100 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ness he accumulated a small fortune, and is recognized as one of the most successful men of the early days of Fremont. He is a Republican in politics, and in the year 1847 was elected mayor of the city. In 1845 he married Miss Augusta. F. Fusselman, who was born in 1826, and six children were born to them: Frank, now living in Tennessee; Hattie, wife of G. Kinney, an attorney at law, of Fremont; Fannie A., who died in 1879; Maude, wife of Lieut. John Garvin, U. S. N. ; Chester, living in Kansas City, Mo. ; and H. G. Dr. H. G. Edgerton was born in Fremont, Ohio, April 23, 1859, and was educated in the Fremont public schools and at Oberlin College. He began the study of dentistry in 1875, and graduated from the Dental Department of the University of Ann Arbor (Mich.) in 1881, with the degree of D. D. S. He practiced his profession at Toledo, Ohio, one year, and then came to Fremont, where he has had a leading practice for several years in his pleasant rooms over the First National Bank. He is a Republican, a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the National Union, and is connected with several social clubs of the city. On January 29, 1884, he married Miss Clara Meek, daughter of B. Meek, an attorney at law, and four children have been born to them: Mary B., Rachel, Dorothy and Henry Meek. JOSEPH KINDLE, attorney at law, Fremont, Sandusky county, was born at Caroline, near Republic, Seneca county, Ohio, December 9, 1858, a son of Gottlieb and Mary Magdalena (Michels) Kindle. Our subject's father was born in Triesen, Principality of Lichtenstein, Germany, and emigrated to America in 1852. He had followed the trade of blacksmith in the Fatherland, but on settling in Seneca county, Ohio, upon a farm, he devoted his time to agricultural pursuits, and did only his own blacksmithing. Our subject's mother was born in Baden, Germany, in 1837, and came with her father's family to Sandusky county, Ohio, when three years old. Here she grew to womanhood, became the wife of Gottlieb Kindle, and died March 1, 1866. Their children were: Regina, who married Frank Bin-sack, of Fremont, Ohio; Rosa Ann, who died at the age of eighteen; Mary Ann, who is unmarried; and Joseph, our subject. Joseph Kindle came with his parents at an early age to New Riegel, Ohio, where he attended school until he was fourteen years of age, also a parochial school, in which he was at the head of his classes at the age of eleven, and kept his place as they progressed upward for three years. In August, 1871, the family removed to Green Creek township, Sandusky county, where they remained about five years. In March, 1876, they moved to Sandusky township, near Book-town, at the mouth of Muskallonge creek, upon a farm where the parents lived and died. After settling up his father's estate, our subject, being of a literary turn of mind, sought the halls of learning to qualify himself for an occupation better suited to his tastes. He attended school two years at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Ind., devoting the first year to a commercial course, from which he graduated, and received his diploma, and the second year he took a mixed course, scientific and literary, in a line with the study of law. On his return from school he followed the occupation of bookkeeping for a year, and then went into a general mercantile business for himself, in which he continued with good success for ten years, most of the time at Fremont, Ohio. He then sold out and resumed the study of law with the firm of Meek & Dudrow, and, was admitted to the bar on December 8, COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 101 1892. He now has an office on Croghan street, Fremont, opposite the First National Bank. Mr. Kindle is a man of large stature, manly form and commanding presence. He possesses great strength and power of endurance, physically and intellectually, which, coupled with his ability to use the German language as fluently as the English, gives him a vast advantage over the ordinary man. He is a Democrat in politics, and, as were his parents before him, he is an ardent Roman Catholic. He is one of the most prominent members of Branch No. 290, Catholic Knights of America, also a member of Branch No. 8, Catholic Knights of Ohio, of which Branch he is the present president, and is a member of St. Joseph's Parish. He has been an officer of trust in these societies during nearly all the time of his membership therein, and has represented them in different state councils. Mr. Kindle was married April 28, 1884, to Miss Mary Drum, daughter of Jacob and Anna (Durnwald) Drum. Her father was a Union soldier in the late war, and is now a member of Eugene Rawson Post, G. A. R., Fremont, Ohio. The children of Joseph and Mary Kindle are: Frank J., Edward A., Gertrude M., and Laura Ann. FRANK E. SEAGER, prosecuting attorney for Sandusky county, was born in Ballville township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, October 17, 1861, a son of Charles D. and Caroline (Hoover) Seager, natives of Sandusky county. Charles D. Seager was an only son of Charles L. Seager, a native of New York State, who came west in 1835, was one of the early pioneers of Sandusky county, and died in 1843. Our subject's maternal grandparents, Lawrence Hoover and wife, were natives of Germany, and also came at an early day to Sandusky county; they are both now dead. Our subject's parents were married in Ballville township, Sandusky county, in 1858. Frank E. Seager was reared in the place of his nativity, attended the common schools and the Fremont city schools, later the Normal University, at Ada, Ohio, where he completed the classical course in 1886, and then attended the Northwestern College, at Naperville, Ill., from which he graduated in 1887. He then began studying law, alternating that with teaching winter schools. He located in Fremont in 1888, and entered the law office of Finefrock & Brinkerhoff, for the purpose of continuing his law studies and engaging in the insurance and loan business. He was admitted to the bar in 1893, and in 1894 was elected prosecuting attorney, which office he still holds. Socially, our subject is a member of Croghan Lodge, No. 77, I. 0. 0. F., and Fremont Encampment, No. 64. He is also a member of the Uniformed Rank, Patriarchs Militant, and, of the Masonic Fraternity, a Royal Arch Mason. He is an active member of the Church of the Evangelical Association; was for several years its efficient Sunday-school superintendent; he also superintends a Sunday-school at Ballville village. In politics he has always been a Republican, and takes an interest in local and national affairs. On May 16, 1895, Mr. Seager was married, at New Carlisle, Clark Co., Ohio, to Miss Marie Gates. FRED R. FRONIZER, attorney at law, Fremont, Sandusky county, was born near Buffalo, N. Y., in 1852, son of Henry and Mary (Young) Fronizer, natives of Germany, who emigrated to New York, where they were married. In 1853 they came to Sandusky county, Ohio, locating in Ballville township, where they followed farming. The mother died in 1885. Their children were: Fred R., our subject ; 102 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. John, a carpenter, of Fremont; Simon, a contractor and grocer; Matilda, who died at the age of four; Lana; Susan; Katty, and Joseph. Our subject was reared to farm labor, and attended the country schools. At the age of eighteen he entered upon life for himself, attended the Fremont city schools, and taught country schools in the winter seasons to pay his way. Later he went to a Normal school at Fostoria, Ohio, for a few terms, and then taught the Woodville High School two years. In the spring of 1874 he commenced the study of law in the office of J. T. Garver, in the meantime continuing to teach winter schools, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1877. He held the office of justice of the peace in Ballville township six years, and in 1887 was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney for Sandusky county, which he held six years. He was county school examiner from August, 1881, to 1887. Mr. Fronizer is a life-long Democrat, and a member of the M. E. Church of Fremont. Socially, he is a member of Croghan Lodge, No. 77, I. O. O. F. He was married, in Sandusky county, to Miss Isabella Boyer, daughter of George Boyer, a pioneer of Washington township, that county, and two children have blessed their union—Irvin F. and Harry L. DAVID GORDON. For more than half a century the name of Gordon has been closely identified with the growth and progress of Ottawa county, and more particularly with Salem township. The family is of Scotch ancestry on the father's side, the mother's people being Yankees. The parents and grandparents of our subject were natives of Somerset county, N. J., and the first members of the family to settle in Ohio were John and Rachel (Smith) Gordon, who removed from Somerset county, N. J., in 1831, and located in Salem township. After residing here some six months they removed to Harris township, where they remained for three years, and returning then to Salem township made it their place of abode during the remainder of their lives. They were honored and respected people, and had a large circle of warm friends. The father passed away November 7, 185i, the mother on March 3, 1842. It will thus be seen that the family has been identified with Ottawa county since pioneer days, and David Gordon is now the .oldest living resident of Salem township. He is numbered among the prominent and progressive farmers and stock raisers, and has a home pleasantly situated about one mile and a half from Oak Harbor. Born in Somerset county, N. J., March 19, 1827, he came to Salem township with his parents when only four years old, and since 1831 has been a continuons resident of the farm he now owns. The township in those days was an unbroken wilderness, without roads and without schoolhouses, the latter being at that time considered a needless luxury. In consequence David Gordon received very meager privileges for obtaining a literary education. From early life he was obliged to engage in the arduous duties of developing a new farm, a work that had to be accomplished with rude machinery, for the wonderful inventions in farm implements were then a thing of the future. He perseveringly continued his labors, however, and is still engaged in farming, now on an extensive scale, being numberbered among the most prosperous agriculturists of his adopted county. Mr. Gordon was married, December 1, 1851, in Erie township, Ottawa county, to Miss Caroline Redding, who was born in Warren county, N. J., February 9, 1827, daughter of David B. and Anna (Engler) Redding, natives of New Jersey, who located in Ottawa county in 1839. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gordon, but the eldest died when COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 103 only a few hours old. The others are John, who was born September r 0, 1854, and is now a prominent farmer of Erie township; Rachel and Cornelius (twins), born February 22, 1857, of whom Cornelius was drowned February 27, 1859, and Rachel is the wife of W.A. Eisenhour, who was clerk of Ottawa county, and is now a farmer of Erie township; David and George (twins), born January 9, 1859, the former a resident of Montana, the latter a prominent farmer of Salem township, Ottawa county; Evaline, born February 3, 1860, deceased in infancy; Catherine, born July 26, 1862, who died in infancy; Marian, born September i5, 1864, who also died in infancy; and Helen, born May 16, 1865. Mr. Gordon is a charter member of Oak Harbor Lodge No. 495, F. & A. M., and belongs to Fremont Chapter No. 64, R. A. M., and Fremont Council No. 6r, K. T. He and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. He is numbered among the honored pioneers of Ottawa county, who have witnessed its growth and development from the days of its infancy, and in the work of progress and advancement he has ever borne his part as a faithful citizen. DR. FRANK CREAGER, the well-known dentist of Fremont, Sandusky county, was born July 25, 1850, in York township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, on the farm of David Moore, about four miles southwest of Bellevue, Ohio, son of Jacob and Margaret Ann Creager. The parents, who were of German descent, came from Hagerstown, Maryland. In early life our subject removed with the family to White Pigeon, Mich., and thence to Elkhart county, Indiana, where he was reared on a farm, and where he received a common-school education. In 1865 he commenced the study - 7 - of dentistry with Dr. H. B. Boswell, of Rochester, N. Y., and in 1870 accepted a situation as an assistant in the office of Drs. Cummins and Hawk, of Elkhart, Ind., remaining with them three years. To these gentlemen he is indebted for much of his early education in dentistry. In 1873 he located in Fremont, Ohio, for the practice of his profession, soon establishing a large and lucrative business, and gaining the national reputation he now enjoys. He also enjoys the distinction of having spent more years in active practice than any other dental practitioner in the history of Sandusky county. It is needless, however, to speak of him in a professional light, for his skill as an operator and his mechanical abilities are extensively known. The prominent positions he has occupied in the various dental societies of the country are also matters of history. He has one of the finest dental offices in the State, provided with all the modern improvements and appliances known to the profession, many of which are of his own invention. On March 11, 1875, Dr. Frank Creager was married to Miss Clara L. Moore, of Ballville, Ohio, daughter of John and Eliza Moore; the children born to them were Edna, Volta, Grace, Bessie and Frankie Bon. The first two died of diphtheria in the latter part of the winter of 1880, Edna dying February 19, and Volta on the 29th of the same month, only a difference of ten days in the time of their deaths. When twenty-one years of age Dr. Creager joined the Masonic Fraternity at Bristol, Ind., but shortly afterward he took a dimit and united with Brainard Lodge No. 336, F. & A. M., Fremont, and has been an active member ever since. He is now the master of the Lodge, a position he has held continuously for three terms, and under his guidanceship it has acquired an enviable reputation. In fact it is conceded to be 104 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. one of the best working Lodges in the State. He is also a member of the Grand Council, Royal Arcanum; but the efforts which brought him most prominently before the people were in the interest of the National Union (a similar beneficial organization), and especially the local Council which was named, in honor of his little girl, " Edna." The loss of this child, their first-born, was a severe blow to the parents, and the honor thus bestowed by his associates in naming the Council after her perhaps made the Doctor take more than the usual interest in its welfare. Edna Council was instituted December 3, 1883, with forty-nine charter members, and Dr. Creager was chosen its first president. The following January he was re-elected, and the of- ficers and members went to work in such an earnest manner that in less than six months the roll was swelled to more than a hundred members, and Dr. Creager's name appears on nearly all the applications. At a meeting of the Ohio State Assembly, which was held in the city of Fremont June 1o, 1884, he was chosen Senator for two years, being one of the first Senators elected by the Councils to represent the Order in that Supreme body. The Edna Ritual was exemplified by the Council to the members of the Assembly during their stay in the city, and although in rather a crude state, it was well received. At the session of the Senate in 1884 Dr. Creager was elected speaker, and also a member of the Finance Committee. At the session of 1885, held in the city of Chicago, he was elected vice president, and was also retained on the Finance Committee, of which he was a valuable member. During 1885 he was a member of the Committee on Laws. At the session of the Senate held at Mansfield in 1886, he was chosen president, and on his return home was met at the depot by the council in a body, and escorted to his residence on Main street, where he was most cordially received by his neighbors and the members of his Council. The following year he was unanimously re-elected president of the Senate, and was also made a life member of that Supreme body—one of the highest honors within its gift. In 1888 he revised the Ritual originally prepared by him, which has been unanimously endorsed by every Council and member of the Order. In 1891, during the session of the Senate at Milwaukee, Wis., he presented to the assembly a beautiful and impressive Burial Service, in perfect keeping with the tenets of the Order, which has been universally admired. His last and best effort, however, in ritualistic work, was the Public or Private Installation Ceremony written and arranged by him in 1894. It is a scholarly production, and commends itself to nearly all the fraternal societies of the country. It can truly be said that Dr. Creager has tried to serve the order faithfully and well" With malice toward none, with charity for all." Taking the office at a time when affairs at headquarters were not in the best condition, he has triumphantly come through it all, and to-day the National Union is recognized as one of the leading beneficial societies. Dr. Creager is a pleasant and fluent speaker, most of his addresses being in connection with the Grand and Supreme bodies with which he is affiliated. In 1895 he entered actively into the campaign which terminated in the nomination of Col. Horace S. Buckland as a candidate for common pleas judge, announcing his name to the convention in an eloquent speech, which was most enthusiastically received. JACOB GABEL. The value of a biographical work, such as the one in which these sketches are found, is readily conceded when one realizes how fast the old landmarks are disappear- COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 105 ing in the onward march of time, and how few are left of that generation of brave pioneers under whose patient strokes the forests gave place to well-tilled fields with their wealth of golden grain, and these, in their turn, to busy, thriving villages, which anon grew into cities, the smoke of whose countless industries ascend without ceasing; and the names of whose citizens, famous in statesmanship, war or commerce, have become known throughout the world. The men and women who contributed, even in the humblest way, to the planting and growth of this great commonwealth, must feel a laudable pride, when, themselves in the sere and yellow leaf, they can look back on lives spent in honest industry and patient toil, and see the results in the happy homes and wonderful progress of the State, which has been the birthplace of so many great men, and which holds so enviable a place in the Union. Of the early settlers of this State, as well as others, many were of German birth, and to no class of people is the country more indebted for its substantial properity. Hardy, industrious and frugal, they were well adapted to confront the obstacles which lay in the path of the pioneer, and to them and their children are due the thanks of those now enjoying the benefits of their labors. Jacob Gabel, the subject of this sketch, who is now enjoying at his pleasant home in Fremont, Sandusky county, the rest earned by a long life of activity, was born May 4, 1821, in Alsace, Germany. His parents, Jacob and Barbara (Lebald) Gabel, who were natives of the same place, sailed for America in 1829, when their little lad was about eight years old. Their first location was at Buffalo, N. Y., where they were engaged in farming for seven years. In 1836 they removed to Ohio, and settled in what was known as the Black Swamp, in Jackson township, four miles from Fremont. Their home was a small log cabin, in the midst of a dense forest; no roads through the timber, no neighbors, no comforts or conveniences of any kind, and mud, mud everywhere. Nothing daunted, their busy hands cleared away the trees, tilled the ground, sowed and reaped the abundant harvests and reared the children who-came to cheer their loneliness. On this. farm, wrested from the wilderness by incessant toil, Jacob Gabel, Sr., lived his long life, dying in 1872, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, five months and some days. The mother passed away in 1866, at the ripe age of eighty-two years. To this worthy couple were born six children—three sons and three daughters —all of whom lived to a goodly age: Joseph, a farmer in Ballville township, Sandusky county, who lived to be eighty-two years old; Michael, who followed farming in Jackson township, and died when sixty-two years old; Jacob, our subject; Catharine, who married Louis Schutz, and resided in Ballville township, where she died at the age of sixty; Elizabeth, who married George Rimmelspacher, and Magdalena, wife of Adam Biensack. Jacob Gabel, the subject of this sketch, grew up on his father's farm, and at the age of twenty-three was married to Miss Magdalena Durr, who was born January 20, 1826, in Wurtemburg, Germany, and came to this country when twelve years old, making her home in Ottawa county. Their marriage took place in Fremont, May 12, 1845, and the young couple took up their abode with the father of our subject, where they resided until the death of the former. A large family, eleven children in all, was born to this estimable couple, and on February 13, 1876, the beloved wife and mother passed away, leaving behind her a most gracious memory of a loving and well-spent life. The following brief record is given of the children of Mr. and Mrs Gabel: (1) Catherine, born May 8, 1846, married Joseph Dolweck, and lives in 106 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Ottawa county, this State; she is the mother of six children--Clara (who married Fred Bauer; they reside in Cleveland and have one child, Helen), Lena, Jacob, John, Frank and Alpha. (2) Peter, born October 25, 1847, married and living in Fremont, has seven children—Rosa, Anna, Katie, Mamie, Alois, Herman and Estella. (3) Caroline, born May 22, 1850, married John Busold, and lives in Fremont; they have had four children, of whom the following are living: Rosa, Frances and Lidwina. (4) Jacob, born November 20, 1852, is married, and lives in Jackson township; his children are seven in number: Henry, Ella, Minnie, Edward, Herman, Max and Clara. (5) Mary, born March 3, 1855, married Joseph L. Fegelist, lives in Bellevue, and has three children--Ervin, Leander, and Oliver. (6) Charley, born April 21, 1857, lives in Jackson township, and has had four children—Frances, Lucy, Leo, and Hedwig (deceased). (7) Frank, born May 25, 1859, lives in Fremont, and has four children—Lidwina, Alphonse, Oscar and Olive. (8) Louis, born May 28, 1861, lives in Jackson township, and has four children—Ida, Roman, Cletus and Clement, the