Welcome to
Wayne County
Ohio

CHAPTER XXVIII.

WOOSTER TOWNSHIP
(Contributed by Sharon Wick)

         WOOSTER TOWNSHIP, named after General David Wooster, was organized April 11, 1812, simultaneously with Sugarcreek, Mohican and Prairie townships.  Its population in 1870 was 1,145.  Its civil record appears as follows from its date of organization: 
 

     Justices of the Peace - Robert McClarran, commission dated June 13, 1812; Jacob Schuckers, December 24, 1832; John Larwill, April 2, 1833; Jacob Schuckers, January 4, 1836; Samuel Coulter, April 16, 1836; William Reiter, April 16, 1836; Samuel Quinby, October 25, 1838; William Reiter, April 13, 1839; William McCurdy, April 13, 1842; John Beistle, April 13, 1842; Alexander B. Fleming, October 21, 1842; J. H. Harris, May 24, 1843; William McCurdy, April 16, 1845; Henry Lehman, April 16, 1845; Thomas Williams, April 21, 1846; J. H. Harris, April 12, 1848; Henry Lehman, April 12, 1848; William Reiter, April 12, 1849; J. H. Harris, April 19, 1851; William Reiter, April 21, 1852; George Brauneck, April 13, 1854; J. H. Harris, April 13, 1854; D. H. Holiday, October 21, 1854; J. M. Madden, April 22, 1857; D. H. Holiday, October 30, 1857; C. C. Parsons, April 14, 1858; H. C. Johnson, October 20, 1859; Eugene Pardee, October 25, 1860; J. H. Downing, October 25, 1860; Henry Lehman, October 13, 1861; J. H. Downing, October 22, 1863; A. C. McMillen, April 15, 1864; George Brauneck, October 15, 1866; H. Smith, October 15, 1866; W. W. Humilton, October 15, 1866; James T. Henry, April 13, 1869; S. R. Bonewitz, October 20, 1869; James T. Henry, April 9, 1872; S. R. Bonewitz, October 12, 1872; Mahlon C. Rouch, April 12, 1875 - re-elected April 1, 1878; John R. McKinny, October 20, 1875.

BIOGRAPHIES

S. R. BONEWITZ was born November 28, 1820, in Wayne township, Wayne county, Ohio.  His parents were of Virginia and Pennsylvania ancestry, and removed to Wayne county as early as 1815, settling on a farm of 190 acres, all in timber, purchased of Joseph Eichar and owned by Christian Stoll, deceased.  At the age of twenty-one Mr. Bonewitz engaged as a clerk for his father, who had purchased an interest in a dry goods store at what was then known as Naftzger's Mill, a mile west of Bridgeport.      In this business relation he continued for some time, and while thus employed, October 14, 1841, he was joined in marriage to Louisa Booth.  He then entered into business for himself in the village of Mechanicsburg, where he staid until 1843.  Having concluded to make Wooster his home he removed there in March, 1844, and at the end of one year (having studied law a year prior to his removal) was admitted to the bar in St. Clairsville, Ohio, whither and back he went on horseback.  He read law with William McMahan, Esq., of Wooster, then occupying the office in which he has held forth for over thirty years.      In 1853, Mr. Bonewitz was elected Mayor of Wooster, and has served as Justice of the Peace and in various other capacities with credit and ability.  He was the first insurance agent that ever transacted business in Wooster and the first representative of the well-known AEtna Company.      Mr. Bonewitz is devoting himself exclusively to his professional duties.  He was never disposed to indulge in the fierce warfare of the advocate, the strong bent of his mind inclining him more particularly to the preparation of pleadings and a strictly office business.  Personally, he is a genial man, full of life an sociability.

