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BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
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JAMES WARBURTON is a native of
England, and was born September 25, 1822. At the age of eighteen,
he parted with his parents, Abraham and Ann Warburton, his two
brothers and a sister, and came to America, locating in Medina County,
Ohio, 1841, since when he has been but once out of the State - on a
visit to Indiana and Michigan. He began working in a flouring mill
at $12 per month, and thus became a miller. Two years later, he
moved to Cuyahoga, and thence to Summit County, where he married Miss
Diana Salter, who was born in England, but had been resident of this
country since six years of age. Here he remained until 1873, when
he came to this township and settled on a 240 acre tract he had
purchased about 1850, and which he had caused to be so improved as to
become one of the very good farms in the township. Mrs.
Warburton died in 1860, leaving five small children - Albert H.,
Mary E., Alice A., Frank S. and Lizzie J., now all married
and in good circumstances. Mr. Warburton remained a
widower until December 9, 1879, when he married Miss Mary A. Morse,
a native of Canton, Ohio, who has borne him two children - Hannah
(deceased) and Ida. Mr. Warburton has led a strictly
temperate life, and his success has been greatly due to this fact.
He arrived in this State wholly exhausted of means, but through the
virtues of sobriety, industry and economy has been enabled to go into
retirement and await the close of his useful career on earth in peace
and comfort.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio
- Chicago - J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 |
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JAMES
WATERSTON.
One of the leading and representative farmers of
Bridgewater township, Williams county, is James Waterston,
who is a native of Ohio, born in Belmont county, March 6, 1837.
Alexander Waterston, father of our
subject, was born in Dalkeith, Scotland, March 6, 1805, and was the
elder of the two children of Simon and Janet (Thornburg) Waterston.
Alexander was quite young when his father died, and he was then
reared by his grandfather, with whom he learned the tanner's trade.
Subsequently he learned both the butcher's and baker's trades, and for
two years previous to coming to the United States he followed the latter
occupation. In his native land he was married, in 1829, to Miss
Janet Forrest, who was born in Penicuick, Scotland.
On crossing the Atlantic in 1831, Alexander
Waterston first located near Wheeling, West Virginia, whence he, in
1834, removed to Belmont county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming on
rented land for a number of years, later going to Richland county, where
he purchased a tract of wild land and improved a farm. In
September, 1853, he came to Williams county, locating in Bridgewater
township. Here he purchased four hundred acres of land, only two of
which had been cleared, and near the cabin already standing thereon he
built another, covering the space between, which he converted into a
wide hall, thus making a double house. To the original purchase he added
another tract of raw land, making in all over five hundred acres, and
with a will he set to work to clear and improve the place, assisted by
his sons. He always took the lead in everything, hard work never daunted
him, and he became one of the most substantial farmers and prominent
citizens of the township. A man of strict integrity and sterling worth,
his word was ever considered as good as his bond, and it is safe to say
that no man in Williams county stood higher in the esteem of his fellow
citizens. As a true and loyal citizen of his adopted
country, he took a deep interest in public affairs; was first a Whig and
later a Republican in politics; was called upon to fill various local
offices of honor and trust, and was serving as township treasurer at the
time of his death, which occurred on the old homestead March 11, 1875,
when he was seventy years of age. His wife survived him many years,
dying on the old homestead, August 27, 1891, aged ninety-one years. Thus
ended two noble lives. They were reared in the Presbyterian Church, and
always adhered to that faith. Of their eleven children, five are yet
living. In order of birth they were as follows: Simon, a
prominent citizen of Williams county, who was a member of the
Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war; Alexander,
Janet and Thomas (all three deceased); James, the
subject of this sketch; David and Benjamin (both
deceased); William, who resides on the old homestead; Wallace
(deceased); Mrs. Mary Haines; and Mrs. Elizabeth Culbertson.
