Jacob Slupe

JACOB SLUPE, one of the old and prominent citizens of Pleasant Township, Hancock County, O., where he owns 200 acres of very fine land, was born in Columbiana County, O., February 21, 1830, and is a son of Solomon and Anna (Shatter) Slupe.

Solomon Slupe was born in Pennsylvania, where his father died when he was seven years of age and when brought to Columbiana County by neighbors, he was an orphan. He grew to manhood there and finally bought a tract of thirteen acres of land. He married Anna Shatter there, who was also born in Pennsylvania, and in the fall of 1844 they moved to Seneca County, O., where he died in 1866. He first purchased forty acres of land fourteen miles southeast of Tiffin and later added forty acres, owningeighty acres when he died, the greater part of it being timber land. His widow moved from Seneca to Hancock County and later to Putnam, where she died at the home of a daughter, in 1875. Of their nine children, Jacob was the eldest, the others being as follows: Elizabeth, who was the wife of David Metzler and both died in Indiana; Samuel, who lived and died on a farm adjoining that of Jacob Slupe, and married Sarah Ewing, who is also deceased; Martha, who was the wife of John Huffman, and died in Cleveland, O.; Mary, who was the wife of David Van Sickle, and died in Putnam County, as did her husband, they expiring within thirty-six hours of each other; Nancy, who is the widow of Adam Cosner, and resides in Putnam County; Hannah, who died in Elkhart County, Ind., was the wife of John Felthouse; and Solomon and Noah, twins, both of whom survive. Solomon is a farmer in Putnam County and married Lillie Edgington. Noah has never married and for twenty-nine years has lived at Kansas City, where he is a carpenter and contractor.

Jacob Slupe’s first instruction at school was confined to the German alphabet but later he was taught English and gained a fair district school education in Seneca County. In the fall of 1856 he was married and then bought forty acres of land situated eighty rods from the Portage Township line in Pleasant Township, which he later sold and subsequently repurchased. Four acres had been cleared and a cabin was on the place. Mr. Slupe has been a shrewd handler of farm property and several of his purchases have changed hands profitably several times. He bought eighty acres of William Bennett and sold the same two years later and bought John Wesley Smith’s farm, one and three-quarter miles vest, which he sold in 1864. In 1865 he purchased 120 acres and after he finished paying for this, purchased eighty more acres, of Jona Robinson, and 120 acres of William Hilkert. A small structure was on this land but in 1872 Mr. Slupe built his fine brick residence and a substantial barn but the latter was destroyed by fire and the present barn took its place. In all his operations Mr. Slupe showed patience and good judgment. When he acquired this land a large part of it was under water, scarcely any attempt having been made to drain it. He first put in lumber drains but later put down tile and converted all the waste land into rich soil and has now one of the most productive farms in Pleasant Township. Mr. Slupe is a self made man and all he owns he has earned through his own efforts. He is a carpenter by trade and when he first came to this section did a large amount of building and many of the houses and barns standing in Pleasant Township were put up by him. He witnessed many changes in the fifty-three years he has been a resident of Pleasant Township and has done his full share in bringing about improvements.

In the fall of 1856, Mr. Slupe was married to Miss Catherine Bechtel, who died in 1859. She was a daughter of Andrew K. Bechtel. One daughter was born to that marriage, Emma Jane, who died when four years old. Mr. Slupe was married a second time to a widow, Mrs. Eliza Shilling, who was a daughter of Joseph Kinsey, of Seneca County. She was a most estimable woman and was beloved by all who knew her. Her death occurred January 3, 1909, when she was aged seventy-three years, seven months and five days. Three daughters and one son were born to the second union, namely: Laura E., who is the wife of E. M. Orwig, and they have two children, Charles and Esta; Ida, who is the wife of Willard G. Haley, of near McComb, and they have children: Maud, Kale, Alice, George and

Ruth; Simon Sylvester, who died at the age of ten years; and Ella, who is the wife of George C. Robinson, who assists Mr. Slupe in farming, and they have one son, Ralph J. Nominally Mr. Slupe is a Democrat but in local elections he usually uses his own good judgment and supports the man he considers best qualified for the office sought. For himself, Mr. Slupe desires no political prominence.

As printed in Twentieth century history of Findlay and Hancock County and representative citizens (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.