Bellevue City (part 3 of 3)

Power House

j large building, putting in an engine and i suitable machinery, and renting to any - persons or companies, who required power I for manufacturing purposes, such part of I the building as they might need for carry- ! ing forward the business in which they were engaged. A subscription paper was started and the names of eighty-seven persons were obtained. It was the intention to start with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, though it was found that | this amount would not be required, and but thirty thousand dollars were called in. j Some few of the signers of the subscription did not finally take shares, though eight hundred and thirty-six were taken.

A contract was made August 8, 1871, for a building forty by one hundred and fifty feet, two stories in height, and thirty* feet to the roof. This was completed in the fall of the same year. An engine house was also built, twenty by thirty feet in size, the total cost being about thirty thousand dollars, including the land on which the building wras erected.

Nathan P. And Mary A. Birdseye

Industry, strength, and sagacity build up estates; worth of character is a sure foundation of public esteem; acute business capacity and fine moral sensibilities are the elements of a complete man whose life makes mankind better and by whose living human welfare has been promoted; such a man was Nathan Phelps Birdseye.

The Birdseyes of this country are descended from Rev. Nathan Birdseye, a Presbyterian clergyman, who came to America in the eighteen century and died at Meriden, Connecticut, in his one hundred and fifthyear. He preached on the centennial of his birth. This worthy patriarch's family consisted of six sons and six daughters.

James Birdseye, father of Joseph and Nathan P. Birdseye of York township, was born in Connecticut. In early life he removed to Ontario county, New York, where he married Phebe Phelps, by whom was born a family of four sons and one daughter. James Birdseye came to Sandusky county on a prospecting tour in company with William McPherson and Norton Russel in 1822. He entered one eighty-acre lot and returned to New York. Two years after, accompanied by his son, Nathan P., he came to Ohio, and the following year entered upon the discharge of a contract with the State for grading a portion of the Maumee and Western Reserve road. He received in payment a large tract of State land in York township. Mr. Birdseye was also contractor and builder of the first bridge across the Sandusky River. Having completed his contracts on public works, he returned to New York, leaving his son, Nathan P., on the farm in York. For a period of eight years from 1824, our. subject lived alone, all the while enlarging his fields and reducing the cleared land to a better state of cultivation. The first cabin in which he lived was built by a man named Harman. In 1828 he erected a frame house, which was occupied for a short time by Dr. L. G. Harkness. Mr. Birdseye married, April 8, 1832, Mary Ann Christie. This name carries us back to one of the earliest pioneer families in the county.

William Christie, son of Andrew and Abigail (Hopper) Christie, was born in Orange county, New York, where he married Mary Slauson. Their family consisted of three children - Andrew, Abigail and Mary Ann. Soon after marriage Mr. Christie moved to Tompkins county, New York, and in 1817 came to Lower Sandusky, making the entire journey from Black Rock by water. There were only about twenty-five families in the village at that time. Mr. Christie was a carpenter by trade and found ready employment. His first engagement was on a frame store building for Jaques Hulburd. A year or two later the first brick house in Lower Sandusky was built, and Mr. Christie did the carpenter work. This house is yet standing, and has for years been known as the Beaugrand property. In 1822 Mr. Christie entered two eighty-acre lots in York township, and in February of the following year joined the pioneers of that part of the county. The only son, Andrew, died in 1822, and is buried in the old cemetery at Fremont. He was a young man of superior intelligence, and was employed at writing for Auditor Rumery and other officials. Mr. Christie himself was not spared long to his family and new farm; he died August 1, 1826, leaving two daughters to support a widow's afflic- j tion. The two daughters, Abigail and j Mary Ann, have never been separated at j any one time for a longer period than three I months. Mrs. Christie died at the home of her danghter, Mrs Birdseye, November 2, 1846.

The old Christie farm in York township has never changed ownership, except by inheritance to the daughters. The original patent was issued in 1822, by James Monroe. The family cherish this old homestead, made doubly dear by the reposing ashes of their parents.

Nathan P. Birdseye was born in Hopewell, Ontario county, New York, January 27, 1804. His education was such as the common schools of his native State afforded. He was the only member of the family who desired to come to Ohio, and by inheritance and purchase came into possession of the large tract of land in York township, taken by his father in payment of services on public works. After his marriage he united with his own estate that belonging to his wife, and to further increase his possessions and advance his lands in value by means of improvements, j was the constant aim of his industrious j life. For twelve years he kept a house ! of entertainment between Bellevue and j Clyde, at the same time superintending extensive farming operations. He was an accumulator of real estate, but speculation of no kind received his attention. Before retiring from his active labors, Mr. Birdseye could look over farms embracing in all more than one thousand fertile acres, with the proud consciousness of honestly : earned ownership. His virtues of character are well summed up by his intimate friend and physician, Hon. John B. Rice, in an obituary published after his death,

The demise of such a man as Nathan P. Birdseye calls for something more than the bare mention of the fact that one who had so long lived in our midst, is dead It is paying but a just tribute to his memory that there be placed on record, by those who knew him well, an acknowledgment that he lived in such a manner as to deserve and win the respect and affection of all good men.

He was of strong frame; industrious, prudent and ^thrifty; clear-headed, firm, persevering, benevolent and tender-hearted. He possessed, indeed, in a remarkable degree, the .traits which distinguish the good old New England stock whence he sprung. He was a farmer, and loved the land which, through years of trial and labor, he saw transformed from forest to orchard and field. Until enfeebled by disease and advancing years he found actual enjoyment in the work of his farm, laboring in the fields with his hired men whom he treated as equals.

Mr. Birdseye was a man of earnest convictions. He looked upon mankind as a brotherhood, and regarded individuals not from appearances but according to their acts. He was originally an antislavery Whig, but joined the ranks of the Republican party at its organization. During the war he was active in the c^use of the Union; encouraged enlistments, and contributed freely toward the support of the families of those who were fighting the battles of the country. In religion he was a Universalist. His natural love of his kind made him hope and believe that

Mr. Birdseye acquired riches; his landed property was large, and includes some of the finest in this county. But he gained by honest industry and thrift, he never wronged or oppressed any man. His word was as good as his bond. He continually performed the uncounted deeds of neighborly kindness.

In early times when there was much sickness in the country, he would, after laboring on his farm all the day, watch with those stricken by disease, through every night in the week. At other limes when a whole family were down with contagious illness, he entirely neglected his own work, and gave all his care to nursing the sick. He practiced, too, the ancient hospitality which is so little the fashion now-a-days. To the stranger overtaken by storm or by night, no matter what his condition, he always gave food and shelter, and he never knowingly allowed the hungry to pass his house unfed.

As has been said, fortune smiled upon him. But l:e rendered the equivalent by the labor of his own hands, and that honest kind of economy which has been commended by good men in every age. It came to him as praise of his memory will come, as the love and faithfulness of dear wife and child, and

Mrs. Mary Ann Birdseye was born May j 17, 1810. She attended school in Lower j Sandusky during her father's residence j there, and afterwards continued her stud- i ies in the seminary at Norwalk. She J taught school four terms before her j marriage - two terms in Bellevue, during j which time she made her home at the res- : idence ol Thomas Amsden, and two terms in her home district in York. As a teacher she is very kindly remembered by those who were benefited by her instruction. She possesses a cultured imagination and has written tsome poetry, which, for imagery has real merit.

It is not necessary to say that the home j presided over by a woman of Mrs. Birdseye's generous, womanly disposition was a model for regularity and concord. During the war her sympathies naturally went out toward the soldiers. She was during all that sad period president of the Clyde Ladies Aid Society, and contributed of her means and labors to the cause. Mr. Birdseye was careful at the same time that . no soldier's home in his community should ; suffer for support. They had no sons to : send to the field of battle, but their benevolent labor at home was no less useful and appreciated.

Mrs. Birdseye is a remarkably well pre- ; served lady. Her face beams with intelli- ; gence and good nature, and she holds in memory with exceptional correctness the scenes and events of by-gone years. A visitor is particularly impressed with her cheerfulness of temperament. She re- : members and narrates with pleasure amus- j ing incidents, but, unlike many old people, has little to say of the rougher side of pioneer life, a full share of which she experienced.

Fremont, having with her her constant friend, companion and sister, Miss Abigail Christie, who was born December 7, 1806. She has near her, for comfort and support, her only child, Cornelia, wife of Isaac Amsden, who was born December 16, 1832. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Amsden consists of five children.