James Waterston obtained his education
in the public schools of this State. At the age of sixteen he came with
the family to Williams county, and remained with his parents until he
was twenty-seven, assisting in the arduous task of clearing and
improving the home farm. In 1864, after his marriage, he located upon a
tract of land given him by his father, and after clearing away the heavy
timber, he placed the land under cultivation, making a good farm which
he sold in 1867. His present farm in Bridgewater township, comprising
two hundred acres, consists of three different tracts, which at the time
of purchase was an unbroken forest. Most of the land is now highly
cultivated, an orchard has been set out, a commodious two-story brick
residence has been built, together with good outbuildings, and the place
is now one of the most desirable farms in the county. Besides being a
thorough and skillful farmer, Mr. Waterston is a
successful stock raiser, and has upon his place a fine grade of horses,
cattle, sheep and hogs.
In 1864 Mr. Waterston was married to
Miss Emily Branderberry, who was born in Ashland
county, Ohio, August 19, 1845, a daughter of Conrad and
Jane (Malcom) Branderberry, also natives of Ohio. In
1854 her parents removed to Bridgewater township, Williams county, where
her father engaged in farming for some years, but he is now living
retired in Montpelier. Both he and his wife are faithful members of the
United Brethren Church. Their children are Emily, Jason,
Robert, Sarah, Abigail and James. To Mr.
and Mrs. Waterston have been born five children, namely:
Emma, who died at the age of thirteen years; Mary, wife of
Dr. Wirts; Gertrude, wife of W. Close; and
Theodore and James R., both at home. In the United Brethren
Church our subject and his wife hold membership, and in politics he is
identified with the Republican party. He always takes a deep and
commendable interest in public affairs and gives his support to all
enterprises calculated to advance the general welfare.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio
- Chicago - J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 566 |
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ADAM
WEITZ, son of Joseph Weitz, is a native of Germany, and
was born in 1810. He was reared a Catholic and taught the weaver's
trade in the old country; served his six allotted years in the army
there, and at the age of twenty-seven emigrated to America, locating in
Portage County, Ohio. He began work on the canal; attended school
one winter and acquired a knowledge of English, and then went on to
learn the stonecutter's trade. His temperate habits and industry
soon gained for him a position of overseer, and for twenty-four years he
followed his trade. In 1846, he bought his farm in this township;
went to work at stone-cutting, hired help to clear away the forest
trees; built a small frame house, yet an adjunct of his present
dwelling, and soon was the owner of as comfortable a home as there is in
the township. In 1839, he married Elizabeth Yeager, a
native of Pennsylvania, and to this marriage have been born eleven
children - nine now living - Daniel, Harriet, Lovina, Lucina, Joseph,
Wesley, Thomas, George and Frances. Mr. Weitz has
proven himself to be one of the most energetic citizens of St. Joseph
Township, and was largely instrumental in causing the new survey to be
made, which permanently fixed the legal boundaries of St. Joseph.
Formerly he was a Democrat, and cast his first vote for James K. Polk,
but in 1856 changed his political views, and cast his vote for John
C. Fremont for President, and thenceforward became stanchly
Republican. He is now a Protestant in religion, and, with his
wife, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 620 |
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JOSEPH WHITE, son of John and
Mary (Mitchell) White, was born in Bucks County, Penn., Oct. 14,
1806. John White was a soldier of 1812. When fifteen
years of age, Joseph was apprenticed to a coach
maker, with whom he remained four and one-half years, and continued to
live in Bucks County until his twenty-third year, when he removed to New
Hope and set up his trade there. In this town, on May 8, 1830, he
was married to Miss Rebecca F. Leach, and continued the trade of
coach-making. In 1835, he came to Crawford County, Ohio, and
purchased eighty acres, fifteen of which were cleared. This he
sold, and coming to Williams County in 1839, and entered 160 acres.
