Edwin Phelps - Early Defiance County Pioneer

From the Defiance Democrat - September 23, 1897

"OVER THE RIVER.

The Oldest Citizen of Defiance

Passes Peacefully Away.

Edwin Phelps, After a Continuous Residence of More than Sixty-three Years Drops Asleep in that Quiet Repose Which is the End of all Things Earthly.

'His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him

That nature may stand up and say to all the world,

This was a man.'     Shakespeare.

Mr. Edwin Phelps died suddenly at his home on Jefferson street last night about 11 o'clock.  His age was 81 years, 8 months and 23 days.

A gloom was cast over Defiance and community this beautiful morning in early Autumn when it was known that Edwin Phelps, our oldest citizen, had passed from time to eternity.  His life work was well done.  He left a saddened community, a multitude of friends and a devoted family to mourn the loss of the dear father who fell asleep, Sept 28, 1897.

The following obituary is furnished by Hon. W. D. Hill, the trusted friend and fellow worker of Mr. Edwin Phelps:

"Edwin Phelps was born at Richville, St. Laurence County, New York, Dec. 30th, 1815.  The former name of his birth place is DeKalb.  He was an intimate acquaintance and friend of Silas Wright, the eminent Democratic leader and U. S. Senator from the state of New York.

He emigrated to Defiance county, Ohio in August, 1834, and was admitted to the bar in 1839.  He married Mary A. Woodward in 1840 who survived but one year; in 1843, he married Emily Eaton and of this marriage, three children were born, Adelaide Victoria, Emily J. Phelps, who married Mr. Chas. Seymour of this city, Ida R. Phelps who married Mr. Gensheimer and resides now at Erie, Pa.

 Mr. Phelps was married again Sept. 25th, 1862, to Evaline Richardson of Defiance.  Of this union, there were born Mary Alice (now Ackley) of Granville, Ohio; Helen Dorothy; Julia who died in 1864, and Grace, who died in 1870, Abbie (now Mrs. F. P. Weisenberger) of Defiance, and Edwin J., now a law student in Defiance.  

Mr. Phelps was appointed Clerk of the courts of Williams County in 1837, eight years before the organization of Defiance County.  Afterwards in the organization of Defiance county, in 1845, he was made its first Auditor by appointment and was also a member of the first board of school examiners of Defiance county.  Was elected Clerk of the Courts in 1857 and served in that capacity altogether about seventeen years; he was also at one time Prosecuting Attorney of Paulding county for one term.  

From the date of his coming to Defiance, he was actively engaged in politics, attended the state conventions of his party, nearly all the county and district conventions and also National conventions.  The last National Convention to which he was a delegate was at Chicago in 1864 when George B. McClelland was nominated for President.

From an old memorandum book of his, it is learned that he left New York with $3 in his pocket which he borrowed with which to come west; that when he landed he had a five franc piece and seven cents left.  As ferried across the Maumee river at the foot of Jefferson street by the father of Mrs. Jonas Colby and E. F. Lindenberger on the 20th of August,1834.  He expended his seven cents for crackers to appease his hunger and through the influence of an uncle whom he found here, he obtained employment from the keeper of the hotel at $8 a month and board.  During all the time Mr. Phelps resided in Defiance, he was an earnest and active worker in the interest of the town and the development of the county.

When the county seat of Williams county was removed from Defiance to Bryan, the people immediately began a movement for the organization of Defiance county.  Mr. Phelps, being a Democrat in politics, was requested by his friends to go to Columbus in 1845 to use his influence with the Democratic members to get his bill passed organizing a new county of Defiance out of territory taken from Williams, Paulding and Henry counties.

He spent his time and money in securing the location and construction of the Toledo and Illinois railroad through Defiance, which is now the Wabash railway.  Prior to that he had taken active part in the construction of the Miami & Erie canal and was for a time employed on the canal. When the 'Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. proposed to extend its line to Chicago through this county, Mr. Phelps took an active interest in it and traveled night and day soliciting aid and right of way to make sure of the location of the road through Defiance. A few years ago he went to work as vigorously as a young man of 25 for the Columbus, Lima & Milwaukee railroad, which is now being revived again.    

In physique Mr. Phelps was a giant in strength; he had a wonderful constitution and some of his friends now believe that if he had never been connected with the Erie mills in this city, where he spent a great deal of his time repairing the water power of that mill and inhaling the poisonous odors of the water and mud of the canal, he would have lived to be a hundred years old.

Mr. Phelps was always kind to his family, true to his friends, and universally respected by everybody who knew him.  He received more than his share of political honors and never was defeated but once in a popular election, which was in 1862 when he was a candidate for congress against Gov. Ashley and the late Chief Justice Waite.  In that triangular contest, Gov. Ashley was elected.

When Mr. Phelps was admitted to the bar on the 7th of December 1839, before the Supreme Court of Ohio, the committee who examined him were Peter Hitchcock, Henry Stanberry, P. B. Wilcox, John W. Andrews and Judge George J. Smith, all giants in intellect and man of national fame in the legal profession.  The late Chief Justice White, of the Supreme Court of Ohio, once said after presiding over a term of district court in this county, that 'Mr. Phelps was the best and most accurate clerk of the courts in the State of Ohio.'"

