Hiram Cunning, deceased. Among the men who have been instrumental in the development of the rich resources of Wood county, the subject of this sketch held no unimportant position. He operated one of the model farms of Washington township, and was numbered among the popular citizens of that section. Born in Ridgefield township, Huron Co., Ohio, May 7, 1842, he was a son of Hiram and Keziah (Raymond) Cunning, with whom, at the age of twelve years, he came to Wood county. The schools of Washington township afforded him his educational privileges, and he remained on the home farm until twenty years of age.

After the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Cunning enlisted, August 9, 1862, at Tontogany, in the 111th, O. V. I., under Col. Bond and Capt. McGowen, of Perrysburg, and was mustered in at Toledo. He was placed on provost-guard duty, and after participating in a number of skirmishes was discharged at Columbus, Ohio, April 8, 1863. On returning to Wood county, he lived on his father’s homestead until 1865, when he purchased his late farm of eighty acres, which had been partly cleared, but which he greatly improved, setting out an orchard, and small fruit trees and shrubs; besides general farming, he also raised stock for his own use. In politics he voted the straight Republican ticket; served as school director two terms, and for a number of years was cemetery trustee. He affiliated with Walter A. Wood Post, No. 48, G. A. R. , of Tontogany, of which he was senior vice-commander; and also held membership with the K. O. T. M., Tent No. 147, of Tontogany. On August 23, 1896, Mr. Cunning died suddenly.

Mr. Cunning was married February 22, 1872, to Ella Tefft, a daughter of L. P. and Phoebe Ann (Adams) Tefft, and to them have come four children: Oreanna, born February 8, 1874, became the wife of S. I. Landers, an agriculturist of Plain township, Wood county, and died of consumption September 28, 1893; Hiram T. was born December 5, 1875; Flavilla was born March 13, 1879; and Irene Myrtle was born July 30, 1883. The three youngest children are still at home. On both the paternal and maternal sides Mrs. Cunning is descended from Gen. Greene, of Revolutionary fame. Her mother’s maiden name was Sprague, but as her father died when she was quite young, she took the name of Adams, that of her step-father, who was a descendant of President John Quincy Adams. She belonged to the Sprague family of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Tefft were married in May, 1851, and four children blessed their union—one who died in infancy; Florence G., who died while young; Lorin P., also deceased; and Mrs. Cunning, who was born in Perrysburg, Ohio, January 20, 1854. Her father was a member of the “Squirrel Hunters,” and during the Civil war manifested his patriotism by enlisting in the Union army as a member of the “hundred-day men.”