HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 875 (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were people of excellent character, owning many warm friends through all their days. Mrs. Chandler passed away at the family home on November 8, 1913, mourned by her family and a wide circle of staunch friends who loved her for her kindly nature and her many admirable traits of character. She had been reared in the faith of her parents, who were Methodists, as has been said, but in later life she turned to Spiritualism. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Chandler. Albert, the first born, died in 1891. He married Cora Washburn, who survives him, as does also their son, Warren, who married and is the father of a son, Albert, and Della, the wife of Frank O. King. The third child of the Daniel Chandlers is Frank Forest Chandler, who was born on the home place on May 11, 1867,. and was there reared and educated under the tutelage of Job Fish, well known educator in Erie County. Frank Chandler gave his attention to farming, and took over seventy acres of the home place at the time when his father sold the major part of his holdings and retired from active labors. This acreage has been sufficient for Mr. Chandler's needs, and he keeps the place in a highly productive state so that the average yield of his place is well above what is held to be a good crop. Thrifty management has marked the farming activities of each generation of Erie County Chandlers, and the closest inspection will not reveal slip-shod methods in any department. Frank Forest Chandler married first in Townsend Township, Huron County, Miss E. May Parsons, born there April 12, 1872, and the daughter of Charles K. and Elmina (Arnet) Parsons. They were lifelong farmers of Huron County and died there, the mother in middle life and the father when he was almost ninety. Mrs. Chandler, their daughter, was educated at Oberlin, Ohio. She died on March 12, 1913, the mother of five children, of whom brief mention is made as follows : Charles, born January 19, 1900, is a student in the local high school, class of 1917. Gordon F., born January 25, 1902, is in school, as is also Beulah May, born March 8, 1904, and Sarah E. born March 24, 1907. The fifth and youngest child, Bernice, born E., 18, 1912, has since the death of the mother been adopted by a relative. Mr. Chandler married for his second wife, September 9, 1915, Rose M. Ackerman, of Greenwich, Ohio. Frank Forest Chandler is a democrat and has been town clerk for two terms. His father, the subject of this review, became a democrat in later life, and has in years past held many offices of trust in his community. Like his wife, he is a Spiritualist, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. The men of the Chandler family have stood for worthy citizenship through all the years in which they have been identified with the fortunes of Erie County, and the name is unblemished and highly honored. FREDERICK A. ELDREDGE, M. D. Now retired from the active cares and responsibilities of a medical profession, which he followed for many years and to which he brought high talents, Doctor Eldredge has lived at Berlin Heights more than thirty-five years. He represents one of the oldest families in New England, and in the profession of medicine followed in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather. Doctor Eldredge was an army surgeon in the Union army during the Civil war. He was born in Pembroke, New Hampshire, September 28, 1837. His first American ancestor was William Eldredge, who came from England with a brother in 1635. In the Massachusetts colony he was bound out as an apprentice for seven years, and subsequently became a prominent land owner at Chatham, and so far as the records go it is probable that 876 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY he died there. His descendants many of them located and lived on Cape Cod, and also spread over into the State of Connecticut. The doctor's grandfather, Dr. Michael Eldredge, was born in Connecticut in 1765. He spent three years as a student of medicine under his uncle Hezekiah Eldredge at Newton, Massachusetts, and received a license to practice in 1797. Many years later he obtained his diploma from a regular medical school in 1824. He was in practice for many years at Princeton, Massachusetts, where he married Sallie Butrick. She was a niece of Maj. John Butrick, who in the annals of the Revolutionary war is distinguished as having opened the fight against the British Regulars in the Battle of Concord. Dr. Michael Eldredge subsequently removed to Nashua, New Hampshire, and practiced there until his death at the age of seventy-three in 1848. His widow died in 1866 in Lowell, Massachusetts. In religion they were members of the Congregational Church. Dr. Hezekiah Eldredge, father of Dr. Frederick A., was the oldest of thirteen children, and was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, in 1798. He studied medicine under the direction of his father, and subsequently took a course of lectures at Pittsfield and graduated M. D. in 1824 from Brown University. That was the same year that his father secured his medical diploma at Boston. Dr. Hezekiah Eldredge began the practice of medicine at Dunstable, Massachusetts, and in that city met and married Sarah Bennett, a granddaughter of Capt. John Bennett, who served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. After the birth of two sons, Doctor Eldredge moved to Pembroke, New Hampshire. and in 1840 took his family to Amesbury, Massachusetts. In 1847 he moved to Milford, New Hampshire, and practiced there until his death in 1870. His first wife died at Amesbury, Massachusetts, in 1846. She was born in 1800. At Amesbury he also married his second wife, Louisa Cushing Eastman, who survived him and died at Amherst in 1895, without surviving children. Dr. Frederick A. Eldredge was one of three sons. One brother, Lucius, died in 1871 unmarried at Milford, New Hampshire, and the younger brother, Erastus Darwin, died in 1866 at Toledo, where he was a merchant, and still unmarried. Dr. Frederick A. Eldredge grew up with such associations and tendencies toward the medical profession that he made it the calling of his choice before he reached his majority. He studied under the direction of his father, and had not yet qualified for practice when, in September, 1863, he enlisted in the Fifth Regiment of Infantry of the New Hampshire troops as a private. A few weeks later he was made assistant hospital steward and subsequently was commissioned hospital surgeon of the First New Hampshire Cavalry. His commission is dated in July, 1864. He served in that capacity until finally mustered out in July, 1865. Doctor Eldredge remained in New Hampshire until the spring of 1866, and then moved to Toledo where he took over the management of the fish business which had been conducted by his brother. He continued to be occupied with this work until 1878, and then moved to Berlin Heights in Erie County. Here he established and built up a very large practice as a physician and has an enviable reputation in his profession which still belongs to him, although several years ago he retired from active practice. He is still an active member of the Cleveland Medical Society. Doctor Eldredge comes of a family that in politics has been identified since the establishment of the government with the old federal principles and subsequently with those held and maintained by the whigs and the republicans. He served one term as mayor of his village, and for more than a quarter of a century was commander of the George M. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 877 Fowler Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is still a member of that organization. Doctor Eldredge was married in Toledo, Ohio, to Miss Regina Crowell, who was born in Chatham, Massachusetts, February 17, 1846. Her family were Cape Cod people dating back to colonial times. She came to Toledo in 1864, and died at Berlin Heights, April, 1912. Doctor Eldredge and his wife attended the Congregational Church at Berlin Heights. CHARLES F. KUHL. The farming men of Erie County have played an important part in the fortunes of that section, and among them may be mentioned Charles F. Kuhl of Florence Township, who operates one of the most productive farms in his community. Diversified farming is his plan, and his 100-acre tract ranks among the profitable farms in the township. Though he acquired this place as late as 1910, Mr. Kuhl is no stranger to agriculture, for he has been a successful farmer all his life. Charles F. Kuhl was born in Vermilion Township, Erie County, on March 30, 1880. He is a son of John C. and Katherine Ferber, nee Coolen Kuhl. The father was born in Lorain County, this state, in 1849, and died in Erie County on January 11, 1905. He spent his life in agricultural activities in Lorain and Erie counties, and was one of the most highly esteemed men of his community. He was a son of German parents, who in young life had settled in Lorain County, later making their home in Erie County, Vermilion Township, where they spent the last years of their life. They were farming people, and their son and grandson followed in their vocation. They were lifelong members of the German Reformed Church, and were esteemed of all who knew them. Katherine (Coolen) Kuhl, mother of the subject, was a daughter of German parents, and she was reared in Vermilion Township. She died in Berlin Township in 1891, when she was forty-two years of age. With her husband, she was a member of the German Reformed Church, and was a woman of splendid character. One daughter, Emma, of her first marriage, is married to Charles Ruggles, of Vermilion Township. As the wife of John Kuhl she became the mother of four sons and two daughters. The eldest is John, a farmer in Vermilion Township. Charles F. of this review was the next born. Sophia, unmarried, lives in California. Peter, who married Lydia Davidson, and has one daughter, Thelma, lives in Huron Township. Louis, married Sophia Kreig, is a farmer in Berlin Township, and has a son, Elmer, and daughter, Mildred. Augusta, the wife of Leon Oeling, of Oberlin, Ohio, became the mother of two children, both of whom died in infancy. Charles F. Kuhl was married on February 14, 1905, to Miss Caroline A. Battz. She was born and reared in Florence Township, the date of her birth being June 7, 1887, and she is the daughter of Nicholas and Catherine (Fraley) Baatz, both of German birth, who came to this country in early life and were married in Berlin Township. They spent many years on a farm in Florence Township, were prosperous and stood well in their community. The father died at the age of seventy-three and the mother at sixty-nine. They were members of the German Reformed Church, and Nicholas Baatz was prominent in the public affairs of the township in which he lived, holding various local offices and acquitting himself with credit at all times. They were the parents of six daughters and four sons, all of them married and living today. Charles and Caroline Kuhl have one living child, Gladys C., born 878 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY March 31, 1911. They have membership in a Birmingham church, are held in high esteem in their community, and have many warm friends thereabouts. Mr. Kuhl, who is a republican in politics, is active in the political life of the township. JESSE R. BATH. Among the agricultural class of Groton Township there is no man who has more honestly earned his success than Jesse R. Bath. In his youth he was in very modest financial circumstances, had to overcome hardships in order to get a start, but for many years has steadfastly directed his energies along a certain line, observing meanwhile the virtues of honesty and industry, and is now recognized as one of the most successful farmers and dairymen of his home township, and in that locality has enjoyed such confidence and popularity as to gain official honors. It was in 1872 that he came to the farm where he now resides in Groton Township, and beginning as a renter has since acquired land in his own right from time to time, and has made a commendable degree of prosperity. Mr. Bath is a native of England, born in Somersetshire October 14, 1854, a son of George and Matilda (Maggs) Bath. When he was about four years of age his parents left England, came to the United States and lived in Huron County, Ohio, until 1864, when they moved into Erie County and were among the first of a number of English families to settle in Groton Township. George Bath was also a farmer, and he and his wife spent heir last years in Groton Township. Jesse R. Bath grew up in Huron and Erie counties, received his early education in the public schools of Groton Township and likewise attended a private normal school at Berlin Heights. As a result of his long continued operations as a farmer he now owns a fine place of 197 acres, devoted to general agriculture. For a number of years he has been a dairyman, keeps a herd of high grade Durham cattle, and sells large quantities of fine cream to the creamery at Bellevue. For his first wife Mr. Bath married Miss Idola Langwell of Margaretta Township, now deceased. His present wife before her marriage was Jennie L. Hastings of Groton Township. They have two children, Marjorie L. and Jesse Robert. In a public capacity Mr. Bath served twelve years as a member of the board of education of Groton Township, and during a portion of that time was president of the board. He has always been interested in good schools, good roads, and in every improvement for his home community. In politics he is a republican. All his practical career has been spent in farming and among other advantages gained by years of residence in Erie County he has acquired the confidence and good will of a large community. MILTON J. SAYLER. Few of the farm homes of Florence Township show better results of cultivation and more of the real comforts of rural life than that of Milton J. Sayler. Mr. and Mrs. Sayler are young people and have been engaged in the responsibilities of the world only a few years, but already have a home and an established place in community affairs such as many men labor for many years before attaining. The birth of Mr. Sayler occurred near Rye Beach in Huron Township of Erie County, September 15, 1885. His: parents were Philip and Louise (Kuhl) Sayler, the former born in one of the eastern states and the latter in Erie County. The grandfather, John Sayler, and the maternal grandfather, John Kuhl, were both born in Germany, came when young men to the United States and to Huron Township, and here spent the rest of their lives. All these grandparents are now buried in the Scott Cemetery. John Sayler died when past eighty, and his wife, whose HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 879 maiden name was Mary Beatty, died when more than seventy. John Kuhl died at the age of eighty-seven, and his wife at fifty. All of this generation were active farmers and were members of the Evangelical Church. Philip Sayler and wife were married in Huron Township, and are still living there. He was born December 19, 1852, and his wife on November 7, 1854. They attend regularly the Evangelical Church, and he is a very strong republican in politics. Of their children Milton J. is the oldest; Norman is a farmer in Huron Township, and married Susan Knettle ; and Laura is the wife of Clyde Porter, a farmer at Bliss- field, Michigan, and they have a son named C. Milton. Milton J. Sayler grew up in Huron Township and secured his education from the modern country and district schools of that neighborhood. In 1911, at the age of twenty-six, he moved into Florence Township and bought 150 acres of excellent land south of the Village of Florence. This he has greatly improved during the last four years Among the features of his farm which call for special mention are a substantial eight-room brick home, a large barn on a foundation 36x70 feet, and a sixty-ton silo. He grows all the general crops and considerable fruit, and one of his specialties as an agriculturist is the raising of sweet corn, which he finds a very profitable and revenue producing department of his undertaking. The farm is thoroughly drained and well cared for and all but twenty acres is under cultivation. Mr. Sayler was married in this county to Miss Elizabeth Alheit, of Vermilion Township, where she was born January 28, 1893, and grew up and received her education there. Her parents, Sylvester and Catherine (Grisel) Alheit, were born in Germany, but were married in Vermilion Township, where they were farmers. Her father died there in 1909 at the age of fifty-nine, while her mother is still living in the Village of Vermilion and is now sixty years of age. They were members of the German Reformed Church, and Mr. Alheit was a democrat. Mrs. Alheit has two children, Elizabeth, the wife of M. J. Sayler, and Charles Alheit, who is now in the employ of the Erie Railroad and lives at Marion, Ohio, and married Winifred Rudolph. Mr. and Mrs. Sayler have one son, Melvin P., who was born August 17, 1914. The Sayler family are very active in the social life of that community and Mr. Sayler is a member of the Evangelical Church, while his wife is of the German Reformed denomination. In politics he is a republican. JOHN R. FOX. Of the third generation of the Fox family in Erie County, John R. Fox represents a name that has been closely identified with this county since pioneer times. The work by which he has commended himself to the esteem of the community has been largely as a farmer. Mr. Fox owns a well improved place, a portion of which lies in Oxford Township and a part in Perkins Township, his home being in the latter. He is one of the substantial and esteemed citizens of his native county. Born in Perkins Township, July 7, 1853, he is a son of Allen and Catherine E. (Bartlett) Fox. His father was also born in Erie County, while his mother was born in New York State, and when a child came with her parents to Ohio and to Erie County. Grandfather Rodger Fox came to Ohio from Connecticut, a state which furnished so much of the citizenship to Northern Ohio during the pioneer times. He was an early settler in what is now Perkins Township, reclaimed a farm from the wilderness, and lived a life which should deserve recognition and memory on the part of his descendants. With the exception of a brief period of residence in Hardin County, Allen Fox spent all his life in Erie County, and was one of the successful farmers of Perkins Township. After a long and honorable career he passed away in November, 880 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 1906, having survived his wife several years. He had been reared under the conditions and influences of pioneer times, and did a worthy part in carrying forward the movement for development and progress in this section. Perkins Township had few better known and none more highly esteemed among its citizens. He was a stanch democrat, served two terms as township trustee, for a number of years held the office of director in his school district, and was an active member. of Perkins Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. Of the ten children born to Allen Fox and wife all are living except Ida M. and Lucy F. Polly C, is the wife of Thaddeus Mackin of Huron County; John R. is next, in age; Joseph A. is a resident of Montague, Michigan ; George B. is a prosperous farmer of Perkins Township ; Emma I. is the wife of John A.. Strong of Bloomingville, Erie County; Sylvester is a resident of Toledo ; Mary L. is the wife of Frank Hess of Sandusky; and Martha A. is the wife of Nathan Harris of Huron County. John R. Fox grew to manhood on the old farm in Perkins Township, learned lessons in practical industry at home, and also gained a fair knowledge of books and studies in the local schools. For many years his career has been steadily and industriously identified with farming and he has well earned a place for himself among the best exponents of that industry. He owns twenty-five acres in Oxford Township and 11 3/4 acres adjoining in Perkins Township. Mr. Fox is liberal and public spirited, takes a lively interest in public affairs and all the best interests of the community. He is a stalwart republican in, politics, but the only office which he has consented to serve is that of constable of Perkins Township. ELMER B. OTTO. The, subject of this sketch, Elmer B. Otto, is a comparatively young man, born and reared in Erie County, and first saw the light of day on what is known as the old Captain Dennis Farm on the 19th day of May, 1885, being a second son of Herman W. Otto, the well known farmer who has lived on the above farm for more than thirty years. The grandparents of Elmer B. Otto were Franz J. M. and Sophia P. Otto, who emigrated to this country in 1851, and for a time lived on Long Island in the State of New York. There were born to them six children, all of whom are now living,' viz.: Frederica, Jennie, Franz, Herman, Albert and Clara. In the year 1868 Franz J. M. Otto and family came to Sandusky, Ohio. Franz Otto and his wife were people of good education, he was a florist and landscape gardener and for many years conducted a nursery and greenhouse on the old Columbus Pike near the site of the old Toll Gate. Many are the trees in this county that stand as monuments to his memory, such as the elms in front of the old Marshall home, the chestnut trees around the courthouse and many others that might be mentioned. He lived to the ripe old age of eighty-four years and sleeps the sleep that knows no wakening in Oakland Cemetery besides his wife, His wife died in 1885. Herman W. Otto was a mere lad when his parents came to Sandusky, and after attending the Sandusky public schools devoted his attention to farming At first he worked on the farm for Captain Dennis, then rented it and later purchased it, and for many year has enjoyed living there. He was married to Frances Oswald, who was born in Sandusky, and is a daughter of Andrew and Helen (Frey) Oswald, both natives of Germany. Andrew Oswald was a cabinet maker and for many years applied himself at that trade, but eventually went into the dairy business. He was seventy-three years of age at the time of his death and his wife sixty-three. Their ten children were Margaret, deceased; Aloysius, Frances, Mary, John, Pauline, George, Andrew, Fred and Julius. PICTURE OF ELMER B. OTTO HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 881 Herman Otto and his wife Frances reared seven children, Walter, Elmer, Jennie, Edith, Elnora, Frederick and Alverna, all of whom are now living in the City of Sandusky or in the county. The time is not far distant when the worker, he that labors for his fellowman, will be recognized as he deserves, and he that renders service, be it ever so humble, shall be regarded above one that labors only for dollars. Elmer B. Otto was reared on his father's farm and there acquired the fundamentals of his present success. His parents and grandparents were all earnest, hard working, industrial people, paid their debts and performed their obligations to society as all will bear witness who ever knew any of them. Elmer B. Otto was married to Ada Rittman in 1908. She was born and reared in Sandusky and is a daughter of Christopher and Louisa Rittman and a sister of Walter Rittman, who has just become known to fame not so much through his chemical discoveries as his enlightened spirit of laboring for the public good rather than for, dollars or private monopoly. To Elmer B. Otto and wife Ada were born two bright sons, Walter and Howard Christian. Elmer B. Otto began before he was of age to sell milk from his father's farm with one horse and wagon and selling direct from the can. His first venture was to buy a "new Tangled" milk cooler in order to cool the milk as soon as drawn from the cows. Next he purchased his. first separator for separating the cream from the milk. This was a small hand-power machine. Though that was a humble beginning, Elmer B. Otto