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Voters in 1840. John Beam, Henry Beamer, Elias Beamer, Job De Camp, EFlisha Ireland, Frederic Jones, Alexander McCoy, A. T. Priddy, John Pool, John Scott, John Sands, Wm. Todd, and A. Zimmerman. Such was the beginning of things, the seed from which has sprang a strong, industrious, wealthy community. In general, it may be said of the township, it abounds in water of an excellent quality, which is found at shallow depths. Fruits are produced of fine quality and in large quantities. The products of the township consist largely of the cereals, to the cultivation of which the south half of the township is well adapted, while the north half is better adapted to grazing. Limestone underlies the whole surface, and is of superior quality, for both building stone and burning purposes, as lime from this stone finds a ready market at Fort Wayne and elsewhere. This feature is more prominently presented under the head of Geology. Poll-book of the election held in the township of Ridge in the county of Van Wert, State of Ohio, on the 12th day of October, 1841. Alex. McCoy, William Pollock, and James M. Young, Judges, and John Marks and William H. Ramsey, Clerks of said election.
List of Voters Frederick Taylor, John Gilliland William J. Burtch Elihu Ireland Adam Gilliland Wm. H. Ramsey Peter Wills A. T. Priddy John De Camp Samuel S. Brown, John Hill, William Priddy, John Bates, Alexander McCoy, Henry Harrod, Wm. Hill, Thomas John Mark, Wm. Pollock, James G. Gilliland, Hugh Gilliland, Nelson Pollock, John S. De Camp, Daniel M. Beard, Thomas D. Priddy, Andrew R. Todd, David W. McCoy, James M. Young Signed—James M. Young, William Pollock, Alexander McCoy, Judges. ,John Marks, Win. H. Ramsey, Clerks. CHURCHES. Methodist Episcopal Church. The first religions society formed in Ridge Township was at the house of William Hill by Rev. James O. Conoway. The first class consisted of William Hill and wife, Smith Hill and wife, John Hill and wife, John Marks and wife, William Priddy, his wife and some of the family, and Oliver Stacey and wife. Their place of meeting Poor some time was at the house of William Hill. It was then changed to the school-house, where they met for several years; then at a hewed log schoolhouse near Middlepoint, where they continued to meet until 1848, when they built, a frame church on the land of William Martin. his was used as their place of worship until 1874, when they built a brick church on the land of Ebson Stewart. The society at the present time consists of some fifty members. Smith Hill has been a class-leader in this society for upwards of forty years. - 24 - Gilliland Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1857 on Mr. Gilliland's farm, and has been supplied by the following pastors : 1857, Rev. A. C. Love and Rev. Nathan Gavet, P. E.; 1858, Rev. G. O. McPherson ; 1859, Rev. William Baker; 1860, Rev. Franklin Merritt ; 1861, Rev. James F. Mounts and Rev. John A. Bett; 1862, Rev. James F. Mounts and Rev. B. A. Webster ; 1863, Rev. B. A. Webster and Rev. H. L. Nickerson; 1864, Rev. Lemuel Herbert and Rev. Caleb Hill; 1865, Rev. Lemuel Herbert and Rev. Nathaniel Hupp; 1866, Rev. Francis Hogan and Rev. Nathaniel Hupp; 1867, Rev. Nathaniel Hupp and Rev. J. Harper ; 1868, Rev. James F. Mounts and Rev. W. Biler; 1869, Rev. James F. Mounts; 1870, Rev. Isaac N. Kalb and Rev. Nathaniel Hupp; 1871, Rev. Nathaniel Hupp and Rev. L. W. Patrick ; 1873, Rev. Josiah Crooks ; 1876, Rev. Caleb Hill; 1877, Rev. J. F. Mounts. The first church was a frame building, but the congregation is now erecting a brick edifice 32 by 42 feet. It has forty-one members with thirty families. In this connection we may state that in the early days of the township there were a number of local preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, viz., William Priddy, Oliver Stacey, John Summersett, John Hill, Thomas W. Bowdell, and W. H. Ramsey, who held services in log cabins. Ridge Society. This township formed an association called the Ridge Church Society, although they had no church edifice or house to worship in for a number of years. This society is still in existence, has a large membership, and a fine brick edifice to worship in. The society includes Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Lutherans, and others, who unitedly labor for the promotion of religion. BIOGRAPHIES. ALEXANDER MCCOY. In the year 1837 Alexander McCoy, in company with David McCoy and Daniel Beard, came to Ridge Township and entered adjacent tracts of government land, the two latter gentlemen moving on to their places the same year. Alexander McCoy, of whom we write, did not move until two years later, having been disappointed in receiving his pay for the farm a nice home—he sold in Madison County.