HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1475 was secured in his native land, and after coming to the United States at the age of fourteen years he went to school in Ottawa County at a private institution. Next he entered the university at Ada, Ohio, where he completed his preparatory course, and then having shown a predilection for a professional career, became a student of the law department at the University of Michigan, being graduated therefrom with his degree in 1886. After several years spent in teaching school, Mr. Nieman began an the practice of law at Elmore and devoted his entire attention thereto until 1903, when he became one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Elmore. Elected, cashier of that institution, he has continued to act in that capacity to the present time, his well known integrity and probity of character having done much to increase the confidence of the people in the institution's strength and solidity. The First National Bank of Elmore was organized March 5, 1903, and its doors were thrown open for business on June 7 following. The officers are Louis Frese, president ; J. G. Steinkamp, vice president ; H. W. Nieman, cashier; and E. H. Meyer, assistant cashier. The capital is $25,000, the surplus $12,500, and the deposits, attracted from all over Ottawa County, $355,000. The bank owns its own building, a two story brick edifice 20 by 60 feet, the main floor being devoted to the business of the bank, while and floor is given over to offices. Mr. Nieman, in addition to capably performing the duties of his official position with the bank has been engaged in other enterprises, is at this time president of one of re's leading industries, the Multiplex rete Manufacturing Company. He has a very busy man, but has found time to to the affairs of his community, particularly in the line of education, having been a member of the school of county school examiners of Ottawa County for twelve years and a member of the school board of Elmore for a long period. His hobby is farming and at this time he carries on general farming, the breeding of registered stock and sugar beet raising on a 200-acre model farm in a Ottawa County, where he has was buildings at $25,000, and model improvements of every kind. This farm has been in his wife's family since 1823. Fraternally, Mr. Nieman is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Shriner, and past master of his lodge, and is past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. With his family, he belongs to the Christian Church, in which he serves as deacon. Mr. Nieman was married in 1886 to Miss Delia A. Boggs, of Elmore, daughter of James and Susan E. (White) Boggs, and one daughter has been born to this union : Amy, who is the wife of Karl Hannaman, a machinist of Tiffin, Ohio. LESLIE EDWARD MEYER. Few business men are better known in that section of Ottawa County of which Oak Harbor is the center than Leslie E. Meyer, who not only enjoys a successful position in banking and general business affairs but has also given much of his time and attention to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. Born in Danbury Township of Ottawa County October 24, 1874, he is a son of Edward H. and Emma (Grey) Meyer. His father was a merchant. Educated in the public schools, Mr. Meyer was himself a teacher for two years, and from that he came into the Oak Harbor State Bank as a clerk. Fidelity to duty and a willing industry, brought him successive promotion, and since January, 1908, he has been cashier. He is also 'treasurer of the Oak Harbor Fruit Company. For six years Mr. Meyer was postmaster at Oak Harbor and resigned that office on account of other duties. For ten years he was clerk of the village, and is now a member of the board of public service. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order, up to and including the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite, and also with the Knights of Pythias. On September 11, 1901, Mr. Meyer married Miss Laura Luella Leow of Ottawa County. They have three sons : Walter Dimsdale, Leslie Evan and Robert Bruce. RUSSELL BORDEAUX. Some of the most substantial business interests at Oak Harbor reflect the enterprise of Russell Bordeaux, whose home has been in Ottawa County for more than twenty-live years. Originally a mason by trade, he made that a basis for a contracting business, and now has a large plant for the manufacturing of builders' materials and enjoys a number of substantial relations with the flourishing little community of Oak Harbor. Born in Maumee, Ohio, December 6, 1872, he is a son of Noah and Eliza (Peltier) Bor- 1476 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO deaux. His father was for many years engaged in merchandising. Russell Bordeaux gained his early education in the public schools, and in 1888 came to Ottawa County. He learned the trade of mason, and has ever since been engaged in mason contracting, at first on a modest scale and in later years with considerable capital and a trained staff of men capable of undertaking almost any contract in that line. One feature of his present business is the manufacture of concrete building blocks, his plant having a large daily capacity, and he also handles all classes of builders' supplies, lime, cement, and other products, and has about seven persons on his regular payroll. Mr. Bordeaux is also a director in .the National Druggist and Manufacturing Company of Oak Harbor, and is manager of the Home Building Company, a building and loan organization. He is now president of the Oak Harbor Business Men's Association, and enjoys the complete confidence of the entire community. He is a member of the school board and for two years served on the village council. Mr, Bordeaux has been much interested in Masonry, is a past master of his lodge, served as high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter in 1915, and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. In Odd Fellowship he is a past noble grand, and is an elder in the Christian Church. On May 31, 1889, he married Miss Ida Vining of Oak Harbor. Six children were born to their union : Olive Emma, the wife of Harry Wheeler, of Duquoin, Illinois ; Opal Marie, who married Oscar Zehner, of Oak Harbor, Ohio ; Hattie Odessa ; Mrs. Charles M. Schwartz, of Detroit, Michigan ; Mary Olelia ; Ovivian Leone ; and Adelle Mayse. WILLIAM JONES. For many years Mr. and Mrs. Jones have lived in a comfortable and commodious home in the City of Van Wert. It was nearly half a century ago that they married and started out together, young and ambitious, to make that success for which their talents fitted them. They have gained success and prosperity, and also that esteem and admiration paid to people who have a purpose in life, who perform their duties and obligations without regard to the consequences for themselves, and who have arrived at that impressive point in their mutual careers where they will soon—as everyone hopes—celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. Mr. Jones is now one of the largest tax payers in Van Wert County. It is significant of his career of industry when it is stated that the first tax he ever paid to support the local and state government was 48 cents Some of his thrifty virtues have doubtless been inherited from his Welsh ancestry. William Jones was born in North Wales, August 10, 1845. His father, David Jones, was a native of the same section of Wales, and the family have been Welsh as far back as can be traced. David Jones acquired a good education and was a musician. He spent his active life in Wales and died there about 1848. His wife, Elizabeth Thomas, was also born in North Wales, a daughter of Lewis and Margaret Thomas. Her parents came to America about 1852, settling in York Township of Van Wert County, buying land and making improvements, then selling it and purchasing, other land. From York Township Leis Thomas removed to Hoagland Towship, bought land there, and remained a resident until his death. He was survived by the following children : William, Richard, Lewis, Elizabeth, Ann, Margaret and Ellen. At the death of her husband Mrs. Elizabeth Jones was left a widow with two sons. A few years later she came to America with her parents, and after living with them a short time she went to Dayton, where she found employment. Later she was married in York Township to Robert Brown, and she continued to live in that township until her death in 1864. Her two sons were William and David. David was a soldier in the Civil war, a member of one of the regiments of Ohio heavy artillery, and died of fever. His remains are now at rest in the National Cemetery at Knoxville, Tennessee. William Jones was about seven years of age when he came to America with his mother and grandparents. The voyage was made by a sailing vessel, and the ship encountered some severe storms, so that they were six weeks before landing in New York City. From there they came on to Ohio and to York Township in Van Wert County. date of their settlement it should he remembered was sixty-five years ago. Northwest Ohio was still a wilderness. Game of all kinds was found in the woods and on the prairies, including deer, wild turkey, coon, porcupines, and numerous other kinds of wild life, some valuable and some dangerous. Thus HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1477 it was a strictly frontier community in which William Jones spent his early years. He 4, ed with his grandparents until his mother married and then spent part of his time in home. The first school he attended was taught in a log house. He attended school four different districts, but in each one re was a log cabin school. His education not gained without considerable exertion his part. He worked to pay for his board, would arise early in the morning and do the chores, and after walking a mile and a half or more to school and the same distance back home, he would again work until after dark. During one winter he husked corn every Saturday. His schooling over he started out to make his own way by working at daily wages or the month. At first he was paid only 25 cents a day, and the first year he was employed by the month his salary was $8 for each month or $96 for the year. Even then he had more ambition than most boys of age, looked ahead to the future, and saved he could spare from his meager earnings. With these savings he made his first purchase land, forty acres in York Township, for which he paid $450. An unfinished log cabin id on the land, but not a foot of the soil I been plowed or was in cultivation. The outbreak of the war in 1861 found him a vigorous and hard working country boy, with a little to show for his expenditure of energy, and with ambitious plans and projects for the future. He willingly abandoned en plans, and in September, 1861, enlisted Company E of the Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With that regiment he went South, and his first great battle was at Shiloh on the 6th of April, 1862. Thousands of brave men in both armies laid down their lives that day, and Mr. Jones was one of those carried from the battlefield severely founded. He was sent to a hospital at Paducah, later to Cincinnati, and from there was returned to Delphos and was cared for home until he had recovered from his wounds. He then rejoined his regiment in messee in season to participate in the battle of Missionary Ridge. The following winter was spent at Scotsboro, Alabama. In he and his comrades became a part of Sherman's magnificent army and participated the constant fighting during the fall of that year between Chattanooga and Atlanta, including the siege and capture of that city. He was in the battle of Jonesboro, and then Vol. III-10 marched with Sherman to the sea and at Savannah embarked on a steamer and was taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina. From there he and his command again proceeded on foot through Richmond and into Washington. The war was over and at Washington was gathered the finest army of veteran soldiers ever seen in the Western Hemisphere, and Mr. Jones was one of those who marched in that splendid pageant up Pennsylvania Avenue before the distinguished commanders and in front of the White House from which only a few days before the great President had been removed by assassination. From Washington he and his regiment were sent to Louisville, thence to Columbus, and he was given his honorable discharge. He had hardly exchanged his uniform for civilian garb when he was once more busy at work in the harvest fields, at wages of $17 a month. In the winter of 1865-66 Mr. Jones bought 931/2 acres of land in section 33 of York Township. The purchase price was $1,800 and he could pay only a part and assumed the obligation to pay the balance. He continued working by the month until his marriage in 1867, and he and his wife then removed to his land and set up housekeeping in a log building, which was chinked and daubed with mud. A very small portion of the land had been cleared for cultivation. The rest was covered with heavy timber. In the stupendous task of cutting and clearing away the large trees Mr. Jones was loyally aided by his good wife, who went with him into the woods, and learned to handle the axe and saw with the expertness of a practical woodsman. For many months they continued at their task. Large logs that would now bring a big price were rolled together and burned in heaps. Mr. and Mrs. Jones not only put in the hours of daylight in this work, but even at night continued to toil by the light of the burning wood. Being young, in good health, and with an ambition to get ahead in the world, they found the work pleasant as well as profitable. Some time later Mr. Jones succeeded in selling the forty acres which he had bought before the war and applied the proceeds in payment of the land which he was clearing. Along with the clearing he put in ditches and drained out the low places, and as the soil was exceedingly fertile his fields produced what would now -be called "bumper" crops. Thus in a few years his farm was paid for, and he at once bought 1478 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO more land. Thus he and his good wife continued working and thriving and they lived together on their farm until 1889. In December of that year they came to Van Wert, bought city property, and since then they have improved several places in Van Wert, including the pleasant home in which they now reside on South Washington Street. Besides his town real estate Mr. Jones has more than 500 acres of land. It is divided into five farms, and each one is improved with good buildings, is tile drained, and is worked to a maximum of yield consistent with the proper conservation of the resources of the soil. In spite of the fact that he retired from his farm many years ago Mr. Jones has never been idle, and in fact idleness has no place in the character either of himself or his wife. Mrs. Jones before marriage was Miss Annie E. Spicer. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, May 4, 1840, and they were married March 27, 1867. Her father, Abraham Spicer, was born near Little York in York County, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1810. He was of German ancestry. He had four brothers named Samuel, John, William and George, and all were orphaned when children ; they subsequently became separated and Mrs. Jones' father lost track of them and nothing is now known by her concerning their whereabouts or their descendants. Abraham Spicer learned the trade of miller. He was married in April, 1834, to Rachel Harvey, and soon afterward they settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, but in 1836 removed to Wayne County, Ohio. There he followed his trade, but in 1856 bought 160 acres near Mendon in Mercer County, and continued to live on this farm until his death on April 11, 1888: For a time after coming to his farm he operated a mill at Mendon. His wife had died several years before he passed away. In the Spicer family were six children : Elizabeth, Samuel, Anna E. Frances, Barbara and Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had only one child, Annie, who was born February 3, 1868, and died October '14, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Jones took a very active part in the United Brethren Church while living in the country but have not united with any church in the city. CHARLES FRANK DUNN. The present owner of the Hotel Dunn has conducted its affairs for many years and under his management it has steadily increased its patronage and high standing among the leading hostelries of Northwest Ohio. Brought up' in the hot business, his entire career has been spen therein, and no more genial or courteous h may be found in Ottawa County than Chad Frank Dunn, of Curtice. However, while he has devoted himself closely to the administration of his house, Mr. Dunn's reputation does not rest alone upon his connection there. with, for during the last twenty years there has not been a movement launched that has not had his support, and it is. largely through his efforts and unselfish activities that Curtice has grown so rapidly and developed so substantially during recent years. Mr. Dunn was born not far from Curtice, in Lucas County, Ohio, May 8, 1877, and is a son of Henry (Harry) and Lena (Misshler) Dunn. His father was for many years o of Northwest Ohio's best known hotel keepers, and the lad was early instructed in those things which go to add to the comfort a convenience of the guest. As a youth he attended the public schools, completing his education at Curtice, to which place he accompanied his parents in 1887, when he was ten years of age, and which place has confirm to be his home. Mr. Dunn continued to apply himself assiduously to learning every details of the business of conducting a hotel, and in 1895 finally decided that he was ready embark upon a career of his own. Accordingly, on May 2d of that year he secured by purchase the Hotel Dunn, and his gent business experience, his knowledge of the details of the business, and his natural qualifications, have aided him to a well earned success. The Hotel Dunn is a house of which Curtice may be justly proud, as it is conducted along modern plans, is spacious finely equipped, and is first class in every respect. In 1897 in connection with house, Mr. Dunn established a livery business, and in 1911 fitted up a garage, having taken over in that year the agency of Buick, King, Hudson and Dart automobile Curtice. He is also the owner of a cultivated farm of seventy-five acres which he has modern improvements a substantial and attractive buildings. Mr. Dunn was the prime mover an originator of the idea of building the first road, in this section, this becoming a part of the State Road, and raised the first $500 this project. It was also through his a enterprise and generosity that Curtice was p1aced upon the way as a trolley terminal, he buying HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1479 a large lot in the center of the town for a station and presenting it to the street car corny. He also raised the money to defray the expenses of building a crossing for the W. & L. E. Railroad, and in many other ways has shown his public-spirited citizenship and his desire to further the development of the city his adoption. Since its organization, in 1900, Mr. Dunn has been connected with the building committee of the Knights of the Maccabees, of which lodge he is serving as treasurer, and also holds membership in the local lodge of the Loyal Order of Moose. Mr. Dunn was married to Miss Agnes Castle, who died in 1898, and they became the parents of two children, Wallace Charles and Franklin. Mr. Dunn was again married, February 16, 1904, being united with Miss Sophia Hoeflinger, and they have two children : Clifford Edward and Donald Leo. Mr. Dunn is a democrat in political belief but in local matters he votes for the man who is best qualified to fill the office. SAMUEL W. MAY. In the length and breadth of Henry County there was no more popular citizen than the late Corporal May. He was an honored veteran of the Civil War, and for three years he followed the flag on many a hard fought Southern battlefield. He was a useful citizen in every sense of the term, prospered through his enterprise as a farmer, and left a fine estate for his children. Though he was affiliated with the political party which is strongly in the minority in Henry County, he at one time came within twenty votes of being elected county commissioner. He held nearly all the local offices in the school and village, and even better than the results of his material success he left to his descendants an honored name. Mrs. May, who survives him and lives in the Village of 'Florida, is widely known socially in the county and is an actiye member of the Woman's Relief Corps. In Stark County, Ohio, Samuel W. May was born November 8, 1841. He lived almost three-quarters of a century, passing away at his home in the Village of Florida May 25, 1916. His father, Lewis May, and his mother, Nancy Truby, were both natives of Pennsylvania but were married in Stark County, Ohio. All their children were born in Stark County and it was only a few years after the birth of the late Corporal May that the family came in 1845 to Henry County. Henry County was then pretty much on the frontier, and the roads thither were all unimproved highways. The family journeyed with covered wagons and teams, and spent many days in making the trip. Arriving here Lewis May entered a tract of Government land, containing eighty acres, on the south side of the Maumee River in Flatrock Township. The entire country was wild, and the family like most of the other early settlers had their first home in a log cabin. Lewis' May was a hardy and rugged pioneer character and in the course of time cleared up and developed a good farming He died at the age of fifty-five, and after his death his widow located at a little home on the Maumee River and passed away at the age of seventy-two. Both were devout people in their religious activities and were members of the Bible Christian Church. All their children are living except the late Samuel W. May. The daughter Mary married Jeremiah Huston, who enlisted early in the war as a member of the Sixty-eighth Ohio. Volunteer Infantry in Company F, and being taken ill during the first year of his service was furloughed home and died on the boat while returning. He was about twenty-five or twenty-six years of age when he died. He left three children, all of whom are living except the daughter Louisa, who died as the mother of three children. The two sons of Mrs. Jeremiah Huston are Samuel D. and Lewis R., both of whom are married and have families, and the former is a machinist at Danville, Illinois, and the latter in Napoleon. Harrison May, the second child of Lewis May and wife, also served as a soldier in the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and is now a retired farmer at Defiance, Ohio, and has four sons. The third in age was the late Corporal May. Alcetta is the wife of Philip Huston, a brother of the late Jeremiah Huston, and Philip was also a soldier, serving in the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and is now deceased. His widow is living in Liberty Center of Henry County and has two daughters. Samuel W. May grew up on the old farm in Henry County and found ample employment for his youthful strength in assisting in its clearing and cultivation. He was about twenty years of age when early in 1862 he enlisted in Company F of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and went to the front. He was in all of the thirty-two battles of that gallant regiment, and after his three years expired he veteranized and was with the fighting armies until the close of the war. He was never captured or wounded and came out 1480 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO with the rank of corporal. He participated in the Grand Review. at Washington and then returned home. This splendid veteran of the Union continued to live in Henry County, married in a few years, and then bought forty acres of partly improved land, on which he lived add followed farming for about fifteen years. He then sold his first property and bought nearly 118 acres on the Maumee River near Girty Island. That farm he developed into one of the finest in Henry County. He erected a fine set of farm buildings, and kept his land and the buildings up to the best state of repair and efficiency. For a number of years he grew the very finest crops, and before his death the land was worth $200 an acre. In 1903 Mr. May retired to the Village of Florida and resided in a comfortable home on Main Street until his death. In October, 1868, he was married in Flat-rock Township to Mrs. Catherine Kaylor, widow of Samuel Kaylor. Samuel Kaylor was also a veteran of the Civil war, having served from the beginning to the end as a private in Company F of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being a comrade of Corporal May. He died five months after his marriage in January, 1866, leaving no children. Mrs. May, whose maiden name was Catherine Dancer, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 2, 1848, and when six years of age was brought to the Village of Florida in Henry County, by her parents, John and Margaret (Huston) Dancer. Her parents were both natives of Ashland County, Ohio, and were married near, Mansfield. Her father became a stock buyer, but when Mrs. May was a young girl the family moved to the Village of Florida, making the removal in covered wagons and spending several days on the journey. They located near the canal, where her parents for several years kept a boarding house for the canal men, and also provided quarters for the horses employed on the tow-path. Her father also conducted a store, but after some years sold out his business and then bought a farm of 160. acres in Napoleon Township near the Village of Florida. He improved this . farm in many ways, built up houses, added eighty_ acres to his first purchase, and there his wife died in 1896 at the age of seventy-two. Mr. Dancer subsequently lived with his granddaughter, Mrs. Emma Shively and died at the age of eighty-four. He was a very influential republican in this county, and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. Besides Mrs. May the children om tje Dancer family were George and Jeremiah, the latter dying at the age of ten years. Corporal and Mrs. May became the parents of five children. The daughter Dora, who three years ago, was the wife of Philip S and she left two sons, Howard and A George, who is now a farmer near Westhope, Ohio, married Rose Franz and has children named Bernice, Paul and Dorothy. Madge is the wife of Edward Crossman, who s twelve years as a school teacher and is on rural delivery service out of Napoleon where he resides; he and his wife are the parents of Audrey and Helen, both of whom well educated in the Napoleon High School and the former is a successful tea Charles, the next in age of Mrs. May's children, is a farmer in Liberty Township, and by his marriage to Nettie Heflinger, has two daughters, Fern and Eva. Bessie, the youngest child, married Frank Leonhardt, and they own and occupy the old May homestead; their two children are Donald and Catherine: LEO G. KELLERMEYER. From farmer boy to one of the responsible positions in the courthouse of Auglaize County is in brief the record of Leo G. Kellermeyer, who is now serving with commendable efficiency in the office of county recorder. He began his duties in that office September 6, 1915, and is successor of former Recorder James Killian, who remained as assistant or deputy to Mr. Kellermeyer. Born in Auglaize County at New Bremen, July 12, 1865, Leo G. Kellermeyer is a son of Fred C. and Mary Anna (Buehler) Kellermeyer. His paternal grandfather, Henry Kellermeyer, was a shoemaker by trade and spent his last years in Auglaize County. His maternal grandfather, George Buehler, who also died in Auglaize County, was a cabinetmaker, and some of the furniture which that skillful and methodical workman made is now carefully preserved by his descendants. Mr. and Mrs: Fred C. Kellermeyer were married in Auglaize County. Fred Kellermeyer was born in Germany in January, 1835 and his wife in February, 1839. They were brought to America as children. Fred C. Kellermeyer worked as a laborer, learned the trade of shoemaker, and afterwards owned a shoe shop in New Bremen. From there, when Leo Kellermeyer was a child, about 1872, he moved his family to a farm in St. Marys Township, and he lived in that town until HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1481 his death on December 12, 1916. Though he started life poor, he acquired sufficient means by constant industry to provide well for his family and secure a home of comfort for Being years. He had been honored by his low citizens and from 1900 to 1907 served county commissioner. He was a demo-t, had taken an active part in politics, and is a man of good education and of high character. He and his wife were members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. They had eight children : Mary, wife of William Weasch, a farmer in St. Marys Township ; Edwin, a retired farmer at St. Marys; Leo G.; Irma, wife of Craig Quellhorst, a retired farmer at New Bremen ; Ewald, a farmer in St. Marys Township ; Fred, Jr., formerly a farmer and now a carpenter at St. Marys ; August, a farmer in St. Marys Township ; and Lillian, wife of Benjamin Eisley, a farmer in Logan Township. Mrs. Fred C. Kellermeyer is still living in Auglaize County. Leo Kellermeyer was reared on a farm. He attended the district schools and St. Marys High School, and after his education he spent four years as a farm hand employed by Henry Coop. In 1890 he left the farm to serve an apprenticeship with the St. Marys Machine Company, and learned that business in every detail. He was connected with that old and reliable industrial concern of Auglaize