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North Bloomfield Twp. -
LEVI WARNER,
farmer; P. O. Whetstone; is the eldest of a family of six
children, and was born Nov. 6, 1831, in York Co., Pen., also the
nativity of his parents; his father, John Warner, a
farmer by occupation, emigrated to Ohio in 1834, and settled on
Government land. He has always been an honest tiller of
the soil, in which he has been successful. Levi
commenced for himself after coming to manhood; he is also a
farmer, which occupation, he considers, one of the highest
callings of man. Besides farming, he has run a threshing
machine ever since he was 18 years of age. He was married
Nov. 25, 1853, to Caroline, daughter of Henry and
Margaret Bortner. They have three children, whose
names are Leah, Levina and Edward. Mr.
Warner and wife are members of the Reformed Lutheran Church,
and are well respected. He is Township Treasurer, and has
many friends; he has a convenient and well cultivated farm, on
which he is putting good buildings, and can feel the pride and
satisfaction that comes from an interesting and happy home. |
JOHN H. WATKINS, of Ransom Township, one of the
prosperous, progressive and successful farmers of Hillsdale county
is a native of the county, born here in Jefferson Township on
August 22, 1861, and with the exception of a short time spent in
farming in Ohio, his life has passed among the people of the
county, entering fully into the spirit which animates them,
helping to advance the interest of the section and taking an
active part in its public life.
He is the son of Jason R. and
Margaret A. (Feltis) Watkins. and interesting account of whose
life will be found elsewhere in these pages. He remained at home
until he reached his legal majority, getting his education at the
district schools and Hillsdale College, where he attended one
year.
After leaving college he rented land in Ohio, and during
one year was engaged in farming in that state. He then returned to
his native county, and here followed the same pursuit, farming
rented land, until I896. In that year he bought the eighty-five
acres on which he now lives, and which he has since managed with
skill and intelligent industry, making it an excellent farm and a
very comfortable and attractive home. Mr. Watkins is energetic,
progressive and thrifty, being out of debt and with capital to
properly push his enterprises and make himself useful in the
community and helpful to others who are going through the struggle
he has had. He is a Republican in politics, with an earnest
interest in the welfare of his party, and breadth of view and
public spirit in helping to conduct its affars. He has rendered
faithful service to his township as highway commissioner during
the past two years, performing his official duties with an eye
single to the general good of the community and without reference
to personal interests for himself or others. He is a valued member
of the lodge of Foresters at Hillsdale.
On January 10, I883, he
was married to Miss Etta Foust, a native of Montpelier, Ohio,
daughter of Edwin and Elizabeth (Cope) Foust, the former a native
of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. For a number of years they
have been residents of Jefferson township in this county. Mr. and
Mrs. Watkins have three children, their daughters, Alta M., Grace
and Avice E. The parents are members of the South Jefferson
Congregational church.
(Elon G. Reynolds, Editor,
Compendium Of History And Biography Of Hillsdale County, Michigan,
Illustrated (Chicago, A. W. Bowen and Company, Publishers,
Engravers and Book Manufacturers, 1903),
432, 433.) Contributed
by Judith Anne (Weeks) Ancell
jancell@spro.net from family records. |
AMZA
WHITNEY - A prominent and influential citizen of Mt.
Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, and one whose contribution to the
commercial and industrial affairs of this section of the fine
old Buckeye state has been of most important order, is Amza
A. Whitney, who is a native son of this county, his birth
having occurred in South Bloomfield township on the 18th of
Jan., 1852. He is a scion of an old New England family
early established in the state of Connecticut, whence his
grandfather, Samuel Whitney, immigrated to Morrow county,
Ohio, about the year 1845. Samuel Whitney later
removed to Delaware county, this state, where he was engaged in
farming as a vocation and where his death occurred.
Amza A. Whitney's parents, Lyman B. and Elizabeth Ann
(Vail) Whitney, resided in the city of Columbus, Ohio, for a
time and in that place occurred the death of the father in
18542, at which time the subject of this review was a child of
but eleven months of age. Mrs. Whitney was a
daughter of Benjamin T. and Mary A. Vail, who kept a
country tavern in the southern part of Morrow county, the same
being known as Vail's Cross roads or Vail's
Tavern. She died at Mt. Gilead in 1872.
Amza A. Whitney attended the public schools of
Mt. Gilead, Ohio, until he had attained to the age of sixteen
years, at which time he began to clerk in a dry goods store at
Sparta, where he was in the employ of his uncle for one year.
