550 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. The maternal grandfather of Major Powell was James Dunlap, a minister of the Baptist denomination. He was born in Augusta county, Va., July 10, 1773, and died February 28, 1866, aged ninety-two years, seven months and eighteen days. He had been reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, of which both his parents were members. He was of a thoughtful, studious disposition, and at the age of sixteen was to be found earnestly studying the Scriptures. At the age of twenty-two years he wedded Miss Emily Johnson, the daughter of Edward and Mary Johnson, both members of the Baptist church. Shortly after this event they moved into the northern part of Kentucky, at that time a veritable wilderness. In 1800 James Dunlap united with the Baptist church, a year later was chosen a deacon, and four years afterwards was licensed to preach, soon being ordained. In 1812 he went to Champaign county, Ohio, and preached there until 1844, also forming a Baptist society on his farm. Leaving there he went to Jacksonville, Ill., where he retired from the ministry and after a period of retirement passed away. The Bible during all the years of his life was his solace and his theological treasury.. He was the father of thirteen children. Our subject's mother, Mary Dunlap, was born while her parents were residing in Kentucky, and died in 1881, aged eighty-one years. She was also a worthy member of the Baptist church. She had five children who grew to adult years, of whom our subject was the fourth in order of birth. Major Powell was born at Urbana; Champaign county, Ohio, on the 16th of October, 1836. At his native home his boyhood days were spent and until the age :of about twenty he pursUed his education in the public schools and in the high school of Urbana. Then until the breaking out of the war he remained at home, attending to the duties of the farm. When the integrity of the Union was threatened and calls were made for troops, to assist in quelling the Southern, insurrection, our subject was among the first to respond, enlisting on the 19th of April, 1861, as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. When he enlisted he was given the rank of ensign, but in three months he was promoted to second lieutenant, shortly afterwards to first lieutenant; and later to captain. So efficient was he in the performance of his military duties that he was assigned to the staff of General Smith, in command of cavalry at the battle of Shiloh. Then he was transferred to the staff of General VanCleve, and participated in the siege of Corinth, later marching up through Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky to Louisville. At the battle of New River, W. Va., November 1, 1861, our subject was commanding his company and while near ,Cowley Bridge was struck in the ankle by a bullet, which disabled him and he was confined for a while in the hospital at Gowley Bridge. He was later taken. to Louisville, Ky., and there, because of his injury, re, signed from the service. Our subject received his rank of major during subsequent service in the state militia. Upon leaving the army Major Powell returned to his father's home, and soon afterwards engaged in mercantile. business in Urbana.. After several years experience in this line, he sought a wider field of opportunity and went to New York city, where for seventeen years he was. successfully engaged in the BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 551 wholesale clothing business. In 1894 he disposed of his interests in the east and, coming to Upper Sandusky, organized the Upper Sandusky Gas Light Company and at the outset was made president and manager of the company. He virtually owns the plant and has the entire control of its business, which has not only been of financial benefit to the company, but has contributed largely to the comfort and convenience of the city. Besides his gas light interests, Major Powell also owns a fine farm in Champaign county, this state. For his helpmeet through life Major Powell chose Miss Minnie Beery, the daughter of Isaac Beery, of Upper Sandusky. To this union have been born two sons, Elkan Harrison, twelve years old, and an infant. Politically our subject is a stanch Republican, though beyond the casting of his ballot he takes no active part in politics. Socially he has. been a. member of the Ohio Society of New York City ever since its organization. Honorable in business, loyal in citizenship, faithful in friendship, generous in sympathy and kind and loving in his home, he holds: a warm place in the hearts of all who know him. HARRIS R. HENDERSON. This well-known business man is a son of the late Dr. Robert A. Henderson, one of the eminent professional men of northern Ohio and for a number of years a leading physician of Upper Sandusky. Dr. Henderson was born in Washington county, Penn., October 22, 1813. He was 'the son of John and Isabella (Russel) Henderson, the former born July 25, 1769, in Chester county, Penn., and, the latter in the same state on the ist day of January, 1770. They were married October I, 1789, and had a family of nine children, all of whom have passed into the other life. John. Henderson is said to have been a soldier in the war of 1812 and by occupation was a farmer; he died June 8, 1849; his wife preceded him to the grave, departing this life December 14, 1831. Dr. Henderson received his educational training in the common schools of his neighborhood and the high school of Allegheny, graduating from the latter at the age of eighteen. Immediately thereafter, in 1831, he began the study of medicine in the above city under the instruction of his brother, Dr. Ebenezer Henderson, in whose office he remained two years and then continued his reading at Cross Creek village and Hickory, Washington. county, with Drs. Harmon and Wilson, spending six months with each. He began the practice of his profession at Clarkson, Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1833, remaining in that town eighteen months, subsequently opening an office in Mt. Eaton, Wayne county, where he practiced successfully till May, 1854.. Meantime, in 1852, the Doctor started to California, via the isthmus. of Darien, but was compelled to return after an interval of twenty-eight days at the latter place on account of the loss of the steamer plying between San Juan and San Francisco. June 4, 1854, he removed to Upper Sandusky, where he soon built up a large and lucrative practice, which he continued till 1865, when he entered .the Wooster Medical College, at Cleveland, graduating from that institution in March of the following year. 552 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS Dr. Henderson was married June 26, 1837, at Mt. Eaton, to Miss Lucy A. Galbraith, daughter of James and Sarah (Vandover) Galbraith, natives respectively of Ireland and the state of Maryland. These parents located in. Wyandot county as early as 1817, and the father died there September 24, 1834, the mother on the 23d day of September, 1873. Many years after her husband's death Mrs. Galbraith became the wife of Rev. Archibald Hanna, D. D., the marriage taking place March 29, 186o. Dr. and Mrs. Henderson were the parents of six children, of whom the following are living : Sarah Jane, born August 11, 1838, widow of the late R. D. Dumm, formerly of Upper Sandusky ; John W., born July 14, 1848, manager of the Upper Sandusky Water Works ; Edward A., December 14, 1850, a resident of this city, and Harris R., whose name introduces this sketch. The deceased are: William H., born in December, 1841, died April 19, 1843, and Robert H., born October 9, 1857, died February 6, 1858. Mrs. Henderson was born July 19, 1818, and died on the 27th day of January, 1897; she was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church and had a large circle of friends among the best people of Upper Sandusky. From his twentieth year, Mr. Henderson devoted his entire time and attention to the practice of medicine, and, as already indicated, became one of the most successful and popular physicians in that part of the state. He was deeply read in his profession, combined within himself all the qualifications of the progressive physician and surgeon and for many years was considered an authority on all matters pertaining to the healing art. His practice embraced a large area of terri tory and his name was long a familiar sound to nearly every man, woman and child within a radius of fifteen or twenty miles from Upper Sandusky. He was no less successful financially than professionally, having by diligent attention. to his. business amassed a large property in Upper Sandusky and various parts of Wyandot county. He won a place in the esteem and confidence of the people seldom attained by other men of his profession. and continued in the active practice until about 1884, when failing health compelled him to reduce hiS business largely to office work. From that time forward his bodily powers gradually failed, but he lingered several years, dying on the 27th of January, 1897. Dr. Henderson was a man of unimpeachable integrity and his character as a citizen: was transparent and above reproach. He was a Republican in politics, strong in his belief and took an active interest in public affairs, contributing much to the material and. moral advancement of the city of his residence. Popular as a man, eminent as a. physician, honorable in all his dealings with his fellows, and living as nearly as possible according to his Standard of right, his. name will always continue prominent in the annals of Upper Sandusky and Wyandot county. Harris R. Henderson was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 19, 1853, and was but six months old when his parents took up their residence in Upper Sandusky. He attended the: graded schools., of the city until his seventeenth year and with such assiduity did he persevere in his studies that at that early age he was qualified to enter the: First National Bank as bookkeeper, which position he filled to the satisfaction of his employers for a period of seven years. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 553 Resigning the place at the expiration of that time, he engaged in merchandising as a dealer in boots and shoes, meeting with gratifying success; and continuing the business about fourteen years. In the fall of 1892 he disposed of his stock and with several other prominent citizens became an incorporator of the Gordon Casket Works of Upper Sandusky, accepting the secretaryship; the duties of which he discharged until the spring of 1805: at which date the establishment was purchased'. by J. J. Stoll, and has since been known as the Stoll Casket Works, with Harris. R. Henderson, secretary, under whose management the concern has been placed upon a paying basis and made one of the leading industries of the city. He possesses business qualifications of a high order and his energy and persistence mark him as a man of great .force of character and determination of purpose. He is always interested in everything that pertains to the public welfare and has long ranked as one of the most enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Upper Sandusky. A creditable representative of an honored family, he has performed well his part in maintaining the dignity of the name; with a reputation. above criticism and motives. which have never been questioned, he has won the confidence of his fellow citizens and like his father before him, is destined to figure prominently in all that concerns the best interests of Upper Sandusky and the county of Wyandot. Mr. Henderson is a married man and the father of two. children, Ida B. and Robert Alexander, both still members of the home circle. His Wife was: forinerly Emma. K. Beery, daughter of Hon. George W. Beery, for many years one of the prominent citizens of this part of the state. Politically Mr. Henderson is a Republican, but not an active partisan, preferring to devote his time to his large business interests rather than to aspire to official honors. P. H. VON BLON. The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is widely known as one of the honored citizens of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He has lived here all his life and for a number of years has been prominently identified with the commercial interests of this community. His well-directed efforts in the practical affairs of life, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judgment have brought to him prosperity and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has, the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any discouragements which may seem to arise. In all the relations of life he has commanded the -respect and confidence 'of those with whom- he has been brought in contact and a biographical history of Wyandot 'county would not be complete without a record of his career.. Phillip Herman Von Blon, generally known as Herman, is a native son of the Buckeye state and also of Wyandot county, having first seen the light of day. in Tymochtee toWnship on the -29th day of January, 1863. He is of. German extraction. on the paternal side and' inherited the sturdy qualities of the Teutons. His paternal grand- 554 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. father, Phillip Von. Blon, was a native of Bavaria, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1832, settling probably in Tiffin, Ohio. He passed away in that place at the age Of about eighty-three years. His son, also named Phillip, father of. our subject, was also born in Bavaria and when but twelve years old was brought to the United States by his parents. In Tiffin, this state, he Was enabled to attend the public schools some, and also learned the trade of a cabinetmaker. However he followed the pursuit of a farmer during most of his. life. He came to Wyandot county early in 1850 and bought a farm in Tymochtee township. At that time the land was wild and unimproved, being covered heavily with timber, but through his earnest and untiring efforts the condition of the tract was soon changed into that of a well-improved and productive farm. He made this place his home and passed away there in 1872, at the age of fifty-two years. In political faith he was a Democrat, but never held any public office. Religiously he was a worthy member of the German Reformed church. He was generally considered a fairly successful man, and at his death. left a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres. The mother of our subject, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Elizabeth Frederick, was born near McCutchenville, Wyandot county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Joseph Frederick. The latter was one of the old and honored pioneers of Wyandot county and as a farmer and stock man was quite prominent in the early days. He lived to an advanced age. Our subject's mother was fifty-six years old at the time of her death. She was the mother of ten children, of whom our subject Was the ninth in order of birth. The boyhood of P. H. Von Blon was passed upon the farm, where he early became accustomed to the arduous toil connected with agricultural pursuits. Until he reached the age of eighteen years he received the advantages of a districtschool education, but at that age he came to Upper Sandusky and took a position as clerk in a stove and hardware store. He remained in that position for eight years and then, in the latter part of 1888, he engaged in the same line of business on his own account. His success was pronounced from the start and he has continued to do his share of the hardware business of the city. He carries a stock valued at about three. thousand five hundred dollars, consisting of a full line of stoves, shelf and. heavy hardware, and everything usually found in an up-to-date store of this kind. He is also the owner of three residence properties -in Upper Sandusky. Mr Von Blon is a stockholder in the Citizens Electric Light and Power Company, and the vice-president and one of its directors. He also holds the same position in the First Building & Loan Association of Upper Sandusky. For his wife Mr. Von. Blon chose Miss Rachel C. Agerter, a native of this place and a daughter of John and Elizabeth Agerter. This union has been blessed by the birth of four children, Phillip A., Martha, Clarence, who died at the age of six years, and Doratha, who died in infancy. Politically our subject is an active Democrat and has served one term as a member of the city council. While a member of that body he earned for himself an enviable reputation because of his sagacity and sound judgment. Fraternally he is a member of Wyandot Lodge No. 174, K. of P., of this BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 555 city. Mr. Von Blon's life thus far has been well spent and his fidelity to every duty has won for him the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been in contact. He is a worthy descendant of an honored pioneer of this locality and his life record well deserves a place in this volume. JOHN SEIDER. The subject of this sketch has long figured as one of the leading manufacturers and prominent citizens of Upper Sandusky. For fifty years he has resided in the city and most of his time has not only been a witness to its growth and development, but has also been an active participant in its industrial enterprises. A substantial and forceful factor in all that tends to promote the material prosperity of both city and county, it is appropriate that mention be made of him in this connection. John Seider is a native of Germany, born in Wittenburg, March 31, 1833. He is the son of Jacob and Catherine Seider, the former accidentally killed in his native country in 1837. After attending school for some years and acquiring a good practical education., he was apprenticed to a blacksmith, with whom he served three and a half years, paying for the privilege of learning the trade and working each day many hours over the regular time.. In addition to general blacksmithing, he also acquired a knowledge of wagon and. carriage making and being skilled in the use of tools he early could turn his, hands to any kind. of mechanical work. In August, 1852; in company with his mother and six younger brothers and sisters, he took passage on the sail boat "Havre" for the United States and after a voyage of three weeks' duration, landed in New York. A short time prior to the above date, his stepfather, Frederick Frey, preceded him to the new world and located in Upper Sandusky, to which place the subject and family at once proceeded, reaching the town on the 9th day of October, 1852. On arriving at the place young Seider found himself in straightened financial circumstances, being entirely out of money but strong in determination to make the most of his opportunities. It was not long until he secured employment with a blacksmith, who paid the young mechanic four dollars for his first month's labor. After following his trade a. short time he began working on a railroad, then in process of construction, but this not being to his liking, he soon abandoned it and engaged with William B. Barringer, who operated a shop in Upper Sandusky. He began with that gentleman at six dollars per month and board. and received that amount until the following spring, when his wages were creased to nine dollars. He proved a very .valuable assistant, as is attested by the fact of his remuneration being increased a little later to twelve dollars per month, then to fifteen dollars, and at the beginning of the year following his wages were advanced to two dollars per day. He remained with Mr. Barringer the greater part of four years, meantime turning over his wages to his mother to pay for a home which the latter purchased shortly after the family came to Upper Sandusky. By reason of his mother's death. and the refusal of his stepfather to pay what remained dice on the house, Mr. Seidel lost all the money he put 556 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. into the house, but still continued' to look after his younger brothers and sister's and plan for their future. In 1857 he purchased the lot where his. shop now stands for one hundred and fifty dollars, the sum total of his capital, and from that time dates. his progress as one of the city's most energetic and successful business men. He began on a small scale at horseshoeing and the manufacture of wagons, in connection with which he also carried on general blacksmithing and repairing, gradually enlarging the scope of his enterprise until he found it necessary to employ several assistants in order toy meet the demand for his work. He continued the business nine years, forming a partnership with D. Hale in 1865, which, under the firm name of Seider & Hale, lasted