HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 725 (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) WILLIAM C. GRAVES. Erie County has many men who are not only fortunate in their material circumstances and in their position as citizens, but also in the general estimation of the public fully deserve all their good fortune. Such a man is William. C. Graves, vice president, of the Castalia Banking Company and the owner and at one time the farmer of 207 acres of land in Margaretta Township. Mr. Graves has spent most of his life in Erie County, and has that prestige which belongs to a successful career. Many years ago, when Erie County's development was advanced only a few degrees beyond pioneer conditions, the Graves and Caswell families came here from the East. Spencer Graves was an early settler in Margaretta Township and a highly influential citizenship of that locality. Calvin Caswell was also a pioneer in the same township, and lived there for more than half a century. At one time he owned large tracts of land in the township, was an orderly and intelligent farmer, and his reputation extended beyond the bounds of his immediate home community. For several terms he served as a county commissioner, and was also at one time president of the Erie County Agricultural Society and did a great deal to strengthen and extend the influence of that organization. These two families were united by the marriage of Lucius S. and Emily L. (Caswell) Graves, the former a native of New York State and the latter of Erie County. To their marriage was born William C. Graves in Margaretta Township on February 18, 1861. His early life was spent on the farm in his native township, and in the course of time he acquired a liberal education. He attended the common schools, the Castalia High School, and for about two years pursued a general commercial course in the Northern Ohio Normal at Ada. Immediately after his marriage he removed to Rockford in Mercer County, Ohio, where for about ten years he was identified with the timber and lumber industry. From there he removed to Sandusky and was a member of the firm of T. C. Adams & Son in the wholesale flour, fruit and produce business. In 1900 Mr. Graves returned to Castalia, and for eight years was in the general merchandise business in that village and also served as postmaster. Then followed three years of farm management on his estate in Margaretta Township, and in 1913 he returned to Castalia and has since given much of his attention to the Castalia. Banking Company. He became a stockholder in that institution when it was reorganized and subsequently was elected its vice president. Mr. Graves married Lucy M. Adams, daughter of the late Thomas C. Adams, who for many years was well known in Castalia and other parts of Ohio as a merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Graves have one son, Calvin T. Graves, who is now established successfully as a real estate man in Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Graves is affiliated with Sandusky Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a man of genial social qualities as well as of broad experience and thorough ability in business affairs. HERMAN KRUEGER. The position of superintendent of a large manufacturing plant in these days of strenuous industrial activity is no sinecure, and he who can successfully perform its duties must be a man of experience, tact and energy. The Castalia Portland Cement Company, whose large plant is located at Castalia, Ohio, with the main Office at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has an exceptionally competent superintendent in Herman Krueger, a man well and favorably known in Castalia and throughout Margaretta Township. Mr. Krueger was born in Prussia, Germany, August 6, 1870, his parents, Theodore and Hannah 726 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY (Gysau) Krueger, being natives of that country. When he was a child of less than four years, or in the spring of 1874, they came to America, settling in Margaretta Township, Erie County, OhiOf-, and here the subject of this sketch was reared to manhood, acquiring' his education in the public schools. It was in 1898 that he first entered the employ of the Castalia Portland Cement Company, going to work in the coal grinding department. After spending three years in this department he was promoted to the position of foreman of the packing house, which he filled for some time, being then made night superintendent of the plant. He remained in this position for several years and was lien- made general day foreman. His next promotion was in 1909 to his present office as general superintendent of the plant, in which he has shown himself thoroughly competent; having a comprehensive knowledge of all the various processes of manufacture, united with a high order of executive ability. The concern includes a number of different departments and gives employment to about 160 men—laborers, mechanics, mill men, firemen, engineers and others, of all of whom Mr. Krueger has charge. His success in life has been achieved through his own industry and perseverance, backed by no inconsiderable degree of natural ability. A public spirited, enterprikng citizen, he takes au, active interest in local affairs and is ever ready to aid a worthy cause, especially if it promises to be of general benefit to the community at large. In politics he is a republican, while his religious affiliations ary. with the Lutheran Church at Sandusky, Ohio. Mr. Krueger was married, December 7, 1890, to Miss Emma Davic41 who was born in Margaretta Township, this county, daughter of Charles David, a former resident of Margaretta Township, but now deceased. Mrs. Krueger, after a happy wedded life of nearly twenty-five years, died February 19, 1915, leaving five children—Carl, Fred, Arthur' E., Dora and Marjorie A. Carl is residing in Castalia, while the other four live with their father in Margaretta Township. CHARLES CANFIELD The scattered survivors of the war of 1861-65, are men of distinction and honor wherever they are found. One of these veterans in Erie County is Charles Canfield of Castalia, 'who is now spending his declining years in comfort and honor in the county wfiere he was born, and is giving dignified and acceptable service as a justice of the peace of Margaretta Township and is a notary public. His birth occurred in Milan Township of Erie County, Januar; 18, 1839, and though his life has been a most active and eventful one it has been prolonged to more than three-quarters of a century. His parents were Moses and Belinda (Mack) Canfield. The Mack family were among the very early settlers of Milan Township. The Ganfields came originally from Vermont. When Charles Canfield was still a child he became a resident of Branch County, Michigan, several miles from Coldwater, the county seat. He was left in tender years to meet the difficulties and problems of life almost alone. He grew up partly in the home of Jerry Noble, who lived not far from Coldwater, and subsequently was in the home of Perry Larribee in Bethel Township of Branch County. His early environment and his life among strangers did not allow him to attend school regularly, and he has gained most of his knowledge by personal reading and study and by contact with men and affairs. He had passed his majority when the war broke out, acid almost, at the first call he enlisted in the First Michigan Light Artillery, Loomis Battery, which was organized at Coldwater. He was Ein the three months' service, and during that time participated in the battle of Bull Run. In January, 1863, Mr. Canfield enlisted in Coinpany D of the PICTURE OF IRA C. BAILEY HISTORY OF ERIE. COUNTY - 727 Ninth Michigan Cavalry and was in the Department of the Ohio and subsequently in the Department of the Cumberlands. The climax of his military experience came when he followed Sherman in the advance to Atlanta and in the march to the sea. He was under fire more or less all the time while with Sherman, and in the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, received a wound from a bayonet which' pierced his neck.. Somewhat later, on January 21, 1865, he was given an honorable discharge and returned home to take up the duties of civil life with the distinctions and honors that belong to the veteran soldier. After the war he learned the trade of wagon maker, and followed that as a means of livelihood almost continuously until 1908, in which year he retired. In the meantime Mr. Canfield had made his home in different states — and in different towns and cities. In March, 1907, he came to Castalia and has since lived at that village. For a number of years his home was in Toledo ; he also lived in Detroit, and in whatever community any portion of his life has been spent he has won the respect of his fellow citizens. For a time since returning to Castalia Mr. Canfield was janitor of the high school, then for several years performed the duties of truant officer for Margaretta township, and is still acting in that capacity and is also one of the justices of the peace and has a commission as notary public. Mr. Canfield is a republican but has frequently exercised his discretion and independence in casting his ballot. At one time• he was a member of Vienna Lodge No. 205, F. & A. M., at Clio, Michigan, and also belongs to Vienna Lodge No. 191 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at the same place. He also belongs to the Grand Army Plitst at Castalia. Mr. Canfield has been three time married, and by his second wife has two sons : Albert E. Canfield of Adrian, Michigan, and Charles H. Canfield of Jasper, Michigan. Mr. Canfield's present wife is one of the most interesting pioneer women of Erie County. Her maiden name was Sarah J. Harvey, and she was born at Lansing, Tompkins County, New York, April 18, 1828. Her parents were Thomas and Rachel (Dickerson) Harvey, her father a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, and her mother of Tompkins County, New York. When Mrs. Canfield was eight years of age, in 1836, her parents came to Erie County and located at Sandusky, where for three years her father kept the old Portland House, which in its time was a popular and widely known hostelry. Later the family removed to Margaretta Township and settled on a farm near Castalia. They moved to this community in 1839. Later her father bought the Seven Mile House in Margaretta Township, and conducted it a number of years. Mrs. Canfield has lived in Erie County almost eighty years, and has a great fund of recollections and memories associated with the times and people. Her father, after selling the Seven Mile House, moved to Venice and for several years was proprietor of the Venice Hotel, after which he became a farmer in Margaretta Township and at one time owned 400 acres of land in that vicinity. His death occurred in Sandusky in 1864. Squire Canfield, as he is familiarly known by his friends and the residents of Castalia, is a man of public spirit and enjoys the good will and respect of all his fellow townsmen. IRA C. BAILEY. Though he assumed his present responsible position as manager of the extensive lumber and manufacturing business of the Valentine Fries estate without having had previous experience in this line of enterprise, Mr. Bailey has shown himself a most circumspect and capable executive, has fortified himself thoroughly in the details of the business and has made the same definitely successful. The business has 728 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY shown appreciable expansion under his effective administration and he has gained secure prestige as one of the representative men of affairs in the thriving little city of Huron, where he has been the incumbent of his present managerial position since 1907 and where he is known as an alert, progressive business man of mature judgment. The Fries estate succeeded to the ownership of the lumber business long controlled by the Wickham Lumber Company, one of the oldest beSt known concerns in this line of enterprise in Erie County, and the enterprise has been conducted under its present auspices since 1903.. In addition to dealing in all kinds of lumber and building supplies, including brick, cement, plaster, etc., the controlling estate operates as well equipped planing mill, the plant being situated on the banks of and near the mouth of the Huron River, so that the best of shipping facilities are controlled in connection with marine service on the Great Lakes. Mr. Bailey was born in Norwalk Township, Huron County, Ohio, on the 11th of September, 1871, and he was there reared to adult age, in the meanwhile having availed himself fully of the advantages of the public schools, including the high school in the city of Norwalk. In his youth he there learned the trades of plumber and tinsmith, and finally be 'engaged in the plumbing and tinning business at Norwalk, as a member of the 'firm of Gfell & Bailey, his practical apprenticeship having been served in the establishment of the Butt & Peck Hardware Company. After an alliance that continued six years Mr. Bailey withdrew from the firm of Gfell & Bailey and since that time the enterprise has been continued under the title of Gfell & Company. One year after retiring from the firm mentioned Mr. Bailey came to Huron, where he has since been actively associated with the supervision of the lumber business of the Valentine Fries estate, his present office being that of general. manager. Mr. Bailey is a scion of a sterling pioneer family of Ohio, within whose gracious borders his grandfather, Charles Bailey, was born and reared, the entire active life of the honored grandsire having been passed in Huron County, where he followed the vocation of painter and where he died when about seventy years of age. He was a republican in proclivities and as a member of an Ohio regiment he served as a valiant soldier of the Union army during virtually the entire period of the Civil war. The maiden name of his wife was Curtis and she was likewise about seventy years of age at the time of death, she having survived her honored husband by several years. Mrs. Bailey was born in one of the primitive log cabin homes of the pioneer era in the history of Huron County, where her parents settled in an early day, when that section was little more than a forest wilderness and when the Indians were still much in evidence. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bailey the following brief record is given Nelson, father of the subject of this review, is the eldest ; George still continues his residence in Erie County and is the father of six children ; Susan became he wife of Jasper Curtis, who is survived by their two daughters, and after his death she became the wife of Charles Coleman, their residence being now at Miami, Florida, where Mr. Coleman is engaged in the propagating of grapefruit and other citrus fruits, no children having been born of this union ; Charles is a bachelor and his present place of abode is unknown to, other members of the family. Nelson Bailey was born in Norwalk Township, Huron County; March 1, 1848, and was there reared to manhood. He has followed various occupations and for more than half a century has maintained his, home at Townsend Center, a village in his native county, both he and his wife being in excellent health and spirits and he having always been uncompromising in his allegiance to the republican party. Mrs. Bailey, whose maiden name was Sarah E. Emerson, has been a resident of Huron HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 729 County from the time of her birth and celebrated her sixty-sixth birthday anniversary in 1915. Of the children all are living except a daughter who died in infancy, and all of the survivors are married and established in homes of their own, their names being entered in respective order of birth : Ira C., Susan E., John J., Reuben, Ora, Lottie, Anna, Frank, Phoebe and Harrison. In the City of Norwalk was solemnized the marriage of Ira C. Bailey to Miss Sophia Reineck, who was born in Huron County on the 24th of September, 1868, and who received excellent educational advantage in her youth. She is a daughter of Ambrose and Rosina (Martin) Reineck, the former of whom was born in Ohio, of German parentage, and the latter of whom was born in Germany, whence she came with her parents to America when she was twelve years of age, the family home having been established in Huron County, where her parents passed the residue of their lives, both having attained to the age of about three score years and ten. Mr. Reineck was a farmer by vocation, was a staunch democrat in his political proclivities, and both he and his wife were zealous communicants of the Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have two fine sons, both of whom are honoring the name which they bear. Arthur William, who was born October 29, 1895, is taking up the trade formerly carried on by his father, the plumbing business. Milo Reuben, who was born September 22, 1898, is identified with the marine navigation service of the Great Lakes and in 1914 was employed as a sailor on the steamer Ishpeming. He has demonstrated rare ability for one of his years and is now a member of the crew of the steamer R. S. Warner (1915). Mr. and Mrs. Bailey and their sons are communicants of the Catholic Church, retaining their membership in the parish of St. Peter's Church at Huron, and Mr. Bailey still retains in -the City of Norwalk, Huron County, his affiliation with the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association, in which last named organization he has held official positions. SMITH GORSUCH, M. D. For more than thirteen years Doctor Gorsuch has given his service as a capable physician and surgeon to the community of Castalia. Recognized as the leading medical man of Margaretta. Township, he belongs to a profession where the attainment of such reputation is in the highest degree creditable, not only to his skill and technical ability but to his social and civic character as a man. Few men have worked harder to raise themselves into professional ranks than Doctor Gorsuch. He was born in Delaware County, Ohio. August 28, 1869, a son of Samuel and Emeline (Bateson) Gorsuch, both being natives of Delaware County, and the mother is still living. His father was an architect and builder in Delaware County. The Gorsuch family is of German extraction while the Batesons were Scotch. Doctor Gorsuch grew up in Delaware County, and between his early education, which was completed at the Reynoldsburg High School, and his graduation from medical college there was a long period in which he supported himself and raised a fund for continued study by teaching and many other occupations which afforded the means to the end. At o different times he attended for two years the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, when that school was under the management of the noted educators, the Holbrooks. For seven years he was a teacher in Delaware, Franklin and Licking counties. In 1896 he began the study of medicine with Dr, N. Gorsuch; who is still engaged in practice at Centre Village in Delaware County. He continued his readings under that preceptor for four years, and in 1902 was graduated M. D. from Vol. 11-17 730 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY the Ohio Medical University at Columbus. In the same year he located at Castalia and has been in active practice ever since. On October 28, 1893, Doctor Gorsuch married Louie Rich of Delaware County. Their two children are Heber S. and Murray. Doctor Gorsuch is a member of the Board of Education of Margaretta Township and a member of the joint board of education of that township and Groton Township. He is a stockholder in the Castalia Banking Company. He is thus a man of no insignificant influence in his community. He stand" high professionally, is a member of the Erie County and Ohio State Medical societies, and the American Medical Association. He is affiliated with Science Lodge, F. & A. M., at Sandusky and with the Castalia Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees. He enjoys a large practice, is popular among his fellow townsmen, and public spirit is one of his important characteristics. ANDREW ENGLERT. In these modern times, when wealth accumulates rapidly, men who by years of arduous work in their respective callings have attained to success and ample fortune, often feel the need of relaxation and seek some healthful and invigorating pastime with which t6 occupy their leisure moments. Among this class the devotees of the rod are both numerous and enthusiastic. Who has not told or loved to hear a good "fish story." Among the inhabitants of the thickly settled parts of the country, however, who enjoy the art of angling, there are comparatively few who can take the time necessary to seek their finny prey in its native haunts in distant wilds, by the side of primeval streams, even if they are willing to put up with the rough living when far from the comforts of civilization. But there are few things that wealth cannot accomplish, and among them is the power to bring within convenient distance the things one cannot go far to seek. Hence we find artificial streams, stocked with game fish, and with comfortable club houses in the immediately vicinity, within easy distance of all our great centers of population. The proper care of such preserves, is, of course, an important consideration, and is entrusted only to men of intelligence and responsible character. Such a responsible position has been held for the last thirty-five years by the subject of this si memoir, Andrew Englert, who, since March 15, 1880, has been superintendent of the Castalia Trout Club, whose extensive grounds, comprising about 190 acres, are located near Castalia, Erie County, Ohio. Mr. Englert was born in Bavaria, Germany, June 10, 1851, a son of Martin and Annie (Geis) Englert, both parents being natives of that country. He was reared in his native land, where he acquired a good practical education, remaining there until he had attained his majority: On July 4, 1872, he landed as a German immigrant at Castle Garden, New York, and came directly to Erie County, Ohio. Here he obtained agricultural employment and also attended school for awhile, soon gaining a good command of the English language. He continued at farm Ilk work until 1880, when, as above stated, he was appointed to his present 'position, which he has filled to the full satisfaction of his employers. The Castalia Trout Club is composed of Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Sandusky parties, who have here found and improved a beautiful spot for healthful sport and relaxation. A bed, 5 1/2 miles long, was excavated and turned into an ideal stream for angling. There are two fish hatcheries on the grounds, from which the stream is kept supplied, the eggs being purchased in Northern Maine. During the winter of 1914-15 some 600,000 trout were hatched—enough to furnish sport, one would' think, for many a long summer day to all the members of the club. The grounds along the stream, and in some few other places, are thickly HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 731 and tastefully planted with shrubbery, and an important adjunct is a handsome and commodious clubhouse, well provided with all necessary conveniences and comforts. All these things and many others are under Mr. Englert's superintending care and keep him busily employed most of the time. His long residence here has made him well known to the people of Castalia and of the township generally and it speaks well for his character and disposition that he is one of the most popular citizens hereabouts, enjoying the confidence and good will of the entire community. Yet, with all his popularity he is neither self-centered unduly self-seeking, but takes a warm personal interest in the affairs of the town, being always ready to give his support to any movement designed for its moral or material advancement. In politics he republican, while fraternally he is a member of Spring Tent No. 8, K. O. T. M., of