Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Part 54

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1189

USA > Ohio > Hancock County > Findlay > Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens > Part 54

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settled in what is now Fairfield County, O., and there they died. Ami Nonnamaker later moved to near Canonsburg, where he en- tered 160 acres of Government land and there John J. grew to manhood and his father engaged in farming until advanced in years when he moved to Mt. Cory, where he died in October, 1884. For years he was a prominent man in Eagle Township, a leader in Democratic politics, and several times served as township trustee. He mar- ried Lucinda Houdeshell, who was born in Pennsylvania and was brought to Fairfield County by her parents, in childhood. She died at Canonsburg, July 5, 1855.

John J. Nonnamaker was reared and edu- cated in Eagle Township. He was nineteen years of age when he enlisted, on November I, 1861, for service in the Civil War, be- coming a member of Co. G, 57th O. Vol. Inf., under command of Captain Wilson. He remained in the army until he was honorably discharged on August 14, 1865, at Columbus, O., having been mustered out at Little Rock, Ark. Although he was ever at the post of duty and participated in such notable battles as Pittsburg Landing and Champion Hill and marched many times through the enemy's country, he was never either wounded or captured. He returned then to peaceful pursuits, settling in Orange Town- ship, Hancock County, after his marriage in 1866. A few years later he became a min- ister in the Evangelical church. His first charge was at Mt. Cory, in Hancock County and after that he was stationed as follows: two years in Logan County; two years in Putnam County; three years at Wilmot, Stark County; seven years in Coshocton County; Melmore, Seneca County; then to

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Pickaway County and from there to Bowling Green. At present he accepts calls in this locality.

Mr. Nonnamaker was married in 1866, to Miss E. M. Spangler, who was born and reared in Hancock County. For some years prior to her marriage she taught school in Union Township. Seven children were born to this marriage: Dora, Marion E., Lois, Mary, Clara, Minnie and William A. Marion E. married Anna Gulick, of Seneca County, and they have one daughter, Anna. He is a professor of a college in Illinois. Lois died at Mt. Cory, May 1, 1906, aged thirty-four years. She was a highly educated lady and for twelve years taught school in Wayne, Ashland, and Hancock Counties. Mary mar- ried William O. Smith of Richland County, O., after teaching three terms of school in Ashland County. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children: Fay, Vinton, Noel and Marion. Clara died at the age of three years, and Minnie died at the age of ten months. William A. is a teacher and for five years has been identified with a school at Duluth, Minn. He married Augusta Goetz, of St. Louis County, Minn.

ROSS J. WETHERALD, attorney at law, with offices at No. 239 South Main Street, Findlay, O., in the Headquarters Block, is an able member of the Hancock County bar and has been established here since 1895 and has built up a large and sub- stantial practice. He was born at Bellaire, Belmont County, O., March 18, 1873, and is a son of Sylvester R. and Mary R. (Jen- nings) Wetherald.

1888 he brought his family to Findlay and the Wetherald firm, of which he was a mem- ber, built the works of the Wire Nail Com- pany here and he was engaged in business until the time of his death, in 1892. His widow survives.

Ross J. Wetherald entered the High School when the family came to Findlay, where he was graduated in 1891, after which he attended Findlay College for one year and then began the study of law first under the direction of Hon. A. E. Kerns, formerly probate judge, and later at the Ohio State University, where he was graduated in 1895. Mr. Wetherald retains membership in his college fraternities, the Phi Delta Phi and the Phi Gamma Delta, and is past chancelor of the order of Knights of Pythias and a member of the order of the Knights of Khorrassan. He belongs to the First Pres- byterian church at Findlay.

S. G. ROBINSON, whose farm of 160 acres is situated in Sections 3 and 4, Blanchard Township, Hancock County, O., was born in Erie County, N. Y., May 29, 1831, and is a son of Benjamin E. and Sarah (Gail) Robinson.

Benjamin E. Robinson carried on the tan- ning business in Erie County, N. Y., before he came with his family to Ohio, in 1838, and set- tled in Franklin County, on the National Turn- pike road, eleven miles east of Columbus. Of the seven children born to Benjamin E. and Sarah Robinson, five survive. Mr. Robinson also has two half-brothers living and one half- sister.