until about 1871. In' that year he purchased his associate's interest and subsequently admitted Frank Beidler, who continued his partner till 1880, when the firm of Seider & Ludwig was established. This relationship lasted until the spring of 1884, at which time Mr. Seider became sole proprietor and he managed the enterprise with gratifying financial results until 1888 when his son, John J. Seider, was taken in as a partner. Two years later another son, Edwin, was admitted, since which time the firm has been known as Seider & Sons. To meet the constantly increasing demand for his products and do the vast amount of blacksmithing and general repairing required, Mr. Seider found it necessary to increase the capacity of his factory from. time to time. This he did and the business is now carried on in two large, substantial and systematically arranged brick buildings, two stories high and in area thirty by sixty feet and thirty by one hundred and twenty-five feet, respectively. There is also a large ware room twenty-four by seventy feet in size, and the entire plant, representing a capital of Many thousand dollars, is supplied with the latest and most approved machinery and appliances needed in the manufacture of high grade buggies, carriages, wagons and vehicles of all kinds, in which a number of skilled mechanics are employed. The reputation that Mr. Seider's workmanship has acquired throughout the state has increased the already large demand, to meet which the factory is kept running at its full capacity every working day in the year. Mr. Seider's business., since coming to Upper Sandusky a penniless boy, has been most remarkable. Slowly but surely he overcame the many obstacles which beset his pathway and, gradually forging to the front, he is now at the head of one of the largest and most important industrial concerns of the city and he is also classed among the well-to-do men of the place. Besides. his factory he owns valuable city property, including a fine, large brick residence and other dwellings which he rents, every dollar's worth of property earned by own labor or by his successful management. Mr. Seider has been twice married, the first time on the 22d of November, 1857, to Miss Rosina Agerter, a native of Switzerland, who came to the United States with her parents when. quite young. She departed. this life on the 5th day of January, 1864, leaving three, children : Clara V., wife of George Savage; Minnie, wife of William Shannon, a druggist of Upper Sandusky ; and Elizabeth, who is still a member of the home circle; one child, Harry, died when an infant in 1861. The second marriage was solemnized January 5, 1865, BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 557 with Mrs. Amelia (Fistler) Meyer, widow of the late Jacob Meyer. This union resulted in the birth of five children: John J., Edwin, Anna, Alice and Frank, deceased. The first two are associated with their father in the manufacturing business and all four are living under the parental roof. By her previous marriage Mrs. Seider had one daughter, Louise Meyer, now the wife of Frank Brandt, and resides in Upper Sandusky. Mr. Seider served two years as township trustee of Crane township, was a member of the city council seven years and for two terms held the office of township treasurer, of Crane township and was also a member of the school board for two terms. In these positions he displayed the energy and ability characteristic of him in his business enterprises and left the offices with records untainted by the slightest breath of suspicion. He has been a member of Warpole Lodge, No. 176, F. & A. M., since 1870 and, while not 'a member of any church, is liberal in his contributions to religious and benevolent movements. . In the language of another, "Mr. Seider is recognized among the most successful business men of Upper Sandusky.” “He is a man of excellent character, of generous impulse's and though always guarding his own interests, has never lost an opportunity to lend aid in enhancing the interests of the public generally." He is a splendid example of the successful, self-made man and his life forcibly illustrates what can be accomplished by a young man of determined purpose who gave little heed to the frowns of adverse fortune. Intelligent enterprising in all he Undertakes, loyal to the. institutions of his adopted country and popular with all, he takes precedence as one of the leading German- American citizens in a country noted for its composite nationality. He has added luster to the city of his residence and his name will go down to future generations as one of its most distinguished business men. CHARLES C. CONAGHAN. The gentleman whose sketch is herewith presented is not a resident of Wyandot county, but was born here and is an honorable descendant of one of the oldest pioneer families of Tymochtee township. As the name indicates, the Conaghans are of Irish lineage. Dennis Conaghan, grandfather of Charles C., Was a native of the Emerald Isle, but when: a young man came to the United States and settled in Adams county, Penn. He was married in that state about the beginning of the nineteenth century to a Miss Wills. and reared a family of six or seven children, the oldest of whom was Joseph, whose birth occurred in 1808. He married Margaret Eyler, became a successful farmer of Seneca county, Ohio, reared. four daughters and one son, and died in the year 1889. John, the second of the family, married Sarah Wise and became the father of a large family; he was a farmer in good circumstances and departed this life in 1875. Frank H., the youngest of the sons living, married and was the father of four sons and two daughters; he followed farming and stock raising in Ohio until age and infirmities obliged him to retire from active life, since which time he has made his home in the city of Fostoria; he is now seventy-five years of age and totally blind. One daughter of Dennis Conaghan mar- 558 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. ried George Kintz and died about 1845, leaving four children. Another daughter became the .wife of George S. Christlip; she bore her husband eight children and died about the year 1868. Charles C. Conaghan, father of the subject, was a farmer of Wyandot county, of which he became a resident in the pioneer period, the family moving here from Pennsylvania when the country was on the very outskirts of civilization. He married Mary A. Bardoon, daughter of Anthony and Magdalene Bardoon, the former a native of the province of Alsace-Lorain, France, and the latter of Germany. It will thus be seen that in, the veins of the subject of this review is mingled the blood of the Irish, French and German peoples, a combination productive of a high and sterling quality of manhood. Anthony and Magdalene Bardoon were married in the old country, and about 1817 emigrated to the United States and settled in Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, where their daughter, Mary Louisa, mother of the subject; was born in June, 1822. The other members of the family were Magdalene and Mary. Ann, born in Germany ; Caroline, Sarah. and Anthony, whose births took place in America. Magdalene. married Sebastian Lye; he died in 1863 and his wife in 1898. Mary Ann married Francis J. Lye, settled in Allen county, Ohio, and for some years thereafter Mr. Lye was engaged in the mercantile business. He was' eminently successful, accumulated large wealth and became one of the prominent citizens of the county, in which he lived. All of their nine children reached their majority and became heads of families. Mr. Lye is still living, at the age of eighty-six, Strong: physically, but weak mentally Caroline married john Shaffer and settled in Delphos, where both died of typhoid fever in the winter of 1855 ; they had eight children, three of whom died in the above year of the same disease which carried off their parents. Sarah became the wife of Martin Bope, who was F. J. Lye's partner in the mercantile business for several years, settling at Delphos about 1845. In. 1857 he went to California, where his .death occurred about 1881; his widow is. still living in that state. Anthony married and settled in Delphos in 1850 and died a few years. later. Additional to the above; 'there was an older son, E. B. Shaffer, who served four years in the late Rebellion as a member of the Twenty:first Missouri Infantry. He was a brave soldier and at the time of his discharge, in 1863, was captain of his company. He now resides in Edina, Mo. Charles C. and Mary L. Conaghan were the parents of two children, Charles C., whose name forms the caption of this sketch, and A. F. The father died in the prime of life, at the early age of thirty-two, and later his widow married William Best, by .whom she had four children, viz.: Mary E., Agatha, Louisa and Matilda; her death occurred on the 9th day of November, 1891. The immediate subject of this review is one-of the representative citizens of Summit county, Ohio, engaged. in merchandising at the town of Tallmadge. He is a prosperous business man, public-spirited in all the term implies and a member of the formerly large, but decreasing, army of veterans who donned the blue during the trying days of the great Rebellion. Charles C. Conaghan was born in Tymochtee township, Wyandot county, Ohio, October 16, 1842, having, first seen the light of day on what is known as the "old Logsdon farm?' He was reared BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 559 on this place until young manhood and at the breaking out of the Rebellion enlisted August 12, 1861, at Tiffin, Ohio, in Company B, Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry, for three years or during the war. This regiment went to the front under the command of Col. W. H. Gibson and the captain of his company was B. S. Porter. He served out his time faithfully and uncomplainingly, shared with his comrades all the vicissitudes and horrors of war and at the expiration of his period of enlistment was honorably discharged at Chattanooga, Tenn., September 5, 1864. He was in the battles of Shiloh, Liberty Gap and Chickamauga, where he was wounded September 19, 1863. He was also in the Atlanta campaign and in the battles of Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Adairsville, Cassville, Pickett's Mills, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw MoUntain, Peach Tree Creek and the' siege and