Wesley I. B. Wass
WESLEY I.B. WASS, farmer, section 5, Union Township, came to this county in March, 1865, and purchased the farm entered by William P. Rice. He was accompanied by his wife and two children. Mr. Wass was born in Carroll County, Ohio, March 18, 1837. He grew to manhood in his native county, his education being limited to the common schools of his father's district. His father, Samuel Wass, was born in Derbyshire, England, in 1790. He was reared and married in England, and in 1818 came to America with wife and two children,s settling in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. They lived there a short time, then removed to Stark County, Ohio, thence to Carroll County, where the father entered land from the Government. He was a wheelwright by trade, and also rode the Methodist circuit for many years. The parents come to this county with their son Wesley, and the farm was purchased by both. They lived here until the mother's death, then the father went to live with other members of the family. He died in 1876, lamented by all who knew him. The mother, Phebe (Ward) Wass, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1792, and died in Decatur, this county. Both are buried in the Monroeville cemetery. The mother was the first school-teacher in Carroll County, Ohio, and organized the first Sunday-school in Brown Township. She taught school free of charge, from purely philanthropic motives. Our subject was married May 2, 1861, to Miss Elizabeth D. Pottorf, who was born in Carroll County, Ohio, in 1842, where she was reared and married. Her parents are Jacob S. and Hannah (Gillmore) Pottorf, the father born in Pennsylvania, and the latter in Ohio; they are not living in Carroll County. Mrs. Wass died March 6, 1875, aged about thirty-four years, and is buried Union Bethel cemetery. There were eight children in the family -Luella A., born February 26, 1862, wife of R.K. Erwin; Lucy L., born March 30, 1863, became the wife of John A. Barkley; Emory D., born April 12, 1866; Mary O., born November 24, 1868; Alice S., born May 1, 1871; Charles, born March 2, 1875. Mr. Wass married for a second wife, Caroline Wagner, who was born in Germany, and came to America with her parents, who settled in Ohio. She died July 12, 1881, leaving two children -Daisy D and Maude E. Politically Mr.Wass is a Republican, and has served as township trustee. His paternal grandparents died in England. The grandfather of his wife, Andrew Pottorf, was of German descent, and died in Carroll County, Ohio.
Biographical and Historical Record of Adams County, Indiana, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1887