Misc. Biographies

for the Town of Ohio


Abbott L. JOHNSON

Among the progressive business men who have contributed to raise "Magic Muncie" to her present advanced position as a manufacturing and general business center, is A. L. Johnson.

Abbott Livingston Johnson was born in Ohio, Herkimer county, in the state of New York, Aug. 26, 1852. He was a son of Henry Isaac Johnson, a farmer, and Eliza Ferguson Johnson, a thoroughly good woman and a devoted Christian of the Methodist faith. He attended public schools at Ashtabula, O. In 1874 he was sent to Bluffton, Ind., to superintend the starting of bent wood machinery. These works are now the property of J. H. Smith & Co., of Muncie. This was the first time that Mr. Johnson had been away from home. With his naturally quick intelligence he saw an opportunity to engage with profit in the timber business. Four years later he associated himself with J. T. Arnold, of Montpelier, Ind., in the general hardwood lumber business. The firm name was A. L. Johnson & Co. Two years later he moved to Muncie and from that growing city operated several hardwood mills. Two years later, on the retirement of Mr. Arnold, J. C. Johnson came into the firm and the business was continued successfully by the two brothers until October, 1896. It was then sold to J. C. Wood & Co. For thirteen years prior to his purchase Mr. Wood had been employed in the same business as superintendent.

Mr. Johnson had at that time acquired interests in several other enterprises which demanded his attention. His business training had been only such as is acquired by close attention to such business as he may have had in hand. In all this, however, he had been diligent, attending carefully to whatever came before him to be looked after, and had observed the strictest business integrity in all his dealings. He is now president of the Weis & Lesh Manufacturing company, manufacturers of spokes and butchers' skewers, with factories in Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee and Mississippi; president of the Live Poultry Transportation company, of Chicago; vice-president of the Muncie Natural Gas company, of Muncie, Ind. He is also a stockholder in the Ashtabula Water Works company, of Ashtabula, O.; The Muncie Water Works company, of Muncie, Ind.; the Indiana Iron company, of Muncie; and controlling owner of the Johnson block, a building of which any city might well be proud. The erection of this fine block is an evidence of the unbounded confidence which Mr. Johnson has in the remarkable and flourishing city in which he lives.

Mr. Johnson was married at Ashtabula, O., Dec. 28, 1871, to Miss Florence Merriman, a lady of many accomplishments. They have three children, their two sons being named John Edgar and Ray Prescott; their daughter, Florence Grace. His residence is at No. 330 East Washington street, Muncie.

In politics Mr. Johnson is a Republican. In religion his affiliations are with the Baptist church, of which his wife is also a member. He is a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge of Muncie. He is also a member of the Commercial club of Indianapolis. As a man he is much respected for his strict integrity. As a public-spirited citizen he stands in the front rank among those who have given Muncie her justly-earned reputation for progress and development, and in all this wonderful Union there is no better type of true progress than Muncie.

Source:
Men of Progress. Indiana.
Published under the personal supervision of Hugh J. McGrath and William Stoddard.
Edited by Will Cumback and J. B. Maynard.
pp. 411 - 412. (C) 1899. Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Sentinel Company.


Gary H. Wood, M. D.

