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BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX > |
WILLIAM
ACERS is a well-to-do farmer of Sylvania Township, Lucas
County. He owns a place comprising forty-seven acres on
section 11, and htis he has improved by erecting good buildings and
a pleasant and commodious residence. He has been the owner of
this property since 1866, and is therefore numbered among the old
settlers of Sylvania Township. For several years he served as
School director, and in many other ways has manifested his interest
in public affairs.
The birth of William Acres occurred Aug. 31,
1834, in the state of New York. He received a good education
for those days, and remained at home until about 1858, when he
started for California in search of a fortune. For eight years
he worked industriously on the Pacific Slope, and managed to clear a
fair amount. On returning to Ohio in 1866, he bought the land
which he still cultivates.
In December, 1866, Mr. Acers and Lucilla Corbett
Green were united in marriage. Her parents were Dr.
Horace and Catherine (Tucker) Green, natives of Massachusetts.
They emigrated to the Buckeye State at a very early day, but after
staying here for two years removed to Buffalo, N. Y. Of their
five children, only three are yet living, namely: Mrs.
Acers; Charles, born Feb. 22, 1845, and now a member of the
Toledo Produce Exchange; and Estella, born Oct.
25, 1847, the wife of Dallas Randall. Horace, the twin
brother of Mrs. Acers, born Mar. 28, 1843, in Sylvania, died
at the age of three years. The eldest-born of our subject and
wife died in infancy; Elliott, their only surviving child,
born July 1, 1869, lives at home; Archie, born Sept. 6, 1871,
died Oct. 6, 1881. The next died in infancy unnamed; and
Stella, born July 25, 1883, died when six weeks old.
The parents of William Acers were Elliott and
Rosanna (House) Acers. The former was born May 1, 1809,
and died May 11, 1885, his remains being placed in the Sylvania
Cemetery. His widow, who is still living, was born Dec. 5,
1807, in New York State, and is a daughter of Isaac and Katie
(Ackley) House, natives of Germany. The father was killed
by the caving in of a gravel bank, when Mrs. Acers was a mere
child, and afterward his widow married again. He was the
father of six children, namely: Mrs. Katie Wright, who died
leaving three children; Mrs. Margaret Muckey, also deceased;
Mrs. Betsy Cassady, of New York State; James and
Benjamin, twins, and also residents of the Empire State; and
Mrs. Acers. The latter was first married to John
Randolph, who died a short time subsequently, leaving two
children: Catherine, who married David Stout, and died
in August, 1880; and Henry, born Feb. 16, 1832. He
lives with his mother, as he has never married, and has traveled
extensively during his life. To the union of Elliott Acers
and wife for children were born: William, whose history
is here given: Margaret, born Jan. 26, 1837; Electa,
who was born July 15, 1839, and married Washington Leonardson,
of Britton, Mich.; and Mary J., born Jan. 7, 1844, the wife
of Werter Shaffer, of North Baltimore. Margaret
married Howard Shaffer, who died Mar. 5, 1894, and she is now
living on the old homestead with her mother.
In August, 1844, Elliott Acers moved to Ohio,
locating on the tract of land now managed by his widow. There
were no buildings on the farm, and but little of it had been
cleared. He industriously set to work and brought it into its
present condition of fertility and thrift. For five years he
was absent in California, during the craze for gold, but after
paying his expenses had little left with which to return home.
Like his son William he was a good Republican, and served as
School Director. He was a great worker in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and fraternally was a member of the Sons of
Temperance. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Rosanna Acers,
Henry Ackley, was a Captain in the War of the Revolution.
At one time his wife, with her three children, was hidden by a
friendly Indian in the woods for three days, during a massacre of
the white settlers, but two of the children, notwithstanding, were
scalped by the redmen. A son Jacob, was stolen by the
Indians at the age of five years, and was kept a captive for eight
years. When the boy was found by his father he was as wild and
uncivilized as any of the savages. He had been marked by his
captors, who cut the tops of his ears, letting them hung down.
Mrs. Rosanna Acers is one of the pioneer women of this
county, and well remembers when the Indians were very numerous here.
Among her trophies of old days she has some blankets which she wove
herself, and which are seventy-two years old. She has been a
life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and an active
worker in the same, as was also her late husband from early boyhood
to the time of his death.
Source: Portrait & Biological History
of Lucas Co., Ohio - 1895 |
| HARRY C. ADAMS |
| JOHN ADAMS |
| JOHN Q. ADAMS |
| JOHN AMES |
| JAMES ANDREWS |
| CHESTER A. ARTHUR |
WILLIAM H. ATWILL.
Among the well known residents of this city may be mentioned our
subject, who is one of her native born sons, and has been connected
with her history for a period of over thirty years, his birth having
occurred in 1859. He is at present engaged in the drug
business on the corner of Cherry and Huron Streets, where he has a
well fitted and well stocked establishment and is receiving a
liberal patronage.