Thereafter he was connected with the same line of enterprise at
Mt. Vernon for a period of ten years, at the expiration of which
he returned to Sparta, where he purchased the store from his
uncle, which he conducted with most gratifying success for the
ensuing ten years. In 1889 he was elected auditor of
Morrow county, as a Democrat, the county being strongly
Republican. He assumed the responsibilities of his office
in October, 1890, and served for a period of three years, at the
expiration of which he was elected to that office as his own
successor, serving for another term of three years. In
1891 he became one of the organizers of the Mt. Gilead Goods
Company, of which he was made president. After retiring
from the office of county auditor he became general manager of
the dry goods concern, of which he later became sole owner, the
firm being goods concern, of which he later became sole owner,
the firm being known under the name of A. A. Whitney &
Sons and consisting of the following members: Amza A. Whitney,
of this sketch, Allen B. Whitney, Clarence C. Whitney and
Horace W. Whitney. Aside from his mercantile
business Mr. Whitney ahs other financial interests of
broad scope and importance. He is one of the directors in
the National Bank of Morrow county, at Mt. Gilead; is president
and was one of the organizers of the Morrow County Telephone
Company; was also one of the organizers of the Electric Light &
Water Power Plant of Mt. Gilead, in which he is a stock holder
and a director; and is a director in the Galion, Ohio, Telephone
Company. In 1909 he was appointed by Governor Harmon
as one of the trustees of the Ohio State Sanatarium at Mt.
Vernon, Ohio, in which capacity he is serving at the present
time, in 1911. He is also a stock holder in the Marengo
Bank of Morrow county, in the Commercial Bank, at Galion, Ohio,
and in the Commercial Bank at Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
Mr. Whitney has been twice married, his first
union having been with Miss Mary V. Henderson, who was
the mother of his three sons, mentioned above. Mrs.
Whitney was summoned to the life eternal in 1885, and in
1888 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Whitney to
Miss Ella E. Henderson a sister of his first wife. No
children have been born to the latter union.
In his political convictions Mr. Whitney is
aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies
of the Democratic party, and while he has not been an active
participant in politics he has been on the alert to do all in
his power to advance the general welfare of the community.
In the time-honored Masonic order he has passed through the
circle of Scottish Rite Masonry, having attained to the
Thirty-second Degree. He is also a valued member of
Aladdin Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, besides which he holds membership in the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family are zealous
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the various
departments of whose work they have been active factors.
The three sons of Mr. Whitney were all afforded excellent
educational advantages in their youth, having been graduated in
the Ohio Wesleyan University, with the degrees of Bachelors of
Arts.
~ Since this biography was written, Mr. Whitney died at
his home Aug. 20, 1911 - Editor
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911
- Page 637 |
WILLIAM W.
WICK is a well-to-do farmer, and is farming one hundred
and sixty acres of land in Section 19, Sicily township (Gage
Co., Nebraska). This land is the homestead of his parents,
Andrew and Maria Elizabeth (Heimlich) Wick, who came to
Gage county in 1883 and purchased this land, up0on which they
made their home until they were called to the life eternal.
Andrew Wick was born in Baden,, Germany, in 1834, and was
a son of Sebastian Wick, who was also born in
Germany, and who came with his family to America. He
settled in Ohio in 1835, and there he tilled the soil until
1863, when he removed to Indiana, where he again beguiled nature
to yield her corn and wheat, and where he and his wife passed
the remainder of their lives. Their son, Andrew,
the father of William W. Wick, was a baby in arms when
his parents immigrated to the United States, and in his early
manhood he lived in Ohio where he married Maria Elizabeth
Heimlich, who was born in that state, in 1836, a daughter of
German emigrants who had first lived in Pennsylvania and then
moved to Ohio, where they were farmers in Morrow County, and
where they passed their last days.
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wick moved from Ohio in 1863
and settled near Bourbon, Indiana, on a farm of eighty acres.
They bought sixty acres more of the fertile land, making in all
one hundred and forty acres that they owned in Indiana. In
1883 they came to Sicily township, Gage county, Nebraska, and
purchased the land which their son William W. now owns.