County for almost a quarter of a century, and retired from his responsibilities there only when his fellow citizens called him to his present honor as county recorder. Mr. Kellermeyer is the type of citizen of whom any community would be proud. He has worked faithfully and intelligently in behalf of local improvements in his home town of St. Marys and in the county at large, and for six years, from 1908 to 1912, he served as member and president of St. Marys Council. In the party primaries of 1914 he was nominated by a majority of 450 votes over five other candidates, in the November election of 1914 he went into office with a margin of 850 votes over his opponent and at the election held November, 1916, he was re-elected for a second term, leading the whole county ticket. Mr. Kellermeyer is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. He has been prominent in Odd Fellowship and belongs to Shawnee Lodge No. 75, Independent Order of Odd Yellows, at St. Marys, and to Encampment No. 40, and has passed all the chairs of the Encampment. WILLIAM J. GACKEL. About twenty-three years ago William J. Gackel came from Defiance County to the Village of Florida in Henry County. Ever since he has been a dynamic source of energy and enterprise in that locality. Successful in business, he has made his energy count in various other directions and any city might be proud to possess such a live wire. His principal business is general hardware. He has a large double store 40 by 60 feet, and that stare carries everything in the hardware line to supply the wants of the surrounding agricultural community. His shelves are laden with hardware supplies, sundries, paints, and he also carries a complete stock of heavy hardware, stoves and ranges, etc. Outside is a warehouse 45 by 50 feet, stocked with farm implements. He also has extensive yards for lumber and building supplies and he makes it a point to furnish everything which the trade demands, and if he does not have the article in stock he is more than willing and ready to procure it promptly. Mr. Gackel is what is familiarly termed a "hustling business man." He established his store in Florida largely on his own account, though he succeeded a former hardware merchant, Mr. Jones, in 1899. Mr. Gackel several years ago perfected arrangements with the Auglaize Power Company, so that the village now has electric lights. In fact he is credited with having a hand in the starting of every improvement in the village during the past twenty years. Mr. Gackel was born in Richland Township, of Defiance County, Ohio, December 14, 1872. He grew up there on a farm, receiving his education in the district schools, and came to Florida after reaching manhood. He is of French and German stock. His father was Fred Gackel and his grandfather was Henry Gackel. Henry Gackel came to America from Alsace, then a French province, when his son, Fred, was fifteen years of age. The family left Havre, France, and spent sixty days in a very trying ocean trip before arriving in New York. Coming on west they located near. Bryan, in Williams County, Ohio, where Henry Gackel settled upon and cleared up a tract of wild land. The family in the early days lived in a typical log cabin. Henry Gackel and wife spent the rest of their years in. Defiance County. He died at the age of fifty-six years and she at the age of sixty-five. They were of Lutheran stock and were very substantial and active pioneers. 1482 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Fred Gackel, who was born in 1831, grew to manhood in Williams County, saw much of pioneer conditions when a boy, and then removed to Richland Township of Defiance County, where he married Elizabeth Deach. She was born in Bavaria, Germany, and was brought to America when quite young. Her people also crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel and spent many weeks in the voyage between. Hamburg and New York. From there they came to Defiance County, and her father developed. a new home in the wilderness. Her parents died when quite old in Richland Township. After their marriage Fred Gackel and wife located on a farm of 180 acres in Defiance County, developed a first class home, and lived there until about twenty-three years ago when they retired to the Village of Florida. Mrs. Gackel died there some years later. William J. Gackel was one of a family of three sons and two daughters. In Florida Village he married Flora Brubaker, who was born and reared at Florida. Her father, Frank Brubaker, is a prominent old timer in Henry County and is a veteran of the Civil war, being now retired from the active responsibilities of farming. Mrs. Gackel's mother died about twenty-four years ago. Mrs. Gackel has one sister, Eva, the widow of Edmund Reddig. Mr. and Mrs. Gackel have a bright and promising daughter, Alpha, who was born April 15, 1903. She is now pursuing her studies in the seventh grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Gackel take an active part in .the social affairs of the village, and Mr. Gackel has served as corporation treasurer. Politically he is a democrat. CHARLES W. BRINKMAN. The importance of the Village of Florida in Henry County as a trading center largely depends upon a general store which has been conducted in that village for half a century or more, and for the past seventeen years its proprietor has been Charles W. Brinkman. The business was originally established by John Long, Sr., one of the pioneer merchants of Henry County, and he was succeeded by John Long, Jr., who conducted the store about eighteen years. The successor of these merchants, Charles W. Brinkman, has continued the business very much along the same lines as his predecessors, though with such modifications as changing circumstances demand. He carries in his stock everything necessary to supply the local market, his trade extending over a wide radius around Florida. The enterprising qualities of Mr. Brinkman as a merchant were well illustrated a few years ago. On July 28, 1912, his store, its entire stock of goods, and also the postoffice, which was conducted by his clerk, we destroyed by fire and not a penny's worth goods was saved. Without an instant's hesitation Mr. Brinkman laid plans for rebuilding and in a few weeks had a solid cement block building erected on the original foundation 30 by 50 feet, the building being thirteen feet high at the eaves. Here he has continued to serve the public with a well assorted stock merchandise. Mr. Brinkman was born in Flat Rock Township, of Henry County, November 27, 1868. He was reared on a farm on the south side of the Maumee River, and acquired his education in the local schools. His early training as a farmer has kept him in close touch with the agricultural community, and has been advantage rather than a handicap in business work. His parents were John and Harriet (Schull) Brinkman. Both were native of Crawford County, Ohio. His grandfather Christopher Brinkman, was of German parentage, was a farmer and cabinet Some very substantial chairs which he made as a cabinet maker are still kept as valued and useful relics in the family. After marriage of John Brinkman and with Crawford County they lived there some In that county were born three chile Mary, Amanda and Louisa. About the of the Civil war the family removed to Henry County, locating on an almost new far Flat Rock Township. The children born this township were John A. born in and Charles W. John Brinkman was a industrious farmer, and besides improving greater part of his own 137 acres he erec substantial house and barn. His cleat, occurred there September 28, 1886, when, six years of age. His wife 28, in September 1896, and she, too, was fifty-six. They were members of the German Reform Church he took a very active part in democratic tics, serving his township as trustee and other offices. All the children have had children of their own, and two of the daughters are now widows and one son has lost After reaching his majority Charles W. Brinkman married Daisy D. Hall. She was born and reared in Lucas County, Ohio, a HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1483 daughter of Eugene and Fannie (Guyer) Hall, both natives of Ohio, probably of Lucas County. They were married in Lucas County and afterwards moved to Henry County, locating at the Village of Florida. Eugene Hall for a number of years conducted and owned a canal boat, but finally removed to West Virginia, where for the past twenty years or more he has been associated with a prominent company of lumber manufacturers d dealers. He is now well known to the ber trade over that section, and has been eatly prospered. Mrs. Brinkman's mother w lives in Toledo with her aged mother, who ninety-four years of age and quite feeble. Mrs. Brinkman's maternal grandfather Guyer was very prominent in the early days of Lucas County. He served as sheriff of that county when the courthouse and county .seat were at Maumee, and he met his death while in the performance of his duties. He was protecting a lamb belonging to his daughter from the attack of a madman and was killed. That tragedy occurred about three score years ago. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman lived on a farm until 1898, and he then camc to Florida and bought the Long store. They are the parents of three children : Eugene, a daughter, is a graduate of the Mary Hall Kindergarten and Experimental School, where she had two years of teaching experience, and completed her work there in 1916. Enna, now eighteen years of age, was graduated from the Napoleon High School in the spring of 1916, finished a course in the Defiance Normal in the summer' of the same year and is now engaged in teaching. Donald, born in December, 1902, is still attending the grade schools. Mr. Brinkman and family are dive members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For ten years he served as a member of the school board, and also filled the office of corporation clerk one term. Politically he is a democrat. He belongs to the National Union and the Knights of the Maccabees. T. A. CAMPBELL, M. D. A wide circle of patrons and friends recognize Doctor Campbell as one of the leading physicians of Wapakoneta and Auglaize County. He has practiced steadily there since his graduation from medical college in 1897, and his professional ability is as high as his professional standing. He has been unusually successful in the treatment of diseases of women, and that is his specialty. Doctor Campbell early in life determined what he would do and he was willing to risk practically every hazard in order to complete the requisite preparation for his medical career. Thus when he began practice his cash capital amounted to only 2 cents and he was $5,000 in debt, a debt incurred largely for his education and living expenses before he graduated. He was born on a farm in Auglaize County, January 2, 1875, a son of George and Sarah A. (Chiles) Campbell. His paternal grandfather was Ambrose Campbell, who was born in Virginia of Scotch parents. The maternal grandfather, James M. Chiles, was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, and his father was one of the pioneers of that county. George Campbell, father of Doctor Campbell, was born in. Virginia, in '1823, and was brought to Ohio when three years of age, the family settling near Columbus. During his active career he followed farming and dealing in livestock, and was quite successful. He died May 4, 1885. Most of his active career was spent in Auglaize County, where he located at the age of twenty-one, buying a farm. By his marriage to Miranda Burton he had six children, and two of the sons are still living, Jerry, of Auglaize County, and George W. For his second wife George Campbell married Sarah A. Chiles, who was born in Auglaize County in 1844 and is still living. There was also six children by this union, and the three now living are : Dr. T. A. Campbell; J. M. Guy Campbell, who lives on the old homestead; and Zelia, wife of Clinton Armstrong of Piqua, Ohio. George Campbell and wife were faithful members of the Christian Union Church, and in politics he was a democrat. Doctor Campbell was graduated from. the Wapakoneta High School in 1893 and soon afterward entered the University of Cincinnati, where he completed his course in medicine in 1897. He at once returned to Wapakoneta and began the practice which has since grown to such large and profitable proportions. On August 8, 1895, he married Virgie Williams, daughter of Judge J. S. Williams, who for a number of years was probate judge of Auglaize County. Mrs. Campbell died in February, 1896. On October 26, 1897, he married Blanche Jarman, who was born in Maysville, Kentucky, and died June 18, 1911. She was the .mother of two children : Pera N. R. E., now in high school, and Zenith G. 1484 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO E., also in high school. On February 14, 1912, Doctor Campbell married Emma Flory, who was born in Pleasant Hill, Ohio. Mrs. Campbell is an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Doctor Campbell takes much interest in fraternal affairs, is a member of the lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having passed the various official chairs in those degrees, and has also filled the chairs in the Knights of Maccabees, and is a member of the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Modern Brotherhood, the Woodmen's Circle and belongs to the Schwaebischer Unter Stuetzungs-Verein. In politics he is a democrat. FRED A. GUNN. A representative of the old pioneer stock in Northwest Ohio Fred A. Gunn has spent his active lifetime near Napoleon, and over Henry County he is known far and wide as proprietor of Brookside Farm in section 28 of Napoleon Township. He is a son of the late honored Edward McCartney Gunn, who was one of the first white children born in Henry County. He first saw the light on the old Gunn homestead, February 10, 1821, and died at a ripe old age at his home in Waterville Township, March 9, 1914. There were few better known and none more respected in his community than Edward M. Gunn. His parents were Charles and Elizabeth (Mattic) Gunn, both probably natives of Ohio. The great-grandfather was Elijah Gunn, a native of Massachusetts, who had come to Ohio when it was still a part of Northwest Territory, and lived for some years near Cleveland when that was just starting to grow. Later he moved to Waterville, Ohio, and finally came to Henry County, purchasing property in Napoleon Township from the Government. All this country was then sparsely settled, only here and there had settlers placed their cabins and begun the work of development, and in this and surrounding counties a few points had been selected as a trading center or as sites of mills, and the roads ,leading to such places were mere trails blazed through the woods.. Elijah Gunn made some improvements on the Back Farm and there he passed away at the venerable age of ninety-six, being one of the true pioneers of Henry County. Charles Gunn, father