Richland Township (part 2 of 2)

JOHN WENTZ was born in this county December 18, 1839. His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Copenheflfer) Wentz, were natives of Pennsylvania, and of German desceot. They came to Ohio in 1837, and entered eighty acres of land, where our subject now resides. They had eight children - Andrew, Jacob, Louisa, Levi, John, Jesse, William and Henry, the two latter deceased. The father was a weaver by trade; he died in 1854, aged fifty-eight years; the mother in 1883, aged eighty-five years. Mr. Wentz obtained a good education, and worked upon the farm and railroad till he enlisted in the army, August 18, 1862. He joined Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was engaged at Winchester, Martinsburg, Berryville, Snicker's Gap, Cedar Creek, Hatcher's Run, High Bridge and many skirmishes, serving two years and nine months. He was wounded in the engagement at High Bridge, and was detained at the hospital at Philadelphia two months, after which he was discharged. He married Savilla Cowdry February 24, 1866, she being the daughter of William and Mary (Bruce) Cowdry, then residents of Michigan, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Wentz are parents of three children - Olive, born February 17, 1868; Edith, November 9, 1870; Walter V., April 24, 1881. Mr. Wentz inherited twenty-five acres of the homestead, where he now resides, having added to his inheritance till he now owns eighty-nine acres, well-stocked and improved, valued at $80 per acre. His dwelling cost $1,200 in 1880, and his barn $500 in 1872. He is a Republican, and member of the Church of God; Elder at present. On account of wounds received in the war, he receives a pension of $8 per month.

J. D. WICKISER was born in Richland Township April 28, 1843, and is a son of Albert and Sabrina (McKay) Wickiser. He passed his early life upon a farm, and received his education in the common schools. In 1864, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the battles of Columbia, Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., and was honorably discharged July 14, 1865. Hereturned home, and, October 11, 1866, was married to Miss Ellen Ward, daughter of J. P. and Olive J. (Baker) Ward, who settled in this township in 1843. They were the parents of seven children, viz., Stella F., Winifred O., Bertha, John Nelson and Cecil M. Edith and Agnes are deceased. Mrs, Wickiser was born January 7, 1844. Mr. Wickiser owns a farm of eighty-four acres, well improved and highly cultivated. In 1877, he erected a residence at a cost of $1,200. His farm, with its improvements, is one of the best in the township. In 1883, he and A. C. Kirby erected a fine brick block in Wharton, Mr. W. occupying the east room with a stock of groceries and provisions. He was previously engaged in undertaking and the furniture business. He is an active, enterprising citizen, and well known in the county as a veterinary surgeon. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and G. A. R., and also of the Grange. He served as Township Trustee four years, and as Land Appraiser in 1880. Politically, he is Democratic.

ALBERT WICKISER. This worthy pioneer was born in Luzerne County, Penn., February 24, 1808. His parents were Conrad and Lydia (Wicks) Wickiser, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania respectively, and of German and English descent. They came to Perry Coanty, Ohio, in 1810, soon after removing to Delaware County, and to this county in 1834. They entered 120 acres, and had eleven children, four now living. Mr. Wickiser obtained a limited education. He worked for daily wages till his marriage to Miss Sabrina McKay, September 15, 1833. Her parents were Charles and Hannah (Butler) McKay, natives of New York and New Hampshire respectively. They settled in Brown County in 1823, and in 1841 removed to Illinois, where they both died. Mr. and Mrs. Wickiser are the parents of fifteen children - Mary E., Irena, Charles W., Jacob AV., John D., William M. B., Daniel W., Rhoda J., Sarah M., MarindaN., Hester A., Milton D. L. , Albert H., Ossian E. and Phillip E. Their mother was born in York State May 11, 1818, In 1835, Mr. W. entered forty acres of land in this township, he and his wife being now the only ones living of his date of settlement. He being disabled many years, Mrs. W. supported the family by weaving. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have been Christians fifty years. In politics, Mr. W. is a Jacksonian Democrat.

