696 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

CASS TOWNSHIP.

JOHN BAKER, farmer, P. O. Arcadia, was born in Cass Township, this county, in 1847; son of Alexander and Catharine (Eckert) Baker, natives of Ohio. The original Baker stock came to America from England in an early day and settled near Baltimore, Md. Grafton Baker, grandfather of our subject, moved from Virginia to Carroll County, Ohio, and from there to this county about the year 1830. He had a family of five sons and one daughter. Mrs. Catharine (Eckert) Baker's people came to Cass Township, this county, from Fairfield County, Ohio, in an early day, and here settled. In 1844, after their marriage, our subject's parents came to Cass Township. The father died in 1849, leaving a family of three children-two daughters and one son, John. The eldest daughter died in 1866; the youngest married G. W. Norris (they have a family of two sons and one daughter). The subject of this sketch was married in 1868 to Sarah C. Binger, whose parents came to this county from Carroll County, Ohio, in an early day, and to this union have been born three children: Alexander, Lemuel and Amanda. Mr. Baker was elected to the office of justice of the peace for Cass Town ship in the fall of 1883, which he still holds. He resides on the old homestead, his mother, who is still living, being with him.

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DAVID R. BEESON, farmer, P. O., Arcadia, was born in Fayette County, Penn., September 13, 1827. He married, July 5, 1849, Elizabeth Sangston, and in 1854 they moved to Cass Township, this county, and settled on land which his father had entered in 1832. Here they began, in the woods, to clear and improve the farm to which they have since added, until that' now own 232 acres of well-improved land. To David R. Beeson and wife have been born Martha A., now Mrs. Hosler; James E. ; Eliza A., now Mrs. Frederick; John A. ; Charles C. ; Mary, now Mrs. Bish; David R. Jr. ; Jacob E. Turley and Emma I. In addition to his general farming operations, Mr. Beeson has devoted considerable attention to buying and selling live-stock. During the war of the Rebellion he did an extensive business in dealing in horses for the United States Army. He has led a very active life, and his operations here have been attended with uniform success. He is one of the representative farmers of Cass Township, and enjoys the respect of the entire community. In politics he is a Republican.

JACOB E. BEESON, farmer, P. O. Arcadia, was born in Fayette County, Penn., January 21,1819, son of James and Agues Beeson, who resided in Fayette County until their death. Our subject married, in 1841, Eliza Dawson, who died in 1.846, leaving two children, James and John (both now deceased). December 1, 1853, Mr. Beeson came to Cass Township, this county, and settled on a tract of land which had been entered by his father in 1832. Here he began improving his land, and June 20, 1869, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Bowring, a native of England and whose parents resided there until their death. She and her first husband, Benjamin W. Bowring, immigrated to Canada in 1857, and moved to the United States in 1859. Here Mr. Bowring lost his life in defense of the Union cause, in June, 1864, just one month before the expiration of his term of enlistment in the Union army. Of Mr. Bowring's five children only one is now living -Margaret Elizabeth, wife of Henry B. Edwards, of Putnam County, Ohio. Mr. Beeson has been an industrious man, and has acquired a farm of 224 acres of fine land. His youngest son, John, enlisted when but sixteen yearn of age and served three years and four months in the Army of the Cumberland; he died in November, 1865. Mr. Beeson is a Republican in politics.

C. W. CANFIELD, farmer, P. O. Wineland, was born in Hancock County, Ohio, January 23, 1845; son of Elijah Cyrus and Sarah Canfield, natives of Portage County, Ohio, and Luzerne County, Penn., respectively. March 28, 1872, our subject married Maria Ames, a native of Seneca County, Ohio, born October 15, 1851, and to this union were born four children: Sarah Amanda, born December 8, 1873; William Riley, born September 19, 1875; Earl M., born March 24, 1881, died April 14, 1881, and Gertie Ethel, born December 2, 1882. Mr. Canfield is one of the enterprising men of his township and an industrious farmer. In politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN FRANKS, farmer, P. O. North Baltimore, was born April 20, 1786, in Fayette County, Penn., son of John and Rachel (Huffman) Franks, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Ohio in a very early day, being among the pioneers of Wayne County, Ohio. Our subject is the only survivor of his father's family, and was himself a soldier in the war of 1812; he was in Hull' e army at the time of that General' s surrender, and made his escape from the British in company with some others of that command. He now owns a piece of land on which Hull's army encamped.

698 - HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.

