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WELCOME TO
SHELBY COUNTY, OHIO
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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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BIOGRAPHIES
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FRANK
M. SAYRE, secretary and treasurer of The Farmers
Grain and Milling Company, at Sidney, O., one of the
large business enterprises of Shelby county, was born in
Adams township, Champaign county, O., one mile east of
the Shelby county line, September 13, 1868, and is a son
of Thomas J. and Margaret (Souder) Sayre.
Thomas J. Sayre was born also on the above farm
in Adams township, which land, had been entered, from
the government by his father, Ziba P. Sayre. He
married Margaret Souder, who was born at
Quincy, Logan county, O., a daughter of Daniel L.
Souder, who had come to Ohio from Georgetown, Md.,
when a boy of sixteen years. Mrs. Sayre passed
away in 1902 but Mr. Sayre survives.
Frank M. Sayre was reared to the age of sixteen
years in his native county arid there attended school
and completed his education after coming to Shelby
county, in 1883. He was just twenty-one years of age
when he began to teach school, and, finding the work
congenial, continued for fourteen years, becoming widely
known and very highly esteemed all over the county.
Later he became station agent at North Creek, O., for
the Clover Leaf Railroad Company, resigning that
position to become secretary and treasurer of the
Farmers Grain and Milling Company at Sidney, in
February, 1912.
Mr. Sayre married Miss Daisy E.
Russell, who is a daughter of the late Moses J.
Russell, a very prominent citizen and extensive
farmer in Clinton township. Mr. and Mrs.
Sayre have three children: Florence M.; Herman
and Albert. |
LEWIS GRANT SHANELY, a member of the board of
education in Perry township, and a leading business man
of Pemberton, is owner and proprietor of the L. G.
Shanely elevator which he built here in 1903.
Additionally he deals in all kinds of farm implements.
Mr. Shanely was born in Champaign co., O., Feb.
13, 1869, and is a son of Isaac and Barbara (Shaffer)
Shanely. The father of Mr. Shanely was
also born in Champaign County, and has been a farmer all
his active life. He married Barbara Shaffer,
who was born in Germany, and they have had five
children: Lewis Grant, Caroline, Jennie, George
and Newton, the survivors being the oldest
and the youngest. Isaac Shanely and wife
are members of the Union Brethren church.
After he completed the common school course, Lewis
G. Shanely took a commercial course at the Nelson
Business College, but prior to this taught one term of
school in Champaign county. After that he remained
on the home farm until he came to Pemberton, where his
business interests have been expanding ever since.
Mr. Shanely was married in 1901 to Miss
Isophene Staley who is a daughter of George W.
and Sarah (Irvin) Staley, who were early settlers in
their section of Shelby county, their other children
being: Edward L.; Minnie, wife of W. G.
Murphy; Milton; George P.; J. Mark; Alice, wife of
W. M. Buroker; Bessie, wife of Albert Linker;
and Mary, wife of Clarence Rinehart.
Four children make up the family of Mr. and Mrs.
Shanely: Theodore Grant, Jennie, Charles and
Staley. The family is well known in the
pleasant social circles of the town and is active in all
the work of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Nominally Mr. Shanely is a republican but his
political activities are frequently along the line of
his own judgment, especially in local matters. For
three years he served as clerk of Perry township and
gave careful attention to the duties of office and made
many personal friends during that time.
~ Page 716 - History of Shelby County, Ohio - publ. 1913 |
EDGAR ALONZO SCHENCK,
one of the representative citizens and substantial men
of Shelby county, O., who resides on one of his farms, a
tract of sixty acres, located in Clinton township, owns
a second farm, of forty acres, which lies east of
Sidney, was born on the farm he occupies, July 13, 1853,
and is a son of Schuyler and Deborah
(Suthen) Schenck.
The parents of Mr. Schenck were born in
New Jersey and came to Ohio in youth, subsequently
marrying here and spending the rest of their lives in
Clinton township, Shelby county. The father was a
shoemaker by trade and also followed farming. They were
good, Christian people, members of the Brethren church.
Of their children, Edgar Alonzo was the
youngest born and is the only one living. The others
were: Garrett, John, Henry, Joseph, George,
Maria, Daniel and William.
