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200 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY eight acres of his present farm, to which he added eighty acres more in January, 1918, and has a splendid piece of property, and here he is carrying on general farming with marked success. He is a stockholder and director of the Equity Exchange Elevator of Elida. While he has always taken an important part in the affairs of the democratic party, he has refused to permit the use of his name on the party ticket, although solicited many times. Fraternally he belongs to Elida Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The United Brethren Church holds his membership, and he is generous in his contributions to it. In 1905 Mr. Baber was united in marriage with Carrie Mary Showalter, a daughter of Benjamin F. and Emma (Cotner) Showalter, and they have one child, Russel Judson. Mr. Baber is a public-spirited man, and has the good of his community close to his heart. Allen County is his birthplace, and no other locality seems as desirable to him and he is willing to exert himself to maintain its prestige and keep up its improvements. He is a friend of good roads, proper drainage systems and the public schools, and in every way proves his worth as a man and good citizen. JOHN ANDREW LIPPINCOTT has always lived in Allen County, made his start in life after his marriage with a very modest capital and lived in a log house for several years, but his industry and energy have brought a successively favorable increase and prosperity in his affairs. For several years past he has lived practically retired. He still owns and occupies one of the fine farms of the county, his home being in Perry Township, on rural route No. 5 out of Lima. Mr. Lippincott was born on the site of Westminster station in Auglaize Township April 25, 1855, son of Amos and Mariam (Budd) Lippincott, the former a native of Logan County, Ohio, and the latter of Darke County, this state. He is descended from the noted Lippincott family of Philadelphia. His grandparents were John and Nancy (Humphrey) Lippincott, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Wales. They were married in Champaign County, Ohio, and were very early settlers in Allen County, Ohio. The maternal grandparents of John A. Lippincott were Andrew and Mrs. (Hassen) Budd, native Tennesseans who came in pioneer times to Allen County. Amos Lippincott after his marriage settled on forty acres of land including the present site of Westminster station, but in 1861 moved to Perry Township and bought eighty acres in section 2. This land was nearly all covered with timber, and he cleared it off, made many improvements, and added other lands by purchase until he had 110 acres. After the death of his wife he gave up the responsibilities of farming and lived among his children until his death. He reared six sons and four daughters, including : John A.; W. A. Lippincott ; Albert H., of Lafayette, Ohio ; Charles E., of Niwot, Colorado ; Samuel B., of Oklahoma City; Isabelle, Mrs. Dr. Thomas Sidner, of Lima ; Aseneth N., wife of Roy House, of Lima; and Sara, deceased wife of Earl Bowdel. John Andrew Lippincott grew up on his father's farm and acquired a district school education. At the age of twenty-six, on October 27, 1881, he married Miss Sarah McPharan, who was born in Perry Township, daughter of W. C. and Lamenta (Garrettson) McPharan. Her parents were also natives of Perry Township. Her grandfather, John McPharan, secured his first home in Perry Township by entering Government land. After his marriage Mr. Lippincott was able to buy only ten acres in Perry Township. This had a log house and he and his wife put up with many discomforts and inconveniences in order to get a start. Not long afterward he bought ten acres more near Perry Chapel, and for seventeen years he lived in that vicinity. As his farm was too small to give him a complete living, he supplemented his income by working at his trade as a carpenter. Selling the place near Perry Chapel he bought thirty-two acres along the Erie Railroad in Perry Township. This tract afterward was the scene of some profitable oil well development. Mr. Lippincott owned it seven years and then bought out the heirs of his father in the old home place of 110 acres in section 2 of Perry Township. He has since lived there, but in 1919 turned over the cultivation to younger men and is now taking life somewhat at leisure. He lost his good wife by death on November 6, 1917. She was laid to rest in the Perry Chapel Cemetery, and he has long been an active member and steward of that church. He also served as road supervisor. The children of Mr. Lippincott are : Roy Melville, an oil driller living in Bath Township ; Walter Eugene, who farms the home place; Clyde Amos, of Perry Township ; and Ada Lucile, Mrs. Ira R. Snyder, of Lima. THOMAS C. ROBERTS for a period of forty years was devoted to the labors and responsibilities of farming in Allen County, and made at least one large tract of land a complete modern farm after taking it when it was practically unproductive. He has been one of the very successful men in the farming industry and achieved his prosperity before the era of high prices incident to the World war. Mr. Roberts, who is now practically retired, was born in Westminster, Ohio, on April 14, 1853, son of Josiah B. and Margaret (Winrot) Roberts. His paternal grandparents were William and Hannah (Morrison) Roberts. His grandfather spent all his life in Virginia, and after his death his widow brought her family with wagons and teams across country to, Allen County, Ohio, where she was one of the pioneer settlers. Josiah B. Roberts was born in Virginia and came to Allen County when a youth. His wife, Margaret Winrot, was born in Pennsylvania and her people also were early settlers of Allen County. After their marriage Josiah Roberts and wife settled in