850 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO wife at seventy-five. They were devout members of the Lutheran Church. Henry Eickhoff lived in Germany until he was about twenty years of age. He had a common school education, and on reaching military age was required to serve two years as a foot soldier in the German army. After that he married in his native town a neighbor girl, Mary. Schrader, who was born there July 6, 1853. Her parents lived and died in Hanover and were people of considerable means. Mr. and Mrs. Eickhoff had two sons, Henry and Fred, born in Hanover. In 1875 the little family took passage on a vessel at Bremen, the ship Donau, and thirty days later landed in New York City. Their destination was Henry County, Ohio, and on arriving they first located in Freedom Township. Soon afterwards they moved to Monroe Township, where Mr. Eickhoff leased some land. As his means increased he bought forty acres. This was covered with heavy timber and part of it was in the swamp. It was several years before he had it productive and improved, and having done so well with his first purchase he bought eighty acres more and in the course of time had the entire tract cleared and it is now considered one of the finest if not the finest farm homes in Monroe Township. Mr. Eickhoff also invested some of his surplus means in improved lots in Hamler and later bought fourteen lots where he now lives. Not all his time he has taken up with his farm and business interests. He served as trustee of Monroe Township, as member of the school board and in 1892 was elected a director of the county infirmary. He is a democrat and is sincerely concerned in all that effects the community welfare. He and his family give active support to the Lutheran Church in their community. Mr. and Mrs. Eickhoff have done well by their family and have `a. number of grown children, some of whom are married and in homes of their own. The oldest is Henry F., now past forty-two years of age, a successful farmer near Oxford, Michigan, and by his marriage to Emma Draves the father of three children named Lawrence, Clarence and Otto. The son Fred is a carpenter at Hamler and married Mary Draves, their two children being Lydia and Harold. Charles, a farmer at Marion, Ohio, married Emma Mohlman and has one son, Gustay. John lives on his father's farm in Monroe Township and married Ella Roehl, but has no children. Emma is the wife of Gus Hopes, a butcher at Hamler and the mother of one son and four daughters, Hattie Amelia, Montana, Raymond and Marion. Anna and Ferdinand are still single and both at home. JOHN BISHER. This name introduces a family that has been identified with Washington Township of Henry County since the year 1850. In those sixty-five years a great work has been accomplished by the different citizens of that name. Many acres of land have been redeemed from the wilderness and have been made to produce successive crohaveeason after season. Homes haVe been erected, fences built, land tiled, and besides these material things the duties which fall upon good citizens and good neighbors have been faithfully performed likewise. The Bisher family is from Pennsylvania. John Bisher's grandparents were George and Mary Bisher, who were born and married in Pennsylvania, and all their children were born in the same state. Afterwards they moved with their family to Hancock County, Ohio, lived there for some years, and were extremely early settlers in that locality, going there about 1830. About 1850 the grandparents came to Washington Township of Henry County, bought wild land in section 36, and there George Bisher lived to clear up and develop another farm. Both the grandparents died there and are buried side by side in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. George Bisher was a democrat and he and his family were reared as Lutherans. There were three sons, Samuel Hugh, Aaron and Noah, and one daughter, Millie, all of whom married except Noah and all are now deceased. Aaron Bisher, who was born in Pennsylvania about 1815, was married in Hancock County, Ohio, to Mary E. Bushong.. She was a native of Virginia, born about had, and her Virginia parents ha,d moved to Ohio when she was young. She spent her early years in Carroll and Hancock counties. In Hancock County three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Bisher, Isaac, John and Arminta. John Bisher was born there October 15, 1845, and was between four and five years of age when the family loaded their goods on wagons and started out to find new land and new opportunities in Henry County, which was still comparatively unsettled. They all located in section 36 of Washington Township. Not only was the land wild and covered with a. heavy growth of timber, but much of it was extremely swampy. There were no HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 851 roads, and of course the other institutions of civilization, such as churches and schools, were practically non-existent. A log cabin was their first home, and that sheltered the family for some years until a more substantial frame house of seven rooms could be built. That house was erected before the war. Aaron Bisher spent many industrious years in that community, and died in December, 1870, while his wife survived him until February, 1906. They were members of the Lutheran Church, and he was a radical democrat. After Aaron Bisher brought. his family to Henry County two other children were born, Anson and Nettie. The oldest son, Isaac, became a Union soldier and served throughout the Civil war as member of the Sixtieth Ohio Sharpshooters Regiment. He is now living in Grand Rapids, Wood County, and has a family, as have also the other children. John Bisher grew up in Washington Township and as a boy became familiar with many pioneer scenes and incidents which now have no part whatever in this locality. He attended such public schools as were supported by the community in that day, learned the habits of industry and thrift, and has adapted himself to the most progressive methods of farming. Many years ago he acquired the old homestead of eighty acres, and now has it all tiled, thoroughly fenced and with first class buildings. His barn is 24 by 59 feet, and he and his family reside in a new home of nine rooms, a substantial white house with green trimmings. In 1871 in Lucas County, Ohio, John Bisher married Mary E. Box. She was born February 14, 1850, and was reared and educated in Providence Township of Lucas County. Her parents Jacob and Catherine (Burkett) Box were born in Pennsylvania, were married there, and afterwards moved to Perry County, Ohio, still later to Sandusky County and finally moved to Lucas County, where Jacob Box secured eighty acres of Government land. His industry •cleared up that tract, and he and his wife spent their later years in comfort and plenty. He died at the age of seventy-five and she at eighty-five. They were adherents of the Lutheran religion, and in politics he was a republican. Eight children have been born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. John Bisher. The daughter Myrtle is now deceased, and by her marriage to Peter Smith, a haberdasher at Delta, Ohio, she left a daughter Pauline who is now married. The living children are : Frost F., a bachelor still living at home ; Thomas, who is a miller at Toledo, and by his marriage to Gertrude Marshall has a daughter Leota ; Frank, who is in the milk business at Hudson, Ohio, married Alta Smith of Delta, and has two children, Rosa and Thomas; Cecil, a commercial representative of the Toledo Computing Scales Company, married Maude Matthews of Toledo and has a daughter Frances. P.; Charles, a farmer in Washington Township of Henry County, married Mary Kigar and has children named Orville and Ogareta; Harry, also a Washington Township farmer, has a son Ira J. by his marriage to Lura Barlow; Gladys G. who still lives at home, has like the other children received the best advantages of the public schools. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Bisher supports the democratic party in its candidates and principles. PETER EMANUEL JOHNSTON. Wherever they have gone the people of Scotland have. carried with them certain striking characteristics, and these characteristics have made them useful and successful citizens. Henry County has as one of its pioneer families a stock that originated in Scotland and on being transplanted to America they lost none of their keen intelligence, their thrift and their industry. The old Johnston home is in Washington Township of Henry County, and on some land formerly owned by his father and grandfather Peter Emanuel Johnston is now living and giving a successful account of himself as a farmer and stockman. He comes of a line going back for a number of generations and traced through the eldest male, to each of whom was given' the name Peter. Peter Johnston, grandfather of Peter Emanuel, was born in the Lowlands of Scotland February 8, 1803. As he grew up he was well educated, and he subsequently became a bank cashier in Scotland. He married a Miss Lid-. dle, of old and prominent family connections in Scotland. Both families were very strict in their adherence to the Presbyterian faith. While living in Scotland two children were born, Peter, Jr. and Agnes. Peter Johnston, Jr., was born in 1842. When he was six years of age in 1848 the little family left Liverpool, embarking on a sailing vessel, and after a long and uneventful voyage landed at Montreal, Canada, and soon afterwards came to the United States. Arriv- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 853 ried for his second wife Caroline Shuff, a native of Ohio, and still living, her home being on a farm near Wheeler in Michigan. Mr. Koch died March 27, 1916, when nearly seventy years of age. He and his wife were Evangelical Church people and in politics he was a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Johnston take much pride in their children. Peter D., who was born April 6, 1898, graduated from the high school in 1916 and is now starting life as a teacher; Florence L. was born May 14, 1903, and is in the eighth grade of the public schools ; Lura H. was born January 9, 1905, and is in the sixth grade ; the youngest is Edna E.. born June 26, 1910. Mr. Johnston is a man who does his own thinking and his sober judgment as to the issues of politics has kept him strictly aligned with the republican party. He has served two terms as trustee of Washington Township. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has held all the chairs in that order. FRANCIS LUDWIG MOORE, M. D. Possessing exceptional talent for his profession and a high sense of its obligations and ideals, Doctor Moore has found his work and also his success in the comparatively brief time since he began practice and is now one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Fremont. He represents an old and honored name in Sandusky County. His birth occurred near Fremont September 29, 1885, and he is a son of George and Mary Jane (Ludwig) Moore, both of whom were born in Sandusky County, the father in 1840 and the mother in 1842, and they are still living there. The paternal grandfather, John Moore, was born in Southern Ohio, and came to Sandusky County soon after the early pioneers. He had the distinction of building the first mill on the river at Fremont. He constructed two dams across that stream, and used the water power to run a large grist mill and other machinery. At one time he owned several mills in this part of Ohio. He was a man of almost unlimited enterprise and energy and built up and developed a very prosperous business. He also owned several hundred acres of land in. Sandusky County. The Moore family originally came out of Dulkeith, Scotland. Doctor Moore's maternal grandfather, Jeremiah rod-wig, was born near Bucyrus, Ohio, and moved to Sandusky County in early life, where he followed the business of farming and cattle Vol. II-13 raising. George Moore was educated in common schools and in a small college in Southern Ohio, and early became identified with the industry which claimed so much of the attention of his father, milling. He was in a fair way to prosperity such as his father had acquired when a disastrous fire destroyed his mills and caused a loss of over $40,000, without any insurance to cover it. George Moore is now in charge of the hydraulic plant supplying light for Fremont and power for the electric road. He and his wife are highly esteemed people of Fremont, active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and he is a republican in politics and a member of the National Union. To their marriage were born seven children, six sons and one daughter, and four of the boys and the daughter are still living : George, superintendent of motive power for the Lake Shore Electric Line ; A. C. Moore, in business at Fremont ; Doctor Moore ; John, who has a dry cleaning business in Fremont ; and Rachel Elizabeth, wife of Frederick Van Voorst, a stock and bond broker of Chicago. Doctor Moore was graduated from the Fremont High School in 1904, following which he spent a year in the literary department of the University of Michigan. Having definitely decided as to his future course in life he transferred his studies to the medical department of that great university, and was graduated in 1910. Besides what he could learn in the university he had additional practical experience for a time in St. Vincent's Hospital at Toledo, and in 1911 he returned to Fremont and began the practice which now requires all his time and energy. He is a member of the County and State Medical societies and the Tri-State and Northwest Ohio Medical associations and the American Medical Association. He accepts every opportunity to visit important clinics and is both a student as well as a practitioner of medicine and surgery. Doctor Moore was married in 1913 to Miss Mildred Hamilton, of Fremont, daughter of L. G. Hamilton, a well known jeweler of that city. They have two children : Jane Evelyn and. Leon Hamilton. The family are active members .of the Presbyterian Church and Doctor Moore is a Mason and in politics is a republican. FRED W. Box. The Box family were early settlers and pioneers in Lucas County, but Fred W. Box has spent his active career in Henry County, and is now owner of a fine farm in Washington Township. 