Thomas Gates Amsden

The subject of this sketch was a conspicuous character in the history of Bellevue for more than thirty years. Thomas Gates Amsden was born in Ontario county, New York, October 8, 1797. His father, Isaac Amsden, was a Revolutionary soldier. After the war he settled on a farm in Ontario county, on which the son was accustomed to hard work, being given the advantage of a short term of schooling each winter.

During the War of 1812, when the Governor of New York made a call for militia to defend Buffalo, Thomas, then in his seventeenth year, responded bravely to the call in place of an older brother. Bravery and courage, which were predominating characteristics of the man, thus early found expression in the boy.

In early life Mr. Amsden came West, and in company with F. A. Chapman and one or two of his brothers, engaged in the hazardous business of hunting and trapping and trading with the Indians. They finally entered the employ of General Whitney, who at that time was conducting Indian stores at many of the frontier posts of the Northwest. Mr. Amsden was stationed at Green Bay, where he was quite successful, and won the confidence of his employer to the degree that, in 1823, General Whitney gave to himself and Mr. Chapman letters of credit on the great Boston house of

A. & A. Lawrence, to the amount of a general stock of goods calculated to the wants of pioneer trade. This stock, placed in a log cabin, was the first store in Bellevue. General Whitney, in the same way, had started eight other clerks in business, but his kindness on the whole cost him considerable money, for, as he told Chapman & Amsden afterwards, they were the only two who paid for their stock and made a success in trade.

So popular did the store of Chapman & j Amsden become that the place received | the name Amsden's Corners, the last | named member of the firm being best | known to the customers. For several j years from 1823 they continued general j merchandising. Their goods were at first adapted to trading with the Indians, who were then the principal inhabitants. As the Indians decreased, and the whites multiplied, they continued the business, increasing it as trade demanded. Beginning in a log hut, they finally carried it on in a more pretentious frame building, the first of the kind in this region, a part of it being occupied by Mr. Amsden as a family residence. This building was eventually torn away to make room for the stone block now occupied by the First National Bank.

During this time they built the Exchange Hotel, which they continued to own for twenty years. This was the best hotel building for a long distance around, and had considerable influence upon the 1 growth of the village by attracting emigrants and business men to the place.

The frame building which displaced the | first log store, was painted red, and was 1 known as the "Red Store." It was the largest mercantile establishment between Norwalk and Lower Sandusky.

was only partially improved. This farm included nearly all of that part of the present town of Bellevue in Sandusky count)'. While he was engaged at farming he was elected and served as justice of the peace. While a merchant he was postmaster. Mr. Amsden afterwards again entered active business in partnership with Mr. Chapman, under the firm name of- T. G. Amsden & Co., dealers in general merchandise and farm products, until 1855, under the successive firm names of T. G. Amsden & Co., Amsden, Bramwell & Co., Amsden, Dimmick & Co., and Amsden & Co. He was in mercantile and general business in Bellevue. In 1848 he became interested in a store and distillery in Monroeville. This proved an unfortunate enterprise. It was not only in itself a financial failure, but carried the Bellevue house, in which his son, Isaac E., was interested, with it. Mr Amsden's course was in the line of the strictest business integrity. He refused to adopt any method which prudence might suggest for saving a part of his hard-earned estate. He turned over to his creditors all his property, and emerged from the general crash in very straitened circumstances. He retained his home in Bellevue, where he lived for a few years in comparative retirement. Then selling out he purchased a small farm just below Fremont, where he died December 7, 1876.

The maiden name of Mr. Amsden's first wife was Lydia Chapman, a daughter of James Chapman, who served in the Revolutionary army during the whole seven years of the war. This marriage occurred in 1823. They had a family of seven children, five of whom survived infancy - Sarah, Mary, Isaac E., Thomas, and William.

the land upon which it is located. Mary is married to Abishai Woodward, son of the late Gurdon Woodward, of Bellevue. Isaac E. married Cornelia Birdseye, daughter of N. P. Birdseye, and is in business in Fremont. Thomas died some years since in Bellevue. William, at the opening of the Rebellion, enlisted in the army, and was soon made captain in the Third Ohio Cavalry; was prostrated by camp fever in the spring of 1862, and was first brought to the hospital at Cincinnati and then to his home in Fremont, where he died June 19.

Mr. Amsden subsequently married Harriet Williams, of Monroeville. The family by this marriage consisted of five children - Emily, Edward, Lizzie, Maggie, and Harriet.

Emily is married to Charles Cullen, of Delta, Fulton county, Ohio. Edward resides at Canton, Ohio. Lizzie resides in Fremont. Maggie died at the age of ten years. Harriet resides in F'remont.

Mr. Amsden was a man of great physical energy and endurance, as well as of fine intellectual qualities, and in his long partnership with Mr. Chapman took the principal charge of the out-door business, while Mr. Chapman managed the office work. Mr. Amsden was highly respected for his unswerving integrity, and genial, affable manners. He was so widely known for his sound and reliable judgment that, for many years, his advice was uniformly taken before any new enterprise of importance was started. He was, during his prosperous business life, free in his charities. Nothing seemed to gratify him more than to relieve want or suffering. He was a supporter of the Episcopal church. ! He was for nearly thirty years a prominent j and faithful member of the Independent !

Order of Odd Fellows in Bellevue, and afterward in Fremont. At the time of his death appropriate resolutions of sympathy and respect were passed by the order, and a large delegation from the encampment at Fremont accompanied his remains to the beautiful cemetery at Bellevue, where they were deposited amid the ashes of his dead.

Frederick Smith And Family

In the spring of 1818 George Frederick Schmidt and family, natives of Wurtemburg, Germany, emigrated to America and settled in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. In his native land Mr. Smith - as the name is now written by his descendants - was united in marriage to Dorothea Maumann. They brought up a large family, there being nine children in all, seven of whom arrived at maturity. Four are still living. Seven of them were born in this country. The names of the children in the order of their ages were as follows: Maria D., married David Moore, and resided in Bellevue; died December 7, 1879, in her sixty-seventh year. Anna M. married James Chapman, of Y'ork township; died November 8, 1879, aged sixty-five years. Frederick, the subject of this sketch; David, a resident of York township; Catharine, widow of William White, Grundy county, Tennessee; Sarah A., wife of Elmer Simpson, Placer county, California; and John F., a resident of York township; and two who died young.

The family resided in Pennsylvania until the year 1836, when they came to York township and settled upon the farm now in possession of one of the sons. At the time of their settlement this entire re- ! gion bore a very uninviting aspect. After coming here Mr. Smith purchased a piece ! of land on which a small clearing had been made and a cabin erected. They had the usual difficulties and experiences incident to life in the woods, but bv the combined efforts of the whole family they succeeded in accomplishing the mission which led them hither and established a home. Mrs. Smith did not live to enjoy many of the subsequent improvements. She died in November, 1842. Her husband survived until the 1 8th of February t 1858, when he passed away. Both were worthy people, and possessed of that industrious and frugal disposition which enables the German emigrant to succeed in the face of many obstacles.

Frederick Smith was the oldest son. He was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, December 10, 1818, and consequently was about eighteen years of age when his parents came to this county. He lived at home and assisted in clearing up the farm and making improvements. In 1845, on *he 2d day of October, he was joined in marriage to Mary A. Box, of Washington township. The following year he bought a farm adjoining the old homestead, upon which he passed the remainder of his days. His first purchase was j eighty acres, twenty of which were partially ! cleared. There was also a small cabin j upon the farm. Mr. Smith labored dili- j gently, making inroads upon the forest and j improving his fields, and as they became | fruitful under his skilful hands, thus fur- i nishing the means for enlarging his farm, he made additional purchases, upon which in turn he continued the work of clearing. Before his death he became the owner of six hundred and forty acres of excellent land, as the reward of his steadfast indus- j try and perseverance. His elegant brick ! residence, the present home of his widow, was erected in 1866.

considerable skill and ingenuity in the use of various kinds of tools, and frequently did blacksmithing and carpentry work for himself. He was a man who had many sincere friends, won by his upright chair acter and manly qualities. In politics he ! was a strong Democrat, and always labored | to promote the success of his party. Early in life he became a Christian, and continued to the end a devout member of the Reformed church. Just before his death, while conversing on religious subjects, he referred to his early religious associations with much pleasure and satisfaction. He was elected a trustee of St. Paul's church some three years previous to his death, and faithfully served in that office until prevented by failing health. He was prostrated by illness in December, 1878, and continued gradually declining until the 1st day of April, in the year 1S79, when the j end came.

