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BIOGRAPHIES
| FREDERICK
HARPSTER (deceased), was a native of Mifflin County, Penn.
He was married, in 1826 to Miss Cynthia Barben, and they came at
once to Ohio, residing in Wayne County until February, 1830, when they
settled at Flat Rock, Thompson Township this county. He owned all
the land now occupied by the town, and cleared up the most of it.
Of their children two died in childhood, Thomas died at the age
of twenty-four years, Joseph died at thirty years of age, and
Lewis lives in Thompson Township, this county. Mrs.
Harpster died in 1843, and Mr. Harpster afterward married
Sarah Holenshead, who died five years after their marriage, leaving
one daughter, Susan, wife of Amos Armagast. Mr. Harpster
afterward married Mrs. Amanda Orwig, who still survives him.
She has one daughter, Mrs. Dillie Vandersall. Mr. Harpster
died Oct. 3, 1874. He was a useful and upright pioneer citizen,
leaving an honored name to posterity. He was successful in
acquiring a fine farm of about 250 acres. He was a member of the
Evangelical Church, and helped establish the church here. He was
very liberal in supporting schools and churches and was a man active in
public affairs. SOURCE No. 2: History of Seneca County, Ohio containing a History of the County, Publ. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. - Page 1007 - Thompson Twp. |
| GEORGE F.
HARPSTER - The state of Pennsylvania includes the land deeded to
William Penn when King Charles of England owed him such a
large debt he could pay it no other way. This transaction also
afforded a means of getting rid of the bothersome sect, the Quakers, or
members of the Society of Friends, who were getting altogether too
powerful in England. King Charles believed he was sending
away only the scum of his empire to the New World, but no better blood
and better citizens have come to people our shores than the Quakers who
settled in Pennsylvania. From this line of sturdy folk came the
forbears of George Harpster, who was born in Knoxville, Marion
county, Iowa, Oct. 14, 1858. His parents, Frederick and Mary A.
(Yarger) Harpster, were both natives of Pennsylvania and their
parents in turn were born in Pennsylvania. Frederick Harpster,
whose birthplace was the forenamed state and who eventually secured and
farmed government land in Seneca County, Ohio. The perilous
journey to the Buckeye state was made on foot, and the family drove
their cattle ahead of them. They started with a number of milch
cows, but ere they arrived they had only one cow as an adjunct in
starting their farming operations. We can see from this incident
what a perilous journey it was. George Harpster and his
good wife spent the rest of their lives on their land in Senica county,
Ohio, where they were laid to rest. Frederick Harpester, the father of George F. Harpster, was born in the Keystone state and endured the hardships of pioneer life in Ohio. It was in that state that he married Mary A. Yarger, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of G. F. and Benivel Yarger, whose migrations were from their birthplace in Pennsylvania to Ohio and thence to Indiana, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. Yarger was a tailor, and plied his trade at Carey, Ohio, but farmed after his removal to Indiana. In 1857 Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Harpster moved to Knoxville, Iowa, where he followed his trade, that of tinner, and later he moved to Glasgow, Iowa, where he was employed in the same way. It is here, in 1862, that he died. Two children, Mrs. George Harris, and George F., the subject of this sketch, were his only children. The second marriage of Mrs. Harpster was to Casper Zerman and the two surviving children of this marriage are Frani, who is employed by the publishing firm in Toledo, Ohio; and Flora, wife of A. L. Taylor, a harnessmaker living in New York. Their mother is making her home with them. After the death of his father George F. Harpster lived with his mother and stepfather until 1871, when he came to Blue Springs, Nebraska. From Marysville, Kansas, the journey was made in the old fashioned double teamed stage. Mr. Harpster remained two years on the farm in Gage county and then went to Ohio, where he remained until 1880, when he again came to Blue Springs, where for fourteen years he was employed by the Roderick Brothers in their general merchandise store. He then engaged in business for himself, for five years, being thus established at Glenwood, Iowa. With