854 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO He was born in Providence Township of Lucas County October 28, 1876, a son of Daniel W. and Jennie (Bough) Box. His parents were also born and reared and educated in Lucas County, and have always lived in Providence Township. They have improved a fine sixty-eight-acre farm there, on which they still reside. Daniel W. Box was born January 14, 1854, a son of Jacob and Mrs. (Burkett) Box. The grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania, and settled on a tract of eighty acres of Government land in Lucas County. In the course of time they made a good farm out of the land, and lived to enjoy the prosperity which their industry had earned. This old homestead is now owned and occupied by a grandson of Jacob Box, named Edward. Jacob Box and wife died at the old farm when past eighty years of age. They were members of the Lutheran Church and in politics he was a republican. Their children were William, Frank, Daniel W., Susan, Emma, Eve and Mary, all of whom. are still living except Susan. These grandparents were people of sturdy mold, good neighbors, hard workers, true Christians and they left their impress for good on their community. Fred W. Box was the oldest, in a family of four sons and two daughters. Jesse J., the next oldest, is a farmer in Fulton County, Ohio; he married Jennie Notestein and has a son John. May is the wife of Arthur E. Johnston, a farmer of Washington Township in Henry County; and they are the parents of two sons and two daughters. Jennie married Clement Kraut, a farmer in Wood. County, and they have three living children, Gertrude, Alice and Grace. Charles, who is a farmer in Providence Township of Lucas County, married Florence Robins, and has two sons Donald and Paul. J. Chester is still unmarried and at home. Fred W. Box grew up in Lucas County, had the advantages of the public schools, and After his marriage he began farming as a renter along the Maumee River. In that way he spent seven years, and that gave him not only experience but also some capital necessary for his independent career. He then bought sixty acres in section 35 of Washington Township, and he now owns thirty-five adjoining acres situated in Providence Township of Lucas County. Both places are well improved. The home place has some first-class buildings put there by Mr. Box. One of these is a barn 40 by 60 feet with 18-foot posts, one of the most substantial structures for the sheltering of stock and grain in this agricultural district. He also has a new home of eight rooms with basement, and has surrounded himself with those facilities which make farming a congenial as well as profitable occupation and those ,comforts which go far toward making rural life ideal. He has land that will grow every staple crop of the state, and he has succeeded at farming because he has made it a business and has applied to it his best energies and thought. In Washington Township Mr. Box married Miss Maggie Biggins, daughter of James Biggins, who was born in Henry County and is a prominent and well-to-do farmer. Mr. Biggins was of Irish parents. Mrs. Box was born in Washington Township February 20, 1876. To their union have been born five children': Cyril, who died in infancy fifteen years ago ; Herbert, born July 17, 1904, and now in the eighth grade of the public schools; Bernard, born March 17,1909, who is in. the fourth grade ; Cleo W.,. born May 3, 1912 ; and James D., born April 14, 1916. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Box is a republican. LOUIS BOCKELMAN. Henry County's citizenship is made up of a goodly number of the thrifty, hard-working. and honest Hanoverian stock. Farm after farm has been developed by their energy. Land that fifty or sixty years ago was utterly unproductive has responded to the magic touch of these splendid people and has become a rich heritage to their descendants and to the state at large. One of this class was Louis Bockelman, who some years ago retired to enjoy in comfort the fruits of his early toil at a city home in Napoleon, where he died November 23, 1916. For generations his family had lived in Hanover. His parents, grandparents and great-grandparents lived and died there, leaving the world better for their presence. The parents were John H. and Anna C. (Lucia) Bockelman. The father learned and followed the trade of carpenter all his active career: He was born about 1800 and died at the age of seventy-four, while his wife died some years later when about eighty. They were plain substantial people, good Christians and lifelong Lutherans. Their children were Henry, Fred, Louis, August, William, Maria and Catherine, all of whom grew up and all married but one. Henry, August, Frederick and. Maria are now HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 855 deceased, while William, who was a soldier in the Franco-Prussian war, is still living in Germany. Louis Bockelman was the first of the family to come to America. He was born November 26, 1831, and was therefore at the time of his death close to his eighty-fifth birthday. He was already a grown man when he set out to seek fortune in the new world. He also brought with him a good education and the skill of carpenter which he had acquired from his father. Taking passage on a ship at Hamburg, in 1860, a number of weeks' voyage brought him to New York, and thence he came to Defiance County, Ohio. He found plenty to do as a carpenter for a couple of years. Then in the spring of 1862 he enlisted to serve his adopted country. He went to the front in Company K of the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Infantry. His younger brother August, who had followed him to this country, was a member of the same regiment. Both were in the battle of Chancellorsville, and in the exposure incident to that battle August contracted a cold and died in Brooksville Station, Virginia, when only twenty-one years old. Louis Bockelman spent most of his time in the army as a member of the pioneer corps, where his skill as carpenter made, him valuable. He was usually with the advance guard, and assisted to prepare the way for the main body of troops. During and after the tremendous fighting at Gettysburg he was assigned to the duty of burying the dead. Altogether he was with the army two years and ten months, until after the close of hostilities, and received his honorable discharge at Cleveland. For several years after the war he resumed work at his trade, and then began farming in Freedom Township. For about twenty-six years he kept this up and with constantly growing prosperity. At one time he owned 220 acres in Freedom Township. About ten years ago he found it convenient to retire. More than thirty-five years ago he had traded eighty acres of land for a lot and business building and residence combined at 126 ½ Perry Street in Napoleon, where he now finds a comfortable home. In Freedom Township on December 20, 1867, Mr. Bockelman married Miss Anna Eggers, who is eighteen years younger than her husband. She too is a native of Hanover, where she was born September 26, 1849. In July, 1866, with her parents, Henry and Maria (Schuette) Eggers, she came to America. The voyage was made on the steamer Atlantic, which about two years later was sunk. The Eggers family located on a farm. in Freedom Township, where the wife and mother died in .1882 at the age of fifty-five, and the father -in 1890 when nearly ninety years old. All were Lutherans, and Henry Eggers became a democrat in this country. The four Eggers children were : Henry, who died January 8, 1912, leaving a son and four daughters; Mrs. Bockelman ; Mary married Joseph Kaney, a mechanic living in Napoleon, and they have a family of five sons and four daughters ; and William, who now lives in Hartford, Connecticut. To the marriage of Louis Bockelman and wife were born eight children, four of whom are now living as follows : Emma, Anna, Mary and Carl H. Anna has four sons and two daughters by her marriage to Fred Meyer, a farmer and breeder of fancy Holstein cattle in Napoleon Township. Emma is the second wife of Fred Rickenberg, a farmer in Napoleon Township and father of children by his previous marriage. Mary is the wife of Herman Stockman, a farmer of Freedom. Township, and her two children are Laura and Carl. The names of Anna's children are Lydia, Carl, Leo, Paul, Fred and Maria. Carl H. Bockelman, the only son of Louis Bockelman, was born at Napoleon January 25, 1878, received his education in the schools of that city, but has spent his active years on a farm in Freedom Township. Few men have done so much as progressive farmers and stock raisers. His farm comprises forty acres in section 29 and forty acres in section 20. It is part of the land that his father developed from the wilderness many years ago. All is now under cultivation except ten acres of native timber. The fields produce the finest of cereal crops, but the farm, is especially known for its livestock. He keeps fullblood hogs and Holstein-Friesian cattle. He has everything in the way of buildings and other equipment. One barn is 40 by 60 feet and another 38 by 52 feet. Attached to the latter is a shed 16 by 50 feet. The hog house is 16 by 30 feet. A 50-ton silo furnishes his stock green feed through the winter. Besides these facilities, the family enjoy a commodious house of nine rooms with summer kitchen. Altogether it constitutes one of the most complete country homes in Henry County. Carl Bockelman was married in Napoleon Township to Miss Sophia Helberg, who was 856 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO born and educated in that township. Her par,. ents were Christopher and Anna (Drewes) Heiberg, the former a native of Germany and the latter of this country. They were married in Napoleon Township, where Mr. Heiberg died about fourteen years ago. His widow is still living in that township. Mr. and Mrs. Bockelman have four fine young children : Louis C., born September 21, 1906; Herman H., born December 21, 1907 ; William G., born September 20, 1913, and Carl, born December 1, 1916. All the family are Lutherans and have been identified with St. Paul's Church practically since it was established. Carl Bockelman is one of the trustees of the church. He is also well known in democratic politics. He filled the office of justice of the peace until he resigned to become assessor, a responsibility he held until his resignation one year later. ALEXANDER MYLES. No race or national stock has made a better record, over the world wherever found, for industry, intelligence, and the substantial virtues of good citizenship, than the Scotch. The people of Washington Township in Henry County have every reason to esteem and admire a representative of Scotland who came to this community many years ago, without money or friends, proved his ability by hard work, finally bought and paid for a small farm, and has continued to grow in prosperity and in the good graces of citizenship to the present time. This is Alexander Myles, who was born near Dundee, Scotland, March 26, 1848. His parents were Peter and Elspert (Shepherd) Myles. The paternal line was of the Lowland Scotch, while the mother's people were Highlanders. Peter was a son of Peter and Marjorie (Muir) Myles, who spent all their lives in Scotland. Like most people of that country they were all rigid Presbyterians. Peter Myles, Jr., and wife also lived and died in the valley of Strathmore in the Highlands, and their home was on one of the famous roads of northern Scotland, a highway over which kings and queens had been wont to pass every summer to the Castle of Balmoral. Peter, Jr., and wife were both full of years when they died. While he was a Presbyterian, his wife was a Dissenter. Peter, Jr., was one of a family of ten sons and one daughter, all of whom grew up and spent their lives in Scotland. Peter and wife had four children, the only son being Alexander. Two daughters, Marjorie and Jessie, are married. and still liv ing in Scotland. The other daughter, Elizabeth, married David Jamison of Scotland, where he died, and as a widow she came with her four children to America and is now living in New Jersey. When Alexander Myles was twelve years of age his father died. That threw him upon his own responsibilities, and since that tender age he has been self dependent, has earned a living and more,, has paid his debts, has provided for a family, and has made a record of which altogether his descendants may always be proud. As a young man he came to know and love a Scotch lassie, and the necessity of providing for their combined wants and establishing a home made him look abroad from his native land, where opportunties were Meager, and thus at the age of twenty-three, still unmarried, he set sail for the United States. After arriving in New York he journeyed on west to Napoleon, Ohio. He soon found employment with a Scotchman, Mr. Reid, of Damascus Township. He remained with that employer two years, and then continued to work for farmers in this section until the year 1880. By that time he was married, and by close economy he and his wife had saved a little capital. They then bought in section 25 of Washington Township forty acres of wild land. It was covered with heavy timber so that it was necessary to cut down some of the trees in order to clear a space on which his first home was built. One improvement after another has followed, the ground has been cleared and put in cultivation, and for a number of years Mr. Myles has found himself the center of a comfortable home and a substantial prosperity. He now has on 'his farm a large barn 30 by 40 feet, and also a good six-room. house. Some years ago he bought an additional thirty acres, and now has it all cleared and it makes one of the best farms in the township. Two or three years after he came to America Mr. Myles was married in the City of Napoleon to Jessie Inches, who was the girl he had left behind him in Scotland, where they had plighted their troth. She was born in the Scotch Lowlands not far from his birthplace, and she came to America in 1873, two years after her husband. On landing at New York she was met by Mr. Myles, and soon after they reached Napoleon they were married. Mrs. Myles was born April 7, 1849, a daughter of David Inches. She was only an infant when her mother died, and when she was five years of age her father was acci- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 857 dentally killed by falling off a steep declivity. After that she was reared in