- This was perhaps for the best, as it gave him ample time to prepare for the new country he was going to link his fortunes with. Mr. McCoy was born in Virginia in 1800, and with his father's family removed to Ross County, Ohio, in 1812; from thence to Fayette County in 1824; thence to Madison County in 1830; thence to his present place of residence in 1639. At the age of fifteen years he commenced to learn the blacksmith trade, and served an apprenticeship of six years. He then went into business for himself, and followed smithing some five years, when failing health induced him to quit the business and purchase a small farm. 'In 1825 he married Eliza Gillespie, by whom he has had nine sons and two daughters, and brought with him to Van Wert County a family of six sons. There being no schools in the neighborhood, and desirous of giving his sons a common school education, he improvised an old log cabin on his place as a school-house, which, with one fitted for the same purpose on his brother David's farm, were used alternately, in which the youth of the neighborhood attended school. These were followed by better schools in later years, and he succeeded in giving all his children a lair education. John, the third son, now owns a part of the old homestead, which is one of the best farms in the county, on which he raises as fine cattle as can be found anywhere.. Mr. McCoy is one of the most highly respected and influential citizens of the township, his fellow-citizens having testified their appreciation of him by electing him to fill nearly every office in the township, as well as his sons after him. He is now over eighty years of age, and has retired from active labor, and in his old days rests upon a competence acquired during a busy M. His father, Joseph McCoy, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and Alexander had five sons in the war of the Rebellion, one of whom, David, died in the army. ROBERT GILLILAND. One of the first settlers of Van Wert County was Robert Gilliland, the father of Frank Gilliland, who is now Commissioner of the county. He was born Feb. 22, 1813, in Frederick County, Maryland, where he lived until he reached his majority. Soon after this he, with his mother and brothers ( his father being dead), moved to Ohio, and settled on the Van Wert and Delphos road in Ridge Township, Van Wert County. His location on the Van Wert and Delphos road was east of the farm now owned by Ebson Stewart. Here he was engaged in farming for a while, but as his health was poor, he soon abandoned farming and moved to Van Wert, where he embarked in mercantile pursuits, which he abandoned in 1837,. to take his place at the desk as Clerk in the Court of Common Pleas, having been elected, and at the expiration of' his term as clerk he was appointed the deputy of his brother. James G. Gilliland, who had been elected Treasurer. Mr. Gilliland was elected County Commissioner in 1845, and served in that office one term. 204 - HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO. In 1849 he was elected Treasurer, :which office he held for four years, and at the expiration of this term he was appointed Director of the Northern Lunatic Asylum, in which capacity he served during the construction of the buildings, which were erected at Newburg. All offices to which Mr. Gilliland. was elected were discharged faithfully and well. He had the confidence of all with whom he had any business transaction, either of a public or private nature. He was married twice. His first wife, who was the daughter of William Hill, died in 1847, leaving two sons, Frank and William. Some time after the death of his first wife he married the only daughter of George Marsh, who was one of the original proprietors of Van Wert. Mr. Gilliland was admitted to the bar in 1.852, and before his death (which occurred Oct. 9, 1854), was a partner of Hon. E. M. Phelps, of St.. Marys. The funeral of Mr. Gilliland was conducted by the Masonic Fraternity, of which he was an honored member, and was one of the largest ever attended in the county. Mr. Gilliland was well known throughout the State, and especially in the Northwestern portion, and few have died more lamented. He was honorable in all his transactions; his word was as good as his bond, his charity knew no limits, and his kindness extended to all. Mrs. Gilliland surviving her husband went to Cleveland, and. at the time of her death was a Sister of Charity in that city. MOSES H. McCoy, a son of Alexander McCoy, was born in Fayette County, Ohio, in 1828. In 1839 he came to Van Wert County with his father's family, and located in Ridge Township, and he is, therefore, one among the early pioneers of the county. In 1851 he was married to Elmira P. Gilliland, a daughter of James O. Gilliland, who located in this township in 1835. Three children are the result of this union, born in the order named: Thaddeus S., Florence E., and Gordon 0. 