S. G. Robinson was seven years old when his parents moved to Ohio and he attended the district schools in Franklin County. He was

The late Sylvester R. Wetherald was a prominent manufacturer at Findlay. In twenty years of age when he came to Blan-

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chard Township, Hancock County, and he has seen many wonderful changes. He carried the chain in the surveys made for many of the roads through this section and at times has followed an Indian trail which was not more than ten inches wide and in some parts not more than four or five inches, as far as the Maumee River. Mr. Robinson cleared up the greater part of his farm by himself and has devoted the land to general agriculture. He has been one of the leading men of his section and for twenty-four years has been a justice of the peace. Being of a peaceful disposition himself, he has been able to settle many cases out of court and thus has saved much trouble and expense to those who found it necessary to have their differences adjusted by some one with the right sense of justice. In politics, Mr. Robinson is a Republican.

Mr. Robinson was married in February, 1859, to Miss Mary Ann Haddox, a daughter of Enoch Haddox, of Blanchard Township, and five children were born to them: Edward, Stella, Ida, Samuel and Alexander. After the death of his first wife he married Emma (Mc- Kain) Day, a daughter of James McKain, of Pittsburg, and later of Toledo, O. Mr. Rob- inson has long been one of the representative men of Blanchard Township.

W. C. BUNN, whose valuable farm of 160 acres is situated in Section I, Union Town- ship, Hancock County, O., was born in Blanch- ard Township, Hancock County, March I, 1863, and is a son of John and Catherine Bunn.

John Bunn was born in Muskingum County, O., and was ten years old when he accompa- nied his parents, Reed Bunn and wife, to Put- nam County, where the father entered eighty

acres of Government land. John Bunn still survives and has worked at the carpenter trade ever since early manhood and is also a farmer. His wife was born in Stark County and accom- panied her parents to Hancock County where she was reared and married. Her death oc- curred March 1, 1902, at the age of sixty-four years.

W. C. Bunn was reared in Hancock County and obtained a common school education. In 1884 he married Miss Ellen Perkins, of Put- nam County, O., a daughter of one of the prominent old pioneers. In that county, Mr. and Mrs. Bunn started housekeeping. In 1909 they came to the present farm which is situated one and one-half miles north of Rawson, on the Findlay road. Mr. Bunn carries on gen- eral farming and stock raising, keeping hogs, sheep, horses and cattle.

Mr. Bunn and wife have five children: Da- vid, Ethel, Carl, Catherine and Erwin. He is not very much interested in politics but keeps well posted on current events and in every re- spect is a good citizen. For a number of years he has been identified with the Masonic frater- nity at Findlay.

GEORGE F. TROUT, of the firm of Trout Brothers, proprietors of a furniture store at No. 311 South Main Street, Findlay, O., and president of the Ohio Paint and Stain Com- pany, also of Findlay, has been a resident of this city since 1898. He was born at Van Bu- ren, Hancock County, O., January 19, 1873, and is a son of Judson B. Trout, who resides on his farm near North Baltimore, O.

In 1884, when George F. Trout was about eleven years old, the family moved to North Baltimore, in Wood County, and there he was educated, graduating from the North Balti-

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more High School in 1893. He married Miss a son of Alexander M. and Maria (Stone) Carrie Crites, a daughter of Samuel Crites, Norris. and they have one daughter, Irene. Mr. Trout is a member of a number of fraternal organiza- tions including the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.

The firm of Trout Brothers is composed of George F. and Len L. Trout and S. J. Chesbro and in addition to carrying on their large store at Findlay, they operate a furniture store at North Baltimore which is under the immedi- ate supervision of Len L. Trout. The works of the Ohio Paint and Stain Company are situ- ated on the corner of Taylor and Walnut Streets, Findlay. This company was organ- ized January 1, 1910, from the old Ohio Paint and Varnish Company, of which Mr. Trout was president as he is of the present company. Other officers are: Hiram Van Campen, sec- retary, and John H. Williamson, manager of the works. When the Trout Brothers came first to Findlay they established their store in the Marvin Theater Block, on North Main Street, moving from there to their present lo- cation in February, 1909. During his first two years of residence at Findlay, Mr. Trout ran an oil lease but since then has given his main attention to merchandising. He is numbered with the city's progressive, wide awake and enterprising citizens.