the Mackenzie family. She was the only child of her parents. She was never away from home over night until she was past nineteen years of age. -She was twenty-four when she came to America. Mrs. Myles was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church. To their happy union, which has now existed for more than forty years, nine children were born. Three of them died young. Angus, the oldest of the living children, is a farmer in Washington Township ; he married Agnes Johnston and their children are Mary, Riley, Hester and Chester, twins. Ernest, who is a farmer in Washington Township, married Cora Wireck; . their children are Alice, George, and Charles. Mary is the wife of Vinton Daniels, a farmer in Providence Township of Lucas County; they have children named Estella, Raymond and Mildred. Percy L., who is showing his progressive qualities as a farmer on his father's homestead, married Alice Perry ; their three children are Leslie, Sidney and Catherine J. Alice married Arthur Hoffer and they live in Liberty Center; their children are Ernest, Wayne, Bertha, Chester, James, David and one now deceased. Roy, whose home is in Bartlow Township of Henry County, married Birdie Winover, and has Marian and Julia. Mr. Myles and his family are all active members of the Protestant Methodist Church in their community. Politically he has been a republican, though he is a man of broad and independent views and his sturdy independence in politics may also be deemed a Scotch characteristic. JONAS F. BOLLMAN. A life of usefulness and honor was that of the late Jonas F. Boll-man of Henry County. He spent his years industriously as a farmer, improved and developed several tracts of land, made a good home and ample provision for his family and lived at peace and with honor among men. His death occurred at the old home on section 25 of Freedom Township February 16, 1913. He was born in Crawford County, Ohio, August 22, 1855. His parents were Frederick and Susanna (Shoemaker) Bollman. Both parents were natives of Wuertemberg, Germany, and came when young with their respective parents to the United States during the decade of the '40s. A sailing vessel was the only means of crossing the Atlantic at the time, and both families arrived after many weeks of hard voyage. Frederick Bollman grew up in Ohio, married there, and while living in Crawford County the following children were born : Jonas F., Isaac, Lydia and Daniel. In 1868 both the Bollman and Shoemaker families came to Henry County. The Bollmans located in Freedom Township while the Shoemakers established their home in Napoleon Township. Both families took up comparatively new and unimproved lands and in the course of time developed high class farms out of the forest. Frederick Bollman and wife had born into their home in Henry County the following children: Ida, John, Clara, Cora and Charles. Of these Clara and Cora are now deceased, and of the children born in Crawford County those deceased are Daniel, Isaac and Jonas. All the older members of the Bollman and Shoemaker families passed their last years in Henry County. All were of the Lutheran faith, and the names they established in this part of Northwest Ohio have always been spoken with respect. The late Jonas F. Bollman spent his early youth on what is now the Henry D. Meyer farm in section 24 of Freedom Township. He received a good education in the local schools and has lived in Henry County since he was thirteen. In 1884 he bought forty acres of land in section 25, and there established his home. He was noted among his neighbors as a hard worker, proved thrifty and intelligent in the management of his property, and gradually gained an ample prosperity. In 1903 he added to his first land fifteen acres and in 1909 bought another place of forty acres on section 26, only a short distance from his first home. Mrs. Jonas F. Bollman now lives on the old homestead, which bears many marks of improvement placed there by her late husband. There is a substantial barn 32 by 70 feet, with a number of other outbuildings, and the home is one of the largest in that section, comprising fourteen rooms and modern in every particular. The house is painted white with green trimmings and the large barn is red with white trimmings. The name of the builder Jonas F. Bollman is painted on the gable of the barn. As for the land it is some of the productive soil found in Henry County and is well drained and fitted for the production of fine crops. Mr. Bollman was an excellent carpenter as was his father before him, and during their lives they erected many of the fine buildings to be found through their neighborhood. Mr. Boll- 858 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO man was a democrat and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Napoleon. In 1871 he was married at Colton in Henry County by Rev. Elijah Pallen to Miss Elizabeth M. Young. Mrs. Beaman was born in Ross County, Ohio, December 22, 1852, a daughter of James and Harriet (Rice) Young. They were natives of Hocking County, Ohio, afterwards moved to Ross County, and when Mrs. Bollman was seven years of age came to Henry County in 1860, locating in Freedom Township. The Youngs were neighbors to the Bollmans. There Mrs. Bollman's mother died March 6, 1884, at the age of eighty-six. Her father died three years later and was eighty-three when he passed away. They were members of the United Brethren Church and Mr. Young was a republican. In the Young family two children, Jasper and Caroline, died when young children. The only survivors are Mrs. Bollman and her brother Marion, who is a farmer in York Township of Fulton County and by his marriage to Mina Easton, daughter of Noah Easton, has two sons, James and George. Mrs. Bollman now lives in the midst of material plenty and has a number of her children around her. Her oldest child is William H., who was born March 9, 1887, was reared and educated in Henry County, and is unmarried and makes his home with his mother. Hattie L. was born September 20, 1879, and is the wife of Ira Ernst, a farmer in York Township of Fulton County, and they have a daughter Geraldine. Mary A., born December 17, 1881, died January 22, 1915, leaving her husband Earl Sands of Na- poleon and three children, Donald, Thelma and Juanita. Lydia C., born January 18, 1884, is the wife of John Wigfield of Napoleon. Fred J., born October 14, 1887, is employed at Napoleon as a carpenter, and he has two children, Frank and Orval. Arthur J., born January 19, 1890, is now running the homestead for his mother and by his marriage to Agnes Yocum has a daughter Leora. Harley B., born February 24, 1892, is unmarried and lives with his mother at her pleasant home on the Wauseon Pike. Mrs. Beaman and most of her children are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ALFRED B. JENNINGS. In section 21 of Liberty Township is a home that represents the careful labors and industries of two generations of the Jennings family, who took it up as wild and uncultivated land and who in the course of six decades have made it more than a representative farm of Henry County. Its present possessor is Alfred B. Jennings who was born there and who spent all his active career in that vicinity. Mr. Jennings was born May 25, 1865. His parents were George Newton and Sarah Jane (Morrison) Jennings. His father was born in Seneca County, Ohio, a son of Jacob Jennings, who was one of the pioneer settlers there, a farmer and a member of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Jennings' mother came from Baltimore but when a child came to Seneca County with her parents, where the latter spent the rest of their lives. George N. Jennings and wife after their marriage continued to live in Seneca County for several years, and while there two children were born : Alice Adelia, now widow of Arthur. Davidson of York Township in Fulton County ; and Florence Emily, who died in young womanhood. Some years before the Civil war, and when these two daughters were quite young, the family set out for Henry County. An ox team drew the wagon. By slow stages they made their way across the country and finally stopped in the midst of the swamps of Liberty Township. Section 21 at that time was a veritable wilderness, the low ground being undrained and much of it covered with water a great part of the year, while heavy timber blocked the way to cultivation. The land was originally owned by the state. Here there soon arose a small log cabin, and it was so rudely constructed that as its occupants lay in bed at night they could see the stars through the roof. It was a home of primitive furnishings and utmost simplicity of comfort, but later was supplanted by a substantial frame house built of large and choice timber, and containing eight rooms. That house is still standing and is now the home of Alfred B. Jennings. His parents secured and cleared 160 acres of good land in section 21, and there his father lived to provide well for his children and was able to retire and spent his last years in comfort at Liberty Center, where he died about 1890 at the age of seventy-one. His widow survived him some years, and was seventy when she passed away. For years they were members of the Liberty Chapel of the United Brethren Church, but while living in Liberty Center they joined the Methodist Church. George N. Jennings was a republican and at one time filled the office of township trustee. Besides the children HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 859 mentioned as born before they came to Henry County there were the following: Sylvia, wife of David Leist, a retired farmer of Liberty Township, and they have a son. and three daughters, Frank, Beryl, Hazel and Aletha, all of whom are now married; Cyrus Bricker, who is connected with an oil company and resides at Long Beach, California, married Electa Leist, and their children, Arthur and Pearl, are both married and farmers in Henry County. Alfred B. Jennings grew up on the old homestead where he now lives. As soon as strength permitted he took his part in clearing and improving and cultivating, and a number of years ago he acquired a part of the old homestead comprising eighty acres together with the substantial residence and other improvements placed there by his father. He also owns another tract of thirty acres, and forty-nine acres in section 22, comprising altogether 159 acres. Every acre of this is under full cultivation with the exception of nine acres of native timber. One feature of the farm is a large barn 56 by 84 feet, a por tion of which was built in 1856, sixty years ago, and the entire building is now in the best of repair and has all facilities for the storage of grain and the care of livestock. After reaching his majority Mr. Jennings married a girl from the same neighborhood in Henry County, Miss Melissa Leist, who was born on the old Leist farm in section 21 of Liberty Township, in January, 1864. She has always lived in that same locality. Her parents were William and Mary Hartman Leist, both natives of Piqua County and early settlers of Henry County, where her father improved a tract of new land in Liberty Township and lived there until his death in 1892 at 'the age of fifty-four. He was a well known and successful citizen, a republican and he and his wife active members of the United Brethren Church. Mrs. Leist is still living, with her home in Liberty Center, and is now eighty-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings are members of the United Brethren Church and in politics he is a republican. They are the parents of two daughters: Florence Oneta is the wife of John Gramling, who lives on a farm in Washington Township ; Nellie 0. is taking a course of music at Toledo. ALBERT R. REDFIELD. The record of one of the prominent early families of Henry County can appropriately be written of briefly under the name of the late Albert R. Redfield, who died at his old homestead in section 32 of Liberty Township many years ago, but whose widow is still living there. The Redfields were of English origin, and had lived in New York State for a number of generations. Both the father and grandfather of Albert R. Redfield were born in New York. Grandfather Daniel Redfield was born in 1761 and died when past eighty. In 1785 he married Jerusha Wright, who was born in 1763, and also lived to a 'good old age. They were New York State farmers. Daniel Redfield, was born in New York January 14, 1792. Jr.,e grew up there, and spent his early life near the old homestead in Jefferson County, where the family were among the pioneers. A young man at the time, he served as a soldier in the War of 1812, though the family have never obtained an official record of his service. When the war was over he married Phoebe Goldthrite of Jefferson County, New York; and most. of their children were born on the old homestead in Jefferson County. One of their children Linas, came to Ohio and married, and spent his last years in Liberty. Township, where he had settled during the '40s. He left two children, Ralph and Charles C., who are now married and own their father's old home in Liberty Township. A daughter, Emily, married Hosea Hudson, and they spent their active lives in. Liberty Township, where their children are still living. The late Albert R. Redfield was born in Jefferson County, New York, February 11, 1822. About 1830, when he was eight years of age the family left New York and settled in Wyandotte County, Ohio. From there they moved to Wood County, Ohio, and there amidst the woods and the swamps the father built a log cabin, and cleared away a tract of land for planting. They put out an orchard, and after living in that locality about twelve years came to Henry County in 1845, settling in Liberty Township. Again they were pioneers and it was necessary to cut away the trees from a portion of section 32 in order to make a place for their first log cabin .home. In this locality Daniel Redfield and his wife spent the rest of their days. Their children Linas and Emily had both married in Wyandotte County, but Albert R. was still single when the family came to Henry County. On December 18, 1851, Albert R. Redfield married Miss Harriet Hudson. She was born in Sycamore Township of Wyandotte County, Ohio, July 15, 1835. When she was fifteen 860 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO years of age she came to Henry County td live with her sister, Hannah, wife of Lines Redfield in Liberty Township. Later she returned to the home of her father and stepmother in Wyandotte County, but in the meantime had made the acquaintance of Albert R. 