D. A. Whirrett
D. A. Whirrett, city treasurer of Delphos, was born in Marion township, Allen County, Ohio, April 3, 1863, and is a son of William A. and Salome (Herring) Whirrett.
William A. Whirrett was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, January 31, 1825, and moved with his foster parents to Ohio about 1838. His own father had owned a woolen mill at Hagerstown, but had died when William was two years old. He spent years of his youth and early manhood along the Auglaize River and frequently ferried travelers across, this being prior to the building of the canal. The nearest house to the one in which he lived was seven miles distant. For a number of years he was in the employ of H. Ricker, engaged in hauling lumber. William A. Whirrett was married in Allen County, January 20,1853, to Salome Herring, who was born in this county in May, 1833, and is an adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stookey. Our subject's parents still reside at Delphos.
Mrs. Whirrett can recall many of the interesting incidents of her girlhood. She attended the primitive log school-house and, being of quick intelligence, soon picked up enough knowledge to teach a subscription school, for which she was paid about $2 a month and boarded around in the homes of the district. Her spare time was taken up in making her homespun garments. She learned all the masteries of cooking at an open fireplace and with a Dutch oven. She wore home-made shoes as did every one else and read and sewed and studied by the light of a candle. In her childhood deer and wolves were still numerous around her home. The interesting tales of her pioneer life would fill a volume. She remembers that her mother was the first to be buries in Woodlawn Cemetery south of Elida, whose location she selected.
Philip Herring, father of Mrs. William A. Whirrett and grandfather of our subject, came to Allen County about 1827 or 1830. He was a weaver and wove all kinds of intricate-patterned coverlets and bed-spreads. For 40 years he was a magistrate in German township. He purchased grain at 37 cents per bushel and hauled it from the county near Elida to Sandusky, where he was able to sell it at $1.50 a bushel.
To our subject's parents 12 children were born, the survivors being: Elizabeth, wife of A. F. Bectel, of Elida; T. J., a clerk in the master mechanic's office on the "Clover Leaf" Railroad; J. W., of Spencerville, a member of the firm of Whirrett Brothers; D. A., of this sketch; and Ida May, wife of W. H. Beilharz of Chicago.
D. A. Whirrett was five years old when his parents moved to Delphos, and here he was reared and obtained his education. After leaving school, he assisted his father in the latter's lumber-yard and from that turned to his present business, that of manufacturing and wholesaling wood stirrups, sweat-scrapers, etc., at Delphos. Being unmarried, he still resides with his aged parents.
In April, 1902, Mr. Whirrett was elected city treasurer on the Democratic ticket. He has been more of less prominent in political life for a number of years and frequently has represented his party at important conventions. The offices and factory of Whirrett Brothers, one of the most important industrial concerns of the western section the county, are situated on the west side of the Miami and Erie Canal, north of the Delphos Mills.