In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1899) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1838, Monroe county
From Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and (1899), History of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio; (1888)
Charles Luther Allen, one of the sons of Isaac Allen, and the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Clarkson, N. Y,. on the i6th day of November, in the year 1838. Up to 1859 he lived at his father's home, but in that year he came to Fulton county and took up his above in Gorham township, where his brother, Dr. Allen, was then a resident. Here Charles taught school for a time, but afterward accepted a position in the store of Thompson & Cadwell, where he remained until August, 186 1. He then enhsted in Company K, Thirty-eighth O. I. V., and, upon the organization of the company, was elected second lieutenant. In this capacity he served for about six months, when, after the battle at Mill Springs, he was assigned to duty on the staff of General Shoeppf, commanding the Ohio Brigade. Some time later Lieutenant Allen was promoted to first lieutenant and made regimental quartermaster, serving as such nearly a year, when he was assigned to duty as regimental adjutant.
On January i, 1864, Lieutenant Allen, on account of disabilities that unfitted him for active field service, resigned, which resignation being accepted, he returned to Fayette the same month. For the succeeding four or five months Mr. Allen acted as enrolling officer at Fayette, and rendered efficient service in that capacity during the latter part of the war.
In October, 1865, Charles L. Allen was married to Susan Gamber, the daughter of Henry and Mary Gamber, of Fayette. Of this marriage two children have been born.
In this same year Mr. Allen engaged in the mercantile business at Fayette, in partnership with his brother, Joseph O. Allen, which firm relations were maintained and the business conducted with a fair degree of success for about four years, when our subject became its sole owner and so continued for a period of about ten years, when the mercantile department was disposed of, and he thereafter continued the produce dealing branch until the month of November, 1885, when this department was discontinued.
In this year the Bank of Fayette was established, and in it Mr. Allen took an interest; he was chosen its cashier and has so acted to the present time, having practically the management of its business. The success of this well conducted and growing institution fully attests the business capacity of our subject.
During the years 1880-I Mr. Allen represented Fulton county in the sixty-fourth General Assembly of the State, and upon the expiration of his first term was re-elected to the sixty-fifth General Assembly.
Biographical. 575
Upon the organization of Gorham Lodge, No. 387, F. and A. M., Charles L. Allen was one of its charter members; he is also a member of Stout Post, G. A. R., and A. D. C. on the staff of the department commander.
BARBER, Colonel E. L. Epaphras Lord Barber is a native of Ohio, and was born at Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, December 16, 1830. Of the five children born to Epaphras L. and Jerusha T. (Sargent) Barber, he was the third. The days of his boyhood and youth were spent on his father's farm at work, and in attending the district school during the winter terms. At the age of eighteen years young Barber joined an engineer corps and was employed on the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, where he had a practical education in surveying and civil engineering. After a few months engaged in this work he attended a private school for nearly two years, but again returned to engineering and perfected himself in that profession. After leaving the C. C. & C. road he was engaged on other work of the same character, and in 1853 came to Fulton county, being then employed on the Air Line, now the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. In connection with the work in this county he had headquarters at Delta.
Mr. Barber continued his connection with the construction of this road until about 1856, when, having become interested in lands in the vicinity of Wauseon and elsewhere in the county, he severed his connection with the road to give attention to the real estate business. Two years later he was appointed station agent at Wauseon, and held that position for two years, resigning in 1860 to resume his real estate business, but to continue therein for a single year only, when loyalty and patriotism called him into an entirely new field of action.
When, in April, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, in answer to the president's call for troops, a company was at once raised at Wauseon, and among them Mr. Barber's name was found. At the election of officers he was made captain of Company H, of the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry, and served with that command during the term of their enlistment, and was mustered out at Toledo in August, 1861. Prior to the muster-out, and while awaiting that event Captain Barber re-enlisted and was appointed major in the Thirty-eighth Infantry, which was then forming. With this regiment he served for a period of eight months in Kentucky, when, on account of the death of his business partner, Nathaniel Leggett, he resigned his commission and returned home.