'Redfield and it was agreed that she, a maiden of seventeen, and he, a young bath-. elor just getting established in the world, should: wait for a time before they married. She returned to Henry County to consummate that happy event and there she has had her home continuously for the past sixty-five years. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Redfield secured eighty acres of land in sections 32 and 5, building their home on section 32. They started housekeeping in a log cabin, and had much of the primitive furniture of pioneer times. The log house gave way in time to a substantial frame building, and other farm buildings were erected, and they were able to live in comfortable circumstances. The land was put in cultivation, and before his death, which occurred March 11, 1881, Albert R. Redfield was recognized as one of the very substantial and well to do citizens of his township. Since his death Mrs. Redfield has kept the old farm and reared her children there. Mr. Redfield was a democrat, and did his part in local affairs, serving as a school officer and was active in the Christian Union Church for many years. Mrs. Redfield is a daughter of Allen and Phoebe (Wadams) Hudson, both of whom were born in New York. They were married in Cayuga CountY, New York. Allen Hudson was a son of Lines and Sarah (Hilliard.) Hudson, both natives of New York State, but spending their last years in Wyandotte County, Ohio. Allen Hudson was a farmer and gunsmith. The parents of Phoebe Wadams spent all their lives in Wyandotte County, Ohio. Allen Hudson and his wife Phoebe moved to Wyandotte County in 1833, locating in Sycamore Township. There as a farmer and gunsmith Allen Hudson was kept busy in repairing the guns of the Wyandotte Indians, with whom he lived on very friendly terms, though he found them not altogether reliable in financial transactions. His wife died there when Mrs. Redfield was seven years of age, and for his second wife he married Elizabeth Smith, who became the mother of three children. Allen Hudson and his second wife died about 1870, when quite old. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Redfield, a son Daniel died in young manhood, and a daughter Alfaretta as an infant. The son George, who is now a farmer at French, New Mexico, married Carrie Slentz of Henry County, and has a daughter Ruby. Laura is the wife of Lloyd Sayers, a farmer of Fulton County ; and their children are Martin, Cora, Hattie, Erwin and Polly. Polly, who is next in age of the living children of Mr. and Mrs. Redfield, was reared on the old homestead, as were the other children, attended the public schools, completed her education in the city, high school, and for seven terms taught until her marriage to John Kit-ter of Freedom Township. Mr. Kitter now operates the old homestead for Mrs. Redfield. Mr. and Mrs. Kitter have three children : J. Clarence, who is twenty-five years of age ; L. Vera, who graduated from the Napoleon High School with the class of 1914; and Lawrence D., who is sixteen years of age and still in school. Eva L., the youngest child of Mrs. Redfield, is the wife of Lewis Linthicum, a farmer of Liberty Township, "and their two children are Albert and Mary. The Redfield family are all members of the Christian Union Church. CAPT. JOHN B. VIERS. Two special distinctions attach to the long and honorable career of Captain Viers. One was his long and efficient service as a soldier in the Union armies during the War of the Rebellion. He fought for the flag, was wounded and endured all manner of hardships, and came out of the war with a captain's commission. The second achievement of his career is the result of fifty years of progressive development and is Maple Grove Farm, one of the finest country estates in Liberty Township. He took that farm when it was all wild land, fifty years ago, and is now living in the midst of the prosperity which his own labors and judgment have created. He is of Scotch-Irish and Gorman . stock. His great-grandfather was born in Scotland, went to the Island of Jamaica, and at one time owned a large part of that island. From there he came to the United States and died in this country. Elisha W. Viers, grandfather of Captain Viers, was born in Pennsylvania, and married a Miss Ferrill. About the beginning of the last century they moved to Ohio, locating in Jefferson County, and in 1820 went to Summit County. There he improved a farm, and Elisha and his wife HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 861 died there and are buried side by side in a family burying ground on the old homestead. John Viers was born while his parents were living in Jefferson County, Ohio, on January 9, 1801. He grew up in pioneer times and places in Ohio. He spent much time with the Indians, became versed in their language and dialect, and from 1820 for a number of years served as Government interpreter, being associated with Dresdon W. H. Howard and William Jackson, their duties taking them, to various parts of Northwestern 'Ohio. In 1833 John Viers secured land in Fulton County right among the Indians who were still living there. He then went back to Summit County, where he married, and brought his bride to his pioneer home in Fulton Township, Fulton County. There he lived in a log cabin, and his neighbors were Indians. In the early years only so much of his land was used for cultivation of vegetables and grain as was necessary to supply. his own needs, and his table was loaded down with the wild game which was so abundant in the forest. Not only John Viers but his sons became splendid hunters, and from their Indian friends and neighbors learned much of the art of .woodcraft which is a part of Indian education and training. The father and sons were fluent in the use of the Indian tongues and John Viers was one of the most influential men among the Indian tribes of Northwest Ohio. He was known everywhere for his absolute integrity, and when he gave his word it was as good as a bond. It was this trait of his character which made him so influential among the Indians, and he exerted his influence for the guarding and protection of those wards of the Government. A frequent visitor at the Viers homestead in Fulton County was Alphonso Taft, father of ex-President Taft. A warm friendship existed between these two men. John Viers passed away on his old home farm in Fulton County July 2, 1873. His widow, who was born in 1805, died in 1885. They were splendid people, typified the strength and the virtues of the pioneers and they enjoyed many strong friendships with the prominent people of their day. John Viers was a democrat all his life. It was on the old home farm in Fulton County that Capt. John B. Viers was born March 26, 1841. From his parents, from such schools as existed there, and from his environment he acquired a good practical education. He has always been a thinking, active minded man, and has used his opportunities not only for his personal benefit but for the good of others. On June 21, 1861, at the age of twenty he enlisted in Company K of the Twenty-fifth Ohio Infantry. He went out as a private, and was in one of the early campaigns of the war in West Virginia. He was present in the battles at Philippi, Greenbrier, Webster, Cheat Mountain, under the commands of McClelland, Rosecrans and Fremont. Fremont was also his commander at the battle of Culpepper Court House. Later he was under General Pope in the Second Bull Run fight. The Twenty-fifth Ohio played a gallant part in that disastrous battle. In the meantime Mr. Viers had been promoted to corporal and was then given a commission as second lieutenant. He was shot at the second battle of Bull Run, and was then sent home on a furlough, being nursed back to health by his mother. After his return he was promoted to captain, in the Fifth Regiment of colored troops, and led his company in many of the sanguinary engagements around the City of Richmond. In one of those battles on September 29, 1864, he was shot through the right leg. He was at the time leading his troops in a charge upon Fort Gilmore, and had given his men the command to retreat, when he himself was wounded and taken prisoner. It was his unhappy fortune to be sent to the notorious Libby prison, but by the skillful use of his fraternal knowledge of Masonry he secured his release. He then returned home to recuperate, and finally reported for duty at Annapolis, Maryland, where by special order he was assigned to the Court Martial under the command of Gen. Lew Wallace. He remained on that duty until March, 1865, and then rejoined his regiment, which in the meantime was ordered south and he was on duty with it in the Rio Grande country of Southern Texas. He and his comrades were honorably discharged in 1865. When the war was over Captain Viers returned home and took up farming. In 1866, half a century ago, he came to Liberty Township in Henry County and bought eighty acres of wild land. It is a proper matter of satisfaction to him that he has made that land blossom as the rose and has converted it into a fine and fertile farm. His farm has excellent improvements, including a large barn 40 by 80 feet with an attached shed 21 by 74 feet. His large ten-room house is surrounded by a lawn and shade trees, and these 862 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO shade trees have grown from his own planting. This is the well known Maple Grove Farm. Captain Viers is an honored member of the Addison Clark Post No. 151, Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics he is a republican. On May 9, 1867, in his native county he married Elmira Snyder, who was born in Canton, Ohio, and went to Fulton County with her parents in 1851. Captain and Mrs. Viers have two. children : Nellie V. is the wife of James B. Cameron, and they live at Fremont, Ohio, their children being Eloise B., Bruce, Imogene, Luella., Donald, Nellie, Elizabeth and Elmira. The only son is E. L. Viers, who conducts the home farm for his parents. He married Esther Croninger of Henry County. HENRY C. PANNING, of section 21, Freedom Township, Henry County, represents a name that has become highly esteemed in this section of Northwest Ohio. The family of German origin, have lived and prospered as farmers and have been among the most upright and honorable citizens. Mr. Panning was born on the farm where he now resides May 16, 1884. He grew up there, and as a young man learned the carpenter trade, which he followed actively for seven years. He then tented the home place and after four years bought forty acres of the farm from his father. All his land is well improved, and ten acres are in native timber. The land .grows the best of crops and he keeps some good stock. He has a barn 40 by 70 feet, a ten-room house with a four-room basement, and being still young he has a career of substantial promise before him. His parents were Henry W. and Anna (Meyer) Panning. His father was born in. Napoleon Township sixty-eight years ago and his mother in Hanover, Germany, fifty-eight years ago. Anna Meyer lost her father Chris-toff Meyer just before the family were setting out for. the United. States. The widow, whose maiden name was Helen Witte, then brought her children, four sons and two daughters, to this country in 1878 and located in Napoleon Township of Henry County. There Helen Witte Meyer died in 1900 when past seventy. Of this family Mrs. Anna Panning and her two brothers, Herman and Henry, are still living. Henry W. Panning was born of Hanover parents who came to this country about 1851. The Pannings bought wild land in Napoleon Township and the old farm is now owned by Detrich Panning. Henry W. Panning's father died when about sixty years of age and his widow a few years later. All the Pannings were active members of the Lutheran . Church and the men were democrats. After the marriage of'Henry W. Panning he located on a new farm in the woods and on the land now occupied by his son Henry. They lived there until the fall of 1915 and are now retired at their comfortable city home at 1040 Scott Street in Napoleon. Henry W. Panning during his residence in Freedom Township -was active in local affairs, held several township offices, and bore' his part in St. John's Lutheran Church. The children are : Fred, a farmer in Clinton Township of Fulton County, who married Julia Leininger and has children named Henry, Anna, Karl, Magdalena, Fred and Harold; Henry C. is next of age; William is a Freedom Township farmer and by his marriage to Ida Mahnke has two children, Lorena and Hugo.; Minnie, the oldest of the children, is the wife of Henry Schleuter, a farmer of Freedom Township, their children being Henry and Ernest; Albert is a farmer in Freedom Township and has a child Arnold by his first wife Minnie Grunhagen, and has a daughter Loretta by his present wife; Anna Schroeder. In 1909 in his home township Henry C. Panning married Miss Ida Bischoff, who was born in Freedom Township April 29, 1891, and was reared and educated. here. Her parents were Henry and Minnie (Badenhop) Bischoff. Her father was born in Germany and her mother in Henry County but of German parents. Mr. and Mrs. Bischoff were married in Henry County and now own a good farm of eighty acres in section 27 of Freedom Township. Mrs. Panning's mother died there in 1907, and her father is still living at the age of fifty-eight. The Bischoffs are Lutherans and democrats. Mr. and Mrs. Panning have the following children: Albert, born June 15, 1909 ; Edwin, who was born December 14, 1913, and .died June 1, 1916; and Herta, born December 15, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Panning are members of St. John's Lutheran Church. He is now filling the office of township clerk. JOSEPH C. SHERMAN. One of the chief ends of life for a man is efficient service in some honorable department of the world's activities and proper provision for home and family. To accomplish this in a creditable manner is in itself a high degree of success. