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DAVID M. BALDWIN was one of
the earliest settlers of the south part of the township, having
come from Fairfield County, and settled on lands adjoining the
town of Benton. All was a wilderness when he came, and he
lived long enough to see one of the finest neighborhoods in the
county. Mr. B. was a genial, whole-souled man, ever
ready to accommodate to the extent of his ability, and ever
ready to resent an insult. For years he kept a tavern,
where the weary traveller always found a well laden table.
His large family are living near their old home, which is
occupied by his aged widow. |
DR. W. H. BALDWIN was born in
Champaign County, Ohio, Jan. 16, 1810, and came to Findley in
1832. Having studied medicine and attended lectures before
he came to Findley, he at once commenced the practice, and rose
to a high rank in his profession, and his practice became very
large, extending into adjoining counties. An extensive
practice at that day meant hard labor, long rides through a
country in which there were but few roads, and no brides.
But none of these discouraged the faithful physician in his
untiring efforts to relieve the afflicted.
But all these could not be endured without producing
their legitimate effects. The strong and healthy
constitution of Dr. Baldwin became impaired, and he
became prematurely old and feeble. His last years were
years of suffering, borne however, without complaint.
In April, 1835, Dr. Baldwin was married to
Miss Mary Jane Patterson, who survived him some ten or
twelve years. Four of the Doctor's children yet survive.
He left to his widow a comfortable home, and to his children an
unsullied name. In all the relations of life he was
considerate, respectful and just, and enjoyed the highest esteem
of the community. In 1842 he united with the Methodist
Church, and retained his membership until his death.
In 1836 Dr. Baldwin was appointed Clerk of the
Court of Common Pleas, for this county, which position he held
for seven years, discharging all the duties with promptness and
intelligence. |
A. H. BALSLY, the proprietor, was born in the city of
Pittsburg, Pa., Dec. 15, 1828, and whilst a resident of that
city, acquired a thorough knowledge of the art of printing, and
his first practical experience as an editor was in a subordinate
position. His first venture for himself was an editor and
proprietor of the Grand River Record, at Painsville, O.
He then became editor of the St. Clairsville Independent.
Afterwards for thirteen years he published the Plymouth
Advertiser.
After disposing of this, he in 1868
went to Fremont, O., and became proprietor of the Fremont
Journal. This paper he sold in the fall of
1875, and in May 1876, he purchased and took charge of the
Findley Jeffersonian, to which he added the Daily
Jeffersonian. Besides these two papers Mr. Balsley
is interested in the publication of the Milan Advertiser,
and the Carey Times.
Mr. Balsley is a
practical printer, a good business man, and a ready and forcible
writer. |
JOHN BARND came to this county in
1833 from Perry county, his father's family having preceded him
the year before. Mr. Barnd had married just
previous to his coming here, and being determined to make for
his family and wife a home, engaged in the serious business of
clearing up the forests with a will, and by his untiring
industry, his economy, and intelligent use of the means at hand,
he succeeded in surrounding himself with all the comforts of
life, and after assisting his children, of which he had a large
family, to start in life, has an abundance left for himself and
aged wife, who still lives to share the fruits of their united
toils, and early deprivations.
No man in the township commands a greater respect from
all classes of people, than does Mr. Barnd.
Throughout his long life, he has been noted for his honesty and
hospitality. Coming to this new country, when neighbors
were few and far between, when social enjoyments were almost
unknown, and when strangers as well as friends were welcome,
Mr. B. always, and on all occasions, displayed the natural
goodness of his heart, in extending to all that generous
hospitality, for which the genuine frontiersman was noted.
He was present and one of the voters at the organization of
Portage township, of which this township was part.
Mr. Barnd was the first Justice of the Peace
elected in the new township of Allen, and held the office of
consecutive terms. His discharge of the duties of the
office was satisfactory to his constituents, and his decisions
were marked with such candor and fairness, that appeals were
very seldom made to the higher courts. Mr. Barnd is
still living on his old home place, spending his time peacefully
and quietly in the company of his family, who are near him.
Mr. Barnd has always followed the occupation of a farmer.
~ Page 190 - Allen Twp. - History of Hancock County, Ohio -
1881 |
Findley Twp. -
BARNA
BEARDSLEY was the oldest of seven sons of Daniel
Beardsley, and was born in Delaware County, New York, on the
9th day of March, 1797. His parents were from the State of
Connecticut, and of course were Yankees. In 1803 his
father came to Ohio and settled near Newark, in Licking County.
