Bio-Musser, Clayton

Home

Clayton Musser
(1863-1927)

Clayton Musser was born in October 1863 in or near Prairie Depot, now known as Wayne, Wood County, OH, the son of Dennis and Caroline (Miner) Musser.

At the age of 17, in 1880, he lived with his parents and was employed as a laborer. Clayton married Ellen Almeda "Meady" Bressler (1871-1956) in about 1891. She was eight years younger than he. Meady was born in a log cabin on May 7, 1871, the daughter of Phillip Bressler.

The Mussers had at least two daughters, Florence Eckert and Sylvia M. Chaney.

The federal censuses of 1900 and 1910 show the Mussers as farmers, making their home in Bloom Township, Wood County. Sadly, Meady apparently died during the decade between 1910 and 1920. Clayton and Meady relocated to a farm in Perry Township, Wood County. Living under their roof in 1920, when the census was enumerated, were married daughter Sylvia and her husband John A. Chaney.

At the age of 65, in the fall of 1927, Clayton was stricken with a fatal case of tuberculosis. He died on Oct. 16, 1927, at the age of 65 years, 11 months. His passing was briefly noted more than a month later, in the Nov. 22, 1927 edition of the Wood County Daily Sentinel Tribune.

The widowed Meady did not marry for the remaining three decades of her life. She went to live with her daughter and son in law, the Chaneys. She made a living as a practical nurse, working for clients in private homes. After some 29 years of making her home with the Chaneys, Meady passed away on Aug. 30, 1956, at the age of 85. Burial was in West Millgrove Cemetery.

Daughter Florence Musser (1892-1977) married Benjamin Eckert in 1911. They resided in Portage and had two sons -- Howard Eckert and Robert Eckert, who is thought to have lost his life in the U.S. military during wartime. The Daily Sentinel said she was a homemaker and "was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and was a Gold Star Mother. She was a member of the Christ United Methodist Church and the Portage Rebekah Lodge."

Daughter Sylvia Musser (1900- ? ) married John K. Chaney (1897- ? ). John was a clergyman circa 1920 and a farmer in 1930. They had two daughters, E. Lorraine Chaney and Dorothy M. Chaney. In about 1928, the Chaneys took Sylvia's widowed mother into their home, where she remained for the rest of her life. Circa 1956, Sylvia lived in Tiffin, OH. It is possible -- though far from proven -- that John became Toledo district superintendent for the Methodist Church, and that he died in St. Petersburg, FL on Nov. 18, 1966.