Isaiah Garretson
Isaiah Garretson, son of William and Elizabeth, was born in this county June 7, 1843, and on the 13th of February, 1873, was married to Barbara Ann Jenkins, daughter of Reuben and Eliza Ann Jenkins. Her father was born in Virginia, her mother in the District of Columbia, and she was born in Licking County, Ohio, March 14, 1850. Children of Wm. and Elizabeth Garretson: Eli (died Oct. 19, 1874), William H., Sarah (Mrs. Thos. Marshall), Lamenta (Mrs. Wm. McPherson), Mary Ann (Mrs. Isaiah Bayes), Isaiah, Elizabeth S. (Mrs. Francis M. Mauk), and Cinderella (Mrs. John J. Metsker). Reuben and Eliza Jenkins have nine children: Benjamin F., Barbara A., Dewitt C., David W., Charles G., Eliza Ann, Mary, John O., and Katie.
From 1875 Historical Atlas of Allen County, Ohio, by H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers, Chicago.
Isaiah Garretson, timekeeper at the Lima Locomotive & Machine Works and formerly a well-known educator and business man, is also a survivor of the Civil War, in which he bore an honorable part. He was born June 7, 1843, in Perry township, Allen County, Ohio, and is a son of William Garretson. The father was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and came to Allen County in 1836, entering land from the government in Perry township. This tract at a later period he traded for a farm in Shawnee township, on which he lived until his death in 1886.
Isaiah Garretson was reared on his father's farm, and his education was secured in the district schools in its vicinity. At the outbreak of the Rebellion, he was eager to enlist, but was induced to remain at home until he was 20 years of age, when, in 1863, he was mustered into the service, at Cleveland, as a member of Company G, 12th Reg., Ohio Vol. Cav. During his years of army service he had his full share of hardship and during his first battle, at Mount Sterling, Kentucky, was captured by the enemy. Fortunately for him, conditions in the Confederacy at that time were such as to preclude the transportation of large bodies of prisoners to ay of their prison camps, and Mr. Garretson was paroled in less than a week. His regiment was stationed at Johnson's Island until the spring of 1864. and was then dispatched to Kentucky, subsequently making a creditable record in the campaigning through Kentucky, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.
After his return form the army, Mr. Garretson engaged in farming and teaching until about 1888 from 1869 to 1873 in Missouri. Since 1888 he has been a continuous resident of Lima, where he engaged for a number of years in a large real estate business. Since closing out those interests he has been timekeeper for the Lima Locomotive & Machine Works.
In 1873 Mr. Garretson was united in marriage with Barbara A. Jenkins, who was born in Ohio and is a daughter of Reuben Jenkins. Her parents removed to Iowa, when she was a child of two years, and subsequently settled in Missouri, where she was reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Garretson have four children, viz: Laura, who is the wife of S. T. Garber, of Greenville, Ohio; Flora, cashier of the Western Ohio Railway Company; Lena, employed in the office of The Lima Locomotive & Machine Company; and Ora Earl, a student in the senior class of the Lima High School.
Mr. Garretson and family are members of the First Congregational Church at Lima, and their attractive home is situated at No. 923 West High street. Mr. Garretson is a member of Mart Armstrong Post, No. 202, G. A. R., an organization which is held in very high regard in this city, its membership being composed of men who deserve the grateful consideration of their fellow-citizens.
From History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Part 2, Edited & Compiled by Charles C. Miller, Ph. D.; Richmond & Arnold, Publishers, Chicago, 1906