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 863 Joseph C. Sherman of Freedom Township, Henry County, has acquitted himself well in this performance, and at the same time has found opportunity to serve his community in various ways. He is one of the best liked and most useful citizens of his county. He was born in Freedom Township near where he now lives, was reared and educated there, and now owns an eighty-acre farm adjoining the old homestead. His farm is situated in section 36. Few representatives of the farming industry in Henry County have a better record than Mr. Sherman. He has made a success in growing the staple cereal crops, wheat and oats, has a large acreage under cultivation, and feeds some fine stock. His fields yield on the average from twenty-five to thirty bushels of wheat per acre and he is one of the champion corn growers of the county, raising usually from sixty-five to seventy-five bushels per acre and on a selected ten-acre tract he raised one season as high as 107 bushels per acre. Of livestock he keeps thoroughbred shorthorns, thoroughbred Chester white hogs and grade Percheron horses. In one way of equipment he has a barn 36 by 70 feet and a covered straw yard 30 by 40 feet, a sheep barn 20 by 50 feet, and his beautiful house of eight rooms stands well back from the road in a fine grove which gives an appropriate name to the homestead — The Walnut Grove Homestead. This fine farm is situated two miles north of Napoleon. Mr. Sherman. comes of old German stock. His father Joseph' Sherman was born in 1834 in Wuertemberg, Germany, and was seven years of age when his father died. He grew up on a farm and in 1854 at the age of twenty came alone to the United States. He made the trip in a sailing vessel and was sixty days between ports. He came on to Napoleon, and after living in Henry County a few years signalized his loyalty to his adopted country by enlisting in 1861 in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He went out as a private and for three years fought side by side with his comrades in Company C. He was promoted to second sergeant and was discharged with that rank on July 9, 1865, at Nashville. Altogether he fought in fourteen major battles, and with the exception of a brief period was constantly on duty and ready for any risk or hardship. In spite of this hard service he was never wounded, and though he had some narrow escapes vas never made a prisoner. Upon receiving his honorable discharge after this creditable display of patriotism he returned to Ohio and bought eighty acres of land in section 36 of Freedom Township. Then followed years of painstaking industry as a result of which the land was cleared and many improvements added. He died on his farm in September, 1910, in his seventy-seventh year. Joseph Sherman was a member of St. Augustine Catholic Church at Napoleon, and politically was a democrat. He was married in Napoleon Township to Miss Christina Miller. She was born in Baden, Germany, and came when a young girl to Henry County with her parents, Lawrence and Jane B. Miller. The Miller family came to America in 1854 in the same year that Joseph Sherman came. Lawrence Miller improved a farm in Napoleon Township, and afterwards retired to Napoleon, where he and his wife died when quite old. They were active members of St. Augustine's Catholic Church and reared all their children in the same faith. Mrs. Miller was about seventy years of age when she died. Mrs. Christina Sherman died in 1893. There were seven children : John L., a druggist at Holgate, his family consisting of his wife only; Joseph C.; August, who is a farmer in Freedom Township and has a family of children; Mary is the wife of John Konzen, agent for a sugar beet factory at Holgate, and they have two sons; Charles is a farmer in Freedom Township and by his marriage to Miss Lizzie Glanz has a son and two daughters; Albert .owns the old homestead and by his marriage to Blanche Flowers has two daughters; Veronica is unmarried and lives with her sister in Holgate. Joseph C. Sherman was married in Defiance County to Miss Minnie Geiger, who was born in Adams Township of that county on March 16, 1871. She was reared and educated there and was a daughter of August and Caroline (Leonhart) Geiger. August Geiger was a son of German parents from Bohemia. Both August and his wife Caroline came to this country when young and were married in Defiance County. They built up a nice farm and lived in Adams Township, and on May 21, 1916, celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary among their friends and children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Geiger are still hale and hearty and have a prospect of years before them. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have a son Cyril who was born April 22, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman are active members of St. Augustine Catholic Church at Napoleon. Politically he 864 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO is a democrat acting independently in local affairs and is a member of the Knights of Columbus. LARKIN J. LINTHICUM. It is possible to pay tribute to only a few of the surviving veterans of the great Civil war in this publication. One of them now living in Northwest Ohio and a prosperous citizen of Henry County is Larkin J. Linthicum. Mr. Linthicum made a creditable record during. the great struggle over slavery, and further interest attaches to his career because he has spent almost eighty years in Ohio and his first conscious recollection is of the woods and primitive surroundings of this state. He was born in Anne Arundel. County, Maryland, September 29, 1832. His parents were Aquilla and Mary (O'Rourke) Linthicum, who were natives of the .same county and state. The paternal grandparents had also spent their lives in Maryland, and the family were farming people, and most of them lived to a good old age. The prevailing religious faith of the Linthicums was Methodist. Aquilla and wife lived for some years near their birthplace and later with their two sons, Larkin and Franklin, came to Ohio in 1836. That was years before railroads were built, and consequently they made the journey with wagons and teams. Their first location was in Knox County, where they started in a primitive section of Morgan Township. They built and lived in a log cabin, and all around them was new and they endured many of the vicissitudes and hardships of the times. After some years of hard work and the making of extensive improvements on their lands the family left Knox County and came to Liberty Township of Henry County in 1852. Here they located on land which had originally been taken up direct from the Government by William Day. It was on forty acres of that land. that Larkin J. Linthicum began his practical career as an agriculturist. Of the children of his parents his brother Franklin died at the age of seven years, and the daughter Sophia died in 1866: The only other one still living is Rachel, who has never married and is now living at the age of seventy-two at Toledo. It was on the old homestead in Liberty Township that both the parents spent their remaining years. His father, who was born in 1784 died in 1874 at the age of ninety. He had served as a soldier, having volunteered from Maryland, for the War of 1812, and went through that struggle un hurt. His wife died. prior to 1860, having been born in 1801. She was born in Maryland of Irish parents, her father, James O'Rourke, having come from Ireland in time to serve in the Revolutionary war. James O'Rourke married in Maryland, and while he was a Catholic his wife was a Methodist. Larkin J. Linthicum is the only member of the family who has grown up and kept the family name alive, since none of his brothers or sisters married. Many years ago he secured eighty acres of good farming land, improved it with good buildings and still has his home in section 29 of Liberty township, where he enjoys the comforts won, by his earlier years of thrift, and is surrounded by children and grandchildren. Mr. Linthicum married Miss Sarah Leist. She was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, October 4, 1849. She died at Napoleon, July 4, 1897. Her parents, William and Sarah (Nye) Leist, were natives of Pennsylvania who first moved to Pickaway County, Ohio, and later to Henry County, and spent their lives as substantial farming people. The members of the Leist family were reared Lutherans, but later became members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Leist was a republican and it has been the political faith of the Linthicums to first be allied with the whigs and later with the republican organizations. Larkin J. Linthicum entered the Union army with the Sixty-eighth. Regiment, Company A, commanded by Capt. Lewis Richards. He was in the war at the start and he continued until the close of the struggle. Twice he was scratched by a bullet, but never lost an hour from the ranks on account of wounds or sickness, and while he enlisted as a. private he subsequently became principal musician of the regiment and was discharged in that capacity. For many years he has been an active and honored member of Anderson Clarke Post No. 191, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Linthicum and wife were reared in the Methodist Church but subsequently became members of the United Brethren denomination. Some record of their children should be found in the concluding paragraphs of this article. Ida, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Warren Whitener, a farmer of Liberty Township, and their children are Lot-tie, Harold and Virgie. The son, Lewis A., who occupies the old homestead and is one of the progressive and enterprising- farmers of Henry County, married March 18, 1893, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 865 Miss Eva Redfield, who was born and reared in Liberty Township and is a daughter of Albert Redfield, reference to whose life and career will be found on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Linthicum have two children, Albert, born September 9, 1898, who has completed the course in the. common schools and is still at home; and Mary E., born February 2, 1901, and also at home. Giles J., the second son of Larkin Linthicum, is a farmer in Liberty Township and by his marriage to Fannie Murphy has six children named Byron, Charles, Imo, Josephine, Mildred and Vivian. Judson R. is the professional man of the family, being a' graduate in law from the University of Michigan, and now in active practice in Napoleon; he married Byrl Musser and they have a son Harold. Carrie A. is the wife of Terry Woodward, who is employed in the rubber factory at Akron, Ohio. LEONARD COWLES GLESSNER is president and general manager of The Glessner Company of Findlay, a business which he has built up steadily through increasing years of patronage and appreciation to a place where it is now one of the largest and most profitable concerns of Findlay, not only as a private business but as a public asset to the community. Mr. Glessner has been a hard worker all his life and was a successful newspaper man before he turned his hand to manufacturing and other lines of business. He was born near Delaware, Ohio, March 17, 1853, a son of Lewis and Georgiana (Cowles) Glessner. His mother's family were of Connecticut Yankee stock. In the paternal line the Glessners were Pennsylvania Germans. Mr. Glessner's great-grandfather was Col. Moses Bixby, who founded the City of Delaware, Ohio. This ancestor. was descended from Joseph Bixby, who came from Suffolk, England, in 1638. The Bixby family traces its ancestry back to 1427. Mr. Glessner's grandfather was Leonard Cowles, a descendant of John Cowles, who settled in Connecticut in 1637. As a young boy L. C. Glessner attended the country schools west of Delaware, and afterward the public schools of Findlay, Ohio. In 1861 his father bought the Hancock Courier, the oldest newspaper in Hancock County, having been established in 1836. In the office of the Courier Leonard C. learned the printing trade, beginning at the age of fifteen. He acquired. not only the technical art of composition and other details of the printing trade, but also became a . practical newspaper man. In 1874, equipped only with his experience, ambition and a cash capital of $23.28, he went out to Farmer City, Illinois, and negotiated for the purchase of the Farmer City Journal, which he published until 1879. After selling that paper he established the Macoupin County Herald and later bought the Macoupin County Enquirer at Carlinville, Illinois, consolidating the two as a' strong and influential democratic newspaper. He was at the head of this journalistic enterprise until 1883, when he sold out and removed to Sedalia, Missouri, becoming managing editor of the Sedalia Democrat. He also owned a financial interest in that paper. After selling this interest he established at Sedalia the well known publication "The Earth," which was the first publication of that name and has had imitators all over the United States. Mr. Glessner continued its publication for two years. In July, 1887, when the oil and gas boom was at its height in Northwest Ohio, Mr. Glessner returned to Findlay and became city editor of the Daily Courier. After his father's death in 1879 the management of this paper had been assumed by Fred H. Glessner, brother of Leonard C. While still in the newspaper business Leonard C. Glessner became impressed with the possibilities of business based upon an old family receipt that had long been cherished as a remedy for croup, colds and coughs. He determined to exploit this remedy commercially, and resigning his place on the newspaper established The Glessner Medicine Company. At first in the attic of his home he began making the Dr. Drake's Glessco Cough and Croup Remedy, as the medicine was named, and the basement of his home he used as the shipping department. By careful attention to the early details and by progressive yet reliable methods Mr. Glessner steadily extended the patronage accorded to his remedies, and the business grew and grew until the company now ships to every state in the Union. Mr. Glessner continued the manufacture of his remedies on his own account until 1905, when he organized a stock company with $90,000 capital, under the name The Glessner Company. He is president and general manager, and nearly all the executive business is handled by either himself or members of his own family. The company now has a modern three-story brick factory, 866 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO covering half a block of ground, and sixty people find employment in the business. Ever since the organization of the stock company there has been a regular annual dividend.   