Our subject's father,
William H. Atwill, a native of England, emigrated to this
country when a young man. His first settlement was made in
Oswego, N. Y., where his marriage occurred, the lady of his choice
being previous to her marriage Miss Mary Hortigan.
She survived her husband several years, her death occurring in
Toledo in 1886.
In 1852 William
Atwill, Sr., with his family, removed from New York State
to this city, where he organized the Union Silver Band, later known
as the Milversted Band, and which on its organization was composed
of some of the best citizens of Toledo. He continued to reside
here until his death, which occurred in 1877. An active
business man, energetic and progressive, he was for some time
prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of Toledo.
Upon disposing of these interests he accepted the appointment of
United States Deputy-Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio,
including the Department of the Lakes. He afterward acted in
the capacity of agent for the Union Express Company, and while in
their employ was appointed to a position in the Railway Mail
Service, a post which he held for a period of sixteen years.
He was severely wounded in a railroad accident, and the injuries
there sustained eventually resulted in his death.
The second in a family of six children, all of whom attained years
of maturity, our subject passed the days of his boyhood and youth in
the excellent public schools of this city, and later attended the
German Jesuit School. On leaving school he became an employe
of Shaw & Baldwin, in a wholesale dry-goods and notion business, and
we next find him in the United States Mail Service, his run being
between Cleveland and Chicago, Ill., which position he held seven
years. He afterward became connected with the Lake Shore &
Michigan Central, serving first in the freight department, and was
in the employ of this company for two years. In teh year 1889
he became bookkeeper in the city gas office. In 1894 he
embarked in the drug business, which he has since so successfully
conducted, and in which he has proven himself a pharmacist worthy of
the respect and confidence of the people.
An important event in the life of our subject was his marriage with
Miss Anna Pilliod, which event occurred June 5,
1888. Mrs. Atwill is a daughter of
Francis Pilliod, at one time a prominent farmer of northern
Ohio. Later he engaged in a grocery business in Shelby County,
and in the '50s came to Toledo, where he made his home and was very
prosperous financially until his death, which occurred in 1883.
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Atwill were born three
children, Marie, William H. and Francis,
who are all living.
Socially our subject
is a member of the Order or Elks, and is also connected with the
Columbus Club, in which he is serving as Director. He was a
member of the Toledo Cadets for ten years and is now a member of the
Veteran Cadets. He and his family occupy a very pleasant
residence at No. 1019 Huron Street, and are much esteemed for their
many worthy qualities.
Source: Portrait & Biological History of
Lucas Co., Ohio - 1895 ~ Page 235 |
JUDGE DAVID R. AUSTIN was born in
Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio, in 1836. His father,
Andrew Yates Austin, one of the pioneers of Ohio, was born at
New Haven, Conn., and was a son of John P. Austin, of English
descent. His mother was before her marriage Miss Susan
(Tennant) Rogers, who was born in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pa.
In a family fight children, seven sons and one daughter, the Judge
is the third in order of birth.
On completing his elementary education, which was acquired at
the common schools of his native village, Willougby, Judge Austin
attended the academy at Warren, Mass., for a year, and afterward
completed his academic course at the Western Reserve Seminary at
Kirtland, Ohio, after which he taught school for several years at
Maumee City, Ohio. In 1858 Judge Austin came to Toledo and
read law in the office of Hon. Morrison R. Waite, late Chief Justice
of the United States, and was admitted to the Bar in Lucas County in
1860, after which he began his professional career, and has
continued in the practice of law at Toledo ever since.
In 1862 our subject enlisted in defense of the Union,
and was made First Lieutenant of the One Hundredth Ohio Infantry,
and with his regiment entered the field in August, 1862. He
served with his regiment on staff duty in Kentucky and Tennessee
until the fall of 1863, when he was discharged on account of
disability. He then returned to Toledo and resumed the
practice of his profession.
In 1861 our subject married Julia Gregory,
of Maumee City, who died in 1864. In 1875 he married for the
second wife Anna M. Prentiss, of Columbus, Ohio, a daughter
of the late S. V. Prentiss of that city. His family
consists of his wife and two daughters.
In 1873 Judge Austin was elected Probate Judge
of Lucas County for a term of three years, on the expiration of
which he was re-elected for a second term. Declining a
unanimous nominations for a third term, he resumed the practice of
his profession.
In 1891 Judge Austin was appointed by President
Harrison Collector of Customs for the District of Miami,
Ohio, with headquarters at Toledo, which office he now holds.
Politically the Judge is a Republican. He is President of the
Toledo Medical College, is a member of Toledo Post NO. 107, G. A.
R., and also a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion.
He was Judge Advocate General of the Grand Army of the Republic
during the administrations of Commanders in Chief Russell A.
Alger and John S. Kountz. He is a member of Sanford L.
Collins, Lodge F. & A. M.; Toledo Commandery No. 7, K. T., and also
a member of the Scottish Rite, Thirty-second Degree.
Source:
Portrait & Biological History of Lucas Co., Ohio - 1895 |
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