The history of Hardin county, Ohio, Part 87

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1076

USA > Ohio > Hardin County > The history of Hardin county, Ohio > Part 87

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BERNARD MATHEWS, farmer, P. O. Kenton, was born in County Dublin, Ireland, April 15, 1801. He emigrated to the United States in 1834, coming to Hardin County, Ohio, in August of the same year, and entered here about 440 acres of land on the line between Cessna and Pleas- ant Townships, extending into both. He first settled on the farm now oc- cupied by Robert Draper, in Pleasant Township. The land was covered with a forest, but in course of time, after passing through many hardships and privations, he founded a home for his family. He subsequently moved across the line into Cessna Township, where he lived until his removal, in the fall of 1882, to Kenton, where he is living a retired life in the enjoy- ment of a well-preserved and ripe old age. Mr. Mathews was married, in his native country, to Miss Ellen Clinton, a native of Dublin, who still survives, a solace to her husband and children. Seven sons and three daughters were born to them, all living, as follows: Mary, wife of James Garretty, residing in Des Moines, Iowa; John, a resident of Wallace, Kan. ; James C .; Mathew R. and Cornelius M., residents of Elbert County, Colo .; Lucy P., Joseph C. and Clotilda, the latter wife of Daniel Flanna- gan, residents of Kenton; Alfred, residing in Delaware, Ohio, and Jerome, of Elbert County, Colo. Mr. Mathews and family belong to the Catholic Church, and are highly respected by all classes. Mr. Mathews is a man of good education, possessing an extensive knowledge of men and books.

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LEWIS MERRIMAN, merchant, Kenton, Ohio, was born in Bucyrus, Crawford Co., Ohio, May 4, 1827. His father, Charles Merriman, was a native of the State of New York, and his mother, Susan Carey, of the eastern part of Ohio. The subject of this sketch commenced the dry goods business on his own account on April 1, 1850, at Marseilles, Wyandot Co., Ohio, and continued in the business at Marseilles till April 1, 1879. but in the mean- time moved to Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio, April 1, 1864, and has been in the dry goods business ever since. On January 1, 1882, he and his son, Charles C., started a wholesale notion and gents' furnishing goods store, and he is still in that business, but had the sad misfortune to lose his son Charles C., by typhoid fever, March 22, 1883. He has also been in the banking business, and has been one of the largest real estate dealers in the county, and is ever ready to extend his connection.

E. L. MILLAR, editor, Kenton, was born in Hardin County, Ohio, July 19, 1857. He is the eldest son of John D. and Keturah (Williams) Millar, the former of whom died when our subject was but four years of age. Being left an orphan at the age of twelve years, our subject was then brought up under the guidance of his uncle, J. R. Millar, a resident of Hardin County. He was educated at the common schools, and for three years-beginning in 1873-at the High School of Kenton. In the fall of 1875, he entered the Northwestern Ohio Normal School at Ada, and gradu- ated in 1876. In the fall of 1877, he commenced to learn the printing trade, and, in 1878, he arranged with B. L. Thompson for the publication of the Ada Record, buying out the interest of the latter in the following year and remaining sole proprietor until August, 1881. He then sold that paper to Agnew Welsh, the 'present owner, and went to Ottumwa, Iowa, where he became city editor of the Daily Courier. In May, 1882, he joined George W. Rutledge in the publication of the Kenton Republican, and has remained its editor ever since. Mr. Millar was united in mar- riage, in Hardin County, in June, 1881, to Miss Minnie, only daughter of John Manning, of Ada, Ohio. She is a native of Shelby County, Ohio.