Our subject helped raise Gen. Bell's house at Wooster, and also assisted in building Fort Ball. He was a poor man when he married his first wife, Sarah Musgrove. They came to this county in 1832 and had to cut their way from Tiffin to the farm on which they settled. Mr. Franks did most of the hauling from Sandusky to this county in an early day with an ox team, wading through swampy lands to reach the mill. The children by his first wife are Elizabeth, Peter, Jasper, Nancy, Catherine, Rachel, Sarah and Henry; all married and living near their father. His second wife, nee Elizabeth Fast, had five children: George, Isabella, Andrew J., John F. and Mary P. Mr. Franks came to this county an uneducated and a poor man, but wonderful perseverance and endurance have given him success in life, and he now owns about 2,000 acres of land on which he has located his children.

A. J. FRANKS, farmer, P. O. Bairdstown, Wood County, was born October 3, 1851, in Cass Township, this county, son of John and Elizabeth (Fast) Franks. John Franks, the father of our subject, is one of the oldest pioneers in Cass Township, and one of the largest land owners in this county. Our subject was united in marriage, May 24, 1873, with Olive Enswinger, of Wayne County, Ohio, and their union has been blessed with four children: Sarah E., John H., Nellie M. and Lucy P. G.

WILLIAM REID. farmer, P. O. Wineland, was born in Perrysburgh, Wood Co., Ohio, son of Robert and Isabell (Forrester) Reid, natives of Scotland, and who came to America in 1835, settling in Perrysburgh, Wood Co., Ohio, where they died. They were the parents of nine children, of whom four are now living: Thomas, Robert, Isabell (wife of Dallas Anderson), and William. The subject of this sketch was married August 25, 1857, to Emily, second daughter of Jacob Shaffer. Her father came to this county in 1835 and settled in Cass Township, where he entered 240 acres of land. To our subject and wife have been born six children: Margaret (married to George B. Bowman), James, John, Ida, (deceased wife of Hosea Nelson), George (deceased), and Charles. Our subject was a soldier in the late war, having enlisted in Company F, Twenty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in August, 1862, and served until June 9, 1865, when he was discharged; he was in the Fourteenth Army Corps, under Gen. Rosecrans. Mr. Reid lost his health in the army and has never fully recovered from the effects. He is the owner of a fine farm of seventy-five acres of land (a part of the Shaffer farm) in Cass Township, this county. In politics he is a Republican.

ANDREW SHAFER, farmer, P. O. Wineland, was born in Cass Township, this county, in June, 1839, son of Jacob and Elizabeth Shafer; the latter, whose maiden name was Jack, was the Widow Kensinger prior to her marriage with our subject's father. Jacob and Elizabeth Shafer were the parents of four children: Eliza J., wife of Thomas Ford; Emily, wife of William Reid; Sarah, wife of Owen Laney, and Andrew. The subject of this sketch resides on the farm where he was born, and which is a part of a 240-acre tract of land entered by his father on coming to this county in 1834-35. Mr. Shafer is a thorough farmer and has made many improvements on the place since his father's death. He was united in marriage in April; 1864, with Rebecca Crow, who died, leaving one child, Harriet Rebecca, now the wife or Jacob Hill. After the death of his first wife our subject was married again; this time, in 1869, to Sabilla Lanning, and by

DELAWARE TOWNSHIP. - 699

her he has six children: Martha Jane, Mary E., Jacob H., John, Augusta and Charles.

JACOB STECKER, farmer, P. O. Findlay. was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, December 6, 1824, and came with his parents, Gottleib and Caroline Stecker, to America, and to Big Lick Township, this county, in 1841. Gottleib Stecker died in 1868; his widow still resides on the home farm, in Big Lick Township. Jacob Stecker married, May 1, 1853, Miss Rosanna Klink, of Crawford County, Ohio, and they then settled in the southern part of Cass Township, this county. To them were born four children, two of whom are now living: Catherine, wife of Alden H. Cobb, and Daniel, who is now a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University. After the death of his first wife, May 1, 1877, Jacob Stecker married, April 3, 1879, Miss Maria Jameson, daughter of Rev. Ira Jameson, of Big Lick Township, this county. Our subject has been industrious and successful in life, and has acquired a fine farm of 227 acres of fertile land. He has erected thereon a handsome brick residence, and made many other valuable improvements. In politics he is a Republican. He was elected justice of the peace in 1870, which position he held, by re-election, until 1882, and has discharged his duties faithfully and to the satisfaction of the people. Mr. and Mrs. Stecker are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was largely instrumental in erecting the handsome structure, Salem Church in Cass Township, this county. He is strictly a self-made man, and has mad© excellent use of the limited advantages he has enjoyed here in his adopted country. He is a valuable citizen, highly respected by the entire community.