Wood, G. H., M. D., was born in Ohio, Herkimer county, N. Y., December 10, 1854, son of Rev. Benj. F. Wood, a Methodist minister of Martinsburg. His wife was Asenath Barnes, who died in 1865. They had four children. The grandfather of our subject, Wheelock Wood, was born in Massachusetts, and went to Ohio, Herkimer county, N. Y., where the father of our subject was born. Benjamin F. Wood, father of the subject, was educated at Fairfield Seminary. He has been presiding elder of Watertown and Adams district for ten years. Dr. Wood was educated at Fairfield Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1874, when he followed teaching for some years. He studied medicine at Sauquoit, Oneida county, and was graduated from Long Island Medical College in 1877, and has since practiced his profession in Antwerp, where he has been very successful. He is a member of Jefferson County Medical Society, and was president in 1896, and is also delegate to the State Medical Society at the present time. He is a Republican in politics, and has been supervisor of his town for eight years, was also coroner of the county at one time. In 1876 he married Mary F. Tamblin, of Black River, N. Y., daughter of Jackson Tamblin, a prominent man of the town of Rutland, N. Y., who was justice of the peace for many years and justice of sessions. To Mr. And Mrs. Wood have been born three daughters: Ethel May, deceased; Lillian A., and Isabel T. Mr. Wood is a member of Antwerp Lodge No. 226, F. & A. M., Theresa Chapter No. 149, and Watertown Commandery and Media Temple, and was master of the lodge at Antwerp for five years. Dr. Wood has been trustee of Ives Seminary for a number of years. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, as is also the oldest daughter.

Source:
Emerson, Edgar C., Our County And Its People: A Descriptive Work on Jefferson County New York.
Pg. 183. ©1898. The Boston History Company, Publishers.

GARY H. WOOD, M. D. Foremost in the ranks of those Jefferson county physicians whose unquestioned skill is the result not alone of the training of the schools but of long and extended experience stands Dr. Gary H. Wood of Antwerp. He is a grandson of Wheelock Wood, a native of Massachusetts, who went to Ohio, Herkimer county, New York, which was the birthplace of his son, Benjamin F. Wood. The latter was educated at Fairfield Seminary and has labored for many years in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. For ten years he was presiding elder of Watertown and Adams district and was also stationed for a time at Martinsburg. He married Asenath Barnes and four children were born to them, one of whom, Gary H., is mentioned at length hereinafter. In 1865 the Reverend Mr. Wood and his family sustained an irreparable loss by the death of the wife and mother, who was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends.

Gary H. Wood, son of Benjamin F. and Asenath (Barnes) Wood, was born December 10, 1854, in Ohio, Herkimer county, New York, and received his primary education in the common schools, afterward attending Fairfield Seminary, Herkimer county, from which he graduated in 1874. In early life he was for several years engaged in teaching. He studied medicine with Dr. Osborn of Sauquoit, Oneida county, and also attended lectures at the Long Island College Hospital, from which institution he graduated in June, 1877, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then settled in Antwerp, where he has since remained and where he has been many years in possession of a remarkably successful and lucrative practice. Although assiduous in his devotion to the duties of his profession he is closely identified with the political life of the county, has been supervisor of the town for nine years and was at one time coroner of the county. He has frequently acted as delegate to the state convention. He has always been active in educational circles and served for many years on the board of trustees of Ives Seminary. He is now president of the board of education of the Antwerp high school.

Dr. Wood is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, of which in 1896 he was president, and he also belongs to the New York State Medical Society. He affiliates with Antwerp Lodge, No. 226, F. & A. M., has filled most of the chairs of the order and was master of the lodge for five years. He is a member of Theresa Chapter No. 149, Watertown Commandery and Media Temple. Since the organization of the Order of the Eastern Star he and his wife have been numbered among its members and patrons. Politically he is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Dr. Wood married August 30, 1876, Mary F. Tamblin, of Black River, Jefferson county, daughter of Jackson Tamblin, a prominent citizen of the town of Rutland, New York, who filled for many years the offices of Justice of the peace and justice of sessions. Dr. and Mrs. Wood have had three children: Ethel May, who died at the age of nineteen months; Lillian A., who was born October 19, 1884, and is a graduate of Vassar College; and Isabelle T., who was born March 20, 1891. The home of Dr. and Mrs. Wood is one of the social centers of Antwerp. Mrs. Wood is matron of several orders.

Source:
Oakes, R. A.
Genealogical And Family History of the County of Jefferson New York. Volume I. Pp. 1345 - 1346. ©1905. New York. Chicago. The Lewis Publishing Company.



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