Mr. Phelps was an old Mason, supposed to have been a charter member of the Defiance Commandery.  The members of the Bar held a meeting at the court house yesterday afternoon to commemorate his memory and make arrangements for his funeral.

On Tuesday evening, he retired seemingly in the best of health; a few minutes after he went to his bed, his wife went into the room and found that he had entered upon his last sleep.  The funeral services will take place Friday afternoon from the Presbyterian church at 2 o'clock, Rev. B. W. Slagle officiating."  

Old Riverside Cemetery - www.findagrave.com

Read Edwin Phelps' memoirs on the DCGS website :
http://defiancecountygenealogy.org/ 

Ice Cream - 5 Cents!

For many years, Lloyd V. Tuttle contributed historic photos and information to the Defiance Crescent-News for his column: "A Backward Glance."  This clipping was undated.

"ONE OF the nice things about living in Defiance back in the horse and buggy days was the ice cream wagon that passed your door.  Notice the sign painted on the window of the wagon, 'Ice Cream Cones, 5c.'

John K. Bridenbaugh, 511 Jefferson Av., brought the picture in, but does not know the man in the wagon or who operated the business.  The picture is on a photo postcard."

Can anyone provide more information?

Charles Bowker - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

Lurana Butler Bowker

 Born in 1812 in New York, he married Lurana Butler about 1837, and they set up housekeeping in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York.

The census enumerator found them there in 1850 when Charles, at 38, was a successful farmer with $2000 in real estate.  He and Lurana had children - Marian, 11, Sherman, 9, and Homer, 1, at that time.  Again in 1860, they were there with the addition of Charles C., their last child.

In 1860, they were still in New York farming when their son, Sherman, turned 20.  He enlisted in the Union Army just a few years later and came to an early death as described in the previous post.


At some point, Charles also served for the Union, but it has been difficult to zone in on the unit in which he served.  Researchers at the Farmer Cemetery where he is buried have him on their list of veterans as a member of the National Guard.  He would have been over 50 years old, so that could be a good assumption.

The family moved to Center Township, Williams County, before the 1870 census with their remaining son, Charles Jr., 13, and Etta, 26, perhaps a boarder, who taught music.  Charles, at 58, had been denied voting due to insanity.  He had real estate worth $550 and person effects worth $200.  He died just about six months after the census taker's August visit, on February 3, 1871.  

By the 1880 census, Charles C. Jr. was now head of the household at 23, with his wife, Mary Ann, also 23.  Lurana, 65, lived with them in Center Township, Williams County.   Lurana married again to John Stackhouse on January 7, 1883, but he died in 1890.

Lurana Bowker Stackhouse lived in Farmer in 1900, 85 and a widow and a landlord.  Born December, 1814, she had had four children, but only one was living.  Charles C. had died, and Lurana lived next to his widow, Mary Ann Bowker, a capitalist, now 45.  Two of Mary Ann's children lived there also: Louis, 25, a teacher, and Neal, 15, a grocery salesman.  

Thirty-seven years after her first husband's death, Lurana died in March, 1908.  Her obituary appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on March 19, 1908, in local news.  Her son-in-law (husband to deceased daughter, Marian) had come to assist.

"Mr. Hiram Weldon, formerly of this city but of late years a resident of Elyria, was called to this place Saturday of last week on account of the death of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Stackhouse of Farmer, who departed this life at the ripe old age of ninety three years.

Mrs. Stackhouse had resided in Farmer for a number of years prior to her death and during her sojourn in life, had made a host of friends.  She was a christian lady and devoted to her church.

The body was brought to this place by undertaker Charles W. Miller of this city Monday of this week and laid in state until Tuesday last.  Funeral services conducted by Rev. Miller of this place; interment in the Farmer Cemetery Tuesday last."

Sherman O. Bowker - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

92nd Regiment, Company A - Read more about the 92nd HERE.

Sherman Bowker's early life was spent near Potsdam in Saint Lawrence County, New York.  Born to Charles and Lurana Bowker about 1840, Sherman grew up on a farm and called himself a farmer, too.









In June, 1863, the Civil War draft was instituted, and Sherman Bowker registered and went to serve.  He was a single farmer, just 23 years old, when he enlisted on June 30, 1863, into Company C, 92nd New York Infantry.  By July, the company was at Fort Anderson, North Carolina in battle.  They eventually made their way back into Virginia where they suffered heavy losses at Cold Harbor in June, 1864.  He remained in Virginia until mustering out in January, 1865.

At some point, Sherman married Henrietta Fuller and the Bowkers relocated to Defiance County.  Soon after, Sherman became ill and died, leaving no children.  He died on New Year's Day, 1867 in Hicksville.  Only one obituary could be located for Sherman and that was in the Courier and Freeman newspaper in Potsdam, New York, on January 10, 1867.

"In Farmer, Ohio, on the 1st Inst. of hemorrhage of the Liver, Sherman O. Bowker, aged 25 years and 4 months."

Farmer Cemetery

 His wife, Henrietta, apparently returned to New York where she was listed on the 1890 Veterans' Census as Sherman's widow.  Pension records show that she received her widows pension until her death on March 24, 1928.