11 is wife attended the first school taught in the township in the winter of 1838-9. The log school house was situated on her father's farm, and the school was taught by Clarissa Gleason. Mrs. McCoy is now the only person in the township who attended that school. Our subject obtained a common school education, and was reared a quiet farmer. He is now the owner of 171 acres of laud on the Ridge Road, two miles east of the town of Van Wert, and is one of the best improved in the township. We present a view of his residence in this work. Mr. McCoy has filled the offices of township trustee and justice of the peace, and served lour months in the army in the war for the Union as a private in the 159th O. V. I. In the performance of' all the various duties imposed upon him he so conducted himself as to increase the respect and confidence which, by his previous industry, integrity, and good sense, he had fully secured, and which he still retains. He is it member of the Presbyterian Church, and by his walk through life exemplified its teachings. CHRISTIAN LEATHERS was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1800, but was brought to Ohio by his parents the same year. Here he was raised and occupied as a farmer until 1823, when he married Catharine Shupe, and moved to Fairfield County, where he remained until 1850. He then moved to "Van Wert County, and on arrival there first stopped with the family of Mr. Smith Hill, one of the pioneers of that county. A short time afterwards Mr. Leathers located in Ridge Township, and, assisted by his sons, commenced the clearing of land. Both he and his wife were life-long members of the Lutheran Church, and the lack of church privileges was a source of great grief to both during the first few years of their residence in Van Wert County. Mr. Leathers became an honored member of the first church in Ridge Township, and continued identified therewith up to the period of his death. He died after a useful life in the year 1860. His wife survived her seventy-sixth birthday in 1879, on which occasion a family reunion was held and fifty relatives were present. After a day spent in happy associations the guests left, little dreaming the next day would be a day of mourning for all. But it was so; for on that day "Mother" Leathers in rising from the table was seized by an attack of heart disease, and fell dead by her chair. She was among the last of the pioneers of Ridge Township, as but a few remain to tell the story of the trials and privations incident to the early settlement of that township. WILLIAM MARTIN was born in Pennsylvania in 1810, and emigrated to Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1t‹.37; and from there came to Van Wert County in 1843, and settled in Ridge Township, where he has resided up to the present time. He has had two sons. and one daughter. One of his sons died at home, while the other entered the army, was taken prisoner, and after suffering all the untold horrors that could be inflicted by barbaric rebels, died in Andersonville prison-pen, rendering desolate the hearth-stone of the father and mother in their declining years. A daughter, Mary Jane, wile of Joseph E. Johnson, survives. Thc first church in the township was erected on Mr. Martin's farm, who donated the ground for the same, and cut the first stick of timber for the building. DAVID W. McCOY was born in West Virginia in 1805, and located on section 26, Ridge Township; in the year 1837, having previously entered three hundred and sixty acres of government land. When he moved on to it there were but few families in the township, and not a road near his place. He put up a temporary shanty made out of poles, and lived in it until he built a hewed log-house, the first hewed log-cabin erected in the township. By hard labor, industry, energy, and economy, he made himself a valuable farm and comfortable home. In 1830 he was married in Fayette County, Ohio, to Esther Gillespie, a native of New York, by whom he has had two sons and two daughters, three of whom are still living. There being no schools in the township in those early days, he secured the services of Mary Pennypacker, a lady of Mercer County, as teacher, to instruct his own children and those of his new neighbors at his place of residence. Mr. McCoy has respectively filled the offices of Township Assessor, Trustee, and County Commissioner repeatedly, and always performed the duties of those offices to the satisfaction of the people. He has been a member of the M. E. Church all his life, and assisted in organizing the first church in the township. In the early history of Southern Ohio his grandfather was captured by the Indians, and held as a hostage by them for some months, until filially released at Chillicothe, Ohio. Retiring from active farm life Mr. McCoy divided his farm among his children and removed to the town of Van Wert, where he now resides at rest from his labors in the enjoyment of good health and the