For many years they lived on this homestead. Mr. Wick
died in 1894 and his widow passed away in 1915, at the age of
seventy-nine years. They were the parents of thirteen
children, and those surviving have taken their places in the
world, to enrich the communities in which they live: John
and Charles are twins, the former residing in Kansas and
the latter in Bourbon, Indiana; Catherine is with her
brother William, of this sketch; Mary who is
deceased, was the wife of M. Yowell, living in Oklahoma;
Lena is the wife of Henry Kelver, a retired farmer
living in Plymouth, Indiana; Henry L. is a farmer east of
Holmesville, Gage county; Caroline is the wife of
M. E. Kerr, a school teacher of Bourbon, Indiana;
William W. is the subject of this review; A. C. is a
farmer in Elm township, this county; Anna, is the wife of
F. H. Kimmerling, a retired farmer of Beatrice; R. J.
is a bachelor and lives with his brother William;
Philip died in infancy; and M. A. is a farmer
in Sicily township, this county.
William Wick was a lad of fifteen years when his
parents came to Gage county and here he finished his
education in the district schools. He has devoted his time
exclusively to his farming interests. He is a member of
the Lutheran Church and votes the Democratic ticket. He
has served as town clerk and is alive to the best interests of
his community.
Source: History of Gage County, Nebraska - Publ.
Lincoln, Nebraska, Western Publishing and Engraving Company -
1918 |
Mt. Gilead -
SAMUEL WILSON, retired; Mt. Gilead;
was born in Emmetsburg, Md., Dec. 10, 1808, and lived there
until 1819, when they moved to Middletown, same county, and
lived there until the winter of 1823, at which time they
moved to Guernsey Co., Ohio, and began clearing land, living
there until the winter of 1832, when they moved to Knox (now
Morrow) Co., and after living one year with his father, he,
Aug. 14, 1833, was married to Miss Mary Paramore, a
native of England; she died Aug. 11, 1851; of their seven
children, five are living - T. P., Mary A., Carrie M.,
William F. and Cyrus S. After his marriage
he went on a farm of seventy acres, which his father-in-law
gave him, to which he bought an addition, and lived on and
improved the same. Mar. 1, 1853, he married Mrs.
Lindsay, formerly Miss Phoebe Townsend; she
was born in Gallipolis, Ohio; he moved on the old homestead
farm of his father in 1855, he having, after his father's
death, bought out the heirs; he lived there until the spring
of 1871, when he came to Mt. Gilead and in 1872 moved to a
farm he had bought, one and one-half miles north of town,
and farmed the same for three years. In 1875, he came
to Mt. Gilead, and has lived a quiet life since. In
1828 he joined the Methodist Church, and has been a member
ever since; the pastor, at the time of his joining the
church, was the Rev. B. Christe, then preaching at
Cambridge, Ohio. Mr. Wilson was a member of the
Board of the First Church of Chesterville. Throughout
his long life he has never given or taken occasion to use
the law with his fellow man, and has so lived as to merit
the confidence of all who know him.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio
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Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880 - Page 559 |
Mt. Gilead -
WILLIAM C. WILSON, of the firm of
S. Thomas & Co., dealers in tile and earthenware; Mt.
Gilead; was born on the farm he now owns, three miles south
of Mt. Gilead, Sept. 15, 1839, and lived on the same until
he was 35 years of age; he attended district school, adn
worked onthe farm until he was 19 years old; he then
attended school in Mt. Gilead for three years, when he took
the management of the farm for his father. In August,
1861, he enlisted in teh 3d O. V. I., Co. I., and remained
in service seven months, when he was discharged, owing to an
accident he met with; he returned home, and resumed the
mangement of the farm, and May 1, 1862, he married
Elizabeth House. She was born in Mt. Gilead.
They have four children - Frank W., Charles S., Maggie
and Hattie. In the spring of 1875 he rented out
the farm, and moved to Mt. Gilead, and engaged in his
present business. His parents, Charles and Eliza
(Morris) Wilson, were natiaves of New Jersey and Ohio.
He came to Jefferson Co., Ohio, with his parents about 1820
and after his father's death about 1823, went to Morgan Co.,
and farmed about twelve years; he also taught school part of
the time. In 1831 he married, and in 1835, came to
Marion (now Morrow) Co., and lived on the farm until 1875,
when he came to Mt. Gilead with his son, where he died in
March, 1879. Mr. Wilson died on the farm in
1860.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio
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Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880 - Page 560 |
WILLIAM
ELSWORTH WILSON - In South Bloomfield township,
Morrow county, Ohio. William Elsworth Wilson is
engaged in diversified agriculture. There in the midst
of highly cultivated fields stand good buildings and an air
of nearness and thrift pervades the place, indicating the
careful supervision of hte practical and progressive owner.