Castalia. Mr. Englert married Miss Margaret Altvater, who was born in Castalia, Ohio, of which place her father, Peter Altvater, now deceased, was a well known and respected citizen. To him and his wife five chillren have been born, namely : George NI., now residing in Toronto, Ontario ; Ida M., the wife of James S. Van Norman, of Sandusky, Ohio ; Charles, who resides at Frankfort, Indiana ; Earl R., of Ironton, Ohio, and Carrie L., wife of E. M. Winters, of Castalia, Ohio. The phrase "a self-made man" is often used by biographers in describing one who has risen to a comfortable or enviable position in life by his own exertions and without extraneous advantages, and in the sense that "self-made" is often "best-made" it can be applied without reserve to Mr. Englert. JEROME BIXBY. The ability to create success regardless of circum stances and difficulties has apparently been the chief factor in the career of Jerome Bixby, now president of the Castalia Banking Company. Mr. Bixby has lived in Castalia since 1875. For several years he sold general merchandise and operated a wagon for the country trade. In 1882 he established a general store at Castalia and kept this up for about ten years, during part of which time he was postmaster of the village. In 1894 he restricted his mercantile operations to hardware and farm implements, and almost continuously for the past twenty years has been identified with that business, being now senior member of the firm of Bixby & Meikle, who have the largest stock of general hardware and farm implements in Margaretta Township. On the reorganization of the Castalia Banking Company a few years ago Mr. Bixby was elected president, and has since had the executive management of that substantial institution, and is also a member of its board of directors. On July 15, 1840, Nathan and Mary (Klock) Bixby, whose home was in Savannah, Wayne County, New York, became the parents of a son whom they christened Jerome. These parents were both natives of New York State. The Bixby family is of English origin, while the Klocks belonged to the old Dutch stock of the Mohawk Valley. Grandfather Joseph Klock served in the Revolutionary war. When he was about seventeen years of age Jerome Bixby, who had previously profited by attendance at the common schools, entered Red Creek Union Academy in Wayne County, remained a student there about four years, and later for a time was in the Michigan State Normal at Ypsilanti. He also taught school for a short while in Columbia, Michigan. His student days in Ypsilanti were interrupted when he enlisted in Company F of the First Regiment of Michigan Cavalry. With this noted regiment he joined the Army of the Potomac, and served successively under such noted leaders as Buford, Hatch, Kilpatrick and 732 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Sheridan, and for the latter part of his service Was in the famous Custer's Brigade. His active participation in battle included Winchester; ; he was in Pope's army during its operations along the Rappahannock ; was in the second battle of Bull Run, and a short time prior to the battle of Gettysburg was detailed for clerical work at the military headquarters at Washington. He was given his honorable discharge from the army August 20, 1864. Mr. Bixby gained an appointment as sutler and in that capacity accompanied the Twenty-fifth Army Carps, Army of Observation, to Texas and continued as sutler to that 'organization until the fall of 1867. He then returned to Savannah, New York, lived there and at Saratoga Springs and at Lapeer, Michigan, until he came to Erie County, as above noted. Mr. Bixby owns two substantial farms in Margaretta Township, aggregating about 150 acres, devoted to general agriculture. Mr. Bixby married Lydia L. Higley, who was born in Townynd Township of Sandusky County, Ohio, a daughter of Orson Higley, who in his time was one of the most prominent citizens of that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Bixby have one daughter, Pearl B., now the wife of Andrew J. Melike of Castalia. Mr. Bixby has been a republican Once his days as a soldier of the Union, and is now and for several years has been commander of Post No. 423 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Castalia. He is also affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Lapeer, Michigan, and has long been active in the Congregational Church at Castalia, which he has served as trustee. ELIJAH C. WITTER. Among the ordinary avocations of mankind there are few more responsible positions than that of mail carrier. He it is who often bears the news of life or death, joy or sorrow, whose coming is eagerly awaited in every home, and upon whose care and promptitude great issues often depend. In selecting men for thrs, position the Government exercises the greatest care, choosing none but after a strict examination in which the applicant must show a high degree of intelligence, special knowledge of all things pertaining to his calling, which are more numerous than many people suppose, and furnish the strictest references as to his honesty and moral character. . In choosing Elijah C. Witter, of Castalia, Uncle Sam made no mistake, as all the peqple residing on Rural Route No. 2, connected with the Castalia office, will gladly testify. Mr. Witter was born in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio, January 17, 1867, and is, therefore, now but little past the prime of life. His parents were James B. and Arena (Campbell) Witter, the father a native of Canandaigua County, New York, the mother of Erie County, Ohio. The paternal grandfather, Joshua Witter, who resided in Canandaigua, was of New England antecedents and was descended from early English ancestors. At the age of twenty-seven years James B. Witter, after residing up to that time in his native state, came to Erie County, Ohio, settling in Margaretta Township, where he engaged in agriculture. A republican in politics, he took an active part in local affairs and became a prominent and popular citizen, serving for a time as township trustee. His death, which took place in October, 1898, was much regretted. Elijah C. Witter was reared to man's estate in Margaretta Townships this county, and was educated in its public schools and in the high schools at Castalia and Milan. For a number of years he folloWed his father's vocation, having a good farm of 115 acres, located main13;-in Margaretta Township, which he tilled successfully. Appointed rufral letter carrier in November, 1905, he assumed the duties of that office, . which he has since performed in a highly satisfactory manner. An HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 733 active citizen, interested in the affairs of the township, he numbers his friends by the score. In politics he is independent, while his fraternal affiliations are with Spring Tent No. 8, K. O. T. M., of Castalia, and Margaretta Grange No. 488., On January 23, 1890, Mr. Witter was united in marriage with Miss Maggie Prentice, who was born in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio, a daughter of N. E. Prentice, now of Payne, Ohio. He and his wife are the parents of four daughters, Mabel E., Nettie, Margaret and Sarah. Mr. Witter is a consistent member of the Congregational Church of Castalia. JAMES HUNT. That farming can be conducted as a successful business in the same class as store or factory needs no other proof than, a visit to the excellent estate of James Hunt, in Berlin Township. He has a hundred acres of fine rolling farm land, and a group of well arranged, substantially built and well painted buildings which are the firs; point of attraction to the visitor, and on every other hand are evidences of good management and efficiency. Mr. Hunt has a reputation in Berlin. Township as a successful general farmer, stock raiser and fruit grower, and it has been a matter of pride for him to maintain the highest standards as an agriculturist. His comfortable home contains ten rooms, and nearby is the bank barn on a foundation 32 by 66 feet, and a number of other cribs, sheds and outbuildings. The fields are well drained, and he raises all the staple crops, corn, wheat and potatoes, and has exercised a great deal of care in keeping the better grades of live stock. About fourteen acres are devoted to fruit growing, and twelve acres in peaches and two acres in apples and cligrries. When Mr. Hunt bought this land from Randall Bailey in 1899 it was in considerable disesteem as a farm, and had been much neglected and was generally run down. Applying the vigor and common sense which he uses in all his undertakings, Mr. Hunt has in less than fifteen years developed the place to rank hardly second among any of the farms of Berlin Township. It is located on the Berlin Heights and Norwalk Road, one mile from the former village. From the time he arrived from his native country of England in 1882 until moving to Erie County, Mr. Hunt lived in Richland County, Ohio. For four years he lived on a place of 105 acres at Plymouth, for six years rented 160 acres, for a similar period rented a farm of 400 acres, and then purchased property. Mr. Hunt was born in Lincolnshire, England, November 8, 1845, a son of James and Mary (Harrison) Hunt, both natives of Lincolnshire, where they passed all their lives and were fourscore when they died. Several generations of the Hunt family have lived in Lincolnshire, and in that locality the name was always associated with solid industry and worth. The father was for many years engaged in business as a contractor in the construction of ditches and canals, but the latter part of his life was spent on a small farm. He and his wife were active members of the Methodist Church. Of the children, John has never left England and is married and has a family. Richard is also living in England and has a family. The next in order of birth is James. William lives in Lincolnshire and has several children. Fred died six months after his marriage, and a child was born to his widow. Charlotte died as the wife of William Hart, leaving several children. For about twenty-seven years Mr. James Hunt lived in Lincolnshire, acquired his education there, and had a thorough training in English methods of agriculture, and this experience served him well after he came to Ohio. He was married in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, to Mary 734 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Dickinson. She was born in Nottingham, England,. where her parents spent all their lives, and a short time before her marriage she had removed to Leeds. Two of her brothers are living in the United States: Joseph, who is a farmer in Williams County, Ohio, and is married, and Thomas, who is a farmer near Montpelier, Ohio, and is the father of two sons. In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Hunt and their son Arthur voyaged from Liverpool to Quebec, Canada, and thence came to Shelby, Since then his movements and activities have been briefly traced. Mra:Hunt, after nine years of illness and suffering from rheumatism, passed' away October 9, 1910, when sixty-seven years of age: She was survived .by three children. The son, Arthur, who was born in England thirty-seven years ago, is now a farmer on his father's estate and rents the land; he married Inez Shoup, who was born in Richland County, Ohio, of 'German parentage, and they have two children, Mary and Lucile; the former a student in the Berlin Heights High School. Martha, who was born in Ohio thirty years ago, is the wife of Lloyd E. Andrews of Cleveland, and they have a son named James. Margaret, the younest child, was born in Richland County, was well educated in that county and in Erie County, and is now living with her father, to whom she gives a full measure of her devotion and exerts herself in every way for his comfort. Mr. Hunt is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church as was also his wife, and he and his son are republicans. MICHAEL GORMAN. The Gorman family was established in Erie County just, half a century ago. The people of Berlin Township .still retain many affectionate memories of the late Michael Gorman, who spent more than forty years of useful and honorable activity in this county. His widow, Mrs. E. C. Gorman, is still living, and bears the weight of more than ninety years with a cheerfulness and vigor which make her an exceptional character. Mrs. Gorman has a wonderful memory for events that happened during her girlhood and younger years, and among a large circle of acquaintances she is affectionately known as "Mother Gorman." The old Gorman homestead on Rural Route No. 2 out of Berlin Heights is now under the active management- of Albert Perry Gorman, youngest son of the late Michael. The Gorman family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the early members having been of the Catholic faith and was established in America by the grandfather of the late Michael Gorman. One of the family connections at a later generation was the noted Maryland senator, A. P. Gorman. The Gormans came to this country about the same time as Harmon Blennerhasset and Ellen Gorman, an aunt of the late Michael Gorman, had some interesting associations with the Blennerhasset family while they lived on the island in the Ohio River. Michael Gorman was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1815, and died September 19, 1910, at the age of almost ninety-five on his home in Berlin Township, situated on the Berlin and Norwalk Road. His father, Michael, Sr., was born on the Juniata River in Pennsylvania in the closing years of the eighteenth century, and grew up in the family of uncle, who was an extensive slave holder and planter in Maryland, and of a branch of the family directly related with the Senator lGornidn' family. Michael, Sr., was married when he came to Warren Conuty, Pennsylvania, his wife, Sarah Ann Gilson, being a young woman of English birth and parentage. At Bedford, Pennsylvania, Michael, Sr., was a miller and also engaged in the transportation business with pack horses between Bedford and Philadelphia. With these vocations he combined agriculture, and lived to be ninety-nine years of age, while HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 735 his wife was seventy-one when she died. Both were of Catholic parents, but they themselves were not active communicants of that church. Michael Gorman, Jr., was the eleventh in a family of thirteen children, all of whom grew up and married except a daughter who died at the age of eighteen while making preparations for her wedding. In the old Pennsylvania home and particularly around the water-power grist mill the late Michael Gorman spent his childhood and youth. Some years after his marriage, in May, 1865, he arrived with his family in Erie County, and here bought the farm on which he spent the rest of his days. He was a man of business judgment, and his labors and management enabled him to accumulate 200 acres in that locality. This farm was well improved under his supervision with substantial buildings, and was quite successful in the raising of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. The sterling worth of his character was made apparent in his community in many ways, and he is remembered as a man of thorough honesty and absolute integrity. He was frequently called upon to serve on juries during his life in Erie County. In politics he was a democrat, and while not an active church member was a believer in an all-ruling Providence and in the efficiency of love as the strongest force in the world. At the Town of Deerfield in Warren County, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1842, he married Elizabeth C. Cleland, who was born at Harbor Creek on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania, October 1, 1824. She celebrated her ninetieth birthday in the fall of 1914 and her fund of interesting recollections extends back to the decade of the '30s in the last century. She was reared and educated in Western Pennsylvania, and for fully half a century has lived in the old homestead out in Berlin Township. Mrs. Gorman is the lineal descendant of colonial and revolutionary ancestors. Her grandfather, John Cleland, was born near Boston, Massachusetts, in 1757, and died at Stockton, New York, in 1827. During the war for independence he was for three years under the command of General Putnam and for another four years was under another leader. He spent that dreadful winter in camp with other suffering patriots at Valley Forge. He was of Scotch ancestry and parentage, and his father had emigrated to America and settled in Boston, where he became promi- nent as a citizen and served as high sheriff and in that capacity there devolved upon him the duty of hanging Sarah Dyer, the noted Quakeress who was condemned for her unwavering adherence to religious convictions. John Cleland married Thankful Easton in 1780. She was born in 1759 and died at Stockton, New York, in 1847. Of their children, Oliver Cleland, the father of Mrs. Gorman, was born in 1793 and died in 1879. He was reared at Northampton, Massachusetts, and was married June 18, 1817, to Elizabeth Marsh. They were married at Bloomfield. She was born in 1801 and died in 1880 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. E. C. Gorman, in Berlin Township, as did also her husband. Mrs. Gorman was the second of three daughters. Her sister Cynthia was born in 1818 and died in 1822. Her sister Mary was born in 1828 and died in 1911, and by her marriage to Peter Gorman, a brother of Michael, left three children. There was also a brother, O. H. Perry Cleland, who was born in 1820 and died in 1903. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Gorman were born children as follows : Oliver C., born December 16, 1844, died at the age of fourteen ; Eleanor, born November 5, 1846, died in 1849 ; John Marsh, born November 21, 1848, now a farmer in Berlin Township, married Estella, a daughter of Thomas Pelton, and their daughter, Irma B., is the wife of Edward Manns, and they live in Berlin Township and have a son, Gorman D.; Elnora, born January 3, 1851, and now deceased, married 736 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY. Charles Peak, who was accidentally killed .at Berlin Heights; Juliet, born January 13, 1854, died at the age of one year ; 'Albert Perry Gorman, born April 9, 1860, attended school at Berlin Ileights and at Oberlin College, and for many years has lived at the old home and has the active management of the estate for his mother. He is unmarried and is one of the enterprising and successful agriculturists of Berlin Township. Both he and his brother John are democrats in potties. JOHN K. BOEHM. In the little Village of Ceylon in.Berlin Townstap the man of enterprise and of longest standing in a commercial sense is John K. Boehm, dealer in farm implements and operating an extensive business in producing and shipping sand for moulding and foundry purposes. Mr. Boehm has been the leading merchant at Ceylon for more than twenty years and more than any other one person has given the distinction to that point in Erie County territory as a place of trade and productive enterprise. He deserves special credit for opening up and developing the sanci, pits on the old Hast farm near his own home at Ceylon. He holds lease's on twelve acres covered with a deep deposit of sand of specially fine quality for manufacturing purposes. He also has options on other landg' that can be utilized for the same purpose. His experience shows that about 10,000 tons of sand can be secured from each surface acre. This sand is particularly in demand for steel and brass moulding, and it is- sold everywhere in the North Central States and Canada. Mr. Boehm's productions now run from two to five carloads per day. He has been engaged in this industry for the past seven or eight years, and it is a high tribute to his foresight and enterprise that he has utilized on a commercial basis a product which would easily have been slighted by men of less discernment. Mr. Boehm has built and owns branch railroad tracks connecting his sand pits with the main line of railway, and has introduced several features for the facile hhndling of the sand, which gives him a fair profit. One contrivance of his own invention is an endless belt operated by gasoline engine which carries the sand directly from the pit to the cars standing on the side track, and when operated at full capacity he is able to load 200 tons per day. Mr. Boehm has been in the farm implement businesi at Ceylon for the past fifteen years. He carries all kinds of farm supplies and implements, and furnishes most of the tools used in this agricultural district. His first business as a merchant at Ceylon was a general store, which he acquired in 1893. After about eight years he introduced another depariment for the hai 11;n9; of farm implements, and in 1909 sold the general merchandise stock to Frank Rhode, whose place was subsequently burnt out. For a number of years after purchasing the general store from G. R. McConnelly, Mr. Boehm was the only active business man at the place and has really been the only merchant of any consequence. On September 16, 1872, John K. Boehm was born in Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio, but was brought to Erie County when a child and was reared and educated in the county where he has lived ever since. His it parents were Conrad and Caroline (Dahlmann) Boehm. They were natives of Westphalia, Germany, were married in that courrtrF; and while living there three children were born to them, Carl, Frederick and Anna. In 1870 the family set sail for the United States, and after landing in New York City proeeeded west to Amherst in LorSin County, • where the father, who had become a capable shoemaker in the old Country, established a shop and worked at his regular calling. Back in Germany the grandfather was a skilled harness maker in Westphalia. After a few years residence in Amherst the Boehm family came on to Erie County and located in Ceylon, where the father continued his trade until PICTURE OF JOHN K. BOEHM HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 737 his death on October 4, 1876. His widow survived him until September 25, 1895. They were members of the German Reformed Church, and the father was a democrat in politics. After they came to this country their first child was John K. and others born to them were : Conrad, now a candy manufacturer at Sandusky, who is married and has sons and daughters; Catherine, who was born in Erie County in 1875, married Morris Parker, a member of the Cleveland police force who was killed in a riot in that city in 1912, leaving his widow and one daughter. In Vermilion Township John K. Boehm married Miss Amelia C. Kishman, who was born in Lorain County March 28, 1872, and received her education in the district schools of Erie County. Her father, Werner Kishman, with his wife, was a native of Germany, having come from that country to America, locating in Erie County, where he followed the business of fish man and farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Kishman died on their farm in Vermilion Township, the latter when fifty-six years of age, and the -father a few years later. They were German Reformed people. Mr. and Mrs. Boehm have three children : Ruth, who was born January 2, 1898, and is a member of the class of 1916 in the Berlin Heights High School; Roy W., born January 11, 1899, and a member of the class succeeding that of his sister in high school; and John K., Jr., who was born August 14, 1900, a member of the class which will graduate from the Berlin Heights High.. School in 1918. Mr. Boehm is a democrat who has done something creditable for his community, having served as trustee of the township from 1910 to 1912. The family are members of the German Reformed Church. WILLIAM H. MOATS. Among the varied interests of Erie County probably none deserves more attention as reflecting the growth and progress and prosperity of modern times than horticulturists, as exemplified in many fruit farms scattered along the lake shore in the interior