JOHN C. MILLER, boot and shoe dealer, Kenton, was born on Long Island, N. Y., in 1830, and is a son of Enoch and Amy (Conkling) Miller. Enoch Miller was a boot and shoe manufacturer at East Moriches, Long Island, where he and his wife died. They raised a family of eight chil- dren, all living. Our subject was the second child, and left home for the West in 1858, coming to Kenton, where he has since remained. In the same year of his arrival, he opened a small shop in the boot and shoe busi- ness near the depot, where he only manufactured at the bench. Here he employed himself in custom work for eight or ten years, and then opened the first store with William Gilmore, with whom he was associated for five years, when he bought him out. He occupied his present quarters in 1878, his son having been admitted into partnership two years previous. The members of this firm are among the oldest merchants of Kenton, and carry a stock of from $6,000 to $7,000. Mr. Miller was married, at his native place, in 1852, to Miss Caroline Raynor, a native of East Moriches, Long Island, by which union there have been born two children-Henry J., asso- ciated in the store and married to Miss Emma, daughter of Anson Norton, and by whom he has had one child-Willie, and Emma W. Our subject was a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Ohio National Guards, Company G, serving 100 days, and was discharged in September, 1864. He fough; in the battles of the Shenandoah Valley and in several skir- mishes. Mr. Miller is connected with the Presbyterian Church, and is a prominent citizen of Kenton.

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AUGUSTUS WILMOT MUNSON, physician, Kenton, was born in the town of Oxford, Chenango Co., N. Y., November 2, 1819. The family, of English ancestry, moved from New England to New York in early times. His grandfather, Wilmot Munson, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father, Wilmot Munson, is still living (1883), and is a pensioner of the Government, having served in the war of 1812. His mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Salisbury, a native of Vermont, died in Kenton April, 1864. In 1829, his father, with a family of four children, three boys and one girl, started in a two-horse wagon to move to Ohio, and after a tedious journey arrived in Richland County, July 4 of that year. The subject of our sketch received a liberal English education in the public schools of his native and adopted States. He closed his common school course in the spring of 1838, at Waldo, Delaware County, receiving a certifi- cate of proficiency, which, under the laws of Ohio, authorized him to teach a common school. He taught his first school at Westfield, Delaware County, in the summer of the latter year, at $8 per month. In the autumn of that year, the family moved to the northern part of Hardin County, then a wilderness, where they suffered all the privations and hardships incident to pioneer life. Here he remained at home during the following winter and spring, assisting to clear and plant to corn a few acres of land. In May following, he left home without means and journeyed on foot to West- field, Delaware County, where an uncle furnished him with a scythe with which to commence business for himself. With this implement, he set out on foot to hunt employment, and engaged as a harvest hand to a farmer in Marion County, and labored in the field for 75 cents a day until fall, when he engaged to teach school, for a term of four months, at $12 per month. In April, 1840, he was married to Maria McMillen, the daughter of a widow of limited means, a native of Dauphin County, Penn., with whom he is still living. Four children, only two of whom are living-a son and daughter-were the issue of this union. Of these, the daughter-Amanda M. - is the widow of Hale Salisbury, of Kenton; the son-Leroy D .- sin- gle, is a graduate of Columbus, Ohio, Medical College. In the spring of 1842, he moved his family to Marseilles, Marion County, and entered the office of Dr. Orrin Ferris, as a student of medicine. Here he continued, occasionally teaching school and otherwise laboring for means to support his family while pursuing his studies, until the summer of 1844, when he entered the office of Dr. U. P. Leighton, of Kenton, who generously proposed to board him for the assistance he could render in his practice. In November of the latter year, he moved to the village of Wyandot, Wyandot County, where he taught school the following winter and in the spring opened an office and commenced the practice of medicine. Here he continued to practice with remarkable success until, in the winter of 1849-50, he attended lectures at Cleveland, Ohio, Medical College. In the spring of 1850, he moved to Kenton, and practiced in partnership with Dr. Leighton until, in the winter of 1853-54, he again attended lectures at Cleveland and graduated. In the following fall, he opened an office in Kenton on his own account, where he still continues in active practice. He has, by numerous successful oper- ations, both in private and military practice, gained and still maintains the reputation of a skillful surgeon. He was one of the originators of the " Hardin County Medical Society," which was organized in July, 1850, aud has repeatedly held the offices of Secretary and President of the same. In 1857, he became a member of the "Ohio State Medical Society," of which he is still a member. He is also a member of the "Northwestern