Mrs. Frederick Smith was born in- Northampton county (now Carbon county), Pennsylvania, August 13, 1826. Her parents were Nicholas and Eve Margaret Box. Her mother's maiden name was Mehrcome. Her father died in Pennsylvania December 2, 1835. Her mother came to this county in 1836, and settled in Washington township, where she died April 22, 1857. Mrs. Smith is the youngest of a family of eleven children. She has three brothers and two sisters living.

To Mr. and Mrs. Smith were born three sons and four daughters, all of whom are living in York township. Their names are: William Frederick, Mary Armena, Samuel David, Henry Franklin, Margaret Anna, Sarah Catharine, and Dora Ella. Two of the sons and one of the daughters are married. William F. married Sarah C. Wilt, and has twro children; Henry F. married Hannah E. Richards; Mary Armena is the wife of George Wilt, York township, and has four children.

Joseph McCauley was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, May 23, 1811. His father, John McCauley, of Scotch-Irish blood, came to America from Ireland with his parents when a young man. He married, in Pennsylvania, Mary Stumphff, and had a family of seven sons and four daughters. Of these four sons and two daughters are yet living. Joseph was the sixth child. He was brought up and educated in Pennsylvania. He was a farmer throughout his life. On the 28th of October, 1830, he married Anna Ulsh, daughter of Andrew and Barbara Ulsh. She was born February 17, 18 rr, and was the second child and oldest daughter. The Ulsh family consisted of nine children, five sons and four daughters. The youngest of these children reached the age of fifty-one years before any were removed by death. Three of the sons and all of the daughters are still living. Andrew Ulsh spent his life in Pennsylvania. He was born September 12, 1785 ; died April 9, 1864. Barbara Ulsh, born September 20, 1788; died October 22, 1828. Mr. Ulsh was married twice, Catharine being the name of his second wife.

After his marriage Mr. McCauley resided one year in Snyder county, thence moved to Mifflin county in 1832, where he lived until the spring of 1845. In the month of April of that year he came to the farm in York township, which he had purchased two years before, and set about making a home. The farm contained seventy-eight acres, but was afterwards increased in size to one hundred and sixtyfour acres. There had been slight improvements made, but not enough to make the farm of much utility until a large amount of work had been done. Mr. and Mrs. McCauley labored diligently, saved economically, and in due season had a comfortable home. Three childred were born to them - John A. Mc- Cauley*, born December 27, 1831; Matilda E. McCauley, born August 30, 1833; Sarah I. McCauley, born January 29, 1839. The daughters are both living, Mrs. Matilda E. Kopp in York township, and Mrs. Sarah I. Ulsh in St. Joseph county, Michigan. Joseph McCauley died April 21, 1853, a worthy and highly respected man. He was a man of industry and perseverance, and during the eight years he lived in Ohio, he made a large number of clearings and improvements, erected a substantial house, barn and outbuildings. He was a self-made man; commenced life with little, and worked his way upward by strict and careful attention to business. He was a member of the Lutheran church in Pennsylvania, but after coming to Ohio joined the Congregational church. He was a man of a cheerful and obliging disposition, and is gratefully remembered by his old friends and neighbors who had an opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted with him, and to know his worth.

After his death his widow lived upon the old homestead over ten years. November 17, 1863, she was married to John Orwig, and since that time she has resided at Bellevue. Mrs. Orwig belongs to the Congregational church, and is a faithful member.

John A McCauley, only son of Joseph McCauley, was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio with his parents. He lived and died upon the old homestead, enjoying the peaceful life of a prosperous farmer. January 13, 1853, he was united in marriage to Lucy A. Jordan, born January 18, 1832, in Union county, Pennsylvania. This union was blessed by three children, two of whom are living - Alice A., born January 26, 1854; married March 16, 1874, to Harry S. Knauss; resides in the house with her mother; has three children - Virgie M., bom November 22, 1875; Olive Maud, bom August j 3, 1877; and John W., born February 6, 1880. John Ezra, born May 25, 1857, died September 7, 1858. Joseph Ervin, born June 8, 1859, married Alice C. Drake, and resides in York township, this county.

John A. McCauley died August 28, 1879. He united with the Congregational church when about sixteen, and lived a faithful Christian. He was a mm of the highest integrity of character, and was highly esteemed by the community in which he resided. Like his father he supported the Democratic ticket.

Mrs. Lucy A. McCauley is the daughter of one of the pioneers of Ohio. Her father, Adam Jordan, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1803. He was married in his native State to Sophia Orwig, who was born in Schuylkill county, September 16/1803. These parents had five sons and four daughters - Sarah A., who married Uriah Weaver; Martin married Mary Soyer; Lucy A. (McCauley); Joseph married Hannah Gamby; Mary A., George, and Hannah M., single; James married Emma Hubble; John, the only member of the family not living at the time of this writing, died when fourteen years old.

Adam Jordan moved from Union county, Pennsylvania, to Ohio, in 1832; remained one year in Richland county, then settled in Seneca county, whence he moved to York township, Sandusky county, in 1844. Mr. Jordan died September 22, i860. His widow survived until August 28, 1871.

Mrs. McCauley joined the Congregational church in 1853. Her children also united with the same organization when quite young. She is a lady who enjoys the friendship and esteem of a large circle of neighbors and acquaintances.

The Rife Family

Michael Rife was born in Frederick county, Maryland, February 15, 1814. His parents were Daniel and Elizabeth (Sumbrun) Rife. They had three sons | and seven daughters, with names as follows: Susan, Michael, Daniel, Julia Ann, Elizabeth; Mary and Sarah (twins), Sophia, John, and Frances. The sons and four of the daughters are now living. Michael and John reside in York township, and Daniel in the village of Clyde. They are all farmers. Susan is the widow of Chester Kinney, and resides at Green , Spring, in this county; Julia Ann married John Hamlin, her home is in Steuben county, Indiana; Mary married Aaron Bartlett, and lives in Fulton county; Elizabeth is single, and resides in Bellevue ; Sarah, Sophia, and Frances are deceased. Frances was the wrife of Frank Joint, of Bellevue.

The parents of Mr. Rife came to Sandusky county in 1832 and located where John Rife now lives. The country at that date was but thinly settled, and the father and his sons had before them the difficult task of making a home in the wilderness and earning a living there. That they succeeded well in this undertaking, the neat and pretty farms in possession of the ! family are sufficient proofs. Daniel Rife died when fifty-five years of age, and his ; wife when fifty seven. Both were mem- : bers of the Lutheran church during the | greater portion of their lives, and were earnest and sincere Christians.

Michael Rife has always followed the good, old-fashioned employment of tilling | the soiC At the age of twenty- five he ! married and began work for himself. His 1 marriage took place January 1, 1839. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Longwell, was born in Berlin township, Delaware county, Ohio, November 9, 1821. She was the only daughter of Rol?- ert and Lucinda (Builer) Longwell, who were among the very first settlers in this county. They moved to York township in 1823. Mr. Longwell brought his goods in an ox-wagon, and Mrs.- Longwell rode horseback, carrying her child in her arms. They were here but one brief year before they were overtaken by death. Mrs. Longwell died September 17, 1814, aged thirtytwo years, and her husband followed on the 2 2d day of the same month and year, dying at the age of thirty. After the death of her parents, Mary lived with her relatives until her marriage with Mr. Rife, in 1839.

For the first few years after this couple began housekeeping the utmost diligence was required to " make both ends meet." Mrs. Rife raised chickens many seasons to sell, and paid taxes with the proceeds. Produce brought but a small equivalent in money, butter often selling for only five cents per pound, and other articles in proportion. Young people at the present day can form but a vague idea of the difficulties which this stout-hearted pair met and overcame.

Their union has been blessed with four children, three of whom are living. The family record is as follows: Eudora Ann was born March 30, 1841, she married Robert Zuel, and resides in Johnson county, Kansas ; Sarah F. was born September 7, 1842, she is the wife of William L. Richards, and lives near her old home; Robert L., born April 27, 1846, married Maria Dimock; he also resides near his parents; Charles, born February 20, 1848, died March 24th of the same year.