consciousness of "well done good and faithful servant." JOHN IRELAND was the son of John Ireland who emigrated from Ireland to America in 176.0, and located with the Delaware Colony. Here John was born in 1770, and when grown to manhood went to Maryland where he married Esther Johnson in 1795. In 1807, with his family, he removed through the forests and crossed the Alleghenies, settling in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. Here his wife died, leaving him a family of seven children. During the war of 1812 he served under Gen. McArthur. In 1813 he married his second wile in the person of Elizabeth Dillon, by whom he had twelve children. He continued to reside in Ross County until 1829, when he removed to Allen County, and settled on the Auglaize River, where he remained till 1839, when he came to Ridge Township, Van Wert County. His family at that time consisted of wife and seven children at home, five of them having been n married and living apart. Robert Ireland and A. J. Ireland, two of the sons, are still residents of the county. When the Ireland family first located in Allen County the Shawnee Indians occupied their reservation, with whom they formed tin intimate acquaintance, and when Elihu, another son, visited Kansas in 1868, he renewed his acquaintance with some of the members of the same tribe that he had been brought in contact with the Auglaize many years before. Robert Ireland was only fourteen years of age when his father, John Ireland, came to the county, and living in the woods as he did during his school-boy days, he was deprived of the advantages of even a common-school education, and his acquirements, in that direction are of the primitive self-made kind. WILLIAM CAVETT, one of the pioneers of Ridge Township, was born in Pennsylvania in 1806, and married Elizabeth Burns in Licking County, Ohio, in 1828 With two children 'they came to Ridge Township in the year I39, an entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 31. There not a settler within two miles excepting A. T. Priddy, who had located a few weeks previously. They had no means of supporting the family except by hunting wild game, the Furs and hides of which they sold procure corn for bread. Hogs got fat on the abundance of mast, an made pork plenty. The generosity of the few neighbors was unhounded each dividing with the other even to the last loaf of bread. But few the early settlers experienced more of the hardships of pioneer life than the Cavett family. Mr. Cavett himself was in poor health the greated part of the time, thus throwing the burden or labor upon his wire, who did weaving to help support the family. Mr. Cavett died in 1852, leaving his widow and two children, Ira and Lucy, as survivors. Lucy, the daughter, is the wile of John Gilliland, Who resides on the old homestead Mrs. Cavett is now seventy-one years of age. A singular freak of titre occurred with Mrs. C. at the age of seventy years, some new teeth having grown in the place of a few she had .extracted the year previous. SAMUEL ARNOLD was born in Fayette County, Ohio, in 1832, and settled in this county in 1836. He is a farmer, and through industry has done much to promote the interests of the agricultural class. He was married in this county in 1854 to Rebecca J. Bevington. For two years he held the of township trustee, and was township treasurer five years. John Arnold, was born in Highland County in 1797, and died in 1869. The death of his mother occurred in 1843. Mr. Arnold's grandfather, Andrew Arnold, was a soldier of the war of 1812.
HISTORY OF VAN AVERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO - 207 A. B. MELCHI was born in Pennsylvania in 1815, and moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1836, where he married Sarah Shupe in 1840, and in 1849 he moved to his present location in Ridge Township, accompanied by wife and five children. The teamsters who brought him here did so upon his promise that if he ever got able he would pay them, and after many years of hardship, courage, and labor, he was enabled to discharge his just obligations. He landed in the woods without a horse, cow and pig, and had only a peck of cornmeal and fifty cents in money in the world. On account of Mr. Melchi's poor health the burden of the support of the family fell upon Mrs. Melchi, who often became almost prostrate from the want of proper nourishment. For twenty years Benches and stools made by himself were the substitute for chairs. Many it day he made shingles to get bread for the family with only a piece of corn bread and cold water for food. Few, if any, of the early settlers passed through more hardships than Mr. Melchi and family. But after years of endurance and perseverance they at last reached the goal of ease, comfort, and prosperity. SAMUEL KESLER was among the first settlers of Ridge Township. Born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1812, and