latter two being twins, (9) John S., born June 23, 1864, lives in Jackson township, and has three children--Florine, Walter and Bernard. (10) Albert, born September 29, 1866, lives in Jackson township, and has one child—Anna. (I I) -William, born September 1,1870, was -educated in the Ohio Normal University, and subsequently clerked in the drug store of Thomas & Grund, in Fremont, after which he accepted the position which he now holds, that of bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Fremont. He is a Democrat, and an active member of the Young Men's Sodality of St. Joseph's Church. Jacob Gabel, the father of this interesting family, has for fifty years been a successful farmer in Jackson township, where he now owns some 600 acres of land, accumulated by industry and economy. He gives the credit for his success to his noble wife, who, he thinks, was the best woman in the world. After her death he could not bear the loneliness of country life, and came to Fremont, where he resides with his daughter Caroline. Although he has given up the care of his farm to his sons, he frequently goes out to it and looks after his interests there. He also owns a grocery store in Fremont, which is managed by one of his sons. In politics Mr. Gabel is a Democrat, and in religion a devout Catholic. His father was one of the founders of St. Joseph's Church in Fremont. The last years of his life are passing peacefully by in the society of his numerous children and grandchildren, with the sustaining thoughts of a life well spent, and the hope of a glorious immortality. CALEB TAYLOR (deceased) was born in Maryland, October 20, I800. His parents moved to Virginia when he was a lad of seven years, and after living there two years located in Belmont county, Ohio, where they remained until 1828, in that year moving to Richland county, Ohio, In the spring of 1822 Caleb Taylor was united in marriage, in Belmont county, with Sarah Yost, who was born in that county, October 21, 1802. Her parents were of German ancestry. For nine years, or until 1837, Caleb Taylor worked at his trade of blacksmithing and also at farming, and in that year located in Sandusky county, Ohio, on an eighty-acre tract of timberland, the greater part of which he had cleared by the time of his death. He passed away on January 12, 1871, at the age of seventy-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Caleb Taylor had eleven children, as follows: John, a carpenter, who married Barbara Shrively, and had six children; Elizabeth, who married Eli Reeves, a retired carpenter of Gibsonburg, COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 107 Ohio; Lydia, who lives in Oregon, married to Christian Rheinhart, by whom she had five children; Ben, who died in 1864 in the war of the Rebellion; William, who died at the age of seventeen; George, who died in Michigan June 12, 1893, at the age of sixty years; J. B., a resident of Gibsonburg, Madison township, who married Cynthia Campbell, and has had two children; Enoch, born April 1, 1837; Hannah, who married Eli Rheinhart, a farmer of Indiana; Mary J., who married James Wells, a weaver, and lives in Bradner, Wood Co., Ohio; and Aaron, who died in infancy. Mrs. Taylor is still living, at the advanced age of ninety-two, having her home with her daughter at Gibsonburg part of the time, and on the old homestead. She has for the greater part of her life been a devout member of the German Baptist Church. Enoch Taylor, a son of Caleb Taylor, always lived at home, excepting the time he was in Steuben county, Ind., where he bought forty acres of land on which he lived two years. On December I, 1864, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Rheinhart, who was born June 4, 1844, and they have had five children, namely: Martha A., who died young; L. C., a school teacher in Gibsonburg, Madison township, who received most of his schooling at the district school, attended school one term at Angola, Ind., and one at Fostoria, Ohio (he married Eliza Schneider); George W., born January 29, 1875, who works at home; Mary E., born March 31, 1877; and Orphia, born March 28, 1883. Mrs. Taylor's parents, Christian and Barbara (Raymer) Rheinhart, were natives of Pennsylvania. In 1863 Enoch Taylor took his father to a railroad station, and on their return home the team became frightened and ran away, throwing him out and fracturing his right shoulder, which injury has caused him a great deal of inconvenience in later years. In 1876, by a kick from a horse in the forehead, his skull was fractured, and he was picked up for dead, but after two months he was able to get around again. Since then his eyesight has been impaired. He has always worked hard from his youth, and since the death of his father has had charge of the old homestead. DAVID GARN, JR. The entrance of the Garn families into Washington township, Sandusky county, dates back as early as 1834. They have been widely and favorably known as enterprising farmers and business men, and the parents of our subject were among the early pioneers of the Black Swamp. David Garn, Jr., the subject of this sketch was born June 3, 1846, in Washington township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, a son of David Garn and Margaret (Ickes) Garn, the former of whom died in February, 1848. David Garn's earlier educational advantages were limited, but he afterward attended the high school at Fremont two terms; Normal school at Milan, Ohio, two terms; and business college at Oberlin, Ohio, one term. He was a Union soldier in the war of the Rebellion, having enlisted at Fremont, Ohio, May 2, 1864, in Company G, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Regiment, 0. V. I., and served four months at Fort Ethan Allen, Virginia, where he suffered from sunstroke and camp-fever. On September 4, 1864, he was honorably discharged at Cleveland, Ohio. He was a member of Eugene Rawson Post, No. 32, G. A. R., at Fremont, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. David Garn, Sr., were born children as follows: Sarah, wife of Daniel Swickard; Daniel, who was a member of Company K, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth 0. V. I. (he married Miss Hattie King, and their children are —Ella, Mary, William, Albert, Edward, Samuel); Mary, wife of Michael Weible, farmer of Sandusky township (they had one child, who with parents are 108 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. all deceased); Isaac, a commission merchant, of Vinton, Iowa, born February 9, 1841, married to T. C. Mitchell, daughter of Jacob Mitchell (Isaac was a member of Company G, One Hundred and Eleventh 0. V. I); Alexander, born July to, 1843, was a soldier in the Civil war, in Company I, Seventy-second Regiment 0. V. I., and died near Memphis, Tenn. ; David, Jr., is the subject of our sketch. David Garn, Jr., was married in Sandusky county, January 20, 1884, to Miss Anna Hoffman, who was born August to, 1864, at Hagerstown, Md., a daughter of Jacob and Johanna (Lesher) Hoffman. Their children are: Firm, born December to, 1884; Ray, born January 3, 1886; David, born June to, 1887; Leo, born February 6, 1895. Mr. Garn is a merchant at Helena, Ohio, and has held the office of notary public and of postmaster since 1885. He previously held the offices of precinct assessor, school director and clerk of the board of public schools for eleven years. WILSON DWIGHT (deceased) was a son of Josiah and Abigail (Fish) Dwight, and was born June 1, 1819, upon a farm near Cincinnatus, New York. When seventeen years of age he came to Huron county, Ohio, where he rented land and engaged, in his own behalf, in agricultural pursuits. One year later his father's family also came to Huron county, purchased a farm, and Wilson made his home with them until he had passed his twenty-seventh birthday anniversary, when he wedded Electa Osterhout. To this union came four children, viz.: Charles G., who died when eight years of age; Jennie M., deceased wife of James Swisher; Emma L., wife of William Lovering, a contractor, of Findlay, Ohio; and Flora Bell, wife of Lester Wilson, an attorney at law of Fremont, Ohio. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Dwight moved to La Grange county, Ind., and purchased a farm upon which he resided for three years, when he sold out and returned to Ohio, buying a farm in Groton township, Erie county. Here he made his home until 1873 when he removed to Clyde, Ohio, and purchased a splendid home where his widow now resides. During the twenty-two years of his residence in Clyde, although he lived a quiet life and gave little attention to business other than a general supervision of his farm, he came to be universally known as a man of kind and accommodating disposition, and the personification of honesty and integrity. He passed away June 6, 1895, and was laid to rest in the beautiful McPherson cemetery, adjoining the village. DAVID R. RUSSELL, who in his lifetime was an honored citizen of Riley township, Sandusky county, was born November 23, 1855, in Castalia, Erie Co., Ohio, and is a son of Alonzo and Sarah (Baker) Russell, both also natives of Ohio, the father born in Erie county, April 8, 1823, the mother in Castalia, Erie Co., Ohio, March 28, 1829. They were married August 28, 1848, and were the parents of eight children as follows: Sophronia, born in 1849, and now living in Erie county, Ohio, was married to James Lemon, who died in 1881; Lafayette born in 1851, married Nettie Lemon, and they have two children (they live in Erie county); Mary, born in 1853, married George Rig-gel, and they have had four children (they live in Huron county, Ohio); David R., is the subject of this sketch; Emma, born in 1857, married Eugene Zabst, and they have one child (they live in Bay City, Mich.); Frank, born in 1859, died at the age of eighteen years; George, born in 1861, married Maud Upton, by whom he has four children (they live in Missouri); and Sarah, born in 1863, married COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 109 Hiram Harris, and has two children (they live in Michigan). Alonzo Russell when a young man was employed by the day. After his marriage he moved to Michigan, bought a farm there, lived on it for two years, and then selling it removed to Erie county, Ohio, where he worked four years for a man by the name of David Richmond. He saved his money and bought fifty acres of land, later purchasing sixty-five more. He died February 7, 1874, since when his widow has managed two farms. David R. Russell, the subject proper of these lines, was raised by his parents, received a common-school education, and worked at home until his marriage. On May 2, 1882, he was wedded to Miss Harriet Livingstine, who was born April 8, 1863, in Sandusky county, and five children have blessed their union, as follows: Sadie May, born March 7, 1883; Charles David, born February 9, 1885; Rosa Harriet Gertrude, born February 2, 1887; Clara Catherine, born November 12, 1888; and John Robert, born September 5, 1891. Of these children, Sadie May died January 17, 1895, aged eleven years, ten months and ten days. The father, David R. Russell, departed this life September 26, 1895, at the age of thirty-nine years, ten months and three days. He died, of enlargement of the spleen, at the home of his sister in West Bay City, Mich., whither he had gone for the benefit of his health, and his remains were brought back to his home by his father-in-law, Charles Livingstine, and were laid to rest in the Scotch cemetery in Riley Riley township, Sandusky county. The services at the funerals of both father and daughter were conducted by Rev. E. Peiffer, in Grace Lutheran Church, at Fremont. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. David R. Russell settled in Riley township, Sandusky county, her father having given her thirty-three acres of land there. In 1884 Mr. Russell bought thirty-five acres adjoining, paying for it at the rate of seventy-five dollars per acre. As did his father before him in political matters, he voted the Republican ticket, and he donoted liberally toward the support of the Lutheran Church. GEORGE REYNOLDS, a retired farmer of Sandusky county, living in Ballville village, near Fremont, was born March 9, 1817, in Essex county, N. Y., near Elizabethtown, son of Daniel and Betsey (Adams) Reynolds. Daniel Reynolds was born near Saratoga Springs, N. Y. In 1834 he migrated to Ohio with his son, George Reynolds, and settled in Lorain county, near Elyria, where he remained for some years. In the latter part of his life he removed to Ballville township, Sandusky county, on land now occupied by his son George, where he died at the age of sixty-six, the mother also passing away at the same age. Mr. Reynolds was a Whig in politics, a descendant of an old Yankee family. There were eleven children born to him and his wife—Lyllis, George, Harry, Melissa, Ransom, Daniel, Rosetta, Philemon, Lucinda, Edgar and Rousseau—six of whom are still living. George Reynolds spent his youth and attended school in the State of New York. After coming to Ohio, he resided about five. years in Elyria, and afterward removed to Fremont, settling in Ballville township, where he has resided on the same farm for fifty years. He has a tract of 145 acres of land under a high state of cultivation, lying on the east bank of the Sandusky river. Here, on February 6; 1844, he married Miss Maria Prior, who was born, November 1, 1823, in Sandusky county, on their present farm. A brief record of their children is as follows: (I) Chauncey, born October 17, 1844, married Miss Effie Bender, and they have two children—George and Bessie. (2) Cynthia, born June 6, 185o, married T. L. Parker, and now resides with her parents 110 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. (they have one child, Effie, who married James Hill, and has a daughter--Della Irene). (3) Orrin, born May 23, 1855, was an attorney at law, and died at Fremont, Ohio, in 1879. (4) Della, married R. W. Mitchener, and they have two children--Kent and Robert Donnell. (5) Ransom, born May 15, 1859, is unmarried, and is living with his parents. All the married children were married on the home farm. Our subject is a Republican in politics, and for about eight years has been a member of the M. E. Church, with which his wife has been united from childhood, she being the oldest living member of that organization in Fremont. Mrs. Reynolds is one of the old pioneers of Sandusky county, and can relate many incidents of early pioneer life. HON. SOLOMON W. REED.—Among the men of mark of Ottawa county, and representative citizens of this section of Ohio, stands the gentleman whose name is here recorded. A native of Sandusky township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, born February 9, 1840, he was there educated at the public schools, and also learned the trade of carpenter with his father, who was born about the year 181o, in Pennsylvania, and died in 1869. The mother of our subject passed away on November 4, 1895, at the age of seventy-seven years. This honored couple were the parents of fourteen children—seven sons and seven daughters. At the age of twenty-three years our subject moved to Elmore, Ottawa county, where he has ever since, now a period of thirty-two years, been a highly-esteemed citizen. For one year he was engaged at his trade, and then embarked in lumbering and farming, businesses he still carries on, in connection with which he is also interested in the manufacture of staves and headings. In 1870 Mr. Reed appraised the real estate of Harris township to the unqualified sat isfaction of all concerned, thus establishing a recognition of his adaptability for positions to which good judgment is an importance essential. In 1892 the " oil boom " reached Elmore, and our subject at once embarked in that speculation, and he has since put down fifteen wells, most of which are producing. In 1893 he purchased of Caleb Klink the Elmore Wagon and Carriage Factory, in which he placed the machinery for the manufacture of heading, staves and lumber, and in his various businesses he now employs an average of some seventy-five hands. In the year just mentioned he was appointed assignee for the Ottawa County Bank, located at Elmore. Mr. Reed, in his political proclivities, is an ardent supporter of Democratic principles, and in 1895, justly appreciating his merits and abilities, that party placed him in nomination as representative of Ottawa county for the Ohio State Legislature. On the 5th of November, same year, he was elected by a majority of 374 over his opponent, Emery Thierwechter, of Oak Harbor, which in itself is substantial enough evidence of his popularity. In 1860 Hon. S. W. Reed was united in marriage with Miss Emma Hetrick, daughter of George and Catherine Hetrick, and to this union have been born eight children, to wit: Saloma (Mrs. John Reber, of Elmore), William Lester (deceased, who for several years prior to his death was engaged with his father in business), Embro T. (a farmer at Elmore), Franklin M. (in a lumber and stave business), Ella, Edwin E., Eva and Warrie W. The entire family enjoy the highest esteem and regard of the community in which they live. EMBRA T. REED. Among the younger representatives of the agricultural interests of Ottawa county is this gentleman, who was born on March 10, 1865, in Washington COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 111 township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, a son of Solomon Wilson and Emeline (Hetrick) Reed. The former was born in Washington township about 1840, and his first business venture was the purchase and sale of horses which he secured for the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. In 1860 he married Miss Hetrick, who was born in the same locality in 1838, and they became the parents of eight children—five sons and three daughters—seven of whom are now living; William Lester died in 1890 from an injury received several years before. The boyhood days of our subject were spent under the parental roof at Elmore, Ohio, and he there obtained his education. In 1884, at the age of nineteen, he started on a trip through the South and \Vest, first going to Texas, thence to California, where he remained a year, and then on to Montana, returning to his Ohio home by the way of North Dakota. He continued with his father through the winter, and in the succeeding spring went to New Mexico and to Colorado, where for two years he was engaged in silver mining. On the expiration of that period he made his way to Oregon and Washington, remaining in that section of the country for nine months when he again came to Ohio. On October 11, 1888, Mr. Reed was joined in wedlock with Miss Julia James, of Elmore, who was born in Harris township, Ottawa county, January 2I, 1867. She was educated in the district schools, and until her marriage remained at home with her parents. Her father, Orin James, was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, February 7, 1832, and came to Ottawa county during his boyhood. He married Miss Melvina Richards, who was born in Ottawa county in 1830, and died in 1873. Three children grace the union of our subject and his wife: Le Roy Trask, born July 28, 1889; Carl De Witt, born December 28, 1892; and Arzella, born September 23, 1894. For a year after his marriage Mr. Reed lived in Findlay, Ohio, engaged in the cooperage business. He then came to Harris township, Ottawa county, and took charge of one of his father's farms which he is still operating. He is also engaged in raising stock for the local trade, and is doing a good business. In his political views he is a Republican. He and his wife hold membership with the Disciple Church of Elmore, and are highly-esteemed residents of his locality, having many friends. He has the culture which travel brings, and many interesting incidents which he can relate of his journey make him an entertaining companion. C. S. KEATING. Although he has long since passed his allotted three score years and ten, and has now entered his eightieth year, this well-beloved old gentleman of Clyde, Sandusky county, is at this writing as erect in figure, as quick in action, as a man of half his years. His eyesight is keen, and he is yet an active follower of Nimrod and of Walton. Each summer he visits the haunts of noble game, and the favorite nooks of the trout and the muskallonge, while his pleasant home is adorned with numerous and valuable trophies of the chase. In this respect it resembles rather some old baronial hall than a modern dwelling house, and for each trophy Mr. Keating has an interesting story. He was born in Main April 8, 1816, son of John and Elizabeth (Mathews) Keating, both also natives of the "Pine Tree State." John Keating was a man of earnest convictions. About 1819 he with his wife and family made the long and tiresome journey by wagon from Maine to Ohio, settling near Zanesville, where he farmed and followed the trade of millwright. In 1825 he moved to a. farm in Clinton township, Seneca county. There was then but one frame house in 112 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Tiffin. He cut a wagon road from Tiffin to his little log cabin in the woods two and a half miles away, and soon after found employment as a ship carpenter at Sandusky, Huron and Fremont, following that trade for ten years or longer. He was also a Baptist minister, and preached the Gospel at frequent intervals from a sense of right, and not for emoluments, and each Sunday he made long trips on horseback through the mud and woods to fill these clerical appointments. He had nine children as follows: John M., who died at the old homestead after marriage; Joseph, a boss shipbuilder, who married and lived at Toledo, where he was accidentally killed at the age of fifty-six years; Edward and Edwin, who both died young; Capt. A. C. Keating, of Clyde; C. S., subject of this sketch; Henry A., who lives on the pike below Clyde; George L., residing on the old homestead near Tiffin; Louisa, who married Elias Jackson, and is now a widow, living in Indiana (Mr. Jackson died several years ago); Elizabeth, married to Charles Sloat, now living in California; and one child who died in infancy. C. S. Keating grew to manhood on the pioneer farm in Seneca county, receiving a scant education in the log school houses of that age. He paid for one term of instruction by chopping trees, and remembers that one tree which he tackled was too large for him, and he was obliged to call his father's assistance in felling it. He remained on the home farm till twenty-two years of age, then entered the shipyard at Marblehead as carpenter; he followed this trade at Lorain, on the Black river, at Vermilion, Huron and Fremont, for about two years. On December I, 1839, he was married to Miss Olive E. Butler, born near Rockland, Maine, August 29, 1822, a distant relative of Ben. Butler. She is the daughter of Brackett and Nancy (Mathews) Butler, the former of whom was of English ancestry, and by his wife Nancy had five children, as follows: Myra, wife of Samuel Russ, of Boston, Mass. ; Lucy, who died at Clyde, the wife of Gilbert Perry; Olive; Marie, wife of Charles Bradbury; Amanda, now Mrs. Boston, of