of Edward M. Gunn, was still a young man when his father came to Western Ohio, and had spent a portion of his younger life near Cleveland. He found his wife, Miss Mattie in Cuyahoga County, and they were married about 1800. On moving to Henry County they located in Damascus Township, where he and his wife were among the first to make a clearing in the wilderness, and when the entire Maumee Valley was populated by Indians and a few trader settlers. They died within a few weeks of each other in the year 1832. Edward McCartney Gunn grew up in Henry County and his playmates were chiefly Indians, and he was very popular among the red men. A French-Indian halfbreed was especially fond of this young white boy. Amd gave him the name Edward McCartney Gunn. After the death of his parents he lived with Elijah Gunn in Flatrock Township until 1847 when he located on a new farm in section 28 in Napoleon Township and there worked out a thrifty career, accumulating more than 200 acres of rich alluvial lands and becoming well known as a successful and prosperous farmer. On June 6, 1847, he married Miss Jane Stone who was born in Onondaga County, New York, July 20, 1828, daughter of Joseph and Polly (Millington) Stone, both of whom were of New England ancestry, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Vermont The Stone family came to Ohio in the very early days and Joseph Stone, who was a stone cutter by trade, died from cholera when that disease was epidemic in Defiance, Ohio, at the age of sixty-five. His widow lived with her daughter, Mrs. Edward Gunn, for twenty-four years and died at the age of eight-six. She was one of the real pioneer women of Northwest Ohio, and was always busy until her last days. Even in later days she found work for her fingers, and she long bore the reputation of being the best cheese maker in Henry County. Mrs. Edward M. Gunn October 19, 1909. Both were active memers of the Presbyterian Church. Edward M. Gunn cast his first presidential ballot for William Henry Harrison, and afterwards supported the whig party and still later the republican organization. A descendant of these worthy Ohio pioneers Fred A. Gunn was born that he on the farm now owns and occupies July 5, 1866. He was reared and well educated in local schools and by practical experience, and has spent his active career on the old homestead, and is now owner of 133 acres of black loamy soil, which grows every cereal known to Ohio and also all .kinds of vegetables. He has pursued HISTORY NORTHWEST OHIO - 1485 diversified farming, raising a number of good grades of cattle, hogs and horses, and has supplied his farm with all the necessary equipment in the way of barns and machinery. His principal stock and grain barn stands on a foundation 40 by 60 feet, and there is another barn 40 by 70 feet used exclusively for the storage of grain and other farm products. He and his family occupy a roomy and substantial house of nine rooms. Mr. Gunn has had control of the old homestead for a great many years. In Napoleon Township he married Rose Shumaker, who was born, reared and educated in Henry County, and is a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Wiler) Shumaker. Her father was born in Wayne County, Ohio, and her mother in Pennsylvania. They were married in Crawford County, Ohmarried prior to the Civil war located in Henry County, where her father improved a good farm out of the woods, and lived there until his death when past eighty-five years of age. Her mother died at the age of seventy-six. They were reared in the German Reformed Church but later were consistent Presbyterians, while Mr. Shumaker was a democrat. Mr. Gunn is now serving as assessor of Napoleon Township, being in his second term. Mr. and Mrs. Gunn are the parents of four children : Howard L., who married Helen Rasmus of Flatrock Township, is connected with the Hollinshead Furniture Company of Napoleon. Ortis E., now twenty-two years age, was reared and educated on the old homestead in Napoleon Township and is still the his father. Burdette is nineteen years age and has finished his education in the lsoac1 schools. The youngest Mron, now e years of age, and attending school. HENRY J. RIESSEN. As evidenced in a fine country home, a productive and highly valuable farm, and all the improvements and comforts of country life, one of the most substantial men of Henry County is Henry J. Riessen. His home is on section 11 of Napoleon Township, and the fine display of industry and thrift shown there is entirely a result of his well directed efforts through a purposeful career beginning in early youth and continuing to the present day. He was born in Obendorf, Holstein, Germany, March 2, 1857. His people had lived Holstein for several generations, first as subjects of Denmark and later of Germany. His parents were Henry and Dora (Jahn) Riessen, also natives of Holstein. The mother died in the old country at the age of forty-two. Her first husband was a Mr. Redman, and by that union there was one son, Charles Redman, who is now living in Napoleon Township of Henry County. Henry Riessen, the father, was a weaver by trade, an occupation he followed in the old country until 1869. Then with his three children, Charles Redman and his son Henry and a daughter Matilda, who died in Henry County unmarried at the age of thirty-two, he set out for the New World. The little family party traveled from Kiel to Hamburg, thence took passage to Liverpool, and from there on an English liner crossed the ocean to Boston. From there they went west to Detroit, then to Toledo, and they arrived in Henry County June 2, 1869. After a year of miscellaneous labor at wages, the father bought forty acres of wild land, and devoted all his time and energy to its improvement. His subsequent career was spent in Henry County as a practical farmer, and he died a number of years ago in Napoleon Township at the age of sixty-four. He was a Lutheran and a democrat in politics. Henry J. Riessen, whose mother died when he was nine years old, received his early training in German schools, and had only three months of schooling after he came to this country. He early learned to rely upon his own efforts, and his independent vigorous career has brought him the best of rewards in material circumstances • and also in the esteem of hi community. He has acquired and improved a fine place of 123 acres in section 11 of Napoleon Township, and has done much to equip his farm with the best and most up to date improvements. In his .group of buildings is a barn on a foundation 36x48 feet, a granary 24x36 feet, a cow shed 18x36 feet, awl a garage 14x20. His home is one of the most attractive in that part of the township, a modern ten-room house. Mr. Riessen finds his profit chiefly in the growing of good stock, cattle, hogs and horses and his fields produce all the staple cereals raised in this section of Ohio. Mr. Riessen was married in Napoleon Township to Miss Mary E. Snyder. She was born in Henry County January 12, 1855, and has spent practically all her life there, being a woman of superior intelligence and an excellent homemaker. Her parents were Henry and Christiana (Meyers) Snyder. Her father was born in Ohio or Pennsylvania and her 'mother in Stark County, Ohio, but of German parentage. 1486 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO They were married in Henry County. Mr. Snyder served three years as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war. He was once wounded in the heel, and he spent three months as a prisoner in Belle Isle. His years after the war were spent as a farmer in Napoleon Township, where his wife died January 12, 1881, when about forty-one years of age. She was the mother of nine children, five sons and four daughters, and all are living except one of the sons. With the exception of one son, those still living are married and have children of their own. Mrs. Riessen, the oldest of the children, is the mother of a son and a daughter. Charles H., aged thirty-four, is a bachelor, and still lives at home with his parents. Mary Christina, also at home, finished her education in the local public schools. The family are all members of Emanuel Lutheran Church, and Mr. Riessen and his son are democrats. THOMAS E. MARSHALL. The work he has done in business and public affairs has made Thomas E. Marshall one of the best known citizens of Auglaize County. A mark of this came in the August primaries of 1916, when he was nominated by two votes over several competitors as democratic candidate for the office of county treasurer in Auglaize County. Mr. Marshall has been ,very active in democratic politics since casting his first vote, and has served as clerk of the town council of St. Marys and on the ward committee. He was born in St. Marys, Auglaize County? March 27, 1882maternalboth the paternal and maternal lines represents some of the very old and honored families of this portion of Ohio. He is a son of Samuel K. and Priscilla (Smith) Marshall, both of whom are now living at St. Marys. His paternal grandparents were James A. aid Nancy Mary Marshall, the former born in 1822 and died September 13, 1860, and the latter born in 1824 and died in 1877. Smallpox was the disease which carried both of them away. They arrived in Auglaize County in pioneer times, and James A. Marshall acquired land from the Government during President Polk's administration. Mr. Marshall's maternal grandparents were Henry P. and Mary Smith, both of whom were born in Auglaize County and are still living at the advanced ages of eighty-two and seventy-seven, respectively. The Smiths were among the very first white people to locate and make homes in this part of Northwest Ohio. Samuel K. Marshall was born in Auglaize County, February 4, 1851, and his wife was born there October 22, 1860. The former followed fish. ing for some years, afterward lived on his farm in this county, but in 1900 removed with his family to the Town of St. Marys. He is a democrat in politics, has served as democratic ward committeeman, as assessor and on the school board. His wife is active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the seven children born to Samuel K. Marsh and wife five are now living : Julius is priva secretary and manager in an oil concern Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Thomas E. ; Belva L., school teacher ; Nellie, clerk in a store at S Marys ; and Mary, a bookkeeper with the F. National Bank. Thomas E. Marshall after graduating from high school at St. Marys in. 1899 entered a machine shop to learn the trade. While there he carried a course in the International Correspondence School of Scranton, and thus perfected himself in theory while his daily work gave him abundant practical experience. For six months he was employed in the Gas Engine Supply Company at Muncie, Indiana, and then returning home became Shipping clerk in a box factory at St. Marys. He has proved a competent and efficient workman in every capacity, and is now warehouseman under Mr. Long in the Ohio Oil Company. In 1904 he married kiss Neva Elizabeth Baxter, whose former home was near Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have a family of three children : James B., Evelyn Irene and George Kenton, all of them now in the public schools of St. Marys. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall are members of the Presbyterian Church, and fraternally he is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and council of Masonry and with the Fraternal Order of Eagles. GERHARD H. PRIOR. The grotesque appearing farmer with whom the comic artist has made us familiar has gone out of vogue in Northwestern Ohio, if, indeed, he ever existed and in his place has come a man who appears well, thinks well, is informed on current events, and has that sincere desire to elevate himself to the top notch of his occupation which cannot fail to secure him some measure of success. He is prosperous and intelligent, is a thorough master of the calling which forms his life work, and commands respect and attention wherever he goes. To this clam belongs Gerhard H. Prior, one of the prosperous and progressive agriculturists of Henry HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1487 County, the owner of two fine farms in Harrison Township, and a man who has honestly won his own way to his present success. Mr. Prior was born at Sladenhauser, Hanover, Germany, October 2, 1851, and is a son of Louis and Louise (Filling) (Cook) Prior: Louis Prior was a member of an old and honorable German Lutheran family of Hamer, which could trace its ancestry back for generations in its native land. He was a farmer in a small way, and by his first marriage had three children : William, Mary and Adam, all of whom came to this country and were married, and one of whom, Adam, is still living in Sandusky County, Ohio, in advanced years. After the death of his first wife, Louis Prior was married to Mrs. Louise (Cook) Filling, the widow of Herman Filling, who also had three children : Henry, Fred and Eliza. Of these, Eliza is living in Sandusky County, Ohio, is married and has ten children. Fred is a bachelor and a resident of Sandusky County. Henry married and located in Napoleon Township, Henry County, where he accumulated a large farm, on which he died in 1910. He left six children, namely : Louis, Fred, Henry, William, Mary and Carrie, all single. But one child was born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Prior : Gerhard H., of this review. Louis Prior was an earnest, sober and industrious workman, steady in his habits and honorable in his dealings. He was able to make a living for his family in the old country, but his ambition reached out beyond that and he finally decided to try his fortunes in the land across the water where he had heard that opportunities in profusion awaited the energetic seeker. Gathering together all the means that lay at his disposal, with his wife and children he boarded a sailing vessel at Bremen, Germany, in September, 1853, when his son Gerhard H. was not yet two years old, and just six weeks later arrived at the harbor of New York. From the metropolis the little ty made its way to Toledo, and then all struck out on foot, through the woods, to hin four miles of Woodville, Sandusky County, Ohio, where the father rented a farm. ey found American customs and methods different, but the father, with the adaptability of his race, soon mastered these difficulties, and after three years of renting was ready to start on a property of his own. Thus it was that he purchased a forty-acre tract of wild land for $300, not a large sum as it would be viewed now, but at that time representing all of Mr. Prior's capital. On this property he erected a small log cabin, and in this primitive dwelling the children, including Gerhard H., were reared. In later years, as the family finances permitted, more commodious and comfortable buildings were erected, the ground was cleared and improved, the farm was brought to a high state of development, and there the