marrying .Louisa Frazier in 1834, he moved to this township in the year 1840, and located on laud which he purchased from the government. He camped in his wagon until he cleared a piece of land and built a cabin. When the primitive structure was completed they had no furniture to put into it, excepting the rude chairs, beds, and tables constructed out of the logs of the forest with an axe as the only tool for the workman. In this manner they lived for several years, and it is their boast now that they were never more contented and happy. With the indomitable will of a hardy yeoman he had cleared and cultivated enough land the second year to yield a surplus of grain above his needs, which he marketed at Fort Wayne, at which place he also got his milling done. By his own laborious efforts and good management he has become the owner of six hundred and forty acres of lain), under a high state of cultivation, and ranks among the most thriving and enterprising men of the township. JAMES J. MCMILLEN was born in Somerset County, Pa., in 1827, and came to Ohio with his parents in 1830, locating in Knot County, where he remained until 1842, lapel then removed to Allen County. In 1852 he engaged in the mercantile tile trade in Elida, Allen County, and also dealt largely in the grain S, which he continued until 1860, when he came to Ridge Township and located on his farm in the woods. He has cleared it up, and has it under a high state of cultivation, having placed about five miles of drain tile on the farm, and has one of the largest orchards in the township. Besides farming he raises. and deals largely in stock. He has made farming a success. In 1852 he married Harriet Gilliland, aa native of the township, and daughter of James G. Gilliland, by whom hehad had has ten children, eight of whom are still living. He has aimed to give his children a liberal education and fit them for the duties of life. He, himself, is the author of a work entitled " J. J. McMillen's Interest Computer.” His great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. JACOB BALYEAT is the second son of Jonas Balyeat, who was the father of sixteen sons and two daughters, fourteen of whom are yet living, ten of them being residents of Van Wert County. The parents have been residents of the town of Van Wert since 1872. Jacob, the subject of this sketch, was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1821. He removed to this county in 1847, an (1 located in the wilderness in Pleasant Township. After improving this farm and living on it fourteen years, he sold it and purchased One hundred and Seventy-eight acres in Ridge Township, where he now resides, his farm being highly improved. In 1844 he was married in Ashland County, Ohio, to Frances Thomas, a native of that county. This couple are the .parents of ten children, all born in Van Wert County, namely : Jonas, Philip, Amanda E., Melvin, Michael Mary L., Anna, Francis, Luman, and Viola Belle. WILLIAM LYBARGER Was born in Pennsylvania in 1814, and when about six years of age his parents moved to Knox County, Ohio. In 1839 he was married to Abigail Lake, and in 1848 with his wife and five children, came to Van Wert County, and located on his present farm in Ridge Township, which was then all in woods. He . soon erected a log cabin, and then began the Slavish work of felling the forest, he doing the chopping and his wife piling the brush. After a lifetime of toil he, in his sixty-eighth year, finds himself in easy circumstances, and the happiness' always to be derived from a career of energy and. industry. He is still hale and hearty, and heads off in all the work upon the farm. DR. ELI P. LESLIE is a descendant of Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, John Leslie, having been a soldier of the patriot army under General Washington, and lived to the extraordinary age of 107 years. His father, Elisha Leslie, served as a soldier in the war of 1812. Dr. Leslie was born in Champaign County, Ohio, in 1817., and settled in this county in the year 1840. He commenced reading medicine in Columbiana County, and afterwards graduated at the Starling Medical College at Columbus in 1853. From that time he practised medicine continuously up to the year 1878, when the Board of County Commissioners appointed him Superintendent of the Infirmary of Van Wert County, which position he now fills. In 1841 he was married, in Hancock County, to Hannah R. .Marshall, who was born in Trumbull County in 1820. by whom he has had seven children, as follows: Benjamin F., Albert J., William B., Melissa E. J. A., Joseph C., Eliza. E., and Clement M. FRANCIS T. GILLILAND was born in the town of Van Wert, August 31, 1841. He was the oldest son of Robert Gilliland and he lived his father in town until he was thirteen years of age. His father having died in 1853, his first adventure for himself was as a