, he still resides on his farm, and is one of the best-known and most popular citizens of his township. Mr. Raker was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, on the 10th of October, 1843, and is a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Dindore) Raker, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, on the 2d of January, 1812, and the latter in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1814. Their marriage was solemnized, in Fairfield
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county, on the 22d of January, 1837. The father was a son of Mar- tin Raker, Sr., who came to what is now Fulton county in 1835 and 1836, settling in Swan Creek township, which was then a part of Lucas county. Here he passed the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-five years, and having, with the aid of his sons, reclaimed a farm in the midst of the dense forest. On his removal to this county he was accompanied by nine of his children-John, Will- iam, Jacob, George, Abram, Solomon, Catherine, Sarah and Chris- tena. Two children remained in Fairfield county-Martin, Jr., and Mary. In 1846 Martin Raker, Jr., father of the subject of this re- view, also came to Fulton county, being accompanied by his wife and their three children-Mary J., Abraham J., and John F. The youngest child, Martin L., was born in Fulton county. All of the above-men- tioned members of the Raker family, with the exception of William, remained residents of Fulton county, and the representatives of the name are now very numerous in this favored section of the old Buck- eye State. William located in Kosciusko county, Indiana, where his descendants still live. Martin Raker, Jr., died in his seventy-fifth year, and his loved wife was laid to rest in the Raker cemetery in Swan Creek township on the seventy-sixth anniversary of her birth- day. John F. Raker was reared amid the environments and associa- tions of the pioneer era in this section, assisting in clearing up a farm in the wilderness. The farm which he now owns was the parental homestead, and it comprises one hundred and sixteen acres of most fruitful land, the place being well improved. At the time when the family located here the virgin forest marked the site, and the father and sons literally hewed out a farm from the dense woods. In the winter of 1846-7 the logs were hewed for the erection of the family domicile, and it is interesting to record that this substantial old dwelling still constitutes the residence of Mr. Raker. Improvements have been made on the building, in the way of siding the same with matched boards, repairing and modernizing windows, floors, etc., but the structure still remains essentially the "old log-house" of the pioneer days, and it is one of the landmarks of this part of the county. Mr. Raker inherited one-third of the homestead farm and eventually purchased the interests of the other heirs, and it is needless to say that the place is endeared and hallowed to him through the ·mem- ories and gracious associations of many years. In the early days, while working on the farm during the almost perpetual "vacations," he contrived to attend the primitive district-school from three to four months during the successive winters, and thus gained a compara- tively good English education. In July, 1862, shortly before his nineteenth birthday, Mr. Raker enlisted in Company H, One Hun- dredth Ohio volunteer infantry, for a term of three years. His mili- tary experience was thrilling and interesting, and his sufferings as a prisoner of war baffle description. At the battle of Limestone Sta- tion, Tennessee, while on detached service, a detail from each com- pany of the One Hundredth Ohio, was captured, Mr. Raker being one of the number thus falling into the hands of the enemy, the total number captured being about two hundred and fifty. Mr. Raker was
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held a captive for eight months, during which time he was incarcer- ated in turn at Pemberton, Belle Isle, Libby prison and Scott, en- during his full share of the wretched hardships and horrors of these famous Southern prison pens. After his release from prison, by ex- change, he rejoined his regiment at Washington, D. C., the com- mand being then en route to Fort Fisher, North Carolina. He par- ticipated in the various engagements in which his command was thereafter involved, continuing in service until the close of the war. He received his honorable discharge in North Carolina, and was finally mustered out, in Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1865. Shortly after- ward he entered Oberlin College, where he effectively supplemented his somewhat limited common-school education, and he there pre- pared himself for teaching, having followed the pedagogic profes- sion, with exceptional success, for the succeeding seventeen years. He has ever continued an appreciative student of books and affairs, and is a man of broad intellectual ken and well fortified opinions. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, but he has never sought or held public office. In religious matters he is liberal and tolerant, having a due respect for the spiritual verities and ethi- cal formulas, without regard to dogmatism or secular views. He has leased his farm to capable tenants for the past score of years, but resides in the old home, living practically retired. He has remained a bachelor.