has never lost hope, has met with difficulties and disappointments, but he has made money and it is largely to his credit that Sandusky today enjoys the good quality of milk delivered in sealed bottles free from dirt or germs. It has always been his ambition to have a good business and give as much or a little more for the money than his competitors. In 1907 he was able to purchase the splendid property known as the old "Pitt Cook" home at 915 Washington Street. This property has a frontage of 112 feet and twelve fads deep with an alley in the rear. The large three-story stone dwelling house faces Washington Street, where Mr. Otto lives and conducts his business enterprises. On the `mar of the lot, seven days in, the week, everyone is interested in seeing that the people of Sandusky get fresh milk for their coffee. Here all milk is tested by the "Babcock" method to find if the milk is up to the proper standard; here also is the engine and boiler room, the refrigerating machine,, the steam separator, the monstrous churn, the bottle washing machines and bottle filling machinery. Mr. Otto, be it to his credit, has visited New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cincinnati, Columbus, and in fact all of the great cities frequently to get the latest and best ideas in the milk and cream industries of the world. Those who have visited the place of Mr. Otto, and also fortunate enough to have visited other like places, cannot but feel proud of the fact that Sandusky is up to date in the matter of her milk supply and delivery. Eight wagons deliver milk to the customers all over the city ; 2,000 pounds of butter is made here every week for the home trade, and buttermilk, skim-milk and cottage cheese, as well as cream for ice cream, are among the products of this plant. About a year and a half ago Mr. Otto purchased and operated a confectionery and ice cream store on Columbus Avenue, but the ever increasing duties to his continually enlarging business compelled him to sell out the store to his brother, Walter Otto: All milk from this plant is pasteurized, bottled and placed in cold storage until delivered to the patron. Cleanliness and wholesomeness, together with prompt service, have been for Mr. Otto an ideal that he 882 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY has lived up to constantly. Fraternally Mr. Otto is one of the prominent younger members of the Masonic order. His affiliations are with Perseverance Lodge No. 329, F. & A. M.; Sandusky City Chapter No. 72, R. A. M.; Sandusky Council, R. & S. M.; Sandusky City Commandery No. 26, K. T.; and Zenobia Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to Lodge No. 285, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and to Lodge No. 444, Fraternal Order of Eagles. JOHN P. MOWRY. The owner of one of the excellent farms found in the rich agricultural district of Oxford Township, John P. Mowry since early youth has been a productive worker, and has always busied himself with something useful either to himself or to others. In addition to operating his farm he' furnishes a valuable service to the community by operating a threshing outfit during the season and also conducts a portable sawmill. His life began in Oscar Township, of Erie County, February 17, 1870, and he is a son of the late John and Louise (Leber) Mowry, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter of Nassau, Germany. John Mowry, who died November 9, 1907, was brought when nine years of age from his native .land to America, his parents settling in Seneca County, Ohio, where John's father died. He grew up and received his education in that locality and subsequently removed to Erie County, eventually settling in Oscar Township, where for many years he was one of the active farmers. During the war between the states he enlisted and spent three years in the Union.army and nine months of that time were passed enduring the hardships and privations of the notorious military prison at Andersonville, Georgia. He saw much active service and participated in several of the great battles of the war. His six children were : Charles, of Kimball, Ohio ; John P. of Oxford Township ; Louise, wife of Henry L. Scheid of Oxford Township Carrie, wife of Claude Livengood of Oxford Township ; Adolph of Conneaut, Ohio; and Edward, now deceased. The late John Mowry was a democrat in politics and made himself useful wherever he was. He was a member of the Evangelical Association and carried his religion into his everyday life. His widow is still living, being now in her seventieth year, and enjoying the' fruits of a, life spent in usefulness and well doing, surrounded by her family and a large circle of friends. She was reared in Germany and came to America in her nineteenth year, and since that time has been continuously a resident of Erie County. On the farm of his father John P. Mowry grew up in Oxford Township and was prepared for his career partly in the public. schools and partly by the discipline of the farm and by the teachings and precepts of his parents who inculcated. in their children habits of industry and strict honesty. Through his business 'activities carried on over a period of a number of years Mr. Mowry now owns 106 1/2 acres of land, devoted to general farming. On October 7, 1898, he married Miss Florence Miller, who. was born in Groton Township, daughter of William Miller, for many years well known in that section of Erie County. Five children have been born, to Mr. and Mrs. Mowry, and the three now living are Earl C., Alberta and Vietta, while the two deceased were named Melvin and Florence. For four years Mr. Mowry served as treasurer of Oxford Township and well justified the confidence of his fellow citizens to his administration. He is a democrat in politics and wherever known is held in high regard for his progressiveness and his thorough integrity. LEWIS A. BEATTY. When a good man passes to the higher lift he leaves a void in the community that is hard to fill.; Though his place HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 883 in the business world may be taken by a competent successor, old ties have been sundered and old associations broken, and memory that precious tie that links us with the past—can alone revive his personality and place him in our midst again. Let us be thankful for it, for, if it sometimes strikes a note of sorrow, it also sounds the chords of joy, for what soul is there so dead to all the best feelings of humanity that would willingly forget the loved ones who have gone before? When, on June 3, 1911, Lewis A. Beatty passed from this earthly life, he left behind many precious memories in the hearts and minds of those who had known and loved him. A successful business man, the ,leading merchant in Castalia, honest in the strictest sense, a loving husband, kind father and good neighbor, his place is indeed hard to fill. Mr. Beatty was a native of the Empire State, having been born in Otsego County, New York, December 7, 1844, a son of Alexander and Maria (Lewis) Beatty. The father was a native of Ireland who came to America with his parents when eleven years old, the family settling at New Berlin, Chenango County, New York, which county is adjacent to Otsego, to which section they afterwards moved. Mrs. Marla Beatty; whose family was of French extraction, was a good wife and mother, who ruled her household wisely and well, and to whom doubtless the subject of this memoir owed many of the qualities which had to do with his success in life. Lewis A. Beatty was reared to manhood in his native county; in his youth attending the public schools. The knowledge thus acquired was supplemented in after life by reading and practical experience of men and things. He began industrial life at an early age and by dint of energy and perseverance, backed by intelligence, soon became self-supporting. December 23, 1869, in Otsego County, New York, he married Miss Fannie Adams, who was born in that county, December 5, 1847. She was a daughter of Thomas C. and Catherine (Edwards) Adams, both parents being natives of England, who came to America about 1838, settling first in Utica, New York. From that city they subsequently removed—after a few years—to Edmeston, Otsego County, where they resided until their death. In 1877 Mr. Beatty, with his wife and family, removed to Bloomingville, Erie County; Ohio, where for fifteen years he was manager of a general store for Thomas Adams, also serving as postmaster for a number of years. He then removed to Rocky Ridge, Ottawa County, Ohio, and was there engaged in mercantile business for himself for fifteen years, also serving eight years as postmaster. At the -end of that period he came with his family to Castalia and entered into general mercantile business here, conducting it successfully from his advent in 1907 until his death in June, 1911, as above recorded. His strict integrity and upright character, united to a kind and genial disposition, won him friends from the start and he never lost their confidence. He easily gained a leading place among the merchants of the town and was universally recognized not only as a good business man, but as a useful and public-spirited citizen. A man of strong moral principle, he was an ardent supporter of the temperance cause and always followed the golden rule in his dealings with his fellow men. The business he so successfully built up is now carried on by his widths' and other members of his family and still continues in a thriving and prosperous condition. Indeed, it may be said that Mr. Beatty owed much of his success to his wife, who, for over a quarter of a century, was his wise and faithful counsellor and assistant, an obligation he was always ready to acknowledge. They were the parents of five children, namely : Henry L., residing in Castalia, Ohio ; Cora, who is how deceased; Mary A., who resides in Castalia ; Clifton A., a resident of Grenada, Mississippi, and Carrie M., who is the postmistress of Castalia. 884 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Mrs. Beatty attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. She and her daughters occupy a tasteful and comfortable residence in Castalia. CLAUDE B. DEWITT. One of the leading members If the Sandusky bar for • the past fifteen years, Mr. DeWitt has many interests and activities outside of his profession which have made his, name familiar and prove the value of his service and his high standing in the com- munity. The DeWitt farm, on which he was born in Perkins Township, April 20, 1878, is almost the only farm now in that township which has remained in the same family for three successive generations: It was settled by his grandparents, George W. and Elizabeth (Buck) DeWitt, who were of Holland Dutch parentage and came to Ohio during the decade of the '30s. After they married they established their home on the farm a part of which is now included in the grounds of the Ohio Soldiers' Home. Their location there was in 1849, and it continued to be their place of residence the rest of their lives. Will C. DeWitt, father of the Sandusky attorney, and the only son of George W. and Elizabeth DeWitt, was born and spent his entire life on the same farm, and died there in 1913. This old homestead, interesting and valuable to the DeWitt family, is now owned by Claude B. DeWitt, who was the only child of Will C. DeWitt and wife. The mother was Anna Bennett, and she was also born in Erie County. Her parents were 'Robert and Ellen (Milner) Bennett, the former of Irish and the latter of English descent. Robert Bennett likewise spent all his years in Erie County. After graduating from the Sandusky High School in 1895, Claude B. DeWitt entered the Ohio State University, where he was given his degree LL. B. in 1900. Experience and hard work have brought him a large practice at Sandusky, where he enjoys an enviable position. In 1902 Mr. DeWitt was revision clerk of the General Assembly of Ohio, and was selected by Governor Nash as secretary of the code commission to draft the municipal code for Ohio cities that was enacted in 1902. He was formerly a member of Company B, Sixteenth Regiment Ohio National Guard, and since 1910 has been in charge of the Boy Scout movement at Sandusky. He served as director of public safety at Sandusky during 1910-11, and since 1907 has been referee in bankruptcy of the United States District Court. He was director of the Castalia Bank during 1912-1913. Mr. DeWitt is secretary of The Great Lakes Waterways Conference, an organization made up of all of the Chambers of Commerce in the port cities of the Great Lakes. In politics a republican, he served a number of years on county and city committees. Mr. DeWitt is affiliated with Masonry, including the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite and Erie Commandery of the Knights Templar, and also with the Benevolent and Protective Order or. Elks. He is a member of the Sunyendeand Club and is chairman of the executive committee of the Men's Literary Club. Hk church is the Congregational. On April 25, 1901, at Columbus, he married Tella M. Axline. Her father, Gen. H. A. Axline, served as a private in the Civil war, during the Spanish American war was colonel commanding the Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and for twelve years was adjutant general of Ohio, so that his name is one of the best known in the State.. Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt have one child, Axline C. DeWitt, now twelve years of age. THOMAS B. POTTER, prominent citizen, well-to-do farmer and a trustee of Groton Township, has lived in this locality since 1874, He came 'here from Wood County, and after his marriage, October 4, 1877, settled on his present farm and his life since then has been a busy and profitable one. Mr. Potter is a son of William B. and Clarissa (Shipman) Potter, and he was born in Mercer County, Ohio, on October 28, 1853. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 885 William B. Potter was a native of Nottinghamshire, England. His father, Thomas Potter, long established in England, and William accompanied his parents to America when he was a lad of thirteen years. They located in Mercer County, Ohio, near Chickasaw, in the year 1832, and were among the early settlers in that region. There William B. Potter reached man's estate and settled on a farm of his own after his marriage to Clarissa Shipman, who was a native daughter of the State of Pennsylvania. They lived in Mercer County until 1864, when they moved into Wood County, settling in Weston Township, and they lived there to the end of their days. The father was almost eighty-four years of age when he passed on in 1903. They were people of exemplary character and habits, and their lives were valuable contributions to the communities wherein they lived. Thomas B. Potter was eleven years old when his parents moved from Mercer to Wood County, Ohio, and he was reared to manhood on the farm home in the last named county. He had the privilege of attending the local schools, and such advantages as he had in that- respect were supplemented by a good home training in the practical things of life. When he was twenty-one, young Potter left home, came to Erie County and settled on a Groton Township farm in the year 1847. On this place he still lives. His farm is a ninety-nine acre tract, and it is devoted to general farming. Mr. Potter is a practical and therefore a successful farmer. He has been more or less interested in stock-raising, always an adjunct to general farming, and his farm is one of the well kept and thrifty looking places in the township that it is noted for its prosperity. For several years Mr. Potter has been local agent for the American Agricultural Chemical Company of Cincinnati, and he has made a feature of one of their products, known as Bowker's Fertilizer. He has amply demonstrated the need for commercial fertilizer in his own farming and through his introduction of it in the township and county has increased the standard of productiveness in a goodly measure. Mr. Potter is now serving his second term as a trustee of Groton Township, and he has served the town as superintendent of roads, as well. He is a Republican on the larger issues, but in local politics does not permit party lines to influence his actions. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masons and the Odd Fellows, and he and his family are members of the Congregational Church. Thomas B. Potter was married on October 4, 1877, to Maria, Hale, born in York Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and a daughter of William and Sarah Hale, natives of England who settled in Sandusky County .early in the thirties. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Potter. Worthy W. is a farmer of Groton Township,, and he has one son, Thomas Eldon Potter. Eva M., unmarried, lives at home, as does Mabel A., while Gertrude C., the second child, is deceased. Worthy W. and Mabel A. are graduates of high school, of Bellevue, Ohio. The Potter family is held in the highest esteem in the township where they have lived for the last forty years. They are representative of the best element of local citizenship, and enjoy the confidence and good will of their fellow-townspeople in the highest measure. CHARLES P. SEBOLT. The Sebolt home and farm is in the Village of Florence and in the township of that name, where Mr. Sebolt is a ' prosperous farmer and stock man, and by reason of his long service as a trustee of the township is one of the best known citizens in that part of Erie County. He is living now in the same community where he was born on January 28, 1866, and has never been long absent from the scenes in which 886 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY he was born and reared. His parents were Anthony. and Mary (Ritzenthaler) Sebolt, both natives of Baden, Germany, and of the Catholic faith. The father was born in 1831 and the mother in 1835. Anthony Sebolt came to America in 1850, accompanying his father and other members of the family, and was six weeks on the ocean between Bremen and New York. He came on to Milan Township in Erie- County, and the family lived there for a number of years, and while there he married Miss Ritzenthaler who had also come with other members of her. family from Germany. Anthony Sebolt learned and followed the trade of shoemaker, while his father before him was a blacksmith, but in later years became well known as a herb doctor, and died at the home of his daughter in Cleveland when an old man. Anthony Sebolt toward the end of the decade of the '50s, after the birth of two children, moved from Milan to Florence Township, and set up in business at the thriving little Village of Florence, which then contained but a few inhabitants and was a much more important center of population and trade than it is now. There he opened a custom boot and shoe making shop and repair shop and conducted it successfully for sonic years. Later for about thirty years he was engaged in the wine and• liquor business, and died in 1909 at the age of seventy-six. He was noted for his remarkable vigor, and kept up his energetic career almost to the last day of his life. Anthony Sebolt was a democrat and took. much part in local affairs. His wife died in June, 1914, at the age of eighty-two. Both remained faithful to the religion in which they had been reared. Their family consisted of six sons and four daughters, and all are living except two daughters and all married except two sons, and those married have children with the exception of one of the daughters. Charles P. Sebolt grew up at Florence, attended the district schools there, and after reaching his majority bought a small tract of land a little south and east of the village, but subsequently sold that and purchased the sixty-two acres in and adjoining the village, which, place he has owned and occupied for the past twenty-four years. Miner his direction it has become a highly valuable and improved farm. His home is a large ten-room modern house, painted yellow with white trimmings, and set in a lawn shaded by beautiful trees. As part of his farm equipment he has two barns, one 30x50 feet and the other_ 30x40 feet. He is also a fruit grower, has some fifteen hundred peach trees and six acres of apple trees besides other fruits, all of choice varieties,' and he exercises a great deal of care in looking after his fruit crop. His chief industry, however, is general crops and stock. He keeps first class grades of horses, cattle and hogs, and operates a small dairy. Mr. Sebolt was married in Berlin Heights to Ms Mary Appeman, who was born at Amherst in Lorain County, May 3, 1865, and white growing up there received a careful training in the public schools. Her parents were John and Catherine (Smith) Appeman, both natives of' Germany, came to the United States before the war, and lived in Lorain County, beginning their married lives there as farmers: John Appeman died at the age of seventy-two, and his wife had also reached that age when she passed away, their deaths occurring about two years apart. They were members of the Protestant denomination, and were prosperous and highly respected people. Mr. and Mrs. Sebolt have one daughter, Pearl E., who was born April 7, 1892, and after finishing her education married James F. Hillock, who is an electrical engineer, having graduated from Armour Institute in Chicago. In 1907 in a beauty contest Mrs. hillock won a prize and honor, she being declared the most beautiful woman in the State of Ohio. Mrs. Sebolt is a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Sebolt PICTURE OF GEORGE W. CLARY HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 887 is a democrat and for nineteen consecutive years enjoyed the confidence of his fellow citizens who regularly elected him township trustee. For several years he served as chairman of the board of. trustees. DAVID B. NIMS. Seventy-five years ago David B. Nims, one of the well known and respected citizens of Groton Township, Erie County, was born on the farm he now owns and occupies. His natal day was November 18, 1840; and he is a son of Worthington and Betsy (Barnard) Nims, both born in old Massachusetts. Worthington Nims came to Ohio from Massachusetts,, settling in Erie County in the early twenties of the last century, and he was among the very earliest of the pioneers to this section of the state. He took up land, toiled early and late to make a productive spot of it, and succeeded admirably. Even in his lifetime it gave promise of being a fruitful place, and in more recent years it has been developed to the fullest extent. This pioneer citizen spent his life on That farm, and died there in 1895. He was well known and deeply respected throughout the county, and his death was accounted a great loss in his community. His son, David B. Nims of this review, succeeded to ownership of the place on which he was born, and here he has continued to live. The breeding, of blooded horses has been a part of his business, and he has enjoyed a generous measure of success in whatever enterprise he has undertaken. He followed his public school training with a course of study in the preparatory department of Oberlin College, and he was married on November 25, 1863, to Sabra Stebbins, who was born in Lynne Township, Huron County. She was a daughter of Alfred and Elida (Fanning) Stebbins, natives of Conway, Massachusetts, and New York state, respectively. Alfred Stebbins, when he first came to Ohio, located near New London and later on came to Lynne Township, in Huron County, settling near Bellevue in an early day. He was born in 1810 and was still very young when he settled in this part of the state. To Mr. and Mrs. Nims one son was born,—Alfred S., now deceased. He married Jessie G. Wills, who makes her home with her husband's parents. The Nims family are members of the Ridge Congregational Church, and are socially prominent in their community, where they have a wide circle of good friends. Mr. Nims has been a leader in the community, and has been the staunch friend of education all his life. He is considered one