country. One of the most encouraging and stimulating examples of ent6rprise in this direction is found in what William H. Moats has done. Mr. Moats lives in Berlin Township near the Village of Berlin Heights, and his farm of twenty-five acres is a model of the kind. The land is especially well adapted for fruit growing and it is not too much to say that as a horticulturist Mr. Moats has no superior in Erie County. His biggest crop is peaches, and he has about twelve acres in his peach orchard. About three acres are in apple trees, and he also has a hundred, cherry trees. Mr. Moats has owned and occupied this fruit farm since 1893. Every one of the trees now bearing was planted by his own hands or under his direct supervision. He has also introduced sufficient drainage to sweeten the soil, and has also employed commercial fertilizer to a considerable extent. Some idea of his success as a fruit grower is found in the records of production. At different times a single tree in his peach orchard has yielded twelve bushels of marketable peaches. His high record in the cherry crop was 528 quarts from one tree. All his fruit is of the highest class and commands the best price at market. The phenomenal cherry tree just mentioned is of the black Tartarian variety. As an apple grower he finds the best varieties are the Gano, the Jonathans, the Ben Davis and the Baldwin. His fine orchard and other improvements are the setting for some excellent buildings, including a large red barn 26 by 70 feet, and a comfortable nine-room white house. For several years before turning his attention to fruit growing Mr. Moats was a grain farmer in Berlin Township. He brought the experience of a general agriculturist to his present work and has succeeded as a result .of an unremitting vigilance; constant study and 738 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY the same energy and business judgment which would be required in running any successful concern. William H. Moats was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, May 4,, 1866, but has lived in Berlin Township of Erie County since the fall of 1873. His parents in ancestry are English. His grandfather, William, and his father, Henry Moats, came from Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, to the United States in 1849, having spent six 3qeks on a slow going sailing vessel. William Moats, the grandfather, was born in 1814 or 1815, while Henry Moats was born December 12, 1838. William Moats married Miss Norris in England, who died there in the prime of life. After coming to this country William Moats was married at Rochester, New York, to Martha Grayell, after which he moved to Canada, rved near the Lake of the Woods for some time, and then returned to Cleveland. While at Cleveland, Henry Moats, who was a child when brought to America, began learning the trade of machinist. At the first call for troops in 1861 to put down the rebellion he. enlisted in Battery D of the Ohio Light Artillery, and was in one of the very first engagements of the war, at Phillippi, West Virginia. From that time on until Lee's surrender at Appomattox he continued to discharge his duties as a soldier, and was out a little more than four years, Ills first enlistment was for three months, following which he enlisted for three years, and at the end of that time veteranized for three years more or until the close of the war, which came in the summer of 1865. His military record contains reference to many of the great engagements of that war. He was present at Chickamauga, in the Wilderness, at Lookout Mountain, at Antietam and other noted battles which are taken casually from his record. Though he had some narrow escapes he went through without a wound and never spent a day in a hospital, a remarkable testimonial to this fine physical fitness for the arduous duties of soldiering. After the war Henry Moats returned to Cleveland and there took up the business of truck gardener until 1873, when he moved to Erie County and bought a farm in the southern part of Berlin Township on the Berlin and Norwalk.road. He lived there until his death on April 5, 1911. His father and step-mother had also come to Erie Cminty in 1874, and lived here until they died several years later. They were members of the Christian Church and William Moats was a republican. At Cleveland on February 22, 1864, Henry Moats married Jennie Proffitt. She was born in England, October 22, 1844, and in 1853, at the age of nine was brought to the United States by her parents, William and Ann Proffitt, who, made their first location in the New World at Albany, New York. Her parents were natives of Harley, England, and came across the ocean in a sailing vessel between Liverpool and New York. About 1860 the Proffitt family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1873 arrived in Erie County, where they bought a farm on the Berlin and Norwalk road just across the line in Huron County. William and Ann Proffitt died on that old homestead both at the age of seventy-six years. While in England they belonged to the Episcopal Church, but attended, other denominations in this country. The late Henry Moats was a mem- ber of the Berlin Heights Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and for many years acted as chaplain in the post. His widow is still living with her son Norris in Florence Township. She was in sympathy with her husband in his church relations, but for the past fifteen years, since there was no Christian Church convenient, she has attended the Methodist Society. Henry Moats Was a republican in politics. William H. Moats was the oldest of the five children still filing. Walter is a farmer in Huron County and is married but has no children. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 739 John is a farmer and fruit grower in Berlin Township of Erie County and has a son and a daughter. Norris is a bachelor and lives with his mother. James lives on his father's old homestead in Berlin Township, is successful as a fruit grower, and is married and has one daughter and one son. In addition to these there was one son George, who died in early childhood. William H. Moats was married in his home township to Miss Belle Hoag. She was born in Berlin Township, where she received her education, and is the daughter of William and Lottie (Whitney) Hoar. Her father was born near Schenectady, New York, January 10, 1828, and was first married near Buffalo to Sarah Pierce. From New York state he came to Huron County, and while living on a farm there his wife, while in the prime of life, died a result of attempting to rescue her little daughter from the flames which enveloped her when her clothing caught fire. She and the child were both buried in the same grave. By that marriage a son lived to grow up and is now a resident of near Buffalo, New York. After William Hoag married his second wife he spent most of his life in Berlin Township near the village of Berlin, where he died January 12, 1909. His widow is still living, and is now the wife of Louis Marka. Mr. and Mrs. Moats have two children : Lloyd W., born April 7, 1889, after finishing the course of the Berlin Heights public schools completed a special course at the State University at Columbus, is now living in Berlin Heights, and married Christina Neiding. George H., the second son, born December 10, 1890, graduated from both the Berlin Heights High school in.1908, and attended Oberlin Business College, and is now cashier for Higby Company of Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Moats attend the Congregational Church, in politics he is a republican, and is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. Mrs. Moats is a member of the Tuesday Tourist Club, of which she is a past secretary, and also a member of the Ladies of the Maccabees, Maple City Hive, Norwalk, Ohio. The family have an extended relationship with Erie County society. JOSEPI1 MICHAEL HENDRICKSON. Long life and prosperity have re. warded the years and activities of Joseph M. Hendrickson, one of the oldest and best known citizens of Berlin Township. A native of the county, where he has lived three-quarters of a century, he has not only identified himself in a successful manner with the cares and responsibilities of private business but has possessed and exercised that public spirit which looks after the welfare of the community and supports its institutions and co-operative endeavors. Born in Berlin Township January 6, 1839, he is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Schoonmaker) Hendrickson, both of whom were born in Sullivan County, New York, and represented the old Dutch stock that was introduced into the valley of the Hudson during the seventeenth century. Grandfather Joseph Hendrickson spent all his life in New York State, and the same was true of the grandfather Michael Schoonmaker, where they lived the lives of substantial farmers and died when quite old. In church affairs they were affiliated with the Methodist denomination. Grandfather Michael Schoonmaker was a soldier in the War of 1812, took part in one of the battles fought in the vicinity of Detroit, survived that experience and lived to be about three score, and ten years of age. One of Mr. Hendrickson's uncles was Rev. Anthony Schoonmaker, who spent his life as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and had served as a chaplain with a Union regiment during the. Civil war. Jacob Hendrickson was born in New York State in 1811 and 740 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY his Wife in 1813, and they were married in Sullivan County, New 1 ork, about 1830. While living in that county two children were born, Benjamin and Jane. They then came west into the wilderness oaf Northern Ohio, locating north of Berlin Heights in Berlin Townshipcwhere their first home was a log cabin, in which Joseph Michael Hendrickson was born. Other children were also born in that humble habitation, and their first outlook on life was a partially cleared wilderness, which as a result of the efforts of two full generations has been succeeded by a district of fertile farms. In 1846 the Hendrickson family returned to New ; York State, lived there ten years, and then came back to Ohio in 1856, and resumed their location near Berlin Heights. Five years later they moved into Milan Township, and after a residence there finally retired to the home of their daughter, Mr. P. J. Clark, on the lake shore near Ceylon Junction. The father die here in 1876 and was laid to rest on his birthday, March 23d. His widow passed away at the home of her daughter in Berlin Heights in October, 1895. Joseph M. Hendrickson and his sister, Mrs. Clark, are the only two still living of twelve children. Six of these children grew to maturity and five were married and had children. The third in the family, and the first to be born in Ohio, Joseph M. Hendrickson was reared partly in Ohio and partly in New York State. Like many other successful men and women in the county he received part of his education from that well known instructor of a previous generation, Job Fish. After his marriage in 1864 he rented a fatm in Berlin Township for five years and then moved to the eastern part of the township and bought eighty-three and one-half acres situated or the Berlin and Florence highway. This has since been the scene of his endeavors and has been the place of his home. Under his labors and management the land has been greatly improved rand in spite of successive croppings for many years its fertility is greater than ever, 'This farm at one time had upon it a large double log house, which was a notable landmark in the early social doings of this section of Erie County. It was the general rendezvous for all the young people of the community, who came for miles around on horseback, both the boys and girls, and to the music of the fiddles the young folk danced until the small hours of the morning. During his residence there Mr. Hendrickson 'has perfected a number of noteworthy improvements. One of these is a large barn 30x60 feet with an adjoining shed, and there are a number ot other structures for the shelter of his stock and grain. All the farm buildings are painted red, and his residence is a large roomy house, and the entire environment is one that suggests hospitality, solid comfort, and high ideals. Around the buildings are the fruit orchard, and for many years he has given close attention to his live stock, keeping cattle, hogs and horses, and evidence of his careful and 'considerate treatment of his stock is found in the fact that there are two horses on the place, one of them twenty-seven and the other twenty-four years of age, and both "still in the harness." He also mantained a flock of graded shoats for several years. The Hendrickson farm is widely known over Erie County as the "Lone Buckeye Farm." Though most of his life has been spent in Erie County Mr. Hendrickson was married, on August 4, 1863, in Lorain County, to Mip Evaulette Resella Thomas. She was born in Vermont State, Septemher 13, 1842, of old New England stock, a daughter of William Thomas, who died when p she was a child. Her mother, whose maiden name was Hannah then brought her little family to Lorain County to join her oldest son; who had located there several years previously. Mrs. Hannah Thomas, who died at Oberlin, was one of the most notable of the pioneer women in this section of Northern Ohio. She possessed all the vigor and rugged HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 741 kindliness which are associated with the New England character, and all her children and others who came within the circle of her influence cherish her memory and express their gratitude for her many lovely s traits of mind and heart. While in the course of years material prosperity to a more than ordinary degree has rewarded the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson, they have reason to take chief pride and find their best solace in their family, many of whom now live around them. They were the parents of ten children, and they now have twenty-five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Their oldest daughter, Lucy, married Philip Glime, and both are now deceased, and their two children have grown up in the home of their grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson- Iva is the wife of Mr. Stephens, assistant cashier in the Berlin Heights Bank, and Archie is now a musician in the United States navy, serving on the battleship Utah. Mark, the second child, is a clerk in a mercantile house at Norwalk ; he married Bertha Bohrer, and his four children are Hazel, Ella May, Mark, Jr., and Laverne. Preston is a farmer in Milan Township ; he married Edith Sanders and has five daughters, Lucile, Margorie, Aletha, Clarice and Frances. Myra is the wife of William Gordon of Berlin Heights, and their three children are Evnulette R., Arthur and Robert. Eva is the wife of Charles Clipson of Berlin Heights, and their children are Raymond and Addison. Maud is the wife of Willis Lowry, a farmer near Berlin Heights, and their children are named Nelson, Dorothy and Albert. Joe is now the active manager of his father's farm ; he married Anna Fish, and his children are named Norman, Alma, Helen, Charles and Mildred. Mrs. Lena Judson has one son, William. Earl married Anna Steiger and lives on a farm in Berlin Township and has a daughter named Lena. Helen, the youngest, is still unmarried and lives at home. It is an interesting fact that Job Fish, the educator already mentioned as having furnished Mr. Hendrickson with part of his early instruction, also presided over the school careers of all these children excepting two. Mr. Hendrickson is a strong republican, his sons vote in the same faith, and Mrs. Hendrickson and most of the family are members of the Methodist Church. TIMOTHY COSTIGAN. For more than forty years, almost half a life time, Timothy Costigan has lived at his present home farm on the Ridge Road near Berlin Heights Village. He established himself there in January, 1874, and with the passing years his prosperity has increased and in all that time he has enjoyed the full respect and confidence of the community. His early life was one of considerable struggle with adversity, and he first became identified with Erie County as a common laborer in a stone quarry. Timothy Costigan was born in Ireland, in the Province of Leinster, between Cork and Dublin, on Christmas Day, December 25, 1849, a son of William and Ellen (Mahar) Costigan, who came to America in 1889 and made their home with their sons until their deaths, the former dying in 1898 and the latter in 1901. Both lie buried at Milan, Ohio. The family is of old and undefiled Irish stock. The father was a son of William, Sr., and Ellen (Clancy) Costigan, who spent all their lives in Ireland and died on their farm in that country. They were of the Catholic religion. Mrs. William Costigan was the daughter of Timothy Mahar, who married a Miss McDonald, and they were also natives of Leinster Province. Timothy Mahar, after the death of his wife, went into England and died at Leeds when seventy-five years of, age. He and his family were likewise Catholics. William Costigan, Jr.,.. grew up to farming and took up that as a serious vocation. After his 742 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY marriage he followed the industry in Ireland, and four sons and one daughter were born into his household. The daughtez, Ellen, is now married and lives in Ireland. The son, Martin, came to the United States, married and lives in Berlin Township, being employed by the Cleveland & South Western "Green Line" Street Car Company, and has a family of two sons. The son Patrick was married in Ireland, came to the United States and located in Erie County, and has a farm on the Ridge Road in Berlin Township ; his family consists of one daughter. Timothy Costigan, the oldest of the children, grew up in Ireland and received only a limited education. In March, 1872, when twenty-three years of age, he embarked on a vessel at Queenstown, the Royal Samaria, Caulain Wiley its commander, and two weeks later was landed in Boston. HeWme on west as far as Sandusky, and afterward came into Berlin Township and found employment with George Baillie in the latter's stone quarry. He continued as foreman of the stone quarry up to 1897, and gained his start by that work. He was industrious, eager to please, and thus won the respect and friendship of Mr. Baillie, who was glad to advance him as rapidly as possible. After the death of Mr. Baillie turned all his attention to farming and fruit growing. His farm consisted of nearly fifty acres, and he had bought this in small tracts-froM time to time, forty-two acres of it being within the corporation limits of Berlin Heights Village. He has been successful as a raiser of small fruits and has about five acres of tree fruits, peaches, pears, apples, cherries and plums. He has almost every variety of small fruits, and furnishes a large amount to the market each year. His home is a comfortable nine-room house and the people of Berlin Township regard pim as one of its most prosperous citizens. Since coming to Erie County he married Miss Catherine Maroney. She was born in Munster, Ireland, in 1854, and when nineteen years of age came alone to the United States to join her sister Mary in Berlin Township of Erie County. This sister had married Thomas gheedy of Connecticut, and they are now living on their farm in Wilson County, Kansas. Mrs. Costigan died at her home in Berlin Township, April 17, 1913. She was reared in the Catholic Church. To their marriage were born seven children : William, who is unmarried and assistshis., father in the management of the farm ; Ellen, the wife of Archbold McLaren, of Cleveland; Mary, who is her father's housekeeper ; Timothy, who is now in the western states and is unmarried; Joseph, a commercial Salesman for the Fuller Canning Company of Cleveland ; Evelyn, who was graduated from the Berlin Heights High School with the class of 1915, and the older children had similar advantages in the way of education ; and Charles, who is now in the eighth grade of the public schools. All the children are confirmed members of the Catholic Church. Mr. (Costigan is independent in politics. PETER G. ALTVATER. When Peter G. Altvater died it was the general expression of community esteem in Margaretta Township, where he had lived for many years, that a successful farmer, a public spirited citizen, a kind husband and father, and a man of irreproachable character and fine integrity had been removed from his position in the township. A native of Germany, born in that country February 15, 1850, when two years of age he was brought to America by his parents, Peter and Catherine Altvater. The family came almost directly WErie County, and located at Castalia, where the late Mr. Altvater was,, reared to manhood, with the incidental acquirement of such advantages as were afforded by the local schools. He became a man of good judgment, noted for his common sense and vigor in all his undertakings, and many of the HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 743 substantial results of his efforts are now found on the Altvater farm near Castalia, where Mrs. Altvater resides. On December 28, 1880, Peter G. Altvater married Fredericka Sick, who was born in Sandusky, August 21, 1852, a daughter of Frederick and Fredericka (Bechtel) Sick. Her mother is now in her eighty-seventh year and lives with Mrs. Altvater. Both Frederick Sick and his wife were born in Germany and in the spring of 1848 left that country, about the time of the high tide of emigration from the German provinces, and spent sixty-three days on a sailing vessel before they were landed in New York City. From there they came on to Erie County, lived in Sandusky until 1863 and then established their home on a farm in Margaretta Township near Venice. Mr. Sick was a tailor by trade, and followed that occupation in Sandusky until his removal to the farm in , Margaretta Township, after which he became a substantial agriculturist and died in that community February 27, 1914, when in his ninetieth year. The esteem which he enjoyed in the community was represented by a large following of loyal friends. In the old country he had served in the German army. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Altvater. Arthur F. lives in Margaretta Township, married Myrtle Jump and their two sons are named Emerson and Lowell. The second son, Frank E., now lives with his mother on the Altvater homestead in Margaretta Township. While his business as a farmer required many years of close attention and hard work, Mr. Altvater did not neglect his public duties, and was honored with the office of trustee and also as a member of the board of education in his home township. In politics he was a republican and was a member of the Congregational Church. The substantial results of his career are seen in the Altvater homestead, which contains 122 , acres, all well improved and making a splendid home for Mrs. Altvater.. This farm is situated two miles north of Castalia. Mrs. Altvater was reared in Sandusky, and after her marriage she and her husband lived in Castalia several years, and from there moved to the present homestead in Margaretta Township. CYRUS C. KNAPP. More than a century ago George Washington said that “agriculture is the most useful and honorable occupation of man," and the, truth of this statement stands today as it did then. A prominent representative of this class in Erie County, who is also noted as a stock breeder, is Cyrus C. Knapp, of Margaretta Township. Mr. Knapp was born in Putnam County, New York, January 7, 1847, a son of Gilbert and Cynthia C. (Chase) Knapp, who also were natives of that county. In 1848, with his wife and family, Gilbert Knapp came to Erie County, Ohio, settling in Margaretta Township, on the farm now owned by his son, the subject of this article. Here he devoted himself to agriculture and in time became one of the prominent and representative citizens of the township. His span of life exceeded the scriptural allotment of three score years and ten, as he died honored and respected when in his seventy-third year. Of his children there are now three survivors : James H., who resides in Republic, Ohio, and John T. and Cyrus C., of Margaretta Township, Erie County. Cyrus C. Knapp was reared to man's estate in Margaretta Township, and acquired his education in its public schools and in the high school at Milan, Ohio. Brought up to farm life from his youth, he has made it his vocation and has attained a high place among the successful and prosperous agriculturists and stock raisers of this locality. His farm contains 170 acres of good land and, in addition to the usual barns anal out-buildings there is a fine residence, built in 1910, which is one of 744 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY the most beautiful homes in Northern Ohio. As a breeder of shorthorn Durham cattle and Merino sheep, Mr. Knapp is associated with his brother, John T., the firm being known as Knapp Brothers. In this department also, as in agriculture, he has been highly successful, the reputation of the firm extending far and wide. That his business abil. is recognized throughout the county may be inferred from the fact that le is one of the directors of the Castalia Banking Company, of Castalia, Ohio. In politics he is a republican with independent proclivities. Cyrus C. Knapp was married, June 10, 1903, to Cora C. Schoewe, who was born in Erie County, Ohio, the daughter of Edward Schoelve, of Margaretta Township. 