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BIOGRAPHIES
 
Source
Centennial Biographical History
of Richland Co., Ohio
Illustrated
By A. J. Baughman, Editor
Published Chicago - The Lewis Publishing Co.
1901
 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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  FRANK ABBOTT.  There is, in the anxious and laborious struggle for an honorable competence and a solid career of the business or professional an fighting the every-day battle of life, but little to attract the idle reader in search of a sensational chapter; but for a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and meaning of human existence, there are noble and immortal lessons in the life of the man, who, without other means than a clear head, a strong arm, and a true heart, conquers adversity, and toiling on through the work-a day years of a long career finds that he has won not only wealth but also something far greater and higher, - the deserved respect and esteem of those with whom his years of active life placed him in contact.
     Such a man, and one of the leading citizens of Shelby, Ohio, is Frank A. Abbott, who was born in "Spencer, Medina county, Ohio, Mar. 8, 1857, his parents being Arby Jennings and Martha M. (Thorp) Abbott.  The Abbott family is one well known in America, for the name figures conspicuously on the pages of her history in connection with important events.  The subject of this review is descended from one of three brothers who came from England in 1648, settling in Massachusetts, and of the same family the celebrated George Abbott was a representative.  The paternal grandparents of our subject were Daniel and Sally Bellows Abbott, who removed from the Empire state to Ohio in the year 1833.  The father was a farmer and blacksmith, but he was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, his death occurring in February, 1837.  In his family were ten children, namely: Daniel, who was born Nov. 3, 1805, and died Feb. 1, 1836; Charlotte, born Nov. 2, 807, and died Sept. 1, 1836; Leverette, who was born July 15, 1809, and died Feb. 8, 1878; Eliza A., who was born Apr. 20, 1811; Sally, who was born Aug. 5, 1813; Abigail, born Mar. 27, 1815; Charles, born Mar. 8, 1817; Arby Jennings, born Nov. 10, 1819; Elvira, who was born Aug. 10, 1821, and died at the age of ten years, ten months and twenty days; and Sidney, who was born Mar. 8, 1825.
     Arby Jennings Abbott, the father of our subject, was born in Lebanon, Madison county, New York, Nov. 10, 1819, and in 1833, when fourteen years of age, he came with his parents to Ohio.  In 1846 he was united in marriage with Miss Martha M. Thorp, of New York.  Their eldest son was born in May, 1853, and died Sept. 1, 1879.  Mr. Abbott was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a man of the highest respectability.
     Frank A. Abbott, whose name introduces this review, has spent his entire life in Ohio.  The year 1875 witnessed his arrival in Shelby, where he has made his home for a quarter of a century.  With his brother, William L., he engaged in the drug business, the partnership continuing until his brother's death in 1879.  Mr. Abbott was then alone in business for two years, when he sold his store to J. Frank Rhooks and turned his attention to the hardwood lumber business, to which he has since given his energies.  At the present time he is also dealing in carriages and is interested in the patent-right business, under the firm name of Bevans & Abbott, his partner being Dr. Bevans.  He has maintained a lively interest in the advancement of the industrial and commercial interests of the city of his adoption and has contributed largely to its progress and substantial upbuilding.  In all business transactions he is reliable, energetic and determined, and these qualities have insured him a gratifying success.
     In 1884 occurred the marriage of Mr. Abbott to Miss Amy Myers, a daughter of Professor John and Lydia (Hurksler) Myers.  Their union has been blessed with three children: William Jennings, born Aug. 2, 1885, and Martha and Myers, twins, born in September, 1886.  While Mr. Abbott has not been an aspirant for political honors, he has twice been elected to serve as township treasurer, being chosen for the position on the Republican ticket.  A man of genial and social nature and one who is most appreciative of the amenities which go to make up the sum of human happiness, he has identified himself with the Knights of Pythias.  He attends the services of the Methodist Episcopal church, and as one of the public-spirited men of the town he withholds his support from no interest or movement calculated to prove of general good.  
 Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Richland Co., Ohio - Publ: Mansfield by A. A., Graham & Co. - 1901 - Page 655
  WILLIAM K. ALBERTSON, deceased, formerly of Shelby, Ohio, was born in New York, a son of Cornelius and Margaret (Shiltz) Albertson, who removed to Columbiana county, Pennsylvania, in the early part of the nineteenth century.  The date of his birth was Mar. 13, 1823, and on Oct. 12, 1844, the autumn of the election of James K. Polk to the presidency, he was married to Sarah Valk, a daughter of Peter and Mary (Parkes) Valk, the former of whom was a native of Holland and the latter of New Jersey.  She was a member of a family consisting of seven daughters and two sons.
     Mr. and Mrs. Albertson were the parents of one son and four daughters, as follows:  Manervia Ann, the wife of Amos P. McBride, and who died in 1884, at the age of thirty-two years; Mary Matilda, who died in 1882, aged twenty-four years; two daughters that died in infancy; and Lewis Butler, who was born in 1848, and has always followed farming for a living.  He married Miss Sarah Sutter, a daughter of John Sutter, of Shelby, and to this marriage there has been one son, William, in 1871.
     William K. Albertson, the subject of this sketch, four years after his marriage removed to Richland county, Ohio, driving through from his former home in Pennsylvania with a team of his own.  For several years after reaching this county he followed farming, then buying a home in Shelby, where he lived the remainder of his years, making his livelihood as a millwright and carpenter.  He was a most excellent citizen, was a stanch Democrat in politics, and attended the United Brethren church.  His death occurred on Aug. 25, 1889, when he was sixty-six years of age, and was keenly felt by all his friends as well as by his family and other relatives.  He is well remembered for his many fine qualities, being an upright, honorable and highly esteemed member of the community in which he lived.
 Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Richland Co., Ohio - Publ: Mansfield by A. A., Graham & Co. - 1901 - Page 116

H. M. Alvord		  
  SAMUEL ANDREWS.  A man's life and labors make him known to his fellow citizens, and Samuel Andrews needs no introduction to the men and women of Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio, but a man's life and works entitled him to the remembrance of mankind in the generations after he has passed away from the active field of human endeavor, and it is to record the chief incidents in his busy and useful career that this brief biographical sketch has been prepared and is presented in this connection.
     Samuel Andrews was born on the farm on which he now lives July 29, 1840, a son of James and Lovina (Carrick) Andrews.  His father was a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, married there and in 1823 located in Monroe township, Richland county, on the farm now owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch, which had been purchased from the government by Colonel John Andrews, his father, who had served this country in the battles of the war of 1812, who was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, and who died in Richland county, Ohio.  Few improvements had been made on the place when James Andrews took up his home on it.  He built a log cabin for a temporary residence and later provided his family with a more comfortable home and made a good farm, on which he died in 1850, aged fifty-four years.  James and Lovina (Carrick) Andrews had children as follows, mentioned in the order of their nativity:  John G., who lives at Freeport, Michigan; James, who died in 1898; William, who died in 1892; Mary J., who lives at Beaver Dam, Indiana; David, a sergeant in the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the war of the Rebellion, who died at Vicksburg; Joseph, who served in the Civil war in the Sixty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and now lives at Atchison, Kansas; and Samuel.
     Samuel Andrews was reared on his father's farm and educated in the district schools.  Like some of his brothers above mentioned, he risked his life in defense of the Union in the great war with the south.  Oct. 9, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Sixth Ohio Battery for three years or during the war.  He was mustered into the service at Mansfield, Ohio, and went in turn to Louisville, Columbia and Jamestown, Kentucky.  At the last mentioned place he helped to guard the approaches to the Cumberland river.  From Jamestown he went to Nashville, Tennessee, and thence to Huntsville, Alabama, and then to Stephenson, in the same state, and from there back to Louisville, Kentucky, and there he was taken ill and was taken to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was discharged from the service on account of disability, November 2, 1862.  He at once returned home and assumed the management of the Andrews homestead, which became his in 1874, when he bought the interest of the other heirs of his father in the same.