general assault of Atlanta. The Forty-ninth Ohio has one hundred and thirteen men buried at Marietta, Ga., in the',National cemetery. Mr. Conaghan was, taken prisoner at Lawrenceburg, Ky., October 8, 1862,. by Kirby Smith's command and paroled on the spot and sent hoine. The wound Mr. Conaghan received at Chickamauga was by a shot through the right leg just above the knee, from which he was confined in hospital No. 5, at Nashville, for four weeks and then received a furlough home for sixty days ; .after partial recovery he served with the Sixty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry two months, not being able to join his regiment, but finally rejoined it at Cleveland, Tenn. Mr. Conaghan considers his hardest march to have been from Battle Creek, Tenn., to Louisville, Ky., a distance of about three hundred miles. They left Battle Creek, Tenn., August 16, 1862, and arrived at Louisville about September 29-30, 1862, suffering severely from heat and dust, lack of salt and food, living on green corn and bread which the soldiers themselves baked at the camp fires. Mr. Conaghan crossed, with his regiment, the state of Kentucky three times and marched five times across the state of Tennessee. His regiment traveled about twelve thousand miles on foot, by water and by rail, Pickett's Mills he considers to have been his hardest fought battle. Mr. Conaghan was always an active soldier and, with the exception of the battles fought while he was wounded and a paroled prisoner, was in all the actions of his regiment, its skirmishes,, marches and campaigns. Mr. Conaghan was a brave soldier, and of his regiment, the Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, two hundred and two men were killed in battle. This was the heaviest loss of any regiment from Ohio. Out of every one thousand men in the army forty-seven died of disease and thirty-seven were killed; making eighty-four out of every one thousand who perished and never saw their homes again. Mr. Conaghan's brother, Frank, enlisted for the war when only seventeen years old in Company B, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. Mr. Conaghan was not yet nineteen years old when he enlisted from purely patriotic motives, and first offered his services to his country in the first' call for seventy-five thousand men, but this call being most promptly filled his offer was declined, but he seized the next opportunity and was accepted as narrated above. After the war Mr. Conaghan returned 560 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. to Carey, Wyandot county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1865 went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he took a commercial course at Bryant & Stratton's college and immediately thereafter engaged in bookkeeping in Cleveland; where he remained six months. In February,. 1866; he went to .Akron, Ohio, and engaged in the coal trade, which he continued one year. He married, while living in Akron, Miss Olive R. Ellis, a daughter of Joseph: D. and Mary A. (Brown.) Ellis; and to this union were born two: children, Nellie L: and Mary B. After marriage Mr. Conaghan located in New Portage, where he was engaged for one and a half years in the grocery business, and came to Tallmadge in 1870. Here he was employed as a clerk for W. E. Hinman' until 1885; in 1886 Mr. Conaghan engaged in business at Tallmadge with Frank E. Hine, but Mr. Hine died in 1892, and since that time Mr. Conaghan has conducted the business alone. Mr. Conaghan is a member of Buckley Post; G. A. R. of Akron, Ohio, and has been delegate to the department encampment. He is also, a member of the Knights of Pythias; at Tallmadge. In politics Mr. Conaghan is a stanch Republican, has been clerk of Tallmadge ten years and has also been a member of the school board. Mrs. Conaghan died October 27, 1885; a woman of many virtues. Mr. Conaghan next married, March 25, 1897, Mrs. Margaret E. Kline (nee Hall), widow of Frank E. Hine. WALTER SANFORD.  One of the leading and experienced agriculturists of Jackson township:, Wyandot county, Ohio; is Walter Sanford, who re sides in Section 24, and is the owner of two hundred acres, of excellent land. Mr. Sanford was born in Allegany county, N. Y., May 5, 1832, and is a son of Jeremiah F. and Rebecca (Simerson) Sanford, of whom the former was a native. of Geneseo, N. Y., where he grew to manhood, and March, 29, 1831, married Miss Simerson, a native of New Jersey, and for some time lived in Allegany county. He was a lumberman and farmer and in the fall of 1836 started west with his little family in a wagon. On reaching Wyandot county, Ohio, he rented land in Jackson township for two years and then entered eighty acres of wild land in section 33. On this land he erected a cabin and built a double log barn, cleared up about forty acres and set out an orchard. He lived there nearly fifteen years and then traded for eighty acres of timberland in section 15, which he also cleared up and bought forty additional acres, cleared this tract also, built a comfortable dwelling and substantial farm buildings and converted, the place into a profitable farm. Here his wife passed away October 12, 1885, and here his own death occurred. in January, 1896, both dying members of the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Sanford was a Democrat, and although never an office-holder he did a great deal for the township in the way of building roads, etc., and was in every possible manner a useful and public-spirited citizen. He was truly respected by all who knew him and there were but few in the township that did not. To Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah F. Sanford were born eight Children, namely: Walter, subject of this sketch ; Christian, born November 17, 1835, died August 20, 1837; Edward; born, May 1, 1839, died September BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 561 27, 1839; George, born September 19, 1840, in Jackson township ; Jared. M., born May 20, 1842, died August 14, 1863; Lafayette J., born January 9, 1846, died February 9, 1850; John F., born July 6, 1849, now farming in Jackson township; Melissa Ann, born December 13, 1852, and now the wife of William B. Haner, of Jackson township. Walter Sanford received his education in the backwoods log school house of his district, which was built when he was a boy. He lived with his parents on the home place' until twenty-six years of age, when he married, in Wyandot county, March 11, 1859, Miss Susanna. McDaniel, native of Wayne county, Ohio, and a daughter of James and Nancy (Hannah) McDaniel, natives of Pennsylvania. To this marriage was born one child that died in infancy. James McDaniel, father of Mrs. Sanford, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1837, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of partly improved land in Jackson township, Wyandot county, which he cleared and lived upon several years. He then sold this and removed to Richland township and bought eighty acres, but came back to Jackson township, and here lived on twenty acres until his death. After marriage Mr. Sanford and wife settled on their present home in section 24, which then consisted of forty acres, to which Mr. Sanford later added another forty, all of which was wild land. He erected a log house and barn and kept diligently at work, doing general farming, increased his acreage to two hundred and forty acres, and now has two hundred and thirty acres under cultivation, showing that he possesses extraordinary determination, skill and good management seldom equalled and never excelled. He has devoted his attention to general farming and stock raising, and in so practical a manner that a perpetual competence is the satisfactory result. In politics Mr. Sanford is a Democrat, but the only office that he ever cared to fill was that of constable. He is a member of the Christian Union church, of Jackson township, and faithfully lives up, to its precepts. Mr. Sanford and his amiable help-mate enjoy the respect of the entire community in which they live and are noted for their affability and generous impulses, as well as quiet life. JOSEPH A. LILES. This gentleman, one of the most substantial middle-aged farmers of Jackson township, Wyandot county, Ohio, was born, in Richland township, this county, April 25, 1846, and is a son of Isaiah and Catherine (Young) Liles, the former of whom was born in Ross county, May 27, 1818, and the latter on March 17, 1819. Lemuel Liles, father of Isaiah Liles, was born in South Carolina in 177.9, served in the war of 1812, and was married in Ross county, Ohio, to Hannah Duringer. He was a Methodist clergyman and farmer. Isaiah Liles was reared in Logan county and in 1839 came to Wyandot county, bought seven hundred acres of land and bought and furnished timber for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was married in Wayne county, and had born to him seven children. He was clerk to the board of education for twenty-five years, was a land agent and stock dealer. He was first a Whig in politics and afterward a Republican, but never 562 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. held a public office. In religion he was a Methodist and class leader, and died April 16, 1869; his widow still lives in Richland township. The seven children born to Isaiah Liles and wife were named as follows : Samuel G., farming in Jackson township; Joseph A., of this sketch; Margaret, whose first husband was James Morrison, she being now married, to Henry Shriver, of Jackson township; Charlotte Ann, who died young; Elvira, who was married to Lewis Ellis, had two children, George and Lucy, and is deceased; Lemuel, who married Alice Healy, and is also deceased; and Plimpton M., who is living in retirement in Forest. Joseph A. Liles was educated in the common schools and lived at home until his enlistment, in 1863, in Company I, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was assigned to Gen. Sherman's command. He was shot in the left breast in June, 1864, and was for some time confined in hospital, but with this exception was always ready for duty. He was present at all the battles in which his regiment took a part, and bore himself with bravery and fortitude, being honorably discharged in June, 1865. On his return from the army, Mr. Liles re-engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1868 he married Miss Elizabeth Brackney, a native of