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Ohio Medical Association," and, at a meeting held in Celina, Ohio, pre- sented a carefully prepared paper upon the laws regulating the practice of medicine in Ohio during the past fifty years. The association considered the paper of such interest to the profession that, by a vote, he was re- quested to furnish a copy for publication. In 1856, he became a member of the " American Medical Association," and represented his county society at the annual meetings of same held in Detroit, Mich., Nashville, Tenn .. Cincinnati, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Penn. In December, 1861, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Eighty-second Regiment Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and went with this regiment into active service, during which he proved competent and efficient in the discharge of every duty, until 1863, when he was compelled to resign on account of bad health, and return home. He hext entered the State military service, and discharged the duties of Surgeon of Camps of Instruction. In March, 1865, he was commissioned Surgeon of the One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and again went to the field with that regiment and remained on duty until the close of the war, when he was mustered out with the regi- ment at Nashville, Tenn., in September, 1865. He was one of the origin- ators of the " Pioneer Association of Hardin County," which was organized in 1868, was chosen its first Secretary and has occupied the position, with but one exception, until the present time. Early in life, he espoused the political principles of the Whig party; was an ardent supporter of Gen. Harrison for President in 1840, for whom he cast his first vote. He has been an active politician, in a local way; was a great admirer of Mr. Clay, for whom he voted in 1844. He supported Gen. Taylor in 1848, and Gen. Scott in 1852. Upon the organization of the Republican party in 1856, he adopted its political principles, to which he still adheres. He attended the convention at Chicago which nominated Mr Lincoln for President, and cordially supported him both in 1860 and 1864. He supported Gen. Grant in 1868 and 1872, Gen. Hayes in 1876, and Gen. Garfield in 1880. He has held several local offices of trust, and in 1873 was elected to the Ohio Legislature and served one full term (1873 to 1875), and has been Mayor of Kenton since April, 1882. Dr. Munson is a man who has the faculty of utilizing his knowledge and concentrating it upon any subject within the walk of his profession. Energetic in temperament he is efficient in practice, and has, therefore, been one of the successful physicians of the country. The business qualifications which so many physicians lack have not been in his case wanting. Early in life, as the foregoing sketch abundantly proves, he labored under many disadvantages, but by his native energy these were surmounted, and he is now in the enjoyment of the victor's reward.

DAVID NEWCOMB (deceased) was born in Cuyahoga County, N. Y., in 1814, and was a son of Cromwell Newcomb, a pioneer of Knox County, Ohio. He married, September 7, 1837, Harriett, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Hughes, natives of Ireland and Pennsylvania respectively. She is a native of Muskingum County, Ohio, and her parents died in Perry County, Ohio. David Newcomb came from Knox County to Hardin Coun- ty, Ohio, in 1852, settling on 160 acres of land, on which his son, Andrew C., is now living. To this farm have been added ninety acres, and eighty in another section. David here lived until his decease, which occurred December 21, 1873, in the sixtieth year of his age. The widow survives, and is living, in the sixty-fifth year of her age, on the homestead. They reared a family of eight children, six of whom are living, viz., Ellen; An-

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drew, married, in 1863, to Miss Anna Parkinson, by whom he had two chil- dren, both deceased; David L., married to Anna Tenrie, of Hardin County; Mary E., wife of Emi Parkinson, by whom three children have been born, viz., Willie (deceased), Della (still living) and Davie (also deceased); Charles, married to Lucy A. Thomas, by whom there are three children, viz., Harriet, Elmore and Emma; and Bella. David Newcomb was a man highly esteemed. His son, Andrew, has always resided on the homestead, and is a well-known citizen of Pleasant Township.