of the expert horse men of the county, and is well known for his success as a breeder and trainer. He owns land in Erie and Huron townships, aside from the old farm home on which he lives, and is among the prosperous men of Groton Township. He has the confidence and good will of all who know, him, and his place in the township is most secure. MARK E. CLARY. A family that maintains its position steadily for one generation after another in one locality possesses unusual elements of strength and character. While there are a number of families who have made their homes in Erie County for almost a century, probably none of those now living have retained more of the sturdy qualities which enabled their ancestors to make homes in the wilderness than the members of the Clary family. As a family the Clarys have always been exponents of the simple and wholesome principles and ideals of life, have devoted themselves with few exceptions to farming as a vocation, and for fully a century their influence and activities have gone towards making a better community. The founder of the family in Northern Ohio was Elihu Clary, who 888 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY was of Irish ancestry, but was born at Montague, Massachusetts, July 18, 1791. He grew up in his native state, and was married October 14, 1814, to Miss Parley Brooks, who was born October 20, 1792, of an old New England family. Not long after their marriage they deter' mined to find a home in the new country west of the Allegheny Mountains. They employed the most primitive means of 'transportation, since there was neither canals nor railroads at the time, axed having with great labor and hardship penetrated the wilderness filially located in the woods along the Vermilion River. The land upon which they settled is now in part owned by their descendant, Mark E. Clary, named above, and for four successive generations and a period of close upon a century one family name has been identified with this particular-. locality. Elihu Clary and wife possessed all the qualifications to enable them to live and make a home in the wilderness. They improved their land, but finally removed to Huron County, where Elihu died June 11, 1824, and his wife passed away June 18, 1830. In politics he was a whig. In the next generation the descent continued through. George W. Clary, who was born in the wilds of Florence Township October 28, 1818, reached manhood in time to participate in the still heavy task that confronted the settlers in this locality, and'spent his active career as a farmer. He married Eliza Chandler, the ceremony that made them man and wife being performed in Florence Township September 13, 1844. She was born in that township January 23, 1821, and was a sister of Daniel Chandler, a pioneer name to which special attention is given on other pages of this work. After his marriage 'George W. Clary started housekeeping on the very spot now occupied by the home of his grandson, Mark E. He lived a long and useful career, passing away January 15, 1899. His wife survived until January 3, 1906. George W. Clary as a farmer and business man stood with hardly an equal in his time and generation in Erie County. The results of his energy and enterprise were represented by the accumulation of nearly 400 acres of fine farming land, divided into three farms, and improved up to the standards of his time. He and his wife were also factors in supporting all the institutions and movements that are most required in a new country, and the impress of their influence can still be seen. He was a whig and later a republican, and his activity in local' affairs led to his service for three years as a county commissioner, and he also held all the local township offices. George W. Clary and wife have two sons. George C., who was born May 7, 1848, married Ella A. King. He died April 15, 1879, and his widow later married. Newton Andress, under which name more particular reference to this branch of the family will be found on other pages. Fred Martin, the older son of George W. Clary, was born at the old homestead in Florence Township August 5, 1845. That was the scene of his early rearing, but after his marriage he moved out to Greenwood in the State of Missouri for several years. While there his first child, Frank M., was born June 7, 1871. This son is now married and operates an extensive fruit and sugar cane plantation on the Island of Cuba, his children being Irma, Frederick, Esther and Frank. About 1872 the little family returned to Florence Township, locating on a farm near Birmingham, where Fred M. Clary spent the rest of his active career. He died January 9, 1887, when still in the prime of his years. He was known as a successful farmer, a citizen of good repute, and in politics was a republican. Fred M. Clary was married in Florence Township to Anna E. Morse. She was born July 11, 1846, on the farm which she still owns and occupies. After the death of Mr. Clary she married H. J. Thompson, and her home is now known as the Morse estate. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 889 The younger of the two sons of Fred M. Clary and wife is Mark E. Clary, who was born in Florence Township near the Vermilion River April 8, 1875. All his active career has been spent in the vicinity of his birthplace, and as a boy he learned the lessons .of honest toil at the home farm and gained his education in the local schools. Mr. Clary inherited from his grandfather, George W. Clary, 101 acres of the old homestead already described and has occupied it as his home and farm since 1899. This is a splendid property both in intrinsic value and improvements.. Many years ago his grandfather built the large basement barn on a foundation 35x90 feet, attached to which is a large wagon and tool shed, 40x24 feet, and also a carriage house. Mr. Clary is a young and progressive agriculturist and used almost every acre of his farm for the production of the staple crops. He and his family occupy one of the best homes in the country district of Florence Township, a large fourteen-room house and in good repair. Mr. Clary's first wife was Orpha Butcher. She was born in York, Pennsylvania, May 27, 1880, but was reared and educated in Florence Township. She died March 27, 1903. The two children who survive her are : George W., III, born October 12, 1900, and now attending the eighth grade of the public schools ; and Elizabeth Orpha, who was born March 20, 1903, a few days before the death of her mother. On June 6, 1905, Mr. Clary married the sister of his first wife, Edith Butcher. She was born in York, Pennsylvania, June 2, 1883, but has lived in Erie County since 1893. At that date her parents, Henry W. and Mary E. (Dellinger) Butcher came to Erie County. Her father was born in Pennsylvania February 4, 1853, and her mother in the same state September 16, 1853, and both were of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. They were married near York, Pennsylvania, where both their daughters were born, and they now live in Elyria, Ohio, where her father is a miller. The other children in the Butcher family are : Harry L., who is a farmer and market gardener at North Ridgeville in Lorain County, and has a daughter, Elma H.; and Elmer E. Butcher, who has gained no little distinction as an expert in wireless electricity, having studied under the famous Marconi, and during the absence of Mr. Marconi to serve in the European war young Butcher has had the active management of the Marconi office in New York City, and has also supervised the equipment of many of the Government and other ocean steamships with wireless apparatus. Mr. and Mrs. Clary have four children : Mark E., Jr., born March 9, 1906 ; Elmer E., born July 10, 1908 ; Clifford H., born August 28, 1910 ; and Gertrude N., born August 27, 1912. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church at Birmingham, and in politics Mr. Clary is a republican. HENRY C. HALLADAY. A lifelong resident of Ohio, and contributing his share of the work of the world through the medium of agriculture and stock raising, Henry C. Halladay died June 10, 1899, at his homestead farm in Huron Township, two and a half miles south of the City of Huron. The Halladay family has been identified with this section of Northern Ohio for more than a century and in every generation there have been loyal, worthy and industrial citizens. Besides his work as a farmer the late Mr. Halladay was deeply interested in all community affairs, was an active republican, and for several years served as trustee of Huron Township. In church relations he was an attendant of the Christ Episcopal Church at Huron and long served as a member of the vestry of the parish. He was also a charter member of Marks Lodge, F. & A. M., at Huron, filled several of its chairs, including that of warden. Vol. II-27 890 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY He was born on his father's pioneer homestead in Greenfield Township of Huron County, March 30, 1832, and was sixty-seven years of age at the time of his death. His parents were Horace and Phoebe (Carpenter) Halladay, who were married in Huron County, August 19, 1829. Horace was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, October 27, 1797, and his wife in the same state, September 10, 1804. Their last years were spent in Erie County where Mrs. Halladay died March 15, 1868, and where Horace passed away September 5, 1877. After his marriage Horace Halladay became a farmer near the little Village of Greenfield in Huron County until about 1835, and then removed to Erie County, which only a few years before had been set off from Huron County, and much of which was still sparsely settled and little developed. Five years later Horace Halladay bought a farm on what became known as Sand Road, three miles south of Huron Village. After the death of his first wife Horace Halladay married Mrs, Eliza Tinney, and they finally moved from the farm to the Village of Huron. The second wife of Horace Halladay, who died at the age of seventy-five, had a daughter Helen by her first marriage, and this daughter is now the wife of J. S. McDonald, an Erie County farmer. Horace Halladay was a son of Eli and Catherine (Stephens) Halladay, both natives of Vermont, where Eli was born May 25, 1763, and Catherine February 10, 1763. Eli Halladay lived for a number of years in Huron Township of Erie County, where he died May 31, 1849, and his wife on February 5, 1842. Their remains are now at rest in the Scott Cemetery in Milan Township, where are to be found the graves of many other Erie County pioneers. Eli Halladay and wife were married in Vermont August 25, 1785, and in the early years of the nineteenth century they came with their family to the Western lReserve of Ohio, settling in Huron County more than a century ago, where Eli reclaimed the farm from the wilderness. The parents of Eli Halladay were Daniel and Anna Halladay. Daniel was born in Vermont, February 26, 1736, and died in Huron County, Ohio, January 19, 1818. It is supposed that his wife was also a native of Vermont and she was born August 30, 1838, and died February 25, 1819. They were already advanced in years when they came to Ohio, and probably accompanied their son Eli on his removal to this section of the Western Reserve. In this ancestral line of several generations it is interesting to note that Eli Holladay, though only a youth at the time, served as 'a patriot soldier in the War of the Revolution, and was with the organization known in history as the "Green Mountain Boys." For generations the Halladay family were members of the Presbyterian Church, and Eli Halladay was familiarly known as Deacon Halladay, and his son Horace filled a similar position. However, Henry C. Halladay, as already noted, became a member of the Episcopal Church through the influence of his wife. In Huron Township of Erie County, February 1, 1865, Henry Carpenter Halladay married Miss Maria Louise Shook. She spent all her life in Erie County and died May 24, 1904. Her parents were John and Eliza (Kline) Shook, pioneer settlers. A brief record of the children of Henry C. and Louise Halladay is found in the following paragraphs: Lorena Frances, who was born August 9, 1867, graduated from the Milan Normal School in 1887, was one of the first teachers in the Huron High School, and on November 13, 1889, married Dr. Lewis H. McDonald. He is a graduate in dentistry from the University of Michigan, and for a number of years has been in successful practice in the City of Norwalk. Dr. and Mrs.. McDonald have four children : Lewis, the oldest, graduated from the United states Naval Academy HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 891 at Annapolis in 1915, and is now serving in the navy ; Eleanor Louise graduated from the Norwalk High School in 1911, and is now in a nurses training school in Cleveland; Robert Talmadge is a member of the class of 1918 in the University of Michigan; Elspeth Lucinda was born in 1911. Phoebe E. Halladay was born July 24, 1869, and, died October 4, 1908. Her husband, William T. Morse of Lyndon, Vermont, survives her with two children, Louise Alice and Ralph H. Rose Mary Halladay was born in 1871 and died in infancy, and the next in order of birth was named Mary Louise. She was born December 26, 1872, graduated from the Huron High School in 1892, and is now the wife of Edward R. Hilton, their home being at Huron Village. Mr. Hilton, a native of Michigan, is in the lumber business. Their children are Ruth E. and Edward R. Jr. Austin Patterson Halladay, born July 2, 1878, graduated from the Huron High School in 1896 and died February 27, 1898. Martha Halladay, the youngest, was born May 25, 1882, graduated from the Sandusky Business College and is now a professional nurse, with home at Cleveland. Fifth in order of birth among the children is John Shook Halladay, who was born January 19, 1876. He graduated from the Huron High School in 1894, and was on the old homestead farm, assisting in its work and management until 1904. Since, then his home has been in Huron. He was with a Sandusky firm in the handling of farm implements and machinery as local representative until 1909, then for two years traveled on the road selling a similar line of goods, and has since been traveling representative in Ohio for the J. L. & H. Stadler Fertilizer Company of Cleveland. Active in Masonry, Mr. Halladay is past master of Marks Lodge No. 359, F. & A. M. at Huron; is past patron of the local chapter of the Order of Eastern Star, in which his wife is past matron ; is affiliated with Erie Commandery No. 23, Knights Templar in Sandusky ; and with the Scottish Rite Consistory at Toledo. He is a republican in politics, and since 1908 has been a member of the Huron Board of Education, of which he is now clerk and was formerly president. He is also a member of the United Commercial Travelers Association. At Sandusky, January 1, 1901, John S. Halladay married Miss Florence E. Hodgins. She was born at Sandusky, August 20, 1879, graduated from high school in 1897. They hate two children: Eleanor M., born November 12, 1901; and Catherine, born June 26, J903. Mr. Halladay is a member of the vestry of the Christ Episcopal Church, while Mrs. Halladay was reared in and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. JESSE C. CLARK. The activities of Jesse C. Clark have made him widely known throughout Erie and Northern Ohio both in business and agricultural circles. His best achievement as a farmer has been in the developing and production of high grade seeds, particularly corn. " Clark's Yellow Dent Corn" is a proved variety of high excellence and is considered by expert judges to be one of the most proplific and best adapted corn for the climate and soil of Northern Ohio. Besides growing this seed for the market, Mr. Clark is likewise a general farmer and a buyer and shipper of live stock. His birth occurred in Margaretta Township of Erie County, March 26, 1867. His parents were William and Diantha (Wilson) Clark: His father was born in England and his mother was a native of . Erie County, of New England family. William Clark came to America between 1848 and 1850 and located in Margaretta Township. lived 892 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY there more than a quarter of a century, after which he took, his family to Wood County, Ohio, and still later went to Arkansas, in which .state he died in 1905. In politics he was a republican. The only resident of Erie County among the seven surviving children is Jesse C. Clark, who spent the first ten years of his life in Margaretta Township, then lived with the family In. Wood. County, and completed his education by two years at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. For ten years Mr. Clark was in the life and accident insurance business, and with ' headquarters at Sandusky covered the territory of Erie and four adjoining counties. In the meantime he had, become interested in farming and in raising seed and buying live stock, and in 1914 located on the present farm in Perkins Township on South Hayes Avenue. Mr. Clark married Fannie J. Waldock, daughter of the late Frederick D. Waldock, who was a prominent farmer and influential _citizen of Perkins Township. To their marriage were born three children Ruth F., Jesse D. and Charles F. He is independent in politics and is a citizen whose business and personal record entitled him to the high confidence which he enjoys. THEODORE E. WELCH. One of the widely known places of Erie County is the Boulder Stock and Seed Farm, the proprietor of which is Theodore E. Welch. Mr. Welch is one of the men who have brought Erie County forward as .a prosperous agricultural center. Endowed with more than average ability and backed by shrewd business judgment and determination, he has prospered not altogether along the routine of the average agriculturist, but has introduced progressive elements which have served to increase his own influent and prosperity and has made the Boulder Stock and Seed Farm a model institution of its kind. His family has been identified with Erie County for a great many years, and he was himself born in Vermilion Township, February 5, 1863. His parents were Thomas and Emily (Ball) Welch. His father was born in Waterville, Ireland, in 1835, and came of an old Irish Catholic family. In 1855, about the time he reached his majority, and when still single, he took passage on a sailing vessel which brought him to New York City, and from there he came on to Erie County to join his brother and sister, John and Bridget Welch, who had come to this locality a year or so before and had located in Vermilion Township. This brother and sister never married,' and spent their lives in Henrietta Township, where John died at the age of seventy and she passed away when eighty years of age. Another brother, Robert, lived and died in Ireland and had a large family of children. It was after coming to Erie County that Thomas Welche met and married Miss Emily Ball. She was born in Vermilion Township about seventy-five years ago and represents an old family. Her parents, Jesse and Susan (Gilbert) Ball, were of New England ancestry but were married in New York state, whence they came to Erie County. They located in the midst of the wild woods of Vermilion. Township, . and there in a log cabin set out with earnest purpose and with the true ambition of homemakers to effect a clearing in the wilderness, and so wisely did they direct their labors that eventually they had a valuable farm and spent their remaining years in comfort. Mr. Ball died 'there at the age of seventy-five and his wife at eighty-two. They were fine people of the pioneer class, and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he served for years as a deacon. In politics lie was a democrat. A part of the Ball homestead is now owned by a grandson of its original proprietor, Elbert B. Welch, a brother of Theodore. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 893 After his marriage Thomas Welch and wife took possession of portion of the Ball estate, and lived there until the spring of 1889, when they moved into Florence Township, and bought one hundred and seventeen acres of the Hiram Smith farm on the Central Ridge Road. This land is now the home of Theodore E. Welch, and comprises the greater portion of the Boulder Stock and Seed Farm. Thomas Welch died there in 1900, having survived his wife four years. He always remained loyal to the church in which he was reared, was a republican in politics and filled several minor offices in the township with credit. He and his wife had only two sons and the younger, Elbert B., has already been mentioned and is married and has a son named Earl and a daughter named Velma. The first seventeen years of his life Theodore E. Welch spent in his native township of Vermilion, and while there attended school, but completed his education in Florence Township after his parents moved to the farm he now occupies. For a time he was a student in the Masons Corners school. After his marriage he took over the management of the homestead of 117 acres, and his own progressive industry and ability have enabled him to increase his real estate holdings, having added seventy-two acres of adjoining land, and is also the owner of sixty acres in another part of the township. All this land is first class farming property, and slack methods and negligence have no evidence on the Boulder Stock and Seed Farm. Mr. Welch has succeeded in growing all the staple crops, but in recent years has made somewhat of a specialty in raising sweet corn for seed, planting about, six acres of that crop and having a large dry house specially constructed for curing the crops. He also has about fifteen acres of potatoes. One of the noteworthy improvements on the farm is a barn standing on a foundation 55x80 feet, and his home is a large white house. He has found it profitable to keep only the best grades of stock, including horses, cattle and sheep, and an important source of his revenue is a herd of fourteen head of Holstein dairy cattle. Mr. Welch is a thrifty farmer, and handles his business with all the promptness and dispatch which a successful merchant or manufacturer would use. Another. feature of his farm is an orchard of fifteen acres, while he has a vineyard covering about one acre. In his home township Mr. Welch married Miss Carrie Welz. She was born in Oxford Township, of German parents, who spent most of their lives in Florence Township. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Welch. The oldest, Norris T., now twenty-two years of age, was educated in the common schools, high school, Oberlin Business College, and in preparation for his work as a practical agriculturist took a course in the Agricultural College of the State University, and is now a valuable assistant to his father. Lynn B., the next in age, seventeen, is completing the work of the high school. Arline, aged eleven, and Delorse, are both in school, while the two younger are Carmen, aged five, and Kent, aged three. Mr. Welch and his oldest son are both republicans in politics. PETER J. HERMES. A long and active career as a fisherman in Lake Erie has been followed by quiet retirement at his home in Huron, where Mr. Hermes has lived more than forty-five years, and where he is easily one of the most prominent citizens, He has taken an active part in public affairs, has served as mayor and is now a member of the town council, and his life has always been on a high plane of endeavor and principles. Peter J. Hermes was born at the Village of Klatten, near the river Rhine in Prussia, December 22, 1842. The family goes back through substantial German stock for a number of generations, and they have 894 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY all been loyal Catholics. Peter Hermes, his father, died at Klatten in 1907, having spent his entire life there. He was a master shoemaker by trade. Peter Hermes married Anna Maynzer, who died in 1848 in the prime of life leaving five sons. Antone, the oldest was twice married, left a large family, and was a shoemaker by trade. Hubbard, who lived with his brother Peter until his death, Junel ,6, 1915, at the age of seventy-four, was for many years, a Lake Erie fisherman. The third son is Peter J. Theodore H. who was born in 1844 and died in 1876, followed his brother Peter to the United States, and they lived together until Theodore's death. Jacob, who was born in 1848, is a shoemaker still living in the old country, and has children by two marriages. After the death of his mother, Peter J. Hermes spent most of his early youth in the home of Philip Engers, who was postmaster of the town. While in that home he was taught and became skilled, in the business of grape growing. He had his share of military service, and participated in the war of 1866 against Austria. After his discharge he determined to come to America. He left Rotterdam, Holland, on a sailing vessel, the Cornelius Krennel, Captain Spencer's boat. The boat touched at England and after a voyage of twenty-eight days landed in New York City, March 28, 1868. Mr. Hermes went direct to Sandusky, and soon after applied for his first papers of naturalization, and has for many years been a loyal American citizen. After about a year of employment on a farm he removed to Huron, and began work as a Lake Erie fisherman for the firm of Clark Bros., who were at that time among the largest operators in the fishing industry out of the pout of Huron. He continued with that firm until 1882, and then began operating as a fisherman with Nicholas C. Scott, under the style of Hermes & Scott, they having purchased the Clark Brothers Fishing Industries. They operated with pound nets, and did a large business together until 1904. In that year Mr. Hermes lost his wife, and sold out his business and has since lived retired, spending a quiet life at his fine home on Huron Street. Though more than seventy-two years of age he is still well preserved both in mind and body. In June, 1872, Mr. Hermes was married in Perkins Township to Margaretta Hermes. She was born in the same community as her husband in 1845, and in 1852 was brought to the United States and to Perkins in Erie County by her parents Nicholas and Margret (Gibbert) Hermes. They made the voyage in a sailing vessel, and spent weeks in crossing the ocean. Nicholas. Hermes and wife lived on and improved forty acres of land, and in the early days their home was a log house. He and his wife died when past seventy years of age, and both were members of the Catholic faith. Mrs. Hermes was one of five sons and two daughters, and most of them are still living and have families of their own. Mrs. Hermes died at her home, in Erie County, in 1904. She was active in the Catholic Church and a much loved ' and respected woman, and in all her relations was true and faithful. While she had no children of her own she gave her home and care to the rearing of three adopted children : Emma Seawell ; Rebecca Hermes, who was a relative ; and Christine Hermes, who is still unmarried. Mr. Hermes is a democrat and has had a long career of active service in the Village of Huron. He was a member of the town council for sixteen years and was twice elected to the office of mayor, having a large majority both times he went into office. He is still serving on the town council. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Maccabees and is a Knight Templar Mason, having filled several chairs in the different bodies of that order. Formerly he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 895 RICHARD JARRETT. Since Erie County was first settled by white men many lives have entered into the fabric of its civilization and have served in one way. or another to give form and structure to the life of the county as a whole. It was no insignificant contribution that,. the late Richard Jarrett made. While he followed the commonplace activities and never sought the wide recognition which goes with the exceptional and perhaps abnormal currents of state and national affairs, in his own community he did a work and lived a life that can be truly called exemplary. It was his good fortune early, in life to be joined in marriage with a lady whose lovable nature has for years commanded the greatest respect of all who know her. Mrs, Jarrett since the death of her husband has lived in Berlin Heights, and has one of the most attractive homes in that village. The late Richard Jarrett was born in London, England, September 19, 1839, and died in Berlin Township of Erie County, March 9, 1907. He came of English lineage and parentage. In 1851 he and his father, Moses, crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel between Liverpool and New York City, and thence proceeded directly to Erie County, locating in. Berlin Township. Here the father and his small son rented a farm which had a log house on it. They reached this country with no capital to speak of, and with only the resources of their hands and intelligent labor started to provide a home for a larger family. During the following year they worked eagerly and constantly, and with the proceeds of their labors were able to bring to this country the mother and the remaining children, whose names were Sarah, William, Ann, George, Mary A., Emily and Charles. Moses Jarrett and his wife reared this family of children until all were grown and were married. They were hard working people, and as long as they lived in Erie County commanded the wholesome respect of all their neighbors. They died, Moses at the age of seventy-five and his wife at seventy, and are both buried in Washburn cemetery. Richard Jarrett was twelve years old when he came with his father to Erie County. It was a rough sea voyage, and a large part of the household possessions with which they started were lost. Thus they began their housekeeping in the log cabin in Berlin Township with the crudest of furniture. They used blocks of wood for chairs, and it was a long and gradual process by which they in time surrounded themselves with the ordinary comforts of living. Richard Jarrett grew up a hard working, industrious and thrifty young man, and though only twelve years of age when he reached Erie County he soon found work which enabled him to be more than self supporting. During his first year he saved twelve dollars out of his earnings, and this was contributed to the fund which enabled his mother and his brothers and sisters to come to America. His early employment was largely in cutting logs and making rails at wages of seventy-five cents a day, boarding himself. When he was about twenty years of age he married and he and his brave young wife assumed the heavy responsibilities of facing the world with nothing but willing hearts and eager hands. After a number of years of self-sacrificing toil and economy Richard Jarrett in 1870 bought twenty acres at Mason's Corners in Berlin Township. After a few years there he traded for eighty acres of land in another section of thee' same township, and that in turn was traded for 150 acres of fine land On which he built A large house and barn. He developed the fertile soil and lived there with increasing prosperity for nearly forty years. Before his death his holdings aggregated 300 acres, and nearly every acre was under improvement and represented a value If ell up to the highest standard of Erie County farm land. Mr. Jarrett 896 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY was peculiarly successful in handling and raising stock. On his farm he kept horses, cattle, hogs and sheep, and probably none of his contemporaries had a greater ability in handling she* He bestowed' upon his stock the greatest care, and one of the strong, traits of his character was his love for domestic animals. With his industry he combined good judgment, had a fine business sense, and it :is pot surprising that he prospered beyond the ordinary. At the dame time he walked in a straight path of personal and civic . rectitude and honor, and the respect he enjoyed at the hands of his fellow citizens was well illustrated by the various honors bestowed upon him in the shape of public offices. He served as township trustee and in other positions and was quite a factor in the republican party in his township. A short time before his death he had retired from the active responsibilities of farming. On November 12, 1858, at Norwalk Mr. Jarrett married Miss Jane Miller. She was born in Florence, Erie County, May 23, 1839. When she was thirteen years old her father Levi Miller died at the age of forty-nine. He was born in one of the New England states and by trade was a cooper. By his first marriage he had two daughters. Mrs. Jarrett was the oldest child and only daughter ',of five children born to her mother, Harriet Saunders by maiden name. Miss Saunders was born in New York state and came to Erie County with her parents when a young woman. She died in Florence Township. She had survived her husband nearly half a century, and was eighty-four years of age at the time of her death, and was notable for her fine Christian character. One of Mrs. Jarrett's brothers, Levi, died during the Civil war as a result of sickness contracted at Nashville, Tennessee. Another brother, Charles, is still living at Wauseon in Fulton County, Ohio, a successful farmer, married and the father of three children. Since the death of Mr. Jarrett Mrs. Jarrett has built a beautiful home of twelve rooms in Berlin Heights. It is one of the most convenient and most modern houses in that village, and is an attractive place for the evening of life of a woman whose early experiences were the sharing of hardships with her husband and whose own sterling worth and encouragement have been most important factors in the success gained between them. Mrs. Jarrett was the mother of two children. Hattie A. is still living at home. Robert W., who was well educated and is a successful farmer near Norwalk in Huron County, married Lucy Limebach, who is of German parentage, and they have three children, Richard J., Helen Janetta, and an infant as yet unnamed. DAVID RIEDY. He whose name introduces this review has been a resident of Erie County from the time of his birth and is a scion of a well known pioneer family. His father was one of the very early settlers on Kelley's Island, which is an integral part of Erie County. David Riedy himself was born on that island and in his independent career has been most prominently identified with agricultural pursuits and fruit-growing in his native county, where he is influential jn public affairs, having served three terms as county commissioner. He resides upon his farm in Perkins Township and the greater part of the same is devoted to fruit-culture and incidental agriculture of a ddivesified order, besides which he has done a successful business as a contractor in the construction of roads. Mr. Riedy was born on Kelley's Island, this county, on the 21st of November, 1856, and is a son of John and Catherine (Goodman) Riedy, both of whom were born and reared in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. John Riedy immigrated to the United States about the year 1848 and soon after his arrival in this country he came to PICTURE OF SHERIDAN P. JORDAN HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 897 Ohio, as a stonemason, assisted in the erection of the Old West House, one of the pioneer hotels of importance in Sandusky. In the following year, 1849, he removed to Kelley's Island and his was the distinction of having laid out and assisted in planting the first vineyard on that island, which now has a national reputation for the production of fine grapes. He assisted also in erecting the first schoolhouse on the island and in clearing a portion of the island of its forest trees and underbrush, an ox team having been utilized in connection with this work. For a time he conducted a grocery store and incidental liquor business and he continued his residence on the island for a number of years. Impaired health finally caused him to leave Kelley's Island and he finally established his home on a tract of land in Perkins County, where he developed fine vineyards and engaged also in the raising of various fruits other than grapes. On this homestead he and his wife continued to reside until their death and both attained to advanced age. Of their children eight are now living, only one of the entire number who attained adult age having passed away : Joseph is a resident of Sanduky; David, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth ; Adolph resides in Perkins Township ; Mary is deceased ; Catherine is the wife of Charles Nesselhauf, of Margaretta Township, this county ; John resides on Kelley's Island ; Henry now maintains his home in Adams County, Colorado; Frank is a resident of Margaretta Township ; and Frederick is a farmer and fruitgrower of Perkins Township. The . father, John Riedy, was a staunch democrat in his political proclivities and both he and his wife were communicants of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sandusky. David Riedy was but four years of age at the time of .the family removal from Kelley's Island to Perkins Township, where he was reared to manhood and where he was afforded the advantages of the district schools, besides having attended the parochial school of St. Mary's Church in Sandusky. For many years he has been one of the successful agriculturists and fruit-growers of Erie County and for several years he devoted considerable attention also to the raising of live stock. His present homestead comprises sixty acres of land, all of which is given scientific treatment and maintained at the highest point of fertility, the place being known as one of the best farms in Erie County. The energies of Mr. Riedy have been extended also in the business of contracting in various lines of public work, especially in the construction of roads and highways. He has been a worker in the local ranks of the democratic party and served three terms, or a total of seven years, in the important office of county commissioner,-a position in which he advocated and supported progressive measures and policies. He has represented his party at various state conventions in Ohio, as well as in its county and congressional convention, his work as a delegate having been of a vigorous and loyal order. He is affiliated with the Catholic Order of Foresters, and both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic Church, in which they are members of the parish of St. Mary's Church in Sandusky. Mr. Riedy married Miss Matilda Sartor, who likewise was born and reared in this county and who is a daughter of the late Jacob Sartor; long a representative farmer in Huron Township. Mr. and Mrs. Riedy have nine children, namely ; Raymond S., Irene, Hildegard, Chester, Elsie, Lawrence, Mary, Ruth and Aneta. SHERIDAN P. JORDAN. A veteran in railroading service, Sheridan P. Y Jordan is now roadmaster for the New York Central Lines at Sandusky. He has been through all the grades of railroad construction service, and has .%en employed by several different companies, having worked in 898 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY some capacity with the railroads for about thirty-five years. He is well known and popular in railroad circles and a citizen of Sandusky whom record should be stated in this publication. He was born March 3, 1865, in Tipton, Ohio, a sunk of Edmond and Matilda (Smith) Jordan. His father was born in England and Sheridan P. was the fifth in a family of eight children. His early education was acquired in the district schools of Lucas County, Ohio. Like many other young men who enter railroad life lie did his first work as a water boy, carrying water to the laborers on the railroad track. He finally was taken into the regular service of the Cloverleaf Railroad, and became foreman, and continued with this road fifteen years. He next went to the Lake Shore Railroad as foreman, and for nine years was stationed in the Collingwood Yards. He was faithful in all details of his duties and has the qualities which make him a leader of men. He was finally promoted to general foreman of construction work for the Erie Division of the Lake Shore, and after serving three years he was made roadmaster, about the time the Lake Shore was absorbed by the New York Central lines. He has since been stationed at Sandusky as roadmaster, and is now in one of the most responsible posts, mid enjoys the confidence of the many who worked under Ms supervision and of his superior officers. Mr. Jordan is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and in politics is independent. In 1885 he married Miss Nellie Harvey, of Maumee, Ohio. Their three children are named Nelson H., Hazel and Carl. HARRY G. CARTER. One of the farm homes of Florence Township that represents comfort, intelligent enterprise, and profitable management, is that of Harry G. Carter, located on the East Vermilion River Road. To mention the name of Carter is sufficient introduction to any member of this well known family in Erie County. The Carters have lived here since the earliest pioneer times, and those of the first generation hewed their farms out of the wilderness. Mr. Carter has not been an agriculturist all his active career, but was identified with .different industrial and commercial pursuits, but finally becoming dissatisfied with the routine and restrictions of a position in which he was subordinate to the wills of others, he sought the better opportunities of a wholesome country environment. His birth occurred on the old Carter homestead situated on. the Butler Road in Florence Township June 25, 1869. His parents were John R. and Ada A. (Gould) Carter. His father was also a native of Florence Township, and was a son of Robert and Agnes (Clark). Carter. This worthy couple, who in their time represented many of the finest traits of citizenship in a pioneer community, were both natives of Scotland. Grandfather Carter was born at Ealston March 24, 1810, while his wife was born in the City of Edinburg August 25, 1810. While a young man he found employment as clerk in a mercantile concern at Edinburg, and was married there February 29, 1832. He soon afterward took his young wife to America, spending six or seven weeks on a sailing vessel in crossing the ocean, and from New York he went up; the Hudson River and across New York State on the Erie Canal to Buffalo. While passing the various stages of the journey by canal boat he became, acquainted with the Hutchinson family, whose destination was Florence Township in Erie County. Robert Carter and wife had no particular location in mind, merely planning to make a home somewhere in the new western country. Their acquaintance with the Hutcinsons caused them to locate also in Florence Township, where Robert Carter took up forty acres of land. It was perhaps as wild a part of the woodland as could be found anywhere in the county. Few men ventured out into this western wilderness with less preliminary training than Robert Carter PICTURE OF HARRY G. AND JULIA A. CARTER HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 899 and his young wife. He was little used, to hard manual labor and his wife had been reared in the comforts and conveniences of a metropolitan city. One of his first accomplishments on reaching his wilderness borne was to start clearing the forest. With no proficiency in the handling of the ax, he made a hagling job of cutting down the first tree and hacked it completely around before it finally fell. A part of that tree is still preserved, being a timber under the porch, of the first house which he built, and the roots are still in the ground nearby. Robert Carter soon developed skill in the use of the ax and of all the implements of husbandry, and by hard work succeeded in clearing up a considerable tract of land, working up the trees into rails and planting the cleared space with his first crops of grain. This forty acres they developed into a first class homestead. In these modern times people take a great deal of pride in articles of old furniture, of the handsome and durable type, made after the designs of some of the great artists in furniture making of a century ago. It will be of interest to say that Robert Carter and wife brought with them across the ocean and into their wilderness home in Northern Ohio a number of pieces of solid mahogany furniture, and the chairs have been carefully passed on from one generation to the other, and are now prized possessions in the homes of their different grandchildren. Mrs. Carter was one of the finest types of pioneer home makers and mothers. She had been well trained in her Scotch home, and had developed special skill as a dressmaker. She met the conditions of the New World with remarkable courage and readily adapted herself to the simple customs and proprieties which governed society in Northern Ohio nearly a century ago. Accustomed to dress after the fashion of her home city, she was not willing to offend her neighbors by ostentatious display, and after coming to this country sold some of her fine rings as articles that could not well be worn in their new country. For a number of years she was the only woman who attended church dressed in a fine bonnet. Robert Carter was a giant physically, stood nearly seven feet high, and weighed more than 200 pounds. However, the constant and back-breaking work of pioneering undermined his constitution, and he finally suffered a stroke of paralysis that ultimately brought about his death when still in the prime of his years on November 15, 1865. His wife survived . him until July 12, 1872. While by birth and training she was a fine lady, she busied herself with all the homely vocations of a housekeeper, in early Erie County, and was highly esteemed for her kindness and neighborliness. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Robert Carter voted first with the whigs and later with the republicans. The only child of these worthy pioneers was John Robert Carter, who was born on the old Carter homestead in Erie County February 29, 1836, just four years to the day after the marriage of his parents. After growing to manhood he succeeded to the ownership of the homestead and under his own management increased its acreage to 87 1/2 acres and improved and developed it in many ways. He constructed some substantial buildings, and at home and in his relations as a citizen gave a most excellent account of himself. For several years in his earlier life he taught school. His death occurred February 28, 1901. He was a man of excellent address, large and portly, though not of the manly frame of his father. He was a man highly respected and for a number of years served as township trustee, and at one time was candidate for county auditor, though his home was in a portion of the county which made it difficult for anyone residing there to aspire to such a position. Politically he was a republican. John R. Carter was married first on July 2, 1862, to July H. Graves, 900 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY and one child blessed this union, Clara A., who married, Carl Boehm on September 8, 1897, and they have several children, Mr. Carter married for his second wife, in Fredonia, New York-May 20, 1868, Miss Adelaide A. Gould. She was born in that section 'of New York State September 1, 1842, and met Mr. Carter while on a visit to Erie County, Ohio. She died at her home May 8, 1899, leaving two sons, Harry G. and Marvin G. The latter is now a locomotive engineer. on the Lake Shore Railway living at Toledo. He began railroading as a fireman with that road in August, 1889, and soon rose to command an engine of his own. He has been twice married, first to Bessie Taylor, and had one child by that marriage. For his second wife Marvin G. Carter married Della Blair, of Vermilion, Ohio, and they have children, Howard, Gertrude and Maurice. John R. Carter married for his third wife, November 28, 1900, Mrs. Rose R. Howard, who is now living in Birmingham, Ohio. On the old farm in Florence Township Harry G. Carter spent his youth and boyhood days. He was liberally educated and had home associations and traditions which could only inspire him to .right and useful manhood. He graduated from the business college at Oberlin with the class of 1890 and soon afterwards became a pawner of F. Burk in conducting a general store at Wakeman, Ohio. A year later he returned to the farm and managed his wife's old estate for several years. Then for one year he was a fireman on the Lake Shore Railroad, from that a position as motorman on the Lake Shore Electric Line, and finally became a clerk in the Lake Shore freight office at Elyria, Ohio. After these varied activities in a business way Mr. Carter in 1910, having sold his portion of the old homestead, bought 108 acres on the East Vermilion Road. This is his present farm, which in improvements and crops measures up to almost any standard set by Erie County farming. In a recent season Mr. Carter produced from his land 700 bushels of wheat, 400 bushels of oats, crops of corn and potatoes, and has a fine apple orchard of twelve acres. His farm home is one of the best in that section of the county, comprising an eleven-room house. He also has two barns, the larger 32x50 feet, with other buildings for the shelter of his cattle and horses, and lie keeps a number of hogs on his farm. On October 22, 1892, in Wakeman Township of Huron County Mr. Carter married Julia A. Denman. Her parents were William and Julia (Partello) Denman. Her father was born in Florence Township and her mother. in Michigan, and after their marriage they located on a farm in Wakeman Township of Huron County. Her father died in December, 1892, and her mother is still living, making her home in Norwalk. The Denmans were among the most prominent early settlers of Erie County, and William Denman's father Martin came from New York State. He is assigned the credit of being one or the original "Johnny Appleseeds" of this country. Going back to New York State he returned on foot carrying a bag of apple seeds, which he distributed among his neighbors, and from these seeds were produced many of the first orchards in this section of the state. Martin Denman died in Florence Township, when quite an old man. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Carter have been born two children. Harold D., born February 17, 1900, is a promising young man now a student in the Wakeman High School. Juva L., born December 15, 1903, is now attending the local grade schools. Mrs. Carter is an active member of the Wakeman Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Carter's parents were among the most active members of that church at Birmingham, gave liberally to its support and his father served for many years as a trustee. In his relations with the community Mr. Car- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 901 ter has a record of two terms of service as township trustee. .He was elected to that office on the republican ticket. Mr. Carter's political views are now in harmony with the socialist party, GEORGE OSWALD. During the long and active career of George Oswald, of Sandusky, he has been engaged in a variety of pursuits, and since 1908 has occupied the position of county commissioner of Erie County. While he has been in politics for only seven years, he is known as one of his community's most influential democrats, and his personal worth, integrity and general popularity make him strong and valuable man in the ranks of his party. Mr,. Oswald was born at Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, January 1, 1865, and is a son Of Andrew and Helen (Frey) Oswald, the former a native of Bavaria, Germany, and the latter of Switzerland. Andrew Oswald came to the United States after reaching years of maturity, and about the year 1850 came to Erie County, Ohio, and located at Sandusky, on what is now Brown Street, where he passed the remaining years of his life, his death occurring in 1906. He was by trade a cabinetmaker and also operated a milk dairy for a number of years, continuing actively engaged in business until his death, although he was then in his eightieth year. He was a republican in his political views, although not an active politician. Of the large family of children born to Andrew and Helen Oswald, eight survive : Aloysius, of Sandusky, Ohio ; Frances, who is the wife of Herman Otto, of Perkins Township, Erie County ; Mary, who is the wife of Charles Jones, of Sterling, Michigan ; John, a resident of Sandusky ; Paulina, who is the wife of Bernard Queenan, of Toledo; George, of this notice ; Andrew, a resident of Sandusky ; and Julius, of Toledo, Ohio. Three children are deceased, namely : Margaret, Frederick and Joseph. The father was an exceptionally well-read and well-informed man, particularly in German literature and upon German subjects. While not a politician, he always took an interest in the success of his party as it affected the welfare of his community, and when he died Sandusky lost one of its most valued and public-spirited citizens. One of his sons, John Oswald, served on the board of public service for some years and was likewise a member of the Sandusky City Council for a period. George Oswald was reared to man's estate at Sandusky and received his education in Saint Mary's Parochial School. He early displayed his ambition and industry by securing employment, and for more than , twenty-two years was an employe of the Sandusky Street Railway Coin-. pany and later of the Lake Shore Electric Company, as a car conductor. During fourteen years.of this period he had a run on the Milan Division of the Lake Shore Electric Company between Sandusky and Norwalk, mainly as conductor. The Sandusky Street Railway Company, by which he was first employed, merged into the Lake Shore Electric Railway Company, of which system it is now a 'part. During his career as a railroad man Mr. Oswald formed a wide acquaintance, in which he numbered many friends, a fact which was to prove of material benefit to him when he entered politics and public life. In November, 1908, he was first elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners of , Erie County, for a term of two years. He subsequently was the victor in the elections of 1910, 1912 and 1914, and is now serving his fourth term, as a democrat. He has shown himself a capable and conscientious public servant, alive to the needs of his community and its people, and faithful in his efforts to secure improvements for his native city. He is a member of Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Oswald was married to Anna Werner, who was also born at Sandusky, daughter of the late Joseph Werner, of Sandusky. Five children PICTURE OF FRED A. AND LILLIE SIGGENS 902 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Oswald, as follows George J., who is a resident of Milan, Ohio; Edna K., who resides at Sandusky ; Elmer P., whose home is at Elyria, Ohio ; and Lester and Norman; who reside with their parents. FRED A. SIGGENS. Not all of Fred A. Siggens' maturer years' have been spent in farming pursuits, but he has been identified with that industry since 1885, and in that time has established himself among the most reliable agriculturists of Florence Township. He has owned various properties in and about the township, but his present holdings are represented by an eighty-four-acre tract which he secured by purchase in 1909. This farm is in a highly improved state and is one of the best kept and most productive spots in the vicinity. Fred A. Siggens is of English birth and parentage. He was born Herfordshire, England, on November 22, 1859, and is a son of John and Mary Ann (Collins) Siggens, both natives of Herford. They were born in about 1836 and 1838, respectively, and were the children of English parents. James Siggens, paternal grandfather of the subject, was a contractor and builder, and he lived and died in his native shire. He was seventy-two years old when he passed away and his wife was some years older than her husband at her death. John Siggens was one of their sixteen children. Others in the family were William, David, James, George, Thomas, Edward, Ann, Charlotte, Emma, Mary A. and Millie. George and John came to the United States. The former was a brickmason and he settled in Sandusky, Ohio, there engaging in that work, and still has a home on First Street of that city. John Siggens had but little education in England. He there learned the trade of a brickmason, and in early manhood married Mary Ann Collins, a daughter of an old family of Herfordshire. Her mother died young, though her father lived past his eightieth year. These young people were the parents of three sons and one daughter when they sailed for America on the steamer Peruvian in the autumn of 1870. They landed at Quebec, coming thence to Sandusky, where the father took up his trade, which he plied for about twelve years. Then he went to Perkins Township, Erie County, and made his home there until his death, on December 24, 1913. His wife passed away in 1909. Five children were born to them: Fred ; Alfred, a sailor, who married Alma. Matson, and has two children, Gladys and Ray; Albion, a Huron County farmer, married Myra Staley, and has three daughters, Elsie, Beulah and Grace; Florence, deceased, who married Frank Sharp, and their children are Bert, Ida May and Alma ; and George, who was born after the arrival of the family in Sandusky, died at the age of eighteen Months. Up to the age of ten years Fred Siggens was given such educational advantages as their native community afforded, and . after coming to this country he finished a course in the Sandusky High School. Later he became identified with the stonemason's trade, which he followed for some time, and still later he turned his attention to farming. He successfully operated the Truman Taylor farm for eleven years, and that experience was sufficient to convince him that he wanted a farm of his own.. He accordingly purchased a place in Perkins Township, ran it eleven years, and bought another farm of 144 1/2 acres on the State Road in Florence Township. This place he also sold after about a year of ownership, at a reasonable advance in the price, after which he purchased his present farm of eighty-four acres on the Butler Road, near Birmingham. His success in the farming industry has been marked, and his present home is one of the most attractive in the community. The buildings are ample and appropriate, and add much to the comfort and well being of the family. The house, a well-planned nine-room structure, HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 903 is most attractive, and a barn, 32 by 60 feet in dimensions; indicates that the place is highly productive, as indeed it is. The success that has been Mr. Siggens' portion may well be said to have come as the direct result of his own, good management, for he has won his present position unaided by any of those more fortunate circumstances that have been the material allies of so many so-called successful men. Thrift, integrity, good judgment and long acquaintance with hard work have, been Mr. Siggens' aids through life. Mr. Siggens married Lillie E. Weeks, who was born in New York City July 19, 1863, and came to Perkins Township, Erie County, while still very young. She was adopted by the family of Elisha Storrs, who cared for her and gave her such advantages as were within their means. To them have been born six children. Nelson, William and Gertrude. live at home; Clara, the wife of William Glime, lives in Lorain County, Ohio, and has two children, Lucille and Lillian, and John and Emma. Mr. and Mrs. Siggens are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are active in its support. Mr. Siggens is a republican and he is a leader in the political labors of the community. He has twice served as a member of the board of education, and has done excellent work in the interests of the schools of the township. He has been a member of the Maccabees for the past twenty-six years. WILLIAM SHERMAN TAYLOR. The Taylor family has been identified with Erie County through three successive generations. In each generation there has been one or more members of the family who have been active in public affairs and have held important local offices. William S. Taylor, of the present active generation, is now serving as clerk of Perkins Township, and has been otherwise influential in local affairs. He is a man of great public spirit, and the industry which has enabled him to succeed in a business way has not been without results of benefit to the community in which he has spent his life. His home is on the Bloomingville Road. William Sherman Taylor was born in the house he still occupies, on June 5, 1865. His parents were Charles W. and Caroline E. (Wright) Taylor. His father is also a native of Perkins Township, while his mother was born in Dutchess County, New Fork. Nelson Taylor, the grandfather, was born in Connecticut, and was one of the pioneers in Perkins Township of Erie County, where he settled when most of the country, was in the woods. He cleared up land and put a strong shoulder to the wheel while civilization was making its first progress through this country. Nelson Taylor was one of the early county commissioners in Erie County and did his duty to the public as well as to himself and family. Charles W. Taylor some years ago served as clerk of Perkins Township. He is still living, at the age of eighty, and one of the oldest native sons of Perkins Township. William Sherman Taylor grew up on the old homestead, which he still occupies. His education came from the public schools, and for a short time he attended the high school at Sandusky. He was also a student in Baldwin University at Berea, near Cleveland, Ohio. This active work has been as farmer and stock raiser; 'and he is also a dealer in foundry and brick molding sand, and has followed that occupation more or less actively for many years. In politics he has acted with the republican party since casting his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison, and is now in his second term as clerk of Perkins Township. For two years he was a member of the Republican Central Committee from Perkins Township and for a number of years has been one of the Perkins Township Board of Education, and is now clerk of the board. Fraternally he is affiliated with the 904 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Knights of the Maccabees at. Bloomingville, and wherever his name is spoken, it is associated with the qualities of industry, integrity and public spirit. He does farming on a large scale and is always willing to contribute time, labor and means to local improvements. JAY J. TEMPLE. Mention of this name introduces a number of well-known families in Erie County, where the Temples and their connections have lived since the middle of the nineteenth century. Jay J. Temple is one of the prominent farmer citizens of Florence Township, living with his family on a farm estate and in a substantial home on Rural Route No. 1 out of Birmingham. His birth occurred at Birmingham, in Florence Township, November 1], 1856, and he is a son of Edgar and Sarah (Green) Temple. His father was born in New York State April 29, 1828, while his, mother was born in Branch County, Michigan, September 4, 1838. Edgar Temple was a son of John and Mary (Austin) Temple. John Temple was born in Vermont of New England stock, while his wife was a native of New York State, and they were married in the latter state and came into Erie County with their family in 1852, locating in Florence Township, where John and Mary Temple spent the rest of their days. She died when past fifty-five, while John, who was born May 27, 1799, passed away in January, 1876, in his seventy-seventh year. There are some things about the career of John Temple which should be given definite record. By trade he was a cabinetmaker and wagonmaker, and was one of the most efficient followers of those trades ever known in Erie County. In the early days he constructed a number of hand-made coffins before such articles were carried in undertaking shops as is the custom in later times. -At his shop he also constructed wagons for farm and home use and some of these farm wagons and spring wagons are said to be still doing service, testifying to the substantial character of their maker. He was not only a skilled worker, but a, man of utmost honesty and stood high in the esteem of any community where he lived. He had begun to learn his trade when only ten years of age. After the death of his wife he went to live near Toledo, and followed his trade there until his death. In politics he was first a whig and afterwards became a republican. Sarah (Green) Temple, the mother of Jay J. Temple, was a daughter of Silas and Elizabeth (Howe) Green, both natives of New York State and of New England ancestry. After their marriage they moved ant to Branch County, Michigan, where settlement had its first beginning in the decade of the '30s, and Mrs. Green died there. Her husband later moved to Hastings, in Barry County, Michigan, and died there when a little past middle age. When the Green family settled in Branch County there were only three other white families, and some Indians came to their aid in raising the rough frame of their log cabin home. They were members of the Methodist Church, and in politics Mr. Green Was a whig and republican. Edgar Temple and wife after their marriage started out as farmers in Florence Township, and three of their children were born there : Mary E.; Jay J., and Ida E., now deceased. In the 'fall. of 1861 the family removed to Henry County, Ohio, locating on an unimproved tract of land, where Mrs. Temple, the mother, died in 1875. Edgar Temple later moved out to California, and died in 1904 at Bishop, in Inyo County. He and his wife were Methodists, and in politics he was a republican. Other children living outside of Erie County were : Altha J., who is a farmer in Huron County, and has a family of children ; Della is the wife of Louis Morgan, living in Toledo, and has one daughter; William lives at Fillmore, California, and is married, but has no children. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 905 Jay J. Temple grew up in Ohio and other states, and in the course of his career has lived for varying lengths of time in five different states. He finally located on the Florence and Vermilion Road in Florence Township, and since his marriage has operated the farm of 117 acres where his wife formerly, lived before her marriage. This is a farm of excellent improvement and has been most capably managed by Mr. Temple. On the farm where he now lives Mr. Temple was married in 1887 to Miss Alice Jarrett. She was born, reared and educated in Erie County, a daughter of George and Sarah (Mason) Jarrett. Her father was born in the County of Kent, England, on the Isle of Sheppy, and was ten years of age when brought to the United States and to Erie County. His father and two children, George and Richard, were the first of the family to come to America. The mother, Sarah (Green) Jarrett, came one year later with the remainder of the family of six children. After growing up, he secured the 117 acres where he has since lived, and also owns two improved farms of a fraction over fifty acres each in the . same township. He is now seventy-five years of age, and well preserved in all his faculties. His wife passed away April 6, 1914, and on the following day would have been seventy-three years of age. She was of Massachusetts parents, but was reared and educated in Erie County. Mr. and Mrs. Temple have two children : Sarah Etta, born July 3, 1888, is the wife of Edward N. Boone, of Erie County, and they now live on a farm near Florence Village ; George E., born February 25, 1891, after completing his education in the public schools took up farming and is still pursuing that vocation, being unmarried. Mr. Temple is a republican in politics, but votes, independently in local affairs. GEORGE S. PECK comes of an old New England family. Men of the name established the family on these shores early in the seventeenth century, and the family record is easily traceable back through 400 years. This brief sketch deals only with such of the family who have been identified with the growth and development of this county through more than 100 years. The first of the Peck family who pioneered to Ohio was one Charles Peck, grandsire of the subject. He was born in Connecticut, there reared, and ;there married to Mary Barnum, the daughter of a sturdy New England family. Soon after the birth of their first child they, in company with a goodly number of their neighbors, formed a colony and migrated west to Ohio. They made the trip from Danbury, Connecticut, which was long and tedious, fraught with many hardships and perils, by wagon train, and when they reached Ohio they located in the year 1810 on the shores of Lake Erie, calling the place Danbury, in Ottawa County. Their second child, Rachel, was the first white child born on the Fire Lands. Charles Peck was a blacksmith, and his neighbors were able to give him work to maintain his family. When the War of 1812 broke out their position was deemed unsafe, and the little village was forth with deserted, the people moving to Trumbull County, and settled in Canfield. The Pecks remained there until the close of the war, and in 1816 made another move, this time settling in Florence Township, Elie County. Mr. Peck set up a smithy at Florence Corners, and he was the only blacksmith in the township for a good while. He prospered there, reared his family in keeping with their station, and died at his home in 1832, when he was forty-four years old. His widow lived to reach a fine old age and when she died was living in the home of ,her, daughter, Rachel, the wife of Mr. Ingham. Mrs. Peck was a sister of Eli S. Barnum, well known as the agent for Jessup & Wakeman, owners of immense tracts in Erie and Huron counties. Seven children were born to Charles and Mary Peck. Mary, the eldest, became the wife of I. T. Norton, and spent her entire life in Erie Vol.     