COLONEL JOSEPH H. CARR.   Joseph H. Carr was born in East Union township, Wayne county, March 12, 1842, but removed to Wooster when two years of age.  During the period from 1847 to 1849 he attended public and select schools almost constantly, and in 1859 commenced studying law.      On April 16, 1861, when the first call for volunteers was made, at the age of nineteen he enlisted as a private in the first company (E) organized in Wayne county for the 4th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  From corporal to Company E, he was promoted to the sergeant-majorship of the regiment, and at the age of twenty was appointed aid-de-camp on the staff of General S. S. Carroll, of General Hancock's famous second corps of the Army of the Potomac.  He served on staff duty with that corps during the campaigns and battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and in the suppression of the New York riots.  He received special mention in general orders for distinguished bravery at the battle of Gettysburg.      In 1864 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 169th Ohio Regiment, and owing to the disability of Colonel before leaving the State, the command of the regiment devolved upon him during its entire service.  Its superior discipline is commended by Whitlaw Reid in his "Ohio in the War".      From the private ranks as a soldier Colonel Carr rapidly rose to promotion, and attained the reputation of being a splendid drill and field officer.  His efficiency upon the staff of Generals Mason and Carroll was freely recognized, and he possessed the confidence of them invariably, and who at all times relied upon his activity, zeal, patriotism and ability to execute any trust, however hazardous, which was devolved upon him.|      With all the officers he sustained himself well, uniformly developing splendid courage as a soldier and superior qualifications as a gentleman.  His comrades-in-arms are ever willing and ready with assurances of his manly and heroic character, and the esteem in which he is held by them since "wild war's deadly blast" is over, is a sure attestation of his popularity when in the military service.      After the close of the contest and "gentle peace returning," he laid aside the sword and donned the civilian uniform.  The Colonel, though a gallant soldier of the Republic, enduring forced marches, sieges, battles, etc., always escaped capture, but on his arrival home he may not be allowed to speak so approvingly of his valor.  A line of circumvallation encompassed him, he found himself encircled in the coils of the deadliest of all enemies;  He could no longer resist the siege of a woman's eyes, and acting upon the principle that the truest heroism is oftentimes most flexible, surrendered the hand that amide the smoke of battle had borne aloft the sword.      He was united in marriage in January, 1865, to Alice Hard, of the city of Wooster, and has re-enforced the legions of the Republic by two sons, one of whom he names after his old commander, Carroll.  In 1864 he was admitted to the bar, in the practice of which profession he is at present engaged.      Colonel Carr is a young man of ability, promise, and excellent business qualifications, whose public life is characterized by earnestness, industry and integrity.  In his official positions since the close of the war, whether in the employment of the United States Government, or as City Solicitor, or as Auditor of the county, he has fulfilled his various duties with ability and fidelity.  He is an affable, genial companion, a courteous gentleman, with strong social and domestic attachments - a good citizen and a good lawyer.

HUGH CULBERTSON -

JOSEPH EICHAR. - Among the early pioneer settlers in Ohio was Joseph Eichar, the second son of Peter and Nancy Eichar, who was born and raised at Greensburg, Pa.  In the year 1809 he immigrated with his family to Ohio,when he bought a farm near Canton, Stark county, where they remained five eyars, and then removed to Wooster, arriving there on the 14th day of April, 1814.      Soon after Mr. Eichar came to Wooster to live the "Madison Tract," or first county seat, was offered for sale, and he bought it.  The year after the heads of three families by the name of Rice, from near Greensburg, Pa., bought of him the three farms of which the Madison tract consisted.  The price they paid made Mr. Eichar what was considered rich in those days.  He then bought a quarter section joining the north side of Wooster, on a part of which the University now stands, and another quarter section, with the famous Salt Spring on it, two and a half miles west of Wooster; also a half section, in Cedar valley, and a half section on Little Killbuck, together with several quarter sections entered at the Government Land Office, and several lots in the town of Wooster.  March 5, 1815, he commenced boring for salt, in which enterprise he invested and sank thousands of dollars.      He next engaged in the produce trade from Pittsburg down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, which, also, proved disastrous.  Again he turned westward, and removed with his family to Sandusky, September 17, 1821, with many hopeful anticipations.  But scarcely had they settled in their new home, when Mr. Eichar was taken with typhoid fever and died on teh 17th of October, 1821, aged 47 years.  Joseph Eichar, who now resides on the Killbuck farm, west of Wooster, is his son.