Boston, Mass. Mrs. Butler died in 1827, and Mr. Butler married again, by his second marriage rearing a family; he died in Indiana. Olive met her future husband while visiting in Ohio. Mr. Keating began housekeeping at Hedges Springs, Seneca county. He lived there six years, and followed his trade of ship carpenter at Fremont as well. He also cleared up some land in Adams township, Seneca county, and farmed there for several years; then bought timber land on the pike below Clyde, paying $14 per acre, and selling it for $80 per acre during the Civil war. At the close of the war he bought another farm. He lived on the place about six years, then moved to Clyde, where he now resides. To Mr. and Mrs. Keating were born four children, a brief record of whom is as follows: (I) Joseph B., born July 8, 1841, was educated in the Clyde schools and in a Commercial College at Cleveland, followed railroading and, subsequently, the jewelry business; he died at Huntington, Ind., February 25, 1889, leaving two children —Laura and Truman. (2) Alice K., the widow of William Weaver, is an instructor in the public schools at Huntington, Ind. (3) Russ, born October 29, 1853, is a traveling salesman at Fond du Lac, Wis., for the Diebold Safe & Lock Co.; he is married and has one child—Charles. (4) Walter L., born January 17, 1859, engaged in the safe buSiness at La Crosse, Wis., is married and has one child--Florence. Mr. and Mrs. Keating celebrated their golden wedding in 1889. Mrs. Keating is an active member of the Methodist Church, and an earnest worker in the temperance cause. Her father was a Baptist from boyhood, and was a leader in the Church choir, having a cultured voice. COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 113 Mr. Keating has not yet lost his keen zest for the gun and fishing rod. He attributes his well-preserved eyesight and his unimpaired vitality, not so much to his hardy physique as to the excellent care he has taken of himself. The trophies of his skill which adorn his home recall the lines of Walter Scott, in The Lady of the Lake:" Here grins the wolf as when he died, There hangs the wild cat's brindled hide, And all around, the walls to grace, Hang trophies of the fight and chase. In the year 1852 Mr. Keating became a Free Mason at Clyde, Ohio, joining Monticello Lodge No. 244. In politics he is non-partisan, with a predilection toward the Republican party. Conviction and principle dominate his ballot as well as his religion, and his relations to his fellow men. He is a genuine-hearted man, held in highest esteem by all who know him. JOHN L. LEVISEE is one of the comparatively few men born so far back as 1809. He is the oldest man in and one of the earliest pioneers of Townsend township, Sandusky county, having located there on October 29, 1831. His parents were Aaron and Anna (Lyon) Levisee. James Levisee, his paternal grandfather, was born in Connecticut, and went from there to New Jersey. He had two sons: Aaron Levisee, born in New Jersey, July 9, 1774, and John. During their younger days these brothers followed the sea. While their vessel was lying off the coast of South America, a number of the crew were stricken with yellow fever, including the brothers, Aaron and John. When they reached New York, John died in the hospital there, but Aaron survived, although all his hair fell out, leaving him entirely bald. In 1798 Aaron Levisee was united in marriage with Anna Lyon, who was born in Massachusetts, and their children were: Almeda, born August 1, 1799; Avelina, June 21, 1801; Thankful, July 15, 1803; Eliza Ann, May 6, 1806; John L. and Sarah L., July 4, 1809; two who died in infancy; Sophia, born February 14, 1815; Emma, born March 24, 1818; and Aaron Burton, born March 18, 1821. Of these, the survivors are: John L., the subject of this sketch; Emma, widow of William Fuller, of Townsend township, Sandusky township; and A. B. Levisee, of Clyde, Green Creek township, Sandusky county. Aaron Levisee, Sr., died June 18, 1828, in Allen, Allegany county, N. Y. ; his widow died in 1845. Mrs. Levisee was a daughter of Thomas and Thankful Lyon. John L. Levisee was born in Charleston, Ontario Co. (since Lima, Livingston Co.), N. Y., on the east bank of the Genesee river, and went with his parents to Allegany county in 1822. At the age of twenty-two he left his native State to make him a home in the unbroken wilderness of northern Ohio. His mother and the other members of the family came in the following year. Of these sturdy pioneers, it could well be said: " There were giants in those days"—giants in endurance, strength and courage. Here Mr. Levisee worked for five years, clearing and preparing a tract of land. At the end of that time he was united in marriage with Diana Stanley, who was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., October 25, 181o. They have the following named children: Sarah, born May 5, 1838; Anna, July 28, 1840; Elizabeth, October 27, 1842; Eliza, August 18, 1844; Mary Jane, October 23, 1846; Civilia, January 30, 1849; David, November 21, 1850; and Chauncey, May 23, 1855. Mrs. Levisee was a daughter of Asa and Anna Stanley, of York township, Sandusky county, and was a member of the Methodist Church; her death occurred July 4, 1855. On November 15, 1866, Mr. Levisee again married, taking for his second wife Mrs. Statira E. (Cable) Reynolds, who 114 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. was born in Lorain county, Ohio, June 7, 1830, a daughter of Shubael and Elizabeth Reynolds, and they had two children: Francis A., born August 12, 1868, and Willie, born July 12, 187o, and died December 14, 1870. In his younger days Mr. Levisee worked somewhat at the carpenter trade. He lives on the farm, which he cleared over sixty years ago, but retired from the active supervision of the place several years since, and his son Chauncey now has the management. Mr. Levisee is a Republican in politics, and in Church connection is a Universalist. F. J. WHITTEMORE, M. D., a prominent and leading physician and surgeon of Clyde, Sandusky county, was born in Massachusetts, January 15, 1831. In the Williston Seminary of East Hampton, Mass., he was prepared for college, after which he entered the New York University, where his literary education was completed, graduating in the class of 1851. Later he became a student in the medical department of the same university, where he received the degree of M. D. In Plymouth, Conn., he began the practice of his chosen profession, and remained there for ten years—the following years in New Haven, Conn., until about four years ago, when he came to Ohio, leaving his son, a skillful physician, in charge of his extensive practice. He belongs to the Allopathic school, and in New Haven did a general practice; but since coming to the Buckeye State has made a specialty of chronic diseases, and his practice has grown so rapidly that he has almost more than he can attend to. He has ever been a close student of his profession, and well deserves the liberal patronage which he receives. The Doctor is a son of Amos and Clara (Hamilton) Whittemore, both natives of Massachusetts, the former born at Spencer, the latter at Chester. The father began business as an agriculturist, but later became connected with railroad work, serving for many years as yardmaster. He was of English descent, the great-grandfather of our subject coming from Wales at an early day, locating in New England, where the grandfather was born. The maternal grandfather, John Hamilton, came to the New World from Ireland, and during the Revolutionary war served as lieutenant in the Continental army, which rank he was holding at the time of Burgoyne's surrender. The father of the Doctor was called from this life about 1862, at the age of seventy-six years; the mother passed away at the age of fifty-seven years. They left one son besides our subject—Louis W., a resident of Hartford, Connecticut. At Plymouth, Conn., Dr. Whittemore was united in marriage with Miss Fallah Terry (now deceased), daughter of Eli Terry, who made the first clock in this country, and was the first large manufacturer of clocks in the United States. His father, a resident of Windsor, Conn., constructed the first wooden clock. To the Doctor and his wife have been born four children: (r) Dr. Frank H., a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, who also studied in Europe, and has succeeded to his father's practice in New Haven, Conn. ; he is married and has one child—E. Reid. (2) William R., who studied law, but is now traveling. (3) Clara, wife of Rev. E. Oakley, of Romeo, Mich. ; they have three children—Frank, Ralph and Roy. (4) Lillie (now deceased), who married Charles L. Knapp, a manufacturer, of New York City; they made their home in Brooklyn. For his second wife Dr. 'Whittemore wedded, in 1887, Miss Alice J. Blackman, of New Haven, Connecticut. Although he has but lately come to Sandusky county, Dr. Whittemore has made many warm friends, and has secured a lucrative practice. He uses his right of franchise in support of the Republican COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 115 party; while in religious faith he belongs to the Congregational Church. He occupies quite a prominent position among the medical fraternity and holds memberships with the State Medical Association, and also with the Sandusky County Medical Society. JAMES RAMAGE, postmaster at Gibsonburg, Sandusky county, has been a resident of that city for about twenty-two years, and is held in the highest esteem by his fellow citizens. He is now holding the office of postmaster for the second time, having been appointed under Cleveland's first administration, and again under his present one. Abner Ramage, the father of our subject, was born in Fayette county, Penn., and came to Ohio, settling in Holmes county in 1823, where he carried on farming. He was born in 1800 and died in 1861. He was married in Holmes county to Miss Susannah Custer, who was born in Leesburg, Penn., and was a full cousin of Gen. Custer, who was massacred by the Indians on the Little Big Horn, during the Indian troubles in the West some years ago. Mrs. Ramage was about fifty years old at the time of her death. She was the mother of ten children, of whom our subject is the eldest, the others in the order of birth being as follows: Mary, who married John Malone, is deceased; Sarah, who married a Mr. Mitchell, is also deceased; John J. lives in Delaware county, this State (he enlisted, at the commencement of the war of the Rebellion, and served all through the struggle, receiving a severe wound in the hip; he went to the front as orderly sergeant, and returned as second lieutenant; he was with Sherman on his march to the sea. On his return home he served two terms as county auditor of Delaware county, Ohio); Elizabeth died in youth; George is a practicing physician at Jennings, La. (he was an assist ant surgeon through the war); William lives in Memphis, Tenn. ; Delila married M. J. VanSwearengen, and lives in Illinois; Lydia died when sixteen years old; Hampton lives in Findlay, this State. The Ramages are of French descent, and were early pioneers in America. The Custers are of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. James Ramage grew to manhood in Holmes county, this State, in his boyish days attending the common schools which were held in log schoolhouses, with puncheon floors, greased paper for windows, and slab seats and desks. He worked on his father's farm until twenty-eight years of age, in the meantime, when twenty-five years old, marrying Miss Christina Mills, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1831, and died in 1886. This worthy couple were the parents of nine children, as follows: Elizabeth, now the widow of S. C. Bevington, and living with our subject (she has two children--Elsie and Floyd); Abner N., who died when seven months old; Joseph, who died when three years old; Ida, deceased at the age of two years; Elmer, who died when about ten months old; John, unmarried and living at home; Alice, now the wife of P. A. Rust (they have two children—Florence and Dewitt); Hattie, who died when nineteen years old; and Rena, at home. The subject of this sketch learned the carpenter's trade in Holmes county when he was twenty-eight years of age, and followed that occupation until 1861. He then entered the dry-goods business at Middletown, Holmes county, and carried same on for four years, when he sold out and went to Mansfield, this State, working at his trade for about four years. In 1873 he came to Gibsonburg, at the time the Pennsylvania railroad was being built, and has worked at his trade most of the time except when acting as postmaster. Mr. Ramage has always been a stanch Democrat, and has been active in promoting the interests of his party. In 116 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. religious faith, he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for about thirty years; socially, he belongs to the I. 0. 