II - 28 906 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY County. She left three children. Rachel, tile -.second born, married S. R: Ingham, and died well advanced in year's, leaving two children. Eliphalet Barnum Peck, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Canfield, Ohio, 1814, and died April 12, 1908, at the home of his son, George S. Further mention of his life will follow. in a later paragraph. Rebecca married Virgil Squires, who was president of the First National Bank of Defiance, and she died in that city. Sarah married Nathaniel R. Daniels, and spent her life in Erie County. George S. moved to Iowa in 1854 and there married a Miss Scoville. He became a -prosperous and prominent farmer and died at his home in that state. Thomas B. became a physician and died a bachelor while in the prime of life. Eliphalet B. Peck, father of George S., of this review, lived and died on the old farm, which is now the home and property of the subject. He spent a busy and active life on this place of about 100 acres, and the ninety-two years spent in this township are a monument to his good name and worthy accomplishment. No man was better known or more highly esteemed than this old patriarch, and the name of Peek lost nothing of its original luster through him. He married his wife, Mary E. Reding, in the log-cabin home of her brother-in-law, Nathan Downs, in Wakeman Township, Huron County. She was born in Ridgeville, Lorain County, on May 4, 1819, and was one of the charter members of the old Episcopal Church at Wakeman. This church was organized eighty years ago, Mrs. Peck being only sixteen years at the time. She passed away at the home of her son on March 1, 1889. She was the daughter of John and Betsey (Barnum) Reding, natives of the State of Vermont, where they were married, coming soon thereafter as pioneers to Ohio and taking up a farm in the wilds of Lorain County. After the death of her husband the widow married Justin Sherman of Wakeman, Huron County. Fortune prospered them, and they spent many happy years in Wakeman Township, where they died in later life. Eliphalet B. Peck was the father of six children. Clara E., the eldest and only daughter, married William Higgins of Defiance, Ohio, where she spent her married life and died there many years ago. Minor B., the eldest son (now deceased), married Carrie M. Sweet of Norwalk, Ohio, and the family is now living in Dallas, Texas. John R. married Flora E. Heath, of Florence, Ohio, and has long been a resident of Toledo, Ohio. Willis E., the third son, was an invalid, and lived with his brother George, where he died in 1913. George S. is the subject of this sketch. Charles H., who married Nora M. Alpaugh, of Hillsdale, Michigan, and is now a resident of Los Angeles, California. George S. Peck was the youngest but one of the six children of his parents, and he was born on the farm he now operates, and in the house his father built in 1844. All his life he has been sheltered by this kindly roof. His birth occurred on February 27, 1856, and he had his education in the common schools of the community. Since he came into possession of the home place he has added something to it in the way of general improvements, and has lived the life of a good citizen and successful farmer. He was married by the Rev. Geo. H. Peeke, in Sandusky, Ohhio to Josephine Daniels, who was born in Townsend Township, Huron County, March 16, 1867, and is the daughter of Linus Lee and Emma (Kyle) Daniels. Mrs. Peck's maternal grandfather was Dr. Salem Kyle, of Birmingham, Ohio, a prominent physician of Erie County. Mr. Daniels was born in Berlin Township on February 14, 1839, and is a well-known implement dealer of Berlin Heights. He is still in good health, and "Doc" Daniels, as he is widely known has a large circle of staunch friends in the county. His wife died in August, 1875, while in middle life. He is a republican and is prominent in local politics. Two children have been born to George S. and Josephine Peck. George S., the first born, is connected with the state hospital at Columbus. Mary B. is a skilled pianist and whistler, and with her husband HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 907 conducts a studio in Columbus. She followed her high-school education with a course of training in the Capital College of Oratory and Music at Columbus, of which her husband, Walter Harrison Hill, is also a graduate, and after their marriage opened a studio for the instruction of pupils in piano music. They have been very successful in their work. Besides their two children, the Pecks adopted one child, Linus Barnum Peck. They are members of the Congregational Church. Mr. Peck has given considerable attention to curio collecting, and has in his possession an ladmirable assortment of Indian arrowheads, many of which he found on his farm. The stone implements commonly used by the Indians are found in his collection, and he is the possessor of the cradle in which his father was rocked 101 years ago. In a sketch of this nature lack of space forbids any extended mention of any member of the family, but it may here be mentioned that the Peck family is the subject of an authoritative history and genealogy, dealing with the name in its various branches back through a period of more than 400 years. In this review, however, an effort has been made to outline the life of the family in its connection with the State of Ohio, regardless of earlier activities in other parts of the country, and it is a pleasing task to incorporate in this historical work even so brief a family sketch as this must necessarily be, in connection with the honored name of Peck. F. GILBERT PIERCE. Eighty or ninety years ago when the Pierce family first came into Northern Ohio this country was still largely a wilderness. Village communities were small and far apart. The pio neers had effected some clearings and tilled fields, a few roads were cut or blazed through the woods, but still the heaviest burdens rested upon the newcomers in cutting down countless trees, uprooting the stumps' and brush, and starting cultivation where never before had been the civilized activities of white men. Mr. F. Gilbert Pierce, one of the most prominent agriculturists of Florence Township, thus represents one of the early families, and the work of pioneering performed by his father and grandfather has been continued under modernl conditions through his own efforts. Born at Oberlin, in Lorain County, September 24, 1860, F. Gilbert Pierce is a son of Benjamin L. and Almira (Dayton) Pierce. His father was born in Bennington, Vermont, of old and rugged New England ancestry. He was born in 1812, and was about twelve or thirteen years of age when the family came out to Northern Ohio. From Buffalo they made the journey by lake steamer as far as Cleveland, and thence came out into the back, country, locating at Carlisle, in Lorain County. That was still a wilderness, and the family settled on a tract of land which by the farthest stretch of imagination could hardly be called a real farm. Some years later the parents of Benjamin Pierce left Ohio and moved to Michigan, locating near Ionia, where Grandfather Pierce died when quite an old man. His widow subsequently returned to Ohio, and lived with her grandson, F. Gilbert Pierce, for a time, and also with her son., Artemus Pierce, and died at the latter's home in Portage County, Ohio, when about eighty years of age. Benjamin L. Pierce was continuously a resident of Lorain County from the time he arrived there as a boy back in the early '20s. He learned the stone and brickmaker's trade at Carlisle and at Oberlin, and for years as a mason foreman and contractor performed much of the hard work connected with his trade and industry. At both Elyria: and Oberlin he and his brother-in-law, A. P. Dayton, under the firm name of Pierce & Dayton, constructed many of the leading store buildings and laid many foundations for homes and other structures in both cities. The substantial quality of their work is still testified by a number of 908 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY buildings which are still standing in Lorain County. Finally Mr. Pierce sold his interests at Oberlin, and about the close of the Civil war located in Florence Township of Erie County, buying land situated along the Vermilion River, a mile southwest of Birmingham. There he spent the rest of his days in the less strenuous vocation of farmer, and died October 6, 1876. He was a republican in politics, and a member of the Congregational Church. The distinguishing and striking characteristic of this well-remembered citizen was his hard-working industry. Physically he was large and powerful, but even so, his strength did "tot equal his ambition and determination, and it was largely due to overwork that he finally retired from the mason's trade, and took up the quieter routine of farming. His wife died at the birth of her only child; F. Gilbert Pierce. Benjamin Pierce married again, but there were ,no children of that union. F. Gilbert Pierce grew up in his father 's home, attended the public schools, and for the past fifty years, since he was a small boy, has lived continuously on his present farm. He now owns eighty-two acres located on the Vermilion River, and this is regarded as one of the most productive farms in Florence Township. For many years, season in and season out, he has regularly produced large crops of grain and has specialized in the handling of good stock. He and his family reside in a sightly eight-room home, surrounded with a number of other building improvements. One feature of the place is a sixty-ton' silo. He also has a four-acre apple orchard. At Berlin Heights Mr. Pierce married Miss Florence Harris. She was born in the State of Maine, but was reared and educated in Erie County, whither she was brought by her mother when she was small. Her mother died in Erie County and her father subsequently returned East. Mrs. Pierce has a brother, William D. Harris, who is manager of the Buckeye Lake Resort in this state, and by his marriage to Nellie Morris, of Huron, has a family of sons and daughters. A sister of Mrs. Pierce is Lavilla, who died after her marriage and the birth of her first child. Eva, another sister, by her first marriage, to C. C: Bryant, has a daughter, Eva Jane Bryant. Mrs. Bryant married second Irvin Nichols, and is living at Lorain, Ohio. Another sister is Ora, wife of A. J. Nelson, of Medina, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have two children. Elizabeth, born April 1, 1889, graduated from the Birmingham public schools and the Oberlin High School, and soon afterwards began a career as teacher which has been her vocation for a number of years. She has taught in Florence Township, also on Kelley 's Island, and was one of the first students to graduate from the State Normal at Kent, and has now for several years filled a responsible position in the. Elyria schools. Benjamin L., the only son, born March 18, 1894, also took the same course of 'studies as his sister, and has already attained no little standing as a teacher. At the present time he is teaching in the Birmingham public schools. He is an ambitious young man, studious and industrious, and has the promise of a career of great usefulness before him. Besides his fine farm in Florence Township, Mr. Pierce is known in business circles as president of the Farmers Co-operative Milk and Supply Company of Birmingham and Elyria. This company has a capital stock of $10,000, and was organized in July, 1,913. It maintains two modern plants for the handling of milk and its ,product§, one at Birmingham and one at Elyria, and the company is one of the chief distributors of butter, cream, ice cream and milk, of -the best quality, in these two counties. Every stockholder in the company is a practical dairyman. The vice president and director is Jay C. Parker, another well-known citizen of Florence Township, and the secretary and treasurer of the company is W. H. Wasen. GEORGE AND ALICE BLANDEN HISTORY, OF ERIE COUNTY - 909 Mr. Pierce and family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church at Birmingham. The son is a trustee in the church and a leader in Sunday-school activities. Both Mr. Pierce and son are republican voters, and his fellow-citizens have shown their confidence in his integrity and civic standing by electing him to the office of township assessor, a place he held for several years. GEORGE BLANDEN. For more than four score years has Mr. Blanden maintained his home in his native Township of Florence, and the only appreciable period of absence from the borders of Erie County was when he was rendering to the nation the loyal service of a Union soldier in the Civil war. He has been a man of thought and action, has accounted well for himself in all of the relations of life, achieved substantial success through his long and vigorous identification with the great basic industry of agriculture, and the true character of the individual has been shown in no one way more distinctively and worthily than in the constant care and loving devotion which he has given to his invalid wife during the long period of eight years of her affliction, which she has borne with gentle patience and Christian fortitude, their mutual sympathy and unselfish solicitude breathing forth the spirit of the ideal harmony between man and wife, and their devotion finding its supreme test and greatest glory in the gloaming of their long and useful lives. After years of earnest endeavor in connection with the productive activities of human existence Mr. Blanden is living in gracious retirement in his attractive home in the Village of Birmingham, and he and his cherished companion and helpmeet are held in reverent affection by a circle of friends whose number is limited only by that of their acquaintances. In Florence Township, Erie County, Ohio, George Blanden was born on the 5th of December, 1833, and he is the only surviving child of James and Caroline (Reed) Blanden, both natives of the State of New York and members of families early founded within the borders of the old Empire commonwealth, Mrs. Blanden having been a daughter of John and Charlotte (Morgan) Reed, the former of German lineage and the latter a member of the old and well known Morgan family of New York State. Mr. and Mrs. Reed attained to advanced age and passed the closing years of their lives in Birmingham, Erie County, Ohio, where they maintained their home in a house standing lust opposite the present home of the subject of this review. James Blanden was reared and educated in his native state and there learned the trade of mason. Within a comparatively short time after his marriage he and his wife came to Ohio and established their permanent home on a farm in Florence Township, Erie County, where they passed the residue of their lives. Mr. Blanden not only reclaimed one of the excellent pioneer farms of the county but also did a large amount of work at his trade, his services as a mason and plasterer having been much in demand throughout all parts of the county. He and his wife were early and honored members of the pioneer Methodist Episcopal Church at Birmingham, and their abiding Christian faith was shown forth in their daily lives,—in kindly thoughts and kindly deeds. Mr. Blanden gave his allegiance to the whig party and he preceded his wife to the life eternal, his death having occurred many years ago and his widow having passed away in 1884, the remains of both being interred in the Methodist Churchyard at Birmingham. Of the children George, of this sketch, is the only survivor, as has already. been noted, and he was one of the three sons to represent Erie County as gallant soldiers of the Union in the Civil war. His older brother, John, and his younger brother, Allen, lived up to the full tension of. the great conflict between the North and the South, John having sac- 910 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY rificed his life on the field of battle, as he was instantly killed when shot through the forehead, at the battle of Resaca, Georgia, where he was laid to rest in a soldier's grave and with such military honors as were possible to bestow under existing conditions. Allen Blanden served as captain of his company in the Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and took part in many important campaigns and battles. He accompanied General Sherman's forces in the Atlanta campaign and thereafter took part in the historic march from Atlanta to the sea. After receiving his honorable discharge, at the close of the war, he returned to Erie County, where he followed the trades of wagonmaker and painter for some time He finally removed to Michigan and his marriage was solemnized at Breckenridge, Gratiot County, that state, where he continued to reside until his death. He was survived by two sons and two daughters. George Blanden was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm in Florence Township and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the pioneer schools of Erie County. He continued his association with agricultural pursuits until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he subordinated all personal interests to go forth in defense of the Union, the integrity of which was placed in jeopardy. In response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers to aid in suppressing the rebellion, he enlisted in Company E, Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for a term of three months, under Captain Sprague and Colonel Tyler. The regiment was mustered in in June, 1861, and forthwith proceeded to the front. At the expiration of his term of enlistment Mr. Blanden re-enlisted as a veteran and for a term of three years, but the fortunes of war did not permit him to remain in the ranks until the close of the great struggle. While in the command of General Kimball at the battle of Cross Lanes, West Virginia, he had his first experience in fierce polemic conflict but he escaped injury. Later he took part in the memorable battle at Winchester, Virginia, and on the 21st of March, 1862, he was shot through the left arm, near the elbow, the minie ball so shattering the bones of the arm that the member was rendered useless, five sections of bone being taken from the arm. Thus incapacitated for further active service in the field, Mr. Blanden received his honorable discharge on the 28th of June, 1862, after having made a record for faithful and valiant service. In later years he has perpetuated his interest in his old comrades through his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. After his physical injury had compelled his retirement from the ranks of the Union Army Mr. Blanden returned to his home in Erie County and within a short time after the close of the war he became the owner of the' old Blanchard farm, of eighty-six acres, in Florence Township. There he continued to be successfully engaged in farming and stockgrowing for a period of fully thirty-five years, his retirement from the active labors of the farm having occurred about the year 1900, when he removed to the Village. of Birmingham, where he has since maintained his home and where for eight years past Ile has devoted himself almost constantly to ministering to his cherished wife, their loving companionship having continued for more than half a century. Mrs. Blanden suffers from paralysis of such severe form that for fully eight years she has had control of none of her muscles, thus being virtually helpless but being at all times representative of the'incarnation of spiritual patience and gentle submission to her great affliction, the heavy burden of which has been lightened by the devoted care given to her by her venerable husband. Both have been for many years devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Blanden has always been aligned as a staunch supporter of the principles of the republican party. He served in past years as township trustee and was bold">PICTURE OF A. J. NICKOLS CURTIS NICKOLS HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 911 called upon also to serve in other positions of local trust. He was affiliated with the Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons at Birmingham until the organization lapsed, and since that time has maintained no direct Masonic association. In Florence Township, in the year of 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Blanden to Miss Alice Bristol, who was born in Henrietta Township, Lorain County, Ohio, on the 14th of September, 1846, but who was reared and educated in Florence Township, Erie County, where her father established his home on a farm when she was a child. Mrs. Blanden is a daughter of Charles and Charlotte (Dennison) Bristol, the former of whom was born in the State of New York and the latter of whom had the distinction of being the first white child born in Henrietta Township, Lorain County, Ohio, her parents, John and Marian Dennison, natives of the State of New York, having been the first permanent settlers in Henrietta Township, Lorain County, where the latter died when her daughter Charlotte was but seven years of age. Mr. Dennison lived to a venerable age and passed the closing years of his life near Birmingham, Erie County. Within a few years after their marriage Charles Bristol and his wife established their home on a farm in Florence Township, Erie County, and they continued as honored citizens of this county until their death, Mr. Bristol having passed away in 1901, at the venerable age of eighty-two years, and his devoted wife having died on her seventy-ninth birthday anniversary, May 17, 1898. It is interesting to record that she married Mr. Bristol on her twenty-fourth birthday anniversary and that her daughter Emma was born on the anniversary date of the mother's birth. Mr. and Mrs. Blanden have two children : George, who celebrated in 1915 his forty-sixth birthday anniversary, resides on the old homestead farm of his parents, and has been carrier on the rural mail route of that locality from the time this free service was established there, in 1903. He wedded Miss Lois Curtis and they have two sons, June and James. Ray, the younger of the two children of the honored citizen to whom this sketch is dedicated, is the wife of Wilber Struck, of Birmingham, and they have two sons, Rolland and Donald. ARTHUR J. NICKOLS. A native of Erie County, Arthur J. Nickols has spent practically all his life within the limits of Berlin Township, and in that time has acquired those things most appreciated by a man of industry and ambition. He has a fine farm which represents his diligence and good business, judgment, has provided liberally for home and family, and has gained the esteem of all citizens in that locality for his uprightness and the practice of high ideals of manhood. He was born on the old farm, a part of which he now owns, and adjacent to his present place of residence, on October 7, 1859. His father, Curtis Nickols, was a very prominent man in his day in Erie County. He was a skilled worker both in wood and iron, and practiced his craft in the days before machinery began to turn out such enormous quantities of cheaply made wagons and buggies. Many of the articles which he made are still to be found in the homes of prominent people in Erie County, and he was the type of workman who made things useful and attractive, and with such qualities of stability that they could be handed down from one generation to another. Curtis Nickols and wife, whose maiden name was Mary Lewis, were both born in New York State. The grandfather of Curtis was a native of Germany, while his, grandmother was a native of England. Curtis was a son of Joseph Nickols, who was born in New York State, and when his son Curtis was six years of age brought his family to Vermilion Township, in. Erie County. Joseph was married in 1825. After about a dozen years of residence in Erie County, and when Curtis was between eighteen and 912 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY twenty years of age, Joseph Nickols and wife and all the other members of the family moved out to Indiana in June, 1846, locating in DeKalb County. They afterward located in Steuben County, and from that locality two of their children, Milo and Lucy, the latter at that time the wife of a Mr. Sanders, went to California in 1849, and spent the remainder of their lives in that far western state. The following children were born to Joseph Nickols and wife : Lucy .Ann, who was born December 3, 1822; Harvey, born September 11, 1824, and died August 23, 1826; Curtis, born September 2, 1826, and died July 31, 1903; Rufus Main, born February 2, 1828, and died February 23, 1899; Harriet Betty, born March 4, 1830 ; Joseph Milo, born February 10, 1832, died March 31, 1902; Norman, born February 22, 1834 ; George Washington, born June 1, 1836, and died April 22, 1857 ; Alexander Lot, born February 19, 1838 ; Victoria Louisa, born November 2, 1840, died December 11, 1870; and Hannah Delila, born April 3, 1842. When sixteen years of age Curtis Nickols paid his father $75.00 for his time and bound himself as an apprentice to the blacksmith trade with a Mr. Stone of Stone Corners, now Ogontz in Berlin Township, in the same locality where Arthur J. Nickols now lives. His apprenticeship was for three years, and during the first year he received $40.00, $75.00 in the second year and $100,00 for the third year. He developed into a skilled blacksmith and afterward acquired equal facilities as a carpenter and joiner, and for several years devoted much of his time to that class of work known as wheelwright. For several years he wrought at his trade in Chicago, and was also employed on the. Soo Canal. He was married in Erie County in 1858, to Miss Mary Lewis. In the meantime he had bought ninety acres, and subsequently increased that to 160 acres. This farm lies adjacent to the one now owned and occupied by Arthur J. Nickols. Miss Mary Lewis was born in New York State about 1830, and her parents lived and died there. Her father passed away a few years before his wife, and she was nearly eighty when her death occurred. Mr. Lewis was for a number of years a cook on lake boats. After