WILLIAM RAMSEY, M.D., a pioneer and retired physician of Delta, was born in Omagh, North Ireland, September 1, 1827. His ancestors were of Scotch antecedents and removed to Ireland two generations before his birth. With his mother, three brothers and one sister he came to America, his father having died when Will- iam was a child. As his father was a farmer William spent his first fourteen years on a farm in Ireland. The journey across the ocean was made from Londonderry to New York City in a sailing vessel and required seven weeks. After landing at New York they went to Philadelphia, where they spent their first Fourth of July. From Philadelphia they proceeded to Pittsburg by rail and canal and from Pittsburg to Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, O., where the family lo- cated in 1842. Mrs. Ramsey, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a woman universally esteemed for her excellent traits of char- acter and maternal instincts. A heavy task fell upon her in the rear- ing and education of the family. The sequel shows that she per- formed her duty well. She was never known to be out of humor and she never punished a child with a rod. She was the mother of the following children: James who died a bachelor at the age of sev- enty-nine years; Christopher who is still living at the age of eighty- five years; John who died in 1903; Margaret who died unmarried, and William. All except the last named remained in the vicinity of Bolivar, where they spent their lives in agricultural pursuits, and be- came wealthy. Prior to coming to America Dr. Ramsey had re- ceived a fair education, which he supplemented in this country by additional studies in the district school and in an academy at Hagers-
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town, O. At the age of seventeen he began teaching and the fol- lowing year read medicine. Teaching during the winter months, he spent his summers reading medicine in the office of Doctors Ben- nett & Hodge, of Bolivar. While engaged in this and other work of various kinds he assisted his mother to pay for the home farm. In 1849 he was graduated from the Reserve Medical college of Cleve- land. After graduating he spent over one year in the drug business and in practice at Loudonville, O., coming to Delta in the spring of 1852, where after a long struggle he established a large and lucra- tive business. The struggle of his boyhood days to acquire unaided an education affords a valuable lesson to the struggling youth of to-day who were born without the proverbial "silver spoon." When he entered Hagerstown college he had just thirteen dollars in his possession. A kind gentleman of that town, who had himself been befriended in his youth by a stranger. generously offered to pay his way through college, but this the self-reliant young Ramsey felt obliged to decline. Leaving school in debt, he declined any aid in the way of a loan, and going into the harvest field he earned the money with which to discharge his obligation. The struggle for a professional education was equally arduous. When he reached Delta he found himself possessed of a horse hitched to a two-wheeled "gig" and seven dollars in money, his saddle-bags and medicine hav- ing been lost on the way while crossing a stream at Napoleon, Ohio. With this meager capital he began his practice in competition with three experienced physicians who had preceded him. The story of his labors here is one of unrelenting toil, hardship and privations. Traveling long distances in rain and snow, cold and heat, through forest-roads well nigh impassable at all seasons and particularly so during the period when the ground was not frozen, for the mud seemed never to dry up. Continuing this work for a period equal to an average life-time, he was at last enabled to retire from active practice. He now recalls the fact that he was so busy at times in his practice that he did not remove his clothing for weeks. At that time Fulton county was almost wholly undeveloped, and when Dr. Ramsey first began to practice he traveled largely on horseback over roads blazed through almost impenetrable forests. He used a two- wheeled "gig" and a saddle-horse in traveling over the country. As a result of all this effort he has acquired a competency, which he has distributed with a liberal hand, educating his children and start- ing them on life's journey in profitable business enterprises. Dr. Ramsey has witnessed and has been an active participant in the growth and prosperity of Fulton county. He has been successful even beyond his most sanguine hopes. But his success was only the key-note to the success of others. Possessed of a liberal dis- position and a generous nature, he has on several occasions volun- tarily furnished the means to ambitious boys to acquire better edu- cational advantages. Once he assisted a poor girl, and the proceeds of his generosity enabled the young lady to be introduced into busi- ness society which eventually resulted in her becoming the head : immer in a wholesale millinery establishment. Others of his wards