Not long, however, was he to remain there, for he was soon called to Columbus by Governor Tod, advanced to the rank of colonel and directed to organize the One Hundredth and the One Hundred and Eleventh Regiments. This he did promptly and well, and was placed in command of the latter and went to Cincinnati with them to repel the threatened invasion of the State by the rebel forces under General Bragg. The duties assigned him by the gov-
576 History of Henry and Fulton Counties.
ernor being fulfilled, Colonel Barber returned to his business interests at Wauseon in the fall of 1862.
In connection with the military career of our subject it may be remarked that at the time of his enlistment, in the spring of 1 861, he had no special desire for advancement to a position more exalted than that occupied by his comrades; but they made him captain, knowing his capacity as a man of business, and having full confidence in his ability as a commanding officer. As an officer, in preparing his command for the field, Colonel Barber was a strict disciplinarian; so rigidly, indeed, did he enforce the rules and regulations of tactics, and so thoroughly did he instruct and drill the men, that murmurs of discontent were not infrequent; yet, after the three-months men were discharged and re-enlisted, of those of his company that returned to the service no less than twelve were made commissioned officers, thus reaping direct benefit from the instruction received at his hands. Again, as an organizer he was no less efficient; insomuch that the governor called him from private life to organize two regiments for the service, besides the other important duties entrusted to his charge.
Having returned to Wauseon in the fall of 1862, Colonel Barber resumed his business of dealing in real estate, and to this he has devoted more or less of his time to the present day. In the spring of 1 863 he established a banking house at the place, of which he was sole owner and manager until 1865, at which time Naman Merrill became a partner therein. The firm remained unchanged until the month of June, 1879, when E. S. Callendar became a partner. In November following Mr. Merrill died, since which event the bank has been owned and managed under the firm name and style of Barber & Callendar. In November, 1885, Colonel Barber became interested in a bank established at the village of Fayette, and known as the Bank of Fayette, but his interest therein is, in the main, an investment, the management of the business being in charge of residents of that place. As a man of business Colonel Barber occupies a position in the county second to none; his integrity, his honesty and his careful business methods are well known, and he enjoys the confidence of the people. His manner of doing business is strict, as it is acknowledged that to be successful, banking must be done on strict business principles; he has been successful and no man has deserved success more than he; he is public spirited and generously aids every enterprise looking to the advancement of his town and its people.
On the 20th of day of October, 1853, Epaphras L. Barber married Sophia H. Watkins, daughter of Timothy Watkins, of Cleveland. Of this marriage two children, one son and one daughter, have been born.
BRIGGS, FRANK, the subject of this sketch, was born in Wayne county, O., on the 15th of February, 1842, and was the third of seven children, sons and daughters of Francis and Sarah (Cuffle) Briggs. The father, Francis
Briggs, was a physician of much repute in Lucas county. As a youth, Frank was about his father's office much of the time when not at school, or at work on the farm, and there he gained a fair knowledge of pharmacy that was of great benefit to him after he came to reside in Fulton county.
In April, 1861, young Briggs enlisted in Company I, of the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for the three months service. This was a Lucas county company, and with it he served until the month of August following, when he was mustered out. He, in October, 1861, re-enlisted in Company K of the Sixty-Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private, but was promoted for meritorious service, first to sergeant, then to second lieutenant, and, still later, to first heutenant, which latter commission he held at the time of his final muster-out. With the Sixty-Seventh regiment Mr. Briggs served three years and six months.
Unlike the great majority of the young men that entered the service, Lieutenant Briggs saved the earnings of those years, and upon his coming to Delta, in December, 1864, he had five hundred dollars in cash. With this he purchased the stock of drugs and business formerly conducted by Dr. Young at this prosperous village. After making the purchase, Mr. Briggs added to the stock as the requirements of trade and the rapid growth of the town demanded. About twelve years ago he enlarged his business enterprises by the addition of an extensive hardware stock. These he had in adjoining stores, and were successfully conducted by him until the month of September, 1887, when the drug stock was sold and replaced by a large assortment of crockery, glass, and queensware.