his marriage Curtis Nickols located on his farm of 160 acres on the Ridge Road in Berlin Township. His first tract of this farm was ninety acres, purchased in 1853 of Lanson Brooks. He brought about many improvements, his skill serving him well in the erection of a substantial home and good barns. He died there when nearly seventy-seven, while his wife passed away in middle life, at the age of forty-two. He was variously affiliated in politics, having at one time voted the whig ticket, again as a republican and was also a Greeley democrat. For a number of years he was honored with the office of township trustee, and in every sense lived fully up to the obligations imposed upon citizenship. Arthur J. Nickols spent his early life on the old homestead of his father and for a number of successive winter terms attended the neighboring district schools. Hard work and intelligent management have been the essential factors in his career, and since his marriage he has owned and occupied the old homestead of his wife's parents, comprising 142 acres, and he also has fifty-five acres of his father 's old estate. Nearly all of this land is improved, but one of its valuable features is a tract of fine native timber covering twenty-eight acres. At the present time he is developing a large fruit orchard, having about 1,500 young trees. His home is one of the best in that part of Erie County, being a large fourteen-room house, surrounded by excellent barns and all other facilities for handling his crops and livestock. He raises everything in large quantities, and from his herd of Jersey cattle sells quantities of butter and cream. Mr. Nickols was married in 1886, on the farm where he now resides, to Miss Alice M. Smith. She was born on that farm and grew up and HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 913 received her education there, and she and her husband were children together. Her parents were Horace T. and Susan (Johnson) Smith. Her father was one of the prominent men in his day in Berlin Township, and from birth spent practically all his life on the farm where Mr. and Mrs. Nickols now reside. This farm came into the Smith family direct from the Government, having originally been a Bart of the "fire lands" set aside for the benefit of those who suffered in, Connecticut and other eastern states because of the depredations inflicted by the soldiers of Great Britain during the early American wars. /Mr. Smith died there w when about ninety years of age, and his wife was more than eighty when she passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Nickols have four children. Lewis is now a merchant at Ogontz Corners, and by his marriage to Elizabeth Irish has a daughter, Ruth. Lloyd is living at home unmarried. Ellsworth was graduated from the Berlin High School and is now a student, in Chicago. Elton is still in high school. Mr. Nickols has long taken a prominent place in the Patrons of Husbandry, and is a past master of Florence Grange, No. 1844, while his wife is equally active in the woman's work of that order and has held every office given to the women members. Politically he is an independent democrat, and has given public service chiefly as president of the school board for several years. HON. LEWIS F. WHITE. A member of the Ohio State Senate from the Thirtieth Senatorial District, comprising the counties of Erie, Huron, Ottawa and Sandusky, Senator White has proved himself not only a representative but also a leader in the public life of those counties and in the state at large. Reared on a farm, with business experience connecting him with the important fishing industry along the lake shore, he possesses an unusual range of qualifications which put him in close touoh with the people whom he so ably represents. Senator White was elected as representative to the Seventy-eighth General Assembly of Ohio from Sandusky County at the age of twenty-five years and re-elected to the Seventy-ninth General Assembly by an increased majority. His home is in Sandusky County in Townsend Township, in which locality he was born October 9, 1882. His parents were Charles W. and Catherine (Wahl) White, his father a native of Prussia and his mother of Baden, Germany. Both parents are now deceased. Charles W. White came to America in 1849 and located in Sandusky County and was one of the capable early settlers and farmers in Townsend Township, where he lived until his death in 1896. His position as a citizen is indicated by the fact that for several times he 'served as a director of the Infirmary of Sandusky County, and for a number of years held the office of justice of the peace in Townsend Township. Lewis F. White grew to manhood in his native township, was educated in the public schools, and studied law under the then prosecuting attorney of Sandusky County, Michael W. Hunt. For some time he was also a student in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. By his early career he knows the life of the farmer and has a keen appreciation of the needs of the rural community. For several years he has been engaged in farming and the fishing industry, and the people of his district recognize in him not only an able political leader but also as a man whose substantial accomplishment in a business way entitle him to confidence. Senator White married Mabel M. Mahan, who was born in Clyde, Ohio, a daughter of James Mahan. Senator White is a democrat, and for a number of years has been a leader in that party. He is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees at Whitmore, Tent No. 222 ; with Camp No. 4477 of the Modern Woodmen of America at Vickery ; with Aerie No. 712 of the Fraternal 914 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Order of Eagles at Fremont. His legislative experience began with the seventy-eighth session of the Ohio General Assembly, and he was in the lower house four years, being a member of both the seventy-eighth and seventy-ninth assemblies. Previously he had for four years been a member of the Democratic Central Committee from Townsend Township, and for three years of this time was chairman of the Sandusky County Central Committee. During the Seventy-eighth Assembly he did an important work in securing the passage of several laws regulating the fishing industry on Lake Erie, and during the same session procured some important reforms in the hunting and game laws of the state. In that assembly he was a member of the following committees": Fish culture and game; Institute of the Blind; ditches and drains; military affairs. In the seventy-ninth session he was chairman of the fish culture and game committee and a member of the committees on Federal relations, soldiers and sailors homes and agriculture. In the seventy-eighth session he had the distinction of being the youngest legislator. Credit is given him for all the important changes made in the fish and game laws during the Seventy-ninth Assembly. It was his creditable work in the first session that led to his re-election to the House of Representatives by a substantial and increased majority. Since taking his seat in the Senate in the Eighty-first General Assembly, Mr. White has been chairman of the drainage and irrigation committee, regarded as one of the most important committees because of the schedule of proposed legislation for flood protection in, the state. He has been a member of the committees on agriculture, fish culture and game, county affairs, claims, Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home, and labor. During this session he secured the appropriation for the erection of a memorial to commemorate the services of George Burton Meek, who was the first American to give up his life for his country during the Spanish-American war. On August 14, 1915, Senator White was appointed by Governor Willis of Ohio to serve as a member of the Ohio Building Commission and at the organization of the commission was elected its vice president. Substantial as has been his achievements so far, a great many people in the Thirtieth Senatorial District believe that Senator White's career has only begun, and that he shows qualities which will eventually lead him to great prominence both in the state and perhaps in the nation. HERMAN WELZ. In the course of human life the burdens borne by one generation are shifted on to the shoulders of the following, and thus there is a constant succession of the younger taking the places of the older in every community. Among the young people who . have now assumed such independent responsibilities in affairs and are carrying forward the work begun and capably performed by their parents are Mr. and Mrs. Herman Welz, of Florence Township. They represent the live interests in their community, are popular people socially, and are doing their share in cultivating the land, supporting the schools and community institutions, and making .for progress generally. Oxford Township of Erie County is the native place of Herman Welz, who was born April 17, 1881, on Easter Sunday. His parents were German people, Jonas and Sophia (King) Welz, both natives of Baden. His father was born in 1842 and his mother was a year or two older. Their respective parents spent all their lives in the province of Baden, where grandfather Welz was a large and prosperous farmer. Jonas Welz came to the United States when twenty-three, sailing from Bremen to New York City, and thence to Oxford Township in Erie County. There he joined his older brother, Jacob, who had come on some years before and who became well known in Oxford Township, HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 915 where he married and reared a large family. Jonas Welz was married in Erie County to Sophia King, who had come with her parents when six years of age, on a sailing vessel from Bremen to New York City and thence to Oxford Township. In 1849 her father, Mr. King, went out to California to search for gold and wealth, and was never heard of afterwards. His widow later died in Oxford Township, with a family of two sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased. Jonas Welz, after his marriage, started out as a fanner in Oxford Township and lived there until 1882, when he brought his family, including his son, Herman, to Florence Township, selecting as his location a choice piece of land of nearly 100 acres on the road between Berlin Heights and Florence Village. That was the of his thrifty endeavors the rest of his career, and he died there June 3, 1912. His wife passed away in 1898. Jonas Welz was a democrat in politics, and he and his wife attended the Congregational Church. She was a remarkable woman in many respects, not only in those indomitable qualities of virtuous character, but also mentally. Intellectually she was the equal of any man, and had even brilliant qualities of intellect. She was never at a loss in argument on political, religious and social topics, and had a well stored memory which furnished her with the material for exact and convincing statements. The children of Jonas Welz and wife were : Herman; Carrie, the wife of Theodore E. Welch, a record of whom is found elsewhere; Emma, the wife of M. E. Starks of Huron County, and their children are Leon, Cleora, Marion, Lucile and Menzo J.; Ida, who died at the age of thirty-eight after her marriage to Martin Purcell of Milan, leaving one daughter, Sophia M.; and Otto, who died at the age of nineteen. Reared and educated in Florence Township, Herman Welz grew up on the old farm, and in 1908 became owner of the homestead, and since then has developed into a most successful and prosperous agriculturist. All of the 100 acres secured by his father there more than thirty years ago are well improved and in cultivation except twelve acres of native timber. His father on taking possession farmed this tract of wild land with the exception of twenty-six acres, and the work has gone forward steadily year after year until this is now one of the highly productive farms of Erie County. Herman Welz has performed his share in that improvement, and has made the land even more valuable by his practice of returning to the soil the fertility which he takes away from it in crops. He grows all the cereals and potatoes, has a good orchard, has constructed a large basement barn 22 by 46 feet for his grain and stock, painted an attractive blue gray with white trimmings, and has a substantial home of seven rooms. The county ditch crossing his farm furnishes complete means for drainage. At Norwalk Mr. Welz married Miss Bertha M. Heald. She was born at Birmingham in Florence Township November 16, 1889, was educated in the high school at that place, and is a matronly and attractive woman, presiding with dignity over her little household. Her parents were Charles A. and Florence (Robinson) Heald. Her father was born at Birmingham in Erie County April 20, 1851, a son of George and Maria (Shaffer) Heald, who came in early days from New York State and developed a farm and home in Erie County, where George Heald died at the age of seventy-four and his wife at seventy-five. They were well known people in Florence Township. Charles A. Heald is still living, and has spent most of his life in the vicinity of Florence Village, where he is active in democratic politics, and has held such local offices as township assessor. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Welz, was born in Ulster County, New York, May 11, 1858, and died at Birmingham April 6, 1889. She was an active Christian worker, and had grown up in New York State, where she married 916 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. Heald. Mrs. Welz was the only child of her, parents. She and Mr. Welz have one daughter : Flora May, who was born April 10, 1909, and is now attending school. They are attendants of the Congregational Church at Florence, and in politics Mr. Welz is independent. WILLIAM N. FOX. Nearly a century has fallen into the abyss of time since the Fox family was founded in Erie County, and the fine old homestead, place, in Perkins Township, has been consecutively in the possession of this honored pioneer family during all these long years. The late William N. Fox, to whom this memoir is dedicated, was one of the most honored and influential representatives of the second generation of this sterling family in Erie County, where he passed his entire life on the old homestead farm and where he had long been known as one of the prosperous agriculturists and stock-growers of Perkins Township and as a citizen of great heart and strong mind,—a man of prominence and influence in the communal affairs and one who ever commanded impregnable vantage-place in the confidence and good will of all who knew him. He lived and labored to goodly ends, made his life pregnant with lesson and incentive and accounted well for himself and to the world, so that there is all of consistency in according in this history a special tribute to his memory. On the old homestead that was endeared to him by the most gracious memories and associations, he was summoned to the life eternal on the 18th of December, 1912. Mr. Fox was born on the pioneer farm widely known throughout Erie County as the old Fox homestead, and the date of his nativity" was June 18, 1835. He was a son of Alvin and Frances (Johnson.) Fox, both of whom were born and reared in Connecticut, as representatives of staunch old colonial families in New England. In the early part of the second decade of the nineteenth century Alvin Fox came with his family to Ohio and established his home in the forest wilds of what is now Perkins Township, Erie County, where he reclaimed a farm from the veritable wilderness and where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death, he having passed away in 1869, one of the best known and most honored pioneer citizens of Perkins Township. In this connection may properly be given brief record concerning other of the children than William N., to whom this memoir is dedicated. Christopher A., who was born September 15, 1845, died on the 11th of September, 1914, having passed his entire life on the old family homestead farm and his death having been of pitiably tragic order. He was a bachelor and had insisted on maintaining his residence in a small frame building that he erected for the purpose and in which he received such severe injuries when the little domicile was destroyed by fire that he was literally burned to death. He served twelve consecutive years as assessor of Perkins Township, was a stalwart in the camp of the democratic party, and was a man whose character and services made him worthy of the respect so freely accorded him during all the years of a long and useful life. In 1865 he lost his right arm as the result of an accidental gunshot wound received while he was on a hunting trip in Huron marshes. Solomon Fox, an older brother, was born May 13, 1837, and died April 29, 1903. He was long identified with navigation affairs on the Great Lakes, having served twenty-two consecutive years as second mate, on various vessels, and he finally established his home in Fulton County, where he continued to reside until his death. William N. Fox acquired his early education in the primitive schools of the pioneer era and soon began to aid in the arduous work of clearing and otherwise improving the old home farm, which continued to be his abiding place until the close of his long and useful life, as previously stated in this context. An alert and receptive mind enabled him to HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 917 become a man of broad mental ken and mature judgment, and he was prominent and influential in public affairs as well as in those of industrial order in his native township. He was a farmer of energy and thrift, was a stalwart advocate of the cause of the democratic party, and he served for a number of years as township trustee:. He was one of the early and influential members of the Perkins Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and both he and his wife were zealous in their church affiliation. The wife of Mr. Fox, whom he wedded as a young man, was like-wise born and reared in Erie County, and she preceded him to eternal rest, her death having occurred on the 1st of February, 1908. She was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and her gentle and considerate life proved a veritable beatitude. These honored pioneers are survived by three children, and a son, Frank W., is deceased. Frances M. is the wife of Charles. D. Cornwell, of Berlin Heights, this county ; and Emory D. and Thurman C. are well upholding the high prestige of the family name through their status as representative farmers and stock-growers of Perkins Township and as progressive and public-spirited citizens who are at all times ready to lend co-operation in the furtherance of enterprises advanced for the general good of the township and county in which they have resided from the time of their birth. The two brothers are aligned as staunch supporters of the principles and policies for which the democratic party stands sponsor and are associated in the ownership of the ancestral homestead farm, which comprises 116 acres of most arable and productive land. They are closely allied in their agricultural and stock-raising operations and are substantial and highly esteemed citizens of their native county, Emory D. being still a bachelor. Thurman C. Fox wedded Miss Catherine O'Neil, of Fulton County, and they have four children, William O'Neill, Dorothy, Dennis C. and Frank T. FRANK J. FITZ. There is perhaps no township in Erie County that has a greater number of solid, industrious and influential citizens than Margaretta Township. A leading representative of this influential rural community is Frank J. Fitz, who is at this time serving as township trustee. His life has been spent in the community where he now resides, and his varied interests with that locality include the ownership of a well cultivated and profitably managed farm. In Margaretta Township Frank J. Fitz was born February 27, 1869, a son of Dennis and Dorothy (Ott) Fitz. Both parents were natives of Baden, Germany, but came to this country before their marriage. Dennis Fitz had been reared in Baden, and while living there served his regular term in the German army. Soon after coming to this country he was married and then moved to Erie County, locating in Margaretta Township a short distance west of Venice. He was well thought of as a citizen, established himself as a prosperous farmer, and lived there until his death in the early '90s. Of his children seven survive : Emma, wife.. of Albert Bernhard of Sandusky ; Philomina, wife of George Harkness of Margaretta Township ; Leo, of Margaretta Township ; Anthony, p of Margaretta Township ; Henry, of the same township ; Frank J., of the same township; Emil E., also of Margaretta Township. Frank J. Fitz grew to manhood in his home locality and gained a substantial training in the public schools and has profited well by the experiences and lessons learned in the practical school of life. He owns a farm of fifty acres, and in addition to general farming has also for several years been identified with the fishing industry, which he pursues during the regular fishing seasons of each year. He is one of the well known fishermen along the southern shore of the lake. Mr. Fitz married Miss Anna S. McGookey of Margaretta Township, 918 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY daughter of Michael McGookey. To their marriage have been born two children : Miriam S. R. and Sarah E. As to politics Mr. Fitz has been identified with the regular democratic party, but does not allow national politics to interfere with his judgment in local matters. He is now serving in his , second term as township trustee, and the locality has had many reasons to congratulate him for his capable service in that office. He is affiliated with Crystal Rock Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees and has held several offices in that order. OREN A. PARKER. Groton Township has been the home of Air. Parker since 1895, and in that time he has brought to a high state of perfection his attractive farm on the Monroeville and Venice road. He has proved himself upright and honorable in citizenship. and business dealings, and is one of the vigorous men who are now 'carrying the burdens of agricultural management in Erie County. He is a native of Sandusky County, having been born on a farm in York Township April 28, 1871, a son of Levi and Caroline (Michael) Parker. The Parker family has been identified with this country by residence for a number of generations. Levi Parker was born in Pennsylvania while his wife was a native of Fremont, Ohio. The former is now deceased, while the mother is still living at the old home in York Township of Sandusky County, being now in her seventy-fifth year. Levi Parker was a son of Isaac Parker, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1801 and moved out to Sandusky County, Ohio, in 1842, locating on a farm in York Township. Isaac Parker's father was a Revolutionary soldier, and was ninety-seven years of age when he died. Long life seems to have been characteristic of members of the Parker family, since Levi Parker was eighty-one when he died in August, 1905. The first of the Parker ancestors came from the vicinity of London, England, to the colony of Connecticut, from which state others of the family moved to Pennsylvania, and from there they came into Ohio. Oren A. Parker has spent practically all his life in Sandusky and Erie County. He grew up on his father's farm in York Township and the education which he was able to acquire from the public schools was supplemented by a term of attendance at the Northern Ohio University at Ada. Practical experience has also been one of his best teachers in life. On July 17, 1895, he married Miss Maud Harris, who was born in Groton Township of Erie County, daughter of Samuel Harris, a resident of that township for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have two children, Odessa M. and Edith A., both of whom are graduates of the