parents rounded out well-filled and useful lives, the father dying in 1882, at the age of seventy-six years, and the mother eighteen months later, in 1884, when seventy-two years old. Throughout their lives they were members of the Lutheran Church, and their faith was lived every day. They were charitable and kindly people who were highly respected in their community, and in their deaths their locality lost two who had helped to lay broad and deep the foundation for the coming generations. Mr. Prior was a dem- ocrat, but politics played only a small part in his life, which in the main was devoted to his home and his family. Gerhard H. Prior spent the greater part of his boyhood and youth on the old family homestead in the vicinity of Woodville. His early years were filled with hard, honest toil, for when he was not assisting in the work of the homestead, he was helping his father at the trade of carpenter, and he was compelled to devote his every leisure moment to study in order to gain education. When he reached his majority he was eager to embark upon ventures on his own account, and made the first move in this direction when he established a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Mollie Luebker, a resident of Sandusky County. She was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1870, and was a child of ten years when brought to this country by her parents, William and Anna (Coolman) Luebker, who first located in Sandusky County. Some years later the Luebker family removed to Henry County and settled on a farm in Napoleon Township, a tract of sixty acres. Here the mother died in December, 1912, at the age of sixty-six years, while the father still survives at seventy-three. For many years Mrs. Luebker was known as one of the devoted Christian women of her community, a faithful member of the Lutheran Church, to which her husband also belongs. He is a democrat in his political views, and is considered one of the substantial men of his township, where he is held in high esteeming In about 1885, after the birth of two sons, Mr. and Mrs. Prior left Sandusky County 1488 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and came to Henry County. Here Mr. Prior purchased eighty acres of land in section 31, Harrison Township, which he immediately began to cultivate. He now has a farm fertile and productive, on which he raises fine crops, and in addition grows a good grade of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. He is a keen and far-sighted business man, secured a good price for his product in the market, and has won the friendship and esteem of his associates by reason of . his honorable and straightforward methods. In line with his progressive and enlightened views, he has erected a good set of buildings on his property, including a comfortable nine-room residence, and a large grain, barn and garage, 25 by 30 feet, with suitable and attractive outbuildings. His equipment has always been of the best, and the whole property breathes an atmosphere of thrift and prosperity. In addition, Mr. Prior is the owner of forty acres of highly improved land located in section 28, Harrison Township. Mr. and Mrs. Prior have long been members of the Lutheran Church, and have reared their children in that faith. He is a democrat in his political views, but is not an office seeker, preferring to give his time and attention to his farm work. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Prior : William, who is his father's chief assistant in the work of the farm ; Louise, who ably assists her mother in the housework ; Henry and Marie, who are attending the Napoleon High School ; and Lucy and Walter, who are students in the grammar school. JOSEPH RUSSELL MCALLISTER. During the past eleven years, Napoleon Township, in Henry County, has been the scene of the agricultural activities of Joseph Russell McAllister. Formerly a railroad man, at the time of his marriage, Mr. McAllister began farming and since then has developed into a practical and progressive agriculturist who is able to hold his own among the more experienced farmers of his locality. He is now engaged in the cultivation of a handsome property located . just south of the city corporation of Napoleon, and while his homestead is not as large as some of the others in the township; its equipment and the manner in which it is conducted make it a model Ohio farming Mr. McAllister was born near Ashland, Kentucky, September 23, 1880, and is a son of Joseph R. and Elizabeth (Hannah) McAllister, natives of Kentucky and descendants respectively of English and Scotch ancestry , His mother was a daughter of William Hannah, whose father was born in. America and his mother in England. William Hannah was born in Kentucky, was there reared, educated and married, and passed his entire life in the Blue Grass State, his death occurring in mid. dle life in the explosion of a boiler in a saw mill where he was employed. Joseph R. McAllister died when' his son, Joseph R., was an infant, leaving also another child, Bertha, who is the wife of Otto Birkmaier, of Portland, Oregon, and has two children, Otto, Jr., and Elizabeth. After the death of her first husband, Mrs. McAllister was again married, being united with Marion Canby. They now reside at Tumwater, not far from Olympia, Washington, and have no children. When .he was still a small child, Joseph Russell McAllister was taken by his mother and stepfather to Olympia, Washington, in the vicinity of which place he was reared to manhood and received a common school education. He grew up an ambitious youth, and when little more than a lad left homc and secured employment with the Northern Paci- fie Railroad, the line of which ran near hi stepfather's dwelling, and the next fifteen years of his life were passed in railroading- First employed as a brakeman, he worked his way up by successive stages until he was put in charge of an engine and for three years traveled through the West and Middle West in an engine cab with his hand upon the throttle. His journeyings finally brought him to Ohio, but it was in St. Paul, Minnesota, that he met and married the lady who is now his wife and who prevailed upon him to give up railroading for agricultural work. Mr. McAllister had had but little experience in farming, but his adaptability demonstrated itself in the manner in which he adopted his new vocation. He applied himself resolutely to mastering the principles of farming, and in the short time that he has been a tiller of the soil has achieved a marked success. At this time he is the owner of a farm of 62 ½ acres, in section 24, Napoleon Township, just south o of the corporation limits of the City of Napoleon, in the fertile valley of the Maumee River The greater part of this land is in a fine of cultivation and has grown as high as bushels of corn, 40 bushels of wheat an bushels of oats to the acre. Since his a Mr. McAllister has constantly endeavored to add to his buildings and in equipment, an addition to his comfortable dwelling has good HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1489 outbuildings and a barn 30 by 86 feet, with an barn 36 by 44 feet. He uses modern machinery and appliances in his operations and is quick to realize the benefit of new ideas and to them in his own work. Mr. McAllister is a on and a member of the Woodmen of the World, having joined the latter lodge while a resident of the State of Washington. He has had no time for politics, but has supported good men and beneficial measures and maintains an interest in things that affect his community. Mr. McAllister was married October 7, 1905, to Miss Olive May French, who was born September 23, 1872, on the farm on which she now lives, and was educated in the schools and in an art school in New York State. She is a daughter of William and Sarrah (Miller) French, who were born in Licking County, Ohio, and were brought to Henry County by their parents when they were children. They were educated, reared and married in Napoleon Township, where they settled down to farming on a property located on Holgate Pike, south of Napoleon, the property on which Mr. and Mrs. McAllister now make their home. They were greatly respected and esteemed in their community. Mr. French died October 29, 1914, at the age of sixty-seven years, Mrs. French having passed away on the 7th of the same month, when sixty-three years old. They had two children; Leonard E., now one of the prosperous farmers of Napoleon Township, married Freda Stroeh and has three children : Margaret, Inez and Ernest ; and Olive May, now Mrs. McAllister. To Mr. and Mrs. McAllister there have come three children : William L., who was born May 5, 1909 ; Marion Francis, born September 23, 1910 ; and Elizabeth Ellen, born July 24, 1914. L. C. BRODBECK is a very successful lawyer at St. Marys. His membership in the local bar covers ten years, and the service he has rendered as a capable attorney has well justified his choice of this profession as a career. Nearly all his life has been spent in St. s and his parents were also natives of town and still reside there. His Branders on both sides came from Germany. The name of his paternal grandfather was Mathias Brodbeck. L. C. Brodbeck was born at St. Marys, ber 30, 1882, a son of Julius P. and tam (Hoppel) Brodbeck. His father was rn November 28, 1854, and his mother April 27, 1861, and they grew up and were married at St. Marys. Julius Brodbeck is a contractor and for some years was connected with the oil fields as a rig builder. He is a republican, and while his own church affiliation is Lutheran his wife and children are Catholics. At an earlier period of his career Julius Brodbeck spent five years in Kansas, and when he returned to Ohio he was at the bottom financially, but by hard work has recovered and is now rated as a successful man in his community. He and his wife have seven children : Agnes, wife of L. C. Hirsch, a St. Marys attorney ; L. C. ; Walter, who is a rural mail carrier ; Ethel, employed at Piqua ; Helen, a trained nurse at Dayton ; Stella, a stenographer living at St. Marys; and Pauline, still at home. L. C. Brodbeck was graduated from the St. Marys High School in 1900. Following his high school course he taught two years, and largely from his earnings in that occupation he paid at least part of his expenses while in law school. He attended the University of Michigan in the law department, and was graduated in 1906. Since then he has practiced in his native city, and has handled business not only in the local courts but in the federal courts of Ohio. For the year of 1914-15 he served as city solicitor. Through the vacancy caused by the removal from St. Marys of H. F. Wittenbrink, Mr. Brodbeck was appointed to fill the vacancy. In 1906, the year he graduated from law school, Mr. Brodbeck married Olece Barkume. She was born in Detroit, studied law, and she and Mr. Brodbeck became acquainted while in law school at Ann Arbor. They are active members of the Catholic Church and Mr. Brodbeck is a republican. Amos BLANK. With the coming of Amos Blank to Henry County in 1895 an element of strength and purpose was added to the upbuilding forces of a prosperous community. For a number of years Mr. Blank had been engaged in farming and in the sawmilling business in Sandusky County, and when he came to his new home he was prepared to enter actively into the life of the community and to contribute to its progress and wellbeing. So strongly did he impress his personality and ability upon the agriculturists of his locality that at the organization of the Henry County Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company they unhesitatingly elected him its first president, and he remained at the 1490 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO head of the organization until his retirement, a few months prior to his death, his soundness of judgment and strong executive ability placing the company upon a sound and stable foundation. Mr. Blank came of good, sturdy Pennsylvania ancestry and of Dutch stock. His father, William Blank, was born in the Keystone State in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and was there three times married. The name of his first wife is not known. His second wife was Anna Hess, who became the mother of David, Abraham, Peter, Amos, Malinda, Matilda, Elizabeth and Mary, all of whom were married except Mary, and all now deceased except Malinda and Matilda, both widows. The latter now lives in Toledo and is Mrs. Crisleb, and the former, . Mrs. McChristen, resides near Saint Johns, Michigan. By his last marriage, to a Penn. sylvania girl, William Blank had two children : Emmeline, deceased, who was the wife of Daniel Shively ; and William, Jr., formerly a farmer of Washington State, but now living with Mrs. Blank, a widow with one daughter, Lena, who is married and has two children. The youngest of his parents' children, Amos Blank was born at Gibsonburg, Sandusky, County, Ohio, April 20, 1841. He was reared in his native county, where he secured a public school education, and continued to be engaged in farming on the home place until about the year 1885 when he left home to go into the sawmilling business in partnership with his brother, each hying a half interest in the enterprise. After three years he disposed of his holdings in the mill and resumed farming, and continued to be so engaged until coming to Henry County, in 1895. Here, in section 19, Harrison Township, he purchased a tract of 260 acres of the very best land, which continued to be his home until the time of his death. He made many improvements on this property, including barns and outbuildings and a fine ten-room residence, brick, of modern architecture, and equipped the farm with every up-to-date appliance in the way of machinery. When the Henry County Farmers Mutual 'Fire Insurance Company was under organization the founders of this enterprise had little trouble in agreeing upon the man to place in the chief executive/ position. Mr. Blank's broad experience, his sound judgment, his conservative views, his absolute. integrity in business affairs and strict probity in private life, and the firm confidence in which he was held by the people of Henry County, made him the logical candidate for the position of president, and in that post he was placed The officials had no reason to regret of their choice, nor had the people. Under his able administration of affairs, the company fol. lowed a policy of absolute fairness, of conservatism blended with progressiveness, and of principles founded upon the fundamentals of honesty, and the affairs of .the organization progressed and prospered to such an extent that it became one of the soundest organizations of its kind in the state. If he had nothing else, the farmers of Henry CI would have reason to remember Mr. with gratitude for the work he did in building up an institution which has been of such benefit to them. In January, 1911, feeling that he had done his duty in connection with this company, he refused re-election, and was succeeded in office by H. S. Hashbarge, the present incumbent. As a citizen Mr. Blank did his full share - and more—in the promotion of public enterprises. He was never too busy to give of his time, or his influence, his means or his abilities, to the advancement of anything that promised to be for the general welfare. For years he had been a strong prohibitionist, and had fought valiantly in the cause of to temperance. As a fraternalist, he belonged too Napoleon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and Haly Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. No one ever doubted his pure motives ; he was at all times fair and above board, and in his death the community of Napoleon lost citizen upon whose honor it could absolutely rely. About a month before his death, Mr. Blank, accompanied by his wife, went to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to visit a son. There Mr. Blank contracted a severe cold which turned into pneumonia, and after an illness of but ten days' duration he passed away April 2, 1911, aged sixty-nine years, eleven months, twelve days. The remains were brought back to Napoleon for interment, and the funeral se services were held under the auspices of the Masonic lodge, Rev. W. A. Mast officiating. On August 30, 1868, Mr. Blank was united in marriage with Miss Emma Clifford, who was born at Wellington, Lorain County, Ohio, August 20, 1848, and was brought as a Child to Sandusky County, Ohio, where she was reared and educated. Mrs. Blank is a great-granddaughter of John Clifford, who was born at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1777, the son of a soldier of the Revolutionary war. He HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1491 was one of the men who entered the wilderness of Lorain County, Ohio, in 1818, and founded the Village of Wellington. There he became a prosperous farmer, clearing up a good property on Wellington Creek, where he passed away September 17, 1869, at the age ninety-two years. While John. Clifford was an of courage and decision, he was mild mannered, quiet, sympathetic and of loving and lovable character, and these characteristics have been inherited in large degree by descendants. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which the family have generally belonged. Among the children of John Clifford was Daniel Clifford, the grandfather of Mrs. Blank. He was born in Massachusetts, in 1799, and in 1818 came to Lorain County, Ohio, with his father, there growing up in the wilds and experiencing the vicissitudes and hardships of life in an unsettled. community. He married a pioneer girl from Massachusetts, Sarah P. Hall, their wedding being after the manner of the times, a log cabin affair to which the guests traveled by horse and. ox-team, Mr. Clifford using the latter means of conveyance when he went after his bride. Their honeymoon journey consisted of a four-day trip by ox-team to their lonely but in the nods where they began life. Their entire lives were passed on their farm, where they built up a comfortable homestead, reared a anvil} that was a credit to them, and gained the respect and esteem of the entire community by their straightforward and honorable lives. Mr. Clifford was about eighty rs of age at the time of his death; while Mrs. Clifford was several years younger when e passed away two years later. Henry Sheldon Clifford, son of Daniel and Sarah P. Clifford, and father of Mrs. Blank, born at Wellington, Lorain County, eh 3, 1827. He grew up on the old home farm, and worked thereon until he was sixteen of age. at which time he started to learn ade of blacksmith. a vocation which he ed until within a few years of his death, August 5, 1899. In 1868 he had changed his residence to Lemoyne, Wood County, and there he resided for a period of thirty-one . Mr. Clifford was married in Lorain County to Miss Sophronia Merrill, who was at Rochester, Lorain County, in 1824, who died in that county February 23. 1851, leaving two daughters: Mrs. Emma Blank, and Josephine, the wife of Benjamin Wice, living at Pemberville, Wood County, with a family of sons and daughters. For his second wife, Henry S. Clifford married Sarah Colburn, who was born January 28, 1823, and died without issue, June 23, 1908. She was a faithful wife and Christian woman, and a real mother to her step-daughters. Henry S. Clifford is remembered as a man of sturdy honesty and strength of character, who won friends by his many fine qualities, and confidence and esteem by his integrity and upright dealing. To Mr. and Mrs. Blank there were born eight children, as follows : Emma J., born in 1870, who died in 1871; Amos Byron, a successful oil operator of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, who married Bertha Vockman of Napoleon, and has one son, Freeman B. ; Myrtle M., who is the wife of Sheldon Osborn, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and has. four children, Florence who is married and has three children, May who is married, Emma who is married, and Franklin who resides with his parents ; John Palmer, who is now carrying on operations on *the home farm as manager for his mother 's interests, married Nettie Long, and has three children, Frances, Catherine and Helen ; Iva B., the wife of Charles Hagerty, a successful agriculturist of Liberty Township, Henry County, has three children, Charles A. Clara and Clarence, the last two twins ; William H., a well-known horseman of Napoleon, a breeder of fine draft horses and the owner of three registered thoroughbreds, is unmarried and makes his home with his mother ; Bertha, who is the wife of William Hincher, a plumber of Napoleon, and has one son, Rockwell B. ; and Effa J., who is the wife of Samuel Allerton, a well-known musician of Napoleon. WALTER H. LADD. There is hardly a better known man in the Bass Islands than Walter H. Ladd. He has spent forty years in and around Put-in-Bay. He first became known in that community in 1872, when he was about twenty-two years of age. His early life had been spent in Sandusky, where he was born in 1855. Coming to Put-in-Bay he put in the summer of 1872 as an employe in the Put-in-Bay Hotel boathouse. In the fall of the same year he returned to Sandusky and was employed there at different lines until 1878. In the summer of 1878 he was again at Put-in-Bay and has never left that community since then., He resumed his services with the Put-in-Bay House and until that old structure was burned on August 3, 1878. The following year he 1492 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO started in business for himself with a boathouse, his first location being in front of the Grove. Later this was condemned by the city and he then rented space on the Fox dock. That was the location at which his many friends and patrons found him until the fire which destroyed the dock in 1914. Since then he has continued his boating service at a temporary location. After coming to Put-in-Bay Mr. Ladd married Elizabeth McElroy of Elyria. Most of their children are already established in business or in homes of their own. Walter S. is now postmaster of Put-in-Bay and also has a shoe and notion store ; he married a daughter of Rudolph Siefield of North Bass Island. Mayme, the next in age, lives at home. Georgia who died in 1913 was the wife of Hal Frisbee of Cleveland. Ed R. is, in business at Detroit. Harry is foreman for Charles Stenson of Port Clinton. Nathan H. is still at home with his father. Mr. Ladd's mother is still living, now eighty-five years of age, and makes her home with her son in Put-in-Bay. Mr. Ladd's father was one of the early settlers and a well known lake captain for many years around Sandusky, locating at what was then known as Bloomingville. He died in Hammot Hospital, Erie, Pennsylvania. Mr. Ladd has long been one of the stanch factors in the republican party 'at Put-in-Bay. In recent years he has not been so prominent a party man as formerly. For a long time he has held the office of presiding judge of elections, has served on the council, and every one knows him for a sterling and upright citizen. During the winter season he spends his time at the United States fish hatcheries assisting in the propagation of white fish. His friends tell a story in which he is highly commended for the heroic part he played in the fire which destroyed Fox dock a year or so ago. At the time of the fire a barge loaded with oil and gasoline in barrels was alongside the dock, and the fire communicated to this cargo. Mr. Ladd recognizing that the only way to save the shore end of the dock and the Commodore Hotel was to get the dangerous barge out of the way, rode out in a boat and fastened a line to the burning scow, and while the barrels were exploding and throwing burning oil and gasoline in every direction he towed the barge away out of the radius of danger and thus prevented what might have been a very disastrous conflagration, though only at the expense of some severe burns around the head and face from the liquid fire. C. W. SCHMEHL. The resolute, enterprising man is never discouraged by temporary setbacks and failures. There is a good deal of truth in the old assertion that no one ever succeeds unless he fails. When C. W. Schmehl, now a leading lumber mill owner at St. Marys, left the old farm on which in was reared in Auglaize County, he made first serious venture as a general merchant. He kept his store through ups and downs for five years, and then came the failure. This disaster put him back to the point of begin. ring, with only his experience and some la. bilities to show for his five years of earnest effort as a merchant. He began working common labor, then found office employmen and finally entered the service of the St. Marys Wheel and Spoke Company. He w with that concern for sixteen years. In th time he did every kind of service in the offi and plant. He bought timber, sold the g on the road, and made himself so general useful to the company that he was m assistant treasurer, an office he resigned wh he left the firm in 1905. In that year made his start as a sawmill man. He only $200 to apply on the purchase price his sawmill, but he has long since paid o on all his obligations and has one of the p cipal mills in Auglaize County, cutting kinds of timber and with a large market the entire cut. Mr. Schmehl was born at Erie, Pennsylvania, March 11, 1859, but has lived in Auglaize County practically all his life. His parents are John and Louisa Schmehl, both the natives of Mecklenburg, Germany, where his father was born in 1832 in Mecklenburg and his mother in Westphalia in 1829. Both the grandfathers were killed while serving in the German army. John Schmehl died in 1896 and his widow, now eighty-seven years of age is still living in Auglaize County. They were married in Erie, Pennsylvania, about 1855, John Schmehl came to the United States at the age of eighteen, lived in Rochester, New York, for a time, and then went to Erie, Pennsylvania, and in 1860 brought his family to Ohio and settled in Auglaize County. He lived to clear up a farm and make a good home for himself and family. He and his wife were members of the German Lutheran Church and in politics he was a republican. There were fourteen children altogether, and five are still living : C. W. Schmehl; CaroIine, widow of Charles Koch ; Magdalene widow of William Sterth and living in Col- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1493 bus: Louisa, wife of Conrad Lechner, a farmer; and William F., who is a truck farmer at Alexandria, Louisiana. C. W. Schmehl grew up on the old farm in Auglaize County and received his education in the district schools. In 1879 he married Mary Born, who was born in Lancaster, Ohio. Seven children were born into their home : Amclia, now deceased; Bertha, wife of Charles Rose, a manufacturer of New York City ; Clara and Louisa, both deceased ; 'Carl W., Hazel and Erma, all living at home. The son, Carl, has attained the thirty-second degree in the Masonic order, though still quite a young man. Mr. and Mrs. Schmehl belong to the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Schmehl has passed all the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge and in Masonry is senior warden in the Bluc Lodge and belongs to the Royal Arch Consistory, the council and the various Scottish Rite bodies. In matters of politics he is a republican, but has never sought office and gives all- his time to the operation of his lumber mills. HERMANN RUH. One of the successful grape growers at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, who has grown up in the business and understands both the proper cultivation of the vines and the manufacture of wine, is Hermann Ruh, whose father was one of the pioneer settlers here. Hermann Ruh was born on the east point of South Bass Island, Lake Erie, July 18,1869, and is a son of Charles and Christian (Brandt-Schmidt) Ruh. Charles Ruh was born in Baden, Germany, December 31, 1834, and in 1853 came to the United States and located at Sandusky, Ohio. There he was married April 17, 1854, to Christain Brandt-Schmidt, who was born in Baden, Germany, August 10, 1828. In the year of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ruh me to Put-in-Bay, where Mr. Ruh entered employ of Mr. Rivera, who was the owner of this island. In his own country, Charles Ruh had learned the tanner's trade but after mina to America he was otherwise engaged. When hereached Put-in-Bay there were three other residents besides Mr. Rivera : Philip Woman, Archibald Jones and an old Indian. The latter soon got into difficulties with the white settlers through his thieving propensi¬ties and was forced to go elsewhere. In the meanwhile Mr. Rivera had discovered how admirably the island soil was suited to the culture of fruit, particularly grapes and he had no difficulty in selling it in parcels ap- Vol.-III-11 propriate for the setting out of vines and establishing a vineyard. About 1857 or 1858 Mr. Ruh had secured through his industry enough capital to purchase a place on east point. This exhausted his means and he had no money left with which to buy grape cuttings or roots that were being distributed by Louis Harms, who is credited with being the introducer here of the Delaware variety of grape. Mr. Ruh was determined to secure some of these roots and succeeded in getting four, paying for the same by taking his ox..