When about fifteen years of age, Mr. Beardsley left his
home and went to Columbus, Ohio, or rather to Franklinton - as
there was no Columbus then - and during the war of 1812-15, he
served part of the time as a wagon-boy, and part of the time as
clerk in the office of the Paymaster. He was several times
sent out as the bearer of important dispatches, to the officers
in command of the different posts in northern Ohio.
Dispatches were sent by him to Gen. Cass, at Zanesville,
to Gen. Harrison at Fort Meigs, and to the commander at
Fort Crogham at Fremont.
After the close of the war, he went to the mouth of the
River Rasin, and engaged in the carpenter trade. He also
assisted in the erection of the first frame buildings in
Sandusky City. After several years absence he returned to
Licking County, where on the 9th day of April, 1820, he married
Mary Boylan, the eldest child of Aaron and Beulah
Boyland. From that time until 1834, he followed his
trade as carpenter, and operated Hollister's Distillery until
September, 1834, when he came to Hancock County, his
father-in-law and one sister having preceded him, and took up
his residence with his wife and seven children in a cabin on the
present Infirmary farm. The country was then very new, and
being almost without means, a struggle commenced for the support
of himself and his young family.
Fortunately his services as a carpenter were in demand
in the new settlement, and steady employment was had, at what
was then deemed good wages. But as all materials for the
building had to be wrought out by hand, not many buildings could
be erected in a year, and the work was of the most laborious
kind.
In 1840, Mr. B. and his sons having farmed quite
extensively in addition to his work as a mechanic, he purchased
of Aaron Hough thirty acres of land in Findley township,
and he and his family at once went to work clearing it up, and
in the fall of 1841 had so far succeeded as to be able to move
on it, in a cabin which had been erected.
Here his four sons, the eldest having obtained his
majority, and went out to do for imself, carried on what farming
was possible on so new a tract of land, and the father worked
industriously at his trade, building many of the first
frame buildings in the town, as well as in the country.
In September, 1847, the wife fo Mr. B. died, and
soon after the family were dispersed, the oldest son going to
California in 1849, and dying there in 1850, the others
beginning life for themselves at different places.
In 1856 he sold his farm, and went to Iowa, where he
remained for about fifteen years, engaged most of the time in
mercantile pursuits. He then returned to Ohio, and made
his home with his children, in this and Putnam Counties, until
the 4th day of April, 1881, when he died at Columbus Grove, O.,
in his eighty-fifth year.
Mr. Beardsley was a man below medium size, but
possessed of uncommon physical endurance, and the most robust
health. No one perhaps in the whole settlement could
perform so much hard labor with as little fatigue as he.
An almost iron constitution enabled him to endure the greatest
hardships and perform the greatest labor. Scarcely ever
needing the assistance of medicine, he hardly knew what it was
to be sick,. Having been a frontiersman all his life, he was
inured to all the privations incident thereto. His last
years were years of great suffering, being afflicted with an
incurable malady, yet they were endured without complaint.
Mr. Beardsley united with the Methodist Church
when young, and was a member for more than sixty years.
His house, in the early days of his residence here, was the home
of the Methodist ministers, Conway, Hill, Allen, Heustiss,
Wilson, Biggs, Tibballs, Seeley, Runnells, Breckenridge, Pope,
and a host of other preachers have partaken of his
hospitality.
He was the father of ten children, five boys and five
girls, seven of whom are living. He lived long enough to
see all his children married, and at his death had ten children,
forty-five grand-children, and twenty great grand-children. |
Union Twp. -
REV. RICHARD BIGGS was born on
the 12th day of November, 1806, in Columbia County, Pa., and
died at his home in the town of Rawson, Ohio, on the 18th day of
July, 1880.
In 1829 he united with the Methodist Church in
Northumberland County, Pa. He shortly afterwards removed
to Summit County, Ohio, where in July 1836, he was licensed to
preach.
In 1838 he removed to Hancock Co., and settled near the
present town of Rawson. Two years later he was admitted to
the North Ohio Conference at its session in Norwalk, and for
more than thirty years was an itinerant minister, and having the
following charges: Findley, Kalida, Defiance, Clarksfield,
Amherst, Dalton, Congress, Chesterville, Marcellus, Millersburg,
Shanesville, Pleasantville, Mt. Blanchard, Adrian, Arcadia,
Bluffton, Bettsville and McComb.
Mr. Biggs was left an orphan when but six years
of age. His educational privileges were very limited, yet
such was his diligence in his studies, that he began teaching at
the age of sixteen. He wsa always a close student, and
kept up with the times. He was a man of unyielding
rectitude, and pure in his life, modest and retiring in his
disposition, yet faithful in the discharge of every duty.
