William Bice
William Bice was born in Columbiana County in the year 1824, and came to Allen County with his parents, William and Mary Bice, in 1839. His wife's parents, Dye and Mercy Sunderland, came from Miami County in 1822. Mrs. B. was born in this county in 1836. Her children are Frances, Orlando, Amarilla, Ann M., William A., Mary, Mercy N. and Andrew W. Bice. Mr. Bice's brothers and sisters are Mary, Samuel, Jeremiah, Charles, Granville and Thomas. The children of Dye and Mercy Sunderland are Daniel, James, George, Mary J., Elizabeth A., Isabel, Martha E. and Tabitha. Mr. Bice has held the office of Township Trustee.
From 1875 Historical Atlas of Allen County, Ohio, by H. H. Hardesty & Co. Publishers, Chicago.
William Bice, father of Mrs. Kay, was born at Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, March 18, 1824, and died on his homestead, in Allen County, just out of Spencerville, on February 8, 1900. He was first married on January 20, 1847, to Anna Sunderland, and there were two children born to them, viz: Francis and Orlando. The latter married Lucretia Courtshire, who was reared by Leonidas Post, another of the old settlers of the western section of Allen County. On December 11, 1856, William Bice was married to his second wife, Tabitha Sunderland, who was born September 1, 1836, and is a daughter of Dye and Mary (Berryman) Sunderland. The Sunderlands were the fourth white family to settle in Allen County. They had 12 children, of whom one died in infancy, and another at the age of three years; the remaining 10 all reached maturity and reared families of their own. Mrs. Brice and her sister, Mrs. Mary Jane Mars, now past 88 years of age, a resident of Decatur, Illinois, are the only survivors.
The children of William Bice born to his second union were nine in number, the survivors being as follows: Amarilla, who is the wife of R. T. Sutton; Anna M., who is the wife of S. W. Kemp, of Spencerville; William Adolph, who married Effa Gallant; Mercy Naomi, who is the wife of B. G. Hover, of Lima; Andrew W., M. D., who was coroner of Allen County from 1902 to 1905; and Bessie, who is the wife of Howard L. Kay.
The late William Bice was reared among the Quakers at Salem, Columbiana County, and all his life lived according to their upright teachings. After his second marriage, he settled on the homestead now occupied by his widow, which is situated just south of Spencerville. At present Mrs. Bice's son-in-law, Mr. Kay, has the historic old farm under lease. An old Indian burying ground once occupied a part of it, and Dr. Andrew W. Bice has taken a great interest in making a collection of relics of the days of the aborigines found here. Mr. Kay has recently stocked the old farm with a fine assortment of sheep and hogs, and the management has been entrusted to an experienced farmer and stock-raiser.
Mrs. Bice belongs to one of the oldest families in the county, as mentioned above, and her recollections of the days of her girlhood and early married years are most entertaining and instructive. It scarcely seems possible, in conversing with this animated, intelligent and well-preserved lady, to believe that she lived in the days when the Indians still wondered in numbers over all this country and sat at her father's hearthstone receiving his bounty. She recalls only their friendliness and their willingness to barter fur for food. In the days of which Mrs. Bice tells, it was not considered a very great hardship to live in a log cabin with earthen floor and with home-made quilts hung at the open door for protection.
Mr. Bice kept on accumulating land until he owned 530 acres. Subsequently he gave his children all but 225 acres, retaining this in the home stead farm, which is now a property of large value. Mr. Bice recalls well the old walnut canoe which was used in early days to cross the Auglaize River. She was carefully reared by an excellent mother who taught her all the housewifely arts of those days. Her mother was a famous weaver and she taught her daughter to spin and weave and also to dye the coverlets, such as are now occasionally found in the possession of old families and are preserved as treasures. The old Bice homestead has many of these wonderful examples of industry and taste.
At school Mrs. Bice stood as one of the best spellers, that being quite a distinction in her day. She was also an expert horsewoman and relates that upon one occasion, being invited to attend the wedding of Lenora Pupinore with Thomas Leach, she started on horse-back, with a party consisting of six couples. Upon reaching the home of the bride there being no gates, she jumped the bars and as she was the first on the scene had the honor of receiving the first taste of the "wedding bottle," a feature of these occasions. General Blackburn was present at this wedding.
Looking at the life lived in the early days of Mrs. Bice, it seems to modern views to have been one filled with toil, hardship and privation; but it was not so regarded by many of those who still survive; for they undoubtedly possessed a will and courage equal to the emergencies they met and successfully over- came, and a pracical habit of thought that converted their necessary industry and frugality into pleasure. The old orchard standing on the homestead was partly set out by Indians who thus assisted Mr. Bice, with whom they were always on friendly terms. Under on old locust tree still standing in the orchard is the old horse mill where Mr. Bice converted bushels of apples into sweet, wholesome cider. It gave the family refreshments during the long winter evenings; Mrs. Bice also boiled it down for cooking purposes, making in one year 60 gallons of the real old-fashioned apple-butter, which she disposed of in Delphos, realizing the sum of $300 for her work.
From History of Allen County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Part 2, Edited & Compiled by Charles C. Miller, Ph. D.; Richmond & Arnold, Publishers, Chicago, 1906