- team and ploughing two days for Mr. Harms. With these he started his vineyard. At that time grapes were mainly grown for the manufacture of wine and from his first grape harvest Mr. Ruh pressed out 500 gallons of juice. Perhaps he had not yet learned every fact concerning the fermenting of grape juice for the cask burst in which he had put the liquid and was a total loss. In the course of time he acquired a wine cellar where he could equalize the temperature and he became a large wine producer and continued in the business as long as he lived. His death occurred in 1895 and that of his wife in 1901. They had two children : Hermann and Marie, the latter of whom resides at home. Hermann Ruh attended school at Put-in-Bay. He assisted his father in the vineyard and in wine-making and also in the latter's meat market, for Mr. Ruh, in common with most of the other islanders, carried on several business lines, he being a supplier of meat to Put-in-Bay. Hermann Ruh is now successfully operating the home place of twenty-four acres, sixteen of which are devoted to vineyard purposes and the rest to general farming and orchards. Mr. Ruh continued pressing his own grapes until 1913 but since then, through excellent trade connections, he has been selling his crop as it is picked. In many sections the grape is yet a luxury but the time is coming when people will surely regard it as a necessity, a fragrant wholesome food and medicine. Mr. Ruh was married to Miss Wilhelmina Ritter, who was born in Baden, Germany, and is a daughter of Ernest Ritter, who came to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1882, where he was a carpenter and contractor. Mr. Ruh, like his late father, is a man well posted concerning public matters„ The former is a republican and has never been willing to serve in public office, but the latter was an independent democrat and on more than one occasion was elected to local office, serving 1494 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO honorably and efficiently as trustee and as a member of the board of education. Mr. Ruh is one of the substantial men of the island and one of the most highly respected. CHARLES G. RIEDLING, a native of Put-in- Bay, has been actively identified with the public affairs and the business life of that island for the greater part of his. life. His father, the late Frederick Riedling, came .to the island from Toledo in 1867. Frederick Riedling was a high class German, scholarly, broadly experienced, and for years exercised more than average influence in every community where he lived. He was born- in Germany. He was a student in that country and like many of the university men participated in the revolutionary uprising of 1848. As a result he and countless hosts of Germans found it necessary to expatriate themselves and find a haven of refuge in the United States. Frederick Riedling settled in Ohio. Being one of the few men in the United States at that time who could interpret the complexities of the Chinese alphabet, he was offered and accepted a place in the Government postoffice and was in the dead letter office at Washington dining Lincoln's administration. After the war he went to Sandusky, then to Toledo, and in 1867 to Put-in-Bay. While living in Toledo he was connected with the Humboldt Nurseries. At Put-in-Bay he bought some land on the West Side and began farming and grape growing, an occupation which he followed steadily until his death in 1904 at the age of seventy-one. As an American citizen he was a steadfast republican and for many years was a figure in local politics at Put-in-Bay. He served as a member and president of the board of education and gave a capable performance in every public or private capacity. His children were William, who died at Put-in-Bay in 1892 ; Lizzie, wife of George Miller of Put-in-Bay ; Emma, wife of W. F. Mack of Toledo ; Rose, wife of E. L. Cook of Monroe, Michigan ; Charles G. ; and Jennie, of Put-in-Bay. After leaving home Charles G. Riedling started out as a fruit grower. Later he was entrusted with the management of the Riveria Estate while it was being wound up, and that task completed he removed to Port Clinton and for two years was superintendent of the Port Clinton Canning Company, in which he held some stock. For several years Mr. Riedling was in the service of a Sandusky contracting firm, and in that time had charge of several contracts at Put-in-Bay. It was this experience which led him to start out for himself as a contractor, and since 1913 he has been in business alone as a general contractor. He does all kinds of cement work and also general carpentry and building. Mr. Riedling married Mrs. Caroline Ott Dillenbeck of Sandusky. A republican as was his father, he continuously held office in some capacity or other at Put-in-Bay for twenty years. He has been a member of the school board, was supervisor five or six years and is now township assessor, a position which his fellow citizens have returned him to again and again during the past fifteen years. He . also served in the town council and was chairman of the Finance Committee and treasurer of. the Sinking Fund Trustees. Mr. Riedling is a prominent Mason, being affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter and Knight Templar Commandery and with the Scottish Rite bodies, including the thirty-second degree consistory at Toledo. He was raised to the fl consistory degrees with the Twentieth Century Club at Cleveland, but when the new temple was erected at Toledo he and others of this section became charter members of that organization. JOHN H. KOENIG, since starting his career a comparatively poor boy thirty years ago, has prospered in several different fields of undertaking, especially as a lawyer and as a real estate man. He is now identified with St. Marys, where he has his office as a dealer in real estate and from which point he directs his various interests. Nearly all his life he has lived in Auglaize County and was born near St. Marys, May 29, 1868, a son of Jacob and Barbara (Hoppel) Koenig. His father, who was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, June 6, 1844, came to America when nine years of age with his father, Charles Koenig. The latter died in Auglaize County. Jacob Koenig grew up on a farm, and though given only the advantages of common schools made a splendid suce as a farmer. For a few years he was in t butcher business at Celina. Though pas seventy years of age he is still living on his old homestead in Auglaize County and has a fine and well improved farm of 115 acres. He is a. member of St. Paul's German Reformed Church, a democrat, and has been elected to various township offices. His wife, Barbara Hoppel, was born near Dayton, Ohio, February 23, 1845. They were married at St. Marys, and have shared a common desti HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1495 in life for nearly half a century. Their four children were : John H.; Rose R., wife of Guy Heap, a farmer ,and oil man at St. Marys; Laura, wife of Willis .Armstrong, a farmer; and Jacob F., who is probate judge of Auglaize County. John H. Koenig spent his early life on a farm, completed his early education in St. Marys High School, and largely by his own efforts gained a liberal higher training. He taught in the township schools for several terms. For a time he was a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University, and then entered the law school of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he graduated LL. B. in 1893. For a number of years he was in active practice at St. Marys and had a profitable and distinctive clientage. He then became interested in the project of constructing a traction line between Decatur and Fort Wayne, Indiana, known as the Fort Wayne & Springfield Railway Company. He was largely responsible for the successful carrying out of this undertaking, and gave it nearly all his time between 1903 and 1915. In the meantime he began dealing in real estate, and has developed a large amount of property in and around St. Marys, both town and farm property. Mr. Koenig has taken quite an active part in democratic politics, and his church membcrship is with the German Reformed Church. On June 24, 1903, he married Clara Boesel, who was born in New Bremen, Ohio, daughter of Charles Boesel, a prominent resident of New Bremen and at one time state senator. Four children have been born to their union, and the three living are : Anita, John Henry, Jr. and Charles Jacob. WILLIAM SCHNOOK. Hard work and many difficulties have apparently been no obstacle. in the career of William Schnoor, who has steadily marched forward to success and is now one of the leading merchants of Put-in-Bay, being the principal stockholder in the largest merchandise establishment there. He was born at Oak Harbor in Ottawa County, Ohio, in 1875, a son of Peter M. and Caroline (Buttenhagen) Schnoor. His father came from Germany at the age of fourteen with his mother, and spent his early life, in Oak Harbor, where he finished his education. He married there, his wife being a daughter of Charles Buttenhagen, who also came from Germany. Charles Buttenhagen was one of the early settlers on Middle Bass Island, where Mrs. Peter Schnoor was born. Charles Buttenhagen on coming to America lived for a short time in New York, spent ten years in Sandusky, and then settled on Middle Bass Island where he died. Peter Schnoor was an active farmer until 1907, when he retired and is now living at Oak Harbor. He and his wife have the following children : Theresa, who married J. A. Fought and lives in Oak Harbor ; Frank, who died at the age of thirty-six ; Matilda, a resident of Toledo ; William ; Edward, of Chicago ; Henry, of Oak Harbor ; Albert, of Cleveland ; Paul, of Toledo ; Carl, of Toledo ; Milton and Marie, both at home. Since he was twelve years of age William Schnoor has been depending upon his own resources and energy to bring him success. He received only a meager education before leaving home. For three years he was employed by an uncle at wages of $3 a week. That did not seem enough to him, and after the conclusion of a harvest season he ran away and found work at picking grapes at $20 a month on Middle Bass Island. He was on the island for six years, doing farm work in the summer seasons and attending school to improve his education in the winter. At the age of twenty he began working on the wharf of Mr. Fox. Until he was twenty-one years of age Mr. Schnoor sent most of his earnings home to his father. After leaving the wharf employment he was clerk for John Holloway in the latter 's store at Put-in-Bay, receiving as his remuneration $12.50 for the first month. That was the start of his successful career as a merchant. After five years he had reached a point in experience and in the careful accumulation of capital which enabled him to buy a fifth interest in the store, and the title of the firm then became Holloway & Company. Later he bought another fifth interest. Next, in partnership with S. M. Johannsen he bought out Mr. Holloway and each of the new partners took a half interest. Upon the retirement of the senior Mr. Johannsen in September, 1915, Mr. Schnoor acquired a three-fifth interest in the business, the other two shares being held by Carl Johannsen, a son of S. M. Johannsen, and Frank Fox, who is a native of the island. The firm is now known as Schnoor, Johannsen and Fox. It is the largest general merchandise stock kept on the island, and the volume of business annually aggregates more than $50,000. Mr. Schnoor married Miss Maime Weise, a daughter of Joseph Weise of Sandusky. They 1496 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO are the parents of one son, Lynn, who was born in 1907. Mr. Schnoor is an active republican and town treasurer of Put-in-Bay, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Put-in-Bay and with the Lodge of Elks at Sandusky, and is a member of the Episcopal Church. PARKER B. ROBINSON, M. D. Since Doctor Robinson located at Put-in-Bay thirteen years ago, his abilities and his constant devotion to his profession have won him the place of being the leading physician and surgeon of the island. A native of Ohio, he was born in Fulton County west of Wauseon August 19, 1874. His father, T. R. Robinson, who is now living retired at Wauseon, was an early settler in Fulton County and for many years followed farming. It was on his father's farm that Doctor Robinson spent his early years. He attended the common schools and the Wauseon High School, and having no immediate means with which to pay his expenses for medical training, he taught school four years. He also completed the scientific course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and in the spring of 1904 graduated M. D. from the medical department of Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois. He is a well trained and broad minded physician, and has shown unusual resourcefulness in meeting all the exigencies and problems which come up in a physician's practice. The summer following his graduation he spent at home partly for rest and recuperation and partly to look after his mother who was then in poor health. On September 8, 1904, Doctor Robinson located in. Put-in-Bay, and has since carried on a general practice as physician and surgeon. He lives on the island the year around, and besides his steady patronage among the permanent residents he has a large practice during the summer season among the visitors to the island. Doctor Robinson is a member of the Ottawa County Medical Staff, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has been a vigorous and effective worker in behalf of local improvement. He is a stockholder and director in the. Put-in-Bay Improvement Company, is serving on the local school board and town council, and has been a member of the council continuously since 1905 with the exception of one term spent in the mayor's chair. Dr. Robinson is a repub lican, a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a mcmber of the Put-in-Bay Board of Trade. He married Miss Eina J. Weisel of Monroe, Michigan; Their five children are : Don. ald, Irene, Parker B., Jr., Douglas and John S. ALONZO CONANT during his active lifetime was one of the men who by their enterprise, foresight and business activities secured and brought about a definite business and civic distinction for the City of Van Wert. When he came to Van Wert in 1852 he found only a village, and a large part of land now occupied by the city was th covered with woods. All the surrounding country was largely undeveloped and a sea population had found homes in this now populous and wealthy county. There were no railroads. By its position on the canal Delphos then had a dominating importance as a trade and transportation center. It vas with a view toward the future and with strenuous endeavor for the present tai Alonzo Conant and his public spirited associates laid the foundation upon which solid superstructure of the City of Van Wert now stands. For a number of years he an active merchant, being engaged in grocery business with Simon Swinford. 