D. B. WILLIAMS, son of John and Rebecca (Cope) Williams, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, June 2, 1830. His parents wei'e natives of Ohio and Virginia, and were married in Columbiana County, where they resided most of their lives. He was a brick-layer by trade, and the father of eight children, the living - John T., Caroline, D. B. and Elizabeth. He died in 1839, aged thirty-eight years; his wife in 1872, aged sixty-eight. D. B., our subject, obtained but a limited log schoolhouse education, beginning life for himself at sixteen. He worked by the day and month until married to Martha W. Morlan September 26, 1850. She was a daughter of Isaac and Martha (Wright) Morlan, natives of Virginia. This marriage was blessed by nine children, five of whom are living - Viola, wife of A. B. Wise; Silas M., Elwood E., Clara B. , Hattie M. The deceased are Alice A., Mary H. and Emma, an infant. After several years in various kinds of work, and after several trades in stock and real estate, Mr. Williams purchased his present farm of eighty acres in 1872, paying $1,600. He has made many improvements, having built a comfortable dwelling in 1878, costing $1,500. Mr. Williams voted first for Van Buren, but has since been a Republican. He served as Constable in Hancock County many years. He and Mrs. Williams are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and highly esteemed as citizens.

JACOB WISE, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Ensminger) Wise, was born in Cumberland County, Penn., January 23, 1810. His great-grandparents came from Germany; his grandfather Wise avoided going into the Revolutionary war by " cutting his leg with tobacco." His father served as Justice of this township from his twenty-first to his forty-eighth year. Our subject began work when a child at $1. 50 per month, and continued to work for himself with advanced wages for many years. In 1842, he came to Ohio, working three years in the cabinet business in Stark County. In November, 1847, he located in this county, purchasing thirty acres of his present farm, to which he has added till he now owns 219 acres, valued at $100 per acre. Mr. Wise was married, in 1843, to Miss Mary Price, of Lancaster, Ohio. She died September 6, 1882, leaving three children - Aaron B., Jerome O., Caroline, wife of G. E. Rice, of Kansas. The deceased are Mary A. and Fianna. Mr. Wise is an old-time Jackson Democrat; member of the Lutheran Church.

JEROME WISE, son of the above, was born in this township May 1, 1852. He remained at home farming and attending school till his marriage to Miss Serena Clark August 26, 1875. She was a daughter of George W. and Martha Clark, and died February 20, 1876, leaving one child - Ivy M. , who also died a few months later. Mr. Wise was again married, March 3, 1881, to Miss Mary Hartman, daughter of Henry and Catharine (Bishop) Hartman, natives of Germany, coming to this country soon after their marriage. Mr. Hartman is deceased; his wife is a resident of Jackson Township. Mr. and Mrs. Wise have one child - Minnie B., born January 26, 1882. Mr. Wise purchased twenty-two acres in 1881, j)aying $965. The farm is in excellent repair, and is valued at $75 per acre. He has been tilling the homestead with his father all his days, and is regarded as one of the best of farmers in the county. In politics, Mr. Wise is a liberal Democrat. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Wharton, having passed all the chairs of that lodge.

GEORGE W. YOUNG is a native of this county, born April 1, 1841, to Louis and Christina (Dennis) Young, natives of Ohio and of German and Irish descent - his grandfather Young coming from Ireland, and his grandmother from Germany. His parents located in this county in 1836, rearing a family of twelve children - Cornelius D., George W., Eliza, John R. and Robert L. being the only ones living. The father died in 1869, aged liftyfive year; the mother in 1871, at the same age. Mr. Young obtained a limited education, being compelled to stay at home clearing land. At twenty-one he married Sylvania Bernheisel, the date of the event being June 8, 1862. She was a daughter of Henry and Susanna (Snider) Bernheisel, natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent. They settled in Richland County in 1845, and in this county about two years later. They were farmers, and parents of twelve children. The mother resides in this township in her seventieth year. Mr. and Mrs. Young are the parents of live children - Lawrence R. , born May 6, 1863; Floi^ence A., July 1, 1865; Harriet A., September 15, 1867; Orrin O., June 8, 1871; Dessie C, July 28, 1881. Mrs. Young was born March 25, 1847. After his marriage, Mr. Young rented land for several years, purchasing his present farm in 1872. It then consisted of forty acres, but now comprises 130. In 1880, he erected a fine barn at $900, and in 1882 an elegant frame house at $2,000. His farm is in a tine state of cultivation and well drained. Mr. Young is a Democrat. He and his wife are both members of the United Brethren Church, of which he is Trustee.