Sandusky Business College in addition to a local school training, and are very accomplished young ladies and popular members of the younger social circles in Groton Township, Mr. Parker has lived in Erie County since 1894 and since his marriage has lived on his present farm already mentioned. His place comprises 112 acres of highly cultivated land, and he has managed it for twenty years on the principles 4 mixed and general farming. Mr. Parker is a republican in politics, and he and his family are members of the Sand Hill Methodist Episcopal Church. His public spirit has shown itself in many ways`, and he is particularly a loyal supporter of public. schools and education and everything which means the betterment of his .home community. LORENZO W. HARRISON. For something like eighty-five years members of the family of Lorenzo W. Harrison, native son of Erie County and veteran of the Civil war, have found their homes in Florence Township, and four generations of the family lie buried lin the little cemetery PICTURE OF LORENZO W. AND HORTENSE HARRISON HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 919 which is devoted exclusively to the family use., and which is a part of the original Harrison farm. This is a family that stands foremost in the community, and rightfully so. Through successive generations its members have proved their worth in no uncertain terms, and in time of stress they have never failed the expectations of their fellow men, under whatever circumstances. No name is more worthy of specific mention in this historical production than is that of Harrison, and brief mention will here be made of the foremost representatives of the family. through four generations. Lorenzo W. Harrison is the son of John and Adelphia (Washburn) Harrison, the grandson of Philip and Catherine (Phillips) Harrison, and the great-grandson of Thomas and Peggy Harrison. Thomas Harrison was a Revolutionary soldier. He was a native of New York State, and there reared his family. He was strongly imbued with the pioneer spirit that has meant so much in the development of our land, and late in life he left his old home and came to Ohio, settling in Florence Township. Here he died on December 16, 1838, when he was eighty-five years old, and he is buried in the family plot which was then dedicated to the family. His faithful wife survived him three years, and has lain by his side these many years, while the family. fortunes have advanced, and the name of Harrison has in each succeeding generation added something praiseworthy to itself. Undying credit is due these fine old pioneers who left .a settled country to try their fortunes in the wilderness of Erie County 100 years ago. What is called the Old Ridge Road runs through the territory pre-empted by old Thomas Harrison in that early day, and it would be indeed difficult to estimate today the value that has accrued to the county through the advent of this one family. Philip Harrison, one of the sons of Thomas, was born in Cattaraugus County, New York. He married there and his children were born in that state prior to the removal of the family to the west. All but one daughter came with Philip and Catherine Harrison to Erie County, , Ohio, some time in the '20s, and settled in the heart of a virgin forest. Their home continued there to the end of their lives, and Philip died there on October 11, 1853, when he was sixty-nine years of age. -His widow survived him for several years, and was past eighty years old when death claimed her. She lived through the Civil war and the early years of the reconstruction period, and when she died was mourned by all who knew her. They reared a large family of sons and daughters, and most of them are at rest in the family cemetery of the old farmstead. One of their children was John Harrison, father of the subject. He was born in 1818 and died on the farm home of the Harrison family on June 20, 1862, when he was but forty-four years old. He was a farmer all his life, lived quietly and industriously and was a credit to the family and the community. He married Adelphia. Washburn as has been stated elsewhere. She was a native daughter of Erie County, and spent most of her life in Florence Township. Following the death of her husband she took up her residence with one of their sons, Amasa, ,in Russell County, Kansas, and she died there ten years ago at an advanced age. The surviving children of these parents are Lorenzo W. of this review ; Amasa of Russell, Kansas; and Emma, the wife of William Vincent, of Charlotte, Michigan. Lorenzo W. Harrison was born near the site of his present home on December 19, 1846. His life has been spent within the borders of Erie County with the exception of something like five or six years, which he spent as a fisherman on Lake Erie. During that time he lived in Canada and Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Harrison was still in his teens when he 920 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY enlisted for service in the Civil war in January, 1864. His enlistment was from Berlin, Erie County, and he was discharged in August, 1865, at Lexington, North Carolina, as a private in the Ninth Ohio Cavalry. He saw much active service during the period of his enlistment, and participated in a good many notable engagements, including Kilpatrick's charge at Waynesburg, Georgia. His command was constantly in touch with the enemy through those months, and he Was in the last engagement of the war at Chappel Hill, North Carolina. his brigade was a part of General Sherman's army, and on the march to the sea Mr. Harrison had nine horses from first to last on this trip. Barring a few weeks spent in hospital through illness, his service was 'unbroken, and at no time did he suffer injury in action. Mr. Harrison was a member of the scouting party sent out to apprehend Jeff Davis,. but the capture was made by another party before his command. caught up with Davis. The old Spencer seven shot repeating carbine and sabre which he carried throughout his service are still prized possessions of Mr. Harrison, which he values highly as trophies of his activities in the war. After his return to his home in Florence Township Mr. Harrison engaged in farming and barring the time spent in fishing on Lake Erie he has not deviated from that work. He owns three farms in the township, aggregating 144 acres, all of which is highly, improved, and on the home place are sturdy buildings which he erected years ago. Mr. Harrison married Miss Hortense Deray, who was born in Loraine County in 1849, and who was the daughter of David and Penelope Hitchman Deray, natives or New York State. They caw to Loraine County and engaged in farming, there spending the remainder of their lives. Mrs. Harrison passed away at the family home on July 26, 1908. She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church, a faithful and devoted wife and mother, and the friend of all who needed a friend. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Harrison. Melvin, the eldest, lives on the home place. He married Kate Slaughter, nee Bailey, in Kansas, and they have one son, Howard, and a daughter, Margaret. George, a butter and cheese maker, lives in Birmingham. He married Lulu Sprague, and they have children, Madeline, Milford and Marion. Alma is the wife of Frank Chisholm, of Toledo, Ohio. They have two sons and two daughters, Margaret, Donald, Raymond and Elizabeth. Sarah A. is the wife of Mike McGann, of Cleveland, Ohio. They have no children. Mr. Harrison has been a republican all his years, and he has served his township in various official capacities. He was a member of a G. A. R. Post for years, but lately withdrew from the organization. He lives quietly in his boyhood home, and enjoys the high regard of young and old alike ALBERT C. KROMER. Of the families of German origin few have been longer and none more prominently identified with the agricultural and civic life of Erie County than the Kromers. Albert C. Kromer, who was born after the family became established in Erie County, has for many years directed the management of an excellent farm in Margaretta Township, and his prominence as a citizen is indicated by the various public positions which he has held. Since 1900 he has been one of the directors of the Erie County Agricultural Society, and his own attainments as a farmer well fit him for that representative position in the community. PICTURE OF L. K. BURGE HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 921 Born in Perkins Township of Erie County November 21, 1853, Albert C. Kromer is a son of Charles and Apollonia (Herb) Kromer, both of whom were born in Baden, Germany. Charles Kromer when eighteen years of age came with his father, Andrew Kromer, and other members of the family to America, and after reaching Erie County lived Tor. a time in Sandusky and later moved to a farm in Perkins Township. They were quite early settlers in that district, and few men were better known there than Charles Kromer, whose death at the age of eighty-four removed one of the substantial early settlers of Perkins. Albert C. Kromer was reared to man's estate on the old farm in Perkins Township, and gained his education from the local schools, this early training having been severely modified and supplemented by practical experience in after life. On May 11, 1880, a little more than thirty- five years ago, he married Miss Rosa Mainzer, who was also born in Perkins Township, a daughter of Peter and Christina (Smith) Mainzer. Her father was born in Prussia, Germany, but her mother was a native of Perkins Township. Her father died in 1900 and her mother is still living at the age of seventy-nine. Peter Mainzer was for many years a leading figure in agricultural and civic affairs in Perkins Township and for thirteen consecutive years served as township treasurer; and for a quarter of a century was one of the directors of the Erie County Agricultural Society. At one time he was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of infirmary director of the county. Peter Mainzer came to Erie County from Germany when about fourteen years of age with 'his father, Karl Mainzer, who located his family in Perkins Township, where Peter grew to manhood, and after his marriage spent many productive years as a capable agriculturist. He was a democrat in politics, and his activities as a farmer resulted in the clearing up of more than 100 acres from a wild state and the contribution of just that amount of fertile soil to the agricultural area of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Kromer by their marriage have become the parents of eight children. Adella B. is the wife of Dennis Messenburg of Margaretta Township ; Amelia M. is the wife of George Ritzenthaler of Sandusky ; Rosa E. is the wife of Chester Christman, living near Galion, Ohio; while the other living children are all residents of Margaretta Township, their names being Alva J., Karl P., Tena W., Aaron A., while the daughter, Winifred, is now deceased. Mr. Kromer and family are members of the St. Mary's Catholic Church at Sandusky. For seventeen years Mr. Kromer served as a member of the board of education of Margaretta Township, and part of that lime was president of the board. He is actively interested in the improvement of schools, and his own work has set an example and model for the progressive and enterprising agriculturist. He and his family are highly esteemed in the social circles of Margaretta township. L. K. BURGE. Many young men, when called upon to choose a career, are attracted by railroading, and this vocation has proven a rich field of opportunity to those possessed of the willingness to work hard and faithfully, to scorn inconvenience and hardship, to face unusual and often dangerous situations and to prove absolute fidelity to the systems that employ them. The great transportation companies, however, do not reward those who have not thus proved up. Men of sterling character are found among the officials of almost every line who would have undoubtedly succeeded in almost any line of activity because. of the possession of the traits aforementioned, but who, through natural training and inclination, have become particularly competent trainmen. In this connection may be mentioned L. K. Burge, general superin- Vol. II-29 922 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY tendent of the Lake Shore Electric Railroad, who has won promotion from the very bottom of the ladder. Mr. Burge was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, on his father's farm, May 13, 1874, and is a son of I. C. and Margaret (Kearny) Burge. His father, a native of Ohio, was an early settler of Tippecanoe County, where he still resides. He has had three children, L. K. being the second in order of birth. The public schools of Lafayette, Indiana, furnished L. K. Burge with his early educational training, following which he entered Stockwell College, and was duly graduated therefrom. He had decided upon a career in railroading, and in order to familiarize himself with every department started at the bottom as a street car conductor and motorman for the City Traction Railway Company of Toledo. In these capacities the young collegian worked for four years, in the meantime assimilating all the information he could gather and devoting his spare moments to studying problems in regard to the handling of railroad affairs. At the end of that period his faithfulness was rewarded and his ability recognized by his appointment to the position of train dispatcher for the D. M. & T. Railway, continuing in that office three years and then resigning to come to Sandusky and accept the position of superintendent of the Sandusky Division of the Lake Shore Electric Lines. Still later, he was promoted superintendent of the entire system, which operates from Toledo to Cleveland, and in 1906 was made general superintendent, a capacity in which he is acting at this time. As a railroad man Mr. Burge has become well known throughout the northern part of the state, and is recognized as an operator of superior capacity and ability. He has thoroughly familiarized himself with all the details of railroad business and management, and his promotion has been earned by hard work and through honesty, intelligent effort and efficient service. Being a close student of what may be termed "the science of railroading," and having a broad knowledge of the principles governing the operation of transportation companies, he was appointed a member of the committee for the training of employes on traction lines, and is the author of the first standard code for the operation of interurban railways and interurban lines, a system which has been almost universally adopted throughout the United States. Mr. Burge is a Master Mason, has a number of friends in fraternal life, and in connection with railroading is popular with his men and has the entire confidence of his associates. JOHN R. GRAHAM. The Graham family, of which John R. Graham, a retired farmer of Huron Township, is a member, is traced back to the time of King Edward the Pretender, among whose supporters were several bearing the name. When that professed monarch was defeated, the Grahams, with others, were compelled to flee from Scotland and to take refuge in Ireland, a number locating in County Fermanagh, Ulster, where the family resided for a number of generations. There, in 1799, was born John Graham, the father of John R. Graham, and the only son of his parents, who, however, had several daughters : Jane, who married William Foster, came to the United States, lived in Ohio for a number of years and then moved to Lansing, Michigan, and at her death left no children now living; Mary, who married John Little, came to the United States, lived in New York City until her death, and left one son and three daughters; and Eliza, who married John Carson and passed her entire life in Ireland, where she died leaving a family. John Graham, the father of John R. Graham, grew up on the farm of his father, Robert Graham, and when the latter died fell heir to the homestead, to which he had a fee simple, a rare document in Ireland. He was married in his native land to Jane Crozier, and in 1834 sold his HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 923 title to his tract of forty acres for more than $5,000, and with his wife and four- children set sail for the United States. After six weeks on a sailing vessel the little party arrived at the port of New York, from whence they traveled by way of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then down Lake Erie to Huron, and west to the Perkins Township line, about four miles from Huron, and in Huron Township about one mile from Sandusky Bay, in section 34. There Mr. Graham purchased 200 acres of timber land, partly improved, and settled his family in a frame house which had been built by the former resident, and which is still standing and occupied, a landmark of the early days. Mr. Graham added fifty acres to his first purchase, put in numerous improvements and erected large barns and other buildings, becoming the owner of one of the fine farms of the locality. There he died in 1855, when fifty-six years of age. He was a man of thrifty, industrious habits, and his chief recreations consisted of hunting and fishing, by which he kept the family larder well supplied with fish and game. He, was a man of strictly temperate habits, and of stern probity in both public and private affairs of life. A free soiler, he voted for James G. Burney. His religious belief was that of the Methodist Church. John Graham was married in County Fermanagh, Ireland, to Jane Crozier, the daughter of Rev.. Robert Crozier, of Ireland, a prominent Methodist minister, a man of talent and influence, and an extensive traveler in his native country, where he preached in many of the principal cities. Mrs. Graham was reared and well educated in the City of Dublin, was a woman of more than ordinary accomplishments, and throughout her life exhibited many qualities of mind and heart that endeared her to a wide circle of friends. She died in 1887, at the age of eighty-one years. Until she was forty years of age she was a Methodist, but at that time her son John died, and she mourned so greatly that in an attempt to ease her agony of mind she was given some Universalistic literature. In this way she was converted to the Universalist faith and continued to be a force and influence for neighborly love in her community during the rest of her life. There was room in her heart for those of all creeds and denominations, and the Graham residence continued to be the home for the Methodist preachers who came to visit this locality for many years. There were thirteen children in the family, of whom four were born in Ireland and the rest in Erie County, Ohio. Nine grew to maturity, eight were married and four still survive, all living in this county. They are : John R., of this review; Sallie E., who is the wife of George Swift, a farmer of Huron Township ; Anna, the widow of George Hinde, living on a farm in Perkins Township ; and Gustavus. Gustavus Graham was born March 17, 1838, in Erie County, Ohio, was well educated in the public schools, grew up on the home farm, and in 1878 was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board of county commissioners, this appointment coming unsolicited. Later he was elected to the office for a term of three years, and in 1895 was elected county treasurer on the republican ticket, serving from 1896 to 1900; he has also served the Township of Huron as assessor, during the period of the Civil war, and during the '70s as trustee. He has been a delegate to county, state and congressional conventions, and has always taken an active part in local politics. In 1881 he contributed to the upbuilding of his community by the erection of a handsome modern home on his farm of sixty-two acres, which is located on the shores of Lake Erie, in Huron Township, where he has lived for forty years. Mr. Graham is one of the substantial men of his community, and the confidence in which he is held by his fellow-citizens has been demonstrated by the estates which he has administered, including the Hinds and other properties. 924 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. Graham was married in Huron Township to Martha Hughes, who was born here in 1840, and she died at the home April 9, 1910. One child was born to this union: Cora, who died in 1915 at the age of twenty-six years, unmarried. John R. Graham was born on the old homestead farm in Huron Township, Erie County, Ohio, October 18, 1853. He was given good educational advantages in the public schools, and was reared amid agricultural surroundings and carefully trained in the work of the farm. When he reached the age of twenty-one years he came into possession of the homestead property, which is located in the western part of Huron Township and was purchased by his father in 1835, mad here he has continued to make his home ever since. He has installed improvements of the most modern and substantial kind, has stacked his place with good livestock, has purchased the most highly improved machinery, and has erected substantial buildings for the shelter of his stock, produce and implements. He resided in the old residence until 1895, when he moved to his new home on the west side of the farm, on the township road between Huron and Perkins, a comfortable eight-room house with basement, which includes the most modern conveniences, including furnace heat and bath, and below stairs all finished in hard wood. Mr. Graham was married in Perkins Township to Miss Jennie Vannatta, who was born in her father's old stone house at Bogart, Perkins Township, August 21, 1860, and reared there, receiving a good education in the public and normal schools. She is a daughter of Philip and Ann (Gurley) Vannatta, the former born at Martins Creek, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1838, and the latter born January 4, 1842, in Milan Township, Erie County, Ohio. Mrs. Graham's parents were married at Bogart, at the old historical stone house which in very early days was used as a tavern. They began life in Perkins Township as farmers and still make their home in that locality, now living on South Colorado Avenue, within the city limits of Sandusky. The father is seventy-seven years of age and the mother seventy-three, and both are in the enjoyment of the fruits of industrious and well ordered lives. Mrs. Vannatta is a daughter of William and Nancy J. (Stephenson) Gurley, natives of Connecticut, the former of whom -was brought to Ohio by his parents when a child of six months and grew up in Sandusky County. He was a son of Rev. William Gurley, a native of Ireland and a noted early pioneer Methodist preacher, who lived to be more than 100 years of age. William Gurley died at the old stone house in Perkins Township, when eighty-five years of age, while his wife, Nancy J., was sixty-four years of age when she passed away. Mrs. Graham is the eldest of five children, all of whom are living and married and have families, but of whom she is the only one now living in Erie County. To Mr. and Mrs. Graham there have been born two children : Merrell R., who died at the age of five years; and Prof. John Bert. John Bert Graham was born January 18, 1886, and received his early educational training in the public schools. This was supplemented by a high school course at Sandusky, where he was graduated in 1903, and he then became a student in the department of music, Oberlin (Ohio) College, where he was graduated in 1908. At that time he took up music as a teacher, and was first located at. Bryan, Texas, then, returning to Ohio and being instructor at Hiram College for one year. This was succeeded by three years at Fairmount College, Wichita, Kansas, and in 1913 he accepted a position at the Conservatory of Music, Waxahatchie, near Dallas, Texas, where he has since continued. He is possessed of much talent, and is widely known in musical circles throughout the West and Middle West. He is a Blue Lodge Mason. Professor Graham