Since his residence in Delta, Mr. Briggs has always been in the mercantile business, and, although his beginning was small, it has continued to steadily grow until he is now recognized as one of the leading merchants of the village; nor does his stock in trade represent his whole business, as he is interested in real estate in this vicinity. But whatever of success has attended his efforts, there is no man to say it is undeserved, as his accumulations are the result of his own personal endeavor, and his acknowledged honesty and integrity. This is the common report among the people of the town and locality in which he lives. While Frank Briggs has never been an aspirant for political honors, he has, nevertheless, taken great interest in all that pertains to the political welfare of the county at large, and in the just and economic administration of its affairs. In Delta he has held various town offices — clerk, councilman, and perhaps others of minor importance; but in the advancement of the educational interests of the town, and in keeping up the high standing of the schools he has been especially prominent. In his political preferences, Mr. Briggs is a staunch, determined Republican.
A no less commendable zeal has been shown by our subject in the spiritual welfare of the community. He is prominently connected with the Methodist
578 History of Henry and Fulton Counties.
Episcopal Church, and is one of the trustees of that society. Of his means he has been a generous contributor to the several funds used for the purpose of maintaining and advancing the strength of this and other church societies.
In the Masonic fraternity, Frank Briggs is a member of the lodge and chapter at Delta; also of the Toledo Comniandery. In this ancient order he has advanced step by step until he is now what is termed a thirty-second degree member.
While the business and social relations of our subject have been entirely pleasant and successful, and his progress in these have been married by no untoward event, his home and fireside have been invaded by the Destroyer, and wife and children alike have been taken from him. Mr. Briggs has been thrice married: First, on March 20, 1 864, to Laura Trowbridge, daughter of Elisha Trowbridge, of Delta. She died October 20, 1871. On the 20th of June, 1872, Mr. Briggs married Mattie Hill, daughter of Robert Hill, of Port Washington, Tuscarawas county. Of this marriage two children were born, neither of whom is living. His wife, Mattie, died February 14, 1878. On the loth day of July, 1878, Mr. Briggs married Emma, daughter of Jacob Gelzer,. of Delta. Of this marriage four children have been born, all of whom are living.
HAAG, Hon. J. M. For more than twenty-five years has Judge Haag been in active practice at the bar of the courts of Henry county.
In the thousand and one details that go to make up the character of a successful lawyer, noticeable in the work of Judge Haag, are industry in collecting facts, sagacity and foresight in collating them, broad and comprehensive views of the legal principles applicable to them, and absolute fearlessness in the presentation of his client's cause. Added to these is a memory that is seldom at fault, either regarding a fact or the law. His knowledge of the statutory code laws of Ohio, even after the codifiers had exhausted their capacity to obscure it, is something unusual. He is rarely mistaken as to the existence or force of any statute. Judge Haag loves the practice of the law, not because he particularly loves litigation of itself, but because it is a profession in which men of erudition, high legal attainments, and honorable feelings, have full scope for all their powers, and yet can aid in the honest and able administration of justice. His clients know that he is incapable of betraying their confidence, his professional associates know that he is incapable of trick, the bench knows that candor and entire fairness are his characteristics.
Again, as a lawyer his character is, in many respects, a model for imitation. In the examination and preparation of a cause he exercises the greatest care, especially if the case be one of vital importance. He is careful and conscientious in his conclusions and in his advice to his clients; determined and unyielding in the vindication of the rights of his client, and in his defense of
Biographical. 579 the principles which he has asserted with the energy of thorough conviction; properly deferential, but never more than that, to the court; courteous to his antagonist, and never more so than when dealing his severest blows, and especially always kind and considerate in a marked degree towards the younger and more timid members of the profession. In his practice of the law, according to his impulse, he would rather defend than prosecute even a criminal. There is also another characteristic of the man in his legal work. His mind is studious and practical as well, and in investigating any question, he will search for principles first and expedients afterward.
It is natural and fit that such a man should be entrusted with public duties and a brief review of his history will show that, though this is so to a degree, office was not even a secondary pursuit to him, but all that he has filled he has discharged with ability and fidelity. [These expressions are not the sentiments of the Henry county bar alone, but are as well the result of an acquaintance that the writer of this volume has had with Judge Haag of some months' standing.]
