Michael Templeton was "one of the oldest and longest continuous residents of Braceville township, Ohio" when he died in 1909. In fact, he and his wife Lovina already had four children when they moved from their first log cabin to a second log-built house, before moving into "the large frame home north of Phalanx Station" that was the family seat for many decades.1 They ultimately had nine children, four boys and five girls.

Michael was born November 19, 1823 and reared on his father's farm. He was educated in the district's public schools. When he was nineteen he learned the trade of tanner and currier, at which he worked a few years. He was then engaged in peddling for awhile. On March 19, 1847, he married Lovina Fusselman who was born in Lehigh County, March 29, 1823, daughter of Erhart and Christena J. (Foxhemier) Fusselman. They had come to Mahoning County in 1829. The youngest of nine children Erhart and Christian reared in the Southington Township, Trumbull County, Ohio area, Lovina's own sons and daughters were well acquainted with their uncles and aunts. The Fusselmans were nearly all engaged in farming. "They have all been people of prominence and high respectability," his son, Judge George Bostwick Templeton, recalled.

Michael Templeton was engaged in the manufacture of cheese boxes for thirty-six years.2 This sideline was in addition to the 170 acres of farm land he dedicated to general farming. The young family lived in two log cabins (where his children were born) before building a frame house on the family farm north of Phalanx. He continued making improvements, building out buildings and doing all the construction required on a well-run farm by his own labor. Judge G. B. Templeton, who had a good eye for agricultural potential claimed that his father "has one of the most desirable locations in his vacinity." The Judge continued that his father's "whole life has been characterized by great activity."

Michael and Lovina were members of the Desciple Church, and he was also a Mason.3

Politically, Michael Templeton "...was a Democrat in his younger days, but became a Republican over the Slavery Question."4 Since he was born in 1823, those younger days would no doubt have been as a Jacksonian Democrat, the champion of western farmers. According to the Warren newspaper, writing upon his death, "Mr. Templeton . . . was an early convert to the cause of the slaves and to the Republican faith and cast his vote for Fremont and has ever since been strong in the principals of the party. When he died on March 25, 1909, the newspaper eulogized him under the headline, "Pioneer Is Gone",, saying, "He was one of the well known and highly respected citizens of the county."

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NOTES

1. 0150 RMT- 1909 Bolivar, MO ewspaper obituary, bitmap image courtesy Charles Ehaney, Aug. 1, 2003.
2. 0014 FHT-GLT Papers, family history thought to be by Judge George Bostwick Templeton.
3. 0016 FHT-GLT Papers, "Streator Family History" compiled by Fanna Streator Wright and Gertrude Inez Streator, June 13, 1944.
4. 0020 FHT-GLT Papers, transcriptions by Frank H. Templeton of various newspaper clippings, October 12, 1949.