Matthew Allen Hagler
Matthew Allen Hagler, a farmer of New Jasper township and proprietor of the old Toops place, in that township, where he has been living for nearly forty years, is a native of the neighboring Hoosier state, but has been a resident of Greene county since the days of his infancy. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of the city of Portland, county seat of Jay county, Indiana, December 25, 1855, son of Henry Christopher and Julia Ann (Shook) Hagler, both of whom were born in Greene county and who spent the greater part of their lives here.
Henry Christopher Hagler was born in New Jasper township, son of Samuel and Anna (Fudge) Hagler, who lived on a farm in the vicinity of the village of New Jasper and who spent their last days there. Samuel Hagler was a native of Virginia and was the first of that name to come to Greene county, establishing his home here in pioneer days. He and his wife were members of the Reformed church and were the parents of fifteen children, of whom the following grew to maturity: Betsey. Jane, Martha, Lottie, Clara, Eliza, Samantha, William, Milton, Henry C. and Moses. Samuel Hagler became a considerable landowner in New Jasper township. Henry Christopher Hagler grew up on the home farm and after his marriage to Julia Ann Shook, a member of one of Greene county's pioneer families, made his home for a time on one of his father's farms, later moving over into Indiana with his family, two children having by that time been born to him and his wife, and bought a quarter-section farm in the vicinity of Portland, where he sought to establish a permanent home, but illness in the family shortly afterward developing he remained there but nine months, at the end of which time he disposed of his interests there and returned to Greene county. Upon his return here he bought a partly improved farm of eighty acres in New Jasper township and there established his home and spent the rest of his life, his death occurring when he was thirty-seven years of age. His widow later married Silas Matthews, of the neighboring county of Clinton, and after the death of her second husband went to New Mexico, where she spent her last days in the home of her youngest daughter, Mrs. Dotts, her death occurring there when she was seventy-six years of age. Henry C. Hagler was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of six children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: John, who has been twice married, his second wife being Emma Lloyd, and who is farming in Clinton county; Samuel, a carpenter, who married Ella Moore and is now living at Toledo; Kate, now deceased, who was the wife of Gustave Curl, of Yellow Springs, this county; Amanda, who married James Dotts and is now living at Allen, New Mexico, and Sarah, who died in the days of her girlhood.
Matthew A. Hagler was but an infant when his parents returned from Indiana, where he was born, to Greene county, and his youth was spent on the home farm in New Jasper township, his schooling being received in the schools of that neighborhood. When he was fifteen years of age he began working on his own account and was thus engaged, employed on neighboring farms, until his marriage in the spring of 1879, when he established his home on the old Toops place of sixty-six acres, which he had bought, in New Jasper township, and has ever since resided there. In 1892 he built a new house and in 1906, a new barn, meanwhile making other improvements on the place. In addition to his general farming Mr. Hagler also has been a quite extensive dealer in timber. He is a stanch Republican, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper.
On March 26, 1879, Matthew A. Hagler was united in marriage to Ella M. Huston, who was born in Bath township, this county, daughter of James and Mary (Baker) Huston, the latter of whom also was born in this county, her parents having been residents of the Jamestown neighborhood. James Huston was bom in Knox county, Ohio, son of Robert and Ann (Lyons) Huston, who later came to Greene county and settled on a farm in New Jasper township, where they spent their last days. They were the parents of ten children, William, George, James, Josiah, John, Harvey, Mary, Margaret, Eliza and Deborah, the Huston family thus coming to be well represented in this county. James Huston established his home in the vicinity of Yellow Springs and became a successful farmer, stockman and trader. He died there at the age of seventy-six years and his widow survived him for some years, she having been eighty-four years of age at the time of her death. They were the parents of four children, of whom Mrs. Hagler was the second in order of birth, the others being Lue E., unmarried, who is living at Yellow Springs; William, who married Mary Sparrow and is farming the old home place, and Frank, who died when twelve years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Hagler have been born two daughters, Mary E., who died at the age of six years, and Anna Willetta, who married Irvin Hofifman and died in 1911, she then being twenty-five years of age.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918