clerk in a store at Delphos, where he remained about one year, then went to live with his uncle until he was about nineteen years of age, when he went to Illinois and remained three years. He returned and entered the army in Company B, 192d Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the winter of 1865, and remained till the close of the war. In the spring of 1866 he married Mary E. Tombaugh, by whom he had four children. Mrs. Gilliland died September 27, 1880, of diphtheria. After Mr. Gilliland was married he settled on his farm, then in the woods, where he has remained until the present time. In 1878 he was elected County Commissioner for three years. JOHN COLLINS was born in Hocking County, Ohio, in 1824. He married Sophia Stebelton, March 9, 1848, and moved to this county in the spring of 1852, and settled on forty acres of land in section 30, Ridge Township, on which there were but three acres cleared. He has since added by purchase one hundred acres of land, and with the exception of the three acres named, has cleared off and put the whole tract under a fine state of cultivation. He has erected a commodious brick dwelling, and has the farm most all underdrained rained. Though he was not one of the first settlers there are few farms in the county better improved, which has been .accomplished by his own labor, going to show What industry will realize when directed in the proper channel. He comes from Revolutionary stock, his grandfather on his mother's side, John Davis, having served as a lieutenant in the army of General George Washington. He has had seven sons and seven daughters born to him, eleven of whom are still living, all in this county. RUFUS DUPREY is a lineal descendant of the French Huguenots, who by persecution were driven from the Isle of Jersey, off the coast of France, on account of their religious opinions. Some of these fled to Switzerland, some to England, some to the Channel Islands, and others to the United States. Abraham Duprey, the father of the above, came to the United States in 1817, and located in Chillicothe, Ohio. From there he moved to Gallia County in 1824, where Rufus, the subject. of this sketch, was born in March, 1830. In 1852 he was united in marriage. to Rebecca Neal, and with his small family moved to Van Wert County in 1657, and located on the site of his present farm, section 33, Ridge Township. His farm was then all in woods, but with his own hands he has made himself a comfortable home, and brought a wild and wooded place under a high state of cultivation. His family consists of himself, wife, and nine children. JAMES GORDON GILLILAND was born in Adams County, Penna. In October, 1835, he moved to Van Wert County and settled in Ridge Township, three and a half miles east of Van Wert. His name is associated. with all the official history of the county from its organization' in 1836 to the time of his death, which occurred in 1870, leaving a widow and family. He filled every office to which he had been elected with capability and unquestioned integrity. He actively supported all public improvements, and labored effectively for the location and construction of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1844-5, which was followed by a deeper interest in the construction of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad, which he lived to see become one of the great trunk lines between the East and the West. He was the son of John Gilliland. LEVI MOSIER was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1832, and removed to Ridge Township, Van Wert County, Ohio, in 1851.
208 - HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO. JOHN GLENDENING was born in County Derry, Ireland, in 1799, and married Ann Mecksic in 1821, and the same year emigrated to the United States, and located in the State of Vermont. He resided there until 1840, when he with his family removed to Holmes County, Ohio, and from there, in 1846, he came to Van Wert County, his family then consisting of his wife and five children. Losing his wife in 1848, he married his second wife in 1854 in the person of Nancy Foster, by whom he had five children. Mr. Glendening died in 1875. Wm. Glendening, his son, who purchased his father's farm, was born in Vermont, in 1836, and married Isabel Gamble in 1858, who has borne him four children. He is surrounded with the comforts of a good home. EDWARD B. GILLILAND, a son of Thomas Gilliland, was born in Ridge Township, Van Wert County, in 1846. His father, a native of Maryland, was one of the early pioneers of the county, having come here from Maryland in the year 1836, and located on section 29, in Ridge Township. He died in 1860, but previous to his death had served as a justice of the peace of the township for a period of fifteen years. Edward, the subject of this sketch, is a farmer and stock raiser. In 1851 he married Mary J. Collins, daughter of