Ezra R. Outland, a farmer of Zanesfield, is the youngest child of a family of sixteen children born to Josiah and Kesiah Outland, who were natives of North Carolina, and subsequently settled in Zane Township, Logan County, where Ezra was born December 2, 1828. At the age of 18 Ezra left home and sought to learn the carpenter's trade, and after he had it completed, the business not suiting him, he engaged in farming. At the age of 22, on October 10, 1850 he was married to Elizabeth Lukens, who was born in Warren County, Ohio, a daughter of Salathiel and Louisa (Fawcett) Lukens. After his marriage, he engaged at work on a sawmill for three years, and in the Fall of 1854 moved to the eastern part of the township and purchased 70 acres of land at $14 per acre, paying on it what money he had saved when at work in the sawmill, and went in debt for the remainder; this land was unimproved, not a stick cut or any improvement made upon it; he built him a small frame house and began clearing the timber and making him a farm. In November 1869, his wife died; four children were the fruit of the union, two of whom are living: Fernando D., born August 4, 1851, and Orlando, July 6, 1854. On April 19, 1873, Ezra was married to Hettie Inskeep, who was born in Perry Township on July 14, 1846, and had been a successful teacher from the time she was 15 years of age to the time she was married; she is a daughter of David and Martha (Downs) Inskeep, who were born in Zane Township. Mr. and Mrs. Outland have two children: Emma E., born May 23, 1875, and Nellie, February 20, 1880. Mr. Outland has been successful in his business career, having now 313 acres of land, the greater portion of which is improved. He and Hettie are members of the Free Will Baptist Church; he is a member of Perry Grange No. 1134. (from "History of Logan County, Ohio" Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co., 1880)