D. L. NORRIS, one of the substantial and representative citizens of Marion Township, Hancock County, O., who is serving in his fourth term as township treasurer, owns 220 acres of fine farm land in this township, sep- arated into three tracts, the home farm in Sec- tion 3, containing eighty acres. He was born in Fairfield County, O., May 13, 1848, and is

Alexander M. Norris was born in Maryland, in 1808, and came to Ohio in 1835. His father was Alexander Norris, who was of English ancestry. Alexander M. Norris was one of a family of fourteen children and he and his brother William were the only ones to come to what was then the West, and William died in Fairfield County, but Alexander M. came to Hancock County when his son, David Lewis, was but a child. For some years he followed the shoemaking trade and then bought a small place. He died in 1898, at the age of ninety years. He was twice married, by his first wife having four children: William H., Mary F., Elizabeth and Sarah J. Mary F. is the only survivor and is the wife of Samuel Mosier. His second marriage was to Maria Stone, who was born in Virginia, and three children were born to that union: George W., David Lewis and Anna, who is the wife of Henry Borough. The mother of these children died in 1893, at the age of eighty-two years.

David Lewis Norris was four years old when his parents moved from Fairfield to Hancock County and settled on the farm on which he lives. His father bought his first twenty acres from R. Foltz and subsequently added until he became possessed of a large estate. David Lewis grew to manhood here and his education was secured in the district schools. When he reached man's estate he took charge of the farm and later purchased it and has carried on farming and stock raising here. His sisters lived with him until their death and since then Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Hartman have resided here, Mr. Hartman at present being the practi- cal farmer. The farm house was built by the father of Mr. Norris and at times the present

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owner has repaired it and has erected the other buildings now on his land, including those on his other farms.

In politics, Mr. Norris is a stanch Republi- can and he has served frequently in township offices, as noted above, being township treas- urer and formerly was township clerk, and in 1889 was his party's candidate for county re- corder. He is a member of Findlay Lodge No. 73, Odd Fellows, and of the Golden Rule Encampment, and is a charter member of the local Grange.

SOLOMON SHAFER, owner of 330 acres of fine farming land in Delaware Township, Section 11, and seventy acres in Mt. Blanchard Sections 1 and 2, upon which he lives, was born in Knox County, O., March 23, 1836, a son of Michael and Nancy Shafer. The father came to Hancock County in 1835, with two of his eldest sons, and two of his eldest daughters, and cleared a small piece of land, on which he built a log cabin. In the following spring he was joined by his wife, who made the journey on horseback, carrying her little six-weeks old son, the subject of this sketch. Their farm was located in Section 12, half a mile south of Mt. Blanchard. Michael Shafer added to his little property from time to time until he finally be- came one of the largest land owners in Han- cock County, a result which speaks volumes for his industry and perseverance. He died on his farm in Section I, on August 16, 1862, being survived for eight years by his wife. She was a native of Ireland, coming to this country with her parents, who settled in Knox County, where they engaged in farming. She and her husband were the parents of twelve children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the ninth in order of birth.

Solomon Shafer was reared in Delaware Township, attending the country schools in boyhood and also the city schools at Mt. Blanchard. During his leisure hours he was gradually initiated into farm work, which sub- sequently became his life occupation. In 1859 he bought out the heirs of his father's estate, and in the following year he married Mary Elizabeth Hoge, who came to Hancock County from Belmont County, O., with her parents, when thirteen years of age, they settling on a farm in Amanda Township, this being about the year 1851. Subsequently they removed to the State of Iowa, where Mr. Hoge bought a farm, upon which he later died-in 1885. His wife passed away three years afterwards.

Soon after his marriage our subject began housekeeping upon his 70-acre farm in Sec- tions 1 and 2, which property he has since cut up into city lots. Upon his other property he carries on general agriculture and has been quite successful in this occupation, partaking of the prosperity which farmers in general are now enjoying throughout the country. He and his wife have had one child, Anna Lorena, who is now the wife of Lewis Renfrew Kious, of Madison County, and the mother of five children-Clifford Shafer, Mary Louise, Lewis R., Lorena and Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Shafer attend the Methodist Protestant church. From 1865 to 1869 Mr. Shafer served as county auditor, being elected on the Democratic ticket, and living during those four years in Findlay. The rest of his life has been spent in Mt. Blanchard.