He represents one of the pioneer families of the fine old
Buckeye state and is numbered among the native sons of Knox
county, his birth having there occurred on the 15th of
August, 1863. His parents, William and Sarah
(Hayes) Wilson, were both natives of Pennsylvania,
whence they came to Ohio about 1850, settling in Knox
county, slightly east of Sparta. Location was made on
a farm of two hundred and twelve acres, where Mr. and
Mrs. Wilson received a family of thirteen children,
namely: Elizabeth, Annie, Joseph R., Wesley H., William
E., John M., Emma A., Oliver D., Clara, Richard B., Arthur
M., Bertha M. and Hattie D., all of whom are
living in 1911, except Elizabeth, who was summoned to
the life eternal in 1904. The father was a general
farmer, was a stanch Republican in his political
proclivities and during his life time was connected with the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was a prominent
worker. He died about 1896, and his cherished and
devoted wife passed away about 1898.
William E. Wilson, the immediate subject of this
review, grew up on the old home, in the work and management
of which he early began to assist his father, and he
continued to reside at home until his marriage, in 1888.
Immediately after that event he established his home on a
farm in Knox county, where the family home was maintained
for a period of eleven years, at the expiration of which, in
1899, removal was made to the fine farm of two hundred acres
in South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, where he has
resided during the long intervening years to the present
time. In politics he accords a stalwart allegiance to
the principles and policies of the Republican party and he
has served with efficiency for eight years on the township
board of trustees. His religious faith is in harmony
with the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which
he a trustee. Mr. Wilson has been a cooperant
factor in many movements which have been of marked benefit
to the township and county. Honored and respected by
all, the high position which he occupies in public regard
has come to him not alone because of his success in
business, but also because of the straighforward,
honorable policy he has ever followed. Honor and
integrity are synonymous with his name and there is no
citizen in Morrow county more highly esteemed than is
William E. Wilson.
On the 14th of March, 1888, was solemnized the marriage
of Mr. Wilson to Miss Lulu Mitchell, who was
born in Morrow county on the 12th day of May, 1866.
She is a daughter of Lewis and Lenora (Osborn) Mitchell,
both of whom were natives of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs.
Mitchell became the parents of six children - Charles
M., Ellen M., Lulu M., William D., Edwin W., Elmer C.
all of whom are living. Mr. Mitchell was
identified with the great basic art of agriculture during
the major portion of his active business career. He
and his wife were members of the Disciple church and he was
a member of the board of school directors. In politics
he was aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican
part and he was incumbent of various public offices of
important trust and responsibility. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
have three children - Hazel G., born on the 9th of
March, 1891, as educated in the Sparta high school and she
is now residing at home; Ernest H., born Feb. 8,
1897, is a student in the Sparta high school; and Homer
E., whose birth occurred on the 20th of May, 1903, is
attending school in South Bloomfield township.
Mr. Wilson is one of the
leading raisers of fine Delaine sheep, registered, and he is
a regular attendant at the state fair of Ohio and other
fairs of prominence. He is a successful and up-to-date
farmer, and the pretty homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson
is known as the "Idlewild Stock Farm."
Source:
History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II -
Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911
- Page 518 |
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ANSON S. WOOD, a
farmer of
Peru twp., and familiarly known as “Uncle Anson,” was born
in Onondaga county, New York, July 20, 1825. His father,
Ebenezer Wood, a native of Vermont, came to
Delaware
(now Morrow) county in 1831, locating on the farm where our subject now resides,
then in the dense woods. He was one
of the earliest settlers of the county.
Our subject’s mother, nee
Jerusha Agnes Halsted, was a native
of Rhode Island, and of Irish descent.
Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Wood were married in New York, and
died in Morrow county, Ohio, the former at the age of eighty years, and the latter at the
age of ninety-one years. They were
the parents of four sons and three daughters, all but one of whom reached
maturity, namely: Reuben, Almira and
Nancy,
deceased;
Almon, of
Worthington, Ohio; Enos, deceased;
and Anson S., the subject of this
sketch.
The last was six
years of age when he came to Morrow county, and was reared on the farm where he
now resides, receiving his education in the log school-house. He has eighty-one acres of fine
farming land. When his father lived
on the place it contained a log cabin, 10x12 feet, with no doors or windows.
July 4, 1847,
Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Isabel Morehouse, who was born in New Jersey
in 1829, and came to Delaware
county with her parents at the age of six years.