ANSON NORTON, JR., retired merchant, Kenton, was born in Litchfield County, Conn., in 1828. He is a son of Anson and Lucretia (Woodruff) Norton, the latter a native of New Haven, Conn. His father, after mar- riage, moved to Livingston County, N. Y., where he died in 1844. In 1848, our subject, with his mother, moved to Wyandot County, Ohio, where he was engaged in business for some years, moving thence to Bucyrus. Here he operated the woolen mills for one year, and, in 1864, came to Ken- ton, and entered mercantile pursuits with L. Merriman, of Kenton, with whom he was associated until 1874, when he sold out to his partner. Since then he has not been engaged in any particular business. but is gradually retiring from active life. His marriage occurred in Marseilles, Ohio, in February of 1852, to Miss Rachel, daughter of Hanson Hooker, a native of that town. From this union five children have been born, four living, viz., Willie A .; Emma C., wife of H. Jay Miller; Alta M., wife of B. F. Schultz, of Kenton, and Lula B. The youngest child-Maud-died in in- fancy. Mr. Norton is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is one of the oldest business men of Kenton.

WILLIAM OCHS, miller, Kenton, was born in Hesse, Germany, in 1852. He was married in Germany in 18- to Miss Maggie Alt, also a native of Hesse, and, in 1852, emigrated with his wife and two children to the United States. He came to Kenton, where he engaged in the old mills, entering into partnership, in 1866, with Mr. Espy, and is still one of the original stockholders. He has raised a family of seven children, all living, as follows: Henry, married to Hannah Linke; John, interested in the mills; William, at school; Kate, wife of John Bloom, Kenton; Maggie, wife of John Diker, of Buck Township, and Mollie and Theodore, at home. The family are members of the German Church, and are numbered among the respected and esteemed families of Kenton.

W. H. PHILIPS, physician and surgeon, Kenton, was born in Wash- ington County, Penn., August 18, 1824. He is a son of Enoch and Cath- erine (Anderson) Philips. His grandfather was David Philips, a native of Maryland. The family originated with two brothers, emigrants from Wales, who settled in the colonies about 1750. David Philips was a Lieutenant Colonel during the Revolution, at the close of which he settled in Washing- ton County, Penn. The father of our subject was born in Maryland about 1770, and moved with his father to Pennslyvania, where he was married in 1790. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1805, leaving two children-David Philips, now a resident of the homestead in Pennslyvania, and John Philips, of Holmes County, Ohio. In 1808, Mr. Enoch Philips married Catherine Anderson, a Pennsylvanian, by whom he had eleven children. Three sons and two daughters are now living. He served as Justice of the Peace in Washington County for twenty-one years, thence moved to Harrison Coun. ty, and finally, in 1857, to Bloomington, Ind., where he and his wife died the following year. He was a Major of the First Battalion, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Militia, during the war of 1812, and a devoted member of the

