In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1895) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1824
From The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio (1884), Portrait and biographical record of Tuscarawas County, Ohio (1895)
VALENTINE WILLS, a resident of Goshen Township since 1833, was born at New Lancaster, Ohio, September 3, 1824. His father, David Wills, was born in Wilmington, State of Delaware, April 11, 1795. and his grandfather was a native of Londonderry, Ireland, the youngest of three brothers — Robert, William and David Wills. He emigrated to Wilmington, Del., in 1783, and was married to Mary Jordan, of Newcastle, Del., in 1786. She was born in England April 4, 1766. They had six children — Robert, William, David, Sarah, Martha and Isabell. Grandfather D. Wills came to Licking County, Ohio, in 1803, where he had a tract of land, upon which he settled and died in 1826. He married Catherine Shuler, in 1821, by whom was a family of nine children, four boys and five girls, seven of whom are now living, and six have large families. Our subject’s father came to this county in 1833; went to Canada in what was called the patriot war of 1837, and died suddenly at Maumee City in 1837. Our subject’s mother, C.
Wills, died in September, 1875, aged seventy-four years. She was blind for twenty-four years previous to her death. Valentine Wills was dependent upon his own industry at ten years of age, and was apt and generally successful in his undertakings, and made friends by his industry and resolution to accomplish whatever he undertook, making brick, boating, sawing lumber and filling contracts of various kinds. He was married, in 1848, to Jerusha Everet, by whom he has two children — David and Mary C., both married. Was married to his present wife, Sarah Furney, in 1857. They have four sons and one daughter — Charles H., George W., Francis M., Albert E. and Clara, all born on the home farm as named above. Charles H. Wills was married, April 24, 1883, to Bell B. Miskimens, of Coshocton County, Ohio, and now lives on his father’s Dover farm.
As printed in The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio (1884). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
VALENTINE WILLS, deceased. Among all classes and in every condition of life where the struggle for a livelihood is going on, there must perforce be numerous trials and hardships to overcome before the ladder of fame and financial success is climbed. The early years of our subject were marked with serious disadvantages, and his success was therefore a compliment to his own exertions and ability. His life truly verified the adage that “a bad beginning makes a good ending,” since at the time of his decease, in 1894, lie was the owner of a nourishing sawmill and the possessor of seventeen hundred acres of land in Goshen Township, Tuscarawas County.
The original of this sketch was born September 3, 1824, in Licking County, Ohio, and was the son of David and Catherine (Schuyler) Wills. The parental family included nine children, of whom Valentine was the eldest but one. David makes his home in Lebanon, Mo.; Fannie is the widow of Solomon Landis, of Defiance County, this state; Sarah married Louis Dykes; Elizabeth is deceased, as is likewise Lucy, who was the wife of a Mr. Harvey; Belinda married James Kelley, now deceased; Isaac is a resident of Phillipsburgh, Mo.; and Robert died in infancy.
Valentine Wills, like other boys of that early day, carried on his studies in the district school, where he obtained a fair education. He was a lad of nine years when Ins parents, in 1833, came to Tuscarawas County. His first work away from home was as a canal-boy, and the day after receiving his pay, which consisted of notes on the State Bank, it failed, and he was thus defrauded out of his small earnings.
One year prior to attaining his majority, our subject began the operation of a brickyard in New Philadelphia. He found this line of business to be very profitable, and continued in it for a number of years, or until renting a sawmill. This property he later purchased, and carried on a good business until the day of his death.
In 1850 Mr. Wills began life as a farmer in Goshen Township, on fifty-one acres of land, which he had purchased. He was very successful in this venture, as indeed he was in almost everything which he undertook, and added to this tract from time to time until he had increased it to seventeen hundred acres. It was one of the most valuable pieces of property in the township, and Mr. Wills so managed it that he derived a handsome income from its tillage.
The lady to whom our subject was first married bore the name of Jerusha Everett, and to them were born two children: David, now living near New Cumberland. Ohio; and Mary, the wife of Kirkwood Arnold, of Beaver Dam, this state. May 3, 1856, he those for his second companion Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Susan (Misimen) Furney. This union resulted in the birth of the following five children: Charles II.; George W., who is in business in Canal Dover; Francis M., of Goshen I Township; Albert E., managing the old homestead; and Clara B.
Mr. Wills was numbered among the most successful residents of the county, and had many friends who recognized the nobility of his character and realized that he deserved to be held in the highest possible esteem, as indeed he was. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, but never aspired to official holding, preferring to devote his time and attention to the management of his extensive interests. In his death, which occurred January ‘6, 1894, the county’ lost one of its most valued citizens.
As printed in Portrait and biographical record of Tuscarawas County, Ohio (1895). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Named in this biography: Kirkwood Arnold (b. 1852)
The printed record stops around 1884. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.