Samuel Collins, and a native of this county, by whom he has had one daughter, Florence A. His mother, whose maiden name was Catharine McCunn, a native of Maryland, is still living, and makes her home on the old homestead. JONAS S. STUCKEY is a farmer by occupation, and was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, in 1841, and settled in Ridge Township in 1853. During the War of the Rebellion he enlisted as a private in the 27th 0. V. I. and served four years, and was successively promoted to orderly sergeant and to first lieutenant. In 1867 he was elected Clerk of Ridge Township and filled the office until 1880, when he was elected Justice of the Peace of the same, and now holds that position. He was united in marriage in 1865 to Mary F. Gilliland, daughter of Adam Gilliland, of this county. Six children is the result of this union, as follows: Walter S., Julia L., Adam P., Edward S., Maud, and Charles F. JOSEPH B. FRONEFIELD, a son of Jacob H. Fronefield, is a farmer by occupation, and settled on section 27, Ridge. Township, where he still resides in the year 1872. he was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1839, and in 1810 moved with his parents to Mercer County, but came here as above stated. He served one year under Sherman in the war of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged on account of disability. In the year 1861 he was married to Martha J. Yocum, by whom he had two sons, Morris N., and Joseph R. The father of this sketch was born in Pennsylvania, and his mother was a native of Germany. J. G. MARSH was born in Germany in 1825, and emigrated with his parents to America in 1832, and located in Lancaster County, Pa., where the family resided until 1835, when they moved to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and afterwards to Richland County. In 1849 the subject of this sketch came to Van Wert County and located on section 28, Ridge Township. He bought his land all in the woods, and cleared the land and built himself a fine residence by the labor of his own hands. In 1850 he married Lavina Smith, his wife died in 1865, leaving a family of six children, five of whom are still living. JOHN C. BEAR. Fairfield County, Ohio, was the place of nativity, and the year 1822, the time of birth of John C. Bear. In 1836 he moved to Allen County, where, in 1844, he married Mary Tyson, and in 1845 removed to the place of his present residence in Ridge Township. Here he entered 80 acres of land in the dense forest with no road leading to it. By unremitting toil he cleared up the land, and has added to the original tract until he now possesses 150 acres under good improvement, and one of the finest farms and most comfortable homes in the county. He has had fourteen children, eleven of whom are living. WILLIAM D. IRELAND was born in Ross County, Ohio, in 1825, and in his infancy his father emigrated to Allen County. in 1847 he married Mary M. Stemen, a native of Pennsylvania, by whom he had nine children, seven of whom are still living. The year of his marriage he came to Van Wert County and settled in Ridge Township. Though three settlers in the township had preceded him, the township was an almost unbroken wilderness. Mr. Ireland died in 1866. His widow survives him, and lives with her son, John S., on the old homestead. ALEX. R. McCoy, a native of Madison County, came to this coon, in 1839, and is engaged in the grocery trade. He was born Oct. 8, 1835, being brought here by his parents, Alexander and Eliza McCoy, mu,-' about four years old. Mr. McCoy served three years in the 99th 01;4, Volunteer Infantry, from August 5, 1862. He married Mary, daughter of John and Elizabeth Anderson, of Hancock County, Oct. 1, 1868 She was born Dec. 25, 1848. Their family consists of five children, named Nettie J., born Oct. 2, 1869; Charles A., April 3, 1872; Minnie C., August, 8, 1874; Horace A., Nov. 21, 1876, and Mary Estella, May 28, 1879. Mr. McCoy has served one term as Justice of the Peace of Ridge Township. JAMES GORDON GILLILAND, a native of Virginia, was born near Harper's Ferry, May 3, 1800. In 1835 he came to this county, thus ranking among the pioneers. He married Margaret Lawson, and reared a family of nine children, named, Elmira F., Ann Eliza, Thaddeus S., Harriet, Susan M., Amanda, Josephine, Oscar L., and Phebe O. LEWIS FRAGER was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1817. His wife's maiden name was Sidney Harper, whom he married in 1841, and who is the mother of his three children, named Wesley, Melinda, and Louisa. In 1852 he came to Ridge Township and settled on section 26, where he still resides. He is a farmer by occupation. With his own hands he cleared up his farm, which is well cultivated and supplied with all the modern improvements. WILLIAM GAMBLE. Born in Ireland in 1818, William Gamble emigrated to the United States with his father's family in 