 

Oak Grove School, Delaware Township - 1930, 1932-1935

The Oak Grove School, District #4, was located in Delaware Township, Section 24, on State Route 18 at Flickinger Road.

The souvenir booklet from 1930 could not be scanned, but the contents are here:

"Oak Grove School District No. 4

Delaware Twp., Defiance Co., Ohio

April 18, 1930

"Teacher - Mary R. Lipp

M. E. Brandon, Co. Supt.

School Board

Arthur Sprow, President                  Charles English

H. L. Traxler, Clerk            Harry Bayliss

Otto Luce                           Edward Kretzer 

Pupils

Grade Eight- Mildred Lipp, Monroe Weaner, Edmund Mack

Grade Six - Emery Slough

Grade Five - Leone Corwin, Charles Mitchell, Maurice Weaner

Grade Four - Florence Lipp, Robert Weaner

Grade Three - Clarence Corwin

Grade Two - Mary Slough, Mary Margaret Weaner, Francis Singer, Bernard Singer

Grade One- Betty Dell, Dorothy Lipp, Robert Corwin"

***********

In the 1932 booklet, students' names were written in and included those above and the new first graders who were:

"Iris Traxler, Jean Sanders

Elizabeth Sanders, Rita Weaner

Luella Corwin, Lawrence Stephey"

Mildred Lipp, Monroe Weaner, and Edmund Mack had moved on.

******

In 1933...

******

and in 1934...

*****

 and in 1935...

 

 

Michael Gorman - An Obituary

Almost any genealogist would be overjoyed to find an obituary of an ancestor, especially one filled with details that can enhance his or her family research.  This obituary of Michael Gorman from 1889 is especially generous with the family story of his immigration and settlement in Defiance.  Also, it is notable because it offers a drawing of Mr. Gorman, said to be the only likeness of him, and it names his home village in Ireland. 

 

(This cut is an exact reproduction of the only picture of Mr.Gorman in

existence which is some twenty-five years old.) 

"The familiar face of Michael Gorman will no longer be seen upon our streets.  He has met the grim messenger of Death and followed him beyond the troubles and turmoils of this earth.  Three score years and ten found him quite hale and hearty, and with a step far from feeble.  Two weeks ago, Sunday, April 7th, he was taken ill and rapidly failed, until Friday evening at 8:30 o'clock when, after suffering excruciating pain, he passed away surrounded by his family and many friends.

His funeral took place from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Tuesday at 9 o'clock A.M., Rev. Father Kinkard conducting the solemn service.

Michael Gorman had a life more full of ups and downs than is allotted to most men.  Born September 8th, 1818, in Elphin, Roscommon county, Ireland, he emigrated to America at the age of 28.  He landed at Quebec and made his way to the States of Toronto and Buffalo.  Between the last two cities he traveled by rail, the coaches being drawn by horses. From Buffalo he went to Warren, O., Beaver Falls, Pa., Wheeling, Va and later to Cairo, Ills, when he obtained work on a steamboat as deckhand.  He staid on the river but a short time coming at last to Defiance where he arrived on the 8th of April, 1847, with $7.00 in his pocket.

He began work almost immediately for Edwin Phelps at $1.00 a day.  He was married on the 11th of September, 1851, to Miss Sophia Haverstadt.  From this union ten children have been born, five of whom are living.  

About 1850 he began in the grocery business near the canal west of the Russell House.  He followed this seven years, then purchased a farm but returned to the store in two years.  In 1865 by a speculation in beef and pork, he lost $17,000, which nearly ruined him financially.  But with the pluck and energy of his nation, he began to build up his fortune and succeeded so well as to soon place himself in independent circumstances.  His home on Jefferson street was very pleasant and his other real estate possessions were numerous.

A Democrat all his life, he was elected to the Council when Defiance was but a small town, and in 1882 became County Commissioner which office he held for two terms, serving with honor to himself and his county."

Defiance County Republican Express, Friday, April 19, 1889, p. 4.  
(This was typed because the newspaper print was too light to reproduce here.) 

Craine School, Tiffin Township, 1912

For many years, Lloyd V. Tuttle contributed historic photos and information to the Defiance Crescent-News for his column: "A Backward Glance."  This article was undated.  The photo is of the Craine School pupils of 1912.

"HERE IS the Craine School which was located in the center of Tiffin tp. and was taught by Wade L. Sever, retired county engineer.

Shown are: From left back, Donelda Spangler, Samuel Bevard, Elda Bevard, Wade Stever, the teacher, Richard Fremian, Clela Partee, Alfred Schultz
Middle Row: Elizabeth Bevard, Esther Schultz, Helen Partee, Hazel Dezellet
Front Row: Wilbur Clemens, Lawrence Bevard, Melvin Tittle, Roscoe Bevard and Lester Bevard.

THE picture, which was taken Dec. 3, 1912, was brought in by Mrs. Howard Long, 272 Broadway St.  It belongs to Melvin Tittle, who once worked at the Gray and White plant in Defiance and now lives at 411 Seymore Ave., Jackson, Mich."