JOHN B. ESPY -

STEPHEN HENRY, SR. -

BENJAMIN JONES was born in Winchester, Frederick county, Va., April 13, 1787.  He had eight brothers and one sister, John, Samuel, Elias, Isaiah, Erasmus, Nathan, William, Thomas and Sarah.  From Frederick county the family removed to Washington county, Pa., when the subject of this sketch was but seven years of age.  They lived about a mile from the village of Washington, where his mother died and was buried in the Baptist churchyard there, his father dying when he was between seven and twelve years old.      At an early age he was, by the terms of an indenture, put to the trade of cabinet-maker, in Washington, for seven years, which time he faithfully and diligently served.  Many, indeed, were the privations and cruel, stinging hardships he endured during those seven years of worse than Hebrew bondage.  His personal wants were sadly supplied, frequently not getting enough to eat, and he was fourteen years of age before he ever wore a new shoe upon his feet.  After his release from the indenture he worked journeyman's work in the village for some time, when he removed to Sharon, Ohio, and built a shop and engaged in business for himself.  A misfortune, however, soon visited him in the shape of a, to him, disastrous fire, which completely used him up, and by which he lost all his tools and effects.  He was consequently compelled to renew journeyman's work, when he abandoned Sharon and went to renew journeyman's work, when he abandoned Sharon and went to Yankee Run, in Trumbull county.  After a short period, an opportunity was afforded him to enter into commercial business with Thomas G. Jones (Priest Jones), which he embraced, and which they prosecuted until just prior to the war of 1812.      In 1811 he was dispatched by the "Priest" on a tour of observation, with a view to the selection of a place to locate.  He went as far west as and beyond Mansfield, on horseback, through a dense forest, inhabited by Indians, over unbridged and swollen streams, with perils to right of him and perils to left.  On his equestrian scout he first saw Wooster, was favorably impressed with the county, and resolved to locate there.  On his return to Yankee Run, he spoke so flatteringly of the place, that Priest Jones and family, a Mr. Young and family, Betty Scott and himself, all emigrated hither without delay.      They brought goods to Wooster and started a store, Constant Lake, father of Constant Lake, of Wooster, hauling a load for them.  This was in the winter of 1812-13, and was the first store of importance in Wooster.  It was opened in a wooden building erected by Robert McClarran, near, or where Samuel Geitgey now conducts business.      After establishing himself in his new quarters he returned to Brookfield, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he married Hannah Vanemmon, April 1, 1813, the ceremony of marriage being performed by Rev. A. Bentley, Baptist minister, and brother of Benjamin Bentley.  Mrs. Jones was a native of New Jersey, where she was born on Christmas day, 1794.  Her mother died when she was born on Christmas day, 1794.  Her mother died when she was three years old, and father when she was eight, when she was adopted into the family of Constant Lake, Sr., with whom she removed to Trumbull county, and in whose family she continued a member until her marriage in 1813.      After their marriage in April his wife went to New Lisbon and he returned to Wooster, soon thereafter going to Pittsburg to purchase goods, which trips he made on horseback.  He made two of these excursions after he was married, going and coming, passing New Lisbon, where his wife was, without stopping, until, on his return from the third trip, he stopped for her, and was accompanied by George Hull and his family and Francis Foltz and his family, arriving at Wooster on the 4th of July, 1813.      The house that Mr. Jones and wife moved into was occupied by seven families, and besides contained a doctor's office - that of Dr. Thomas Townsend.  It was a two story brick, built in 1810 by John Bever, on the Bissell corner, and the first brick house built in the county.  "Priest" Jones and family, Joseph Barkdull and family, a Mr. Richardson, a tailor, and others, besides Dr. Townsend and Benjamin Jones and wife, who had two rooms up stairs, and where they lived two years, were the occupants.  Mr. Jones and his wife, who had two rooms up stairs, and where they lived two years, were the occupants.  Mr. Jones soon afterwards built what was called the "Stump House" so called because they sawed off trees and erected the building upon the stumps.  It stood on the site of the old Arcadome, and the surrounding country was a forest, there being then less than a dozen houses in the town.  In this stump house D. K. Jones, of Shreve, the oldest son of Benjamin Jones, was born, and who, as his mother informed us, "was the smallest child ever born, that lived, in Wayne county."  Here, also, Eleanor Jones was born.      In 1817 Mr. Jones was removed to the lot on Beaver street, between East Liberty and South streets, known in later years as the McKeal property.  There he lived until 1824, and there Isaac N. and Ohio F. Jones were born.  In 1824 he removed to the property that was known, and will be recollected was the Wooster Hotel, remaining in charge of the same until the fall of 1828, and here Charles Carroll, Joseph R. and Quinby Jones were born.  In the autumn of 1828 he removed to a frame building that stood on the grounds of what is now known as the Metropolitan Boarding House, remaining there until the spring of 1829, when he re-occupied the property on Beaver street, where B. J. Jones was born, April 4, 1834.  March 17, 1836, he removed to his farm, where he lived until his death, which occurred from disease of the heart, after a short illness, April 24, 1861.  His fine brick residence upon the old homestead was built by Henry Lozier in 1840.      A glance at the records of Wayne county forcibly asserts the value of the life and public services of Benjamin Jones  With its solid and material improvements his name is closely identified.  There was neither flash, dash, brilliancy nor poetry in his composition.  His mind was practical, and when he came into the new country, he addressed himself to substantial enterprises.  He comprehended the wants and necessities of the pioneers and their inconvenient situations, and early directed his energies toward relieving and promoting their best interests.  There were no roads opened up with the exception of the one running from Canton, the streams were unbridged, society had not yet thrown around it the restraints and protection of law, and the question of sustenance was even a problem with the people.      He Navigates Killbuck - In 1814 he went on horseback to Coshocton, accompanied by William Totten, brother of Michael Totten, of Wooster, to buy flour, bacon, salt, dried fruits, etc., for the early settlement, which he placed on a pirogue, and with the assistance of a few stout men paddled the rude boat to the waters of the Killbuck, and up through the drift of that sluggish stream to the mouth of Apple creek, and thence up that stream to where the covered bridge now stands, near the old Robison mill, in the corporation of Wooster.  This exploit of inland navigation was heralded with acclamation by the inhabitants of Wooster, who rushed to the boat to obtain their supplies.      He built the first bridge that was ever laid across the Muddy Fork, and constructed the road extending from Reedsburg across the trembling quagmire to what, in past days, was known as "the French Miller" property.  He had sixteen men employed on the contract, and at night one-half the number guarded the other half while they slept.  During this work one of his laborers, named Jones, was killed and literally mangled by the Indians.  There were at this time but three houses between Wooster and Jeromeville.  Several weeks were employed upon this contract, Mr. Jones doing the cooking for his men in the woods, and performing his culinary duties with true aboriginal skill.      He constructed the first bridge across Killbuck on what is known as the Columbus avenue road.  He aided in procuring the charter for the turnpike running from Wooster to Cleveland, and was a director and stockholder in it.  