     Mr. Andrews was married, June 9, 1864, to Miss Amanda Wiles, sister of Rev. Mr. Wiles, a minister of the gospel well and favorably known in this vicinity.  Mr. and Mrs. Andrews have had children named as follows:  Cary S., of Shelby, Ohio; Minnie; Alta, the wife of Frank Inks; Lovina; Lloyd; Herman, who is dead; and another child who died in infancy.  In politics Mr. Andrews is a stanch Republican, a consistent voter and worker for the prevalence of the principles of his party, but not an office-seeker and not in the accepted sense of the term an active politician.  He ranks with the leading general farmers of his township and is the owner of one hundred and fifty-six acres of good land, one hundred and thirty-five acres of which is under cultivation.  He keeps alive the memory of the days when he was a soldier by membership of Swigert Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is one of the honored past commanders, and he is a devoted and generously helpful member off the Lutheran church, upon the services of which he and his family are attendants.  In all things he is a good and useful citizen, public-spirited to an unusual degree and with the welfare of his township and county close to his heart.
 Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Richland Co., Ohio - Publ: Mansfield by A. A., Graham & Co. - 1901 - Page 557
  MRS. SARAH JANE ARTER is one of the estimable ladies of Sandusky township, Richland county.  She has long resided here, so that she is widely known in the community.  She is the widow of George Arter, who died on the old home farm June 21, 1896, in his seventy-fifth year.  He was born in Sandusky county Dec. 20, 1822, and a son of Henry Arter who was born in Maryland in 1799 and died in Wyandot county, Ohio, in 1879.  His father, George Arter, was a slaveholder in Maryland.  The family originated in Germany.  Henry Arter came to Ohio about 1830, previous to which time he had wedded Miss Susannah Musselman, also a native of Maryland.  Coming to the Buckeye state, they began life anew in the woods in Springfield township, two miles from the present Arter homestead.  There they reared seven of their nine children.  After the death of the mother the father wedded Delilah Huddle, who bore him three children, and of his ten sons and daughters who reached mature age and were married four are yet living, namely: Musselman, who resides in Williams county, Ohio, at the age of seventy-four; Elizabeth, the widow of Timothy Young, and is living in California, at the age of seventy-one years; John, who is living in Bushnell, Illinois, at the age of sixty-nine; and Daniel, who also is living in Bushnell, at the age of sixty-seven.
     George Arter was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life in Richland county, and after he had arrived at man's estate he wedded Sarah Jane Walters, a daughter of George and Mary (McGrew) Walters.  Her father was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1799, and her mother in Jefferson county, Ohio, in 1803.  They were married about 820 and located on a tract of timber land east of Mansfield, this having been entered by his father from the government.  There they became the parents of five children, three of whom reached adult age, namely: John, who was born in 1822 and is now a retired farmer of Crestline; Rebecca, the wife of Matthew Reid, who went to California, her death occurring in Los Angeles, that state, about 1890; and Mrs. Sarah Jane Arter.  The father died in 1875, being killed on the railroad track.  His wife survived him until 1879, passing away at the age of seventy-six.
     Mrs. Arter acquired a good education in the district schools, and was early trained to the work of the household.  On the 31st of December, 1846, she gave her hand in marriage to George Arter and they began their domestic life in Putnam county in the midst of the forest.  The land had been entered from the government by her father, but was wild and unimproved.  After making some improvements there they sold the property and removed to Crawford county, locating near Crestline.  This was in 1850.  Again Mr. Arter began the development of a new farm in the midst of a forest, having sixty acres of land, which he cleared and placed under a high state of cultivation.  He erected good buildings on the place and made many substantial improvements, after which he sold the property and came to the homestead in Sandusky township in 1874.  Here he secured one hundred and five acres.  He improved the land and continued to make his home upon the place until his death.  He followed progressive methods of farming.  He built a new house upon his farm and carried on his place with marked energy.  His determined purpose enabled him to conquer all difficulties and work his way steadily upward.  Thus he acquired a handsome competence, becoming one of the wealthy agriculturists in his section of the county.