Mr. and Mrs. Rife, now in their declining years, are the happy possessors of a pleasant, pretty home, a good farm of three hundred acres, well-improved, and supplied with a good orchard and plenty of timber. They have always been industrious and economical, and by toiling

Mr. Rife is a Republican and has never voted any other ticket, excepting that of the Whig party. He has never aspired to township or other offices.

James Chapman

James Chapman was born in the northwestern part of the State of Pennsylvania, December 26, 1809. He is the oldest of the children of Jeremiah and Sarah (Wilbur) Chapman. Jeremiah Chapman was a native of Connecticut, but moved to Pennsylvania when quite a young man and was one of the pioneers in the part of the State where he settled. He was the son of James Chapman, a Revolutionary soldier, who lived and died in Connecticut. Sarah Wilbur was born in Rhode Island, but removed to Pennsylvania with her parents when young. Soon after he was married, Jeremiah Chapman removed to Ontario county, New York, where he lived until about 1819, when he came to Ohio. He remained one year in Huron county, then located on Sandusky River in Seneca county, where he resided about four years, moving thence to Sandusky county in 1824. Here he settled in York township on a farm which is still in possession of the family. He was the father of four children, three of whom are still living - Sarah, the second child and oldest daughter, is the wife of George Wood and resides in Erie county; Maria married L. P. Warner, and lives in Hillsdale county, Michigan; and James. The other child, a son, died in infancy.

Jeremiah Chapman was a farmer during his life. He was a man of hearty constitution, strong and vigorous physically, in short, almost a perfect type of the sturdy pioneer. He served a short time in the War of 1812. Both he and his wife were members of the Free-will Baptist church. Mr. Chapman died July 1, 1845, . aged sixty-four years. Mrs. Chapman survived her husband a Tew years, and died at the home of her youngest daughter, in Michigan.

From the foregoing it will be seen that Mr. James Chapman came to this county when about fourteen years of age. He j had limited opportunities for obtaining an education, except in the wide and varied field known as the school of life. He attended school for a few years during a portion of the winter time in some of the few log school-houses then in York township. His boyhood was passed at home on the farm. When about thirty years old he married Anna Smith, daughter of George Smith, of York township. She . was one of a family of seven children, and was a native of Germany.

To Mr. and Mrs. Chapman were born seven children, four of whom are still liv- | ing. Following are their names in the order of their ages: Albert, died December 14, 1873, aged thirty-two years; he was unmarried. Reuben resides near his father's home; he married Nettie Riley } j of Riley township. Mary died September j 17, 1873, aged twenty-eight; she was the wife of Atwell Forgerson, of York town- ; ship. Emeline and Adeline (twins); Erne- ! line married Henry Kopp, and resides in York township. Adeline lives at home. , The next child was a daughter, who died | in infancy. Amelia, the youngest,, resides ' at home. Mrs. Chapman died November 8, 1879, at the age of sixty-five.

Mr. Chapman has been one of the successful farmers of this vicinity. Of recent years he has given up the management of his place to his son, who continues doing a thrifty business. Mr. Chapman has been a sound Republican ever since the party was formed. He was a member of the Free-will Baptist church as long as that

Seneca D. And Mahala E.

Seneca Dusenberry Hitt was a native oT Danby, Rutland county, Vermont, and was born, October 6, 1800. His father Henry D. Hitt, was a native of New York, being of Welsh parentage on his father's side, and Dutch on his mother's side. The mother of Seneca D. Hitt was Mary Nichols, a native of Vermont. General Greene, of the Revolution, was her uncle.

The boyhood of Mr. Hitt was spent on the shoemaker's bench, in business, and teaching school. He married, June 15, 1837, Mahala E. Stafford, a daughter of Palmer and Betsy (Paddock) Stafford, of Wallingford, Rutland county, Vermont. The ancestry of the Stafford family is traced back to a Rhode Island family of that name.

The newly wedded couple left their home in Vermont on the 27th of June, and after a tedious journey of one month and two days, arrived in Bellevue. Mr. Hitt had, the year before, in partnership with his cousin, Henry Nichols, purchased the farm on which he settled, being one hundred and twenty-six acres, twelve of which was cleared. Mr. Hitt, during the earlier years of his residence in this county, made use of his experience at shoemaking to earn a few odd dollars, for ready cash was scarce, and the pioneers were driven to various expedients for earning money. But hard labor and economy triumphed over the rugged opposition of heavy forest and general scarcity. Mr. Hitt purchased, in a few years, Mr. Nichol's interest in the farm, which he continued to improve till death, when, as an heritage to his family, he left an enviable home.

Mr. Hitt died in January, 1872, in his seventy-second year. He was frequently entrusted with local offices. He was a warm advocate of Whig principles, and after the fall of that party became a Republican. In appearance he was robust and strong, being five feet eight inches tall, and weighing about two hundred pounds.

Mrs. Hitt is still living on the old farm. She is a well preserved woman, both physically and mentally. A naturally happy disposition fills her home with good cheer and hospitality.

Mary E. was born April 3, 1840. She was married in 1871 to Silas A. Wood, who died in June, 1872. She is employed as a teacher in the Fremont public schools.

Marion Adelia was born February 3, 1842. She was married September 27, 1S60, to George H. Mugg, a resident of Green Creek township. Their family consists of three children - Elmei E., Luella, and Susan M.

Tamson Lavina was born January 17, 1845. She was married October 23, 1867, to Charles H. Welch. Their family ! consists of four children - Alice R., Ma- ' hala, Adelia, and Charles H,, jr.

John S. And Ann Gardner

John Gardner was a pioneer in York township. With his family, consisting of a | wife and six children, he emigrated from ; Vermont and settled here while nearly the ; whole township was original forest. JohnS. ; Gardner, the oldest son, was born in Ver- i mont, on the 24th of February, 1806, and j was consequently seventeen years old when the family settled in this county. Of a robust constitution he was well calculated «for the toils and hardships which life in a new country imposed. Mr. Gardner, by working hard on his father's farm and for himself, accumulated some money which he invested in land then held at a very low price, but as improvements were made, gradually increased in value, making him by the time he had reached maturity, a man of considerable means. Mr. Gardner married, January 3, 1833, Ann Alexander, daughter of Theophilus and Mary Alexander, who came to Ohio in 1825, with a family of eleven children, from the State of New York. Ann was born in New York in 1811.

John S. and Ann Gardner have had a family of seven children, five of whom are living - John A., was born June 25, 1834, was married March 12, 1857, to Emeline J. Bern is j Theophilus E., was born August 6, 1836, married May 10, 1866, to Sarah Ann Thompson, she having deceased, he married Justina Alexander in 1869; Mary E. was born December 4, 1838; Charles C. was born June 9, 1842, married Rebecca A. Lemmon; Dyer C. was born July 23, 1845, served in the army, married, in 1870, Sarah R. Rowe; Ann, born April 15, 1847, married, in 1868, William Ritter; Julia, born January 9, 1S50, married to Henry Thomas; Mary E., died July 25, 1867; Charles C., died October 26, 1877.

As will be seen by reference to the civil | list of the county, John S. Gardner served as county commissioner for the period of four years. He was always prominent in the affairs of his township, and a working member of the Democratic party in the east part of the county. He was strong in physique and capable of doing much hard work. He was a persevering farmer and pushed work with a diligence which manifested itself in rapidly increasing

Mrs. Gardner remains on the old farm. She has an excellent memory for a woman of her age, and narrates in an interesting manner the scenes and incidents of years gone by.

Jeremiah Smith

Among the many courageous men and women who penetrated the forests of Ohio while the State was yet the hunting grounds of the Indians, the sons and daughters of New England hold a conspicuous place. Bravery, generosity, un- \ wavering honesty, united to a strong religious faith, were the virtues that characterized them, and the principles that animated them.

In 1822 a worthy couple, both natives of the State of Connecticut, settled on the South ridge, in York township. Their names were Jeremiah and Experience (Mills) Smith. Enough has been written in this volume to portray the condition of Sandusky county at that date. The trials, difficulties, and dangers which beset these bold representatives of the Yankee nation need not be rehearsed here. Here they lived, reared a family, and died. But one of their children survives, although the j family consisted of three sons and three j daughters. The names were as follows: j Jeremiah, Edward, Barzilla, Lucy, Laura, | and Triphena. Jeremiah settled in York township and resided here until the close of his days. Edward died in Lagrange county, Indiana. Barzilla died in New York State, where his parents had lived before coming to Ohio. Lucy married Charles Gardenier, of Montgomery county, New York, and died years ago. Laura married Abel D. Follett, of Bellevue, and now resides in Ventura county, California. Triphena died the year after her parents moved here, aged thirteen years.