In 1877 Mr. Glessner married Miss Emma Chappelear, daughter of William Chappelear, who originally lived in Muskingum County, Ohio, but later moved to Illinois, where he was a merchant. Mr. and Mrs. Glessner were married at Farmer City, Illinois. Lewis William, their oldest child, is secretary of The Glessner Company. He was married in 1905 to Helen Magill, of Indianapolis, and their children are Robert M. and John Leonard. Harry Chappelear, the second son, married at Findlay in 1908 Inez Chase. This son is superintendent of The Glessner Company, and they are the parents of one daughter, Margaret Mary. Mary Eleanor, the third and youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Glessner, is still at home. Mr. Glessner is a member of the First Presbyterian Church and has been president of the church board. He has always been a democrat in his political affiliations. He was one of the founders and charter members of Lodge No. 60 of the Knights of Pythias at Farmer City, Illinois, having helped start that order there in 1874. In 1881 he personally founded Lodge No. 95 of the Knights of Pythias at Carlinville, Illinois. He has sat as a representative in the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias in Illinois, Missouri and Ohio. He is also affiliated with the Elks, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Modern Woodmen of America and is a member and former president of the Up-To-Date Club and belongs to the Findlay Country Club. As a recreation he is especially fond of golf, but most of his time is either to be found in his place of business or in his home circle. DANIEL W. SPANGLER. One of the citizens of Henry County whose life record deserves memorial was the late Daniel W. Spangler, who at one time served as sheriff of the county, and was otherwise prominent in local affairs., He represented a pioneer name in Ohio, and it was more than half a century ago that the Spanglers located in Henry County. He was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, April 26, 1827. He lived to be nearly threescore and ten years of age; his death occurred on his fine old home farm in section 24 of Freedom Township December 23, 1896. His parents were John W. and Christina (Duda) Spangler, both natives of Berks County, Pennsylvania. His father was born there in 1797, and was a pioneer in Fairfield County, Ohio, where he spent his last years. The Spangler family came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in primitive style, with wagons and teams, before the days of railroads. John Spangler acquired a farm in Fairfield County, and died there in 1834. His widow subsequently married Peter Wolfe, and lived to be very old, passing away in Freedom Township August 26, 1876. The Spanglers were members of the English Lutheran Church, and most of the men of the family have been democratic voters. There were four children, second among whom was the late Daniel W. Spangler. Catherine married John Wolfe, lived both in Ohio and in Adams County, Indiana, dying in the latter place, but was buried in the old family graveyard in Fairfield County, Ohio. Mary married a Mr. Lutz and died at the birth of her only child. Christopher spent his life in Fairfield County, where he was a brick mason and plaster contractor, and by his marriage to Martha Fasnaugh left a large family of sons and daughters who are still living. Daniel W. Spangler grew up in Fairfield County, and had such educational opportunities as were offered to Ohio boys seventy years ago. In Fairfield County October 21, 1860, he married Mary Myers. She was born in Wells County, Indiana, June 24, 1840, and when eleven years of age her parents moved to Fairfield County, Ohio. Mrs. Spangler walked nearly the entire distance. On November 9, 1861, their first child, a daughter, Elizabeth, was born. Then in 1862 Mr. and Mrs. Spangler started for Henry County, using two covered wagons drawn by teams to carry all their belongings. They secured a farm in section 24 of Freedom .Township. There were eighty acres all told, and only two acres had :been cleared. To the heavy task of making a farm Daniel W. Spangler applied himself with characteristic energy. It was a difficult task and one spiced with many discouragements and hardships. On June 9, 1868, they lost their first daughter and this was a severe bereavement. As they continued to live and labor year after year, prospects brightened and eventually they had a fine home, all paid for, with excellent improvements, and this and many other things made up the sum total' of achievements of Daniel W. Spangler's life. He died at the old homestead December HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 867 23, 1896. He became widely known over Henry County, particularly on account of his service as sheriff, 'an office he filled for two years, having been elected in 1876. Mrs. Daniel W. Spangler survived her husband nearly twenty years, passing away at the old farm March 29, 1915. She was a devoted wife and mother, and the love and veneration of her children and descendants followed her to the grave. She was a member of the English Lutheran Church. Daniel W. Spangler and wife are survived by two children, a daughter and son, both of whom own and have divided equally between themselves the fine homestead of 120 acres in Freedom Township. The daughter Mary E. was well educated in the country and city schools, and was married in 1895 to Harvey B. Diehl. Mr. Diehl was born in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, March 31, 1868, and at the age of six years came with his parents to Henry County. His parents were Lewis and Amanda (Shoemaker) Diehl, who on coming to Henry County first located at Liberty Center, afterwards at Napoleon and then lived in other localities. Lewis Diehl was a harness maker by trade, and followed that as his means of livelihood until his death in September, 1911. Harvey B. Diehl was a small: child when his mother died; and he grew up in the home of his father from whom he learned the trade of harness maker. In recent years most of his time has been given to the operation of Mrs. Diehl's share of the old Spangler homestead. The only son of the late Daniel W. Spangler is Daniel B. Spangler, who was born February 1, 1871. He is unmarried; was reared at the old home farm, and now owns it together with his sister Mrs. Diehl. He is a member of the Order of Owls at Napoleon. Mrs. Diehl has shown excellent ability not only in making a home but has also taken the lead in the social life of her community, and is a woman of very bright and keen intellect. HERMANN F. BISCHOFF. Shrewd business ability, capacity for persevering labor, appreciation of the many advantages of his vocation, and belief in his own power to achieve success have combined to place Hermann F. Bischoff among the leading citizens and farmers of Henry County. He came to Northwest Ohio many years ago and it was only as a result of hard labor for wages that he accumulated the small .capital which enabled him to make a beginning as an independent farmer. Like many of the leading citizens of Henry County, he is a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was born November 25, 1864. His parents, Brene and Elizabeth (Gerken) Bischoff, were farming people and died in Hanover when their son Hermann was six years old. Their children were : Mary, who is married and lives in Germany ; Henry, who is a resident of Freedom Township in Henry County and has surviving by his deceased wife five children, three sons and two daughters ; Fred is an important manufacturer of cocoa in New York City, employing about sixty persons in his establishment, and is the father of three sons and three daughters ; Anna lives in Germany and is married and three of her sons are now in the German army ; Hermann F. was next to the youngest of the family ; and Minnie is the wife of Herman Gerken, a farmer of Freedom Township and has four sons and six daughters. Reared and educated in his native land, Hermann F. Bischoff left there at the age of seventeen, taking passage on a steamship from Bremen and landing in New York City in. March,. 1881. For five years he had his first American experience as clerk in a grocery house at New York City. In 1886,-thirty years ago, he arrived in Henry County, and was employed as a farm laborer and subsequently for four years was an Kelleys Island in Lake Erie, working in the famous vineyards there. The $700 which he had carefully accumulated as the result of his work he brought back to Henry County and used in the purchase of fifty acres of land, the total price of which was $2,700. He kept that land and cultivated and improved it for five years, at the end of which time he sold out for $3,200. The scene of his enterprise then changed to Paulding County, where he paid $3,600 for a farm of 120 acres, lived on it five years, at the end of which time he sold for $5,600. The success with which he managed these places has been characteristic of his progressive endeavors ever since. For a time he bought and sold stock in Fulton County, and then returning to Henry County bought the nucleus of his present farm in Freedom. Township. His :first land there comprised sixty acres, after which he bought twenty acres more and in 1914 added forty acres. Nearly all this land is now in a high state of improvement and thoroughly tiled and drained. Other improvements comprise a substantial eight-room 868 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO house, a barn 36 by 60 feet and a large stock barn recently completed 34 by. 40 feet. During the last season he had forty acres planted in corn, fifteen acres in wheat, thirty acres in oats and fifty acres in timothy, besides ten acres in pasture. He is growing fruit, having an orchard of 100 trees. The name of this high class farm of Henry County is Elm Swamp Farm. In Henry County Mr. Bischoff married Henrietta Vayen. Mrs. Bischoff was born in Henry County, a daughter of John and Anna (Badenhop) Vayen. Both her parents died in Freedom Township when past sixty years of age. They were active members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Bischoff and all his family belong to St. John's Lutheran Church, and politically he is a democrat. For four years he served with credit as township assessor. He and his wife have nine children,  all of whom are at home, all the older ones have completed their education in the local schools and speak both German and English. The names of these children are : Henry, Martha, Mary, Minnie, Albert, Helen, Hen- rietta, Karl and Gustav. WILLIAM DEHNBOSTEL has been a resident of Henry County upwards of half a century, began life poor, with only the capital represented by his energy and the vigor of his body, and has succeeded in accumulating a competence, in addition to providing well for his family and performing those varied relationships and responsibilities which the good citizen must meet everywhere. He was born in Hanover, Germany, January 20, 1844, and is of old German Lutheran stock. His grandparents lived to be quite old, while his parents, Henry and Elsie. (Stuckmeyer) Dehnbostel, both natives. of Hanover, died there, his father in 1865 at the age of fifty-six, and his mother at the age of fifty-four. They were lifelong members of the German Lutheran Church. They had only three. children. Henry, the oldest, died in Germany at the age of forty-four, his widow being also deceased, but several of their children still living. Mary first married Henry Slumbau and after his death married again, and is still living in' Germany at the age of sixty-seven, her sons being soldiers in the German army. William Dehnbostel grew up as a farmer boy, received the usual training given to German lads, and in 1868 at the age of twenty four set out for the United States. He took passage on a vessel at Bremen on November 28th. and landed in New York City December 13th following. His first destination was Kelleys Island near Sandusky, and he worked on that island in the stone quarries and the vineyards for four years. With this experience and with a modest savings from his earnings he came to Henry County and bought forty acres in Freedom Township. This land was practically without improvements, and he paid $20 an acre for it. There he lived and worked and made improvements for the next fifteen years, at the end of which time he sold his farm at $60 an acre. Since 1888 Mr. Dehnbostel has resided in section 19 of Liberty Township. The land he bought here more than a quarter of a century ago he has converted by good management and hard labor into a splendid country estate, and for years he has made it produce abundant crops and fine grades of live stock, cattle, hogs and horses. Among the improvements should be noted a large barn, 40 by 68 feet, and a substantial nine-room house. All these buildings are kept in the best of condition, and the farm itself stands as a high testimonial to the ability of this German born farmer. Mr. Dehnbostel was first married in Freedom Township to Anna Beneen, who was born in Germany and came to America at the age of fourteen with her parents and other members of the family. The Beneens located in Freedom Township, where she was reared, but her parents subsequently moved to the vicinity of Holgate and died there when quite well advanced in years. Her parents were Lutherans. Mrs. Dehnbostel died at the birth of her only child and lacking ten days of two years after her marriage. Her death occurred in Freedom Township in 1872, when she was thirty years of age. Her son Henry is now conducting .a farm of fifty-five acres adjoining his father's homestead and by his marriage to Lena Heiserman has two children, Olemma and Emma. After the death of his first wife Mr. Dehnbostel married, in Freedom Township, Miss Mary Brantz. She was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1855, and when a young woman came to this country with her parents, who located in Napoleon Township in 1870. Her father, Carl Brantz, later bought land in Ridgeville Township and spent the rest of his days there. Mr. and Mrs. Dehnbostel are the parents of seven children. Their daughter Dorris died at the age of eleven years. Those still living are : Herman, who is at home and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 869 assisting his father in the management of the farm; Fred, a farmer in Freedom Township, married Charlotte Platzman and their two children are Esther and Rudolph ; Catherine