0. F., and is a member of the Masonic lodge, at Genoa. FRED CURTISS. The annals of the lives of some men read more like a romance than sober history, on accout of the adventurous turn of their mind, and the circumstances under which they have lived, causing them to roam from place to place. Among these is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch , and who is engaged in the grocery business in Clyde, Sandusky county. In Green Creek township, that county, he was born September 16, 1855, and is a son of Charles and R. J. (Hurd) Curtiss. Tradition has been more often consulted and relied upon than recorded facts, and as a consequence the English origin of the Curtiss family—like Homer's birthplace—has many locations. It is believed that our subject is descended from the Curtiss family of Stratford, Conn., who are known to have lived there in 1658, as the record shows, and were descended from William Curtiss, the founder of the family in America being one of the passengers on board the ship " Lion," which arrived in Boston harbor, Sunday evening, September 16, 1632. The paternal grandfather of Fred was born in New York State, and came to Ohio at an early day, locating in Sandusky county, where his son Charles was born; but the former, who bore the name of Benjamin Curtiss, died when his son was a mere child. The mother again married, and the son was reared by his uncle, James Cleveland. After his marriage the father of our subject settled on the farm near his uncle, and after clearing up this tract he sold and bought the old homestead in Townsend township, Sandusky county, whese he engaged in farming, but later became a merchant of Clyde, and was thus engaged until the time of his disappearance. He had been unfortunate in business, and those who knew him best assert that he was swindled by his partners. He took the matter deeply to heart, and one day, saying he was going hunting, he started out with his gun and was never heard of afterward. His fate will doubtless always be an unrevealed mystery. This occurred when our subject was only five years old, and his mother was left with five helpless children and only five dollars of visible means for their support. She was born in Sandusky county, and is still living at the age of sixty-six years. The family comprised (1) Benjamin, who, at the age of fourteen years, enlisted in the United States army. His mother afterward secured his release on the grounds of his minority, but as he was anxious to go into the field he re-enlisted for actual service, which he experienced until the close of the war, after which he came home on a visit. He then went to the Pacific coast where he remained twenty-two years, most of the time being in the employ of the government, but for the past few years he has been in the timber business. (2) Frank, who also served in the regular army, subsequently secured a position with the government, hauling supplies to the great Northwest. He became a hunter and trapper of Washington and Idaho, and in the latter State was married, but he now resides in Seneca county, Ohio. (3) Fred is next in order of birth. (4) Mary is the wife of Robert Foster, of Townsend township, Sandusky county. (5) Ada, who lives in London, Ohio, is the wife of George J. Holgate. As the mother was unable to support the family, the boys were obliged to go among strangers as soon as they were able to earn their clothes and board, and consequently the early life of Fred Curtiss was not a very pleasant one. At an early age he began peddling fruit on the cars and around the COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 117 depot, after which he drove milk wagon, ice wagon and dray, and later became brakeman for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad. On quitting that occupation he worked for one season on the farm of William McPherson, a brother of Gen. McPherson, and for a while lived with the General's mother, working during the winter for his board and being allowed to attend school, while during the summer season he was employed in a brick yard. On attaining the age of nineteen years, after a series of trials and vicissitudes, Mr. Curtiss determined to act on Horace Greely's advice to " Go West " and grow up with the country. Accompanied by an old friend, he accordingly started for Wisconsin, and on arriving in New Lisbon, that State, he secured employment in a dry-goods store, where he remained six months. He then went to Minnesota, and thence to Iowa, but found no permanent employment. At Sioux City, Iowa, he engaged with the captain of a steamboat to work his passage still farther west. He stood the life of a " roustabout " until he reached Fort Randall, whence he proceeded to Yankton, S. Dak., and later went to Vermillion, in the same State. On reaching the latter place he had but twenty-five cents remaining, and employment was a necessity. While looking around, to his great surprise he met Frank Haywood, the friend whom he had left in Wisconsin. Through that gentleman he soon found employment in a brickyard, where he remained until securing a better position in a sawmill up the river, where he received $2.00. On leaving that place he went to Nebraska, thence to Missouri, and still later we find him in Kansas, where he went to work as a stock drover, remaining there until shipping time in the fall, when he came East with the stock. On returning home Mr. Curtiss began work with J. L. Ames, a farmer of Sandusky county, with whom he remained for four or five years, after which he began railroading again as brakeman. On giving up his position he was employed by his uncle, T. P. Hurd, of Clyde, until he started in business for himself. He opened his present store in 1886, where he carries a full and complete line of staple and fancy groceries, and has now the largest trade of any dealer of the kind in the city. In 1885 Mr. Curtiss wedded Miss Catherine Mulchy, a native of Sandusky county, where they are both widely and favorably known. He holds membership with the Masonic Fraternity, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Clyde, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. As a man and citizen he is respected and esteemed by the community in which he lives, and enjoys the regard and confidence of all who know him. He is now serving as director of the First National Bank. Politically he votes with the Democratic party. JACKSON TINNEY (deceased) was born in Niagara county, N. Y., June 15, 1832, and died at Greensburg, Ohio, June 24, 1891. His father, Stephen Tinney, was a native of Massachusetts, and his mother, Julia Scott, was born in New York. When Jackson was only one year old his parents moved to Lenawee county, Mich., where they remained six years, thence removing to Ohio, and settling in Scott township, Sandusky county, in the spring of 1839, where the family has since resided. He was the third son in a family of four children. On July 4, 1863, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Inman, daughter of William Inman, one of the pioneer settlers of Scott township; as a result of this union two children have been born—one son and one daughter. His wife and children survive him. His worth as a citizen was appreciated, as is shown by the 118 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. fact that he was several times elected township clerk, while in 1890 he served as appraiser of the real estate of Scott township, to the great satisfaction of the public and with credit to himself. He was a man of honesty and upright character. On the day before his death he worked as usual in the field, but in the evening complained of feeling ill, and took some home remedies, thinking he would feel better in the morning. About midnight he rapidly grew worse, and died early Wednesday morning of heart disease before a physician could be summoned. His health failed about one year before his death when he had an attack of the " grip," from which he never recovered. He died June 24, 1891. His funeral occurred on Friday following his death from the M. E. Church, of Greensburg, the services being preached by Rev. S. Kaiser, of Gibsonburg, the text selected being Matthew vi: 25. The interment was made in Metzger Cemetery. Mrs. Tinney, widow of our subject, was born at Fremont, March 7, 1841. When she was a child her parents came to Scott township, where her father cleared a farm and made a home for himself and family. For fourteen years he was assessor of Scott township, and was an esteemed citizen of the community in which he lived. Mrs. Tinney was educated in the public schools of Scott township. Alfred W. Tinney, the son of Jackson Tinney, was born May 7, 1864, on the farm where he now lives. He was educated in the common schools of the township, in the Fremont High School, and Normal at Ada. For several years he has been one of the most successful teachers of Sandusky county, and is pronounced by those who know him as one of the ablest young men of Scott township. In addition to his school work he carries on the old farm of his father as well as a small farm of his own. He is always found attending to his business, never hav ing any time for the frivolous things of life. Cora, his sister, now Mrs. Kleinhen, was born August 8, 1868, and acquired a common-school education at home. She was married June 2, 1893, to Oscar Kleinhen, and they now live at Tinney; they have one child, Ida Loree, born August, 1894. CAPTAIN WILLIAM J. LAUNDY, who now lives a quiet and peaceful life on his well-improved farm near Green Spring, Sandusky county, after a thoroughly successful and prosperous career on the great inland lakes, is by birth an Englishman; but it would be difficult to find in this country a native-born citizen more intensly patriotic than he. His ancestry were liberty-loving people, and Captain Laundy reveres the stars and stripes as the only flag to which he now owes any allegiance. He was born in the county of Essex, England, April 26, 1842, and is a son of Henry and Sarah Ann (Fletcher) Laundy, people of Cambridgeshire, England, the former of whom was a gardener for Sir John Young. Grandmother Laundy was a preacher in the Friends Church in England, and in her old age wrote many letters to her descendants