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held high positions in the councils of the nation, and the scriptural text, "Cast thy bread upon the waters," etc., was verified in that each one whom he aided returned to him every cent he had ex- pended in their behalf. For more than fifty years Dr. Ramsey has been a prominent character in Fulton county, during which time he has ministered to suffering humanity with remarkable skill and for- titude. During the Civil war he was called into the service as an examining surgeon, and after the maimed and disabled soldiers be- gan to seek pensions for their disabilities, he served for twenty- three years on the pension board of examiners, retiring voluntarily. During the progress of the war he attended the wives and children of the absent soldiers without making any charge for his services, where they were in moderate circumstances. He has always been a zealous worker in everything calculated to enhance the interests of the people. In religious matters he has been a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and with his wife has been active in all lines of church work. Since the organization of the Republican party the Doctor has been a zealous advocate of its principles, being well acquainted with all of the party leaders, but has never held a public office. After retiring from active practice he engaged for a time in the banking business, which he afterwards turned over to his son, William. Since 1855 he has been actively identified with the Masonic fraternity. On June 1, 1854, he was wedded to Miss Cath- erine Trowbridge, born June 27, 1832, a representative of one of the first settlers of the county. Her father, Elisha Trowbridge, came here from Connecticut in 1834 and was a local preacher of the Meth- odist Episcopal church in pioneer days. The Trowbridge family is traceable to English origin, long established in New England, whence they scattered throughout the rest of the country, assisting mate- rially in its development. Dr. Ramsey and wife are the parents of four children, two of whom are living. Those living are: William E., born June 29, 1860, who has succeeded his father in the private banking business in Delta and who is also engaged in the real- estate and insurance business. He is married and has two children. Dr. Frank P., a talented and successful physician of Central Lake, Mich., was born December 6, 1872, is married but has no children. Those deceased are: Lovey L., who was born April 7, 1856, and died August 15, 1860, and John H., born September 22, 1862, and died August 15, 1864. Dr. Ramsey and his estimable wife are now living in retirement in Delta, where they are enjoying the fruits of earlier labor and sacrifices, as well as the highest esteem of all who know them.
WILLIAM E. RAMSEY is one of the representative business men of the younger generation in Fulton county, being the cashier of the Bank of Delta, and he is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of the county, which has been his home from the time of his birth. Mr. Ramsey was born in the village of Delta, on the 29th of June, 1860, and is a son of Dr. William Ramsey, one of the honored pioneer physicians and surgeons of Delta, concerning
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whom individual mention is made in the review that immediately precedes this one, so that further data are not demanded in the pres- ent connection. William E. Ramsey was reared in his native town, in whose public schools he secured his preliminary 'education, sup- plementing this discipline by a course of study in the Ohio State University, in Columbus. As a young man he served in the office of the assistant auditor of the Toledo, Delphos and St. Louis rail- road, now known as the Clover Leaf railroad. The Bank of Delta was founded in 1868, by Dr. William Ramsey and David C. Teeple, the former eventually becoming the sole owner of the institution, and in 1888 his son, William E., became cashier, a position in which he has ever since been retained, having the executive management of all the affairs of the bank, which is one of the solid financial insti- tutions of the county and which controls a large and representative patronage. A general banking business is conducted, as well as an insurance business in the line of indemnity assurance from loss by fire, tornado, accident, etc. Mr. Ramsev has ever retained a distinc- · tive interest in the welfare of his native town, and is one of its most progressive, liberal and public-spirited citizens. It was through his efforts and two others, Mr. J. M. Longnecker and George R. White- horn, that the Helvetia milk-condensing plant was established in Delta, and he was also one of those citizens who took a foremost part in securing the Delta depot of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad. He has likewise been a potent factor in the pro- moting of local improvements of a public nature, including street paving, electric lighting, etc., and he is a strong advocate of