He assisted in clearing two and one-half miles of road to reach the mill
at West Buffalo. Mr. White was Justice of the Peace for
three years, and has had a family of ten - Mary A., Deborah, Martha,
Lucretia, Fannie, Isaiah, Joseph H., Julie A., Prudence and
John. Of these, two (Lucretia and Prudence) are
deceased.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 650 |
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JOSEPH WIBIRT, JR.
born May 23, 1840, in Waterloo County, N.Y., is the youngest of eight
children born to Joseph and Polly A. (Reynolds) Wibirt. In
1842, the elder Mr. Wibirt moved with his family to Springfield
Township, and settled on eighty acres entered the previous year, built a
cabin, and began the work of clearing, residing thereon until his death,
April, 19, 1876; Mrs. Wibirt died April 27, 1880; both were
Quakers. Joseph Wibirt, Jr., has always lived on the old
homestead, which he now owns. He was married, Aug. 14, 1862, to
Lucinda C. Colgan, of Springfield Twp., and daughter of Daniel
Colgan. Mr. and Mrs. Wibirt have two children - Alice A.
and Mary J. He is a member of Springfield Grange, No. 499,
and also of A., F. & A. M. Both himself and wife are members of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is in politics a Republican, also
an enterprising farmer. Joseph Wibert, Sr., was born in
Saratoga County, N. Y., and his wife in New Hampshire; both were of
English-German extraction. The parents of Mrs. Joseph Wibirt,
Jr., Daniel and Christina A. (Haller) Colgan, were
both natives of Connecticut.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 743 - Springfield Twp. |
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Mill
Creek Twp. -
THOMAS E. WHITNEY was born in New York City December 25, 1844,
and is the eldest son of Marvin N. and Esther (Underhill) Whitney,
respectively natives of Connecticut and New York, and of English
descent. The Pell and Underhill families are quite
numerous on the line between New York and Connecticut, and our subject
derives his descent from their founders, Lord Pell and Lord
Underhill, the latter having been his grandfather. Mervin
N. Whitney was engaged in ship and house building in New York, and,
a few years before the late ware, came to Akron, Ohio, and erected the
only steam flouring mills in the place, and they are still standing.
Here he died within a few years; the family became separated, and the
Thomas E. came to this township. Having received a very fair
common-school education, and possessing a good share of energy, he
pushed his way along through the world, and, April 13, 1863, married
Lila M. Ames, a native of Erie County, Ohio, and daughter of
Calvin and Chrisan (Garrison) Ames, who were both born in New York.
During the war, Mr. Whitney enlisted in Hoffman's
Battalion, doing garrison duty on Johnson's Island, and received his
discharge July 18, 1865. Two or three years later, he bought
thirty acres of land, lying partly in this township and partly on the
other side of the Michigan line, and farmed until 1869, when he engaged
in general merchandising. In 1882, he joined Mr. Steadman
in the lumber business, at which he is still profitably engaged.
His children are three in number, and bear the names of Waldo, Hattie
L. and Eddie.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 800 |
| |
JOSEPH
W. WILLIAMS, M. D.,
was born in Williams County, Ohio, Apr. 15, 1852. His parents,
Andrew S. and Mary A. (White) Williams, were also natives of Ohio.
Andrew Williams served three years in the army and was wounded at
Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 7, 1853, which caused his death the September
following. Mrs. Williams resides with her son in Montpelier.
Dr. Williams attended the public schools of Williams County in his
youth; afterward Bryan Normal School, studying his profession for three
years with Dr. P. O. Jump, of Bryan, following which he attended
medical lectures and graduated at Cincinnati in 1878. He began
practice the same year at Bridgewater Centre, in Williams County, in
connection with R. F. Lamson, which was continued for two
and a half years, when Dr. W. removed to Edon, remaining but six
months, when he decided upon Montpelier as a permanent location. A
partnership was formed between himself and Messrs. J. a. And J. W.
Starr for the purpose of carrying on the drug business, which is one
of the permanent institutions of the place. They carry a fine
stock of from $2,500 to $3,000 value. Dr. Williams also has
an extensive practice in this vicinity. Miss Emma Starr
became the wife of Dr. Williams May 28, 1878. She is a
daughter of Richard and Mary A. Starr, natives respectively of
Pennsylvania and Ohio, but now residents of Williams County,, Ohio.