Jeremiah Smith, sr., died October 7, 1826, aged forty-nine years. His wife, a most estimable lady, survived until September 6, 1840, when she passed away at the age of sixty-six, universally respected as a woman of Christian benevolence and genuine worth.

Their son, Jeremiah Smith, was among the most worthy and highly honored of the citizens of York township. He was born October 15, 1801. On the 10th of June, 1835, hc married De Lora Knapp, daughter of Alvin and Lovisa (O'Bryant) Knapp. Mrs. Knapp's father, John O'Bryant, was an officer in the Revolutionary war. Alvin Knapp was born at Lebanon Springs, Columbia county, New York, and his wife in the western part of Massachusetts, about fourteen miles from the place of her husband's nativity. Mr. and Mrs Knapp lived in New York State until 1833. At this date they came to Ohio and settled near the centre of York township. They had thirteen children who arrived at maturity, five of whom are yet living. Their names in the order of their ages were: Arad, Chester, Balsorali, Alanson, Kingsley, De Lora, Mary, Wilson, Sarah F., Henry, Martha, Anna, and Amanda. These were all married and all came to Ohio, but scattered to various parts of the country. Those now living are, Chester, in Cass county, Michigan; Wilson, in Lucas county, Ohio; Henry, in Decatur county, Iowa; Martha (Alexander), Whitewater, Wisconsin; and Mrs. De Lora Smith, Y7ork township.

! 1874, in his seventy-third year. He was ' a man of sterling integrity, friendly | and courteous in his manners, pure m j motive, and honest and fair in all his deal- | ings. He passed through a long life with- ! out losing a friend or gaining an enemy by any fault of his own. During the most

Joseph And Amanda B. Birdseye

The oldest son of James Birdseye, whose ancestry and operations in this county are mentioned in the foregoing sketch of Nathan P. Birdseye, was Joseph Birdseye. He was born in Ontario county, New York, November 26, 1800. His boyhood was spent at hard work on his father's farm. He had opportunity to attend school only a few months during the winter, affording a very limited education.

Mr. Birdseye married, in 1823, Amanda Beach, daughter of Jonathan and Betsy Beach, who were natives of Connecticut. After his marriage Mr. Birdseye purchased a farm in New York, now the site of Rochester, one of the most flourishing cities of the State. Through the failure of a neighbor to meet an obligation on which Mr. Birdseye was security, this farm was lost. - He then looked toward the West as a field for the restoration of his lost fortunes. In 1834 he purchased a farm in York township, on which he settled with his family in 1835. He was a hard worker, and continued making improvements and adding to his possessions. In partnership with his brother, Nathan P., he discharged a contract for macadamizing the pike between Bellevue and Clyde.

Mr. Birdseye, in 1853, sold his farm in York township and moved to Clyde, where he had purchased a tract of land, now embraced in that part of the town lying between the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad track and the turnpike. As the village grew he sold, in town lots, about fifty acres, a part of which was forest at the time of making the purchase.

I This operation showed Mr. Birdseye's | business sagacity, and leads to the conclu- | sion that but for his early misfortune at - Rochester, New York, he would have been J a very wealthy man

The family of Joseph and Amanda . Birdseye consisted of five children - two sons and three daughters. Eliza was bom in March, 1824. She died in 1847. Adalaide was born October 16, 1825. She resides in New York City. Emily was born September 27, 1827. She is married to John Bruen and lives in Santa Cruz, California. Her husband is dead. Gould was born November 26, 1829. He resides in Clyde. Nelson H. was born October 6, 1832. He resides in Clyde.

Joseph Birdseye died April 19, 1868, and is buried in McPherson Cemetery in Clyde. Amanda B. Birdseye is still living in Clyde. She is of genial disposition, affable in manners, and possessed of good business qualifications. She manages the estate left by her husband with care and discretion.

Mr. Birdseye, in many of his characteristics, resembling his brother, Nathan P. j and at the same time possessing many j traits of character differing widely from those of his brother. Both were scrupuously honest in all business transactions, and social intercourse. Both were Whigs, and afterwards Republicans, in politics. They were simple in their manners and determined in their convictions. It was a characterisic of Joseph Birdseye never to I withdraw a command, nor to modify an ! opinion deliberately formed. He was uni- | formly kind and charitable to the sick or J suffering. In him an iron will was coupled with a tender heart.

No family stood higher in York township than the Birdseyes. They were always alive to the welfare of the community, whether in deeds of public improvement or acts of private charity.

Horatio Rogers Adams was born in Montville, Connecticut, May 8, 1802. He was the oldest of three children, and only son of William Adams and Nancy Rogers, who were also natives of Connecticut. When Horatio was about seven years of age his parents removed from Montville to Albany, New York, where they afterwards lived. William Adams was a sea-captain, was the owner of a number of vessels, and a man of enter prise and thrift His wife died in the fall of 1820 aged about thirty-seven, and some two years afterward he married Delia Olmsted, an estimable lady of Albany, and sister of Judge Jesse Olmsted, the pioneer merchant of Fremont, Ohio. Of his three children by his first wife (his second marriage being without issue) only one is now living, viz : Sophia Adams, who still resides in Albany. The -younger sister, Mary, died in Albany. Neither of the sisters ever married. t * ' >

Horatio being, the only child, arid 'his father well-to-do, was permitted to follow his inclinations, and grew to young .manhood surrounded by the social influences of city life. He attended school but little and employed a part of his leisure in fishing, his favorite sport, and in visiting at his uncle, Isaiah Adams's, a farmer living a few miles out of Albany. During these visits he would help in the work on the farm and it was there, doubtless, he formed the desire for the occupation which he subsequently followed. When about eighteen he made his way to Norwalk, Ohio, where a relative of his mother, Frederick Forsythe, was then living. He left home in company with George Olmsted on the 1st day of October, 1820, coming to Sandusky on the Walk-in-the-water, the pioneer steamer of Lake Erie. Shortly afterward he made a visit to his friends, the Olmsteds, in Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, being piloted thither through the wilderness by William Chapman, the mail-carrier. There was then no laid-out road west of where Bellevue now stands, which then consisted, according to Mr. Adams' recollection, of but one log-house. We next find him in Columbus, whither he journeyed on foot. He was now thrown upon his own own resources and among strangers, and he found it necessary to do something to earn a living. The first job he found to do was to take a horse for a man a distance of thirty miles, for which service he received one dollar. Of course he had to walk back, but he was well, satisfied with his bargain. It was the first money he had ever earned. A short time afterward he went to Worthington, a little village nine miles north of Columbus, where he found employment for a time in a printing office. In Worthington he first met his future wife, Amy R' Bedell. They were married on the 4th day of May, 1823, and a few years afterward settled on Darby Creek, in Madison county. The farm on which they located had been partly cleared by a' former occupant, who had abandoned it, and the cleared part had grown over with a heavy undergrowth and practically required a second clearing. The first season he raised a small crop of corn and a few bushels of beans, which found a market in Columbus, twenty miles distant, at fifty cents per bushel. Cotton goods were fifty cents per yard, and other necessaries in proportion. It required a good deal of fortitude and hard toil to keep the wolf from the door during their stay there. While fighting under countless difficulties for a livelihood,

I Mr. Adams was much distressed by doubts j as to the validity of his land title, his I farm being embraced in what is known as the Virginia Military District. This tract I comprised a large extent of territory lying between the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers, and was reserved by act of Congress for compensation of the Virginia soldiers who had served in the Revolutionary war. Any soldier, or his representative, who held a warrant was at liberty to select his lands wherever he chose within the military tract ; and in consequence of the irregularity with which many locations were made, some locations encroaching upon others, considerable litigation ensued. This circumstance decided Mr. Adams upon disposing of his farm at any sacrifice, and consequently, after living there a couple of years, during which he and his always patient and helpful wife experienced every hardship incident to the lot of pioneers, they removed, in the summer of 1830, to Huron county, and located upon a farm rented of Jeremiah Sheffield, near Amsden's Corners, now Bellevue. He contracted with Mr. Sheffield to build a log-house on the farm, eighteen by twenty feet, in consideration of fifty bushels of wheat, and moved into this house on Christmas Day of the above year.