three hundred dollars to start on in the way of money, but with a good deal of energy and self-reliance, Mr. Harpster purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land near Blue Springs in 1890, and to this he has added from time to time until he now has two hundred and eighty-five acres. He has continued to prosper and has now a nice home, with commodious buildings on his farm, close to the city of Blue Springs. In 1881 the marriage of Mr. George Harpster and Ida Miller was solemnized. She is a daughter of John and Electa (Shattuck) Miller, natives respectively of Germany and Vermont; they were married in Waukon, Iowa, and in 1882 homesteaded in South Dakota, where they are both laid to rest. Mrs. Harpster was born in Waukon, Allamakee county, Iowa, July 6, 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Harpster have three children: Myrtle is at home with her parents; Bert is living at Dawson, Nebraska; and Leafy is the wife of Perry Shoenholz, of St. Paul, Minnesota, where he formerly was employed as superintendent of a bakery, but is now the manager of the Puritan Milk Company. Mr. Harpster is affiliated with the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, while he and his wife are both members of the Order of the Eastern Star and members of the Presbyterian church. His political views are in harmony with the principles of the Republican party, he is a valued citizen and is definitely worthy of the title of self-made man. Source: History of Gage County, Nebraska - Publ. Lincoln, Nebraska, Western Publishing and Engraving Company - 1918 - Page 1032 |
| LEWIS HARPSTER,
son of Frederick Harpster, whose sketch appears above, was born
April 30, 1827, Wayne Co., Ohio, and obtained his education in the
pioneer schools of those early days. He married June 16, 1850,
Miss Elizabeth Beck, born in Centre County, Penn., Oct. 25, 1829,
and came to Flat Rock, this county, in 1849. Her parents,
Daniel and Juliann Beck, resided here until their death, the former
dying in 1863, the latter in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Harpster
have two sons living: George Franklin born February 12, 1855, a
promising employe of the W. & L. E. Railroad, and Ervin Lewis,
born April 12, 1861, now farming for his father. Mr. and Mrs.
Harpster are members of the Evangelical Church. SOURCE No. 2: History of Seneca County, Ohio containing a History of the County, Publ. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. - Page 1008 - Thompson Twp. |
| GEORGE HECK. The subject
of this sketch is now the oldest settler in the township. The writer
has not been able to trace any one who settled here before Mr. Heck
and is still living. Mr. Aiken was a very respectable pioneer
and he died but a few years ago. He came about the same time that
Mr. Heck arrived. The grandfather of Mr. Heck came from Germany. George Heck was born Oct. 5, 1797, near the mouth of Hocking river, in Athens county, Ohio. He grew up on his father's farm there. He married Sarah Grelle, who was a widow with four children. Samuel Grelle, Esq., late county commissioner, is one of them. With her he had ten children, of whom five are still living, the others having died in childhood. The oldest one living is his daughter, Catharine, wife of Harry Fiser; next, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Bowlin, and Maria, wife of John Strebin, all living in the state of Indiana; Daniel G. Heck, the popular superintendent of the Seneca County Infirmary, and John, the youngest son, who is living near his father on the old homestead. The children all have families and are all doing well. Soon after the land sales, Mr. Heck's father bought, at the Delaware land office, the southwest front quarter of section twenty-five, in this land office, the southwest front quarter of section twenty-five, in this township, and made a deed for it to his son George. Three years after he was married he moved onto the land there. Mrs. Heck died on the 18th Dec., 1840. About one year thereafter, he married Sarah, the sister of John Kerr, Esq., now residing in Tiffin. She dropped dead the sister of John Kerr, Esq., now residing in Tiffin. She dropped dead on the floor in 1875 after living on the old homestead with Mr. Heck thirty-five years. At breakfast, on the morning of the day she died, she told Mr. Heck her dream of the previous night. She said she dreamed that their canoe got loose (their house stands near the river), and drifted to the other side of the river; that she walked after it on the top