Edgar Alonzo Schenck has spent his life on his
present farm and has had the management of it since his
school days. . All the usual farm industries are carried
on on both farms owned by Mr. Schenck,
grain growing and stock raising, although he seldom
markets any stock, growing largely for his own use. He
has some-other interests and is a stockholder in the
Buckeye Churn Company,
In October, 1875, Mr. Schenck was married
to Miss Anna Campbell, of Springfield, Ill., a
daughter of Nelson and Margaret Campbell, farming
people there, who had the following children: James,
Mary Jane, Catherine, George, William, John, Minnie
and Anna. Mr. and Mrs. Schenck have two
daughters, both now married, with children of their own.
Grace is the wife of John McClure
and they have two children, being Floyd and
Gladys. Nora D; is the wife of Stanley
Young, their children being Mildred*
Margaret and Helen. Mr. Schenck
and family attend the Methodist Episcopal church.
Politically he is a republican. |
CARL
A. SEXAUER, proprietor of Sexauer's
Grocery and Bakery, one of the old and stable business
houses of Sidney, O., is a native of Germany and was
born August 28, 1865, at Freiburg, Baden, a son
of John Sexauer, who still resides in
Germany, being now in his eightieth year. His wife, to
whom he was married in 1861, also survives and is
hearing her seventy-sixth birthday.
Carl A. Sexauer has an interesting history. He
learned the baking business with his father but left
home at the age of fifteen years and went to Basil,
Switzerland, and despite his youth, there capably
managed a bakery for eighteen months, during which
period he saved enough money with which to make the long
journey to America, the goal of his desires. During the
voyage the ship was wrecked and three of the passengers
died from shock and injury, but the others were finally
landed after nineteen days of danger on the stormy
Atlantic ocean. Mr. Sexauer had an uncle,
George Sexauer, who lived on a farm
near Piqua, O., and the youth decided to make an effort
to reach this relative and finally, on December 24,
1881, arrived at Piqua. He paid fifty cents, his last
money, to a cab man to drive him two miles into the
country to his uncle's farm, where he was kindly
received and rested for a couple of days. He then sought
work at Piqua and secured a job in the Piqua Bakery, and
for four Weeks worked there on trial, for $1.75 a week,
when, rather than lose the skilled German baker that he
was found to be, the proprietor made him his boss baker
with a salary of $13 a week with board and laundry, this
being at that time the very highest wages paid in any
baking establishment in that city,
Mr. Sexauer remained in that place for a
full year. During that time Jacob Piper,
who was operating a bakery at Sidney, paid a visit to
Piqua and saw and sampled some of Mr.
Sexauer's baked goods with the result that he
offered the young baker the position of boss baker of
his establishment, and as conditions were more favorable
he accepted and worked for Mr. Piper from
March 1, 1883, until August, 1889, when he bought the
Piper bakery department, which proved a business
mistake. He was thoroughly experienced in his trade but
he knew little of practical business methods and in less
than three years had lost the large sum of $2,600, and
owed $800 to his wholesalers. It may be mentioned right
here that since then he has paid every dollar of this
indebtedness but it was a very discouraging experience.
He then secured a basement workroom and for two years
conducted a small bakery, and in this way retained many
of his old customers and interested others, and by that
time felt sure enough of further prosperity to buy the
corner lot on which now stands the fine three-story
brick building which he smarted to erect on March 1,
1965, into which he moved on September first following.
In 1903 he had paid a visit to his parents and remained
with them for three months and on his return began his
plans for his present substantial building. It stands on
west Poplar street and corners on the canal, and its
dimensions are 165x22 feet. He utilizes the first floor,
which opens on the canal, for his bakery; the second
floor which opens on West Poplar street, for his
ware-room and stockroom, while the third floor he has
fitted up as a public hall, and many entertainments are
held in it, Sexauer's hall having conveniences
that make it an ideal place for dances, parties and
other gatherings.