1868 the Eagle Stave Company was organized and he was elected as general manager, position he filled three years. For man years Mr. Conant was one of the leading bankers in Western Ohio. In 1871 he came a. director in the First National Bank at Van Wert and in 1878 was elected president, an office he continued to fill until his death on August 3, 1896. Mr. Conant represented the sturdy stock of New England which in the early years the seventeenth century introduced civilization to the rugged shores of New England and thus by ancestry he was well fitted the work which he found awaiting him Western Ohio. He was born on a farm in Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine, March 17, 1817, and lived to be nearly eighty years of age. He was a lineal descendant of Roger Conant, who was born in England and was baptized at All Saints Church, the parish of East Budleigh, Devonshire, England, April 9, 1592, the youngest child of Richard and Agnes ( Clarke) Conant. His early years were spent in England, and in November 1618, he was married in London. In 1623, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1497 Roger Conant came to America. His first location was at Plymouth. The original Plymouth colonists it will be remembered were Separatists in religious doctrine and practice, while Roger Conant represented that greater body of Non-Conformists who a few years later comprised the bulk of the population of the Massachusetts Bay colony. It was on account of differences in religious belief that Roger Conant remained only a short time in Plymouth. In the winter of 1624-25 Rev. John White of Dorchester chose him to govern affairs on Cape Ann. The company of which he was the head made the first settlement in the Massachusetts Bay colony, and thus Roger Conant, though most historians have not so recognized him, was entitled to the honor of being the first governor of Massachusetts. He performed a notable service in calling the attention of prominent persons in England to the advantages of Massachusetts for purposes of colonization. Those largely responsible for the direction of emigration to America from England had whitherto been inclined to depreciate the Massachusetts Bay situation, and it is said that but for Roger Conant the colony might have been abandoned on the bay. His home was. at Old Salem, and he built the first frame house erected in that historic. city. In 1628 he was succeeded as governor by John Endicott. Many years ago a statue of Roger Conant was erected on Washington Square in Salem. But a better portrait of him and one more familiar to Americans in general was drawn hv Hawthorne in "The Snow Image and Other Twice Told Tales." In that classic Hawthorne writes as follows : "Roger Conant, the first settler in Naumkeag, has built his dwelling, months ago, on .the border of the forest path ; and at this moment he comes eastward through the vista of woods, with his gun over his shoulder, bringing home the choice portions of a deer. His stalwart figure, clad in a leather jerkin and breeches of the same, strides sturdily onward, with such an air of physical force and energy that we night almost expect the very trees to stand aside and give him room to pass. And so, indeed, they must ; for, humble as is his name in history, Roger Conant is still of that class of men who do not merely find, but make their place in the system of human affairs; a man of thoughtful strength, he has planted the germ of a city. There stands his habitation, showing in its rough architecture some fcature of the Indian wigwam, and some of the log cabin, and somewhat, too, of the straw thatched cottage in old England, where this good yeoman had his birth and breeding. The dwelling is surrounded by a cleared space of a few acres where Indian corn grows thrivingly among the stumps of the trees ; while the dark forest hems it in and seems to gaze silently and solemnly, as if wondering at the breadth of sunshine . which the white man spreads about himing An Indian, half hidden in the dusky shade, is gazing and wondering too. Within the door of the cottage you discern the wife, with her ruddy English cheek. She is singing, doubtless, a psalm tune, at her household work; or perhaps she sighs at the remembrance of the cheerful gossip, all the merry social life, of her native village beyond the vast and melancholy sea. Yet the next moment she laughs with sympathetic glee, at the .sports of her little tribe of children ; and soon turns round, with the home look in her face, as her husband's foot is heard approaching the rough-hewn threshold." Of the Conant family in its various generations from this pioneer ancestor into recent years a complete account is given in a family genealogy that has been compiled and published by Frederick Odell Conant of Portland, Maine. The grandfather of the Van Wert pioneer was Benjamin Conant, who was born at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, August 29, 1756. In April, 1775, as a youth of nineteen he was one of Capt. Nathan Mitchell's Company which marched to Cambridge at the Lexington alarming About 1795 Benjamin Conant removed to that part of Massachusetts now included in the Town of Turner, Androscoggin County, Maine. He was one of the pioneers there, and spent there the rest of his years. His son Benjamin, father of Alonzo, was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, September 24, 1794, and was only a few months old .when the family removed to Turner, Maine. He grew up on a farm and lived quietly and industriously in that section all his days. In 1816 he married Althea Staples, who was born in Massachusetts, July 8, 1793. They became the parents of nine children. Benjamin Conant and wife were members of the Universalist Church and reared their family in the same faith. It was from the environment of a typical New England town that Alonzo Conant came in 1839 to Ohio. He had been reared on a farm, had been educated in districts schools, 1498 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and was twenty-two years of age when, with several companions, he started westward. Northwest Ohio was then without railroads or canals, and the first experience of Alonzo was employment in a stone quarry near Columbus. Six months later he began teaching in the same neighborhood, followed that occupation one term, and then became; clerk in a general store. From Columbus he removed to Sunbury in Delaware County, and was in the grocery business with David Hayden until he sold out and removed to Van Wert in 1852. In Delaware County, November 22,. 1849, three years before coming to Van Wert, he married Esther Clark. She was born at Zanesville, Ohio, September 13,, 1825. Her father, Satchel Clark, was born at Sanbornton, New Hampshire, in 1794, came to Ohio in 1823, and from Zanesville removed to Orange in Delaware County, where he was among the pioneers in improving the land and where he lived until his death. On September 16, 1816, Satchel Clark married Eliza Goodhue, who was born in 1795, and who survived her husband but a short time. Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Conant had four daughters: Mary A., Ione E., Myrtle A. and Lida E., two of which are now deceased. The fine old home which for many years has been a landmark in Van Wert is now owned and occupied by the two surviving daughters, Myrtle and Lida. The late Mr. Conant was a republican in politics from the time of the organization of that party until his death. He was not a politician, but a man whose integrity and ability were so respected that he was offered various offices of trust both in the city and county. He was a Universalist in religious belief and a member of Van Wert Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A man of great practical energy, always able to pull more than his own weight in the world, he was generous, charitable, unostentatiously doing much for those in misfortune, and personally is recalled as a man mild in manner and not only averse to contention himself but becoming frequently a peacemaker among others. LUCAS MEYER, who was born at Put-in-Bay, is not only one of the native sons of the island, but for years has had a prominent place in its business and civic activities, and a great many people have come to look' upon him as a landmark and a mainstay of that community. He is proprietor of the Park Hotel and in that capacity is known to 'thousands of visitors to the island. He was born on East Point, Put-in-Bay, April 23, 1869, a son of Lucas Meyer, Sr. His father came from Baden-Baden, Germany, located near Milan, Ohio, but in a little while moved to Kelleys Island and was employed in the quarries. When the question of grape culture on South Bass Island was first being agitated, he and several others came to the island to put the plan into practical execution. A necessary preliminary was the clearing up of the land, which was covered for the most part by a dense growth of timber. Lucas Meyer, Sr., thus became one of the pioneer grape growers on the Bass Island, and he continued as a vineyardist on East Point until his death at the age of eighty-one. He was survived by three children : John, who remained on the home place and is now deceased ; Mary, wife of John Jacobs of Wood County ; and Lucas. As a boy Lucas Meyer was attracted to the excitement and incidents of town life rather than the quiet routine of the home vineyard. As soon as old enough he secured employment in Put-in-Bay. He worked as a pin boy it the bowling alleys and at such other jobs were suited to his age and strength. From that humble employment he graduated into a substantial position in the commercial affair. of the village, and for a number of years Iva; employed by some of the well known business men and concerns of the town. In 1907 Meyer bought the Round House and the Part Hotel property, and has since conducted that as one of the leading hostelries of the island It is without question one of the best hotel in Put-in-Bay, and he operates it during till winter as well as in the summer. He has sleeping accommodations for seventy-five guests and excellent dining room facilities. Many people who are well qualified to judge say that the cuisine of the Park Hotel is unexcelled anywhere on the, island. Mr. Meyer also owns and operates the old homestead at East Point. He has taken a prominent part in local affairs and is one o the leading democrats in that section o Ottawa County. He was a member of th County Central Committee ten years, on the city council of Put-in-Bay ten years, spell five or six years looking after the interest of the schools as a member of the school board and for one term enjoyed the dignity and responsibility of vice mayor. He is a member of the Elks Lodge at Sandusky, belongs to HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1499 Commodore Perry Lodge No. 730 Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Put-in-Bay, and Lake Erie Encampment at Port Clinton. In 1895 Mr. Meyer married Miss Martha Ringer, who was born and reared on this island. They have two children : Carlton, who is now a student in the Ohio State University, and Myron, still at home and attending high school. FRANK RITTMAN is the veteran merchant and business man of Put-in-Bay, having been identified with commercial affairs in that little city for a longer time than any other man now actively connected with that community. His success and his standing have been in proportion to the long years he has endeavored to furnish a reliable and adequate service to the people of the village and island. It was forty years ago when he came to. Put-in-Bay as manager of a local meat market, and for over thirty years he has been proprietor of that business. He also owns and operates, the Perry Hotel, one of the popular smaller hotels of the island. Mr. Rittman cares for a large part of the winter hotel business in Put-in-Bay. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 22, 1854, a son of Frank Rittman, Sr. When he as a child the family removed to Sandusky, and in that city he' was reared and educated and served his apprenticeship at the butcher's trade with Dempsey & Spade. By the time he had reached his majority he was not only a skillful butcher but a reliable business man, and the firm then sent him to Put-in-Bay to operate their market. He arrived at Put-in-Bay April 12, 1876, and has been in business there ever since. Up to 1885 he conducted the market of his old employers in Sandusky, and then bought out the business and took personal supervision on September 12, 1885. Throughout he has made it a rule to give first ass service, courteous, efficient, and also to finish the best available supplies to his patrons. This policy has won and kept for in the best trade of the town, and though our different markets have been opened up at various times, in competition, they have not survived long, and he still holds the bulk of the trade. Mr. Rittman married Miss Fannie Parker, daughter of Alfred Parker. She was seven years of age when her parents removed to South Bass Island, and the Parkers were also among the pioneers of this section of Ottawa County. Mr. and Mrs. Rittman have three children : George is associated with his father in the meat business and married Miss Knapp of Sandusky ; Lucy is the wife of Capt. Granville Heikle of Put-in-Bay ; and Mayme is the wife of Capt. H. Bickford, commander of the S. S. Perry, which is used for the collection of eggs for the Ohio State Fish Hatchery. Mr. Rittman is a republican in politics and has served as a member of the Put-in-Bay council. Fraternally he is a member of Commodore Perry Lodge No. 730 Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Put-in-Bay and of Lake Erie Encampment at Port Clinton. JOHN J. DAY. A great host of people who spend their summers around Put-in-Bay know Mr. John J. Day in the capacity of a genial and successful landlord. Mr. Day has been identified with Put-in-Bay almost continuously for more than forty years. He is proprietor of the noted Bay View Hotel and has made a success of this and other institutions with which he has been identified because of his long experience and a close and careful study of the needs and conditions of hotel keeping, particularly of resort hotels. Mr. Day was born at Minersville, Pennsylvania, October 31, 1867, a son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Day, Sr. When he was a few months old his parents removed to Detroit, Michigan, where his father was a contractor and builder. After a few years in the public schools John J. Day had to start out in life on his own responsibility. As a youth he learned, the trade of organ builder. In 1883 his father came to Put-in-Bay for the purpose of working on the town hall which was then being constructed. John J. Day came along, being then twenty years of age, and this locality has been his home ever since. Not long afterward he learned̊ that the estate of John S. Gibbons, containing five acres of fruit orchard and a fifteen room house on the Bay Shore, was up for rent, and Mr. Day took it and there made his start in the summer hotel business. After a few years he removed to Ballast Island, and for seven years conducted a club at that resort. On returning to Put-in-Bay he bought the Gibbons' property, and from time to time has installed new improvements and has brought it up to the best standard of summer hotels along the shore of Lake Erie. It is a very popular place of entertainment during the summer months. He has a fifty-room hotel building, especially fitted for the summer trade. Its wide verandas, its spacious lawns and its large outside