of the water, and as she reached the other shore, she stepped onto a log, and looking back saw her steps on the log. Mr. Heck says: I am my father's youngest son. I had one brother and four sisters, and am the only one remaining of my father's family. My parents talked German to each other, but always English to us children, and therefore I never learned the German. We hired a team and moved up here in the spring of 1823, by the way of Upper Sandusky along the Negrotown road, as it was then called. It was not the present Negrotown road, but a trail by that name that wound through the woods in all directions. Anderson's and Crocker's were all the houses between Mexico and Tiffin, and they were cabins in the woods. When we arrived here and found our land, we hunted for, and found, a suitable place to locate near the bank of the river in the woods. We unloaded and the team returned. I paid the man $20 to bring us here, and that left me but $5, all told, and here I was with a wife, five children, five dollars, no house, no team, no neighbor and no friend near. I cut four, put them into the ground in a square, laid poles across them, made some clap-boards and covered the shed, and here we camped until my brother-in-law, Peter Baum, who had married may wife's sister, helped me cut some logs, which, for want of a team, we carried together and built a cabin. For want of other material to make a floor, I took the bark of large elm trees and spread it one the ground, which answered very well. There was a spring on the bank of the river, near this cabin, and here we lived two years, when I built a better log house and moved into it. There was two years, when I built a better log house and moved into it. There was not a stick cut on this land nor in the woods for miles around. There were neither roads nor bridges. When I was a boy grown up, my father moved with his family to Perry county, where I was married. From there I came here. We had a couple of cows, and after struggling along during that summer, fall and winter as bets we could, my father brought to me a yoke of oxen the following spring. This was a sort of God-send and I began to take courage. Some time afterwards I went back to Perry county and brought home a young brood mare I had left there. My father brought me flour twice, which kept us from starving, and some of the other settlers also. When they found out that we had flour, they came for several miles around to borrow some, to be paid back some time in kind. We had good flour, but some who returned flour brought a very inferior article. Foncannons never brought theirs back until two years afterwards, and others never made return at all. Then the clothes I brought with me were worn out, and how to get others I did not know. I killed two large bucks and took the skins to the Mohawk squaws, on the Van Meter section, who tanned them for me. I paid them for it with a few pounds of flour. I cut a pair of pants out of these skins and my wife helped me sew them. For three years I wore these every day, and they were the most serviceable pants I ever had. I got Jacob Price to tan a skin also, out of which we made a pair of pants for Samuel Grelle, but whenever they got wet and dry again, they became as stiff as boards. Price did not understand tanning deer skins as well as the Mohawk squaws. When James Aiken came here, he was a single man. William Anderson came here also about the time we did, and Aiken married Anderson's daughter. They lived on the Negrotown road. Aiken was a Virginian, but lived at Delaware a short time before he came here. He was here when I came. Anderson's land joined mine on the east. The first wheat I raised I took to Moore's mill, near Lower Sandusky to get it ground. We all took sick and had a great deal of trouble with the diseases incident to life in the forest. Soon after my arrival here I became acquainted with Hard Hickory, of the Senecas. He was a very intelligent Indian and spoke English very plainly. He prided himself on his French blood. They camped near our house, and brought their camp equipage with them in their canoes. One night Hard Hickory and another Indian killed two deers near my house. The Indians fixed a candle over their heads in teh canoes, and while the deers were feeding on the tender grass in the river, they would look at the light, while the Indians, sitting in the dark beneath, could row almost up to them and kill them. They put two forks into the ground and a pole across them about four feet up. The meat was