He exerted himself both in the Legislature and out of it in behalf of the choice of the Killback route for the Ohio canal.      In 1816-17 he built the first jail in the county, constructing it chiefly of the old logs of the Block-house erected by Captain George Stidger, in 1812.      On the 4th of July , 1824, Mr. Jones and wife, then keeping the "Wooster Hotel," roasted an ox and prepared a grand dinner for the occasion, Mr. Samuel Vanemmon, brother of Mrs. Jones, superintending the roast.  The tickets to the banquet were fifty cents apiece, and over three hundred were sold.  The ox was roasted among the elders and brush, to the rear of Lindol Sprague's residence.  On this occasion Congressman John Sloane, Brigadier General Reasin Beall, Judge Ezra Dean, and many other prominent citizens, were present.  John Hemperly carved the ox.  Twelve pigs were also roasted.  After the dinner was over and the ceremonies concluded, Mr. Jones invited the children of the town to a free entertainment.      He is Chased by Wolves - He went to "Morgan's" on one occasion, down Killbuck about eight miles, for provisions, and among other things, Mrs. Morgan gave him some fresh meat, which she put in a large gourd, of the capacity of half a bushel.  The wolves, scenting the meat, pursued him with fierceness and angry demonstrations, when several times he thought he would have to throw everything away and try to save himself.      He Captures three Bears - While traveling on horseback, up the Killback bottom, south of Wooster, he captured three cub black bears, and put them in a sack over the saddle.  They proved, however, to be heavier than he had calculated, and hearing the mother of the cubs approaching, he considered it wisdom's better part to throw one of them out of the sack, which he did.  The remaining two he kept awhile, finally giving one away and selling the other.      He carried the mail from Canton to Mansfield on horseback.  He aided actively in organizing the Agricultural Society, and a colt in his possession took a premium at the fair fair.  In 1815 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Wooster township, and subsequently filled the office of Trustee of the township.  In 1818 he was elected Commissioner of Wayne county, and served in that capacity for three years.  In 1821 he was elected a Representative for the county of Wayne in the General Assembly of the State of Ohio.  In 1824 he was placed on the Jackson electoral ticket as one of the District electors.  He was always an ardent admirer and warm supporter of the gallant old hero of New Orleans, with whom he enjoyed most friendly personal relations.      He represented Wayne county in the Ohio Senate from December 7, 1829, to December 3, 1832, having been re-elected in 1830.  In 1832 he was elected a member of Congress, and re-elected in 1834.  He was President of the first Jacksonian meeting held in Wooster, and publicly discussed national topics with General Spink in 1840.  The was a general goodness, sunshiny humor, playful, but caustic wit, and broad hospitality about him that attracted and fascinated.  He entertained the first Methodist preacher that visited Wooster, and his house was proverbial for the generosities it dispensed.      His honesty of purpose and rectitude of conduct in the discharge of his official duties in all the various offices  he filed, gained him the esteem and approbation of his constituents.  He was a patriot, and warmly attached to the civil and political institutions of our country.  So ardent were his feelings for the happiness, prosperity and glory of his native land, that in a conversation with his family a few days before his decease, in remarking upon the situation of our country, he observed that he had lived to see the adoption of the Constitution, which bound the States in union with each other - and under the influence of its sacred provisions this nation had become great and prosperous, and had protected the rights and secured civil and religious liberty to all her subjects; and that before he should be called to witness a dissolution of the Union, he hoped that God in his providence would dissolve his existence.