1-Mr children have been born to them, namely : Gilbert S., Melvin E., James W. and John T. Enjoying a comfortable prosperity, and with the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and fellow townsmen, Mr. Knapp is a notable example of what a man may attain to by industry and perseverance, backed by intelligence and integrity. LEVI M. COUGHENOUR. The elements of character depicted in the best type of American manhood are energy, enterprise, integrity and a layal spirit manifested by devotion to the general good along lines pertaining to public progress and, improvement. Among the citizens of Erie County who exhibit these qualities in a marked degree is Levi M. Coughenour, of Margaretta Township Mr. Coughenour was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, March 21, 1850, the son of Moses and Susan (Coulson) Coughenour, both parents being natives of the Keystone State. The paternal family is of German origin, but has been settled in this country many years, as Daniel Coughenour, the grandfather bf the subject of this memoir, served as a soldier in the War of 1812. The Coulsons, on the other hand, are of English andl Welsh extraction. Levi M. Coughenour was reared in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where in his boyhood he attended the public schools. Subsequently he became a student at Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, where he spent-one year. Coming to Erie County, Ohio, in the spring of 1870, he took up his residence in Huron Township, where he spent two summers, and one winter. After teaching two winter terms of school in Perkins Township, in the spring of 1873 he came to Margaretta Township, of which he has since been practically a continuous resident. For twenty years he followed the profession of teacher in Perkins and Margaretta Townships, showing a high order of capacity and gaining the love and respect of his pupils, many of whom, now grown to manhood and womanhood, are prominent members of their respective communities, and hold their old-time teacher in grateful remembrance. For four years Mr. Coughenour served as assistant clerk in the Ohio State Prison, at Columbus, and later was clerk for three year's to the secretary of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, at Columbus. He was a director and is now secretary of the Erie County Farmers Insurance Company, having been a director for a number of years, and secretary Since th death of the late J. D. Parker, the former incumbent of that office. From 1879 to 1882 he was the efficient clerk of Margaretta Township. In all these various capacities Mr. Coughenour has shown himself a hard and conscientious worker, faithful to every trust, and efficient in whatever he has undertaken to do. He takes a special interest- in the cause of education, being himself a close student and reader aid keeping well abreast of all the important topics of the times. In politics he is a republican. He is a Free Mason and belongs to Erie. Commandery,. K. T., at Sandusky. On March 31, 1878, Mr. Coughenour was uated in marriage with Emily A. Dwight, who was born in Margaretta, Township, the county, PICTURE OF W. H. HINE HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 745 a daughter of Roswell and Elosia (Skidmore) Dwight. Both her parents were from New England, the father being a native of Massachusetts and the mother of Vermont. In 1838 they came from Massachusetts to Erie County, Ohio, settling in Margaretta Township, where they were practically pioneers, there being but few other settlers here at the time. Their first dwelling was a log house, but gradually they improved their surroundings until they were numbered among the prosperous residents of the township. Mr. Dwight was politically affiliated with the republican party and at one time served as township trustee. He died in 1885, his wife, who survived him several years, passed away in 1900. Mr, Coughenour is a man widely known and esteemed throughout this locality, being ever ready to do a neighborly act or to support to the extent of his ability any practical measure for the moral or material betterment of the community. WILLIAM HENRY HINE. It would be impossible to give a just account of the community of Berlin Township without repeated reference to the Hine family. For almost a century that community has been continuously honored and benefited by the presence within its borders of some of the active and influential people of this name. In the character of its individuals and in their public services no family in Erie County has been more distinguished and it is impossible to estimate the strength and diversity of the influences which emanate from such worthy people and affect the social and business affairs of the county even to its most remote bounds. Conspicuous as representative of this name was the late William Henry Hine, who was born in Berlin Township near what is now the Village of Shinrock on August 12, 1821, and after living to be more than fourscore he died at his home August 2, 1903. His parents came from Connecticut and both, in time of coming and in intrinsic worth deserve mention as among "the first families." His parents were Jarred and Elizabeth, better known as Betsey (Minor) Hine. Jarred Hine was a son of Daniel and Sarah (Cowles) Hine, who spent all their lives in Connecticut. The Hine family lived at Bethlehem and the Minors at Waterbury, Connecticut. Not long after the marriage of Jarred and Betsey Hine they set out in 1816 to occupy a portion of the wilderness in Northern Ohio. This journey was made with team and wagon, and they spent six weeks between Connecticut and Erie County. They passed through Buffalo when it was a hamlet of twelve houses, and the site of the present great City of Cleveland had only sixteen homes. From Cleveland it was necessary to follow a trail made by blazed trees to their permanent location at what is now Shinrock in the western part of Berlin Township, on what subsequently came to be known as the Berlin Heights and Huron Road. When the Hines family arrived in Berlin Township the total population comprised only nine families. It would be difficult to exaggerate the wildness and primitiveness of this country at that time. Their first home was a log cabin, and the rude opening which served them for a door had only a blanket to keep out the wind and weather, and the family tradition says that on one or two occasions a curious bear poked his head under this blanket and frightened the inmates. The wolves howled about, Indians were not infrequent visitors, and for several years the greater part of the provisions which stocked the family larder was the wild game found everywhere in abundance. Jarred and Betsey Hine were people of education and well fitted for the responsibilities of leadership in a new community. Jarred was by profession a trained lawyer, and for a number of years served as a justice of the peace, and often held court in his own home. The old settlers Vol. II-18 746 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY.. frequently related incidents illustrating his promptness and vigorous decision, and he was esteemed for his sterling integrity and shrewd common sense in dispensing justice from his inferior court. He lived a life of convictions and high principles and at the same time was known for his exceeding generosity to the poor. His wife was well fitted for her position, and had come into the wilds of Erie County a cultured woman unused to hardship, but facing it with a remarkable cheerfulness and courage. She had taught school in her native state, and was a. woman,. who looked well after her household, and many stories have been told of her firm but kindly character. The fact that her home was for several years a temple of justice for the community brought to it all classes of people, and she frequently had to exercise her authority as a methodical, and strict housekeeper in forbidding the unruly and boisterous conduct of those who assembled at the trials presided over by her husband. Jarred Hine in early days was a whig. He died at the large homestead in Berlin Township December 14, 1844, at the age of fifty-six. His wife passed away February 22, 1866. The late William Henry Hine was an only child of his parents. He inherited many of the fine qualities of character and intelligence whicti were found in both his father and mother. He grew up on the old farm at Shinrock, and was a little past manhood when his father died, and he then took over the old homestead of 167 acres and long before his death had made of it one of the best farms in Erie County. He was a man who readily adopted and introduced progressive ideas in farming, and was always a leader in this industry. He acquired other farms in the county and prospered in the raising of general crops, stock and fruit. It was on the old homestead that he spent his last years. The last Mr. Hine was perhaps best known to the business community as a banker. A little more than thirty years ago he established the Berlin Heights Banking Company, and all the people of Berlin Township are aware that this business is still in flourishing existence. He was president of the bank from the organization until his death, and his fine judgment was largely responsible for its prosperity. The bank started with a capitalization of $50,000, and the business is still conducted on that basis. In his time two branches were established, one at Huron and one at Waitman in Huron County. A member of the present board of directors is the only daughter of the late Mr. Hine. This daughter, Elizabeth Elvora Hine, was born on the old homestead at Shinrock in 1851, a daughter of William Henry and Fanny (Green) Hine. Fanny Green was born in Berlin Heights Village, January 24, 1825, and was likewise of the pioneer stock in this section of Northern Ohio. She died in Berlin Township April 11, 1893. She spent all her life in the county, and was a woman of noble characteristics and did a vast amount of good not only to those bound to her by ties of blood and kinship but to every needy member of her community. 'The Green family originated and long had their home in Rhode Island, and she was also related to the Websters of, Massachusetts. Miss Hine, who is now living at the Village of Berlin Heights; was educated in the public schools of Huron County and in Lake Erie College at Painsville. She developed a considerable talent as an artist in oils and was a student in that art under Mrs. Doctor Goodsell of Norwalk. In 1904 Miss Hine bought a fine ten-room brick home on South Street in Berlin Heights, and there she has spent most of her time when not traveling. She is a woman of broad interests, liberal sympathies, said in many ways has shown her public spirit in her relations to her native county. She is president of the Tuesday Tourist Club; The principal woman's literary society at Berlin Heights, and is also a,n active member HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 747 of the W. C. T. U. She attends the Presbyterian Church, and is a former treasurer and member of the Home Missionary Society. STEPHEN H. WHITE. The character of a man can usually be gauged by the general opinion of his fellow men, and the extent to which they are willing to entrust him with the safe-guarding of their individual or general interests. Hence, men holding important offices are usual men of some force and stability of character, in whose ability and honesty the people have confidence. Among such is Stephen H. White, trustee of Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio, who was elected to his present office in November, 1913, took up its duties in the following January, and has served capably up to the present time. Mr. White is a native of this township, having been born on the farm on which he now resides, May 22, 1862. He is, therefore, now in the prime of life, in full possession of all his powers and faculties. He is a son of John White, an early settler in Margaretta Township and for many years one of its prominent citizens, who died March 23, 1883. John White was a man  of force and chiiacter and was one of that brave army of men who, in the darkest days of our country's history left home and friends and risked their lives to save the Union from dismemberment. Serving three years as a soldier in the Northern armies, he took part in numerous battles, and at one time was a prisoner in the hands of the Confederates. He belonged to the Masons and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was at all times an upright man and a dependable citizen. In politics he was a republican. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary L. Rogers, and who still survives him, being now in her eightieth year, was born in Margaretta Township, this county, a daughter of Stephen H. Rogers, who in his day was a well known agriculturist and lime burner, and a reliable and respected citizen. Her mother is said to have been the first white child born in this township, and they were both, husband and wife, among the very early settlers here. John and Mary L. White had two children : Sophia E., now the wife of D. N. Williams, of Milan, Ohio, and Stephen H., who was named after his maternal grandfather. Stephen H. White was reared to man's estate in his native township, in his boyhood attending its public schools. His education was subsequently continued at the Western Reserve Normal School, at Milan, Ohio, which he attended for about three winter terms. His industrial activities since early youth have been connected with farming, and he is now the owner of a good farm of sixty-five acres, well supplied with substantial buildings, including a commodious residence, the whole property being kept in excellent condition. Mr. White is both an industrious and a progressive citizen. For several years he served as a member of the board of education of Margaretta Township, and has always taken a keen interest in the condition and efficiency of the public schools. In fact, any practical measure for the welfare of the community, whether moral or material, meets with his hearty sympathy and support. He belongs to the Sons of Veterans and in politics is a republican. December 16, 1885, Stephen II. White was united in marriage with Nettie P. Jones, a daughter of Henry C. Jones (now deceased) of Margaretta Township, this county. Of their union there has been one child, a daughter, Leonora E., who is now the wife of Albert II. Prout, of Margaretta Township, and has one son, A. Howard Prout. HENRY M. BROWN. The true worth of a man is found in the useful work he has done, and the truly representative citizens of a town, 748 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY county or state are those who have in any noteworthy manner contributed to its upbuilding, improvement and commercial prosperity. A biographical review of Erie County, Ohio, would be incomplete without mention of Henry M. Brown, the popular postmaster of Venice, Margaretta Township, who is also one of the township's leading businessmen. Mr. Brown may be called a native son in the fullest sense of the word, for he was born here October 8, 1872, his parents, Church and Elizabeth L. (Moore) Brown, being also natives of the township, where they still reside. The paternal grandfather, Solomon Brown, though. not born here, was only four years old when he arrived in the township with his parents, they being among the pioneer settlers here. Since that time the family has been closely identified with the development of this locality, contributing to its improvement and doing their full part as good and reliable citizens. Henry M. Brown was educated in the public schools of Margaretta Township and in the high school at Castalia, Ohio. He soon became self-supporting and since early manhood has been engaged in various industrial avocations, perhaps the most important of which was his dredging the mouth of the race of Sandusky Bay at Venice, which, he did several years ago. This was a most valuable improvement and has been highly beneficial to Venice, giving it much better shipping facilities. In 1897 Mr. Brown engaged in business at Venice as a dealer in agricultural implements and is still thus occupied. On July 28, 1906, he was appointed to his present position as postmaster, the duties of which he has performed to the satisfaction of all the inhabitants, of the township who receive their mail from this office. As a business man he is honest, enterprising and accommodating, and enjoys in a high degree the confidence of his fellow citizens, who know that in trading with him they may be sure of a "square deal." He is a member of the K. 0. T. M. at Crystal Rock, Ohio ; also of the Vigilantes at Castalia, this county. A republican in politics, he served seven years as a, member of the school board, his work in this capacity being highly creditable. At all times he has shown a keen interest in the improvement of local conditions and his fellow townsmen know that they can always count upon his aid, influence or advice in support of a worthy cause. Mr. Brown married Almeda Heimlich, a daughter of Charles Heimlich of Venice, Erie County, Ohio, and he and his wife are the parents of a son, Arlo R. Brown. JAMES G. SNOWDEN. A veteran of the Civil war and for more than half a cenutry a resident of Margaretta Township, Mr. Snowden's career is in every way an appropriate subject for biographical mention in the annals of Erie County. He comes of old American stock, and few men have a better and more distinguished ancestral background. Mr. Snowden is a grandson of Rev. Samuel Finley and Susan Bayard (Breese) Snowden, and before taking up the individual career of this well known resident of Margaretta Township it will be appropriate to introduce some data pertaining to the Breese and- Snowden families in earlier generations. The Breese family was established in America by Sidney Breese, who was born in England, where he was an ardent sympathizer of, the Stuart dynasty, and was about to mount his horse to join the army of the young pretender when word arrived that Charles Edward had been defeated by the royal forces. Sidney Breese afterwards served as an officer in the English navy, but his heart was not in. the service, and consequently, about 1753, he emigrated to America, and in the following year married Elizabeth Pinkerman of New York State, HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 749 The only child of Sidney and Elizabeth Breese to reach maturity was Col. Samuel Breese, mentioned below. In New York City Sidney Breese engaged in the mercantile business and was eminently successful. He died in 1767, and is buried in old Trinity Churchyard. His reputation for eccentricity probably finds its chief foundation in the inscription on his tombstone, which is as follows: Sidney Breese June 9-1767 Made by himself Ha! Sidney, Sidney, lyest thou here ? I here lie Till time has flown To its eternity. Sidney Breese invested in tracts of land in Herkimer County, New York, and also in New Jersey. His son Samuel finally settled on the latter, naming the place Shrewsbury for his father's old home in England. In the summer of 1778 and during 1779, when New Jersey ground was the field of battle, the residents of that colony suffered great financial loss, and one of these patriots was Samuel Breese of Shrewsbury. When the battle of Monmouth was fought-that battle which in anticipation was to be such a glorious victory and which by the treachery of Lee came near being a dismal failure—the home of Colonel Breese lay between the two armies, and his losses were unusually heavy. He had early been very active in the cause of the colonies and on May 27, 1775, was chosen as a member of the committee of observation, and also a member of a sub-committee to instruct deputies attending the State Congress at Trenton. He was colonel of the Third Regiment of Monmouth County Militia. In 1776 he resigned his commission, it is said, because of the backwardness of the people in espousing the cause. Samuel Breese married for his first wife Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Samuel Finley, D. D., president of the College of New Jersey, as Princeton University was then called. One daughter, Elizabeth Ann, was born to this union, the wife dying soon after at the early age of eighteen. This daughter married Jedidiah Morse, the author of the early school geography, and was the mother of Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of practicable telegraphy. In the "Belknap Papers" there is an interesting correspondence between Samuel Belknap, Ebenezer Hazard and Samuel Breese concerning the birth of this first grandchild of the latter. Samuel Breese married for his second wife Elizabeth Anderson, whose parents both died when she was but a baby. She was the granddaughter of Rev. James Anderson, a Presbyterian clergyman who came from Scotland to Virginia in 1709 and was the first minister in the Presbytery of Newcastle. She was, however, brought up in the family of her great-grandfather, Peter Chevalier, of Philadelphia. It is recorded of her that she was a woman of great excellence. Col. Samuel Breese died at Shrewsbury in 1800 and his burial place is well marked, having been kept in good repair by his descendants. As will be shown, Col. Samuel Breese was one of the great-grandfathers of James G. Snowden. Some twenty or thirty years before the ship Welcome brought William Penn to the shores of America, there had sailed up the Delaware another party of Englishmen, who settled among the Swedes at or near what was later known as Old Chester. Among these was one 750 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY John Snowden, who had been thrown in prison for preaching the Quaker faith at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England. Upon his release, with a brother and sister, he emigrated to the land of religious liberty. Here he became a man of much prominence, owning. la. tracts Of land on both sides of the Delaware. He was one of the proprietors of West Jersey, and as such signed the concessions in 1677. He was associate judge of Bucks County in 1704 and in 1712 represented County in the Provincial Assembly. He moved to Philadelphia, in 1720 and died there in 1736, at the ripe age of one hundred and four years. John Snowden, the second, lived in Philadelphia many years before his father moved there. He was one of the founders of the First Presbyterian Church of that city, and was the first regularly ordained elder of the Presbyterian Church in America, being ordained in 1704. He lived on Second Street, below Walnut, his property extending from Second Street to Dock Creek. It remained in the family for three generations, covering a period of 125 years. Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden, who was born in this house in 1770, has left in his diary an interesting description of this old place that sounds very strange in these days. He wrote of "The beautiful stream that flowed behind his father's garden, with grand old trees on both sides," and recalled with fond memories his boyhood days, when he and his brothers "went fishing in Dock Creek and gathered quantities of fine blackberries that grew beside the stream." The old number of this house was No 141 South Second Street. The second wife of John Snowden and the mother of his children was Ruth, the daughter of Benjamin Fitz-Randolph of the family that had been very prominent in New England and New Jersey in the colonial. days. Her brother was Nathaniel Fitz-Randolph, a Revolutionary captain of Princeton, who gave the land to the trustees of Princeton College on which Nassau Hall now stands. The Fitz-Randolphs, as the name indicates, were of Norman descent. Their ancestor went to England with William the Conqueror, and was a lineal descendent of the Dukes of Brittany. Isaac Snowden, son of John, was quartermaster of the Fourth Battalion of the Philadelphia Associators under Col. Thomas McKeen, in active service from 1775 to 1777. He, with his brother Jedidiah, was a commissioner under the act of Congress to sign continental currency from 1777 to 1779. There are several of these continental notes in existence bearing his signature—one in Independence Hall, four at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Rooms, one in Harvard Library, of which John Fiske gives a facsimile in his "History of the United States." The Snowdens were numerous in the American army, and as far as can be learned were all American patriots. Isaac was so ardent a patriot that during the British occupation of Philadelphia he, and his family were obliged to flee for safety to the summer home in Princeton. Isaac Snowden was a man of ability and filled many offices of trust. He was treasurer of the City and County of Philadelphia from 1780 to 1782; was one of the early members of the state in Schuylkill; charter member of the Second Presbyterian Church ; first treasurer of the First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; trustee and treasurer of Princeton College, during which time he, with Mr. Bayard, advanced the money for Dr. John Witherspoon's trip to Europe to look after the interests of the United States. Five of Isaac Snowden's sons were graduates of Princeton, three of 'them liocoming distinguished Presbyterian clergymen: It was Rev. Samuel Finley, the third son of Isaac Snowden, who, married Susan Bayard, daughter of Col. Samuel Breese, and from HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 751 this union one of the children was Ebenezer H. Snowden, father of James G. Snowden of Margaretta Township.. James G. Snowden was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1839, a son of Ebenezer H. and Elizabeth A. (Smith) Snowden, his father a native of New Jersey and his mother of Florida. Mr. Snowden was reared in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and when about nineteen years of age, in 1858, arrived in Erie County, Ohio. For a time he rented land near Castalia, and then went South and was at Memphis and in that vicinity when the war broke out. Returning to Erie County, he remained here until his enlistment in May, 1864, in Company I of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With his regiment he was assigned to guard duty at Washington, District of Columbia, on the Virginia side of the Potomac. He was in the service ninety days, and was given his honorable discharge in September, 1864. Prior to the war, in 1861, Mr. Snowden located on the land included in his present farm in Margaretta Township, a short distance south of the Village of Castalia. There he has a fine farm, largely developed by his labor and under his direction, comprising 220 acres, which he has employed for the raising of the staple crops and has been particularly successful as a sheep raiser, keeping fine grades of the Merino sheep. Mr. Snowden married for his first wife Mrs. Rilda M. Bardshar, a sister of Jay C. Smith of Castalia. By this union there are three children, Margaret G., widow of William Harmon, late of Tiffin, Ohio, and Mrs. Harmon is now living at home with her father; Samuel H., whose home is in Margaretta Township ; and Ethel S., wife of George C. Jackson of Akron, Ohio. Mr. Snowden married for his present wife Mrs. Ann S. Graves. She is a daughter of Salmon and Lucy A. (Bardwell) Graves, both of whom were born at Hatfield, Massachusetts, and became early settlers of Margaretta Township, locating in this part of Erie County about 1834. Mr. Snowden has had an active and busy career, and has done his part as a citizen. He is a republican in politics, has served as trustee of Margaretta Township and has always been willing to put himself in the van of progressive movements in that locality. He is an adherent of the Presbyterian Church and keeps up his associations with old army comrades in the Grand Army Post at Castalia. His daughter, Mrs. Margaret Harmon, is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. JOHN H. NEUSCHELER. The true glory of a state lies in the character of the men and women who form the mass of its population—its bankers, merchants, farmers and tradesmen, its doctors, lawyers and preachers ; in a word, its workers of every kind ; these, indeed, form the state, as they are to some extent formed by it, their lives and achievements being the result of opportunity multiplied by energy and intelligence. What is true of a state in the general sense of the term is true also of each of its component parts. Among the various counties of Ohio, that of Erie possesses its full share of earnest, enterprising and reliable citizens in various walks of life, who, whether of native or foreign birth or antecedents, are imbued with true Americanism and are thoroughly representative of the institutions and spirit of this country. Such a one may be found in the subject of this sketch, John H. Neuscheler, proprietor of the grain elevator at Venice, Margaretta Township. Mr. Neuscheler is a native American, having been born at Sandusky, Ohio, September 12, 1859. His parents, Gottlieb and Mary A. Neuscheler, were born in Ghmany, and, after coming to this country, resided in , Sandusky, Ohio, for a number of years, but in 1860, when their son John 752 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY was an infant, they settled on a farm in Maegaretta Township, where tlw passed the rest of their lives. John H. Neuscheler was reared on his parents' farm, in his boyhood attending the township schools. Brought up to an agricultural life, he engaged in it later for himself and now owns a small farm of something over thirteen acres, which, however, he has not personally operated since 1890. In 1889 he engaged in the agricultural implement business at Venice, conducting it until 1902, at which time he sold out to Henry M. Brown, its present owner. Subsequently for about four years he was a traveling salesman for what is now known as the International Harvester Company, selling their goods mainly in Ohio territory. In 1909 he engaged in his present business as dealer in hard and soft coal, grain and seeds, hay, flour, mill feed and salt, at the same time building his . elevator, which is a good substantial structure. By close attention to business, united with strict integrity, he has built up a good trade and is enjoying a comfortable prosperity, which is the more gratifying as being solely due to his own efforts. As a citizen he is public spirited, taking a lively interest in whatever concerns the good of his township or county. He served creditably for three years as township assessor and is a strong friend of the public schools and ;the cause of education in general. In politics he is a republican, while his religious affiliations are with the Lutheran Church. Mr. Neuscheler is a family man, his wife in maidenhood having been Catherine E. Moore, of Venice, this county, a daughter of Henry Moore, now deceased. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Neuscheler is brightened by the presence of five children—M. Jane, Agnes, Zella, Carrol and Isabel. SILAS GERMAN Groton Township has had no more representative and useful citizen during the past half century than Silas German. While not among the earliest pioneers, he has performed a work of improvement which will long be in evidence in one of the beautiful farms of Groton Township. His career includes service as a soldier in the Civil war, and every responsibility and duty has been creditably met and discharged by this venerable citizen. Now past the age of fourscore, Silas German was born in Steuben County, New York, May 28, 1834, a son of Andrew T. and Hannah (Force) German. His father was born in Dutchess County, New York, and his mother was also a native of New York State. Andrew T. German was a son of Henry German, also a native of Dutchess County, New York, while Henry's father is said to have come from Germany and settled in Dutchess County about the year 1770, several years before - the outbreak of the Revolutionary war. Andrew T. German spent most. of his life in Steuben County, New York, and died there when his son Silas was ten years of age. Steuben County was the home of Silas German during the first twenty years of his life. He gained his early education in the schools at Tyrone in that county, lived at home and helped his mother in the management of the home farm, and then starting out on his independent career soon arrived in Erie County, where for several years he lived in the vicinity of Castalia. He later moved into Groton Township, and in 1884 settled on the farm which has been under his management and his possession for more than thirty years. This is a farm which at once attracts attention from passers by comprising an acreage of 116, with evidences of good management on every hand. Mr. German some years ago built one of the modern country homes on his farm, and has shown a great deal of thrift and enterprise in all his undertakings. In 1858 he married Louisa L. Smith, who was born in proton Town- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 753 ship, and who became the mother of three children : James, now deceased ; Scott, who fives in Groton Township and is now serving as justice of the peace ; and Ada L., wife of Robert Waldon of Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the death of his first wife Silas German married Maria Brooks, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, and died in December, 1912. She became the mother of six children. The three now deceased were named Grant, Erva and Mary. Those living'Pare : Jay, of Groton Township ; Nettie, wife of A. J. Clemmons of Birmingham, Ohio ; and Bert, of Groton Township. While making a success of his own business affairs Mr. German has not been inattentive to the calls of public duty. In the early days he served a year, in 1859, as assessor of Groton Township. He has always been an active and an ardent supporter of the public schools of the township, and often served on the school board or in any capacity necessary for the advancement of education. He has usually been an independent in politics, voting for the man best fitted for the office rather than for the party candidate. His service as a soldier in the Civil war was in the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and for about four months he was stationed in the vicinity of Washington on guard duty, chiefly at Arlington Heights, and spent much of his time on the old estate of Robert E. Lee. He also went to Cincinnati in 1862 as one of the Squirrel Hunters. After this service he received his honorable discharge, and has since kept up his associations with old army comrades by membership in the Grand Army Post at Castalia. LEE S. WEED. A representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Erie County, Mr. Weed has lived here all his life and has witnessed the wonderful transformations in every department of human endeavor during the last century. He has been one of the prominent agriculturists and influential citizens of Perkins Township for many years, giving earnest support to those agencies that make for the general good of the community. Born in Sandusky, June 1, 1849, Lee S. Weed is a son of William and Sarah (Sanford) Weed, both of whom were born in Connecticut and belonged to colonial families of New England. In the late '30s William Weed came with his family to Erie County, and for a number of years lived at Sandusky, which was then a small village. He was there during the memorable cholera epidemic, a full account of which will be found on the pages of history in this publication, and his own service during that scourge was in manufacturing coffins for the dead, besides ministering as fully as he could to those afflicted with disease and suffering: He removed with his family to a farm in Perkins Township about 1854, and did a great deal to improve his land in the course of years. A man of strong character, of great industry and sterling integrity in all the relations of life, he commanded popular esteem and kept an influential place in local affairs. He was a republican, and he and his wife were both active in church work. He died about a quarter of a century ago and his wife passed away a few years later. There were nine children born to them, three of whom are still living and are as follows : Georgiana, widow of Lafayette Baird, and residing at Corona, California ; Hiram J., a resident of Chickasaw County, Iowa, and Lee S., of Perkins. Lee S. Weed was reared to maturity in the township that has been his place of residence during all his life, and since reaching manhood has gained a substantial place as a successful agriculturist and representative citizen. In addition to his advantages in the common schools of Perkins Township he completed a course in the Buckeye. Business College at Sandusky. Mr. Weed in politics is a republican, but he has 754 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY never be ambitious for public office. He gave some effective service while a member of the board of trustees of Perkins Township. He married Mrs. Mary A. (Milner) Denman, widow of John Denman, and daughter of Thomas Milner, who was a native of England and for many years prior to his death a substantial citizen of Perkins Township. Mrs. Weed died in 1910. There are no children. BENJAMIN F. REIGHLEY. Berlin Township lost one of its most substantial citizens in the death of Benjamin F. Reighley at his 'home near ." Berlin Heights on September 29, 1909. While the community felt that his taking away was premature, he had already accomplished a great deal, and left his widow and family well provided both in this world's goods and in the public esteem which his character and activities had won. Sixty years of age when he died, Benjamin F. Reighley was born at Doylestown in Wayne County, Ohio, March 31, 1849. His father, John G. Reighley, was born in Pennsylvania March 23, 1812, and early in life acquired the trade of cabinet maker and carpenter. His father, George Reighley, made a record as a soldier in the War of 1812, and spent his last years in Ohio, passing away in Erie County. The family is of German ancestry. John George Reighley was brought to Erie County when young, and was married in Medina County to Rachel Greenhoe, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Michael and Adelia Greenhoe, who were, probably born in Germany about 1800 and came to the United States, with their parents. Though the members of this family subsequently became prosperous, they were poor when they emigrated and had to spend., some months after their arrival in this country in working out as indentured servants to pay for the passage across the ocean. Michael Green- hoe and his wife died when quite well advanced in years in Medina County, Ohio. John G. Reighley for a number of years followed his trade at Doylestown and lived there until his death at the age of forty- four. He left a widow and five children. Two children George W. and Anna, had died in infancy, and the five that survived him were : Mary, Sarah, Peter, Amanda and Benjamin F. Of these Peter and Amanda are still living in Erie County, and the daughter Mary is also living. The widow of John G. Reighley married for her second husband John Young, and by this union there was one son, Charles, who died after his mar riage. Mr. Young had eleven children by his first wife. John Young. died in Lorain County and his second wife in Erie County. They were members of the Lutheran Church. Benjamin F. Reighley was reared and educated in Erie County, his . parents having settled there when he was a child. Growing up he adopted the career of farmer, and made that the basis for a considerable prosperity. In 1900 he bought 126 acres in Berlin Township along the State Road not far from Berlin Heights. Took possession of this place in the following year, and it was the scene of his successful endeavors until his death. Mr. Reighley was a man, of fine character, quite active in democratic circles, and left to his descendants an untarnished reputation. On December 23, 1869, in Erie County he married Miss Alice M. Minkler. She was born on the old Harlow Case farm not far from where she now lives on March 8, 1850. Her education was quite thorough, and at one time she had the advantages of instruction from Job Fish, in his time one of the best known teachers in Erie County. Prior to her marriage she was herself a teacher, and sinethe death of her husband has been a capable director of his estate, a now shares with her son Orlando P. in the management of the farm and its ownership. The PICTURE OF BENJAMIN F. REIGHLEY HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 755 home comprises a large and well furnished twelve-room house, and surrounding it is a group of farm buildings, one barn standing on a foundation 38x44 feet, the horse barn being 24x24, the sheep barny20x50 feet, and, all are substantial structures and indicate the excellent management which prevails over the entire place. One feature of the farm is an orchard of 500 peach trees, while the fields grow large crops of wheat, corn, oats and potatoes, and a large number of high grade stock are the direct source of the income. Mrs. Reighley is a daughter of Alvin and Nancy (Driver) Minkler Her father was born in Geauga County, Ohio, December 10, 1824, and her mother was born January 30, 1830, in Maryland, and came with her parents, Wesley and Ruth (Barnes) Driver, to Erie County in 1835. The members of the Driver family were farmers, spent the rest of their lives in Vermilion Township, and were members of the Methodist Church. Alvin Minkler was also a farmer and died in Vermilion Township May 15, 1904. His parents were John and Asenath (Call) Minkler, who were born in Grand Isle, Vermont, and coming to Ohio settled in Geauga County and later in Erie County. They died in Vermilion Township, Mr. Minkler at the age of eighty-six and his wife at eighty. He was a whig in politics, and the family were Methodists. Mrs. Reighley was the oldest of five children. Her brother Orlando is a prosperous farmer in Lorain County, and has two sons, Earl and Clifford, and a daughter, Luverne. The sister Mina, who died in 1912, was the wife of Jacob Lippus, who is a farmer at Berlin Heights, and has two children, Winfield and Alvin. Mrs. Reighley's sister Dora is the widow of M. E. Buck. ley, and she lives at Brownhelm in Lorain County, and has three children, Eleanor, Carmen and Nellie. Her brother Elmer is a farmer in Lorain County, and has five children-Lee, Hazel, Ruth, Clyde and Laura. Mrs. Reighley's oldest child is Alice M., who received liberal advantages and for the past twenty years has been one of the successful teachers in Erie County and still pursues that vocation, making her home with her mother. Leona Ann is now the wife of William Coultrip, Jr., a farmer in Lorain County, and their children are named Merle May and Myron Paul. The son Orlando Peter, who was educated in the public schools and finished at the Northern Ohio University at Ada, spent several years in teaching, but has since developed into a capable farmer, owning part of the old homestead and managing the cultivation of all the land left by his father. Orlando P. Reighley married Helen Champney, who was born in Vermilion Township and educated there. Their one child is John Francis, now six years old. Mrs. Reighley was reared in the United Brethren Church, and her husband was a democrat in national politics. DAVID J. STEPHENS. On the east side of Berlin ToWnship is located in "The Rock Hill Valley Farm," an estate that for a great many years has been in the possession of the Thorp family and is now owned by David J. Stephens. Both the Stephens and Thorp names and relationships have been identified with Erie County a great many years, and there are a number of facts which could be noted in the career of David J. Stephens and of his connections. He was born in Huron Township, July 14, 1851, a son of William H. and Mary (Havelick) Stephens. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania and of a mingling of English and French stock. His father was born in 1805, and after his marriage, which occurred in the late '20s or early '30s, they moved out to Erie County and made settlements a hazel brush farm not far from Bogarts and Rays Corners in the western part of Huron Township. As a farmer William Stephens was a man of 756 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY industry and enterprise and did a great deal toward the improvement of his land before his death, which occurred in May, 1860. His activities were not confined to the simple routine of farming He woes also a hard working churchman and a Baptist preacher, and also served as a captain of home guards under General Lindsley. Before his death, the conflict between time North and the South had been foreseen and he was prepared to serve his country, but died before the issues were joined in arms. One of his cousins was the noted Alexander H. Stephens of the Southern Confederacy. His widow afterwards married Thomas Feagles, who died in 1873, and for her third husband married Emory Cosier. She survived all these husbands, and died at the home of her son, David J., in 1905, being without children by her last two marriages. William. H. and Mary Stephens had the following children : Washington H enlisted at the first call for ninety days troops in the Civil war, went to Washington, District of Columbia, and while in service there was appointed to a position in the United States treasury department, and continued to be identified with that department of the United States Government for more than forty years, and died in the harness in 1905. Elizabeth, the second child, died in Indiana in 1905 when quite an old woman, and left several children. William and Susan, the net born, were twins, and Susan now lives at the home of a daughter in Cleveland, while William received a broken neck and died while attempting to stop a runaway team. Isaiah is now deceased, and further mention of his career will be found in a sketch of his son, Edward S. Stephens. Jefferson P. went through the Civil war as a soldier, later became a locomotive engineer with the Baltimore & Ohio, and was widely known among his railroad s friends as "old Jeff," and died with his hand on the throttle of his engine near Monroeville in Erie County ; he was married and left a family. Mary first married Jesse Green, who died in Perkins Township, and her present husband is Darius Plum, also of Perkins Township. The next in the family is David J., while the youngest, Andrew, died when two years of age. From the age of eleven David J. Stephens was reared in Berlin Township, and finished his education in the Milan High School. He 114 been unusually successful in business affairs and as a progressive farmer, and for many years has owned 140 acres of first class land with the best of improvements. He has instituted a system of tile drainage, connected up with the county ditch, and has his farm well stocked and in the best of condition for productive agriculture. The specially noteworthy feature of the Rock Hill Valley Farm is twenty acres of undeveloped quarry. It is a fine stone and tests which have been made show that . for fifty-five feet depth the stone is without a seam. The farm, is also served by a fine spring of unfailing water situated close to the house and barns, and from this spring water is secured to supply not only the live stock but also the home from cellar to garret. Mr. Stephens was married in Berlin Township to Miss Phoebe Thorp. She was born, reared and educated in Berlin Township, close to she now lives. Her grandfather, Nathaniel Thorp, came. from Connecticut. He was a very poor man when he arrived in Erie County, and had in addition to his clothes only a bible, two shillings and, a package of apple seeds, which he later planted and some of tife trees that grew from these seeds are still standing. He started work among the pioneers and eventually acquired 220 acres of first class land, and lived to see it improved into a fine farm. He died at the home.:where he first established himself as a farmer, and was eighty-two years of age. He was married in Berlin Township, but outlived his wife man years. Mrs. Stephens is a daughter of Jeremiah Thorp, who spent all his life on his HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 757 father's old homestead in Berlin Township and was past sixty when he died. 