Auglaize county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Adeline (Keasen) Brackney, the former of whom was, born in Greene county, Ohio, and the latter in West Virginia. This union has been graced with ten children,, namely : Adeline was a teacher in Wyandot county, became the wife of Henry Taylor, of Mifflin township, and the mother of three children, Howard, Fannie and Carrie; Minnie, still at home; Lu ella, also at home; Ralph ; Lloyd; Earl; Russell; Pliny; James and Dickson. Russell has taken the Boxwell examination. After marriage Mr. Liles made his home with his grandfather and he had the use of one hundred acres of land till his death. On this land Mr. Liles lived for eight years and then returned to Wyandot county, and bought fifty acres of his present farm, at that time known as the Zeller place, ten acres of which were cleared. That he has been thrifty and industrious is shown, by the fact that he now owns two hundred and ninety-eight acres, all in Jackson township, and all but seventeen acres cleared up. Here he successfully grows wheat, oats, corn and hay and other crops, and raises choice Durham cattle, Poland-China hogs and French draft horses' and is considered to be amongst the best farmers. in the township. In politics Mr. Liles is a Republican, but has always been too, busy in attending to his farming interests to give any attention to office hunting. He is, with his wife, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Forest, and no family in the township is held in higher respect than his. HENRY W. KARR. One of the most noted sons of Wyandot county, a prosperous farmer and veteran of the great Civil war, was, born on the farm in Crawford township where he now lives, August 27, 1842. Hamilton Karr, his father, was born April 3, 1800, in Meigs county, Ohio, and came to the county of Wyandot about the year 1826, entering the quarter section of land which the subject 563 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS now owns. He Was one of the pioneers of this section and bore his full share in, the early growth and development of the country. He married in Wyandot county in August, 1827, Mary Brown, who came here with her parents when a young girl, the Brown family being also among the earliest settlers of Crawford township. Hamilton and Mary (Brown) Karr were the parents of nine children, all of whom grew to maturity and became well known throughout Wyandot county. Their names are as follows: Canarissa, deceased ; Sofia and Maria, twins, both dead. The former was burned to death or drowned at Monza Willow, Mexico, having been a passenger with her husband on the ill fated vessel "Golden Gate," which was destroyed by fire several miles from shore, resulting in the loss of nearly everybody on board. Her husband swam six miles to shore, where he was picked up when almost ready to sink; also one of his children, a son, Jonas, was saved and at present resides in Arkansas. The next in order of birth is James; now living in Kansas. Laura is also a resident of that state. Douglass is dead. Henry W., our subject. Clotilda and Mary are no longer in the land of the living. The father of these children was a fairly, successful man, being for many years widely and favorably known as "Col. Karr." He died in 1873. His parents, Hamilton and Susan Karr, were natives; respectively, of Pennsylvania and Virginia, the former an early settler of Marietta, this state, and for many years a noted spy and scout in the early Indian wars of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Subsequently he served as captain and major in the United States army, but remained a woodsman nearly all his life, obtaining a livelihood for himself and family largely by hunting. In his later years he followed farming and his death occurred at the age of seventy. Tracing the family history further back, it is learned that the progenitor of the American, branch. vas Matthew Karr, who came to this country from Scotland about 1763, locating in Philadelphia. Subsequently he moved to Marietta, Ohio; where it is said he kept the first dairy in the state, furnishing milk to the citizens of the town and to the soldiers that garrisoned the old fort; he was killed by an Indian at the motith,of Duck creek, a short distance from the town, having just landed from his 'canoe when' the fatal shot was fired. Mrs. Mary Karr, subject's mother, departed this life at the age of eighty-five. The boyhood days of Henry W. Karr were spent on his father's farm and as opportunities afforded, he attended the subscription school in the neighborhood. He remained under the parental roof until 1862, in July of which year he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the fall of 1863, when he was discharged on account of injuries received in a railroad collision,. Mr. Karr saw considerable active service in Virginia, taking part in the battles of Winchester, Harper's Ferry and Berryville, and it was shortly after the last named engagement that he received the injury referred to above. After remaining in a hospital until sufficiently recovered he returned home, when with careful nursing he soon found himself again in possession of his wonted health and strength. Upon the restoration of his bodily powers Mr. Karr again entered 'the service of his country, joining October 17, 1864, Company F, 564 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. Ninth Ohio Cavalry, with which he shared the fortunes of war under General Sherman, participating in a number of battles, including, among others, Nashville, siege of Columbia., Waynesboro, Savannah, Dismal Swamp and Raleigh; also taking part in the celebrated march to the sea, and remaining with his command until honorably discharged on the 20th day of July, 1865. When hostilities ceased and the country no longer needed his services, Mr. Karr returned home with an honorable military record and resumed the quiet pursuits, of civil life on the old home farm, which he purchased in 1870. On the l0th of August, 1871, he married Miss Winifred Davidson, who was born in Danville, Knox county, Ohio, January 25, 1848, the daughter of George H. and Rachel (Payne) Davidson, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and Maryland. These parents came to Wyandot county in 1858 and their family consisted of eleven children, namely : William, Mary Eliza, John, Elias, Winefred, Hulda, Edward, Geneva, Clara and Lina, all of whom grew to years of maturity. To Mr. and Mrs. Karr have been born two children, Tessie and Mark H., the former deceased and the latter his father's assistant on the farm. They have also taken Mrs. Karr's sister's child, George H. Hewett, to. raise, whose mother died at the time of his birth. He was taken into the family soon after his mother's death and enjoys the same privileges as their own child. Mr. Karr is a successful farmer and an enterprising business man. His place is well-improved and he is familiar with the methods of agriculture such as the most Scientific and progressive farmers have adopted to make their calling financially remunerative. As a neighbor and citizen he occupies a desirable and conspicuous place and all who know him honor him for his many sterling qualities of manhood. He proved his loyalty to the country by giving several of his best years to its service and the record he made as a brave and gallant soldier is one of which any veteran might well feel proud. His political preference naturally led him to espouse the principles of the Republican party and he considers it one of his binding duties to work for its success: While an active partisan, making all necessary sacrifices to promote the cause which enlists his support; he is by no means an aspirant for public honors. Fraternally he belongs to Carey Lodge, No.. 420, F. & A. M., and for a number of years his name has adorned the records of Robinson. Post, No. 19, G. A. R., at Upper Sandusky. Mr. Karr has met with flattering success as a. raiser of fine live stock, his cattle, horses and hogs being selected with great care, and comparing favorably with those found on the best stock farms in this part of the state. In his business relations he keeps in accord with the ethics of life, and the correctness of his motives have never been questioned by those with whom he has had any dealing whatsoever. Personally he stands high among his neighbors and fellow citizens and no one has more warm friends or fewer enemies than he Eminently warm hearted and generous, he discharges all of his 'duties with fidelity and zeal, and to the best of his ability, lives tip to his highest conception of what constitutes true manhood. Such, in brief, is the record of one of Wyandot county's useful and patriotic citizens. To some future historian must be the honor and duty of writ- BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 565 ing a more complete biography when this life ceases to be and his name becomes a memory. WILLIAM B. HANER. William B. Haner is a native of Wyandot county, Ohio, was born in Mifflin township May 17, 1845, and is a son of Philip and Irene (Gleason) Haner, both natives Of New York state. Philip Haner was reared to manhood in his native county of Rensselaer as a farmer, was there married, and about 1839 came to Wyandot county, Ohio, by wagon; he was alone and was a long time in making the trip. He purchased forty acres of land from Jacob Lenard, deep in the woods of Mifflin township, cleared it up and built a double log house. In this he lived until 1849, when he sold his property and bought one hundred and sixty acres of uncleared land in the same township, whiCh tract he and his sons cleared up. He again sold out and went to Guthrie, Oklahoma, where he died in 1893, his, wife having passed away in 1887. To Philip Haner and his wife, Irene (Gleason) Haner, the were born ten children, namely: David, who died in 1898; Edgar, a member of Company I, One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died in Libby prison in 1863; Almina, who died in 1875.; Mary, the wife of Samuel Doine and hiring in Mifflin township; George, who died when eight years old; William B., the subject of this sketch ; Florence, who: married Adam Lotzenbergef and is living in Kansas ; John, in the mill business in Mifflin township; Henry, in Guthrie, Okla. William, B. Haner received a common school education and assisted in cultivating the farm until he was twenty-seven, years old. February 