CHRISTIAN LAWRENCE -

JOHN A. LAWRENCE -

ALEXANDER McBRIDE -

W. C. MOORE, M. D., was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, June 1, 1822.  His parents removed to Wayne county, and settled in Chester township, on the farm now owned by Robert Christie, in the year 1832.  He remained with his father until he was twenty years of age, and at the expiration of this time, and in 1842, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Leander Firestone, then practicing in Congress village, Congress township.  With Dr. Firestone he continued as a student of medicine for three years, engaging in school teaching in the winter seasons.  After concluding his elementary readings, and having graduated, he began practice with his preceptor in 1845, continuing there a year, at the end of which time he removed to Rowsburg, where he remained another year, the partnership continuing, when he returned to Congress village and remained with Dr. Firestone for ten years.      Dr. Moore, though not a politician, is especially popular with his party throughout the county, and in 1859 he was elected by the Democracy to the Legislature of the State of Ohio, serving from January 2, 1860 to January 6, 1862.  By his ability, genial manner and many qualifications as a member of that body, he acquired popularity both as a speaker and as a business representative.      In his profession his skill is acknowledged, his good judgment being recognized by his competitors, as well as his kind care and sympathetic attention at the bed of sickness.  His mind is bright, analytical, dissective, and he arrives at conclusions, or rather they are suggested and forced, not simply as a result of his logical premises, but by his actual and comparative knowledge.  He is well acquainted with the philosophies of practice, as well as the principles of the medical science, and possesses all the elements of a good physician, which he is conceded to be.      His social developments are of high order, and his heart and soul are not hidden under ice, but lie near a warm, tropical surface, where they expand into sunshine and burst into flowers.      Dr. Moore is a man of refined and cultivated literary tastes, and inclines at times to float in Pierian waters.  He believes, with Coleridge, that "poetry is the blossom and the fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, emotions, language."      We select the following as a specimen of good Saxon song: MOTHER. (Thoughts suggested on visiting her grave in Wooster Cemetery, 1870.) Mother, as here I breathe thy name my tears unbidden start, And memories bright as rays of heaven come clustering 'round my heart; 'Twas thee that taught my lips to lisp a little infant prayer, And pointing upward to the skies, informed me heaven was there; And Scripture stories you'd repeat - tell how the good and wise, If faithful here, would live again immoral in the skies - Until enraptured by your themes, for hours I've gazed at even, Expecting through some parting clouds to catch a glimpse of heaven. Tell me, my sainted mother dear, I now may ask of thee, Thou has outstript me in the race, and art from bondage free, Oh!  tell me whence that smile of heaven, that made they face so fair? It early won my infant heart, and still is imaged there; Dear mother, whence the radiant light that kindled in thine eye? Was it of earth, or lustre lent from some fair realm on high? And, mother, when that last sweet calm had mantled on they brow, Was faith in full fruition then?  for thou canst tell me now. Speak, mother - for full well I know thou never didst deceive! You've told me of immoral joys, and shall I still believe? It is soul, indeed, unquenched by death? unharmed by circling time? Has man a higher destiny? his home a brighter clime? Then, mother, was the kindling ray that lit they dying eye Occasioned by a glimpse beyond of that celestial sky? Oh! mother, dost thou sweep the lyre within that realm so fair? What of the harpings of that clime? for doubtless thou art there. Dear mother, tell me of that realm.  Is it a starless sphere? No ivied urn, no ruined arch nor broken column there? Does spring eternal clothe its plains in robes of liveliest green? Amid those ever vernal vales what brightening beauty's seen? Does glittering glory gild the day? celestial zephyrs blow? And purer crystal steamlets there in living lustre flow? Oh! tell me, is all light and love within that realm on high? Does peace unfurl her banner there, the rainbow of that sky? Hath Jesus there a banquet spread with fruit from life's fair tree? Does man partake with nobler guests?  Oh! was it spread for me? Do angel bands there strike their harps to new unearthly strains? And wandering pluck the amaranths upon those shining plains? One question more, dear mother!  Is our little Willie there? You'll known him by his angel smile and by his shining hair: Oh! search each winding, flow'ry vale where wandering angles stray - He'll surely be among the first to cull his bright bouquet. Thy lips are sealed, thy silent tongue is eloquent no more; I plead in vain for tidings from that far, far-gleaming shore; No mortal eye hath ever scanned that radiant realm so fair - No mortal ear hath ever heard the hallowed harpings there; Faith's eye alone hath scaled the mount on whose bright top appears Heaven's citadel, high lifted up above this vale of tears. Amid life's wreck a childlike faith in inspiration given, Will light the tomb and open wide the jeweled gates of heaven.   .

JOHN REIDER was born in Lancaster county, Pa., October 6, 1800.  His father's name was John, and he was a farmer and miller.  He subsequently removed to Daulphin county, Pa., and purchased a mill property, and here young John had full play for his muscle in teaming, and such other work as was to be performed.      He removed to Wooster township, Wayne county, in 1827, and settled upon the farm now owned by Thomas Carson, purchasing it - one hundred and seventy-six acres - from Oliver Jones, one of the pioneers of 1812.  On his arrival and settlement in Wooster township, his nearest neighbors were David Kimpton, William Kimpton, John Robison, George Pomeroy, John Sturgeon, Robert Hall, Thomas Culbertson, James Wilson, James Hunter, Thos. Pomeroy, Jacob Loop, Neal Richard and Joseph Power.      Mr. Reider has been twice married, first to Elizabeth Weltner, of Lebanon county, Pa., who died October 2, 1862, and by which marriage he had eight children; and second to Anna Champ, wife of Henry Bair, deceased, December 31, 1863.  Mr. Reider is a member of the Baptist church, of Millbrook.