is the wife of Martin Bockleman, a farmer in Liberty Township, and they have two daughters, Edna and Helen; Emma is the wife of Harman Roots, a farmer in Fulton County and their family- comprises two children, Mildred and Norman ; William, Jr., is at home; John is a farmer. The family are members of St. Johannes Lutheran Church in Freedom Township. Mr. Dehnbostel and his sons are democrats. FRED ZAHREND is a successful man who has seen lots of the harder side of life, and has raised himself from the position of a poor and humble worker to that of a substantial and independent farmer. His is one of the fine homes of Liberty Township in Henry County. It is located on section 9 along the banks of the Miami Canal and on the north side of the Maumee River. That has been his home for twenty years. Those twenty years have been very productive, and many substantial improvements are around his farm. now which were not there when he came. Among these should be mentioned a fine barn 70 by 100 feet, also a comfortable eight-room house and a number of other farm buildings, including grain crib, ice house, poultry houses, garage, etc. His farm comprises 1041/2 acres. Of this eighty acres are intensively cultivated, and produce all the crops that are staple to Henry County. Mr. Zahrend is in fact considered one -of the model farmers of his section, and' has combined practice with a high degree of scientific knowledge of agriculture. Before buying this farm Mr. Zahrend spent seven years as a tenant farmer in Liberty Township. He was born in Mechlenburg, Germany, June 3, 1861, and was six years of age when the family came to the United States. His people located in Liberty Center, when that was only a small village. His parents were Herman and Minnie (Henning) Zahrend, both natives of Mechlenburg and of German Lutheran stock. All their children except the youngest were born in Germany. Their names were John, Henry, Herman, Fred and Louise, and Charles, who was born in Henry County. Of these children three, Henry, John and Louise are deceased. John left two sons and four daughters, who are living at the old home in Leipsic, where John Zahrend fol- Vol. II-14 lowed the lumber business and was practically the creator of the village, which has declined much in prosperity since his death. The daughter Louise married James Forniger and left three sons.' Henry died unmarried. Herman, who is still living and is a farmer in Liberty Township, married Clara Hudson and has two children, Ralph and Goldie. Charles is a carriage worker at Lima and is married and has three daughters. The Zahrend family arrived in Henry County with less than $15 cash capital. The father found employment with the Wabash Railway, and spent his later years on an eighty-acre farm in Liberty Township. He died when about fifty years of age,. and his widow passed away five years ago at the age of sixty-five. Both were Lutherans, and the father was a democrat as are all his sons. From what has been stated it will. appear that Fred Zahrend grew up in a home of very simple comforts and heavy responsibilities were thrust upon him as soon as his .years and strength permitted. He had little' opportunity to gain an education, and from an early age worked out to earn his living. He was employed both in Henry and in Erie counties, and for several years cut logs for the manufacture of staves. He was doing this kind of work before he was as tall as the log which he had to handle. During his years he has seen many developments take place in this part of Ohio. He particularly mentions the present fine condition of the roads as compared with the highways he once knew, which were almost impassable during several months of the year. In Liberty Township he married Miss Ellen Forniger, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1867. When she was a small girl her parents, John and Julia Forniger, moved out to Kansas, but afterwards came back east and settled in Liberty Township of Henry County, where they lived on a farm until death claimed them at the age of about seventy-five. The Forniger family were members of the Reformed Church. Mr. and Mrs. Zahrend have two children : Earl, who was well educated in the public schools and is now handling much of the heavier responsibilities of farming for his father. Fred, Jr., aged seventeen, has evinced a particular bent towards mechanics, is a practical genius in that line, and is now perfecting his technical education in Toledo. The family are all members of the Liberty Reform Church. 870 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO JOHN W. ELARTON. A resident of Henry County all his active life, John Wesley. Elarton in the estimation of his friends and neighbors in Liberty Township, is not only successful from the point of view of having established a good home and provided well for his family, but also has those elements of character which command respect. His home is on section 6 of Liberty Township, and on rural route No. 10 out of Napoleon. His birth occurred in Liberty Township December 13, 1853. He comes of an old Pennsylvania family. His grandparents John and Jane (Rogers) Elarton were natives of that state, and in the early days settled in Seneca County, Ohio. Grandfather Elarton died there when quite old, about the close of the Civil war. His widow survived him many years; living part of the time in Henry and part of the time in Defiance County, and both were very active church people. The men of the family as a rule had been Whigs or republicans. The grandparents had five sons and five daughters, all of whom grew up and married. Those still living are : Curtis, Thomas, John W., Mary A., wife of Rev. David Senders, and Catherine, wife of Rev. William Stinchicum of Seneca County. Samuel R. Elarton, father of John W., was born in Seneca County, grew up there, and, married a school mate, Margaret Enslow, who was also a native of Seneca County. Soon after their marriage they moved to Henry County and bought a tract of wild land in section 6 of Liberty Township. There S 01- uel Elarton erected a log house, and in that log cabin most of the children were born. In the dark days of the Civil war Samuel Elarton left that log cabin home and went to the front, never to return. He enlisted in 1861, was with the One Hundredth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in one battle was captured and sent to Libby prison. He remained a prisoner there subject to the exposure and hardships of that terrible place, and suffering also from homesickness, and about the close of the war died. He was the father of six children : E. Jane, who died October 13, 1916, was the wife of Thomas Howell, a farmer in Clinton County, Michigan, and they had three sons and three daughters; John W., the second in age; William, who died in infancy ; Curtis B., a farmer in Liberty Township who married Etta M. Murphy and has three daughters living; Marietta, widow of Hon. Elmer Palmer, reference to whose career is found on other pages; and Ida I., who died after her marriage to William Edgar. The mother of these children afterwards married Rev. Joseph Fink of the United Brethren Church, and lived in Kansas for a number of years. Later during her illness she returned to her old home in Liberty Township, and died there in the fall of 1901. She had no children by her second union, but Mr. Fink had four by a previous marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Elarton were both Methodists. John W. Elarton grew up on the old farm with his mother and other children in Liberty Township. He received a good education in the local schools, and after starting out for himself found means from time to time to buy the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead, and now owns the entire eighty. acres. This farm has received many substantial benefits from his hands during the past thirty years, and it is now well drained and in a high state of cultivation. One improvement is a large barn, the barn part of which stands on a foundation 40 by 60 feet, with an addition 32 by 44 feet. His substantial nine-room house was built in 1879. He also has a good orchard and under his management the farm has always paid good dividends. In Liberty Township Kr. Elarton married Emma L. Leist. She was born in Fulton County, Ohio, March 11, 1859, and died at her home in Henry County November 14, 1909. Mrs. Elarton greatly endeared herself not only to her family but to her entire neighborhood, and her death was a severe loss to the community. Mrs. Elarton has one son, Charles R., who was born November 4, 1880, was educated in the local schools and in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. He married Lena Kerr, who was born and reared and educated in Liberty Township, and they have two daughters, Isabel, born January 12, 1909, and Berneta M., born February 12, 1914. Mr. Elarton is a member of the Evangelical Church as was also his wife. Politically he is a republican, and has held various local offices, serving for six years as township trustee. On August 16, 1916, Mr. Elarton married for his second wife Miss Amna Leatherman of Malinta, Henry County, Ohio. DIETRICH HOGREFE. A position of leadership such as Dietrich Hogrefe has in the community of Freedom. Township, Henry County, is not easily won and maintained. It means that he has ordered his affairs for many years in such a way as to gain prosperity for him- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 871 self and advance him in the confidence of his neighbors. It also means that he has mingled integrity and honesty in all his dealings, and that he stands for something definite in the way of community ideals. While farming was the basis of his prosperity, and he is well content to be classed as an agriculturist, his interests have taken a much wider scope both in business and official affairs, and as a director of the German Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Henry and other counties he directs one of the' largest .business organizations in Northwest Ohio. He comes of old Lutheran stock, and his parents and ancestors all lived in Hanover, Germany. His grandparents spent all their lives there. His parents were Henry and Sophia (Schultz) Hogrefe, both natives of Hanover. His father was born in 1820 and his mother in 1826. They grew up as young people in Hanover, and did not marry until they came to America. It was in 1851 that they set out from Bremerhaven and after eleven weeks on the, ocean arrived in New York City. Proceeding westward, they went up the Hudson River, by canal to Buffalo, by lake boat to Toledo, and by canal to Napoleon. From Napoleon they advanced by wagon and team. through the woods until they reached Adams Township in Defiance County. They were vigorous young people, courageous and determined, and well equal to the heavy task of pioneering which. confronted them. Their first location was in the midst of the dense forest of that township. Henry Hogrefe acquired eighty acres of Government land there and made his first improvements. by clearing some of the trees and erecting a log cabin. In the course of time the land came under cultivation and represented greatly increased value as a productive farm. This farm was sold in 1876 and the family then moved to Henry County, securing a tract of almost new land in section 27 of Freedom. Township. Here Henry Hogrefe continued his industry for many years, assisted by his noble wife, and in time cleared up 230 acres. Their last years were spent in comfort and plenty, and Henry Hogrefe died March 4, 1876, and his wife on March. 14, 1898. They were very hard working people and hence it is easy to explain the prosperity that rewarded their efforts. They were lifelong Lutherans and the father was a democrat in politics. In their family were six children: Henry died in boyhood; Sophia is the wife of Henry Kruse, a native of Germany and they live on a farm in Freedom Township and have a family of seven sons and daughters.. Caroline died a young girl. Ida is the wife of Fred Gerken, who occupies a part of the old Hogrefe homestead in section 27 of Freedom Township and they have five living children, two sons and three daughters. The youngest of this family, Dietrich Hogrefe, was born as were the other children, in Adams Township of Defiance County. His birth occurred February 6, 1867. When he was two and a half years of age his parents removed to Freedom Township in Henry County, and on their farm there he grew up and attended the common schools of that locality. After reaching manhood he started out on his own account, and in 1886 bought his present farm in section 34, 140 acres. Five years later he moved to that place, and there for the past quarter of a century has constantly kept up the work of clearing, cultivation and improvement and gradually extended his enterprise until he is now one of the best known business men in this section of Northwest Ohio. His farm improvements require some particular mention. There are two large barns, one 40 by 80 feet and the other 36 by 46 feet. Other buildings have been erected as needed, and the entire place represents a large amount of invested capital and careful and well ordered industry; His home is a large ten-room house with basement, and is furnished with all the modern conveniences, including acetylene lighting. In Napoleon Township Mr. Hogrefe married Miss Mary Haase. She was born November 11, 1873, and grew up and received her education in Henry County. Her parents were John and Mary (Dachenhaus) Haase, both natives of Hanover. Her father was born November 8, 1831, a son of John and Mary (Bosselman) Haase, and his mother was born December 6, 1836, a daughter of Henry and Magdalena (Helberg) Dachenhaus. John was nineteen and Mary was fourteen when these respective families set out in 1850 from Bremen and crossed the ocean to New York City. More than six weeks were spent on a sailing vessel that brought then over, and they, also proceeded west by the water route. They went up the river to Albany, thence over the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then up the Great Lakes to Toledo, and thence by canal to Napoleon. The Haase family immediately located in Henry County, but the Dachenhaus family went on west to St. Charles, Illinois, where they lived a year be- 872 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO fore they returned to Henry County. All the older members of the family spent the rest