6, 1872, he married Miss Melissa Ann Sanford, who was born in. Jackson township and is a daughter of Jeremiah F. and Rebecca (Simerson) Sanford, whose life-sketch appears on another page of this work. To this congenial union have been born nine children, namely : Lennie, wife of Frank Owens, a farmer of Henry county, .Ohio, to whom she has borne three children, Lola, Floy and Carl; Effie Orvilla, who died When twenty years Old; Irene, who is married to Conrad McDaniel, a farmer also in Jackson township; Iva May, who died in November, 1898; Elmer Franklin, at home; Oddie, Walter Earl, an infant deceased, and Hazel Elizabeth. After his marriage Mr. Haner purchased sixty acres of the old homestead, on which he lived seven years, then, sold out and in 1879 came to Jackson township and bought sixty acres or the Stanley place, on which there were no buildings whatever. That he managed this Property well, exercised industry, frugality and skill is shown by the fact that he now owns one hundred and twenty-one acres in sections 22 and 23; Jackson township, and forty acres, of the old homestead in Mifflin township, and is regarded as one of the most substantial and successful agriculturists of his section of the county of Wyandot. All his land, excepting fifteen acres, is under a fine state of cultivation for mixed crops—wheat, oats and corn—and he also gives much attention to breeding graded cattle, as well as sheep. In politics Mr. Haner is a Democrat and is a local leader of his party, with which he is very popular. He served as township 566 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. trustee for two years (1883 and 1884), and was township treasurer for twelve years. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum at Forest, and his wife is a member of the Christian Union church. The family is one of the most highly respected in Jackson and adjacent townships, and especially so in Mifflin, Mr. Haner's native home. JOSEPH A. HOUGENDOBLER. One of the self-made men, in the business sense of this term, who are residents of Jackson township, Wyandot county, Ohio, is Joseph A. Hougendobler, who was born in Lancaster county, Penn., February 20, 1825, the seventh child in a family of eight children born to Jacob and Catherine (Effert) Hougendobler, natives of the same county. The father was a weaver by trade and also a distiller, and in Lancaster county he and his wife passed the whole of their earthly existence and died in the faith of the German Reformed church. Their eight children were born in the following order : Anna, Isaac, Elizabeth, Henry A., Jacob and Barbara, all deceased; Joseph A., subject of this sketch, and Rebecca, widow of Leonard Scott, living in Clark county, Ohio. Joseph A., Hougendobler lived with the old folks at home until he had attained twenty-three years of age, when he married, June 11, 1848, Miss Harriet Mellin, also a native of Lancaster county, Penn., and a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hirsh) Mellin. To this, his first marriage, the following children were born: Mary Ann, the deceased wife of John Fernbaugh ; Lizzie, also deceased; Amos, a farmer of Jackson township and married to Julia Bainbridge, who has borne him, two children, Ola and Gracie; Catherine, the wife of M. F. Hemmerly (postmaster at Kirby, this county), and to whom she has borne five children: Lloyd, Mamie, Nellie, Joseph and Charles; Henry H., who is living on the old place and has been twice married, first to Abbie Howe, who, bore him one child, Emery, and, second, to Sylvia Ouale, who has borne him six children: Earl, William, Bessie, Wave, Joseph and Dale; Susan., who was married to Henry 0. Baker, died, the mother of one child, Mabel; Phebe is the wife of J. F. Fernbaugh, a farmer in Jackson township, and has borne her husband three., children; Lola, Frank and Daisy ; Emma is married to G. L. Spoon, of Jackson township, and also has had three children: Gemmil (deceased) ; Harry and David; Ida E., an infant who died March 14, 1867; and William, who died young. Mrs. Harriet (Mellin) Hougendobler died July 17, 1883, and for his second wife Mr. Hougendobler married October 7, 1891, Mrs. Martha Sisco, widow of Ira Sisco and daughter of Andrew Small, of Shelby county, Ohio. It was not until his. first marriage that Mr. Hougendobler learned the trade of shoemaking, at which he worked in Clark county four years, buying some town property in the meantime he then removed to Osborn, Greene county, where he continued at shoemaking until April 1, 186, and then came to Wyandot county and purchased twenty acres of land in Crane township, three miles east of Upper Sandusky, where he conducted farming in conjunction with his trade, following the latter in the city until 1879, when he purchased his present farm BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 567 of eighty-two acres in section 2, Jackson township, and here also he continued working at his trade for ,four years. His tract of land was all timbered, or wild, but, by industry and some hired help and the aid of his son, he cleared it up and converted it into a profitable farm, which will compare favorably with any other of its size in the township. His sons now cultivate the farm, and raise all the crops usual to this latitude. Amos and Harry Hougendobler, the sons, are both members of the I. O. O. F. lodge at Forest and are exemplary young men and both greatly respected in the neighborhood. In politics the father is a Republican, but has never held any office. Mr. Hougendobler has always taken a great deal of interest in church work, has been an elder and is now trustee of the Church of God at Kirby. He certainly deserves. much credit for the upright, straightforward life he has led. He is widely and favorably knoWn throughout the entire township, and but few citizens can boast of a larger circle of sincere friends. MARVIN F. HOWE. This well-known agriculturist of Jackson township, Wyandot county, is a native of the Buckeye state and was born in Athens county, December 17, 1828: Mr. Howe is able to trace his line of descent from. Lord Howe, of England. His parents were Sylvanu.s and Abigail (Durfy) Howe, who were natives, respectively, of Vermont and Rhode Island. Peter Howe, father of Sylvanus, was a farmer by vocation and a patriot of the Revolutionary war, which latter fact entitles the subject and his wife to membership in that great American. order, Sons and Daughters of the American. Revolution. Sylvanus was a mere lad when the family came to Ohio and first settled in Washington county, later removing to Athens county. There Sylvanus grew to manhood and was reared to farming, but later studied medicine and became quite eminent as a physician. He was also prominent as a politician, and was first a Whig, and later a Republican, and was elected to several township. offices. He was a Universalist in religion and died in that faith in Wyandot county; his widow died at the home of the subject of this sketch. Their eleven children were named as follows: Peter S., who is now living in Illinois.; Orinda M., deceased; Albertus, a farmer in Hamler, Ind.; Marvin F., the subject; Caroline, deceased; Gardner, a farmer at Stockton., Kan. ; Angeline, in Greene county, Ohio; Mary S., -deceased; Ozros B., who was killed at Richniond, Va.; in the Civil war ; Margaret Emma, of Dearborn county, Ind., and Lorilla L., of Greene county. All these children were educated in the common schools and several of them became school teachers. Gardner Howe was one of the first to respond to the call for volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil war and his regiment was among the last to be mustered out of service. He participated in. eighteen pitched battles, but was never wounded nor taken prisoner. Marvin F. Howe lived on the home place until about thirty years of age when, for his first wife, he selected Sarah, Ann Carter, of Morgan county, 0hio, and a daughter of James Carter. This lady became his wife in 568 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. 1857, and for ten years was his genial help, mate. She died in 1887, the mother of three children, viz : Clarence wedded Miss Emma Higgins and has two children, Harvey and Mabel. He is an .engineer on the Nickel Plate railroad, and has his home in Chicago, Ill.; Abigail, who was married to Harry Hougendobler and died September 15, 1885, was the mother of one son, Emery ; Elizabeth, still at home. The second marriage of Mr.. Howe took place December 18, 1867, to Mrs. Nancy Tuttle, of Wooster, Ohio, a widow with, two children, Myron E.,.dispatcher for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Fort Wayne, Ind,, and married to Emma Brazier, who has borne him two children, Carl and Elmer; and Orville D., who is living on the old home place in Jackson township, is married to. Mary Hemmerly, and also has two children, Ira and Daisy. Mrs. Nancy. Howe is a daughter of David and Sarah (Orr) Armstrong, a highly respected couple living at Wooster. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were of Scotch-Irish ancestry and came from the north of Ireland. They were the parents of twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, of whom only two are now living, Mrs. Howe and a brother, David, of Mexico, Mo... Another brother, John,' was killed in. battle during the Civil war. To the second marriage of Mr. Howe have also been born three children, namely : Emma, wife of Daniel Dubbs, of Jackson township, has two daughters, Bertie and Nana; Albertus, who died when eighteen years+ old; and Otta E., who is still single and at home, has taken instruction in music. Mr. and Mrs. Howe have, through their kindness of heart, reared and educated a poor orphan boy, Atnasa Carpenter. The latter became a useful and honorable man and is. now an esteemed citizen of Jackson township, this county. He married Miss Celinda F. Scott, a niece of Mrs. Howe, and they have a son, Ora. After his first marriage Mr. Howe lived on the old place in Athens county until his mother's death, and.scarne to Wyandot county in 1867. Here he settled on his. present farm of one hundred and ten acres in section 10, but, although the place was partly cleared, there were no buildings upon it. Since then he erected, in 1881, a comfortable dwelling and all necessary outbuildings, has cleared up the whole place and has about one hundred acres under cultivation. He carries on mixed, farming here and also owns. nine acres in section 4. He also raises considerable stock and in every way has met with abundant success. In politics Mr. Howe is a Republican, but has never held public office. He is a member of the Grange and he and his wife attend the Christian Union church. The family is greatly respected in the neighborhood, and Mr. Howe is regarded as. one of the most substantial farmers. of Jackson township. The subject has been ever a kind and affedionate father, never struck one of his children, and never said "You shall do this, or that." He is a genial, large-hearted gentleman., whose presence carries sunshine and good cheer wherever he goes.. His beautiful country home, which is a credit to the county, is surrounded by one of the best lawns to be seen anywhere. Mr. Howe has, during the last four years, made the noteworthy discovery that he is enabled with the naked eye to see the invisible, in this respect having discovered a principle far in advance of his day. BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 569 JEPHTHA BROWN. The gentleman whose name opens this sketch and who now has his home in Sycamore township, Wyandot county, Ohio, was born in Canada, about seventeen miles north of Brockville, September 23, 1812. His parents, however, were natives of the state of New York and as that part of the Union was at that time the scene of war, many residents of the section crossed the line on the north in order to escape the British marauders who were devastating the country, and this was in all probability the case with the parents of the subject. It cannot be determined in what county Oliver Brown, father of subject, was born, but it is known that Sallie (Wilsey) Brown, the mother, had her nativity in Dutchess county. Benjamin Brown, father of Oliver, was an old man when he entered the British army at the time of the American Revolution, and still living when the war of 1812 took place, when he went with the family to Canada, where his death occurred. Oliver Brown, who had been a farmer by calling, died in Albion, Orleans county, N. Y., and there also his wife passed away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which both were active workers. They had a family of nine children, namely : Benjamin and Hiram, deceased; Anthony, in Findlay, Ohio; Jephtha, the subject of this sketch ; Ezra, who was an attorney and died in Fin.dlay ; Alfred, who died in Wood county; Henry, also an attorney, died in Findlay ; Sallie died young, and Franklin died in New York state. Jephtha Brown, the subject, vas reared a millwright, but had worked on the home place until twenty-one years old, and after having learned his trade still remained at home until twenty-five years of age, when he started for Wyandot county, Ohio, coning partly by stage and partly on foot, and stopping on the way to act as millnian at Paw Paw, Mich., and in Seneca county, Ohio, and helping to build several mills. He had purchased one hundred and sixty acres of timber land in section 8, Sycamore county, on his way here to visit his brother, Benjamin, in Wood county, where he remained about five years, so that it was not until 1842 that he settled on his present place some of which he had cleared in the intermediate time. There was a log cabin on the place, but this has long since been supplanted by a: handsome modern dwelling. The marriage of Mr. Brown took place to Miss Sallie Holmes, who was born in Seneca county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Ira. and Hannah (Brown) Holmes, the for mer of whom was .a native of New York and the latter of Canada, and were pioneers of Seneca county, Ohio. They came to Wyandot county and settled in the woods, with no neighbors within a radius of less than four miles. The father was also a millman, and he and wife were highly respected wherever they resided, and both passed their latter years in Wyandot county. To Mr. and Mrs. Jephtha Brown have been born six children, namely : Clarance, who died when seventeen years old; Adeline, who is married to Elias Jones, of Crawford county; Amelia, wife of Albert L. Flack, a merchant of Tiffin; Alfred J., a farmer of Crawford county ; Wirt, who married Alice Van Gundy, and is farming on the old homestead and Loveta, who died .young. Mr. Brown still owns the old one-hun- 570 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. dred-and-sixty-acre homestead, but the total number of his acres is four hundred, of which a part is in Crawford county. He carries on general, farming and stock raising and is looked upon as one of the best and most skillful agriculturists in the township. In politics Mr. Brown is a. Republican, but in the old days was a Whig, and cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison. HARRY W. HAWKINS. The popular, genial and accommodating postmaster at Sycamore, Wyandot county, Ohio, Harry W. Hawkins, was born in the city of Burlington, Iowa, and is a son of Henry C. Hawkins, who was, born in Pennsylvania, but who, when only twelve. years old, was brought to Ohio by his parents, who ,settled near Columbus. Henry C. Hawkins was reared to manhood near Columbus, Franklin county, and there learned blacksmithing. Later he went to Burlington, Iowa, and there married An E. Strock, a native of Columbus, Ohio, and a lady of varied accomplishments and genial temperament. Henry C. contin- tied to follow his trade in Burlington until he removed to Butler, Mo., resided. there seven. years, and then returning to Ohio, located in Sycamore and continued to work at his trade until his death. His widow, still resides, in Sycamore, and is now sixty-four years old. Their children, three in number, are H. W., the subject of this biographical notice; C. A. S., a popular druggist in Sycamore, and married to Mary Wilcox, who has borne him one child; Mabel; and Clarke S., who is married. to Anna E. Steifle, of Bucyrus, Ohio, and has one daughter, Helen G. On settling in Sycamore Mr. Hawkins worked for some time in the lumber trade; he was elected town clerk, filled. the office for ten years, and was appointed postmaster of Sycamore, and has performed the duties of this. office most satisfactorily. All the 'sons of Henry C. Hawkins are members of Lodge No. 645, at Sycamore, and all sustain: most excellent reputations as industrious citizens. Clarke S., now town clerk, was at one time for one year cashier and ticket agent for the Toledo. & Ohio Central Railway Company at Bryan, Ohio, and for. one year in the auditor's office at Toledo of the Kanawha & Michigan Railway Company. Later he came to Sycamore and is now with his brother, W. H., in the post-office at Sycamore. CURTIS B. HARE. Among the men who have acted prominent parts in the business and financial history of Wyandot county, Ohio, Curtis B. Hare, of Upper Sandusky, has been conspicuous. Honored and respected by the people of both, city and county, he enjoys a large measure of public esteem, not alone on account o. f his. prestige in financial circles, but also by reason of the straightforward business policy he has. ever followed and the worthy standing he has achieved in the domain of private citizenship. A native of Ohio, he was born October 13, 1844, near the town of Adrian, Seneca county, his childhood home being two miles from the BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 571 line dividing the counties of Seneca and Wyandot. A reference to his family history discloses the fact that his paternal ancestors .came to the United States from Switzerland in an early day and settled in Pennsylvania, of which state his grandparents, Conrad and Anna M. (Spangler) Hare, were natives. By occupation Conrad Hare was a farmer ; he continued to .follow agricultural pursuits in Pennsylvania; until 1828, when he migrated to Wyandot county, Ohio, and purchased a tract of government land near the present site of Carey. Here he spent the remainder of his life as a tiller of the soil, dying when fifty-six years old; his widow survived him some years, departing this life at the age of seventy-six. Among the children of Conrad and Anna Hare was a son by the name of Levi, whose birth occurred in Center county, Penn. He was a small boy when the family settled in Wyandot, and, like his father before him, grew to maturity on a farm and selected agriculture for a vocation. He became successful in his chosen calling, and by industry and judicious management acquired a comfortable competence, including two hundred acres of valuable land, the greater part of which was cleared and developed by his own labor. When a young man he married Miss Jane Berry, a native of Ross county, Ohio, who was brought to the county of Wyandot by her parents as early as 1823 ; she died here at the age of thirty-nine years. Mrs. Hare bore her husband eight children, seven sons and one daughter, namely: Darius D., a prominent citizen of this county whose biography appears elsewhere; Curtis B., of this review; Celestia S., who lives in Upper Sandusky ; Cyrus D., engaged in the insurance business. in the same city; Albert J., editor of the Union County Journal, a paper published at Marysville, this state; Adrian A., a merchant of Detroit, Mich., and Wellington R., a sketch of whom will be found in another part of this volume. Politically Levi Hare was a Democrat, and as such wielded an influence for his party in the community where he lived. In religion he subscribed to the Methodist creed, as did also his wife, both being for a number of years devout members of the church, the teachings of which they early impressed upon the minds and hearts of their children. Mr. Hare met with an accident which resulted in his death when he was forty-nine years old, his loss being greatly deplored throughout the county in which; he was so well and. favorably known. Mrs. Hare's parents were Curtis and Sallie (Cavite) Berry, the father a. native of Virginia and the mother of Ross county, Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Berry settled in Crawford township, Wyandot county and continued to reside there until their deaths, which occurred at the ages of seventy and fiftySix, respectively. Curtis Berry served in the war of 1812 as a non-commissioned officer in a Virginia. regiment, and made a creditable record as a soldier ; he was of English descent, his wife's ancestors being originally Irish. Reverting to the personal history of Curtis B. Hare, it may be stated that he received .his first practical training in life on the family homestead near the town of Carey. During the summer months his employments were such as are common to the majority of country lads, and after the crops were gathered he attended the common schools in the neighborhood. To those early years, under the tutelage of parents whose 572 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. earnest desire was to graft upon the minds of their children such principles as would in, sure lives of usefulness and honor, Mr. Hare is largely indebted for the integrity of character and laudable ambition that have since distinguished him. The world is full of similar examples, and the student of biography will have no difficulty in recalling instances in which farm life left its impress upon some of the most noted characters known to history early years, when the mind is taking its bent, and when youthful ambitions are shaping themselves for manhood's achievements, no influence, has ever been found more potent for good than that which the farm affords. As a student young Bare was diligent. He continued the pursuit of knowledge in connection with farm labor until his nineteenth year when, like thousands of other patriotic men through out the North, he laid aside his books and the implements of husbandry and tendered his services to the government to assist in putting down the Rebellion. In March, 1864, he entered the signal corps service .at Columbus, Ohio, and served in that capacity in. Washington, D. C., until September, 1865. Subsequently he saw considerable active service on the Mississippi river under Commodore Porter and participated in the operations against Mobile with Farragut, besides taking part in other important movements on land and water. He discharged his duties creditably to himself and satisfactorily to his superiors and at the expiration of his period of enlistment was discharged. at the city of New Orleans., Actuated by a desire to add to his scholastic knowledge Mr. Hare on leaving the army entered an academy, where he spent one year studying the higher. branches. of learning, after which. he secured a situation as clerk with a mercantile firm. In this capacity he continued two and a half years and then affected a co-partnership in the grocery business with M. B. Smith, a relationship. which was dissolved at the end of one year by reason of the death of the subject's father. The better to look after the latter's business affairs, Mr. Hare disposed of his interests in the store and assumed the management of the home farm, which he conducted about one year, selling the place at the end of that time and engaging in the grocery trade at Upper Sandusky. He continued to sell groceries successfully for a period of five years, when he changed his line of business by engaging in, the hardware trade in association with R. A. Mc-Kelly, a partnership which still exists. Mr. Hare's commercial career presents a series of successes and as long as he was actively engaged in merchandising his business grew in magnitude until he became a leader in the various lines. which he represented. On the 1st day of June, 1895, he retired from active participation in the affairs of the firm, for the purpose of accepting the presidency of the First National Bank, of Upper Sandusky, a position he has since filled to the satisfaction of every one, officially or ,otherwise, connected with this. old and reliable financial institution. Mr. Hare's life has been exceedingly busy and not without events of striking interest and his record as a business man is without a stain. As a financier he ranks with the successful men of his city and county and by reason of a long experience in commercial and monetary affairs his opinions have great weight and his ideas always receive due considera- BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS - 573 tion. He is regarded as sound and reliable in matters involving large and important interests, careful in the management of all . affairs intrusted to him, laying his plans with wise forethought and forming his opinions only on mature reflection. In the discharge of his official functions as: executive head of the First National Bank, he has demonstrated sound judgment, attending to his duties with fidelity to the interests of stockholders and depositors in such a way as to win the confidence of the business public. Of Mr. Hare, personally, those who know him best assert that he is a man of strong attachments for friends and entertains the truest and deepest regard for all who have kindred with or claims: of friendship or gratitude on him. His nature is firm and positive, but kind, and while in the course of a long business career he may at times have produced antagonism's, they have always been without malice. In all, he has been a just man, and his deeds, which are so well known to the people of Upper Sandusky and Wyandot county, are the best standard by Ivhich to measure his life. Politically Mr. Hare is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, but has never had any ambition to gratify in the way of public office. He was married on the 23d of October, 1872, to Miss Nettie J. Brown, of New York. This union resulted in the birth of five children, two of whom grew to maturity. Adelaide, a cultured and refined young lady, who is still under the parental roof, and Levi Brown, also at home and who has charge of his father's hardware store at Upper Sandusky; the other three children died in youth. Mrs. Hare is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; she and her husband are esteemed members of a large social circle, a position which they have merited by their characters and genuine personal worth. ALBERT H. KEMERLEY. Conspicuous among the representative business. men of Wyandot county is the well-known banker of Carey, whose name appears above. He is a descendant of one of the earliest pioneer families of this part of the state and traces his ancestral history to Germany, of which country his paternal grandparents, Jacob and Christina (Yager) Kemerley, were natives. Jacob and Christina. Kemerley left the fatherland when young and emigrated to the United States, settling at Lancaster, Ohio, where they were afterward married. By occupation Jacob Kemerley was a butcher and he worked at the trade in Lancaster for several years following his arrival in this country. He was the father of nine children, namely : Catherine, John, Dorothy; Joshua, Betsey, Samuel, Jacob, Sarah and Henry, all of whom grew to mature years and became well-settled in life. In 1836 the family removed to. Wyandot county and settled in the woods near the present site of Carey where the father bought from another party a right to a tract of government land. There being no dwelling of any kind for the reception of the family, they moved into a little log school house, which stood on the land, now the present site of Carey, and continued to occupy the same 'until. a' cabin Could be erected on their own, land. Subsequently Mr. Kemerley purchased 574 - BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS land a short distance east of Carey and cleared a good farm, upon which he remained a number of years, and after the death of his wife spent the remainder of his days principally with his oldest son, dying in August, 1877, in his eighty-fifth year. His wife preceded him to the silent land, departing this life in the year i868. Joshua Kemerley, second son and fourth child of Jacob and Christina Kemerley, was born January 26, 1826, in Fairfield, county, Ohio, and at the time of the family's removal to the county of Wyandot was a lad ten years of age. He grew to manhood on the home place near Carey and selecting agriculture for his life work, followed the same in Crawford township until his retirement from active labor, several years ago. His wife, Samantha. Spanger, daughter of George Spanger, an early settler of Crawford, died in 1871, at the age, of thirty-seven, leaving five children, namely John W.; a resident of Cardington, Ohio; LeRoy, who lives in the town of Payne, this state; Alvin, a farmer of Crawford township; Albert H., and Emma, wife of C. H. Hull, a prosperous business man of Carey. Joshua Kemerley has been a successful farmer, having accumulated a handsome property and, as stated above, is now enjoying the fruits of his long and arduous labors in a life of honorable retirement. He possesses ample means to render his remaining days comfortable and free from care and in his home in Carey is passing the time in, quiet and content. In politics he is a Republican, but not an active party worker, and in religion he is a consistent member of the United Brethren church. Albert H. Kemerley, to a review of whose life the remaining lines of this article are devoted, was born two miles southwest of Carey, in Crawford township, on the 19th day of March, 1860. On his father's farm he learned life's first practical lessons and in the common schools, which he attended of winter seasons until his eighteenth year, he received an educational. training which has served .as a foundation for his subsequent active and: successful business career. Losing his. mother when quite young, he went to live with his uncle, John Kemerley, whose house he made his home until starting upon life's highway a free and independent agent. His uncle proved not only a kind and companionable relative, but also a wise and faithful adviser, and to his admonition and instructions is Mr. Kemerley indebted for much of the prosperity and success which have come to him since leaving the hospitable roof. In 1881 Mr. Kemerley accepted a clerkship in, a hardware store in Carey and after continuing in that capacity three years and eight months, entered .the employ of Wood & Co., manufacturers of machinery and agricultural implements, as local agent at this place. He looked after the firm's interests at Carey for two years. and then took the road as its traveling representative and expert workman. While thus engaged he traveled extensively R throughout Illinois, Wisconsin: and other states and made a record for faithfulness and -efficiency which won the unbounded confidence of his employers. Severing his. connection with the company after spending one year on the road, Mr. Kemerley became salesman in the dry goods, house of David Straw & Co., at Carey, and continued with them until July, 1890. On the death of Mr. Straw, which