William M. Hott
No theme is more agreeable to the biographer than that of pioneer times, and the life story of one who passed through that trying period and made his way to comfort and prosperity through hardships and privations is of great interest to every reader. Of especial interest, therefore, to the intelligent reader, is this sketch of Mr. Hott, whose portrait appears on the opposite page.
A pioneer of Harrison Township, Pickaway County, Mr. Hott was also one of its most esteemed and respected citizens. He was born in this township, and in such men we find true loyalty to the interests of their part of the State. They understand, as it were by instinct, the needs, social and industrial, of their vicinity, and have a thorough knowledge of its resources. They are therefore better adapted to succeed here than a stranger could be and are probably without exception warmly devoted to the prosperity of their native place, at least such was the case of the subject of this sketch. His birth occurred on the 3d of August, 1829, and he was a son of Jacob and Catherine (Coon) Hott, natives of Virginia and early pioneers of Harrison Township, Pickaway County, Ohio.
The subject of this sketch was early inured to the hardships of pioneer life and was educated in the primitive log schoolhouse of those early days. Although his advantages for receiving an education were limited, he was a great reader, and by his own observations became well posted and unusually intelligent. When twenty years of age, he started out to fight life's battles for himself, and when his father moved to Circleville, Ohio, and there died, our subject began working as a farm hand. This he continued during the summer months for several years, receiving as compensation $12 per month with board. During the winter season he received fifty cents per day for chopping, making rails, and clearing. He was hardworking and a man of indomitable will, the same being evinced in his youth by his determination to succeed at whatever he undertook.
On the 25th of February, 1851, Mr. Hott was married to Miss Sarah E. Ward, a native of Walnut Township, Pickaway County, born January 3, 1834, And the daughter of Richard C. and Matilda Ward. Mrs. Hott is a sister of Sidney J. Ward, of Pickaway County, in whose sketch further mention is made of the Ward family. After marriage, Mr. Hott and wife located on the farm now owned by A. C. Nothstine, in Walnut Township, this county, and seven years afterward they removed thence to Circleville, Ohio. Less than three years later, they came to Harrison Township, Pickaway County, and here Mr. Hott died on the 21st of September, 1890.
In every private relation Mr. Hott was known as a true friend and affectionate father and husband; he generously responded to every enterprise worthy of note, and has left behind as a heritage a spotless name and fame for those who came after him. In religious work he was active and especially interested in the Sunday-school. He had frequently been solicited to fill local offices in his township, but refused all, preferring to attend to his farming interests. He was a self-made man in eveiy sense of that term, for he started with nothing, and what he accumulated was the result of thrift and energy on the part of himself and wife. In those early days they had nothing to rely upon except their own willing hands and sturdy independence. In politics, he was a Republican. During the late war, he enlisted for one hundred days as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Ohio Infantry.
Mrs. Hott was a true helper, not only to her husband, but to all who come within her influence, and is a faithful member of the United Brethren Church. She is a lady of refinement and excellent business capacity, and superintends her farm of ninety acres so as to secure the best possible results. The confidence in which Mr. Hott was held is proved by the fact that he was administrator for various estates and also acted as guardian frequently. The confidence thus reposed in him was never abused, for he was ever considerate and tlioughtful in his relations with others.
From PORTRAIT & BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF FAYETTE, PICKAWAY AND MADISON COUNTIES, OHIO - Chapman Bros. [Chicago, 1892]