1822, and first located in Carroll County, Ohio. In 1851 he came to Ridge Township, and settled on the farm where he now resides. His first wife died in 1.856, leaving four children. He married again in 1859. Three children, Charles W., Laura E., and Homer G., are the result of this union. JOHN JO HAUTGEN was born in Prussia in 1834, and with the family of his father, Francis Jo Hautgen, came to America in 1837. In 1864 he was married to Mary J. Swaningle in Cincinnati, and in 1872 he moved to this county and located on section 28, Ridge Township, where he continues to reside. He is a farmer by occupation, and the father of four sons and three daughters. ALEXANDER H. McCOY, a son of David W. McCoy, was born in Fayette County, Ohio, and settled in Ridge Township with his parents in time year 1837. He is a farmer by occupation. He was married in Allen County in 1861 to Mary A. Maltby, a native of Warren County, Ohio. His family consists of himself and wife and six children, viz., Harrison, Jennie, Josephine Albert, Arthur, and Francis. Mira, a daughter, died in 1879. JACOB LIPLEY was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1815. In 1861 he emigrate to Van Wert County and located in section 22, Ridge Township. JOHN CRATES entered land in Ridge Township several years before moving. Ile se tied upon it in the year 1850. LEVI CRATES was born in Portage County, Ohio, in 1836. He came to Van Wei County when fourteen years of age, and resides on section 16, Ridge Township. JAMES SPRIDGEON was born in Lincolnshire, England, 1834, and emigrated to America 1851. In the year 1852 he settled on section 13, Ridge Township, Ira Wert County. JAMES GIBSON was born in Ireland in 1816, and emigrated to the United States in 1825, and located On Long Island, and resided there until 1875. In the latter year he removed to Ridge Township, this county, where he now live with his nephew.
HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO - 211 JACKSON TOWNSHIP. This township occupies the northeast corner of the county, being hounded north by Paulding County, east by Putnam County, south by Wshington, and west by Hoaglin townships. Organization. On the 7th of March, 1R55, a petition was presented the commissioners praying for the organization of a new township, to embrace sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 27, .28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 of Washingtonnship, and sections 1, 12,13, 24, 25, and 36 of Hoaglin Township, under the name of Jackson. After due consideration, it was ordered by the commissioners that " all of T. 1 S., R. 4 E. ; . . . also the following sections, situated in Hoaglin Township, to wit, sections 1, 12, 13, and 24, be and the same are hereby organized and constituted a civil township, to be known by the name of Jackson Township." It was further ordered that an election be held at the school-house on the first Monday of April next. Election. An election was held under the above order of the commissioners, and the following officers elected: Trustees, Israel P Adams, Samuel Morris, and George Longwell; Clerk, George Holden ; Treasurer, John Leiner. Early Settlers. The first white settler in this township was George Payne, who came from Lorain County, Ohio, to this place in 1651. He was soon followed by Jacob Thatcher, George Longwell, John Leiner, and Israel P. Adams. George Payne erected the first house, which was a frame, for which the lumber was hauled from the canal. Jacob Thatcher built the first to house. Jacob Thatcher, Jr., is believed to be the first white child born in the township. The first death was that of a child Of I. P. Adams. Henry Dennison taught the first term of school in 1858. It was as late as 1873 when the first church was built. This was by the Christian denomination. Drainage. The lack of an efficient system of drainage is the great want of this Settlement will continue backward until some of the surface ing the township near outlet. Dog Creek is the general natural outlet, entering the township near the southwest, and leaving it near the northeast corner sufficient. Town Creek crosses the northwest section. These and some minor streams furnish sufficient outlet for a complete system of artificial drainage. Soil. The soil is a dark loam with a few traces of sand, which at places gives way to a rich clay, slightly intermixed with gravel. The whole soil is well adapted to agriculture, which is only retarded by the timber and water. The township is sparsely settled and has a meagre population, owing to causes already set forth. Legend. A legend of this section relates that a lead-mine is located somewhere on the banks of Dog Creek, at which Indians procured large quantities or lead. Again it was claimed that water was found here from which. salt was obtained by the Indians. Like many other legends it has not been verified except as such. LAND ENTRIES. |
