"LEE W. WILDER TAKEN BY DEATH
PROMINENT FARMER HAD PASSED AWAY MONDAY AFTERNOON
CAME HERE IN 1846
AND LIVED ON SAME FARM FOR MORE THAN 66 YEARS - LIFE STORY
Lee W. Wilder died at his home near Farmer Monday afternoon after an illness of several weeks. He was 81 years, 6 months and 4 days old when the end came.
Mr. Wilder was born in Three Rivers, Canada on the 27th day of December 1830 and when a child of a few months, his parents moved to New Hampshire, where his early childhood was passed, but while still a little lad, he came to the new West with his family, and his boyhood up to the age of 16 was passed in the Western Reserve, his home being at Mantua, Medina County, a place of which he has written so interestingly in the columns of this paper*."
*The newspaper referred to is the Bryan Press, Bryan, Ohio, which is where this obituary appeared on Thursday, July 4, 1912.
"At 16, he pushed on west and settled in Farmer township, buying a 50 acre farm, the same ground on which his house stands today, and where he made his home for more than 66 years.* He bought the original farm for $295 and had it paid for before he was 21 years old, although he was never able to earn more than $11.50 a month in that time. From his youth, he was a man of great energy and activity."
*The farm was in Section 20 of Farmer Township, just a few miles west of Farmer Center. By the 1860 census, the real estate was reported to be worth $2,000, and by 1870, the value was $8,880; however, he could have added to the farm elsewhere by then. His personal wealth in 1870 was reported at $1500.
"While in his youth and after he had paid for his farm, he devoted some time to railroad building and constructed 11 miles of the Wabash Railroad under a contract with Paul, Rodman?, and Gilson, and for this he received a comparatively large salary of $60 a month. And it was by this activity and (frugality) of the early days that he set the foundation for his companions of his later years when he was able to devote much time to the pursuits he enjoyed, and make himself one of the best known men in this section of the country.
At the age of 23, he was married to Olive Stone*, and the happy association continued until June 2nd, 1908 when the partner of his joys and sorrows was taken away. Their home was brightened by the birth of two children, one of whom, Mrs. A. R. Nisly, passed away last winter in Clarence, Wyoming, where she had gone for her health. The other, a son, Mr. Otis Wilder, remains to cherish his memory."
*Olive Abigail Stone was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, a county that contributed many settlers to Farmer, Ohio. She was the youngest daughter of Alpha Stone Jr. and his wife, Rhoda. She had come to Defiance County in 1846 with her parents. They had a daughter, Lilly, who married Abner Nisley. Both are buried in Farmer Cemetery.
Continuing the obituary...
"Funeral services were held Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, and the mortal remains were laid at rest in the beautiful cemetery at Farmer, in which he took such pride and for the beautifying of which he was so liberal.
Lee Wilder was a man of exceptional abilities in many ways. He enjoyed unbounded health for a long lifetime and took the keenest pleasure in healthful pursuits and pleasures. He was a fisherman of experience and no man ever enjoyed a trip to the northern lakes more than he. He had a wide grasp of public questions and always discussed them with intelligence and fairness.
No one in this country was more interested in the progress of the country, and he had a vast lot of accurate information of the early days which it delighted him to recount. He contributed many stories to this paper and they were read with pleasure and interest by hundreds of people, who came to regard him as an authority and will regret that his active pen has been forever laid aside.
We will all miss his hearty greeting, his strong and firm hand clasp, his kindly eye and cheery voice."
Wow what a story. Tky for sharing. It was very interesting to hear.
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