Her parents were Daniel and Polly (Force) Morehouse, natives respectively of New Jersey and New York. Our subject and wife have had the
following children:
Melville,of Hardin county;
Almira, wife of
W. M. Waters, of Ashley, Ohio;
Ocean, wife of
Michael Fox, of Eden Station; Ebenezer; Albert,
deceased; Sarah, wife of
Charles Shoemaker, of
Ashley, this state;
Eunice, deceased; Cora, wife of Alexander Coomer, of Delaware
county; Minnie, deceased;
W. F. married
Vine Denis, and lives at Marengo,
Morrow county; and Vestia, who
married Roscoe Welch, is also living
in Marengo.
Source:
Memorial Records of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio -
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1895 ~ Page 204
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RICHARD WOOD, a
farmer of
Peru township, Morrow county, is a son of
Rev. Daniel Wood, born in
Peru, New York, Jan. 19, 1789. He was a son of
Jonathan and Rachie (White) Wood,
natives also of New York,
the father born December, 1760, and the mother, Jan. 18, 1764. They were among the early pioneers of
this county. Their children were:
Phoebe Nichols, Esther Irish, Danie, Amy Peasley, David, Susannah
Kingman, Israel, Lydia Osborn, Jonathan, Rachel
Hathaway, and Matilda Benker,
Daniel Wood, father of our subject, was married Apr. 30, 1812, to
Phoebe Benedict, born in Peru, New
York, Mar. 1, 1791, a daughter of Reuben
and Anna (Stevens) Benedict, natives respectively of New York and
Pennsylvania.
Reuben Benedict came to Ohio
in 1812, locating on the farm now owned by
John Osborn. His children were:
Phoebe Wood, Polly Gardner,
Aden, John,
Ezra, Lucy Mosher, Annis Oliver, George and
Martin.
Rev. Daniel Wood
and wife came to Ohio
about 1816, and he taught the first school in this township. They located on land now owned by our
subject, near Alum creek,
Peru
township, but afterward settled on a farm now owned and occupied by
Rev. George J. Wood. In 1830,
Daniel Wood laid out the
village
of Woodbury having
purchased the land at 75 cents per acre, and named the place. He was one of the pioneer ministers
in this locality, working in the Friends’ Church.
His death occurred Sept. 24, 1868, and his wife departed this life July
28, 1822. They were the parents of
the following children:
Annie, deceased, was the wife of Griffith Lewis, and they had five children; Levi married Caroline Whipple; Rachel,
deceased, was the wife of James Vernon; Jemima, deceased, was the wife of
Jacob Heely, and they had four children;
Richard, the subject of this sketch;
and William, deceased in infancy. For his second wife
Daniel Wood married
Elizabeth Benedict, a cousin of his
former wife.
Richard Wood, the only survivor of
his father’s family by his first marriage, was born on the banks of Alum creek,
Morrow county, Oct. 2, 1820. He
early learned the wagon-maker’s trade, and followed that occupation continuously
in Woodbury for fifty-four years, having made the first spring wagon and covered
carriage in Peru township.
He now owns 140 acres of fine farming land.
April 3, 1844,
Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Elmina James, who was born Apr. 19, 1824, a daughter of
David and Charlotte James, natives of
Loudoun county, Virginia.
Mrs. Wood died Mar. 9, 1871. Our subject’s
second marriage occurred Sept. 20, 1871, to
Cynthia (Webber) Philbrook, born in
Vermont, July 28, 1840, a daughter of
Lyman J. and Mary A. (Goodnow) Webber. The father was born in
Vermont, Apr. 20, 1810, a son of
Richard and Lydia Webber.
Richard was a son of Hiram Webber, who was a son of Able and Susan
Webber.
Abel was a son of
John and Hannah Webber; John was a son of William and Mary Webber; William was a son of Arnot and Sarah Webber; Arnot was the son of Walfort and Graticia Webber. Lyman Webber,
father of Mrs. Wood, and a carpenter
by occupation, remained in Vermont
until 1851, went thence to Massachusetts, and
next located at East Liberty,
Ohio. His
death occurred Feb. 26, 1889.
Mrs. Wood was first married to
David C. Philbrook, now deceased, and
they have one child living, William C.,
of Cardington twp., Morrow County.
Mr. and Mrs. Wood have also one child, Lyman Daniel, born Aug. 8, 1872. Our subject
and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the former having united
with that church over fifty years ago.
In political matters Mr. Wood affiliates with the Prohibition party, and has served as Township Trustee and in
many other minor offices.
Source:
Memorial Records of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio -
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1895 ~ Page 261
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NOTES:
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