Lawrence K Soule
L. K. SOULE. The present prosperous condition of Wood county is largely due to the class of men who came here during its earliest history. One of these, now a worthy representative of the agriculturists of Bloom township, was born near Buffalo, N. Y., May 11, 1837, a son of Lorenzo and Ann C. (Fink) Soule. They were natives of Germany, where they were married and their two eldest children were born. About 1832 the family crossed the Atlantic, and after a long voyage, landed at New York. For a time the father followed the trade of a wheelwright in the Empire State, later removed to Huron. county, Ohio, arid in the fall of 1843 come to Wood county, where he purchased forty acres of land in Section 1, Bloom township. Here was erected a log house, 18 x 20 feet, with puncheon floor and clapboard roof; but it was a hapyy home, as it was the first the family owned in the New World, and they moved into it before it was completed. It seemed that civilization had scarcely begun in this region, the land being mostly in its natural state, covered with a heavy growth of timber and very wet, and wild game could be had in abundance, while the family had to go as far as Fremont, Tiffin or Perrysburg, to mill. Here the father died at the age of seventy-four, while the mother passed away June 22, 1894, and they were buried in the Mennonite 'cemetery, in Perry township, Wood county. He was first a Whig and later a Republican; was an industrious, hard-working man; well versed in the Scriptures, and a consistent member of the Evangelical Church. In the family were the following children: Elizabeth, widow of John Walker, of Bloom township; Conrad C., who died in Jerry City; Bernard, of Fostoria; L. K., subject of this sketch; Ann, wife of John Faylor, of Henry township, Wood county; Martha, who died at the age of twenty years; Amelia, who became the wife of Leonard Harsh, and died on the old home farm; Harriet, who died at the age of
eighteen years; Mary, widow of Jacob Mowry, of Risingsun, Ohio; and Sarah, who wedded Reuben Munday, and died in Fostoria, Ohio.
Not until he was fourteen years of age was L. K. Soule able to attend school, but he became an.
apt scholar, particularly good in mathematics, and continued his studies during the winter months until twenty years of age, the remainder of the year being mostly passed in work upon the home farm. He later learned the carpenter's trade, at which he and his brother, Conrad, were employed for several years. In September, 1862, in Portage township, Wood county, Mr. Soule married Miss Caroline Graham, a daughter of William Graham, one of the pioneers of that locality They began housekeeping with his brother Bernard, but about that time our subject purchased
forty acres of timber land in Section 2, Bloom township. In less than a year, however, the wife died, passing away in July, 1863, and her remains were interred in the Mennonite cemetery, Perry township.
Mr. Soule took an honorable part in the Civil war, enlisting in October, 1864, at Toledo, Ohio in Company K, 182nd 0. V. I. The troops were ordered to Nashville, taking part in the second engagement at that place, and remained in that vicinity until the close of the war. Our subject received his discharge in July, 1865, but since June he had been ill in Cumberland Hospital, and was unable to leave until the following September. During his absence he had hired some of his land cleared, and on his return began the improvement of his farm, while he also worked for others on shares.
Mr. Soule was again married, in Portage township, in May, 1866, this time to Miss Matilda Hillard, a daughter of Daniel Hillard, and to them was born a son-Clarence G., a farmer of Bloom township. At the end of five years of married life Mrs. Soule died, and her remains were interred in the Mennonite cemetery, in Perry township. Our subject later wedded Mary 0. Hopkins, of Liberty township, Wood county, by whom he had four children-Earl W., Cora E. , Ira L. and Armen J. The last named was an infant when his mother died, and he was taken to the home of an aunt, with whom he still resides. The present wife of our subject was, in her maidenhood, Miss Melissa Phillips, of Center township, a daughter of Daniel Phillips.
From its primitive condition Mr. Soule has developed his farm of forty acres until it is now a valuable tract, supplied with good buildings which he himself erected. His first Presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln, from which time he was a stanch Republican until 189o, but he now supports the Prohibition party, as it embodies his principles on the liquor question. For the long period of fifteen years he held the position of school director of District No. i, for three years was justice of the peace, and for one year
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assessor, always discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. , He and his estimable wife are active members of the United Brethren Church, in which he has been class-leader and superintendent of the Sunday-school, and he is at present secretary of the Quarterly Conference of his circuit.
SOURCE:History of Wood County, Ohio