ELMER E. EMERY is a native of Seneca county, and has spent forty-three years on his present homestead, during which time he has seen remarkable progress in this part of Ohio and has contributed to the same in the capacity of a public spirited citizen and an agriculturist of advanced methods. He was born November 7, 1851, in Henry county, Ohio, and is the son of Horace and Mary R. (West) Emery, the former a native of Rockland, Maine, and the mother of Vermont. Horace Emery, who was born February 4, 1821, and died November 14, 1908, was the son of Tristram and Lidy Emery. Mary Emery, who was born September 17, 1818, and died April 18, 1909, at the age of ninety-one years, was the daughter of Ezra and Prudence West, who cast their fortunes with the Buckeye state early in the nineteenth century. After their marriage Mr. Emery's parents located on a farm in Seneca county, near Tiffin, later removing to Adams township and taking up land near Greenspring, where the father also pursued the vocation of a blacksmith.

Mr. Emery resided under the home roof until his marriage, enjoying the educational advantages of the schools of Andrews(sic) township and becoming proficient in the several branches of the honorable calling of agriculture. On December 6, 1876, he was wedded to Mary E. Jopp and shortly thereafter they removed to Hedgetown, Ohio, where they established their household and remained for about five years, after which they removed to their present home, where they have ever since resided. Their farm, cleared by them, is a valuable property, comprising some one hundred acres. Mr. Emery is a Republican and he has held various township offices, among them that of school director and committee of the election board of Seneca county, and he was a member of the school board for several years. He finds much pleasure in his affiliation with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which organization he has filled all of the chairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Emery have given seven good citizens to the country, in the persons of six sons and one daughter. Charles E., the eldest, was born December 28, 1877, he married Nellie Whiteman December 7, 1901, and they have three children: Holice, Florence and Robert. The second son, Asahel W., born April 9, 1880, married Jennie Holly, February 23, 1909, and resides in Chicago; Elbert C., born January 3, 1883, married Bessie Whited in the year 1905, and they have one child, a little daughter named Irene, born May 1,1908; George N., born September 6, 1885, took as his wife Nettie Mead on October 14, 1908, and they have one son, named Harold, born August 24, 1910; Orm J., born July 27, 1888; Mabel L., born September 6, 1892, and Frederick L., born March 20, 1895, all are at home.

Mr. Emery's maternal grandfather Ezra West, was born March 3, 1770, and his wife Prudence had her nativity on the same day. Their children were Samuel McGee West, born May 30, 1813; James Henry West, March 26, 1816; Mary R. West, September 17, 1818; Sarah West, September 10, 1820; Asahel West, February 26, 1823; John S. West, April 7, 1825; Nathan A. West, June 1,1828; Mabel M. West, November 29, 1833; Clementine West, April 6, 1837. Of these the daughter, Mary, married Mr. Horace Emery; and the following eight children were the issue of the union: Cordelia, born January 20, 1845; Elizabeth A., born November 18, 1846; Samuel N., born April 24, 1849; Mr. Emery; Mabel S., born February 12, 1854; Charles N., born September 7, 1856; William J., born December 16, 1858; and Ella A., born December 7, 1864.

Mrs. Emery's parents were Orrin and Mary A. (Mclntyre) Jopp, the former born August 17 and the latter, May 16, 1822, both of them being natives of the state of New York. After their marriage, December 12, 1853, they located on a two hundred acre farm in Pleasant township and here their two daughters were reared, grew to womanhood and married. Mary E., became the wife of the subject of this biography and Eva married William Horton and resides in Pleasant township.




Page 580
History of Seneca County, Ohio
by A. J. Baughman