cut into pieces, laid on this pole and dried by a fire made beneath. The meat was salted a little before it was dried, and when thus well cured, it was put into a square pack, the skin of the deer wrapped around it and tied with strings of raw hide. A crooked stick was fastened on the back of a pony and a pack of this dried venison, called "jerk," fastened to each end, to be taken home. This drying and packing and cutting up of the meat was all done by a squaw. One time when Hickory camped here, and before I had a team, I borrowed one of his ponies to go to Tiffin for a half bushel of salt. He was always kind to me. There was also a Taway Indian through here occasionally they called Pumpkin. He was the biggest Indian I ever saw, and the most savage looking. Everybody, even the other Indians were afraid of him. He was fully six feet high, had a glaring look, showed his teeth very much and he must have weighed fully two hundred pounds. Somewhere down about Cold creek a white man by the name of Snow, had his cabin. One time, in the absence of Snow, Pumpkin came into the house and killed Mrs. Snow. He then cut her open and took out of her womb a full grown babe, stuck it on a stick and roasted it over the fire in the house. The white neighbors gave the alarm and the Senecas caught Pumpkin and brought him to Snow, telling him that he should kill him or do anything else he pleased with him. Mr. Snow, fearing the consequences, let Pumpkin run. Soon after that, Pumpkin stole a corn hoe from my neighbor,,,, Aiken. Aiken told Pumpkin to leave the country and never show his face again. It was not long after that, when Pumpkin got into a fight with a Wyandot and killed him. They made him sit on a log, when some six of them plunged their tomahawks into his brain. Joseph Foncannon, two of his brothers and his father, settled near the mouth of Honey creek, in Eden. Joseph was married. His wife was a Poorman. Peter Lott, David Fought and Frederick Wagner also came in soon. Peter Baum settled near Mexico. He moved to Missouri afterwards, where he and his wife both died. Baum was never satisfied anywhere. We raised hemp and flax and spun and wove tow-linen. Many a cold day I chopped in the woods all day in two-linen pants, and bare feet in shoes full of water and ice. Sometimes the ice packed around my feet so tight that when I came into the house I had to hold them to the fire a while before I could get them off; but I never had my feet frozen. I often had to go to Tiffin on cold days in winter with tow-linen pants on. We lived very fine after we could raise sheep and have the whole family dressed in linsey-woolsey. One time my father paid us a visit, and when he started back my wife gave him a loaf of bread to take along on the road. He met a man on the road near Upper Sandusky, who was nearly starved. He had not eaten a mouthful of bread for three weeks, and had lived on boiled nettles and milk. He had a little but near the road. |
| JOHN HEILMAN ~ Page 782 |
| JOHN D. HEILMAN ~ Page 782 |
| ADAM HELFRICK,
farmer, P. O. Fostoria, was born in Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, January
22, 1826, son of Jacob and Catherine (Smith) Helfrick, who
immigrated to America in 1835, and located in Carroll County, Ohio,
where they resided three years. In 1839 they came to this county
and settled on Section 18, in Loudon Township, clearing and improving
the farm now owned by our subject. The father died in Fostoria in
1868, at the age of seventy-two, and the mother in 1847, aged forty-four
years. They reared a family of four children: Adam,
Margaret (Mrs. John Peter), Catherine (Mrs. William Hample) and
Elizabeth (Mrs. Michael Miller, deceased). Our subject was
reared in Loudon Township from thirteen years of age. He remained
with his parents until his marriage, Sept. 21, 1852, with Charlotte,
daughter of Abraham and Barbara (Shobach) Peter, early settlers
of Loudon Township. After his marriage, Mr. Helfrick
settled on the farm on which he has since resided. Mr. and Mrs.
Helfrick have two children; Catherine (wife of George
Mertel) and Albert. Our subject and wife are members of
the Lutheran Church. He is a respected farmer and citizen of
Loudon Township. Politically he is a Democrat. (Source: History of Seneca County, Ohio - Publ. 1886 - Page 906) |
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| JACOB
HOLTS Was born in
Frederick county, Maryland, June 17, 1786, and was married to Susannah M.
Fiege, who was a sister of the father of John Fiege, of Tiffin, Ohio.
