Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/862

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��BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

��massive brick dwelling occupying the place of the rude log cabin. He lived to see the dense forest give placej to fruitful fields. He lived to rear a large family o children, and to become comparatively wealthy. Mr" Schrack was a " mighty hunter," and many were the deer, wild turkeys and other wild animals that fell be- neath his unerring aim. He also shot quite a number of bears when he first came to the county. He was among the Indians a great deal, with whom he was always on friendly terms. Mr. Schrack and wife are the parents of fourteen children, three sons and eleven daughters ; three of these died in infancy ; the sons were named Charles, .John and David ; the daughters — Sarah, Catharine, Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Rachel, Sophia, Susan and Ann. Sarah married Abraham Hersh, and raised a family ; she is now dead. Cath- arine married Aaron Baughman, by whom she had a large family of sons and daughters ; she and her hus- band are both living in Monroe Township. Mary mar- ried Pierce JeflFrey ; has a family, and resides in Indiana. Margaret married R. Y. Gladden, of her native township, raised a family ; they now reside in Perryville, Ashland Co. Elizabeth M. married Benja- min M. Morrison : Rachel married AVilliam Armentrout. Sophia married J. J. Douglass, of her native township. Susan married William Wigton, and resides in this township. Ann married John S. McDanel, and resides in Indiana.

SCHRACK, CHARLES, farmer ; P. 0. Newville. The subject of this sketch was born in Monroe Township .June 9, 1820 ; he is the eldest son of David and Eliza- beth Schrack ; he was born and brought up in the woods, and mured from infancy to all the privations incident to pioneer life ; being the eldest of the boys, the burden of the hard labor fell upon his shoulders. As soon as he was old enough to pick brush or handle a hoe, he was put to work by his father ; and from that time till the day he left the parental roof, he was obliged to lead a life of labor and almost incessant toil. Mr. Schrack had but little time or opportunity, while young, to obtain an education, and yet he succeeded in obtaining as much knowledge of the common English branches as many young people of the present day. He remained with his father, assisting him in clearing and improving his farm, until he was about 27 years old. He was married, Dec. 30, 1847, to Barbary Ham- mon, fifth daughter of George and Catharine Hammon, of Worthington Township. Miss Hammon was born May 1, 1820. Mr. and Mrs. Shrack are the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters ; the eldest died in infancy ; Marion Hammon Schrack was born Sept. 26, 1851 — married to Miss Hattie E. Graber ; Harriet Ellen, born Sept. 11, 1854, died in infancy ; Elizabeth Catharine, born April 13, 1856, married Hiram Sheehy ; Clark Douglas, born April 12, 1859. After their marriage, they lived on his father's farm one year, when they removed to a farm of 185 acres, for which he paid the sum of $7,000. At the time Mr. Schrack purchased this farm, it was very much run down and out of repair. The buildings were old and dilapidated ; the fences very much in need of repair ; a large portion of the best land was overgrown with briers and brushes, and the fertility of the soil nearly destroyed by being over-worked, and other causes. Mr.

��Schrack, with the assistance of his wife and sons, has has transformed it into quite a different looking farm. A thrifty young orchard of fruit-bearing trees may be seen on his farm. The sterility of the soil has been changed to great fertility, and to-day Mr. Schrack has one of the most productive farms in this region of country. He received nothing from his father's estate, notwithstand- ing all the hard labor he did on the farm. Mr. Schrack donated the ground on which the Pleasant Valley Lutheran Church is built, as also the grounds for the churchyard and cemetery. He also contributed liber- ally of his means toward the building of this and other churches, and for the relief of the distressed, and the support of the Gospel. A few years ago, he united with the Disciple Church. His wife is a member of the Lutheran Church.

SCHRACK, JOHN, second son of David and Eliza- beth Schrack, was born and reared in Monroe Town- ship.' The days of his boyhood and early manhood were spent in assisting his father in clearing and cul- tivating his farm. Some considerable time after he had attained his majority, he conceived the idea of becoming a lawyer. His education was at that time quite limited ; but, being possessed of great energy, by dint of hard study and close application this difficulty was soon overcome. After attending school till he acquired a pretty thorough education, he commenced the study of the law. He pursued his studies with such dili- gence and energy, that in a short time he was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of the law. He succeeded admirably well in his profession, and soon ranked among the foremost young lawyers of the county. He served as Prosecuting Attorney two terms, and while engaged in his profession had a very lucra- tive practice. On the death of his father, he became the owner of the "old homestead," and a few years afterward he forsook his profession for the peaceful pursuits of the farm. He still continues to practice in .Justice's courts, but his chief pursuit is farming.

STOUT, HIRAM, farmer; P. 0. Lucas. He was born in Sussex Co., N. J., on the 16th day of Jan- uary, 1819 ; he was the eldest son of .James and Eve Stout ; he came to Richland Co. with his par- ents when quite young, and endured with them the privations incident to pioneer life ; as young as he was at that time, he had the honor of grubbing the first grub that was taken out on his father's farm ; his facilities for obtaining an education were quite lim- ited, but notwithstanding all these difficulties, the sub- ject of this history succeeded, by industry and appli- cation, in acquiring a fair knowledge of the common English branches. Mr. Stout, in his younger days, was very fond of hunting — in fact, he w'as a regular " Nimrod ;" when he was about 15 years old, he heard his dogs one morning about daybreak barking fiercely in the woods at some distance from the house, and he at once shouldered his rifle and started to see what they had treed, thinking it was a raccoon or opossum, or some other small animal; when he arrived at the spot, he saw some large animal, with glittering eyes, seated on the branch of a tree ; he took deliberate aim and fired, when down came a huge panther and fell dead at his feet, shot through the brain ; this was the only panther known to have been killed in this region.

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