The following season being very wet, his crops were scanty, and he decided upon making another change. He was offered the farm on which he afterwards lived till his death, in York township, Sandusky county, Ohio, for one dollar and fifty cents per acre, but he hesitated about making the purchase, the "oak openings," as they were called, being regarded as almost worthless for farming purposes. Against the advice of some of his friends, he decided to make the investment. That his decision was a wise one, one of the finest farms in the county is a sufficient proof.

To this farm on New-Year's Day, 1832, j he brought his wife and two children, and all his worldly goods, in an ox-cart, and moved into a log house eighteen feet square, with puncheon floor, clapboard 1 roof and stick chimney. The farm was then an almost unbroken wilderness, and the prospect anything but bright. But attacking his task with his accustomed energy, he soon had a portion of his land in a condition to be cultivated, from which he managed to support an increasing family, while he continued to enlarge the boundary of his clearing. The next ten years were years of hard work, attended by trials and frequent failures, but instead of tending to discouragement it was an experience which only developed the force and determination of a man by nature determined and forcible. In 1842 he erected the house which was afterwards his permanent home, and which is still occupied by his widow. They took possession of this home on Christmas of that year, and it is a somewhat singular circumstance that on each removal they began the occupancy of their new home on one of the winter holidays.

On the 8th of May, 1874, Mr. and Mrs. Adams celebrated their golden wedding. They had been married fifty years the 4th of May the previous year, but as sickness in the family prevented them from assembling that year, the reunion was postponed until the next year, and held on the 8th of May, which was Mr. Adams' seventysecond birthday. It was a happy occasion to all, and to the aged pair in whose honor it was held, an event second in interest only to their nuptial day. They had lived to see a large farm brought from a wild condition to a high state of cultivation, having increased in value a hundred fold, and to raise a family of children esteemed for their intelligence and moral worth.

Mr. Adams united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1829, and ever afterward was an active member and devoted Christian. His family was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,

He contributed with liberality to the support not only of the church to which he belonged, but to that of others as well, and there is hardly a church in the region where he lived so long that has not been the recipient of his benefactions. His .business record was unimpeachable. It was characterized by energy, perseverance, and the strictest integrity, which was an integral part of his nature.

He stood the embodiment of all that was upright, honest and honorable. A conspicuous quality of his mind was the faculty of humor. He had a keen sense of the comic and the ridiculous, and he enjoyed nothing more than a visit with friends, for whose entertainment he would relate, in his droll way, some humorous incident, usually in connection with his pioneer experiences. In manner he was to some extent eccentric and blunt, but he was always courteous, and to those who knew him best he had a nature as tender | and sympathetic as a child's. Mr. Adams, from force of habit, continued his labors, more or less, on the farm long after reaching an age when most men are compelled to rest. In June, 1879, while at work in j the field, he was overcome with the heat, i which resulted in an affection of the brain, and after suffering intensely, mentally and physically, many months, he died March 22, 1880, aged nearly seventy-eight.

Amy R. Adams

Amy Rosalia Bedell, daughter of Benjamin L. Bedell and Sally Burr, was born in Manchester, Vermont, January 31, 1804. When Amy was quite small her mother married for her second husband Smith Bull, and about the year 1810 the family removed from Vermont to the vicinity of Plattsburgh, New York. There they lived until the fail of 1815, when they removed to Worthington, Ohio. Mrs. Bull had by her first husband two children, a son and daughter, Burr and Amy. Burr Bedell was born September 1, 1802, and at the time of his death, a few years since, was residing at Clayton, Michigan. By her second marriage she was the mother of twelve children, viz: Huldah, Mason, Rosetta, Thomas, Smith, Sally, Squire, Alfred, Orrin, Henry, Anna, and Alonzo. Mrs. Bull died in Urbana, Illinois, in October, 1852, surviving her husband some twelve years. She was born in Adams, Massachusetts, August 2, 1782.

The strongest influence in the shaping of the character of our subject was that of her mother, who was a woman of much strength and excellence of character, capacity, and directness of purpose. Her early years were spent in a country home, where her time was divided between a brief attendance at the rude district school and the exacting duties of home life on a farm. After the removal of the family to Ohio, through the perseverance of her mother she was sent out where she could work for her board and go to school. Possessing a naturally bright mind and an insatiable desire for knowledge, the opportunity thus afforded for its gratification was improved to the utmost, and although her education at this time was very limited, she made rapid progress in her studies, and at the age of sixteen she began to teach school. Looking back to this time she says those were halcyon days and remembers them only with tender and grateful emotions. Mrs. Adams taught altogether, though not continuously, for a period of seven years, continuing to teach for a time after her marriage. For a time after she began to teach she continued at intervals to attend school and had recitations to different instructors; so that finally she attained a considerable proficiency in the branches of study in use at that day. From the time she began to teach she supported herself entirely by her own exertions. She had a laudable ambition to better her condition in the world, physical and intellectual, and she possessed in equal measure the necessary determination and perseverance to accomplish it. An incident in the beginning of her career as teacher will illustrate this. She went to Columbus for the purpose of securing a school. A friend endeavored for some time to find one for her, but failing to do so suggested as an alternative that slu accept a vacant position as chambermaid in a hotel. This suggestion she emphatically refused to entertain, and said she knew she was capable of something better. Considerably discouraged, but no less determined in the attainment of her object, she was about to return to Worthington when another friend interested himself in her behalf and soon brought her the welcome announcement that he had secured for her a room in which to teach and two scholars, and that she could begin thj next day. The room was in a sma'l building not far from where the Neil House now stands, and the scholars were his own children. Beginning in this small way the number of her pupils speedily increased and before her first term closed she had a school of sixty scholars, and required an assistant.

At the age of nineteen she was married to Horatio R. Adams, and in the hopefulness of youth they entered upon that journey of mutual cares and joys, which at its termination by the death of her husband, spanned by nearly seven years more than half a century.

In all the vicissitudes of the early yeavs of their married life, when struggling against poverty and adversity, Mrs. Adams was the true helpmeet of her husband, sharing the hardships and privations as 1 well as the simple pleasures of frontier life. Mr. Adams in later years often referred to the heroic conduct of his young wife during that trying period, whose Christian fortitude had smoothed the rugged path by which a virtuous independence had eventually been gained.

Mrs. Adams is endowed with more than ordinary intellectual gifts. She is a woman of ideas and originality of thought and possesses a happy faculty of expression, both by speech and pen. She has written much in both prose and verse, and her productions evince a high degree of literary talent. The religious element in her character is predominant. For more than sixty years the Divine Word, the entrance of which irradiated her soul when a girl of fourteen, and dispelled the darkness of doubt and sinfulness, has been a lamp to her feet and a light to her pathway. P'rom her loyalty to her Master she has never swerved. She early connected herself with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has always remained a firm adherent of its faith and practices, and been a useful member. A good and useful woman, with remarkable endowments of mind and character, improved by high Christian culture, producing those graces which adorn society, the church, and the world, such is the subject of this sketch to those who know her best. We who thus know her feel the power of her single, earnest faith, the beauty and reward of a life "hid with Christ in God." Since the death of her husband Mrs. Adams has had the oversight of the farm, and although seventy-eight years of age, carries it on with admirable success.

Mr. and Mrs. Adams were the parents of nine children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are as follows: Lucia, born in Rochester, New York, April 22, 1828, is now the wife of Dr. William Me-

Cormick, and resides in Grass Valley, California; they have two children living, Horatio and Jessie, and one (Willie) deceased. William, born in Lyme, Huron county, Ohio, in 1831, married Martha T. Pennell, and resides near Grand Rapids, Michigan; they have two children - Charles and Julia. Delia, born August 31, 1833, now widow of Upton F. Vore, and resides in Chicago; she has four children - Delia, Horatio, Upton, and Milton. Sophia, born in May, 1837, now widow of John S. Berger, and resides in Bellevue, Ohio; she has one child, Binnie, at present attending school at Oberlin, Ohio. Julia, born July 11, 1841, now the wife of H. H. Queen, and resides in Toledo, Ohio; they have two children - Florence and Waldemar. Frank, born June 27, 1846, died September 8, 1866. Florence, born November 29, 1848, now the wife of H. Z. Williams, to whom she was married September 1, 1870. They have two children, Julia and Amy, born respectively May 16, 1872, and November 14, 1874. All the children except the two oldest were born at the old homestead in York township.