They moved to this county and arrived in Tiffin on the 28th of April, 1834
and settled on the northwest quarter of of section fifteen, in Clinton,
where the son, Dennis, still lives. Mr. Holts was about five feet, eleven inches high, straight and muscular, but not fleshy; he had dark brown hair, a large, dark eye, black, bushy eyebrows and a very expressive countenance. He spoke slow and positive, and while his conversation was pleasant and agreeable, he nevertheless carried an air of personal dignity about him that corresponded well with the general respect he enjoyed in the community. He died December 28, 1859. |
| CHARLES D. HOLTZ, farmer, P. O. Green Spring, was born in Pleasant Township, this county, Jan. 31, 1846, son of Jacob P. and Susannah (Huss) Holtz, early settlers of and still residing in Pleasant Township, this county. Our subject was married, Oct. 9, 1872, to Miss Mary (Lillis) Smith, of Green Spring, Ohio, where she was born June 20, 1854, daughter of Samuel H. and Charlotte (Van Syckel) Smith natives of New Jersey and who now resides in Green Spring, Ohio. Mr. Holtz is the father of three children: Grace, born March 15, 1874; Nellie, born Sept. 11, 1877; Jessie, born Aug. 24, 1883; all living. Mr. Holtz purchased land in Adams Township, this county, which he has improved in various ways and where he follows general farming. In politics he is Republican. |
| CLAY HOLTZ, farmer, P. O. Green Spring, is a native of Pleasant Township, this county, born Dec. 11, 1841, the second son of William and Catharine M. (Cramer) Holtz, early settlers in this county, where they resided until the death of the former in 1862; Mrs. Holtz still resides there. Our subject enlisted Oct. 9, 1861, in Company H, Fifty-fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry6, serving three years. He is now a member of Potter Post, 105, G. A. R., Green Spring, Ohio. Mr. Holtz was married Feb. 28, 1868, to Miss Dora M. Egbert, of Clinton Township, her native place, a daughter of Jeremiah and Lucy (Rule) Egbert, early settlers in this county. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Holtz have been born seven children: Harry, Alice, William, Catharine, Susan, Lottie and Lucy all living. Mr. Holtz is a medium farmer and operates over 300 acres of land, on which he has made many valuable improvements. He has a fine large brick house and large barn. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. of Green Spring; in politics he is a Republican. |
| JAMES HOSSLER, ESQ., is one of the distinguished citizens in Bloom. He was born January 30, 1806, in Steuben township, Adams county, Pennsylvania, on a farm. When fourteen years old, in 1820, his father moved to Stark county, Ohio. Here, on the 23d of September, Mr. Hossler was married, and in 1834 he moved to Bloom township, where he still resides. For twenty years he ran a saw mill on Stoner creek. He moved right into the woods when he came, and opened up a fine farm. To show how Mr. Hossler stands in the estimation of his neighbors, it is only necessary to say that for thirty years he held the office of justice of the peace and was mayor of Bloomville four years. He is still in the enjoyment of excellent health. * pg 629 |
| JAMES L. HOSLER, grandson of Henry Hostler and son of Moses F. and Amanda (Lynch) Hosler, was born in Liberty Township Oct. 10, 1857; educated in the schools of the district and at Heidelberg College, he taught school for two terms (1875-76); was appointed agent of the Lake Erie & Western and Northwestern Ohio at Burgoon, Ohio, which position he held about five years, when he was transferred to the Bettsville office, where he was employed until July, 1883, when he with others, mentioned at page 3227, purchased the office of the Optic and founded the Enterprise. Mr. Hosler was marred December 24, 1878, to Miss Emma C., daughter of Solomon Warner, of Sandusky County. Our subject was elected village clerk in April, 1883, and re-elected in April 1885. Was also elected a justice of the peace in April, 1865, for Liberty Township. |
| JACOB K.