of their lives in Napoleon Township. Both families were German Lutherans. After John Haase and wife married they located on the old Haase farm near the Village of Okolona, and there spent their many useful years. Mr. Haase died in May, 1904, at the age of seventy-one. His widow has since resided with her daughter Mrs. Hogrefe, and in spite of her eighty-one years is still strong and vigorous. She and her husband were confirmed members of the Lutheran Church, Mr. Haase filled an influential place in his community, served nine years as township trustee, and was devoted to the principles of the democratic party. In the Haase family were seven children, and four of them grew up and married. William is a motorman living at Toledo, and has two daughters, Luella and Oral. Dorothy died after her marriage to John Arps, leaving eleven children. Emma died unmarried. Edward is a farmer in Napoleon Township, and by his marriage to Anna Holis has three daughters, Estella, Irene and Alma. The next in age is Mrs. Hogrefe. Lena died at the age of nine months and John at the age of seven years. Besides, the accumulations that represent their many years of industry, Mr. and Mrs. Hogrefe have reared a fine family of children. Lewis, the oldest, farms eighty acres belonging to his father in section 27, and by his marriage to Helen Cordes of Freedom Township has a daughter Ruth, one of the grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Hogrefe. Johanna, is the. wife of Henry Homan, a farmer of Liberty Township, and they have two children, Josephine and Lawrence. The other children are all at home and unmarried, being named as follows : Albert; Helen ; Paul, now nine years of age ; Maria, aged seven; and Alma, aged four. The family all attend St. John's Lutheran Church of Freedom Township, of which Mr. Hogrefe was for several years a trustee. Mr. Hogrefe has never neglected the public welfare and has spent much time in office. He served as justice of the peace, was a member of the school board six years, township treasurer nine years, and he 'has had an effective part in every stage of community progress. Mr. Hogrefe was one of the organizers of the Gerald Grain and Stock Company, of which he is a director. He is also a director of the Napoleon State Bank and has been one of its stockholders since the bank was incor porated. His chief business responsibilities, however, are represented by his active part in the German Fire Insurance Company of Defiance and Henry counties. This is a company whose stockholders are all of German birth or parentage, and it now has $7,000,000 of insurance in force. HERMAN GERKEN. The owner of a well improved farm in section 23 of Freedom Township, Henry County, Herman Gerken is known as one of the substantial and progressive agriculturists and stock growers who are up-building the high standard of these activities in Henry County, and is a citizen who enjoys the high esteem of his neighbors and has achieved a very substantial success. He was born in Adams Township of Defiance County, Ohio, November 29, 1863, a son of Karl and Mary (Meyer) Gerken. Both parents were natives of Hanover and of old family stocks in that kingdom. Karl Gerken about 1852, after reaching manhood, came with his parents to America, and after a long voyage on a sailing vessel arrived in Ohio and settled in the wilds of Adams Township in Defiance County. There his parents spent their last years. Karl and his brother Fred. erick after coming to America willingly accepted any legitimate employment in order to make their way. Frederick enlisted in the Union army, was captured and thrown into a Confederate prison, and endured such suffering and hardship there that he died soon after he was released. He was then twenty-four years of age and unmarried. Karl Gerken found work after coming to Ohio on the Miami Canal and the Wabash Railway, and in that way spent several years, carefully saving his earnings and providing for an independent future. Subsequently he bought eighty acres of wild land in Adams Township, and made a farm. of it. He was a hard worker all his life, and in the course of time improved three other eighty-acre farms. At his death on September 17, 1889, at the age of fifty-nine he left a large estate to his children. He was a democrat, and like others of the family was a confirmed Lutheran. In Adams Township of Defiance County Karl Gerken married Miss Mary Meyer. She was born in another part of the Kingdom of Hanover on September 17, 1834. She was the first of her family to emigrate to America, but a few years later her parents joined her and all located in Adams Township of Defiance County. She was a daughter of Detrick HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 873 and Mary (Lange) Meyer, who spent the rest of their days in Defiance County, her father passing away at the age of eighty-three and her mother at seventy-four. The members of the Meyer family were also Lutherans and in politics democrats. Mrs. Karl Gerken died May 9, 1912. She and her husband were long active members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Of their children the following record is made : Fred died after his marriage leaving his widow and seven children ; Henry is a farmer in Adams Township of Defiance County and has four children by his deceased wife; Herman is the next in age ; Mary is the wife of William Otto, a farmer in Adams Township and they have five 'children ; Minnie married George Copenhover, a farmer in Henry County, and she is the mother of eight children; William is a farmer at Naomi in Fulton County and is the father of three sons and one daughter. Herman Gerken grew up on the old homestead in Defiance County. His early advantages were supplied by the public schools, and he has led a very active if not strenuous career of work as a farmer. In 1889 his father gave him eighty acres of land in section 23 of Freedom Township, Henry County, and that has since been the scene of his productive efforts as a farmer. Mr. Gerken has a large barn 36 by 70 feet for both stock and grain, and has many other buildings and equipments for the housing and care of his stock and implements. In 1912 he built as his home one of the most attractive rural residences in the township, a substantial two-story ten-room brick house with all the modern conveniences. In 1889 in Defiance County, his native township, he married Mary Gobruegge. Mrs. Gerken was born in Hanover, Germany, August 26, 1867, and came alone when a young woman to America in 1886. Her parents followed her the next year, and they all lived in Marion 'Township of Henry County. Her father died there at the age of fifty-five, and her mother, whose maiden name was Sophia Lindhost is still living in Marion Township at the age of seventy-six. Mrs. Gerken is also of a Lutheran family. She and her husband are members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Mr. Gerken is a democrat. Into the family of Mr. and Mrs. ,Gerken were born thirteen children. Four of them died in infancy. Those now living, the five youngest still in school, are : William, aged twenty-four; Sophia, aged twenty-two; Alvin, aged twenty ; Mary, aged eighteen ; Erna, aged sixteen ; Herman, aged fourteen ; Amelie, aged twelve ; August, aged eight ; and Arthur, aged five. This is a large family of children, all of them are still around the family threshold, and it is a family that does credit to the community in which they live. KARL MEYER. One of the fine country homes in Freedom Township of Henry County is that of Karl Meyer, a progressive and successful farmer and stock raiser. He has shown a great deal of enterprise in the management of this farm, which contains 100 acres and is located in section 26. Of his land all but fifteen acres of native timber are under cultivation. Besides the usual staple crops he is one of the growers' of sugar beets in Henry County. His farm is well stocked with good grades of cattle, hogs and horses, and it is excellently situated close by the Town of Gerald. Among the improvements that should be mentioned are a large barn 56 by 80 feet with a shed 14 feet wide attached to it. This barn was built in 1913, and it suggests in general the progressive features of Mr. Meyer's farming. The farm is widely known as the Clover Leaf Farm. He and his family reside in a comfortable ten-room house. This farm has been the scene of all his activities since he was born there September 28, 1875. He grew up and received his education in this community and in September, 1901, secured forty acres of the old homestead, and has since purchased sixty acres adjoining, making his large farm of 100 acres. In spite of the fact that land values have been constantly increasing and that he has placed a number of improvements costing much money, not a cent of indebtedness stands against his property. Mr. Meyer is a son of the late Dietrich Meyer, who was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1835. His parents spent all their lives in Hanover and were members of the Lutheran Church. Reared in Germany, Dietrich Meyer after reaching manhood set out for the United States. He came over on a sailing vessel and made the passage from Bremen to New York in four weeks. He first went out to Iowa and while living there enlisted in the Union army and went south to fight for his adopted country. He was in many of the glorious campaigns of that war. He was at Lookout Mountain, the battle above the clouds, and in many other battles of the campaign between Chattanooga and Atlanta. Though 874 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO he suffered only a slight wound in the shoulder, he experienced such hardships as a soldier that his health was permanently undermined, and his sudden death on .January 30, 1887, while on his way home from church was undoubtedly due to his army life. After securing his honorable discharge, he located in Ohio, and married for his first wife Miss Remmer, a native of Germany. After his marriage he located on the forty-acre tract of land in section 26 of Freedom Township, which is now owned by his son Karl. Mrs. Meyer died there after the birth of one child, William, who died in young manhood. Dietrich Meyer married for his second wife in Freedom Township Miss Dorothy Cordes, who was born in Hanover, Germany. Her parents died in that country, and she then set out alone as a young woman for the United States. For some time she was employed at Toledo before her marriage, Mrs. Dietrich Meyer is still living and on July 5, 1916, celebrated her seventy-seventh birthday. She makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Charles Panning, at Hamler in Henry County. She, as was also her husband, is a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church. Dietrich Meyer was an active democrat. To their marriage were born eight children, ve sons and three daughters, and four sons and one daughter are still living and all married except One. Karl Meyer wad the youngest of the family. He was married in Freedom Township to Miss Mary Gerken. Mrs. Meyer was born in Henry County October 30, 1883, was reared and educated here and is a daughter of Henry and Anna (Gathman) Gerken, who were natives of Germany. After. coming to America they became Henry County farmers, but are now living retired in Napoleon. The Gerken family are also Lutherans and politically their male members have been democrats. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are members of St. John's Lutheran Church, and Mr. Meyer is secretary or church clerk. Politically he follows the allegiance of the democratic party. In his household are four children: Karl, Jr., aged twelve ; Hilda, aged ten ; Luella, aged eight; and Paulina, aged five. HERMAN M. MEYER. To no one class of people does Henry County owe its agricultural development more than to the thrifty German stock. During the great German colonization period of the late '40s and early '50s a large number of families from Hanover came to this country and settled in Freedom and other townships. One of the oldest and best known of this eolony is the Meyer family, represented by Herman M. Meyer, whose fine farm home is situated in section 23 of Freedom Township, and also by his venerable father Henry Meyer, who was one of the early Hanoverians to locate in this county. Henry Meyer was born in Hanover October 30, 1838, a son of Dietrich and Dora (Otto) Meyer. Both parents were Hanover farmers and were active members of the Lutheran Church. In 1859 Henry Meyer started for America. It was a long voyage in a sailing vessel and he came from Bremen to New York City and thence west to Ohio and at once joined the settlement of people from Hanover in the wilds of Freedom TownShip. There he found employment in different lines, and in 1861 went to Kelleys Island to work in the quarries. A month later he went to the City of Sandusky, and about that time the Civil war broke out. Though a newcomer in America, and not yet having completed his American citizenship, like many of his compatriots he was eager to enlist and fight for his adopted land. He first enlisted in a three months' regiment, but this regiment was never called into service. He then enlisted in June, 1861, in Company C of the .Twenty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and after the organization of the regiment at Camp Chase it was assigned to the western army. He and his comrades were sent to Cheat Mountain in West Virginia and from there to Louisville, Kentucky. After three years of active service Mr. Meyer veteranized at Chattanooga, and continued with the army until the close of the war. When Sherman started on his famous march to the sea three regiments. were consolidated and were renamed the Eighteenth Ohio, and Henry Meyer was assigned to Company I? with the rank of orderly. During nearly four years of active service he took part in fourteen battles, besides many minor engagements and skirmishes. He was in the campaign beginning with the siege and capture of Fort Donelson, fought at Stone River, in the operations in East Tennessee including the battles of Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga, and after the siege and capture of Atlanta returned to Tennessee and fought at Franklin and Nashville. Few of those gallant soldiers who fought in the Civil war from beginning to end are still living, and Henry Meyer deserves the gratitude of his fellow countrymen and his army record will always be a matter