FRANK C. SHANK, county auditor of Hancock County, O., is well and favorably known all over this county, belonging to one of its prominent old families and for a number of

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years being active in political circles. He was Christena Oaks Kimmell, the former of Dutch born in Union Township, Hancock County, O., and the latter of English descent, and was the August 20, 1873, and is a son of Albert and Mary E. (Watson) Shank.

Albert Shank was born in Allen County, O., and came from there to Hancock County where he followed an agricultural life until his de- cease in 1892. He married Mary E. Watson, a native of Mahoning County, O., who sur- vives.

Frank C. Shank was reared on his father's farm and after attending the country schools for some years, began to teach school, first in Union Township, for thirty-two months, and later at the village of Rawson for thirty-one months. He had always been a zealous Repub- lican and after he left the school-room he was elected deputy county auditor and served in that office for seven consecutive years. He was elected in the November election of 1908 to the office of auditor, assuming the duties of this office on the third Monday in October, 1909, and was one of the two Republican county officials, out of sixteen candidates, who were elected. Mr. Shank's long experience as dep- uty particularly qualified him for this office, in which he is efficient and popular.

Mr. Shank married Miss Gertrude Crist, who was born and reared in Eagle Township, Hancock County, and they have two children : Mary and Josephine. Mr. Shank is a member of a number of fraternal organizations, includ- ing : the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows, the Maccabees, the Elks, and the Sons of Vet- erans.

JACOB ANTHONY KIMMELL, M. D., was born on a farm near the village of Oneida, Carroll County, Ohio, on the 17th day of Sep- tember, 1844. He was a son of David and

eighth of a family of ten children, of whom three are still living.

In October, 1851, the family moved to Han- cock County, and settled on a farm in Marion Township about three miles from Findlay. Here he attended the country common schools and at the age of sixteen obtained a county cer- tificate and taught school in the winter time and attended the Findlay select school in the autumn season for two years, when in Febru- ary, 1863, he enlisted for three years in Co. A, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served to the close of the war, receiving his discharge from the service May 30th, 1865. He was present and took part in numerous skirmishes and battles of the Civil War, among the most prominent of which was Chickamauga, Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, New Hope church, Chattahoocha and Atlanta, serving with General W. T. Sherman in the "One hundred and twenty days' fight" from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Upon the arrival of Sherman's army at Atlanta, he was taken with rheumatism, and sent back in stages to Chatta- nooga, Nashville, and Jeffersonville, Ind. Fully recovering at the latter place, he received a de- tail as prescription clerk in the Joe Holt Gen- eral Hospital, of twelve hundred beds, where he remained until the close of the war.

Upon his return home, he taught one year in the Findlay schools, read medicine and at- tended the Medical Department of the West- ern Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio, graduating in the class of 1869. In 1875 he took the ad eundem degree at Bellevue Hos- pital Medical College, New York, and a Post Graduate course in the same city in 1898. He commenced the practice of medicine at Can-

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nonsburg, Hancock County, O., and was post- church, he holds strongly to the Unitarian master of that village under Grant's adminis- creed.

tration, but has practiced his profession in Findlay continuously since 1872.

In politics, Dr. Kimmell has always been a staunch Republican, and has served as a mem- ber of the city council and municipal gas trus- tee; he was appointed on the board of pension examiners by President Harrison. In 1895 he was elected to the Ohio Legislature from Han- cock County by a majority of 631, this being the largest majority given to a representative from this county in its history, and at this time secured the passage of the medical law of Ohio for the examination and registration of physi- cians and surgeons within the State. He has held the position of surgeon on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad for twenty-two years, and was president of the railroad surgeons of that system in 1909.

Dr. Kimmell is a member, and has been pres- ident of, the Hancock County and Northwest- ern Ohio Medical Associations; he is also a member of the Ohio State, National and Inter- national Medical Associations, as well as ex- aminer for a number of the large life insurance companies.

The Doctor has been an extensive traveler, having been in every state and territory in the United States, the British Maritime Provinces, Canada, Alaska, Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and the Isle of Pines in the Western Hemisphere, and has visited almost every coun- try in Europe as well as the western part of Asia and the northern part of Africa. Owing to this extensive intermingling with people of different political and religious views, he has become quite liberal in his views, and charita- ble to all, and while he is not a member of any

Having had the misfortune to lose two wives, he was married the third time August 30th, 1909, to the estimable Mrs. Effie Afton Gibson, of Detroit, Mich. He has one son, Alfred Graber Kimmell, by his second wife, Rosa Evelyn Kimmell.