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Associate Presbyterian Church through life. In 1837, the subject of this sketch moved, with his father, to Harrison County, Ohio, and received his collegiate education in Muskingum College. He then took up the study of medicine with Dr. Jacob Hammond, of Steubenville, Ohio, and graduated in 1849. The same year he began to practice in New Romley, Harrison Co., Ohio. In 1851, he removed to Amsterdam, Ohio, coming thence, in 1854, to Kenton, where he has since been established in his profession. He at- tended, for one term, the Rush Medical College of Chicago, graduating in 1856. In August, 1862, he was appointed Surgeon of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in Kentucky, East Ten- nessee and the Atlanta campaign. On account of failing health, he re- signed his position and entered the hospital service at Gallipoli», Ohio, in 1864, returning to Kenton the same year. In 1865, he was appointed United States Examining Surgeon. He attended a course of lectures in 1870 at Bellevue Hospital, and, in 1879, sought further progress by at- tendance at the New York State Women's Hospital, and in the ensuing year at the Chicago Rush Medical College. He has since made women's diseases a specialty. Dr. Philips is a member of the Hardin County, Ohio State, Northwestern Ohio and American Medical Societies, of which he was made President of the Northwestern in 1870 and of the Ohio State in 1878. An exhaustive treatise on milk sickness written by him was published in the Cincinnati Lancet and Observer. In March of 1877, he was appointed, by Gov. Young, Surgeon General of Ohio, and, in the winter of 1878-79 occupied the chair of Medial Jurisprudence in the college at Columbus, Ohio. In 1873, he was elected a delegate to represent Hardin County in the constitutional convention held in Ohio, 1873-74. Dr. Philips was married, in 1848, to Miss Margaret Patterson, of Jefferson County, Ohio, who bore him two children, both living-Mary, wife of Hon. I. N. Everett, of Kenton, and David P. Philips, M. D., of Kenton. Mrs. Philips died in 1854, and the Doctor subsequently married Harriet J., a daughter of Parley Carlin, of Findlay, Ohio, By this union there have been three children -- Kate, Carl and Maud, In politics, the Doctor is a Republican. He aims to keep in the front rank of his profession, making himself familiar with its current progress.

WILLIAM POOL, blacksmith and manufacturer, Kenton, was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1824, and is second son of Alexander and Phoebe (Harris) Pool. His parents are both natives of Washington County, Penn., and came to the West at an early date, being among its first pioneers. They moved to Hardin County March 9, 1834, settling in Goshen Township, where Mr. Pool entered eighty acres of land, the deed of which was signed by Gen. Jackson. This land was afterward struck off in Wyandot County. Alexander Pool died December 24, 1881, aged eighty-two years; he was preceded by his wife in 1877. They were the parents of eight children, seven of whom are living. William, our subject, was reared on the home- stead until of age, when he learned the blacksmith trade with his brother Harris, the two afterward forming a partnership. William then succeeded his brother in the business, carrying it on alone until 1850, when he ad- mitted his brother John into partnership, and the two have since been con- tinuously engaged. They first located the establishment for the manufact- ure of carriages, wagons and buggies on the lot now occupied by the resi- dence of William Pool, the manufactory being the first opened in Kenton. In 1858, the brothers erected their present building on the corner of Franklin and Wayne streets. They have a full assortment of goods and

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employ an average force of fifteen men. They carry a stock of about $3,000 to $4,000, and enjoy the good will and liberal patronage of the people. Mr. Pool was married, in Hardin County, to Miss Phoebe Russell, by whom he had one child-Martha J. His wife died two years after marriage, and he subsequently married Margaret Moore (deceased), by whom there were two children, twin boys, both deceased. For his third wife, Mr. Pool took Sarah M. Collins, by which union there were six children, three of whom are living. Mrs. Pool lived to enjoy the fruits of her marriage for twenty- five years, when she, too, was called by death to the better land. Mr. Pool's present wife is Miss Mary Vance, a native of Pennsylvania, by whom he has had no children. He was Sheriff of Hardin County one term, and served as Coroner and in various other offices of trust.

JOHN POOL, manufacturer, Kenton, was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1829. He came to Hardin County with his parents and was here reared and educated on the home farm. He learned the trade of black- smith in 1849 with his brother Harris, and afterward became associated in the business with his brother William, with whom he has been success- fully engaged. In 1853, he was united in marriage, in Kenton, to Miss Eliza Graham, by which union four children were born, three living, viz., Wade, Ella and Laura. His wife died in 1860, after which he married Miss Laura L. Lathan, also deceased, by whom he had one child-May- who still survives. He subsequently formed a third union, taking for his wife Miss Maggie Stevenson, by which union there have been five children, all living, viz., Jessie, James, Hattie, Ida and Clifford. Mr. Pool was Mar- shal of Kenton for two years, and numbers among the busy, active inanu- facturers.