As printed in History of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio; (1888). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
HON. CHARLES L. ALLEN.
This gentleman, who for several years has been filling an enviable career of official life, is a well-known useful member of the Republican party in northwestern Ohio, and is a resident of Fayette, Fulton county.
A native of New York State, he was born November 16, 1838, in Monroe county, and received his education in part at the public schools of Monroe, in part at the State Normal of that county, later, in 1858, graduating from the Eastman Business College at Rochester, New York. At the age of twenty-one years he came to Fulton county, at which time the village of Fayette was known as Gorham, a mere hamlet consisting of one store (Thompson & Caldwell's) and a blacksmith shop. Here our subject entered this store as clerk, remaining in that capacity until the fall of 1861, at which time he enlisted in Company K, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three years, and resigned in January, 1864, on account of disability, his resignation being accepted. On the organization of the company he was made second lieutenant, from which he was subsequently promoted to first lieutenant and adjutant, which rank he held up to his resignation. He then returned to Fayette, and soon afterward embarked in mercantile business there, in which he continued from 1865 to 1877, and for four years thereafter he conducted a produce business in the same locality. In 1885 he aided in the organization of the Bank of Fayette, of which institution he has been cashier and manager ever since.
In 1867 Mr. Allen was elected a justice of the peace of Gorham township, the first to hold the office in that township as a Republican, Gorham being at that time Democratic by a majority of fully eighty; and he was re-elected three times. In 1878 he was elected to the Ohio Legislature, on the Republican ticket, to represent Fulton county, and after serving one term (two years) was, in 1880, re-elected. During his career in the Legislature he served on the following committees: Military Affairs; Roads and Flighways; and Ditches, Drains and Watercourses. The bill for the location of the Insane Asylum in Toledo received much of Mr. Allen's attention, and his constituents are loud in their praise of his work in that line.
Mr. Allen also served for six years on the county board of school examiners of Fulton county, and was postmaster at Fayette for twelve years — 1865 to 1877. Fie is usually a delegate to State Republican conventions, and altogether takes an active part in political matters, generally, in the county; in which connection it may be mentioned that he is the only Republican among six brothers in the Allen family.
In 1865 Charles L. Allen was married to Miss Susan Gamber, a daughter of Henry Gamber, one of the first settlers in this section, who platted the first “lay-out” for the village of Fayette. She was born, in 1847, in New York State, coming to Ohio when a child, and was educated in the public schools of Gorham township. Two children were born to this union: Carrie B., at home; and Elsie M., wife of Doctor Clare Campbell, of Tedrow, Fulton county, Ohio.
As already intimated, Mr. Allen is a pronounced Republican and cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Socially, he is a charter member of Gorham Lodge, No. 387, F. and A. M., and has filled most of the chairs therein; also is connected with the K. of P. and with Stout Post, No. 108, G. A. R., both of Fayette. He and his wife are identified with the M. E. Church, and, although non-communicants, give liberally of their means toward its support.
Isaac Allen, father of our subject, was born, in 1794, in Enfield, Connecticut, and died in New York State in 1884. He was married in Connecticut to Miss Mary Terry, a native of the same locality, who died in the year 1876. The father traveled from Connecticut to western New York State on foot, prior to the building of the Erie canal. He served in the war of 1812. To this honored pioneer couple were born ten children: Chauncey, Isaac, Harriet, Mary, Julia, Joseph, Emily, Henry, Charles and Arthur; of whom Harriet died in 1898 and Emily in 1880. Henry served during the war of the Rebellion in the One Hundred and Fortieth New
York Volunteer Infantry, entering his company as sergeant, and after participating in all the hard-fought battles his regiment was engaged in, returned home with the rank of captain.
As printed in Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and (1899). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Named in this biography: Joseph O. Allen (b. 1830)
Their biographies name Charles L. Allen: John J. Gamber (b. 1835) Frank Venier (b. 1836)
The printed record stops around 1899. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.