Mr. Sexauer started into his second
business adventure at Sidney with a capital of $92, and
a debt, as before mentioned, of $800, but it speaks well
for the impression he had already made on those with
whom he had done business, that they continued to have
confidence in him. After paying all indebtedness with
the strictest honesty, he found no difficulty in
borrowing the necessary capital to erect his new
structure, which cost him, exclusive of fixtures and
machinery, more than $10,000, and that indebtedness has
also long since been wiped out. He has expended several
thousand dollars in putting in modern machinery and
sanitary equipments and now operates the largest baking
plant in this part of Shelby county, turning out from
3,000 to 4,000 loaves of bread daily, exclusive of
biscuits, buns, pies and cakes, all of delicious
combination and made, from the best procurable supplies.
He. is ably assisted by his eldest son, John
Sexauer, who is superintendent. of that department
and who designed much of the valuable baking machinery
which his father has now installed. In addition to his
extensive baking business, Mr. Sexauer
conducts one of the most complete grocery stores in the
city.
In 1886 Mr. Sexauer was married to
Miss Mollie Althoff, of Lockington,
O., and they have two sons: John and Raymond.
Mr. Sexauer is a member of the Masonic
fraternity and also of the Knights of Pythias, the
Commercial Club, the National Bakers' Association of
America and the Grocers' State Association. He is
recognized as one of Sidney's most useful, honorable and
representative citizens. |
EDWARD J. SHAFER, member of the firm of
Paul & Shafer, operating a grain elevator at Botkins,
O., is an enterprising and representative business man
of this section and is well known in this and adjacent
counties. He was born on his father's farm near
Lock No. 2, in Auglaize county, O., Dec. 18, 1869, and
is a son of Jacob and Susan (Keister) Shafer.
Edward J. Shafer was reared on the home farm in
Washington township and engaged in agricultural pursuits
until March, 1906, when he came first to Botkins and for
six months after drove a team for the Paul & Sheets
elevator. Afterward, for several years, he was
connected with the Wapakoneta Grain Company at
Wapakoneta, O., coming again to Botkins and purchasing
his present business from its former owners, Taylor &
Marx. Later he became a partner and half owner
with Mr. Paul under the present firm name of
Paul & Shafer. In July, 1912, the old elevator
was burned but was immediately replaced and business was
interrupted for only a short time. The firm enjoys
the confidence of the community and they do a large
business.
Mr. Shafer married Miss Nora Weisley, of
Washington township, and they have one daughter,
Evaline. Mr. Shafer is not very active
politically although he is ever ready to give support to
movements that seem to him beneficial for the country.
He has been identified with the Odd Fellows for a number
of years.
~ Page 647 - History of Shelby County, Ohio - publ. 1913 |
JOHN
J. SHERMAN, president of the board of county
commissioners of Shelby county, O., and one of the
county's most substantial citizens, belongs to one of
the old pioneer families of this section. He was born in
McLean township, October 2, 1848, and is a son of
Henry B. and Catherine (Ernst). Sherman.
William Sherman, the grandfather of John J.
Sherman, came to the United States from Prussia,
settled in Ohio and in 1833 entered land from the
government in McLean township, Shelby county. Henry
B. Sherman, son of William Sherman and father
of John J., was fifteen years of age when he came
to Shelby county and here became a well known man. For
twenty-eight years he taught school acceptably, although
he was largely self taught. He also engaged in farming
and took an intelligent interest in public matters and,
in fact, became a representative man in McLean township,
where his death took place in 1904, when he was aged
eighty-six years. He married Catherine Ernst,
who was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to Shelby
county in girlhood, spent her subsequent life here and
died in 1909, in her eighty-second, year.
John J. Sherman assisted his father on the home
farm and attended the local schools. Farming has been
his main occupation and since 1871 he has resided on his
present farm in McLean township. He owns two other farms
in the county, one in Turtle Creek township and the
other in Cynthian township, all three aggregating 300
acres in Shelby county, while he also has forty acres of
valuable land in Mexico, which he occasionally visits.
Mr. Sherman is a man of excellent business
judgment and this quality makes him a very useful public
official. Politically a democrat, many public offices
were tendered him before he consented to serve as a
county commissioner. He first assumed the important
duties of the same in September, 1909, and is serving in
his second term and has been further honored by being
elected president of this body.
In 1871, Mr. Sherman was married to Miss Lena
Pelster, who was born in Germany, a daughter of the
late Henry J. Pelster, who was formerly a
well-known farmer here. To Mr. and Mrs.