DAVID ROBISON, Sr., was born July 12, 1793, near Chambersburg, Franklin county, Pa., and descended from old Scotch-Irish parentage.  In boyhood he was so unfortunate as to lose his father, and when but entering upon his teens he removed with his widowed mother to Columbiana county, Ohio, at so early a period as 1806.  Her he tarried for a short time with her, and then spent a few yeas at a place called New Lancaster, Fairfield county, where, and during which time, he learned the trade of tanner and currier.  On the termination of his period of service as apprentice he made3 the experiment of living which forms a part of the usually unwritten history of every young man.  A year or two was thus occupied in Zanesville and Newark.      The country was now embroiled with Great Britain in its second defensive war.  Many of the ports of the Atlantic seaboard were possessed by the enemy.  They were making destructive incursions into the interior of the country.  Our cities were endangered or actually occupied by the enemy.  The northern frontier was menaced by marshaling armies of the enemy, and the lines on the west and northwest were threatened by mongrel hordes of Red coats and Indians.  Men were needed and called for to check the encompassing legions of British power.      The voice of duty and the demands of patriotism could no longer be stifled or ignored, and so our young hero, then but nineteen years of age, volunteered in the ranks of the United States army.  Without a commission or hope of promotion, with a musket on his shoulder, he encountered the dangers and vicissitudes of the north-western frontier, the Black swamp perils, serving faithfully the period of his enlistment, and being honorably discharged at the expiration of his term.  He then returned to Zanesville, where he had volunteered.  Here he did not long remain, for in the autumn of 1813, in company with his brother Thomas, sallied forth on horseback to discover, if possible, a suitable location for business.  Visiting Wooster, and being favorably impressed with it, and satisfied with its promising advantages, they jointly purchased property with an eye to permanent settlement.  Their first investment was in a block of lots on the northwest corner of Buckeye and North streets, establishing there what was long and popularly known as Robison's tannery.  Here, and in active application to his trade, he continued until the year 1837, when, with his family, he removed to what was formerly known as Madison Hill, the original seat of justice of the county.      In 1832 he built what for a quarter of a century was known as Robison's mill, now Wooster mill, which, considering cost and capacity, at taht time was considered an enterprise of magnitude.  He was largely interested in merchandising from the time he removed to his farm, in 1837 to 1848, not only in Wooster, but in Fredericksburg, Jeromeville, Rowsburg and Ashland.  He was identified with the early banking interests of the county, and was one of the incorporators of the Wayne county branch of the State Bank of Ohio, acting as its President for a period of fifteen years, and until he had made disposition of his interests in the same.      He was married June 5, 1821, to Miss Elizabeth McConnell, a native of the same county and State of that of her husband, where she was born May 8, 1797.  To this marriage union of over half a century, were brought six sons, William H., John M., James N., David, Joseph and Lyman.  James N. died in Wooster June 23, 1857, and Joseph in Dubuque, Iowa, April 6, 1863.  William H. and John M. now live in the city of Dubuque, Iowa, David and Lyman in Toledo, Ohio.      He united with the Presbyterian church in 1842.  He could not well have been inclined to membership in any less orthodox religious body the laminated faith of the Scotch Seceders; and, moreover, it was in grateful consonance with the inclinations and convictions of the faithful partner of his lengthened years, who in early life espoused this church, and who today is a worthy and exemplary member.  He compassed in his enterprises the interests of the community; had enlarged views of business; was clear-headed, penetrative and emphatically practical in all his enterprises and transactions.  His deliberations proceeded from a sound and reliable judgment; he took no steps in the dark, for his sharp perception of situations was "a light to his feet."  He had the ability to analyze things, and feel forward and lay his hand upon the hem of results.  Hence his investments were made with great care, and, as a consequence, they were accompanied with gratifying and substantial realizations.  His life illustrated many solid virtues.  It was a scene of activity and unostentatious, energetic enterprise, rounded in its decline with comforts and crowned with worldly competence.  He died March 1, 1870.