in America. The father of Henry Laundy was a religious refugee in England from Germany. Sarah Ann Fletcher, wife of Henry Laundy, was an Episcopalian. When William J. was a small child his parents emigrated to Canada from England in a sailing vessel, the trip consuming eleven weeks. They located on the St. Lawrence river, nine miles below Kingston, thence, in 1861, removing to Huron county, Ontario, where they died at the ages of eighty-two and eighty-four respectively, eight days apart. Henry Laundy was an orthodox Quaker, a strong anti-slavery man, and an active " agent " for the " underground railway." COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 119 At the age of about twenty William J. crossed the border to the United States for the express purpose of taking up arms in behalf of its national preservation. He expected to join his brother Fletcher, who was a member of an independent company of Illinois cavalry; but before he reached him Fletcher had lost his health in military service, and strongly dissuaded William from enlisting. The latter, therefore, went to Milwaukee, where, in 1863, he went on the lakes. He commenced as a watchman, and worked up rapidly to the position of master, or captain, in which capacity he plied many years between Buffalo and Chicago, being, all told, some twenty-three years on the lakes. In 1879 he had purchased his present farm, located close to Green Spring, Sandusky county, and when, in 1883, he resigned his captaincy, he came to his fertile acres, and has been here ever since. In 1872 Capt. Laundy was married to Miss Deborah A. Rouse, who was born in Ottawa county, Ohio, December 20, 1851, youngest daughter of George Lathrop and Mary (Knapp) Rouse, both of old New England stock, the former born in New York State September 18, 1809, the latter on September I 3, 1818. They were married in Danbury township, Ottawa Co., Ohio, April 27, 1838, and were early pioneers of that county. Subsequently they removed into the village of Marblehead, where Mr. Rouse was for many years engaged in general merchandising, and where he to some degree followed his trade of ship carpenter. He died May 26, 1853, and his widow subsequently married Robert Killey; she still lives at Marblehead. George L. and Mary Rouse were the parents of eight children, as follows: Sabra, born January 8, 1839, married Dominick Barnholtzer, and died July 22, 1895; Laura, born August 3, 1841, wife of John Boschen; Lucretia, born January 10, 1843, married James Fletcher, and died December 11, 1856; Betsy, born September 24, 1844, married T. Sexton, and died March 20, 1864; George Lathrop, born June 17, 1846, lives near Grand Island, Neb. ; Ida, born April 24, 1848, died unmarried, May 26, 1894; Joseph, born July 30, 1850, died February 24, 1864; and Deborah. Robert and Mary Killey had three children, of whom Frances, born December 15, 1855, and now the wife of Frederick Daily, survives. To William J. and Deborah Laundy three children were born, their names and dates of birth being as follows: Fannie, September 13, 1882; Mary, August 1, 1888; Luff, August 19, 1893. Capt. Laundy is a man of extensive information and broad and liberal views. He has been a great traveler, and his wide experience in life has left upon his receptive mind deep impressions, thoroughly assimilated by his reflective faculties. His wife is a bright, sensible business woman, and the devoted couple have the universal esteem of the community in which they live. WILLIAM J. HAVENS. As a pioneer of the Black Swamp, a region lying between the Sandusky and Maumee rivers, extending several miles on each side of a line drawn from Fremont to Perrysburg, and as one who has spent the greater part of a busy life in helping to subdue the dense forests, reclaim the marshes and change the once howling, malarial wilderness into one of the choicest and healthiest garden spots of the Buckeye State, the subject of our sketch is well worthy of place in these pages. Having his residence on the old parental homestead which he has so grandly improved and beautified, he is able to appreciate the marvelous changes which have taken place in this region within the last half century, and is worthy of the modest laurels of pioneer heroes. 120 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. The grandfather of our subject was William Havens, a farmer, living in the State of New Jersey, who married a Miss Mackley, and about the year 1815 removed with his family of eight children to Franklin county, Ohio, and settled on Black Lick creek, about twelve miles east of Columbus. Here, after experiencing the usual vicissitudes of pioneer life, he died in 1820; his wife passed away twenty years later. Their children were Mary, Thomas, Susan, John, Sarah, Henry, Martha and William, all now dead except William, who is eighty-one years of age. Henry Havens, the father of our subject, was born in New Jersey, in 1809, and at the age of six years came with his father's family to Ohio. He grew up on the home farm in Franklin county, his educational advantages being very limited. In the fall of 1831, having saved up his hard-earned money, he came to Sandusky county and entered 160 acres of government land in Section 10, Jackson township, at $1.25 per acre. He was married the same year to Miss Sarah Jams (daughter of Hugh Jams, who died in 1837), and on March to, 1832, moved upon his farm in the Black Swamp. The moving party were ten days on the way through the forests, being obliged to cut out their way as they went among logs and underbrush. They built a double log cabin in which they lived comfortably for twelve years, when they built a frame residence, and herein he resided until within one year of his death, which occurred in 1853, when he was aged forty-four years; his wife died in 1851, at the age of thirty-eight. Their children were William J., Hugh, Birchard, Mahala, Ora and Mary J. Henry Havens was a highly-respected citizen, and held the office of justice of the peace in his township for a term of years. He was one of the jurors in the first murder trial ever held in Lower Sandusky, known as the Sperry case. William J. Havens was born December 13, 1833, in Jackson township. He received only a common-school education, but by reading and observation he has developed a broad and liberal intelligence. For many years he has been engaged in mixed farming, the raising of grain and live stock of superior quality, and at one time was the owner of over five hundred acres of land, only two hundred acres of which he now retains, having divided the remainder among his sons. He has given special attention to the breeding and fattening of fine hogs, while his farm is a model one in point of culture. Mr. Havens is a public-spirited citizen, and has held various offices of honor and trust in his community, such as land appraiser, town clerk, treasurer, trustee, and member of the board of education. In 1863 he enlisted in Company B, Fiftieth Regiment, Ohio Home Guards, became first lieutenant of his company, and in the fall of that year assisted in the guarding of Johnson's Island, in Sandusky Bay, where Rebel officers were confined as prisoners of war. In the spring of 1864, when Abraham Lincoln called on Ohio for troops, and Gov. Brough responded with 40,000 Home Guards, Mr. Havens went with his regiment to Cleveland, Ohio, where, after consolidation with other companies, they were mustered into the United States service, and he took his place as first lieutenant of Company H, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth 0. V. I. They were sent to the defense of Washington, D. C., and were also located four months at Fort Ethan Allen, Va., where Mr. Havens was taken down with malarial fever, which impaired his health and rendered him unfit for service. After returning with his regiment he resumed farming. Mr. Havens is a member of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Society, of Manville Moore Post, G. A. R., Fremont, and of the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth 0. V. I. Regimental Association. He is a Republican in politics, COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 121 and in religious affiliation is a member of the U. B. Church, with which he and his wife united in 1868. On October 1, 1852, William J. Havens married Miss Ann M. Paden, daughter of Alexander and Maria (Remsburg) Paden, who migrated from Maryland, where they were both born, the father in Hagerstown, the mother in Middletown. The children born to this union were George W., who married Marcella Swickard, and has two children--Frank and Dora; Ann Rebecca, who married Jerome Voorhies, and had two children--Stella (who died at the age of seven years) and Lula; John F., who married for his first wife Ann Fry (by whom he had one child, Ida), and after her death wedded Miss Fanny Winters, by whom he had four children; Charles, who married Miss Celiette Warner, and has two children, Milo and Russell; Frank, who married Avilda Winters, and whose children are Flavel, Robert, Essie, Ray, and one son unnamed; James, who died in Denver, Col., at the age of twenty years; two children who died in infancy; Emma Jane, who married C. C. Ritter, and has one child, Virgil; Orrville, who married Miss Cora Fought, daughter of William Fought, of Gibsonburg, Ohio, and whose children are Chattie and Orlie. SOLOMON S. WRIGHT, an honored pioneer of Scott township, Sandusky county, was born in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., August 25, 1816, and died in Helena, Sandusky county, Ohio, June 5, 1892. He came to Ohio with his parents in 1835, settling in Scott township, where he resided until 1877, when he purchased a store in the village of Millersville. Mr. Wright, like his brother, settled in Scott township when it was comparatively a wilderness, and lived, not only to see it one of the best agricultural townships in Sandusky county, but helped to make it such, clearing and making for himself a good home, and an excellent start in life, for his children. In 1856 he was married. to Miss Louesa Brownell, formerly of Rhode Island. Mr. Wright began his career as a merchant in the little village, of Greensburgh (Tinney), in 1856, and the firm of S. S. Wright & Brother was well and favorably known throughout Sandusky and adjoining counties as one of the most substantial county general merchants in that part of the State. Mr. Wright was a man noted for his integrity and uprightness of character. He left a wife and two sons. His funeral services, were held at his residence at Helena, June 7, 1892, the sermon being preached by Rev. Schumaker, of Tiffin, and the interment was made in Metzger Cemetery.. His wife, Louesa Brownell, was born October 12, 1837, in Rhode Island, and now makes her home near Fremont.. Her father, Horace Brownell, was a native of Rhode Island, born in 1811. In 183o he came to Ohio, bought a farm in Scott township, where he died June 1o, 1869. He was one of the pioneers of Scott township, making for himself and family a comfortable home from the wilderness where he first located. His wife was born in Rhode Island in 1813, and died at Gibsonburg, in February, 1887. She was the daughter of Amasa and Debora (Ross) Harris, who were the parents of four children: Elias; Louesa, born October 12, 1837; Julia, born May 15, 1842; and Mary, born October 12, 1844. Louesa Brownell's (Mrs. Wright), paternal grandfather, George Brownell, was born about 1786; his wife, Mary Bussey, was born about 179o. They-. had one child, Horace Brownell. Mrs. Wright's maternal grandmother, Debora Ross, was born about 1773, and was the mother of a large family. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Solomon S. Wright are as follows: Silas. E., born January 22, 1857, completed his education in Fostoria Normal School, and has been associated with his father. 122 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. in business at Millersville; on December 21, 1885, he was married to Anna Schumaker, of Toledo; about 1888 they left Millersville and located on the farm where he now lives, and where he has erected a good house and outbuildings. Mr. Wright is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., and politically is a Democrat. To them have been ;born two children—Inez, born October 18, 1886, and Martin, born January 9, 1890. Mrs. Wright was born December 3, 1864, in Toledo, where she was educated, after which she learned dressmaking, which she followed until her marriage. She is the daughter of John C. and Mary Schumaker. Her father was born, August II, 1829, in Hanover, Germany; his wife was also born in the same place in 1833; they were married April 1, 1853, and had a family of six children. Mrs. Wright's paternal grandfather was born --in Germany in 1814, as was also his wife, :.about the same year. W. R. WRIGHT, the other son of S. S. Wright, was born January 19, 1864, in Scott township, where he received his education, and at nineteen years of age went into the livery business at Gibsonburg, after one year transferred his business to Millersville, where he remained three years. He then sold out and settled on the farm where he now lives at Tinney. In 1889 he married Miss Louisa Snearing, of Fremont, who was born March 2, 1865, in Sandusky county; she was educated in Fremont, and afterward made a specialty of music under Prof. Dickinson. For five terms Mrs. Wright was a teacher in the public schools of Sandusky county. Her father, Sophferia Snearing, was a fine linguist, writing and speaking fluently three different languages. He was born in France about 1830. In 1856 he was married to Mrs. Nancy Miner, nee Nancy Stull, who was born in Reading, Penn., in 1829. Four children were born to them. Mrs. Snearing's parents were born in Germany, and moved to this country in 1827. GFORGE D. CLEVELAND, though still in the prime of life, has witnessed a wonderful transformation in the land about Clyde, Sandusky county, in the village itself, and in the conditions under which the people here live. He is the son of honored pioneers, James and Jeannette (Rathbun) Cleveland, and was born in Green Creek township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, September 9, 1838. In his youth Clyde was known as Hamer's Corners, and only a few buildings were then grouped here. The old stage-coach lumbered lazily through the straggling village, stopping at the inn for refreshments, while the passengers dreamed about the time when they might hope to reach their destination. There were then no railroads. The inhabitants had not the thrifty and bustling metropolitan airs of the present citizens, but the transposition has been made, swift, it seems, as the shifting panorama. To one who has seen it all, as has George D. Cleveland, the change has been almost magical. Clark Cleveland, Sr., his grandfather, migrated with his wife, Jemima (Butler), and family early in the century, from Mount Morris, Livingston Co., N. Y., to northern Ohio. He first settled in the forests of Huron county, and had made improvements, when he learned that his title to the land was not good. He then packed up his few household effects, and penetrated deeper into the western wilderness, entering eighty acres of government land in Green Creek township, and there building his second pioneer cabin some time prior to 1822. Here he remained until his death, which occurred in 1831, in his seventy-first year. The children of Clark and Jemima Cleveland were as follows: Abigail, who married Oliver Hayden; Cozia, who married William Hamer; Moses; Sally, whose first husband was Benjamin Curtis, her second, Alpheus McIntyre; Clark, Jr., who married Eliza Grover, and left six children; Polly, who COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 123 married Timothy Babcock; Betsy, who married Samuel Baker, and James. James Cleveland was born at Mount Morris, N. Y., March 14, 1806, and migrated with his father to the pioneer home in northern Ohio. He remained with his father until his marriage, March 3, 1831, to Jeannette Rathbun, who was born in Genesee county, N. Y., May 9, 1815, daughter of Chaplin and Lucinda (Sutliff) Rathbun, pioneers of Green Creek township, Sandusky county. At the time of his marriage James Cleveland had saved money enough to buy forty acres of land in Green Creek township, a part of the old Sawyer farm. For five years he was clearing and cultivating the land. Then during one winter he rented, with his father-in-law, a saw and grist mill on Green Creek, several miles from the farm. He supported his family, and accumulated enough lumber to build a barn on his farm, and in the spring he returned to his farming operations, and purchased some additional land. In 1841 he took a contract to grade a half mile of the Maumee and Western Reserve turnpike. He moved his family near the scene of the operations, and upon its completion five months later returned to the farm richer by $600, paid in " State scrip." A part of this he traded for building hardware, and erected a large frame dwelling in 1845. Meanwhile he kept adding more acres to his now quite extensive farm. He was a sagacious, tireless, thrifty pioneer, and at the time of his death, which occurred September I, 1878, he owned nearly 400 acres of land, containing some of the best and most extensive improvements in the county. His wife, who survived until August 8, 1891, was a woman of unusual energy, and was in every sense worthy of his ambitions and plans for advancement. She ably seconded his efforts to secure a competence that might support them in their declining years. In physique somewhat below the medium size, scarcely weighing 120 pounds in her best days, she left nothing undone to advance the interests of her family. When her husband was clearing up the farm she hauled the rails which he split and made the fences with. Once, when help was scarce, she fastened her child to her back by a shawl, and, thus burdened, she planted and hoed corn in the field. Her first calico dress she earned by picking ten quarts of wild strawberries, and walking to Lower Sandusky,. where she traded them at a shilling a. quart for five yards of calico worth two shillings a yard. Few pioneer families in Sandusky county have left a worthier record than that of the Clevelands. Ten children were born to James and Jeanette Cleveland, as follows: James, born December 3, 1831, who reared a family and died in 1890, a farmer of Green Creek township; Eliza, born November 29, 1833, married A. J. Harris, of Clyde, and died in 1861, leaving two children; Clark R., of Green Creek township, born. April 1, 1836; George D., of Green. Creek township, born September 9, 1838; Lucinda, born May 29, 1841, married Horace Taylor; Chaplin S., born July 28, 1844, a resident of Green Creek. township; John H., born November 21, 1847, died October 28, 1879, leaving one daughter; Sarah, born September 22, 1851, married Charles Sackrider, and now living on the old homestead; Mary, born. February 25, 1854, married George Crosby, of Clyde; Charles, born December 30, 1857, died December 14, 1879. George D. Cleveland grew to manhood on his father's farm near Clyde, and attended the schools in that village. He was married in 1864 to Miss Rosa Metz, who was born in Seneca county, near Green Spring, in 1842. She died in 1880, leaving three children: Clark, Min nie and Olivia; Bertie died aged thirteen months. The second and present wife of Mr. Cleveland was Miss Mattie Stroup, who was born April 3o, 186o, in Crawford county, where she was raised. She 124 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. was married June 29, 1882, to George D. Cleveland. After living a few years elsewhere Mr. Cleveland settled on his father's old homestead. He has been buying out the heirs, and now owns 135 acres located just outside the corporation limits of Clyde. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and in later years he has also devoted considerable attention to fruit. He has built an excellent barn, and his improvements are among the best in the township. In politics Mr. Cleveland is a Democrat, and -as a thrifty progressive citizen he has few ,equals. JOHN FRABISH (deceased) belonged to that class of valued and progressive citizens to whom any community owes its advancement and prosperity, and his death was a loss to the entire county. He was born in Saxony, Germany, August 16, 1814, and was a son of Godlup Frabish, a farmer of Saxony. He acquired his education in his native town, and then began learning the shoemaker's trade. In 1838 he crossed -the Atlantic to America, locating in Wheeling, W. Va., where he followed :shoemaking for a short time, later coming to Ohio, where he engaged in the same pursuit in Fremont. In 1852 Mr. Frabish became a resident of Woodville township, Sandusky .county, where he purchased one hundred .acres of land covered with timber. There were no roads in the locality, and only -two other settlers in the neighborhood. In true pioneer style he began life upon this place, building a log cabin and continuing the work of cultivation and improvement. His task was a hard one, for his farm implements were crude; but undaunted he continued his labors, cutting down the trees, removing the stumps and planting crops which soon yielded to him ,good harvests. He had to cut his grain with a sickle and thresh it with a flail, for the improved machinery of to-day was then unknown. He hauled his products to the mill at Green Springs with ox-teams, a distance of twenty-four miles, and there had it ground into flour that the family might have bread. He had to go to Fremont to market, and went through all the experiences and hardships of pioneer life; but time and his arduous labor brought a change, and a substantial frame residence took the place of the rude cabin, a fine orchard supplanted the wild forest trees, ditches for drainage were dug, barns and out-houses were built, and all the improvements and accessories of a model farm were added. Around the home is- a well-kept lawn, and in front is an ornamental hedge fence, making the Frabish farm one of the finest in the township. Mr. Frabish was married in Fremont, Ohio, in 1842, to Mrs. Rosenia (Walters) Bowers, a sister of Lewis Walters, and widow of John Bowers. For more than a quarter of a century this happy couple lived together in their cabin home, sharing in the trials of pioneer life, the wife encouraging and aiding her husband in all possible ways. She died in 1869, and in 1870 Mr. Frabish married Mrs. Hester (Mohler) Tucker, widow of Thomas Tucker, who was a native of New York, and a farmer by occupation. Removing to Ohio, he (Mr. Tucker) followed the same pursuit in Madison township, Sandusky county. He was married in Fremont in 1856 to Hester Mohler, and they became the parents of four children—Nelson Tucker, a farmer of Woodville township, Sandusky county; Addie, wife of Reuben Clink; Sebastian, who died in childhood, and Franklin, who died in infancy. Mrs. Frabish was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1833, and came to this country in 1847. Mr. Frabish was a well-known and highly-esteemed citizen, and for a number of years held the office of township supervisor, being elected on the Repub-