ELISHA HELM was born in Liberty township, Crawford county, March 13, 1831, and is a son of John Helm, who was reared in Somerset county, Penn., where he was married to Miss Susan Courts. They moved to Crawford county, and located there sometime between 1820 and 1825, in a clearing in the woods, in which there was an abundance of game, and where Indians were frequently seen on their hunting expeditions. Mr. and Mrs. Helm had nine children- five sons and four daughters. The parents were farmers all their, lives, and had a good farm of 120 acres. He died in Crawford county at the age of seventy-two years, his wife pass away sometime later at the same age.
Our subject, who was the youngest of the sons, was reared to the duties of a farmer's boy, living at home until he was twenty years old, when he worked out as a farm hand, receiving from eight to ten dollars a month. In1858 he was married, in Crawford county, to Miss Margaret Ulis, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 1834, a daughter of William Ulis, a farmer of that county. Our subject had at this time bought eighty acres of land in Section 3, Portage township, Wood county, and for three years after his marriage worked on the home farm in Crawford county. In the spring of 1861 they moved to Wood county and located on the land he had bought, the money with which he paid for it being what he had saved from his earnings. An old house stood on the land, of which about six or seven acres were cleared. He improved and cultivated the remainder of it, and has lived there ever since. Mr.. and. Mrs. Helm had the following children: Gerome, who died at the age of eighteen years; Marion and Monroe, both farmers in Portage township: two sons (twins) died in infancy. Mr. Helm is a Republican, and a regular attendant at elections. He formerly took great pleasure in hunting, and has killed large quantities of game in his section of the county, He is an excellent shot with the rife and has achieved fame that is more than local; has won first place at many shooting matches, and has used the same rifle for over forty years. Mr. Helm is a self-made man and a hard worker, in spite of which he is to-day well preserved, hale and hearty, and he has a large number of friends.
pp1314-5
History of Wood County