Gurdon Woodward

was of English ancestry and New England birth. His parents were Abishai and Mary Spicer Woodward. The Woodwards settled in New' London, Connecticut, at an early day in the history of that State, and Abishai Woodward, the father of | Gurdon, was a leading citizen of the town of New London during and following the revolutionary period. Though not of the number whose losses from fire by British soldiery were compensated by a donation of western lands made by the State, yet he became the owner, by purchase, of a large amount of these claims, and, upon the partition of the Firelands, he acquired proprietorship of more than four thousand acres, all lying in sections one and four of what now is Lyme township. The father of eleven children, he gave to each an equal, undivided interest in these lands. To the ownership, by his father, of western territory, is due the fact of Gurdon's coming to this locality. Mr. Woodward, Sr., came into the possession of his lands November 9, 1808, the date when partition was effected, and died the following year.

Gurdon Woodward was born February 2 t , 1795, in New London, Connecticut, and at the age of fourteen, immediately after the death of his parents, went to reside at Whitestown, New York. There he learned the trade of millwright. His educational advantages were not the best, yet he made wise improvement of such as were afforded, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the practical branches then taught, and, for his day, was more than an average scholar.

Upon the outbreak of the last war with England he volunteered his services in behalf of his country, served her with fidelity, and, at the close of the war, received an honorable discharge at Sackett's Harbor, New York. This was in 1815. He had at this time reached the age of twenty years. His mind now turned with eager thoughts toward the distant West. At Whitestown, New York, lived at this time a young lady to whom he had become attached, Miss Mary Shepard Savage, youngest daughter of John and Rachel Shepard Savage. She became his betrothed. Amos, the oldest brother of Gurdon, who was the youngest son, had married Rachel, the oldest sister of Mary, who was the youngest daughter.

Betsey and her husband, Mr. George Sheffield, located in the same year, he came on to Lyme in the spring of 1817, and made a selection of his lands. His first night in Lyme township, then Wheatsborough, was spent by the remains of an Indian camp fire - his dog and gun his only companions - upon the very ground which was afterwards to be his home during many years of his life. His dreams that first night must have been filled with thoughts of far-away Whitestown, and of the loved one who awaited there his return.

Two years of heroic toil were now spent in fitting his chosen heritage for the advent of her who, at the expiration of that time, was to be his bride. A log house was erected and portions of the land cleared and fenced. The day finally came when he retraced his steps to his former home, Oneida county, New York, and there, at the village of Whitestown, on the 14th day of April, 1819, he united his fortunes in holy matrimony with those of Miss Mary Shepard Savage. Westward the star of love, as of empire, took its way. Waiting only to receive the congratulations of their friends, the happy pair started for their Western Ohio home, the husband, however, coming some weeks in advance of his wife, who came accompanied by Amos Woodward, Gurdon's oldest brother. Their journey hither, thus taken separately, was their only wedding tour, and the first days of their wedded life - in their wilderness home - their honeymoon. Those first summer days which the young bride, then only eighteen, passed in the rude but comfortable home which her lover had, with dauntless perseverance, prepared for her, must have been in striking contrast to the life she had spent in her father's home in Whitestown. Yet who can doubt that they were happy days ?

With energy and determination, enduring many severe privations, and denied innumerable comforts to which both had been accustomed, they strove together to better their worldly fortunes, to improve the condition of their farm and its surroundings, to beautify their home, and to make life attractive. Heaven smiled benignantly upon their constant love and patient labor. Seven children blessed the former, and as a result of the latter, the rude log cabin, in which their wedded life began, gave place, in time, to a large, substantial and comfortable dwelling - at the time of its erection, perhaps, the best in the township. Their beautiful home they christened "Woodlawn." Here they dwelt together for forty years, and here were born to them all their children: Lucy, Abishai, Amos, William, Mary, Rachel, and Julia M.

In 1859 Mr. and Mrs. Woodward removed to Bellevue, and, purchasing the Dr. Lathrop property, on West Main street, spent there the remainder of their days, receiving kind attentions from relatives and friends. Each lived to a ripe old age, the former dying December 8, 1874, in the eightieth year of his life, and the latter February 25, 1879, nearly seventy-eight years of age.

On the fiftieth anniversary day of their marriage, April 14, 1869, their relatives and numerous friends assembled at their pleasant home to celebrate their golden wedding. It was a time of joyous greetings and hearty congratulations. The aged pair could look back upon a happy, wellspent life, and regard wfith pleasure their present condition, blessed with every comfort that heart could wish. Death had robbed them of three of their children, Lucy, William, and Julia, and hence their happiness was tempered with sad recollections, but their surviving sons and daughters were all happily situated in life - a fact that must have been of great gratifi- cation to them. In their declining years, their four children and their grandchildren ministered to them with devoted attentions; and rarely in this life is seen so marked an exhibition of filial affection as was shown Mrs. Woodward by her sons and daughters during the four years of her widowhood.

Of the children, Lucy became the wife of George Sheffield; Abishai married Mary Amsden, the second daughter of Mr. Thomas G. Amsden, and is vice president of the Bellevue bank, and universally esteemed by his fellow-townsmen ; Amos married Arabella, eldest daughter of Mr. Frederick A. Chapman; is vice president of the First National bank, and a man of wealth and influence ; William died at about the age of fifteen ; Mary became the wife of Rev. Mr. Hamilton ; Rachel married Mr. Boardman, who died some years ago ; a man of culture and intelligence, and a resident of Lincoln, Illinois, at the time of his death; Julia M. died in early womanhood.

Gurdon Woodward was a man of marked and clearly defined characteristics. Of commanding person, he was possessed of sound judgment, a strong will and an inflexible purpose. In politics, he was a staunch adherent to the Democratic faith, and never swerved from fidelity to party and Jacksonian principles. In religion, though not a communicant, he was active in church affairs, and liberal in sustaining its service. He was ever a kind and devoted husband and an affectionate father. Of Mrs. Woodward's religious and domestic life the biographer can say nothing more to the purpose than to quote the ! following just words taken from an obituary notice published in the Standard of the Cross , at the time of her decease, and written by one who knew her intimately : "Amidst the trials and deprivations of pioneer life, she ever retained the grace 1 and culture of her early life. She loved the church, and as soon as opportunity offered, received the apostolic rite of confirmation by Bishop Mcllvaine. There was nothing ostentatious in her piety, yet she did not hide it under a bushel, but let her light shine before others. She took a deep interest in all that related to the prosperity of the church. She loved with a pure and earnest affection. In every relation of life she was admired and loved, but it was as a Christian woman that they who loved her best, love now to think of her. In her decease the com- | munity in which she lived has lost a generous benefactor, the church a devout and exemplary member, and her domestic and | social circle a most kind and warm-hearted relative and friend. ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors.' "

Bourdett Wood

BOURDETT WOOD, the eldest son of Jasper and Elizabeth ! (Boylston) Wood, was born at Manlius Square, New York, on the 19th day of February, 1803. The Woods are of English origin. Four brothers came to this country about two centuries ago, three of them settling in Massachusetts, and one , in Virginia. Aaron, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, with three brothers, had emigrated to the State of New York a short time preceding the Revolutionary struggle, and had settled on the German flats just above Schenectady. All four of the brothers were soldiers in the Revolutionary war, and took part in the memorable battle of Monmouth. Aaron Wood was the father of seven children, as follows: Thaddeus, Benjamin, Jasper, Rebecca, Dorothea, Aaron, and Homer. Thaddeus was a lawyer of distinction and ability. He was, in his time, not only the recognized "leader of the bar in Onondaga county, where he resided, but was esteemed as one of the best lawyers of the State. He was an active participant in the war of 1812, and, by reason of meritorious service, was elevated to the rank of brigadier general in 1818, and to the rank of major general in 1820. Jasper Wood, the father of Bourdett, was born in the year in which the war for Independence was declared, 1776, at Lenox, Massachusetts, where he lived until fourteen years of age, when he went to New York State in the service of a Mr. White, the founder of Whilestown, near Utica, that State. Here he continued to reside for eight or ten years, and then removed to Manlius Square, where he remained until 1815, the date of his removal to the Far West. After a temporary stay at Erie, Pennsylvania, of one year's duration, he came on with his family to Huron county, and settled at Bloomingville. Here he purchased a large tract of land, consisting of about one thousand eight hundred acres, for which he paid about two thousand dollars. Soon after this, the Government lands in the adjoining county of Sandusky came into market, and were sold to purchasers at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. This reduced the value of Mr. Wood's lands so as to render them comparatively worthless. He died in 1821. He was a man of rather superior education and abilities; was a good surveyor, and could speak the Iroquois language with considerable fluency. His wife's name was Elizabeth Boylston, whom he married May 3, 1802. The Boylstons were also English people, and were among the first settlers of Boston. They gave their name to many places connected with the early history of that metropolis, such as Boylston Common, Boylston Square, etc., Boylston Bank, BoDston street - places that are still thus designated. The Boylstons were a very intelligent and well-to-do class of people, and many representatives of the family are now living in Massachusetts, all occupying honorable stations in life.

