North vs South in Farmer, Ohio, 1914! Catch Those Varmits!

Farmer's citizens gathered in front of the grange hall where the feast was served.  On the right was the Post Office.

This article was written by Madge Cunningham and submitted to one of the local papers:

"A BIG NEW YEARS BANQUET

Losers in Unique Contest in Farmer Township Set 'Em Up to the Winners

If ever an affair of this sort deserved capital letters, this is it!  Therefore, I do not hesitate to name it an Unqualified Success.

I refer to the Banquet given on New Year's day by the Honorable Losers of the South Side to the Honored Winners of the North Side in the Farmer twp. Rat Killing Contest, which ended December 24, after about 5 weeks pretty continuous hunting.

Following are figures for both sides:

North Side                    South Side

2,696            rats           2,741

4,636            mice          3,387

2,913           sparrows   2,705

9                   hawks             3

-                   crows               2

25,890        points         23,279

Although, there were killed 5,437 rats, 8023 mice, 5,618 sparrows, 12 hawks, and 2 crows, which ought to count a good many points for the farmers and others who benefited.

About 10:30 the crowd began to collect from all directions but long before this, the fires had been started and water carried so that all might be in readiness for cooks and baskets.  And when they came!  Words are weak things to use in describing such an outlay of edibles.  Nothing like it had ever been seen or even imagined by most of us.  Besides everything of the best in a super abundance from out of the farms, there was served by agile, white aproned men and boys, 15 gallons of oysters, 1000 buns and 5 lbs. of most excellent coffees.

A humorous photo set up with a large knife and fork and a huge platter for a plate, filled with food and a jumbo coffee cup.  This winner planned to eat well!

 A register was made of all who sat down at the loaded tables and there were found upon actual count to have been a total of 530 fed upon this occasion between the hours of 12 and 3 p.m.  One continuous performance and a lot of fun mixed in for seasoning.

We of the South Side wish especially to thank our friends on the North Side for the well filled baskets brought by most of them, also Messrs. W. S. Tomlinson, P. W. Burns, R. E. Foote, G. W. Richardson, C. J. Kittredge, O. A. Rice and six other gentlemen, names unknown, for their liberal cash donations, totaling $13.60...

Indeed we can only end as we begun by saying we had a Big Day in Farmer!

M.B. C."

Farmer citizens enjoying their feast in the top room of the Grange.

William Brown Yeagley - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

William Yeagley once described himself as a "capitalist," and he surely was.  He bought and sold land, ran a farm, worked as a surveyor and invested in a canning factory.  William was a Pennsylvania man, born on November 15, 1833, to Andrew and Catharine (Dougherty) Yeagley.  



When he was 21, he married Margaret Hendershot, but after settling the family in Dekalb County, Indiana, and starting a family, he enlisted in the Indiana Volunteer Infantry - Company H, 88th Regiment.  He was twenty eight years old and had three children (and possibly one on the way) at the time of his enlistment on August 12, 1862.  Organized at Newville, Indiana, the 88th met together in Fort Wayne before marching together to Louisville.  They pursued Bragg through Kentucky and Tennessee, losing fifty-six men at the Battle of Stones River.  They were involved in the horrendous battle at Chickamauga, climbed Lookout Mountain with Hooker by November 24th, and then fought at Missionary Ridge on the next day.  They were heavily involved in the fighting on Sherman's march to the sea.  Later, William would name his son, born in 1863, Sherman, in honor of the general he admired.  

By 1870, William and Margaret had settled in Center Township, Williams County, where he farmed.  Their children, at that time, were Blanche, 14; Park, 13; Lottie, 8; and Sherman, 7.  The first two children were born in Ohio and the second two in Indiana.  

Washington Township, Defiance County, was the family's home in 1880.  Little Madge, who was 5 then, was now in the family.  Park and Sherman helped their father on the farm.  In 1886, William purchased 80 acres in Farmer Township from Allen Barrows, and at some point the family moved there.  William not only farmed, but he was a businessman, too, investing in and serving on the board of the Farmer Canning Company.

Defiance Weekly Express, August 10, 1899

In the 1900 census, William, then 66, gave "capitalist" as his occupation, as did his sister, Catharine J. Britton, a widow, who lived with him.  Margarette, 62, also had Madge, 25, single, at home, and Ella B. Tharp, 22, a granddaughter.  Madge worked as a saleslady in a grocery store and Ella was a dressmaker.  It was noted that Ella was married less than a year, but her husband's whereabouts...and name...are unknown.

About 1901, Madge married Vernon E. Cunningham, a house painter, and the couple lived with her parents.  William was then 76 and Margaret, 72, in Farmer Township.  

William died on February 19, 1915.  His obituary appeared in the Crescent-News on March 5, 1915:

Daniel D Diehl, comrade of William Yeagley in Company H

Margaret Hendershot Yeagley lived on another ten years, passing away in February, 1925.  Her obituary appeared in the Crescent News on February 7, 1925:

Farmer Cemetery