HUDDLE (HOTTAL) was born October 8th, 1846, in Bloom Township,
Seneca County, Ohio. He is the seventeenth child of a family of
eighteen children. He was admitted to practice law in 1871. In
1873 he edited the Tiffin Star with much ability. Upon the
failure of his enterprise, he returned to the practice. Tracing back
his family record he became satisfied that the family name is Hottal. SHARON WICK'S NOTE: J. K. Huddle, age 22 yrs. can be found in a Flenner boarding house in the 1870 Census - Seneca Co., Ohio - 1st Wd. Tiffin - Film Series M593 - Roll 1266 - Page 339 - Dwelling 444 Family 493 Jacob Huddle, age 33 yrs. can be found in 1880 Census - Seneca Co., Ohio - 5th Wd. Tiffin - Film Series - T9 - Roll 1065 - Page 243 - living on Main Street in Dwelling 74 - Family 90 as follows: Jacob Huddle, Wife Ellen J. aged 29, Son Frank K. age9; Daughter Olive E. age 7; Daughter Anna M. age 5; Son Edward R. age 3; Daughter Cora M. age 1 I found a Jacob K. Hottal aged 63 in 1910 Census - Spartanburg Co., South Carolina - 6th Wd. Spartanburg - Film Series T624 - Roll 1473 - page 246 as follows: Lived at 123 Forest Street in Dwelling 315 Family 332 Jacob K. Hottal aged 63, Attorney at law & real estate dealer - Wife Ermine? age 38 yrs.; Daughters Olive age 23 or 25 and Alice M. age 26 yrs.; Grandson Louis K. age 10 yrs.; Nellie Cobb aged 27 a boarder and Edgar A. McCracken aged 27 a boarder. Jacob K, his wife and daughters were all born in Ohio. The others were born in South Carolina. In 1920 I found the following: 1920 Census - South Carolina - Spartanburg Co., 6th Wd. Spartanburg - Film Series T625 - Roll 1711 - Page 199 - 123 Forest Street - Dwelling 332 - Family 413 - Hottal, Samuel B. aged 36 - Head; Eula M. aged 29 - Wife; Samuel B., Jr. aged 8 - Son; Ruth aged 7 - daughter; Eula M. aged 4-6/12 - daughter - John V. age 5/12 - son; Jacob K. aged 75 and widowed - Father. At this time Jacob K. was employed in Real Estate. |
| JACOB HUNKER, farmer, P. O. Tiffin, was born near Sulz, in the kingdom of Wurtemburg, Dec. 16, 1842, son of Jacob and Catharine (Smith) Hunker, who came to America in 1853, landing in New York, and the same year located in Clinton Township, Seneca Co., Ohio. The father of our subject, now (1885) in his eighty-first year, son of Martin Hunker, lost his wife in 1854; she was a daughter of Martin Smith, and the mother of the following children: Martin in Clinton Township; Mathias, in Hopewell Township; Jacob, our subject; Mary, wife of Christian Snyder, of Liberty Township, all in this county; and Frederick in Buffalo County, Neb. The father's second marriage was with Mary Schantz, who is still living, and by her he has had one child, Annie, now the wife of Frederick Flaxenhair, of Liberty Township, this county. Owing to the limited means of his parents our subject received but meager advantages in early life. He was married, Oct. 5, 1869, to Rosa Smith, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, Sept. 21, 1850, daughter of George and Rosina (Dunninger) Smith, natives of Wurtemburg, and who settled in this county about 1845; they are still living and are the parents of John, in Bloom Township; Rosa, Mrs. Hunker, in Liberty Township; Melchoir, in Pleasant Township, and Andy, in Clinton Township, all in this county. To Mr. and Mrs. Hunker have been born the following children: John F., William F., David M., Oliver E., and Ollie M. (twins), and George I. Mr. Hunker is farming 220 acres of land, and is one of the most industrious and enterprising men in Liberty Township. He and his family are members of the Lutheran Church. |
| * SOURCE:
History of Seneca County : from the close of the Revolutionary War to
July, 1880 : embracing many personal sketches of pioneers, anecdotes, and
faithful descriptions of events pertaining to the organization of the
county and its progress Springfield, Ohio: Transcript Print. Co., 1880, 717 pgs. |
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