Simon Hamlin
Of sterling Pennsylvania ancestors comes Simon Hamlin, a successful farmer of Plain township, Wayne county, where his life has been spent in agricultural pursuits, he having taken to the same quite naturally, since he is the son of a farmer and spent his boyhood on the home place. He was born in 1857 on the Sidle farm in Plain township, this county, the son of John and Sarah Jane (Hight) Hamlin, the former born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Huntington county, that state. They grew up in their native communities, met and married in the Keystone state, and one child was born to them there. They believed that better opportunities awaited them in the newer county of Wayne, Ohio, and they accordingly made the journey here in 1855, locating in Plain township, where they got a good foothold and lived very comfortably. They were the parents of three daughters and two sons, namely: Sarah Jane, Harriett, Simon (subject of this sketch), William and Mary Ellen. They gave their children every advantage possible which their means would permit and especially trained them along ethical lines, so that they grew up an honor to the community. The paternal and maternal grandparents of Simon Hamlin all lived in Pennsylvania, where they had good homes.
In 1860 John Hamlin and family moved onto the farm where Simon Hamlin, of this review, now resides. The subject was reared on the home farm, as already indicated, and when of proper age he went to work in the fields, attending the neighboring schools during the brief winter terms; he also attended school in Blachleyville, this township, receiving a fairly good education.
Mr. Hamlin is the owner of fifty acres of excellent land, which is well cultivated, and he has a comfortable home and makes a success of his farming operations. He deals in stock, making a specialty of Shorthorn cattle, always finding a ready market for the same.
Mr. Hamlin was married in 1880 to Catherine Stair, daughter of John Stair, a native of Germany, and this union has resulted in the birth of the following children: Martha, Eva (deceased), Mary Anna and John Henry (deceased). The subject was married a second time, the date of his last wedding being in 1893, and his last wife was Mrs. Melinda (Wrest) Kiefer, who has borne him one child, a son answering to the name of Franklin. Mrs. Melinda (Werst) Hamlin had by her first husband the following children: Viola L., John Henry, Oliver A., Clarence Victor, and William (deceased). All married excepting Clarence, and all live in Ashland county, Ohio.
Politically Mr. Hamlin is a Democrat and he takes an abiding interest in local matters pertaining to politics and other movements for the good of the community at large. He is now a member of the local school board, and he was one of five men who organized the cemetery association at Blachleyville, in about 1903, since which time he has been trustee and treasurer, in fact, the moving spirit of the organization.
From The History of Wayne County, Ohio, B. E. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1910