Dr. and Mrs. Williams are members of the M. E. Church.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 650 |
| |
PHILO B. WILLIAMS was
born in Licking County, Ohio, Feb. 5, 1829. His parents, Gilbert
and Catherine Williams, were natives of Vermont and New York
respectively, and of English and French descent. They removed to
De Kalb County, Ind., adjoining St. Joseph Township, in this county, in
1840, when they country was new and unsettled, and for ten years worked
at subduing the forces of nature and improving and cultivating their
land, when they returned to Licking County, Ohio, and thence to Iowa,
where the father ended his days, leaving the mother with seven children.
Philo B. assisted his father in his early pioneer labors,
receiving but slight educational advantages. At that time the trip
to Defiance to dispose of the produce required three or four days,
efforts almost forgotten in these days. He returned with his
parents, in 1850, to his native county, and was joined in wedlock, Sept.
29, 1853, with Miss Julia Hastings, a naive of
Licking County, and a daughter of William and Susanna (Skeels)
Hastings, natives of New Hampshire and Vermont and of English and
Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had a family of
five children, four surviving, viz., Madora, Arthur, Josephine
and Eunice. The family returned to Edgerton in 1855, where
Mr. Williams has been engaged as carpenter and joiner, and later
at farming and lumbering. He has acquired a fine home of
forty-three acres, besides village property in Bryan and Edgerton.
Mr. W. enlisted in Company K, Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio
Volunteer Infantry in 1861, and participated in actiave service under
Sherman at Pittsburg Landing, Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Corinth and
Atlanta, and received an honorable discharge in 1864.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 621 |
| |
ALBRO
WIRICK.
Sheriff Wirick, of Williams county, one of the popular and
influential citizens of that locality, has for a number of years been
recognized as one of the leaders in the Republican organization of his
county.
Mr. Wirick comes of good old Pennsylvania-Dutch
stock, and his grandfather, Peter Wirick, who was a
native of Pennsylvania, became one of the earliest settlers of Richland
county, Ohio, his homestead being located in the southwestern part of
the county, near Hagerstown. This worthy pioneer was a substantial
farmer, and was widely known as a hunter in his day. He and his wife,
Deborah Wirick, had sixteen children, among whom was a son
Jacob, our subject's father. Jacob Wirick learned the
tailor's trade in his youth, and for some time followed that business,
at Hagerstown, having established his home there soon after his marriage
to Miss Elizabeth Garver. In 1858, having been
touched with "the gold fever" as a result of the stories in circulation
concerning the extensive discoveries in California and other parts of
the West, he went overland with a party to Pike's Peak in search of the
precious metal. The venture proved unsuccessful and he soon started
back, stopping in Missouri, where he was joined by his wife, who had
been staying with her parents.
During their brief residence at Oregon, Holt county,
Missouri, our subject was born on December 15, i860, and shortly
afterward the family returned to Richland county, Ohio. About two years
later they removed to West Jefferson, Williams county, where the father
engaged in mercantile business, and in 1864 he settled in Pioneer, Ohio,
where he carried on a merchant-tailoring establishment until his death.
On September 17, 1867, he passed to the unseen life, and his remains now
rest in the cemetery at Pioneer. He was a Republican in politics, and in
religious faith was a Universalist. His widow married a second husband,
Benjamin Dee, of Fulton county (now deceased), and she
resides at Alvordton, Ohio. By her first marriage she had five children:
Sherman, Emerson, Albro, Sonobra, and
Florous.
Mr. Wirick's boyhood was chiefly spent
upon a farm, where he became familiar with the details of agricultural
work by practical experience. At the age of sixteen he removed with his
mother to Fayette, Fulton county, where he attended school for some
time. In 1885 he went to Watertown, South Dakota, but after remaining
one season he returned to Ohio, and in the winter of 1885-86 he removed
with his mother to Alvordton. His ability and his strong interest in
political affairs soon led to an active participation in party work, and
he held from the first an enviable place in the esteem of his
fellow-workers. In September, 1895, he was nominated by the county
convention on the first ballot for the office of sheriff against four
other candidates, and later he was triumphantly elected by a majority of
over six hundred. In 1897 he was re-elected by a handsome majority. He
also served—1892-1896 —as deputy sheriff, under John C. Bailey,
sheriff. Socially he is prominent and he is an active member of various
orders, including the Knights of Pythias.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio
- Chicago - J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 |
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