He commenced the ministry when it meant hard labor, little pay;
the country being new, the appointments were long distances
apart, and the people scattered and poor, yet he earnestly and
uncomplainingly toiled to lay the foundations of good society,
good government and good morals. His wife still survives
him, as also four of his children. |
PRICE BLACKFORD was born in
Pennsylvania, in 1803, and came to Ohio when but a boy, and with
his parents located in Wayne County, but the family afterwards
removed to Stark County. In 1834 Mr. Blackford,
with his family, came to Findley, and he at once commenced the
manufacture of fur hats, a trade which he had learned of his
father. No professional man, and scarcely any young man
considered himself dressed properly unless he was crowned with
one of Blackford's hats.
Perhaps no man ever lived in Findley who enjoyed a
greater share of the respect and confidence of the people than
did Mr. B. His honesty was proverbial, and his
dealings were all characterized by courtesy and fairness.
He held the office of Justice of the Peace for fifteen years,
and "Blackford's Decisions" were regarded as almost
infallible. He was a member of the Baptist Church for more
than thirty years.
He had a family of six children, three of whom are
living. Aaron and Jason are both practicing
attorneys in Findley, and Albert is in business in
Clinton, Mo. Mr. Blackford died in 1851, at the age
of forty-eight years, and universally lamented. |
Pleasant Twp. -
CHARLES BLAKEMAN is still
living, and a resident of McComb. He, too, was a farmer,
and a man of probity and industry, and has always enjoyed the
esteem of his neighbors. He is now in his old age, quietly
enjoying the fruits of his labor. |
ELMER C. BOLTON. The
above named gentleman, at present holding the responsible
position of engineer of Hancock County, deserves especial notice
among the young men who have achieved exceptional success in
difficult lines of employment through scarcely thirty years of
age. Mr. Bolton has been connected with the
engineering department of the county or city ever since leaving
school,, and has exhibited an aptitude for the work that
bespeaks the born mechanic. In fact, Mr. Bolton is
regarded as one of the brightest and most promising of the
county's young men, his friends predicting for him higher and
better things than any so far achieved. Though not a
native, all his adult life ahs been spent in Hancock County, and
he is so thoroughly identified with its interests as to deserve
rank among her most loyal sons.
Elmer C. Bolton was born in Westmoreland county,
Pennsylvania, Oct. 19, 1873, and when nine years of age was
brought to Ohio by his parents. They located in Hancock
County, and here Elmer received his education in Findlay
College, supplemented by a course in the Ohio Normal University
at Ada. He left the last mentioned institution in 1894 and
shortly thereafter obtained employment as a helper in the office
of the engineer of Hancock county. Two years later he
became a candidate for the office of engineer, and at the fall
election in 1896 was defeated by only fourteen votes. In
Jan. 1897, the legislature extended the term of several county
officers, among the number being that of engineer, and Mr.
Bolton was appointed by the county commissioners to fill out
a term of eight months in that office expiring in September,
1897. At the expiration of that time he was appointed
engineer of Findlay by the city council, and served in that
office from September 1, 1897, until June 1, 1900. In the
fall of 1899 he had been elected county engineer for a term of
three years, and took charge of his office shortly after
finishing his service with the city.
Mr. Bolton finds relief from business cares by
social communion with his fellows in various fraternities,
including the Masons, Elks and Knights of Pythias.
Benjamin F. Bolton, father of this popular young official,
who was born in Hancock County in 1848, is at present engaged in
teh insurance business at Findlay, and in one of the respected
citizens of the place.
September 25, 1901, Mr. Bolton was united in
marriage to Miss Dena Singleton, of Findlay, daughter of
M. C. and Jennie Singleton. In politics Mr.
Bolton is a Republican and was nominated September 6, 1902,
for re-election to the position he was then holding.
Source 4: Centennial Biographical History of Hancock Co., Ohio -
Pub: New York & Chicago by The Lewis Publishing Company - 1903 -
Page 332 |
Findley Twp. -
ROBERT BONHAM
came to the township at a very early day, and commenced clearing
up a farm a little north-west of Findley, and upon which he
resided up to the time of his death in May, 1877.
Mr. Bonham was an industrious, economical, and
unassuming man. As a neighbor, he was kind and
accommodating, as a citizen, he was true to the best interests
of the people, as he understood them, as a Christian he was
consistent. Purely domestic in his habits, he very seldom
went farther from home than the village, and was never in a
railroad car until less than a year before his death. He
was a man of peculiar habits, but respected by all who knew him.