Sherman the following children have been born:
Katherine, who is the wife of Frank Tahman;
Henry, who is a bookkeeper in a business house at
Dayton, is a well educated young man who formerly taught
school in this township; Anthony, who assists his
father in carrying on the activities of the home farm;
Louis, who is a farmer in Cynthian township; and
Mary, Frances, William and Leo.
Mr. Sherman and family belong to the Catholic
church. |
W.
J. SHERMAN, who is assistant cashier of the
Loramie Banking Company, at Fort Loramie, and a member
of its board of directors, belongs to one of the old and
substantial families of this section, one that has had
much to do with the development of Shelby county: He was
born at Fort Loramie, on the west side of the Miami
canal, May 3, 1869, and is a son of W. J. and Mary
(Hummer) Sherman.
W. J. Sherman was born in Germany and was four
years old when his father, William Sherman,
brought him to the United States, in 1836, and settled
in Shelby county. A thrifty, enterprising and broad
minded man, William Sherman became a leader in
many of the early movements in this section and through
his efforts a schoolhouse was erected on his farm and,
the special school district as well as the fine turnpike
road afterward constructed, bears the Sherman
name. W. J. Sherman received his primary
education in the above district but completed his
education at Cincinnati, O., and afterward taught school
for some years and subsequently was made county surveyor
of Shelby county, acceptably filling that important,
office for twelve continuous years. After his marriage
he settled in McLean township and became interested in
the lumber and stave manufacturing business and in this
connection acquired some 1,000 acres of land lying, in
Patterson township, in Darke county and in McLean and
Cynthian townships in Shelby county. He was also engaged
as a dry goods merchant at Fort Loramie, being the
senior member of the general mercantile firm of
Sherman & Pilliod. His death occurred at the
age of sixty-five years and his loss was felt in many
circles. He was a faithful member of St. Michael's
Catholic church and he and wife carefully reared their
children in this faith. As a leading democrat in his
section he was frequently honored by his party with
election to public office and he many times served as
township trustee and in other capacities.. He married
Mary Hummer, a daughter of Peter
Hummer, then of Cynthian township, and three sons
and five daughters were born to them, namely:
Johannah, who is the wife of Bernard
Borger of McLean township; Magdalene, who is
the wife of Anthony Brandewie, of Clinton
township; Mary, who is the wife of John
Borger, of Fort Loramie; Peter, who is a
resident of Sidney; Catherine, who is the wife of
J. B. Trimpe, of Sidney; Clara, who is the
widow of Henry Pilliod of Toledo, O.;
W. J.; and Charles, who died when aged
twenty-three years. The mother of the above family
survived to the age of seventy-two years.
W. J. Sherman, who bears
his late father's name, attended school in boyhood in
the Berlin special school district and afterward was a
student at St. Mary's Institute, Dayton, O. He then gave
his father assistance on the home farm until he was
twenty-one years of age when he turned his attention to
the livestock business and for seven years was a large
shipper of stock from this section. Since the
organization of the Loramie Banking Company he has been
on its directing board and one of its officials, and was
one of the promoters of the Minster Lorain Railway, and
is secretary of the company. Since his marriage he has
resided in McLean township and is interested there in
200 acres of land, divided into two well improved farms.
On November 25, 1896, Mr. Sherman was
married to Miss Frances Schemnecker,
who was born in Kentucky and is a daughter of Frank
and Ida Schmnecker, who were then
residents of Minster, O. To Mr. and Mrs. Sherman the
following children have been born: Frank,
William, Victoria, Mary, James,
Beatrice and Helen. The family belongs to
St. Michael's Catholic church and are interested and
active in many of its avenues of benevolence and
pleasant social organizations. Mr. Sherman
is a strong democrat, along old Jeffersonian lines, and
his influence in his party is marked. As a citizen he is
held in exceeding high esteem, serving for years as a
member of the city council of Fort Loramie and for seven
years was elected mayor, his wise management of
municipal affairs during this long period, bringing
about much prosperity. |
PHILIP
SMITH. . If the oldest inhabitant in Sidney, or
any number of them were asked to name the man who is
entitled to the premium card for remaining in the
manufacturing business the longest time without a break
in the chain, the unanimous answer would be, Philip
Smith. This hustling, bustling, pushing bundle of
incarnate hope who lined every cloud with silver arid
whose elasticity put him erect upon his feet after each
reverse was never before in so prosperous condition as
now, and it would take a stiff adverse wind to shake
him. Showers of discouragements that would have
disheartened most men he shed as easily as the
proverbial duck's back does water, and financial
straits, dull times and lack of orders merely made him
blow his nose a little louder, which, in his case was a
trump of defiance while he spit on his hands to get a
better hold, and he invariably did get a better hold and
hung on.
