Levi and Olive Stone Wilder, Prominent Farmers and Early Settlers of Farmer

 

"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.

Farmer Cemetery - From www.findagrave.com - "This is an unusual cemetery plot and family monument. The family monument has three very large red and gray stone arches with a very tall statue of a woman on the center arch. The statue is facing west. The plot is raised about eighteen inches and is covered all the way around with a stone wall. There are eight persons buried on the plot, five with the surname Wilder and three with the surname Nisley..."

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."

 Farmer Cemetery - Levi and Olive Stone

W. P. A. Cemetery Survey - Farmer Cemetery, Farmer Township

The Works Progress Administration was formed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in reaction to the Great Depression as a means of employing Americans and stimulating the economy.  Established in 1935, one of the projects of the W.P.A. was to conduct Historical Records Surveys, one of which included finding information on cemeteries and the graves of veterans.  The W.P.A. was disbanded in 1943, but the historical information provided on these surveys continue to be of interest and are, thankfully, preserved.

In this series, some of the general surveys of Defiance County cemeteries will be shared, transcribed as written with a few punctuation and/or spelling changes for readability.  The surveys were probably done around 1936.
For more up to date information on the cemeteries, check out this chart on our website:
 http://defiancecountygenealogy.org/cemeteries.html

Farmer Cemetery

1. Name of cemetery:
The Farmer Cemetery, Farmer Center, Ohio

2. Location, how reached:
This beautiful cemetery is located one half mile west and one quarter mile north of the village of Farmer Center, Ohio, reached by going west on route #2 from the village limits and turning north at the first half mile cross road.  Follow this road one quarter mile and the cemetery is on the left or west side of the road.  It cannot be missed as it faces and abuts the road.

3. General description, size, appearance, denomination, fencing, etc.:
This cemetery is the fourth largest in the county, and one of the finest and best kept up, and as the Hicksville Cemetery has some of the most costly markers in any graveyard.  It is heavily wooded with pine, cedar, maple and oak, and quite a few walnut trees.  Its shrubbery and hedges are very beautiful and well trimmed and it has (been) well kept, diverse stone and two gateways, it is fenced both with an evergreen hedge and an ornamental iron fence.

It is laid out in large lots, which are larger than any other cemetery we have made as yet, and a lot of these private lots are terraced up as mounds with concrete walls around them and steps leading up to the ground above.  The Wilder- Nicely plot is the finest of these.

This graveyard contains fifteen acres, is undenominational and is municipal being owned by the village of Farmer Center and Farmer Township.  Lots are sold to individuals; it is said to be the most costly burial ground in the county.

Photo from www.findagrave.com

5.  Name and date of first burial recorded:
There is a monument in this graveyard, a small white slab, which says erected to the memory of Eff. J. Reigle in 1818, however, he was not buried at this spot then, as this district in 1818 was never heard of or passed through by white men.  His body was interred here later, possibly about 1840; in the years 1839 and 1840, this place was used as a burying ground by the early settlers.

Fidelia Bronson was buried here in 1839.  However, the graveyard was not opened officially until during the Civil War.  At that time, there were around twenty five graves scattered on this farm.  All were moved to this one spot in 1863, and a Farmer Township graveyard started, at first with five acres.  It has been used extensively ever since.

6. Names of important persons buried there, for what noted:
Naturally, a cemetery of this size and age, there are many old, early pioneer settlers buried here.  There is Mike Nicely, 1813 - 1883; Alec Roan, 1825 - 1903; John Erlsten, 1839 - 1929; Gil Thompson, 1809 - 1906; Moses Gardner, 1811 - 1881; A. P. McConkey, 1838 - 1906.
All the above mentioned men were founders of the families of the same name who reside in the district today.    

Then there is the grave of John Norway, 1836 - 1911, one of the co-founders of Farmer Center, Ohio, who was mentioned in my History of Farmer Center, Ohio.

Darias Allen, 1807 - 1869, one of the richest men in the township, who left a fortune to his heirs.

The earliest birth record is that of Jacob Knight, 1787 - 1855, who was an old War of 1812 soldier.

Philip Noble, 1816 - 1887, first sheriff of Defiance County in 1845 and for whom Noble Township was named.

The Hon. A. G. Biglow, noted historian, scholar and man of letters, born in 1806, died 1875, one time representative to Congress, noted college professor, etc.

Photo from www.findagrave.com

7. Markers of unusual appearance:
The finest markers are those on the Wilder - Nicely lot, built up and marble, modern Roman style marker, with an urn of the same material on each side, and five headstones of the same material in front.  
 

Wonderful photo from www.findagrave.com showing the Wilder-Nicely plot

  The lots of the Fickle families, three in number are fixed up almost as nice.
Then the high pedestal type stone of the Hon. A. G. Biglow is worthy of note and the highest in the cemetery.

There is also a huge granite marker of gray erected to the memory of Walter Tomlinson, 1843 - 1935, which is the most modern and of the Roman type.  It is almost square stone five feet high, thick and wide.  

  
There are, by far, more fine and handsome markers in this cemetery for its size than in any other graveyard of its size. This graveyard ranks with Riverside at Defiance, Ohio and Forest Home at Hicksville, Ohio, in beauty, well-kept grouns, fine markers and noted personages, and costly upkeep.

8. Unusual epitaphs:
The usual run of readings are on the stones in this graveyard.  The main oddity is the marker erected to the memory of Eff. J. Reigel, who died, and the stone of Hon. A. G. Biglow, which gives a brief history of his life.

9. Is cemetery used for new burials?
This cemetery is one of the most used graveyards in Defiance County today.