Mr. Bonham was a native of Virginia, and was three times
married. |
JOHN BOYLAN, for more than forty
years a resident here, came from near Newark, Licking County,
Ohio, in 1832. He was one of the first school teachers in
the county, and for many years taught "the young ideas how to
shoot," and how to shout too, for that matter, for I have a very
vivid recollection of the energetic manner in which he swung the
birch.
Mr. Boylan was a local preacher of the Methodist
Church, and one of its earliest members of the county. As
a minister he was fervent and touching in his appeals and
powerful in his exhortations. After his long residence
here he went west, and is now a resident of Iowa. |
Union Twp. -
GEORGE BURKET was born in Berks
County, Pa., and emigrated to Fairfield County, Ohio, at which
place he was married to Mary Fox, In 1831, he came
to Hancock County with his wife and two children. He
settled on the farm afterwards owned by his son Jacob.
Mr. Burket was a tall slender man, and of rather
delicate health. With the help of his family, he cleared a
very valuable farm at which place he died about eighteen years
ago. |
Washington Twp. -
DR. WILLIAM G. BRAYTON,
physician and surgeon, Arcadia, is a native of Wyandot County,
Ohio, born Apr. 23, 1849, one of eleven children born to
William and Margaret (Carr) Brayton, natives of Vermont and
New York, respectively, former a miller by trade. Our
subject's grandfather built his first flouring-mill in this
section at a very early date. Dr. Brayton remained
in his native county until twenty-four years of age. He
studied medicine under the instruction of his uncle, Dr. A.
Brayton, and afterward attended the Michigan University at
Ann Arbor, and later took several courses of lectures at the
Miami University at Ann Arbor, and later
Source 3: History of Hancock County, Ohio -
Publ: Chicago - Warner, Beers & Co., 1886 - Page 876 |
Union Twp. -
JACOB BURKET, son of
George, was born in Fairfield county, in December, 1811, and
when about five years of age, his parents removed to Perry
county, where he remained until 1831, when he came to this
township.
When Mr. Burket came, there were but two other
families in the township Philip Cramer, who resided where
his son Jacob now does, and Nicholas Folk, who
then lived on what is now known as the Teatsorth farm.
Mr. Burket was present and voted at the first
election in the township. He says that at that election,
Philip Cramer, Nicholas Folk and George Burket were
elected Trustees and Wenman Wade, Clerk.
Mr. Burket was married in 1832 to Sarah
Cramer, by Esq. John Cramer. This was the first
marriage in the township. Mrs. Burket died in 1850,
and he was again married this time to the widow of Philip
Cramer, jr.
After a long and active life on his farm, Mr.
Burket removed to the village of Rawson, where he is quietly
enjoying his declining years. He has always enjoyed the
esteem of his neighbors and has a host of friends. |
Cass Twp. -
JOHN BURMAN was
born in Luzerne County, Pa., in Feb. 1783, and came to Fairfield
County, Ohio, where he was married to Catharine Fisher.
Mr. B. was of Dutch descent. He was a gun-smith by
trade, and worked at that business until he came to this county,
in 1828, after which time he was a farmer. Mr. B.,
his father and two brothers were in the service of the United
States in the war of 1812, and had head-quartees at Franklinton,
opposite Columbus, Ohio. When Mr. B. came to this
county with his family he took up his residence in a log cabin
on the land on which he occupied up to the time of his
death.
Mr. B. was of medium height, and weighted about
one hundred and seventy-five pounds, of strong constitution and
robust health, he was well calculated to do battle with the
hardships of pioneer life.
In religious belief; Mr. B. was a
Lutheran, and was a member of that church many years. He
built the first mill in the township. During the first
year of his residence here, his was the only family
residing in the township. He has four sons and two
daughters living. Two of his sons were in the army during
the rebellion. Mr. B. died in 1863, and his aged
wife survived him about five years.
(Sharon Wick's Note: Mr. Burman can be found in 1860
Census Allen Township, Hancock Co. - P. O. VanBuren in Film
Series M653 Roll 982 Page 35 - Dwelling 457 Family 448 with his
wife Catherine and 3 children. - He also lives near the family
of Henry Burman) |
Union Twp. -
JAMES BURNS, one of the best
citizens, industrious, honest, after years of toil, accumulated
a competency for himself and family, died surrounded by kind
friends and neighbors, regretted by all. |
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