CAPT. RUSSEL HANBY BEVER, contractor and builder, Tiffin, was born in Crawford County, Ohio, April 19, 1837, son of the Rev. Joseph and Sarah (Trimble) Bever, the former of whom, a native of Virginia and of pioneer German ancestry of that State, was educated to the ministry of the United Brethren Church, and after doing considerable pioneer work in other parts of the State settled in Eden Township in the spring of 1823. Rev. Joseph Bever reared six sons, all of whom are active and useful citizens: Russel H.; A. M., a builder of Marion, Ohio; D. M., a builder; L. O., a farmer in Eden Township, this county; J. T., a builder of Fostoria, Ohio; J. M., a lawyer and present mayor of Fostoria. Capt. Bever learned the blacksmith's trade at Melmore and followed it there till the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, when he enlisted, September 25, 1861, in Company H, Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and steadily advanced in promotion to the commission of second lieutenant, May 2, 1863. April 1, 1864, he was commissioned first lieutenant, and November 3, same year, to the captaincy of his company, which he honorably held till the end of the war. He was honorably discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, July 21, 1865, as veteran of Company H, Fifty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After the war he engaged in contracting and building in Tiffin, and has been prominently identified with that industry here since. Capt. Bever was married in Melmore, this county, in 1858, to A. E. Bretz, daughter of Jacob and Phila (Wolf) Bretz, pioneers of Eden Township. This union has been blessed with three sons and two daughters: Robert C., Viola B., Minnie J., Ralph V. and Earl J. Mrs. Bever and daughters are worthy members of the Methodist Protestant Church, to which the Captain is a liberal contributor. He is a member of Isaac P. Rule Post G. A. R.


Trancribed by Bonnie Walsh.
WARNER, BEERS & CO., 1886
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, Part IV, p.757
CLINTON TOWNSHIP