WILLIAM SPEAR was born in Cumberland county, Pa., on the 17th of December, 1803.  With a man named Myers he emigrated to Ohio and located in Wooster, where Myers and he, in 1830, went into the cabinet business in an old shed on the lot now occupied by S. F. Day's tin store on West Liberty street.      Myers remained with him a year and a half, when they dissolved partnership, divided their effects, neither one being able to purchase from the other.  Myers removed to Dalton, Mr. Spear continuing the business at the old stand in Wooster for two years, when he in connection with Robert Ewing, who afterwards went to Terre Haute, Indiana, built a shop on the corner where his furniture store now stands.  It was a frame building one story and a half high, 18x40 feet, and then considered a mammoth structure.  The building yet stands on the same lot, to the west of its old position a few feet, and is now owned and occupied as a residence by Lewis Keller.      He then formed a partnership with John Beistle and was associated with him in the manufacture of furniture for about eighteen years, during which time they purchased 18x60 feet of ground on the north-east side of the Public Square, from E. Quimby, Jr., agent of the Bowman estate, for the sum of $675, and erected thereon a three story brick building.  This they used, while Mr. Beistle was in the firm, for saleroom and warehouse, and was continued to be used as such by Mr. Spear until the spring of 1871, when he sold the property to the Jackson Brothers.      After Mr. Beistle withdrew, Mr. Spear gave his two sons, Wesley W. and Fletcher W., an interest in the business, each having learned a respective branch of the trade, and at maturity were experts in their departments.  Since that time "William Spear & Sons" has been the character and style of the firm, conducting one of the largest establishments of the kind in Wayne County.      Their fine ware-room is situated on the spot where he first located, on West Liberty Street.   For work-shops they purchased the old Episcopal church, on South street, and were doing extensive manufacturing there when, on August 13, 1866, it burned down, involving a loss of $10,000, upon which there was no insurance.  Notwithstanding this severe misfortune, he almost immediately purchased two acres of ground at the terminus of South Walnut street, from J. H. Kauke, for $2,000, and there erected a large new shop, three stories high, forty feet wide and eighty-eight feet in length, filing it with all kinds of the latest styles of machinery, and running it by steam-power.  In addition to the main building are dry-houses and store-houses, with lumber-yard, the whole establishment employing twenty to twenty-five hands.

WILLIAM TAGGART -

PHILLIP TROUTMAN, son of Michael Troutman, deceased, of Wayne township, was born January 1, 1824, and was married January 3, 1854, to Pleasant Ann Johnson, a sister of Isaac Johnson, Esq. of the city of Wooster.  He removed from Wayne township to the south-west corner of Wooster township in 1853, and has since resided there.  He is a born farmer, and stock-raiser, owns a beautiful farm in a high state of Cultivation, to the careful supervision of which he devotes himse.f

JOHN WALTER -

JOSHUA WARNER -

NATHAN WARNER, SR. -

JOHN WILHELM.  This prominent carriage manufacturer immigrated to Wooster on the 9th of July, 1836, coming from Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where he was born, June 14, 1810.  On his arrival in Wooster, with his wife and two children, he immediately embarked in the business of carriage-making.  His first shop was located on North Walnut street, where, besides other work, he kept in repair six or seven miles of stage coaches.  He built the first carriage ever constructed in Wooster or Wayne county, there being no other maker nearer than George Hine of Massilon.  This carriage was built for Michael Mowry, the father of Michael Mowry, of Chester township, at a cost of $165.  Before Mowry left the shop some one remarked that, in advance of the carriage being removed, it would have to be "wet," to which he consented; and calling on the hands in the shop, sixteen in number, with James Jacobs, Michael Bucher, Henry Koller and Mr. Wilhelm, they all went to Koller's tavern and got "a stiff cocktail," for, as Mr. Wilhelm remarked in narrating the circumstance, they "drank nothing stronger than whisky and brandy then."      After doing business on the west side for about three years Mr. Wilhelm bought lots on East Liberty street, and built the structure now owned and occupied by Frederick Schuch and Mr. Saal.  He remained there for twelve or thirteen years, or until 1852, when he took possession of the new brick shops he had erected across the street, and was prepared to carry on business co-extensive with his increased capabilities.  In 1860 he built a fine residence on the corner of Beall avenue and Bowman street.      Mr. Wilhelm has been an industrious man all his life, is identified with our public improvements, and has contributed his share to the general advancement of the town.  He contributed freely to the University, and was one of the number who signed the $17,000 bond.  For 46 years he has been connected with the Reformed church of Wooster.  Three of his sons were in the Federal army, one of whom, Owen A., was afterward, from 18745 to 1877, Mayor of the city.