Mr. and Mrs. Jasper Wood were the parents of six children : Bourdett, Adaline, Julianne, Juliette, Worthington, and Aramenta. Mrs. Wood died in 1834.

At the age of sixteen he was bound for a term of four years to Judge Timothy Baker, of Norwalk, Ohio. After an expiration of two years, his father having died, through the kindly efforts in his behalf, made by Mrs. Baker, he was released from this service. The maintenance of his father's family chiefly devolved upon him, and he was brought in close contact with the utmost severity of labor.

Mr. Wood has been a successful man. To trace his career and bring to light the discovery of how he accomplished so much in the direction of getting on in the world, is an interesting undertaking. His father died when Bourdett was a young man of eighteen years of age, and not only left him no inheritance, but placed him in a position where he must, by the labor of his own hands or the employment of his own wits, provide, not for himself alone, but for others dependent upon him for the necessaries of life. Could the young man, the day after his father's death, have had his future career in life disclosed to him ; could he have seen himself standing on the verge of that career, penniless and seemingly powerless, and then have followed his course through a term of fifty or nearly sixty years, to behold himself the possessor of hundreds of thousands of dollars of this world's goods, he would undoubtedly have disbelieved the revelation. Yet this is what he has accomplished. The acquisition of great wealth furnishes in itself no marvel, for many men become j possessors of it. Some inherit it; some have it thrust upon them by kind fortune or good luck; and some obtain it by a systematic course of robbery, in which knavery, extortion, and theft, in its various forms, have their part to play.

After leaving the service of Mr. Baker, Mr. Wood's first employment was in working for Charles F. Drake, of Bloomingville, for two months, for a barrel of salt and a side of sole leather, each of which was equivalent to about three dollars and fifty cents, and would buy a good two year old steer. The following summer he raised five or six acres of corn. This he was persuaded to apply in the payment of a colt, which Mr. Caldwell had obtained at a cost of eleven dollars, and for which Mr. Wood was influenced to give twentyfive dollars. About one-half this money he got together by putting up four tons of hay for Mr. Caldwell, at one dollar and fifty cents per ton, and by chopping twentyfive cords of wood at twenty-five cents per cord. In piling this wood he showed himself to be a novice, for he made but about fifteen cords of it, the wood being put up very closely. Eben Dennis, who was present when it was measured, and who took a friendly interest in the boy, said to Bourdett, slyly : "You are a little fool to pile wood in that way ; now you go ahead and chop more, and by and by, when the old man Caldwell is not around, I'll come and show you how to cord wood." He did so, readily extending the pile so as to include the requisite twenty-five cords. In process of time he got his colt paid for, and was by and by enabled to buy an old horse, and then exchanged his colt and horse for a yoke of oxen, thus providing himself with a team. In 1823, at the age of twenty, he raised a fair crop of corn, and then went sailing. He sailed to Sault St Marie, and acted in the capacity of cook. The mate had laid in a barrel of whisky to supply the soldiers in garrison at St. Mary's, and Bourdett was promised half they could make if he would draw the whisky for those who purchased it.

He had the good fortune to obtain quite a nice little sum of money in his sailing operations. This money he invested in calves. In 1825 he worked in the Bloomingville brick-yard for Dr. Strong. In 1826 he returned to Manlius, New York, and was employed in making water lines for the Oswego Canal, the building of which had at that time just been commenced. In 1827 he bought fifty-seven acres of land for two hundred and fifty dollars, a part of the old Wood homestead in Oxford, now owned by his son Thomas. On this purchase he was enabled to pay sixty dollars. In 1829' he carried the mail from Sandusky to Bucyrus, receiving four dollars and fifty cents per trip.

On the 1 st day of January, 1829, he was married to Miss Rhoda, daughter of Mr. Seth Harrington. Industrious and frugal, Mrs. Wood furnished valuable assistance to her husband in his efforts to get a start in life. He soon found himself the possessor of surplus funds, which he generously loaned to his neighbors upon application. Finally, old man Coggswell said to him: "Charge for the use of your money. It is no use to keep a cow unless you milk her." Adopting this sage advice, he began to loan money in small sums, and the accruing interest soon began to tell in his favor. About the year 1840 he began to buy and sell stock. He and Uncle Nat. Chapman associated themselves together in the business of buying horses and sheep, for cash, in Holmes and Tuscarawas counties, bringing them to Huron and Erie counties, and selling them on credit to responsible farmers. And in 1844 he and Mr. Chapman began the purchase of Western lands. About this time they secured fifteen hundred acres ot the Wyandot reservation, and in 1853 they bought twenty-three hundred acres in j Iowa, mostly in Tama county. He began ! the purchase of lands also in Erie county, : buying and selling, and always reaping a ; gain.

In 1846 he removed to Bellevue with his family, and from this time forward j made money-lending the leading specialty ; of his business. In 1871 he associated himself with Abishai Woodward and E. J. Sheffield in the banking business, under the firm name of Wood, Woodward & Co., j and when the bank was reorganized as a stock company, Mr. Wood was made president of the institution - a position he still retains.

Mr. and Mrs. Wood are the parents of the following children: 1. Jasper, born November 15, 1829. He is a resident of Bureau county, Illinois, and a very successful farmer and stock raiser. 2. Erneline Adelia, born May 6, 1831. She is the wife of Peter G. Sharp, and resides near Stockton, California. 3. Richard Boylston, born December 2, 1832, was killed at the battle of Tunnel Hill, Georgia, February 25, 1864. He was captain of a company of cavalry soldiers, and a gallant soldier, a brave and efficient officer.

born March 19, 1836. She is the wife of Adam Burgett, a wholesale boot and shoe merchantof Toledo, Ohio. 6. Benjamin Lester, born June 21,1838. 7. Florella Sophia, born September 7, 1840, died May 14, 1866, of consumption. She was a young lady of much attractiveness and superior mental qualities. 8. Thomas Corwin, born April 27, 1842. He resides in Bellevue. 9. Susan C., born August 7, 1844. She became the wife of W. W. Williams April 9, 1868, and died of consumption November 5, 1872. In the Western home in which she lived during her wedded life, she won many friends, by whom her memory is cherished with pleasing recollections. 10. Julia Louisa, born February 28, 1847. She is the wife of James B. Wood, of Bellevue, Ohio, whose home she renders blessed.

On the 1st day of January, 1879, the relatives and friends of Mr. and Mrs. Wood assembled at their residence in Bellevue, and celebrated with them their golden wedding. The occasion was one of the pleasantest, to all participants, that ever took place within that quiet village.

Mr. Wood is now in his seventy-ninth year, but possesses as much vitality as the average man of fifty. He has hardly ever known a sick day, and the prospect that a dozen years or more may yet be added to his days is not discouraging. Physically so sound and well-preserved, he is no less so mentally. He attends to all the details of his extensive business, and, though his memory is becoming treacherous, his judgment is as unerring, his discernment as acute, his reasoning faculties as sound, as they ever have been.

Mr. Wood is a man of clearly-defined traits of character and mental characteristics. In manner often abrupt and blunt, he nevertheless possesses a kindliness of heart that is rarely found beneath so rough an exterior. No man in need, whom he believes to be deserving, has ever appealed to him in vain. Schooled in the methods of money-lending, and having become naturally cautious and careful as to his securities, he has loaned money to hundreds of people who had no security to offer him, and toward whom he has stood wholly in the light of their benefactor.

He is not a member of any church, but Mrs. Wood has been for many years a faithful and consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and is active in her zeal for its prosperity.