the policy of expanding the public utilities of the village by the installa- tion of modern system of water-works-an improvement whose value is incontestable and one which is certain to be made in the near future. In politics Mr. Ramsey is uncompromising in his allegiance to the Republican party, being well fortified in his opinions and con- victions as to matters of public polity, but he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office of any description. He is treasurer of the Delta Building, Loan and Savings Company and of the Home Telephone Company, both local enterprises of importance, and he is a member of the directorate of the Delta Building and Real-Estate Company, each of these three corporations being liberally capitalized and conducting business along safe and conservative lines. The last mentioned company was or- ganized in order to meet an imperative demand in the supplying of residences to strangers seeking homes in the village, and its func- tions have been most practical and beneficent in application. The association purchases lots, erects dwellings on the same and sells the properties at an advance of but six per cent. above the actual expenditures incidentally made. Mr. Ramsey is an appreciative mem- ber of the time honored Masonic fraternity, being affiliated with Ful- ton Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons; Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 167, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is treasurer; and Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, as well as with the · adjunct organizations, Zenobia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the
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Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, likewise in the city of Toledo; and Aurora Chapter, No. 75, Order of the Eastern Star, of which Mrs. Ramsey likewise is a member. In the city of Columbus, Ohio, on the 5th of June, 1883, Mr. Ramsey was united in marriage to Miss Z. Maude Sharp, who was born in Gallipolis, this State, on the 27th of May, 1864, being a daughter of William and Laura J. (Wood) Sharp, who are now residents of the capital city of the State, where Mr. Sharp is a prominent commission merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Ram- sey have two children,-June A., was born April 29, 1884; and Paul, who was born October 17, 1886. The daughter has been a student in Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio, but will complete her education in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. The son is a student in the college of pharmacy of the Ohio Northern Univer- sity, at Ada. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey and their son and daughter are prominent in the social life of Delta, and Mrs. Ramsey is a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
CHARLES A. REGENOLD, senior member of the firm of Rege- nold & Merrill, of Swanton, was born on a farm near the western line of Lucas county, one and one-half miles east of Swanton, on June 3, 1865. His parents, Andrew and Mary M. (Swigert) Rege- nold, were both natives of Germany who emigrated to America with their parents when still children. After their marriage, and more than sixty years ago, they located on the farm where Charles was born. Here Andrew Regenold died August 3, 1895, aged seventy- seven years, his wife having died in middle life. To them there were born six children, three sons and three daughters, all still living ex- cept Emma, who died in infancy. Those living are: Mrs. Mary E. Decker of Toledo, O .; William, a stationary engineer of Toledo; Charles A .; Mary M. Berkeybile and Lydia Shaffer, both of Swanton. Charles A. Regenold grew to manhood on the paternal farm and was educated in the public schools of East Swanton. He began his life career on a farm which he purchased near the old homestead, and after eight years of profitable farming removed to Toledo, O., where he entered the employ of the Merrill Brothers, dealers in hardware and agricultural implements. Three years later he re- turned to Swanton and purchased the business, now known as the Regenold & Merrill establishment. This firm carries a large stock of farming implements, vehicles, stoves and ranges, general hard- ware, mechanical tools, harness, whips and general horse equipments, and does an extensive business throughout the county. In his early political life Mr. Regenold was identified with the Democratic party, but since 1896 he has been an earnest Republican. He is serving his fourth year as a member of the Swanton board of education, and before his removal from Lucas county served for five years as trustee of Spencer township. He is a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons, having passed several of the chairs in that organization, the Order of Eastern Star and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religious matters he is identified with the German Reformed church. Charles A. Regenold has been twice
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