Source changes here: from Past and Present of Wyandot County Ohio, by A.j. Baughman, published 1913; 1,553 words in this source stream.

Richland Township

This township derives its name from the richness of its soil, a soil bountifully provided with qualities that yield to the diligent and prudent tiller of the land a rich and generous return for his labors.

Richland is bounded on the north, for three miles from east to west, by Ridge township, and for the remaining two miles by Hancock county; on the east by Salem township; on the south for four miles from east to west by Jackson township, for the remaining mile by Hardin county; on the west by Hancock county. Having already spoken of the alimental properties of the soil, it can be safely further said of Richland that it ranks among the foremost townships of Wvandot county as an agricultural section, and as a field for stockraising purposes it is not a whit behind. The township is studded with prosperous farms, well drained (for the drains or ditches here are most extensive, some of them spreading completely across the township), incumbered with but little timber, and inhabited by a wide-awake, thriving and contented people. |

The streams in this township are not many, nor of any degree of magnitude, and their rarity is not to be complained of as the soil is sufficiently saturated with moisture to be independent of any such outside sustentation. There are only two roads in Richland that run in a direction other than on the section or Congressional lines, or parallel with them. Of these two roads, one leaves the southern line of section 15, about a quarter mile west of Whartonsburg, cuts off a corner of that section, and leads northwest through sections 16 and 17, into Hancock county; the other, the Burlington & Mount Blanchard road, laid out in March, 1835, runs through section 32 from Hardin county into Hancock county. The highways leading from north to south are: One on Hancock township line as, far as section 11, where it unites with the road first mentioned; one intersecting sections 4, 9 and 16 as far as first mentioned road;. another intersects sections 3, 10 and 15, terminating at Whartonsburg; a fourth enters the township between sections 1 and 2, leading to a mile north of Jackson township; and a fifth runs along the entire dividing line of Richland and Salem townships. Of those leading from east to west, there is one along the entire north line, the first regularly laid out road in the township (1835) ; a second, a mile further south, runs the entire width of the township; a third, another mile southward, to within a mile and a half of Hancock county; a fourth, another mile further south, reaches into Hancock county; another mile, and a road is found traversing to a point half a mile east of Hancock county; the sixth and seventh roads, exactly a mile apart (and the sixth a mile from the fifth) lead through the entire township.

The C., C., C. & St. L. railroad, commonly called the '' Big Four,'' extends through this township from the northeast to the southwest, with a station at Whartonsburg, or Wharton, as it is now called. It is in about the center of the townae Carey, in Crawford township, is also a station on this road.

Dr. Samuel Pickett was born in Athens county, Ohio, September 10, 1820. In 1830, his parents, Samuel and Ghote Pickett, natives of eee and Virginia respectively, came and settled in what is now Richland township, then part of Hancock county. The doctor was a leading citizen and a

1834, he came to Wyandot county and settled in Richland township, where he purchased 160 acres of land in section 28. He married, in 1823, and had eight children. For thirty years he was a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, and was prominently connected with it.

Conrad Wickiser, a native of Germany, came to Ohio with his family in 1810, settling in Perry county; from there removed to Delaware county, and in 1834 to Richland township, this county, where he entered 120 acres of land. He was married to Lydia Wicks, and had eleven children.