Philip was born September 7, 1838, near
Harrisburg, Pa., where he spent his boyhood and was for
a time servant boy for Judge Heaster at
the capitol: When in his teens his parents moved to
Connersville, Ind., where they stayed two years and then
moved to Dayton for two or three years and where he
finished the molders trade at the foundry of Thompson,
McGregor and Callahan.
In 1859 the family came to Sidney and commenced in a
small way the manufacture of stoves and in due time farm
bells, kettles, lard presses, etc, across the canal when
their factory burned. They rebuilt on Main avenue when
there were but few houses on the north side of the
canal. Hollow ware was also added and the first iron
scrapers made in Sidney were fashioned in their shop.
While in Dayton he became acquainted with Miss
Anna Silzell and she so lingered in his
memory and had such a hold on his heart that he felt
that if she did not come to Sidney he would have to go
to Dayton. He did go and returned with her as Mrs.
Philip Smith in the early sixties and of
this union ten children were born, seven of whom are
living. Mrs. Smith died in the eighties
and on Thanksgiving day in 1885, he married Mrs. Mary
M. French, of Champaign county.
Looking over his business career, with its so many ups
and downs, pinched
financially most of the time requiring all his wits and
his indomitable energy to pull through he reminds one of
the man who rolled down a hill with his arms around a
log and when he got to the bottom cheerfully remarked
that the log did not get any the best of him for he was
on top half of the time.
His last venture, the formation of the incorporation of
the Philip Smith Company of which he is
president and which was launched on the sea of marvelous
prosperity throughout the country was the best he ever
made and put him, figuratively speaking, on easy street
with an income far more than ample for life's
necessities or luxuries, as he is now uppermost on the
log which has quit rolling and his many bruises are
permanently healed without leaving so much as a scar.
Sidney has no character that has weathered so many
vicissitudes as he. A few years ago he and Mrs.
Smith took a pleasurable outing through the far
west to the Pacific, a most enjoyable trip, the only one
of the kind in his busy career. In politics he has
always been a democrat, but did not work at it to hurt
much, as he had not time, though he did serve a term or
two on the city council.
Mrs. Smith, his second wife, being a
pronounced Baptist, and Philip, not having
serious, religious convictions nor church going habits,
accompanied her to the house of worship, became
interested and joined the Baptist church and ever since
has. been a pillar of strength in the congregation.
Such, in brief, is a sketch of the pioneer living
manufacturer of Sidney who is now enjoying the fruits of
a most industrious life among the scenes of his labor. |
CHARLES
F. SNYDER, one of the representative men of
Cynthian township, resides in section 27, where he
devotes his 130 acres of valuable land to general
farming and cattle raising. This land is in two farms
and they are situated one third mile north of the
Sidney-Hardin turnpike road. Mr. Snyder
was born April 19, 1863, in Miami county, O., and is a
son of Henry and Lydia (Ward) Snyder.
Henry Snyder was
born in Perry county, O., and was reared and educated
there. He married Lydia Ward, who was born
in Hocking county, a daughter of Daniel and
Deliliah Ward. Daniel Ward was
a direct descendant of Nathaniel Ward, who
was commander of the Patriot forces at Boston, Mass., in
the early days of the Revolutionary war, before
General Washington took command. After
marriage, Henry Snyder and wife moved to
Miami county and settled in Washington township, and
also, at one time lived in Allen county and also in Van
Wert county. Grandfather Snyder gave each
of his children a farm of 160 acres but Henry
Snyder never lived on his tract, trading it for
sixty acres of the farm which his son, Charles F.,
now owns. He died in Cynthian township in March,
1866, and his burial was at Sugar Grove, O., in the
cemetery of the Brethren church. His widow continued to
live in Cynthian township until 1900, when she moved to
South Whitley, Ind., where she died in September, 1905,
and her burial was also at Sugar Grove. They were well
known and highly respected people and were parents of
eight children, namely: Daniel W., who died in
1877, at Peoria, Ill., was aged twenty-four years;
Mary A., who is the wife of John P. Golly, of
Cynthian township; John W., who died in 1897, at
the age of forty years; Isaac, who lives in
Cynthian township; Christiana, who lived but ten
months; Charles F.; Jerd, who lived but
six days; and Henry, who is a resident of Dayton,
O.