'Jeremiah married Dolly Swan, who was born in New York State, came to Erie County when a child, and died when past seventy years of age at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Stephens. Besides Mrs. Stephens Jeremiah Thorp and wife were the parents of Sarah, who- married David Hill of Amherst, Ohio. They have seven children. The Thorp family were all Baptists, and the male members were republicans in politics. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Stephens a brief record is as follows : Mary D., who was educated in the Berlin High School, is now the wife of Andrew Schisler of Florence Township, who is a practical farmer there, and they have two children named Andrew and Catherine. Jeremiah N., the second child, married Grace Corbin, and they live in Vermilion, where he is engineer for the town waterworks system, and have one son, David C. William H., who graduated from the Berlin Heights High School and the Oberlin Business College, is now teller in the First National Bank of Berlin Heights, and married Iva Glime. Lloyd D. completed his education in the grade schools and is now assisting his father in the management of the farm. Mr. Stephens is a republican, and is master of Florence Grange No. 1844, Patrons of Husbandry, and was also one of the organizers of this grange and its first master. Through his individual enterprise and his influential leadership he has been an active factor in agricultural development. For eight years he was commander of the local camp of the Maccabees, but is now demitted from that order, and is also affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Mr. Stephens is a man of scholarly tastes and pursuits and has given much time and investigation to genealogy. His principal work is a 300 page volume concerning the genealogy of the Mosher family. In compiling this work he spent many weeks in New England, searching the musty records of Boston and other localities. A few years ago he also made a two months' • trip to England and Europe and went across on the Mauretania, the sister ship to the Lusitania. FREDERICK HILDEBRANDT. Among the men who have gained success as farmers and fruit growers in Berlin Township should be numbered Frederick Hildebrandt, who came to America from Germany more than forty years ago, for several years earned his livelihood as a common laborer on the railroad, and from the surplus of his earnings invested in small tracts of land in Erie County, which he has since increased both in quantity and improvement and is now one of the substantial members of the community, and is furnishing good service to the township as road trustee, the duties of which position require much of his time. Born in Brandenburg, Prussia, February 13, 1842, he was of an old line family of that kingdom, a son of John and Fredericka (Hauck) Hildebrandt. His father was a farm laborer and died in Prussia in middle life. He and his family were members of the Lutheran Church. Frederick .Hildebrandt was the only son and child of that union. The mother married again, wedding Ludwig Budzin, who died in Ottawa County, Ohio. She died in the old country in 1858. The son of the second marriage, William, is also in the United States and is a bachelor farmer, making his home with the subject of this review. Frederick Hildebrandt grew up in his native country, and from early years was trained to hard labor with little remuneration. He was married in his native state to Christiana Schutt, who was a native of the same section as her husband, born there in 1840 and reared and educated in the same locality. After one child had been born to their union, 758 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Reca, Mr. and Mrs. Hildebrandt left Germany in 1872 on the sailing ship Gauch from Bremen, and after a voyage of seven weeks landed in Baltimore. When the vessel was one week out Mr. Hildebrandt was stricken with the smallpox, suffered much from the disease but .recovered, and after landing in Baltimore spent three weeks in the hospital helping to care for the other sufferers from that disease. He later came on west to Ottawa County, Ohio, and there found employment on the Lake Shore Railway, working himself up from the position of a common laborer until he was made watchman and had to do with the maintenance of signals. He was with the railroad company in this capacity for two years, and was then appointed baggage agent at Martin, Ohio, for another two years. In the meantime he had invested in twenty acres of land and established a comfortable home. These facts are substantial evidence of his thrift and progressive character. He had to earn every dollar that went to the support of his family and to the slowly growing surplus. Later he became foreman of a section gang and was in that work with the railroad until 1900. In that year Mr. Hildebrandt moved.. to Berlin Township, Erie County, and bought forty acres of land on the Ridge Road. It was already well improved and in 1904 he added ten acres more. He has a large and well furnished house, a substantial set of farm buildings, and grows several varieties of fruit and has two acres of vineyard. In 1875 he lost his first wife, and she was survived by two children, Franz and Rica, both of whom are now married and have families o their own. For his second wife Mr. Hildebrandt married Caroline Kratzer, who was also born in Germany, February 16, 1851. She died April 7, 1910. The children of the second marriage are Lena, John, Charles, Ida, Anna, Arthur and Freda, all of them married except the last three, and those married all have children. Mr. and Mrs. Hildebrandt are members of the Lutheran Church and in politics he is a democrat. SAMUEL AYRES. The Ayres family is one of the most highly respected in the Village of Berlin Heights, where Samuel Ayres has spent many years and in all the varied relations of life has given a, good account of himself and has practiced and accepted such opportunities as came to him for service to the community and his neighbors. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York, April 17, 1849, Samuel Ayres comes of old Quaker stock. His parents were William and Sarah Jane (Sherwood) Ayres. His father was born in Dutchess County, New York, July 4, 1825. The mother was born in Huddersfield, England, March 14, 1821, and came to the United States at the age of sixteen on a sailing vessel with her parents, James and Mary A. Sherwood. The Sherwoods acquired a farm in Dutchess County, New. York, six miles west of the Hudson River, and there James and his wife spent the rest of their lives. He died at the age of eighty-seven and she when about seventy-five. They were members of the Episcopal Church and of substantial English stock. William Ayres after his marriage to Miss Sherwood lived in Dutchess County, New York, until 1858. In time meantime their children were all born there and were partly educated in the schools at Poughkeepsie. They then set out for the West and arrived at Berlin Heights, Erie County, where William Ayres bought a farm two and a half miles west. He lived there with his family until the beginning of the Civil war, when he returned to the village of Berlin Heights and died February 9, 1867. His widow survived until May 16, 1900. William Ayres, though a birthright Quaker, after his marriage accepted his wife's faith and they both attended the Episcopal services conducted at Huron, Ohio, many yeans ago by Rev. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 759 Samuel Marks. Of the children born to William Ayres and wife brief mention is made of the following : Mary is the widow of Samuel Wincenread, lives in Berlin Heights, and her daughter Alberta is the wife of M. J. Davis, an attorney and connected with !the city government of Detroit ; Samue14' Fannie, wife of William Downing, now living at . Dowling in Dutchess County, New York ; Emma married Charles McQuay, and she died while on a visit to her sister in Dowling, New York, in 1914, while he died in 1913, and they left one son, Charles D. McQuay. When the Ayres family came to Erie County in 1858 Samuel was about nine years of age. His education had been begun in New York State, he attended local schools in Erie County, and afterwards returned to Poughkeepsie and took a course in telegraphy, finishing in 1875. He soon afterwards became connected with the Michigan Southern Railway as operator at Ceylon Station, but after a year or so took another vocation, as a painter, and for a dozen years did a large amount of work in this community as a house painter and decorator. The interests by which Mr. Ayres has been chiefly identified with Berlin Heights are centered in what is known as the Dr. Benjamin Hill farm of ten acres, located in the heart of the village. Mr. Ayres bought this farm many years ago and has lived there ever since. On the land was a fine twelve- room house, and Mr. Ayres has taken pride in keeping up the appearance and the convenient arrangement of this attractive residence. He has on the land 500 peach trees and 100 pear trees, and formerly was successfully engaged in growing small fruits. He bought this farm and has lived there since 1887. On October 24, 1879, in Berlin Township Mr. Ayres married Miss Ida J. Crossman, who was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, March 2, 1858, was educated partly in Connecticut and partly in Berlin Township. She came to Erie County at the age of sixteen. Her parents were Nelson and Lois J. (Webb) Crossnan, both natives of Connecticut, where they spent all their lives. Her father died March 14, 1901, having been born in 1827, and his widow is still living in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and was eighty-three years of age on Christmas Day of 1914. Nelson Crossman was a Connecticut farmer, a democrat in politics, and he and his wife were members of the Congregational Church. He was a son of Nelson and Lovisa Thorp Crossman, and the latter, after the death of Mr. Crossman's father, married Alfred Taylor, and they came to Erie County and located in Berlin Township, where they lived for some years. Mr. Taylor died when past eighty years of age, and his widow subsequently came to Berlin Heights and died there at the age of seventy-eight. Both were members of the Congregational became cashier of the Berlin Heights Banking Company, filling that place. High School, completed a business college course at Oberlin, and later Church. Mrs. Ayres was one of three children, second in age. Her sister, Carrie Lovisa, is the wife of Arthur Bradley, and they now live in Western Connecticut and have a daughter Edna, who is the wife of Chester Coley, and their home is at Chestnut Hill, Connecticut. Lottie Webb is the wife of David Hurlbutt, and they live at Cannon Station in Connecticut, and their son Nelson is married and lives at the same place. On Christmas Day of 1882 Leon B. Ayres was born into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Ayres. He was educated in the Berlin Heights place with much Credit to himself and satisfaction to his employers for ten years. Ill health compelled him to resign the confining duties of banking, and he went to Lansing, Michigan, and has since made himself a factor in business affairs there as secretary and treasurer of the 760 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Standard Realty Company. Leon Ayres was married December 18; 1909, at Ceylon Station, to Bessie Temple. She was born in indiana,.. but grew up and received most of her education in Berlin Township. Her father, Murray A. Temple, is the agent of the Nickel Plate Railway at Ceylon Station, and for many years has been in the employ of that railway. Mr. Leon Ayres and wife- have two children : L Anna Lois, born November 18, 1911, and Robert, born July 28, 1913. Mr. Samuel Ayres, an his son are both republicans in politics. JOHN G. GUNZENHAUSER. For more than half a century the name of the Gunzenhauser has been worthily linked with the civio and business activities of Erie County, and it has at all times stood exponent of sterling personal character and of steadfastness and reliability in all of the relations of life. He whose name introduces this character is fully upholding the prestige of the name which he bears and is recognized as one of the representative business men and loyal and public-spirited citizens of the attractive little city of Huron, which has been his home from the time of his birth. Mr. Gunzenhauser is a son of Jacob and Magdalena (Saurer) Gunzenhauser, both of whom were born in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, the former in 1836 and the latter in 1843. Mrs. Gunzenhauser was a daughter of Philip and Mary Saurer, and was a child at the time of the family immigration to America, the voyage having been made on a sailing vessel and sixty-five days having been consumed in crossing the Atlantic, the delay having been due to storms and other unpropitious conditions. Soon after arriving in the United States the family came to Erie County, Ohio, and established their home on a small farm one mile east of Huron, which place was then a small village. On this homestead, one-half mile distant from the shores of Lake Erie, the parents passed the residue of their lives, Mr. Saurer having attained to the venerable age of eighty-eight years, and his wife having beenlsummoned to eternal rest when she was seventy-eight years of age. Both were highly esteemed citizen of the county for many years and both were devout communicants of the Catholic Church. Jacob Gunzenhauser was but seven years old at the time of his father's death, but his mother lived to attain the remarkable age of ninety years, she having been a woman of splendid physical constitution and having continued active until the time of her death, it being known that she was able to read without glasses and did not adopt the same until after she had become an octogenarian. In 1853, shortly after the death of his father, Jacob Gunzenhauser came to the. United States in company with his maternal uncle, Jacob Bauer, several 'weeks having elapsed before the sailing vessel, on which they had embarked in the City of Hamburg, reached port in New York City. From the national metropolis the journey was continued to the City of Syracuse, New York, and there young Jacob entered the service of the owner of a brewery. Though a mere boy he wjs of the sturdiest physique and while yet in his ‘teens he proved his capacity to do the arduous work of a man of mature age and developed physical powers. Prior to attaining to his legal majority he instituted his independent career and came to Sandusky, the judicial center of Erie County, where he entered upon an apprenticeship to the butcher's trade. After acquiring skill min his trade he removed to the Village of Huron, where, he found employment in the pioneer meat-packing establishment of Wright Brothers, a firm with which he continued to be associated several years. In the meantime he wedded Miss Magdalena Saurer, but within a brief period after he had thus become a benedict he subordinated, all else to the cal of loyalty to the land of his adoption and tendered his services as a soldier of the HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 761 Union in the Civil war. He enlisted in a regiment that was recruited principally in Erie County, but his assignment of duty was not at the front but as one of those upon whom devolved the responsibility of guarding the Confederate prisoners who were sent to the Federal prison on Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, many distinguished Confederate officers having been confined in this famous prison., Mr. Gunzenhauser continued in the Union service three years, and made a record for faithful and effective services on that reflects as great honor upon his name as would have been the case had he been called to the stage of Olive warfare. He received his honorable discharge at the close of the war and then returned to Huron, where he shortly afterward established a meat market, on lower Main Street. Through effective service and honorable methods he developed a substantial and profitable business, and with the passing years he made two removals of his market, his final location having been on the site of the present Huron station of the electric inter-urban line. He continued as one of the industrious, successful and highly honored business men of Huron for many years and after gaining a competency he sold his well equipped market, the remainder of his life having been passed in peace and prosperity and in well earned retirement from business. He died in July, 1901, at the age of sixty- three years. His first wife, mother of the subject of this review, died in 1880, and seven years later. he married Mrs. Augusta Meyers, whose family name was Helmick. Shortly after his second marriage he removed to his fine farm a portion of which tract lies within the corporate limits of Huron, and there he passed the remainder of his life. His widow passed away in 1907, when about sixty years of age. By her marriage to Frederick Meyer she became the mother of two children who survive her. The one child of the second marriage died at the time of birth. Jacob Gunzenhauser was a man of well fortified opinions, was liberal and loyal as a citizen, was unfaltering in his support of the cause of the republican party, and though he was reared in the faith of the Catholic Church he became a communicant of the German Evangelical Church in the United States. Mr. Gunzenhauser served as an efficient member of the village council of Huron and also a member of the school board, as a representative of which he was assigned to the committee that had in charge the erection of the present high-school building. Concerning the children of Jacob and Magdalena (Saurer) Gunzenhauser the following brief record is entered: Jacob married Miss Lena Hart and both are now deceased, their one surviving child being Lura. Anna is the wife of Captain Henry Peterson, who was long and prominently identified with navigation interests on Lake Erie and who is now residing in the West, his wife having died without issue. John G., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth. Elizabeth became the wife of Frederick S. Oaks and both are deceased, their one surviving child being Catherine, who is the wife of William Canfield, of Detroit, Michigan, and who had one child, Ann, now deceased. Minnie is the wife of Dr. N. E. Woessner, a representative physician and surgeon engaged in practice at Huron, and they have one daughter, Lyna. Henry, who is a pipe-cutter by trade, is employed in a tube manufactory at Lorain, and is a bachelor. George died at the age of four years. Andrew was drowned on the 9th of Febbruary, 1880, while playing on.the ice in Huron River, and was a child of three years at the time of his tragic death. John G. Gunzenhauser is indebted to the puklic schools of Huron for his early educational discipline, and here has maintained his residence from the time of his birth, which occurred in the family home, on Main Street, on the 23d of November, 1864. He was afforded also the advan- Vol. II-19 762 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY tages of a course in a business college at Naperville, Illinois, and thereafter he was employed for some time in the meat market conducted by his father. He then turned his attention to- sailing on the Great Lakes, his first work being on the schooner Kitchen, commanded by his brother- in-law, Capt. Henry Peterson, with whom he was later associated as a sailor before the mast when Captain Peterson assumed command of the steamboat Superior. Mr. Gunzenhauser later sailed with Captain Humphrey on the steamer Townsend. In 1888 Mr. Gunzenhauser engaged in the meat market business at Huron, but three years later he entered the employ of the great Chicago packing and provision concern of Armour & Company, for which he continued as a commercial representative for the ensuing ten years, his headquarters having been for some time in Chicago and for a period in the City of Milwaukee.. After severing his association with this company Mr. Gunzenhauser returned to Huron, which place he has always looked upon as his home, and here, in 1905, he opened his present fine meat market, which is essentially metropolitan in its equipment, appointments and service, and in the conducting of which he has built up a most substantial and prosperous business. Progressive and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Gunzenhauser is found arrayed as a stalwart in the republican party, and he has been more or less active in local politics. In Huron he is affiliated with Marks Lodge No. 359, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and he is held in unqualified esteem in his native city and county. At Huron, in the year 1891, Mr. Gunzenhauser wedded Miss Julia Lavoo, who was born and reared in Huron, of French and German lineage. Her father died several years ago and her mother still resides in Huron, at the venerable age of more than eighty years. Mrs. Gunzenhauser died at Huron in 1895, at the early age of twenty-three years, and is survived by one son, John, and one daughter, Vera, the former of whom is married and engaged in business at Huron, and the latter of whom here resides with her venerable maternal grandmother. The second marriage of Mr. Gunzenhauser was solemnized in the City of Ontario, November 2, 1907, where he wedded Miss Etta Lermann, who was born and reared in the City of Sandusky, Ohio, and who is a daughter of Ferdinand and Veronica (Daniel) Lermann, the latter of whom was born in Sandusky and the former in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany. The mother of Ferdinand Lermann died in Bavaria and when he was seven years of age he accompanied his father to the United States, the home having been established at Sandusky, in which city he was reared and educated and in which he has been engaged in the meat market business for many years, his age in 1915 being sixty-seven years, and his wife having been sixty-six years old at the time of her death, on the 12th of April, 1913. She is survived by one son and three daughters: Alvert, Julia, Ada, and Etta. One son, Joseph, died August 8, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Gunzenhauser have no children. EDWARD G. WEIGAND. One of the younger citizens of Huron actively identified with the great fishing industry and Lake Erie is Eclward G. Weigand, who has spent practically all his life around the shores-of this lake, was sailor before the mast for several years, and since leaving the lake marine has been active in the fishing industry. He now has a valuable plant and business of his own, operating twenty-two trap-nets of the hell-devil type, the most popular and best adapted instrument for taking the fish out of the Great Lakes. He also owns and operates a boat propelled by naphtha power and employs several assistants. His annual catch is from sixty to seventy-five tons, and during the spring and fall seasons he devotes his energies to their full bent in this industry. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 763 He has been engaged in fishing on his own account from the port of Huron for the past five years, and his experience on the lakes with others extends back ten years. Prior to that he spent six years as a sailor before the mast, and sailed under some of the best lake captains, among whom should be mentioned Captain Montague, of Huron, who was his commanding officer during 1906. Mr. Weigand was born in the City of Buffalo, New York, December 15, 1887, and was educated in the public schools of Huron, for the most part, and also took a course in the Sandusky Business College.. He comes of German ancestry. His grandparents were Charles and Catherine Weigand, natives of Germany, but probably married in Ameriea. They came to this country in a sailing vessel, the only means of crossing the Ocean at that time, during the '30s. The grandfather was a toolmaker and became successfully established as a worker at his trade in Buffalo. After coming to this country he made four trips back to his native land, and while returning from the last died on the vessel and was given a burial at sea. His widow subsequently died in Buffalo when past. eighty years of age. They were both Protestants in religion and worthy people who gave their children all the advantages of home and schools. Charles Weigand, Jr,, father of Edward, was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1864. He acquired the trade of carpenter and builder, and died at Buffalo when in the prime of his years in June, 1890. He was married to Mary Thomas, who was born in Buffalo about the same time as her husband, and was reared in that city. She is now living at Huron, Ohio, with her second husband, Jacob Meltzer. By this second marriage she is the mother of the following children : Grace, who is married and has a son and lives in Michigan ; Ella, at home. Mrs. Meltzer was the daughter of John and Catherine (Fisher) Thomas, who lived at Buffalo and in that section of New York State. Her father volunteered for service as a soldier during the war, and was made a guard for the rebel prisoners at Johnson's Island in Lake Erie. His death occurred in 1911 at the age of sixty-four, while living in Huron. Edward Weigand is the third of four children, namely : Charles Weigand, the third of the name in successive generations, is a fisherman with headquarters at Huron, and married Lillian Taylor, of Fremont, Ohio ; Catherine is the wife of George Dahlhofer, of Huron, and they are the parents of five young sons, the last being twins ; Edward ; and Amelia, who, like the other children, were educated in the Huron public schools and is now the wife of Paul Lapp, who is engaged in the laundry business at Huron. Edward G. Weigand, after showing his worth as a young man of steady and economical habits, gained the affection of one of the reigning belles of Huron, Miss Lucille Deyo. Miss Deyo was born in Huron, and was carefully reared and liberally educated, araduating from the local high school in 1909 and then being sent to a''finishing college at Roanoke, Virginia, where she completed her education and became proficient in music, and subsequently taught that art before her marriage. Mrs. Weigand is the only and much loved child of George and Minnie (Krock) Deyo. Her father was born in London, Canada, and comes of distinguished French lineage, the name originally being spelled De Yoe, and ancestors of that name were eminent both as warriors and in the professions and arts. It is an interesting fact that George Washington was descended from a branch of the same family, and it is said that his patriotic character was partly due to the Deyo blood that coursed through his veins. George Deyo was still unmarried when he came to Ohio, locating at Huron, where he has since lived and has for many years been active as an engineer and manager of the large Fries estate 764 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY planing mills of Huron. He has likewise taken an active part in village affairs, and is a man of strong character and extended influence. His wife belongs to one of the oldest and best families of Huron, and further mention of the Krock family will be found on other pages of this publication. In 1912 Mr. Weigand, assisted by Mr. Deyo, his wife's father, built with his own hands one of the most beautiful and attractive residences of Huron, on South Ohio Street. Having been his own architect and contractor, he employed his leisure and ample means to work out his own ideas of what a home should be, and its attractions are not only in the design and originality which conform with the good taste of himself and wife, but also in the installation of the modern improvements and conveniences. Mr. and Mrs. Weigand are the parents of one son, George William. Mr. Weigand was reared in the Evangelical faith, is a republican in politics, and takes much interest in the Lake Erie Lodge No. 756, I. 0. 0. F., and is past noble grand of his lodge. He is a young man of fine habits, even temper, and his success in business white still on the lee side of thirty years, can only be taken to promise extensive results in later years. ELISHA J. PHELPS. In Huron Township, a short distance east of the corporation limits of the Village of Huron, Elisha J. Phelps has his home and the center of his activities, which classify him as a general farmer and fruit grower and stock raiser. His farm consists of fifty acres of the fertile land found in that community, and is all under thorough cultivation and shows many evidences of his well- known enterprise and ability in agricultural matters. He has a large barn, 40 by 60 feet, and other farm buildings, and his home is nearly new, having been built in place of the house which, with its contents, was burned in February, 1910. Mr. Phelps bought his present farm east of Huron in the fall of 1907, and took possession in the following spring. An attractive feature of this home is its situation on the lake shore front. Most of his land is utilized for the general crops, but he also has a large acreage in fruit and berries, and is a specialist in the raising of graded horses. Elisha J. Phelps was born in Huron Township on a portion of land that has since been washed away by the action of waters. He was born September 13, 1851, grew up in the township and lived at home until twenty-three. In the meantime he had acquired a good education and had been trained for the work which has been his real vocation in life. He then rented his father's farm in Lorain County, and at the age of twenty-six engaged in the dairy business, living on the Huron River road near the Village of Huron. For twenty-three years his time and labor were chiefly devoted to the management of a first-class dairy. He kept an average of about thirty cows, though sometimes as high as forty, and raised most of the grain and feedstuffs to supply his stock! He abandoned the dairy industry after moving to his present farm. His parents were James and Mary (Elson) Phelps, both natives. of Maryland. His father was born in 1823 and died at his home in Huron Township, April 24, 1879, and the mother was born September 29, 1828, and died May 26, 1911. They came to Erie. County as young people and were married here, and set up a home of their own in Huron Village, where James Phelps conducted a grocery store, meat market and livery stable, and subsequently bought a farm near the village, where he and his wife spent their declining years. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he was a republican. Their children are given brief mention as follows: Celesta is the wife of Thomas Sprowl, cashier of the First National Bank of Huron, and PICTURE OF ORA F. ROMELL HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 765 they have a son and a daughter still living. Dora, who is now living in Detroit, is the widow of Jackson Rilett, who was accidentally shot near Huron while squirrel hunting. Mina Bond, who is living in Huron, was twice married and is twice a widow, and has two daughters by her first husband. Elmira died with her first child, the wife of Theodore Wells. The next in order of birth is Elisha J. Letitia is the wife of John M. Garritte, a druggist at Huron, and they have a family of one son and two daughters. Elmer spends part of his time in Ifuron and part in Cleveland with his son. Joseph is in the cigar and confectionery business at Huron and has two sons. Dudley lives at Huron and is unmarried. Anna, a widow, has two sons and two daughters: Elisha J. Phelps was married in Huron Township to Miranda Ells, who was born in Huron Township and died at their home on Huron River, January 23, 1893, at the age of thirty-nine There were four children by this union. Eva is the wife of Edward Blanchard, of Cleveland, and they have one child, Myron T. Mildred is the wife of Milton McSpadden, of Cleveland, and their three children are Helen, Ethel and an infant. Ethel, the third child, died after her marriage to Irvin Mason. Curtis, the youngest, died in early life. Mr. Phelps married his present wife at Sandusky. Elizabeth Thomas, which was her maiden name, was born in Buffalo, New York, Decembk 19, 1877, and was reared and educated there and at Huron. Her parents were John and Catherine (Fisher) Thomas, both natives of Germany, her father having come to this country at the age of sixteen and lived at Buffalo, New York, until after his marriage, his wife having been brought from Germany when three years of age. She grew up in Buffalo, where her parents died, and after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas lived in Buffalo several years, where he followed his trade as a shoemaker and subsequently moved to Vermillion and later to Huron in Erie County, where Mr. Thomas died April 1, 1911, at the age of sixty-eight. His widow is living at Huron and was sixty-eight years old on August 5, 1914. They are members of the Evangelical Church and Mrs. Phelps' father was a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps have two children. Lorena May, born January 28, 1895, was educated in the Huron High School, has been a student of music, and now lives at home. Lavella Alice, born July 22, 1903, is now in the fifth grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Phelps attend the Evangelical Church at Huron. He is a republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Huron Lodge No. 113, of the Woodmen of the World. ORA F. ROMELL. Success consists in a steady betterment of one's material conditions and an increase of one's ability to render service to others. Measured by this standard, one of the successful men of Erie County is Ora F. Romell, who has spent nearly all his life in the county and now has an attractive and valuable farm in Berlin Township. Robust, hard working, thrifty, genial and progressive, Mr. Romell has a host of friends in his part of Erie County, and has mingled good fellowship and all that phrase implies with the handling of his private business affairs. His birth occurred in Erie County near Castalia on February 2, 1863. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Altvater) Romell, both of whom are natives of Germany, his father born in 1837 and his mother four years later. John Romell was the only member of his immediate family to emigrate to America, having coming over when eighteen years of age. He spent nine weeks on a sailing vessel before landing in New York City, and then came on west to Castalia in Erie County. He soon found employment with Calvin Caswell, an old settler in that community, and his first wages were $6.00 per month. Out of this small remunera- 766 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY tion he soon managed to save enough to pay for his passage to this country. He had borrowed money in the old country to get him to America, having left the fatherland in order to avoid military service. After some years in Erie County he married. His wife had come to America with her parents, Peter and Catherine Altvater, in 1850, and they lived and died near Castalia, her father in 1872 When past sixty, and her mother a number of years later in 1895, when past eighty. The Altvaters were Protestant people. After his marriage John Hornell set out as a farmer, later was employed for several years in a paper mill, and finally bought forty-four acres of land in Margaretta Township. He sold that, and in 1880 moved to a farm which he had bought near Clarksfield, lived there until the spring of 1896, and then returned to Erie County, buying land just outside the Village of Berlin Heights. He and his good wife still live at that home, and both are well preserved people and have an ample competence for their declining years. The father is a republican, but his wife's father was an equally strong democrat in his day. Ora F. Romell is the oldest in a family of nine children, six of whom are still living and five are married. He grew up on a farm, attended the schools in his neighborhood, and his ability as a farmer comes from long and thorough experience. Nineteen years ago he moved into Berlin Township and since December, 1902, has been located on his present farm of 102 1/9 acres. This is rolling land, of fine soil, situated on the Ridge Road not far from Berlin Heights Village. It possesses excellent natural as well as tile drainage and practically every acre is under cultivation. Mr. Romell has a fine apple orchard of more than 100 trees, also four acres of peach trees, and a number of pear and cherry trees. He lives in a large house of nine rooms and adjoining is a red barn 38x70 feet in ground dimensions, while there are several other barns and sheds for the shelter of stock and implements. He also has a 65 ton silo, which is coming to be a feature of the best farms in Northern Ohio, and his water for both domestic and stock purposes is unusually fine. He grows large quantities of grain of different varieties and is a thorough, practical farmer in every sense of the word. Mr. Romell was first married in the State of Michigan to Sabra Ida Sage. She was born and reared in Michigan, and was a daughter of Harlow P. Sage, and a granddaughter of Rev. Harlow Sage, who was of old Puritan stock and a prominent Universalist preacher in Northern Ohio in the early days. Her father came of the Lorain County family of Sages, and is still living in Gratiot County, Michigan, a prominent farmer there. Mrs. Romell died April 30, 1893, at the birth of her first child, who also died. On December 5, 1906, Mr. Romell married Miss Elizabeth Will. She was born in Huron April 23, 1854, and died at her home near Berlin Heights October 21, 1914. Her father, Nicholas Will, was born in Germany, was married there, and then brought his wife to Erie County, where they spent the rest of their lives, he passing'' away in 1890 and she in 1908. They, were substantial farming people in Vermilion Township, and three sons are still living in that locality. Mr: Romell is a strong republican and served as township trustee for four years. During his administration the two interurban lines were built through the township, and both through Ms office and as a•private citizen he has done everything in his power to promote local improvements. PHILIP J. JUSTI. Distinctive independence and self-reliance were early manifested by this representative and substantial farmer of Huron Township, for when a mere lad, in company with a neighbor, boy of comparatively the same age, he immigrated from his German fatherland HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 767 to America and gravely set to himself the task of winning prosperity through his own industry. He has proved himself one of the world's productive workers and his career has been dominated by that sterling integrity that - ever begets popular confidence and good will. In Erie County he has worked his way to the goal of worthy success, and he is now the owner of one of the well improved and valuable farms of the county, the same being on rural mail route No. 3, from the Village, of Huron. Mr. Justi was born in the Duchy of Nassau, Germany, on the 28th of January. 1867, and is a representative of a sterling family whose name has long been identified with that section of the empire. He is a son of Philip John Justi and Catherine Switzer, both of the purest of German lineage and both likewise natives of Nassau, where they passed. their entire lives, their home at the time of their death having still been at Bonshire, the place in which the subject of this review was born and in which his mother died when he was an infant, the father having survived her and having passed to the life eternal in 1879, at the age of sixty years. Of the six children, Philip J., of this review, is the youngest ; Wilhelmina is the wife of Henry Endridge and they reside on the old homestead farm of the Justi family, in Nassau, their children being three sons and one daughter ?,Hattie came to the United States in 1870, and in Erie County, Ohio, she became the wife of Joel Springer, their home having been for a number of years on a farm in Huron Township and their place of residence at the present time being in the Village of Bellevue, Huron County. They have no children. Frederick accompanied his sister Hattie to America and he and his wife reside on their excellent farm in Oxford Township, Erie County, their children being four sons and one daughter. Henry immigrated to the United States in 1884 and joined his brothers and sister in Erie County, where he is now the owner of a good farm in Oxford Township, his four children, all daughters, still remaining at the parental home. Phoebe is the wife of Philip Pulish, a prosperous farmer in Nassau, Germany, and they have one daughter. Philip J. Justi, whose name initiates this article, acquired his early education in the schools of his native place, and in 1881, when fourteen years of age, he came to the United States in company with his youthful neighbor, Henry Miller, the voyage from Hamburg to New York City having been made on the vessel Westphalia. From the national metropolis the two ambitious young German boys forthwith made their way to Erie County, Ohio, to join the elder brother and sister of Mr. Justi, and after remaining a short time in the City of Sandusky Mr. Justi obtained work on a farm in Huron Township. For a decade he was in the employ of farmers in this county, and in the meanwhile he carefully saved his earnings and bent every energy to the preparing for an independent career as a farmer. Prior to his marriage he had purchased a portion of his present homestead farm, which comprises eighty acres and which is located three miles south of the Village of Huron, on what is commonly designated as South Main Street, the farm lying on the line between Huron and Milan townships. With characteristic energy and good judgment, Mr. Justi has made excellent improvements on his land, nearly all of which is now available for cultivation and gives .excellent returns in the growing of the various crops best suited to this section. The permanent improvements include a good house of eight rooms, a barn 28 by 48 feet in dimensions, and other requisite farm buildings, and everything about the place is kept in excellent order, with the result that thrift and prosperity are clearly in evidence. In addition to conducting his own farm, Mr. Justi also operates on the opposite side of the road the William Rosekelley farm, of seventy acres, and he is known as 768 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY one of the progressive agriculturists and stock growers of the county, in which he has found ample opportunity for the achieving of success through well ordered industry. He and his family are zealous members of St. John's Lutheran Church at Union Corners, and in politics he is aligned as a staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party, though in local affairs he is not governed by strict partisanship. For nearly sixteen years he has been a valued member of school board of his district, and as a director he has done all in his power to provide the best possible school advantages. In 1891 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Justi to Miss Louisa Beiler, who was born in Groton Township, this county, where her parents established their home in the early '60s, soon after their emigration from' Germany. Mrs. Justi's father, the late Charles Beiler, was long known as one of the substantial farmers of Erie County, where he commanded the unqualified respect of all who knew him, and he died at, his old homestead farm on the 4th of April, 1914, his widow passing away in the following June, at the home of her daughter Louisa, Mrs. Justi. Mr. Beiler was eighty-three years of age at the time of his death, and his wife passed to the life eternal at the age of sixty-seven years, both having been members of the Lutheran Church and the parents of Mr. rJusti having been communicants of the Reformed Church. Mr. and Mrs. Justi have given to their children excellent educational advantages, and the eldest two, Hattie and Rosa, still remain at the parental home ; Elizabeth ' completed a course in the Sandusky Business College and is now employed as bookkeeper in the office of the Huron Fish Company, in the Village of Huron; Fred is associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm ; and Freda and Anna are still members of the ideal home circle, the latter being still in school. ADOLPH NICKEL. Among the men who have lent dignity of character, excellence of labor and general co-operation in affairs of Erie County, Ohio, one who is widely and favorably known in agricultural and business circles is Adolph Nickel, who owns and operates a handsome farm on the township line road in Huron Township. It has been the fortune of this progressive and energetic farmer to have lived all his life close to nature and to have partaken generously of the rewards offered those who respond with enthusiasm and clear judgment to the opportunities for advancement in tilling the soil. Mr. Nickel has been a resident of his present community throughout his career, having been born on the farm adjoining the one he now owns, in Huron Township, August 28, 1875, a son of Charles and Mary (Platt) Nickel. The father, born in Germany in 1846 or 1847, was a small child when he came to the United States with his parents on a sailing vessel, during the early '50s, the family landing at New York City and immediately making their way to Erie County, Ohio. Here they settled on the farm which lies to the north of the one now owned by Adolph Nickel, and at that time almost in its primitive state. The grandparents whose names are now forgotten, passed their entire lives here, the grandfather reaching advanced years, while the grandmother passed away some time before. They were consistent members of the Evangelical Church, devoted their entire lives to farming, and were-known as honest, industrious and God-fearing people. Mrs. Nickel's parents had come to the United States before she was born, and lived and died on the farm on which they settled in Perkins Township, Erie County, they also being consistent members of the Evangelical Church and highly respected members of their community. Charles Nickel was reared and educated in Huron Township, and when he attained man's estate engaged in farming on his own account. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 769 After his marriage, he resided for a few years at Milan, but subsequently settled on a farm in Huron Township, where he passed the remaining years of his active. life. Both he and Mrs. Nickel still survive and reside in Ohio, although in different parts of the state. They are members of the Evangelical Church, and in political matters Mr. Nickel is a democrat. They were the parents of three children: Jennie, who is the widow of Fred Lee, of Milan Township, and foster-mother of one son, Ralph Bickley ; Adolph, of this notice ; and Mary, who is the wife of Philip Lortcher, and resides on a farm adjoining that of her brother, and has one son, Myron B. Adolph Nickel was given a public school education, and passed his boyhood and youth in the pursuits of the farm, receiving both a good mental and physical training. He remained on the home farm until twenty-five years of age, at which time he purchased his present farm, a tract of seventy-two acres, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation. He has since erected a large barn, 32 by 68 feet, painted red, a garage, buggy shed and corn cribs, and other outbuildings, while his residence is handsome and commodious, painted drab, with green trimmings, and containing seven rooms, handsomely and tastefully furnished, with all modern conveniences and comforts. Mr. Nickel grows large crops of all kinds of cereals, and in addition breeds horses, cattle and hogs. In every department of agriculture he has been successful, being possessed of a thorough knowledge of the details of his chosen vocation. He has a high reputation in business circles, and as a citizen has shown his public spirit on more than one occasion. Mr. Nickel was married at Sandusky, Ohio, to Miss Catherine Lieb, who was born in that city April 18, 1880, and there reared and Well educated. Her parents were Ambrose and Margaret (Herr) Lieb, natives of Germany, who came to America as young people and located at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but later moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where the mother died in 1887, in middle life. Mr. Lieb, who has long been well and favorably known as a hand marble worker and monument maker, still lives at Sandusky, where he is the proprietor of an establishment of his own. By his first marriage he had three daughters and three sons, namely : George, Anna, Elizabeth, Henry, Catherine and Martin. He was married a second time, and has two sons and one daughter by this union, named Louis, Herman and Celia. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nickel, aged as follows : Russell, born October 23, 1905; Mary, born June 13, 1909 ; Alberta, born May 8, 1911 ; Doris, born February 10, 1913 ; and Charles, born April 4, 1915. Mrs. Nickel is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Her husband is a democrat in poliics, but his interest in public affairs is limited to the casting of his vote in support of good men and beneficial measures. WILLIAM C. HEIMBURGER. Farming, which in former years was largely an occupation in which the surplus sons of the old-time families engaged as their natural and only means of livelihood, has been brought to the front as one of the higher callings, a labor of mind as well as of muscle, of head as well as of hand. Scientific agriculture is no longer a high-sounding phrase, but a vocation which demands careful preparation and yields sure and generous returns. Each year witnesses remarkable progress along this line, and to understand this aroused and continued interest, the work of such progressive farmers as William C. Heimburger, of Huron Township, must be considered. Mr. Heimburger has passed his entire life in the community in which he now resides, having been born on his father's farm in Huron Township, Erie County, Ohio, April 24, 1879, a son of William Heimburger, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this work. Edu- 770 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY cated in the graded and high schools of Huron, Mr. Heimburger was reared to agricultural pursuits, and remained on the homestead until his marriage, at the age of 'twenty-six years, when he started renting a property from his father. Three years later he was ready to enter upon a career of his own and purchased from his father his present valuable tract, a property of sixty-five acres, lying on the Bogart road. Here he has a handsome, modern residence of eight rooms, built in 1908, a new barn 36 by 40 feet, and feed shed, 24 by 132 feet, which latter is to be extended all around the yard, when it will be 360 feet -in length.. He has also a machine and tool house, and two corn cribs, one of 1,600 bushels and the other of 1,200 bushels capacity. Mr. Heimburger feeds 3,000 bushels of corn, all grown on this property, .and in addition grows large crops of wheat, oats, alfalfa, potatoes and meadow grass. He also rents eighty acres of the William Hahn farm, lying adjacent to his own property. As a raiser of livestock, Mr. Heimburger has made his cattle gain as high as 300 pounds in 120 days, an excellent average; and he also breeds fine hogs of the Berkshire breed, shipping about fifty each year. He makes a close and careful study of his work, and works out his own ideas along practical lines, noting intelligently the best manner of attaining results. He leaves nothing to chance, but makes each of his moves in a careful, well-directed manner, far different from the haphazard way in which farmers usually carried on their operations in former years. In 1905 Mr. Heimburger was married to Miss May Hecker, of Hays Avenue, Sandusky, Ohio, a graduate of Sandusky High School and a daughter of William and Minnie (Holtzworth) Hecker. Mr. Hecker was born in Germany and was eighteen years of age when he emigrated to the United States, locating at Sandusky, Ohio, where he followed his trade of butcher for twelve years. He is now living a retired life at Sandusky, as is also Mrs. Hecker, who is a native of that city. They were the parents of two sons and two daughters, Mrs. Heimburger being the elder of the latter, the younger sister being unmarried. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Heimburger Arthur, ten years of age and in the fourth grade of the public schools ; Walter, who is eight years old ; Raymond, aged five years ; and Marion, four years old. Mr. and Mrs. Heimburger are members of the Huron Lutheran Church, and are well and favorably known in social circles. He is a democrat in politics, but has not taken a very active part in party affairs, his entire time and attention being occupied by his farming activities. As a citizen he has shown his interest in matters pertaining to the welfare of his community, and has displayed a willingness to co-operate with others in movements calculated to bring about civic and agricultural betterment. His wide circle of friends testify to his general popularity. DIEDRICK E. BRUNS. Those counties that can claim their respective quotas of farmers of German birth or extraction are certain to maintain high standards in the domain of agriculture and stockgrowing, for this element of citizenship is renowned for thrift and prosperity as well as for the deepest loyalty and full appreciation of the advantages afforded in the United States, though those who can refer to the German fatherland as the place of their nativity naturally and justly honor the same and treasure its best traditions. Such a worthy and valued citizen is he whose name introduces this paragraph and who is one of the representative farmers of Erie County, where his excellent farm of ninety-two acres is specially notable for its fine improvements and the unmistakable evidences of the energy and good judgment brought to bear in its various operations. This attractive-rural estate is situated in the southeastern part of Huron Township and on the Berlin Heights road, with rural mail HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 771 service on Route No. 2 from the Village of Huron. The farm was the old homestead of the parents of Mrs. Bruns, who was here born and reared and who has here maintained her borne during virtually the entire period of her life thus far. The Bruns farm is supplied with an excellent system of drainage and the requisite water is derived from several wells, which give adequate supply for the live stock and for other purposes. Virtually the entire farm is under a high state, of cultivation, scientific methods being brought to bear in perpetuating the fertility of its excellent soil, and the place is notable for its uniformly large yields, of wheat, oats and corn, the while Mr. Bruns gives special attention to the propagation of the best types of potatoes, which give an average annual product of 150 bushels to the acre and a gross annual production of about 2,500 bushels. This homesteads equipped with excellent buildings with the most approved and modern facilities, including an attractive residence of nine rooms, a fine barn 36 by 70 feet, with slate roof, this building having been erected by Mr. Bruns in 1910, there being an additional barn of large dimensions for the care of farm produce and the live stock, and a grainary 24 by 30 feet in dimensions. Mr. Bruns has owned and resided upon his present homestead farm since 1899, prior to which year he had been for fifteen years engaged in forming in Lenawee County, Michigan, his property there having been sold prior to his return to Erie County, Ohio, where he had established his residence shortly after his immigration to America and where he had lived for a number of years before he removed with his family into Michigan. A scion of one of the sterling and honored old families of the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, Mr. Bruns was there born on the 26th of June, 1859, a son of Frederick and Catherine (Rohrs) Bruns, who there passed their entire lives, each having been about sixty-four years of age at the time of death and both having been devout communicants of the Lutheran Church. Of the seven children the eldest is Anna, Mrs. Busselman, whose husband is a prosperous farmer in the Kingdom of Hanover, their children being two sons and one daughter. Frederick is now a successful business man at Stryker, Williams County, Ohio, where he conducts a private bank. He has one son and one daughter. Henry is individually mentioned on other pages of this publication ; Heinrick is in the West and is at the time of this writing supposed to be a resident of the state of California; William is the subject of a personal sketch elsewhere in this volume ; and Herman, who lives in Huron, this county. Diedrick E. Bruns passed the period of his childhood and early youth on the old home farm of his father and in the meanwhile availed himself of the advantages of the excellent schools of the locality. At the age of sixteen years, in 1875, he set sail at Bremen for the voyage to America, some of his brothers having preceded him to the United States and others having come later, he having been the seventh child of the family. Soon after disembarking in the port of New York City he came to Henry County, Ohio, but a year later he removed to Erie County and became identified with agricultural pursuits, in Huron Township, where six years later, in 1882, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Lena Huttenlocher, the marriage ceremony having been performed in the home of the bride's parents.—the house now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Bruns. Mrs. Bruns was born in this township, in 1861, and save for the period of her residence in Michigan, she has always lived in Huron Township. Her parents were born in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, and were young folk at the time when they came to America . and became residents of Erie County, where their marriage was solemnized. Here the father, Andrew Huttenlocher, purchased the land constituting the present Bruns homestead, and here he became one of the sub- 772 - HISTORY OF ERIE stantial farmers and highly respected citizens of Erie County, where he still maintains his home, his eighty-fourth birthday anniversary having been celebrated in August, 1915, and his physical and mental power being retained to a wonderful degree. He is a consistent member of the Evangelical Church, as was also his wife, whose death occurred about twenty years ago, when she was somewhat more than sixty-five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Huttenlocher became the parents of two sons and four daughters, all of whom are living and all of whom are married and well established in life. Mr. and Mrs. Bruns have two children, the elder of whom is Andrew H. who was born in the year 1886 and who Is. a progressive and successful farmer in Berlin Township, this county. He married Miss Helen Coal, of Norwalk, Huron County, and their only child, Esther, was born in 1912. Edith Leota Bruns is the wife of Robert French, a prosperous young farmer of Lenawee County, Michigan, atie they have two daughters, Arline E. who was born June 3, 1913, and Ruth L. born May 3, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Bruns are earnest communicants and active workers in the Evangelical Church in the Village of Huron, and he is an officer in the same. He is a citizen of broad views and utmost civic loyalty, and is ever ready to lend his co-operation in the furtherance of measures and material enterprises tending to advance the general welfare of the community. Though never animated by aught of ambition for political office he is found staunchly arrayed in the ranks of the republican party and takes a lively interest in its cause. The attractive family home is known for its generous and unostentatious hospitality and is a favorite rendezvous for the many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Bruns. LOUIS W. SCHEID. One of the most progressive representatives of the agricultural interests of Erie County, Louis W. Scheid has worked his way to a position of independence and prominence solely through his own efforts. He started in life with only a good constitution and a resolute determination to get to the front, and his successful career as a farmer of Huron Township furnishes a strong incentive to the aspiring element of the rising generation to follow his example. Mr. Scheid was born on the old family homestead in Oxford Township, Erie County, Ohio, August 28, 1873, and is a son of Peter and Catherine (Heuser) Scheid. His father was born July 31, 1834, in Germany, and in 1852 came to the United States with his brother William, on a sailing vessel, which made port at New York City. From the metropolis the brothers made their way to Huron County, Ohio, but shortly thereafter came to Erie County, and purchased wild land at Spears Corners, one mile west of the Bloomingville Road, where they continued to pass the remaining years of their lives, and died to a day within fifty weeks of each other, Peter Scheid passing away October 22, 1905. Before leaving Huron County they had sent for their parents and their brother .Charles, and after their arrival Charles Scheid located on a farm near Pontiac, where he still lives and where his parents died in advanced years. Peter' Scheid became one of Oxford Township's most industrious and energetic men, and it was not long before his influence began to be felt in the community. He was successful as a farmer, and erected substantial buildings and a fine home on his property, thus contributing to the upbuilding and development of his adopted locality. A consistent Member of the Lutheran faith, after coming to Oxford Township he assisted to organize the Saint John's Lutheran Church of Union Corners, of Which he and Mrs. Scheid became charter members, and of which he continued as an official throughout his life. A stalwart democrat in politics, he was frequently called to office by his fellow citizens who recognized and appreciated his sterling worth of character, and for twenty years served as treasurer of the township, in addition to acting for a long period in the capacity of HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 773 township trustee: His record as agriculturist, citizen and public official was one on which there is not the slightest stain or blemish, and when he died he left to his children the priceless heritage of an honored name. Mr. Scheid was married at Pontiac, Huron County, Ohio, to Miss Catherine Heuser, who was born in Germany, March 6, 1642, and Aas eleven years of age when she came to the United States with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Heuser. They located at Pontiac. The father died in 1901, in Oxford Township, Erie County, Ohio, at the age of eighty-five Years, he having passed his last years with his daughter, Mrs. Scheid, who was his only child. He was a member of the Lutheran Church and a democrat. in politics. Mrs. Heuser died in 1875, aged sixty years. Since her husband's death, in 1905, Mrs. Scheid has lived in the town of Milan, Ohio, and is still hale and hearty at the age of seventy-three years. Of the ten children of Peter and Catherine Scheid, one died in infancy, Mrs. Robert Streck died in June, 1913, leaving issue, and Miss Amanda passed away in January, 1915, while seven children survive. Louis W. Scheid was the youngest but two of his parents' children, and grew up on the farm in Oxford Township. He attended the district schools' of his native locality and spent the summer months in work on- the home farm, so that he came to manhood alert in mind and strong and active in body, an equipment with which he has since worked his way to a comfortable competence. A large part of his education has been self acquired, by study, observation and experience, and this has given Mr. Scheid a broad and comprehensive outlook on life. From the outset of his career Mr. Scheid proved himself a hard and industrious worker, capable of making money out of his ventures and equally capable of turning his earnings to good use. In 1901 he purchased his present fine property, located on South Main Street (sometimes called Sand Road) in Huron Township, three miles south of Huron. This large estate is highly improved and contains a variety of soils, all productive, a part being a sandy loam, some a clay mixed and the greater part a level stretch of black and very fertile loam. Here he grows immense crops of corn, wheat, oats, barley and potatoes; of which he feeds all except his wheat and potatoes to his horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep, for Mr. Scheid has engaged largely in stockraising, a department in which he has gained excellent success. He is a practical farmer, using the old and tried methods where they prove worthy, but always being ready to give a trial to the modern ways of farming. He believes in rotation of stock and in the use of modern machinery, and his opinion is frequently sought in agricultural matters, particularly, in connection with cattle, of which he is an acknowledged judge. After losing two residences by fire, Mr. Scheid built his present beautiful home, erected after the cottage style, of concrete to the second floor and then of frame. Situated on a pleasant rise of land, it overlooks the surrounding country, and gives a particularly pleasing appearance to the farm. The other buildings include his large grain and feed barn, 40x90 feet, horse barn, 36x40 feet, and cow barn, 30x40 feet, all of which are equipped with the latest modern conveniences and appliances. A broad-minded, hearty and virile man, Mr. Scheid thinks well of life, desires others to do likewise, and, having succeeded himself, is anxious to see his fellows gain prosperity. He is a confirmed member of- Saint John's Lutheran Church, at Union Corners, and his wife attends that church. In politics he is a democrat but not a politician. Fraternally he is an enthusiastic Mason, and is a member in good standing of Marks Blue Lodge No. 359, F. & A. M. ; Milan Chapter, and Sandusky Council No. 26, in all of which he has numerous friends. As a citizen he has performed his duties and responsibilities faithfully and well, and every movement for the general welfare finds in him a hearty co-operator and supporter. He has woven compactly and well the strands of his life, 774 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY and has surrounded those dependent upon him with educational and general advantages. Mr. Scheid was married at Huron, Ohio, to Miss Nati Starr, who was born, reared and educated in this township, being a g.aaduate of Huron High School and a daughter of John Starr, a sketch of whose life will be found on another page of this work. Five children have been born to this union : Cornelius, aged thirteen years, who is in eighth grade at the public school; Marion, aged eleven, in the sixth grade ; Inez, aged eight years; and John P. and Peter Louis, twins, the former aged five years, and the latter of whom died when three months old. GEORGE J. SAGE. This representative agriculturist of Erie County has satisfaction in claiming Erie County as the place of his nativity and virtually his entire life has been passed in Huron Township, his birth having occurred in the village of Huron, on the 3d of March, 1859, and his early education having been acquired in the public schools of this county, which has always been his home and which is endeared to him by the gracious memories and associations of the past as well as by the opportunities he has here found for successful enterprise as a nrmer and stockgrower, his present well improved farm being a large part of the tract of land that was here purchased by his father more than half a century ago. Mr. Sage is a scion of staunch New England stock, and the family was there founded in the early colonial epoch of our national history, the late Russell Sage, the great New York capitalist, having been a scion of another branch of the same family. The paternal great-grandparents of the subject of this review were born and reared in Connecticut, and it is supposed that they passed the closing period of their lives in Virginia, though the meager family records do not give absolute assurance of this fact. The grandfather, George Sage, was but thirty-eight years of age at the time of his death, and his widow, Lucy, passed her last days in the home of her son, William G. Sage, at Huron, Ohio, where she died at the venerable age of seventy-five years, after a widowhood of many years, during which she ever paid loyal fealty to the memory of the husband of her youth. Of their children the eldest was William G., father of him whose name initiates this review ; Edwin and Edward were twins and both are deceased, and there were several other children, including Harriet, Lucy, Orrin, Charles and Louisa, all of whom married and reared children. Of this numerous family of children only two are now living, Mrs. Louisa Case, who resides in Indiana, in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Colby, whose husband is a clergyman, and Charles, who is a carpenter and lives with his daughter in Wood County, Ohio. William George Sage was born in the City of Winham, Connecticut. on the 21st of October, 1822, and was a mere boy at the time of his father's death. The family was left in straitened circumstances and, as the eldest of the children, he early assumed heavy responsibilities in caring for the younger children and the widowed mother, who ever received his deepest filial love and solicitude and who passed her declining years in his home, as previously noted in this context. From Connecticut the family finally removed to Virginia, and there William G encountered many hardships and vicissitudes in providing for his widowed mother and the younger children. They lived in a primitive log cabin for a number of years and in the meanwhile William G. put forth every possible effort to win independence and at least a fair measure of prosperity. He learned the trade of carpenter and through his skilled work at his trade he laid the foundation for his future success. In the early '40s he brought the family to Erie County, Ohio, where he left his mother and the other children on a small farm near Vermilion and personally went to the City of Toledo, where he eventually developed an excellent