MARTIN PRICE, carpenter, Kenton, was born in Baden, Germany, in the year 1820. He is a son of Simon and Barbara (Strupa) Price, with whom he emigrated to the United States in 1834, locating in Bucyrus, Ohio, where his father passed the remainder of his life. In 1845, our subject came to Kenton. and was working at his trade for some years, but has since retired from active business. He was married in Kenton, in September, 1846, to Miss Christine, daughter of Henry and Catherine Heisel, natives of Bavaria, Germany. She was born in Bavaria in 1822, and emigrated with her parents in 1834, locating the same year in Kenton. Her father was among the first settlers of this city, where he followed merchandising for his occupation. He was formerly a hotel proprietor in Germany, and died in Kenton in 1855. He was preceded by his wife in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Price have reared a family of three sons and two daughters, viz., Henry, Simon, Louis, Julia (the wife of Henry Dorn) and Louisa (wife of Dr. Glenn, of Kenton). When the rebellion broke out, Mr. Price enlisted, in 1861, in the Eighty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company B, and served to the close of the war. He enlisted as a teamster and served in that capacity, and was in the Army of the Cumberland, Twentieth Corps, ac- companying Sherman on his march to the sea. Mr. Price served four years in the Council and is a well-known citizen of Kenton.

LEWIS PRICE, baker and confectioner, Kenton, was born in Kenton, Ohio, in 1848, and is a son of Martin and Christine (Heisel) Price, natives of Baden and Reinbier, Germany, respectively. They emigrated to the United States at an early day, and were married in Hardin County, where they have reared a family of five children, all living. The subject of this sketch was married in Kenton, October 16, 1872, to Miss Louise, daughter of Henry Collier. The latter, with his family, emigrated from Mechlin-

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burg-Schwerin, Germany, to the United States in 1853, and after a resi- dence of three years in Sandusky City, Ohio, he came to Kenton. Mr. Price is the father of one daughter-Annie L. Mr. Price succeeded J. Gensley in his present business in 1877. He is located on the east side of the square, where, at this writing (1883), he is erecting a large and com- modious business house for his increasing trade.

SILAS PROTZMAN, physician, Kenton, was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, January 17, 1842. His parents were John and Margaret (Shafer) Protzman, natives of Maryland and Pennsylvania respectively, who came to Ohio in 1805 and settled in the southwestern part of Montgom- ery County, near Germantown, where Mr. Protzman followed milling and distilling for many years. He was a Captain in the war of 1812, and, po,- litically, belonged to the Whig party. He lived to the age of seventy years, his demise occurring in 1861; his wife had preceded him in 1860. They had ten children, all of whom attained adult age, nine now living. The subject of this sketch is the youngest son, and obtained the rudiments of his education from the common schools of his native county. He entered Holbrook's Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, in 1859, and soon after began the study of medicine with his brother William at Yellow Springs, Ohio. He was engaged there until 1862, when he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of the war. He participated in the battle of Winchester, June 13, 14 and 15, 1863; then joined the Army of the Potomac, and was in the engagements at Brandy Station on June 9, August 1 to 3, September 6 and November 8, 1863, after which he served in the Inspector General's office of the Third Division, Sixth Corps, which was the old fighting corps of Gen. Sedgwick. This corps had a separate review at Washington, where our subject was discharged. On his return home, he resumed his studies in medicine, and entered the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, graduating in 1868, and the same year began the practice of his profession in Fairfield, Ohio. In June of 1872, he removed to Kenton, where he has since been continuously and successfully engaged. His labors have been so great that his declining health necessitated a rest. and he has spent the past win- ter sojourning in a warmer clime. The Doctor was married, in June of 1869, to Miss Henrietta, daughter of Adam Shuey. The latter resides in Preble County, Ohio, but was formerly of Greene County, where his daugh- ter was born. Mr. and Mrs. Protzman are the parents of one child- Elmer.

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The history of Hardin county, Ohio, Part 87

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1076

Author: Warner Beers & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Warner Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1076