HON. D. P. HAGERTY, once a member of the General Assembly from Hancock County, O., and a prominent retired farmer of Liberty Township, resides on his farm of 142 acres, which is located in Section 18. He was born April 3, 1844, in Fayette County, Pa., on the Pittsburg and Uniontown Road and is a son of Samuel and Maria (Gween) Hagerty, both natives of Fayette County, Pa. Samuel Hagerty, who was a mason by trade, spent his entire life in Fayette County, Pa. He was the father of five children, and he and his wife and two sons all died within two years, and were buried at Liberty, Fayette County, Pa. Our subject's two sisters reside in Fayette County. Mr. Hagerty was politically a Democrat.

Hon. D. P. Hagerty was reared and spent the first thirty years of his life in Fayette County, Pa., and there obtained his education in the public schools. He was engaged in farming there for some years after his mar- riage and also in Westmoreland County. In 1874 he came to Hancock County, Ohio, and settled on his present farm of 142 acres in Liberty Township, where he followed general farming and stock raising until 1905. He has since continued his residence here, overseeing his farming interests, and during the busy season he lends a helping hand with the work. In 1908 he was elected a member of the Gen- eral Assembly, and has since received the nom-

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HON. D. P. HAGERTY

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ination for a second term. He was a member of the Farmers' Institute of Benton Ridge of which he served five years as president, and was also a member of the McComb Farmers' Institute.

Mr. Hagerty was married in Fayette Coun- ty, Pa., in 1865, to Sarah Browneller, a daughter of Samuel Browneller, who was a native of eastern Pennsylvania. Of their union were born the following children: Liz- zie D., who is the wife of A. T. Richard, of Findlay, Ohio; A. L., who married Clifford Hauver, of Tippecanoe City, Miami County, Ohio; Anna B., who is residing at home; Samuel J., who married Permilla M. Eshel- man; and Emily, living at home.

GEORGE F. SHARNINGHOUSE, who resides on his excellent farm of eighty-three acres, eighty of which lie in Section 21 and three acres in Section 28, Portage Township, Hancock County, O., owns also a life lease in thirty-eight and one-half acres, situated in Section 33, the same township. He was born in Pleasant Township, Hancock County, Octo- ber 24, 1875, and is a son of William and Dora (Kuhlman) Sharninghouse.

William Sharninghouse was born in Hano- ver, Germany, December 12, 1849, and is a son of Henry and Mary Sharninghouse. His people were in humble circumstances and when he was seven years old he had to go to work to help support the family. After working for a time at herding cows, he bound himself out for a period of five years, under these conditions : Mr. Sharninghouse married Miss Jennie Pearl Mowery, a daughter of George Mowery, a prominent farmer of Pleasant Township, where she was born and reared. Four children have been born to this marriage: Ralph, · for the first year he should receive nine dollars; for the second year, twelve dollars; fifteen dol- lars for his third year of service; forty dollars for the fourth year and fifty dollars for the fifth year. In these days that looked like a very Joice, Zella May and Dorothy. Mr. Sharning-

large amount of money for a poor boy to earn. He kept faithfully to his contract and at the expiration of it had $126 comig to him. In the meanwhile he had heard much of the land of prosperity and opportunity across the At- lantic Ocean and when he received the money his toil had earned, he paid out a goodly por- tion of it for a ticket on a sailing vessel for America. He landed in the United States in 1869. He immediately sought employment but before he found any work that he could do, his money had dwindled to six dollars. After reaching Hancock County, O., he secured work in Allen Township as a farm hand and in four and one-half years had saved the sum of $500. He kept on working, sometimes renting land for a season or two and by 1881 was able to purchase seventy acres for himself. In 1896 he added enough more to make his farm 150 acres, located in Portage Township, where he has long been a leading farmer and respected citizen. In 1872 he married Dora Kuhlman, who died in 1904. They had four children: Amelia Jane, George F., Henry W., and Ora. Mr. Sharninghouse and sons all belong to the German Lutheran church.

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Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Part 54

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1189

Author: Jacob Anthony Kimmell
Publication date: 1910
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1189