     Unto Mr. and Mrs. Arter were born nine children.  They lost one son in infancy, and John D., their fourth child, died at the age of seventeen years.  The others are: Rebecca Ellen, the wife of Daniel Bean, a farmer of Sandusky township; George Fremont, who follows farming in this locality; Mary Alwilda, the wife of Aaron Oldfield, of Crawford county; Sarah Jane, the wife of John Hout, of Springfield township; Delilah Grace, the wife of Frank Smith, of Crestline; Charles Henry, who cultivates the old home farm of one hundred acres; and Florence Bell, the wife of Willard Frank, of Galion.  These children were all reared to farm life and received good educational privileges.  Mrs. Arter has lost one grandchild and now has eleven granddaughters, ten grandsons and four great-grandchildren.  She is till vigorous in mind and body, - a most estimable lady, who enjoys the high regard of many friends.  Her home is close to that of her son Charles, the two residences standing in the same yard.
     Charles Arter was married, in 1891, to Miss Mollie L. Parke, who died in 1895, leaving two children:  Ruth E., born Oct. 24, 1891; and Charles Parke, who is now seven years of age.  The father was again married in 1898, his second union being with Nora Shambaugh, by whom he has a little son, Clarence Albert, born Sept. 9, 1899.  Mr. Arter is a Republican and has served as highway commissioner and is a member of the school board.
     George Arter, the husband of Mrs. Sarah Jane Arter, was a vigorous and healthy man during the greater part of his life, and was a great worker, continuing his active connection with business affairs until but a short time before his death, when a small cancer developed upon his temple, soon terminating his life.  He possessed excellent business and executive force.  He was a man of keen discernment and of marked energy, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertook.  He left to his family an estate valued at about one hundred thousand dollars, and thus his widow is amply provided with all the necessities and many of the luxuries of life.  He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and with that denomination Mr. Arter is still identified.
 Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Richland Co., Ohio - Publ: Mansfield by A. A., Graham & Co. - 1901 - Page 614

Capt. Christopher Au


Laura J. Au		 CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER AU.     As a man travels on in the journey of life and passes the prime of manhood his strength and energy are somewhat lessened by age, which is an indicaiton that it is intended that his last years should be at least to some extent a period of rest.  Not all who pass the meridian of life are permitted to put aside business cares, for through the lack of business ability or mismanagement they have not acquired capital sufficient to supply their needs in their declining years.  Captain Au, however, is enjoying a well earned rest.  Long connected with mercantile interests, his capital management and the careful husbanding of his resources have brought to him a very desirable competence, which now supplies him with all the necessities and many of the luxuries that go to make life worth living.
     On the 12th of December, 1824, in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, Captain Au was born.  His father, Henry Au, was probably a native of Perry county, that state, and was born in 1784, but his last days were spent on his farm four miles west of Mansfield, in Richland county, where he died, in April, 1863.  His wife, who bore the maiden name of Barbara Ann Stough was also born in Cumberland county, where they were married in 1816.  Their children were born in the same locality.  Four of their family died in early childhood, but they reared five sons and four daughters.  Of this number their sons and three of the daughters were married and had children.  The five representatives of the family still living are:  Henry, who is now in his eighty-fourth year and lives in Springfield township, adjoining the old homestead; Samuel, who, at the age of eighty years, lives in Madison township; Catherine, the wife of Philip Lutz, of Mifflin township; Christopher; and Jane, the widow of William Bloor, of Mansfield.  Jacob Au died in November, 1899, when about eighty-one years of age; John died in 1895, in his sixty-ninth year; Mary M. died about 1894, at the age of sixty-five; and Amanda, the wife of Obadiah Munnell, died in 1864, about thirty-three years of age.  The mother of these children was called to her final rest in 1870, when she had reached the psalmist's span of three-score years and ten.