About the same period came Charles Smith from Delaware, who built a cabin on section 17. Beers Roberts came from same county and located on section 17; then Iva Bristoll, on section 17; John James, on section 1; Silas Burson, on section 1; James Cole, on section 2; Abraham Cole on section 8; Harvey Chilson, on section 18; Simeon Buell, on section 32.

In 1841, Solomon Spoon came from near McCutchenville, this county, and settled in this township. He was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1802. Removing to New York state he remained there until he emigrated westward, coming to Ohio, a distance of 500 miles with an ox team. After remaining one year near Cleveland, he moved to this county.

Isaiah Liles, a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, born in 1818, bought in 1839 eighty acres of land, but did not move on it till 1842. Among other settlers may be named George James, W. W. Duffield, David Morrison, Andrew and George W. Reynolds.

The first schoolhouse in Richland township was built in 1835, and the first school was held therein. The building stood in the southwest quarter of section 17, a 16x20-feet structure of round logs, having a roof made of clapboards held on by poles, a puncheon floor, and a door made of split boards, hung on wooden hinges. The windows were holes cut through the logs and covered with oiled paper. The chimney, which shivered in winter on the outside of the institution, was composed of sticks and mud.

A second educational establishment was erected in 1839, on the northeast quarter of section 2, similar in construction to its predecessor, excepting that it was 20x40 feet in size, and had the distinguished addition of an upper floor of round logs, having the cracks filled with leaves and mud.

Charles Smith was the first dominie in the township, and taught in the schoolhouse first built, during the winters of 1835, 1836 and 1837, the attendance averaging about twenty pupils. Abraham Cole was the first teacher in the schoolhouse built in 1839.

The first sermon preached in Richland township was June 28, 1835, in the house of Joshua Cole, in the northwest quarter of section 2, on which occasion James Peters, an Old School Baptist minister, took for his text the entire twenty-fifth chapter of St. Mathew's gospel, and it is said his sermon was in corresponding length with his text.

The Methodist Episcopal denomination erected the first ehurch building in Richland township. It was built in 1852, on the northwest quarter of section 28. It was eeineiannerau of hewed logs, and it was 24x34 feet in size.

The Star Bethel Church of God society held its first meeting in the fall of 1854, in the Morrison schoolhouse, and was organized about the same time in the same schoolhouse. The organization consisted of eleven members. Their first church building in this township was erected in 1876, on the northeast quarter of section 13. )

The first wedding among the first white settlers of this township took place in December, 1834, at the residence of Conrad Wickiser, in section 21, the contracting parties being John Roberts and Abigail Wickiser. The first birth in the township was that of Maria James, on the first day of May, . 1835.. The first death was that of Elijah Benjamin, a child aged four years, who was killed December 25, 1834, by the falling of a tree.

In 1838 James P. Ward brought the first buggy into the township. The first grist mill was built in 1855, by John and George Sterling at Whartonsburg. They also erected the first saw mill, in 1858. The first store in the township was opened by James P. James, in Whartonsburg. Previous to the opening of this store the settlers had to go many miles for their supplies. The first election held in the township was in April, 1835, at the home of James Duddleson, section 4. The first blacksmith shop was erected in 1835, in the northeast quarter of section 1. The first house built in the township was by Hescot Pickett, in 1832. It was of round logs, and 16x18 feet in dimensions.

The town of Wharton is situated in Richland township and on the Springfield & Sandusky division of the New York Central railroad, known as the ''Big Four.'' It is an attractive little village of 500 inhabitants, and is surrounded by a rich agricultural community. It has a bank, a hardware store, one drug store, three groceries, two dry goods stores, a wagon shop, a blacksmith shop, a lumber yard and a furniture store, but no saloon. It also has a fine grain and stock market.

_ The town has graded schools that compare favorably with any in the county, and has a high school of forty pupils. It also has two chureches - the Methodist Episcopal and the Chureh of God.

The town was laid out in 1848, shortly after the railroad was built, which was then called the Mad River road. The first house in the place was built by N. Depew. The first store was kept by James P:- James, who was also the first postmaster.