Defiance County Pioneers - Mrs. Southworth Enos

Esther Mildred (Southworth) Enos was the wife of William Enos, who preceded her in death in 1879.  William, her second husband, was a hero of the Civil War, organizing the 88th Regiment when he was 50 years old and serving two enlistments. He would not take a pension for himself during his lifetime, but after his death, his wife applied for a widow's pension.

The couple married in 1849, a second marriage for both, and together, they had one son, Benjamin Franklin Enos -"Frank" - who became a noted lawyer in the area. 

In celebration of her birthday, the Defiance Democrat interviewed her and printed this article on February 25, 1897:

"MRS. ENOS, A PIONEER, PASSES THE 76TH YEAR OF LIFE'S JOURNEY.

Reminiscences of Frontier Times 

Mrs. Southworth Enos passed an advanced milestone on life's journey last Friday - the seventy-sixth.  Mrs. Enos is one of the pioneers of the city, having come here when but sixteen years of age, and she was married and lived in the house on the corner of Jackson and First streets fifty years ago and over, when that was the extreme edge of Defiance.

Mrs. Enos is a sweet, gentle, and motherly lady, whose good health and ability to care for herself speak of the righteous christian life she has always led, a constant member for more than sixty years of the M.E. church

Mrs. Enos has one brother living in Defiance, Mr. Southworth on the north side.

When she came to Defiance, there are few people now living whom she remembers, but Mrs. Weisenberger Eck was her neighbor and a pleasant, affable friend.  The three counties had not yet been divided and the Indians were numerous in these parts.

She remembers one time when an old squaw applied to her mother for assistance, and as her mother was entirely out of bread and could not give her any, the old squaw got wrathy and caught her mother by the hair and began to drag her from the house.  Some gentlemen passing interfered and this was the only tme she remembers the Indians being hostile.  There were lots of them and they came often and had their camp fires and pow-wows on the site of the G. W. Bechel property.  They were clad in primitive style, wearing a loose blanket only for protection fro the most severe weather and were usually only offensive in their begging.

So we see, if our grandmothers did not have tramps to feed, they had Indians.

Mrs. Enos buried her husband, William Enos, in 1879.  She has but one son living, in whose house she makes her home, and is passing her days in serenity and rest, after an earnest life well spent." 

 For more information on the Southworth/ Enos family, visit HERE.