     The Captain spent the first seventeen years of his life on the old farm homestead and acquired a knowledge of the branches of learning taught in the common schools.  He then (1843) removed from Pennsylvania to Mansfield and began working at the carpenter's trade.  Our subject worked in southern Ohio among some of his friends and later went to Iowa in the spring of 1846.  From there he proceeded southward to Tennessee and Mississippi, spending the winter in those states, and with broken health he returned to Iowa.  During his residence in the Hawkeye state he formed the acquaintance of Miss Laura J. Greenfield and won her hand in marriage June 27, 1848.  She was born in Locke township, Cayuga county, New York, Nov. 16, 1829, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Walters) Greenfield.  He was formerly a minister of the Freewill Baptist church.  Mrs. Au was the youngest of twelve children born to her parents.  Her father was twice married and had eighteen children.  Her mother, who was born Jan. 20. 1788, died in Livingston county, New York, June 12, 1835, and her remains were there interred.  The father died in 1855, at a very advanced age.  He was a man of large frame, of strong constitution, vigorous in both mind and body. and he had a high moral character.  He served in the war of 1812, and prior to that struggle with England three of his children were born.  Mr. and Mrs. Au were married in Fort Madison, Iowa, and for two years thereafter they resided in that city, but in 1850 Captain Au returned to Mansfield with his wife.  Theirs has been a very harmonious and happy life. and in 1898 they celebrated their golden wedding, having for fifty years shared with each other their joys and sorrows, their adversity and prosperity.
     In the summer of 1862, during the Civil war, our subject organized Company I of the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers and as its captain went to the front, remaining in that service until December, 1864, when his regiment was consolidated with the Forty-second Ohio and he was assigned to Company A.  The boys of his command, however, were assigned to another company and this occasioned great dissatisfaction to the Captain and his company, who were quick to make known their opposition.  The Captain was then mustered out and he returned home.  He was afterward tendered a colonelcy in a new organization, but he declined to accept the appointment.  With the exception of one month's furlough, which he spent at home. he was never off duty for a single day while with his command.
     In his political views the Captain is a stanch Republican and is a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic.  He served as the first commander of the Ontario Post. No. 485.  His fellow townsmen, recognizing his ability, have frequently called him to public service.  For six years he served as township trustee and for twenty years he has been the postmaster of Ontario.  Thirty-one years ago he began merchandising in Ontario and continued in that business until in 1900, when he was succeeded by his son.  He is now practically living retired in the home where he took up his abode thirty years ago.  He owns twenty-five acres-of land on the outskirts of the village and has a cottage at Lakeside, where he and his wife have spent the hot summer months through the past nineteen years.  Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he has been one of its most active workers and held all of its official positions at various times.
     Unto the Captain and his wife were born the following children: George Washington. born May 31, 1849, and died in infancy; Adessa J., born in 1851 and died at the age of five months; John Henry, born May 2, 1852; Mary Ella, who was born Mar. 27, 1854, and is the wife of P. M. Ringer, a grocery dealer of Mansfield; Martha Ann, born Apr. 8, 1856, and is the wife of W. H. Roasberry, a practicing physician at Olivesburg; Sherman G., who was born in 1858 and is a grocer of Mansfield; Abraham H., born in 1860 and is engaged in the same line of business in Mansfield; Laura F., born in Nov., 1862, and became the wife of W. N. Coats, but died in 1892, at the age of thirty, leaving a daughter; and Christopher S. was born in 1866 and killed in a railroad accident at the age of twenty years.  Mr. and Mrs. Au have fourteen grandchildren living and have lost three.
     It was long before Captain Au applied for a pension, but he is now receiving a small one.  The bravery and loyalty which his wife displayed during the Civil war was no less pronounced than that of many a veteran on the field.  While her husband was at the front she cared for her family and instilled into their minds the spirit of patriotic devotion to their country.  She made for them a flag which was unfurled in their yard.  A man of the community threatened to tear it down, but when he found her ready to defend it even with her life he retreated.  Surely the heroic citizens were not all at the front in that terrible struggle.  In all life's relations Captain Au has followed a course at once honorable and upright and his life demonstrates the worth of integrity and enterprise in the busy affairs of the world.  As a citizen his course has ever been commendable.  As a public official he has ever been true to the public trust, and as a husband and father he has been loyal and devoted to the best interests of home.
 Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Richland Co., Ohio - Publ: Mansfield by A. A., Graham & Co. - 1901 - Page 424-427

C. L. Avery		  

 


 

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