Charles F. Snyder received his early school
instruction in the Forest Special School District but
when fourteen years of age was transferred to the
HopeweJl district, where he attended for four years and
then returned to the Forest district and later attended
school at Sidney. In the fall of 1883 he took charge of
a school in Van Buren township, where he taught for
three years and then taught for one year in Dinsmore
township. After his marriage he moved to Botkins, and
from there, in the spring of 1891, to his present home
farm of eighty acres having bought out the other heirs
and his mother's dower in 1900; he added to this a fifty
acre farm in 1905, and iri 1911 he and his son Virgil
W. purchased 120 acres in Michigan, where he has
done a large amount of improving in the way of draining
and building.
In 1886 Mr. Snyder was married to Miss
Adella Blakeley, who was born in Dinsmore
township, Shelby county, a daughter of John
and Elizabeth Blakely, the former of
whom was born in Franklin and the latter in Licking
county, O., and their parents, respectively, came to
Shelby county in 1832 and 1835, being pioneers. To
Mr. and Mrs. Snyder were born children as follows:
Virgil W., who lives at Beaverton, Mich., married
Bessie Ward; Melsenia, who lives in
Turtle Creek township, married R. Schmidt;
Carl W., Israel Blakeley and Cora
M., all of whom live at home; May, who
died when aged twenty-three days; and an infant daughter
who died at birth. Mr. Snyder is one of
the enterprising and public spirited men of the
township, was one of the incorporators and is secretary
of the Farmers Telephone Company and lends his influence
to further all movements which promise to be for the
public welfare. He was reared in the republican
party and has always given it support and has been one
of its leaders in the county, formerly serving as a
member of one of the important county organizations. At
present he is serving in his third term as a notary
public and since 1898 has been a member of the board of
education of the Forest Special School District, of
which he is clerk. |
GEORGE STENGEL, who is one of the
substantial citizens of Franklin township, Shelby Co.,
O., owns valuable farm of ninety-five acres and a
comfortable residence at Sidney, O., situated on the
corner of St. Mary's and Maple streets. Mr.
Stengel was born on this farm, December 31, 1856,
and is a son of John M. and Sarah (Schiff) Stengle.
John M. Stengel and wife are both deceased.
they were well known and highly respected people of
Franklin township and the following children were born
to them: Michael, who is deceased; Mary,
who is the wife of J. P. Fogt; Barbara, who is
the wife of John Brightweaser; Lena, who is the
wife of Joseph Beemer; Sophia, who is the wife of
Andrew Bertsch; Caroline; who is the wife
of L. F. Fogt; Margaret, who is the wife
of Solomon Staley; and George.
George Stengel attended the district schools when
he was a boy and early began to give his father
assistance on the farm and has continued to be
interested in farm industries all his life. His
property is valuable, the location of his farm being a
favorable one as regards transportation and under his
methods is as productive as any land in Franklin
township.
On September 22, 1882, Mr. Stengel was married
to Miss Nancy Arena Shaffer, who was born in
Shelby county, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth
(Blakely) Shaffer. To Mr. and Mrs. Stengel
the following children have been born, all of whom
survive: Edward, who married Anna Davis
and they have three children - Mary, Viola and
Agnes; Lewis Franklin; Elizabeth, who is the wife of
Ira Slusser and they have three children -
Irene, Unice and Gail; Bonnie, who is the
wife of James Taylor and they have one child,
Ileen; and Ora, who is the wife of Charels
Sturm and they have one child - Lois; and
Walter and Milton. Mr. Stengel
and wife were reared in the Lutheran faith and they and
children belong to this church. Like his father
before him. Mr. Stengel is a democrat. |
<
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX > |
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