Westminster, where he was proprietor of a general store until 1855. He then moved to Bath Township, bought 160 acres partly in timber and partly in swamp just east of Lima, and lived there, clearing and improving and cultivating his land, until his death in 1897. A portion of the Roberts farm was subsequently taken as the site of the Allen County Fair Grounds. The widow of Josiah Roberts died in 1902. They were the parents of the following children : Lenora, Mrs. H. A. Holdridge, of Lima; Viola, wife of James R. Dunlap, of West Newton, Ohio ; William and Oliver, both deceased ; Thomas C.; and Alton H., who has the old homestead in Bath Township. Thomas C. Roberts was reared in Bath Township, attended the public schools of Lima, and after his marriage in 1879, moved to a 160-acre tract of HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 201 land which he had acquired in section 4 of Perry Township. The land had no buildings, though it was cleared and partly cultivated. Mr. Roberts began and carried out the scheme of building improvements, set out many shade and ornamental trees, and in course of time has developed one of the best farms in the county. He gave his active supervision to the farm management until 1915, but since that year has rented the land to others. When in the high tide of his farming connections he was an extensive raiser of cattle and hogs. Besides his original tract of land Mr. Roberts bought eighty acres in section 5, and has bought and sold several other farms over the county. Other interests include the ownership of two business blocks on East Market Street at Lima, both of which properties are rented out, and he owns a residence on East Elm Street. On June 18, 1879, Mr. Roberts married Elizabeth Moore, a native of Perry Township and daughter of William and Amanda (Ballard) Moore. Her parents were both natives of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have two daughters, Florence and Ruth. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church and in politics Mr. Roberts is a republican. RUFUS ROGERS is one of the octogenarians of Allen County, and forty years of his career have been spent within the limits of this conuty. He has been a successful farmer, also a carpenter and builder, and as a citizen has been held in high esteem by all who know him. He was born in a portion of Delaware County, now Morrow County, Ohio, October 31, 1836, son of Horace and Margaret (Chamberlin) Rogers. His father was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of New York. The grandparents were Sam uel and Elizabeth Chamberlin in the maternal line. Horace Rogers after his marriage lived in Onondaga County, New York, until he was thirty years of age and then moved out to Delaware County, Ohio. He was one of the early arrivals in that sparsely settled district, and after locating his land he rode horseback all the way to Chillicothe, Ohio, to secure his title. He paid $200 for a 110 acres of woodland, and lived there busily engaged in clearing and developing a farm for many years. He died at the age of eighty-four, and of his fourteen children the last survivor is Rufus Rogers. Rufus Rogers as a boy attended a log cabin school and on the farm he had experience with all the implements and methods of the crude agriculture of the pioneer epoch. After his first marriage in 1859 he lived on a rented farm in Morrow County a year, but had previously acquired considerable skill as a carpenter, and carpentry work always supplied him with a means of supplementing his income from agriculture. The first land he ever owned was only four acres, but he gradually increased this by purchase, and eventually bought 27 1/2 acres of the old homestead from the other heirs. With this he had a well proportioned farm of 551/2 acres, and he lived there, improving, cultivating the fields and working at his trade, until 1879. Selling out his farm in that year he came in 1880 to Perry Township of Allen County and acquired fifty-eight acres of partly improved land. This is his home today. Many years ago he rebuilt the original house on the place, and also added extensively to the barns and other building equipment. Much of the timber used in these buildings was originally standing as trees on the farm, and was converted into lumber for the purpose. Besides what he did on his own farm Mr. Rogers helped construct a number of other buildings in his locality. Mr. Rogers married in 1859 Caroline Kester, a native of Morrow County, Ohio. She died in 1868, and her only child, Nelson Seymour, is also deceased. In 1869 Mr. Rogers married Mary Wilson, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Devore) Wilson, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Mary Rogers died in 1873. For his third wife Rufus Rogers married Mary Lucinda Kester, a sister of his first wife, and the widow of John Schoenlaub. By her first marriage she had a son, William, new deceased. Mrs. Rogers died in 1910. His only surviving son and child is Henry Horace Rogers, who was born February 24, 1870, and lives with his father on the farm in Perry Township. Henry H. Rogers married in November, 1903, Lillie G. Salsbury, a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. She died leaving one son, Emmett, still at home. In July, 1920, Henry H. Rogers married Lillie G. Shively, who was born in Paulding County, Ohio, daughter of Adam and Lovina (Holsinger) Shively. At the time of her marriage to Mr. Rogers she was the widow of James Peoples, and has a daughter by her first marriage, Madeline, now going to school. FRANKLIN PIERCE SELLERS is a farmer and land owner of Perry Township long well and favorably known to the people of that community, where more than eighty years ago the family established itself and entered upon their duties and tasks as pioneer homemakers. Mr. Sellers was born in section 30 of Perry Township July 27, 1866, a son of Joseph and Leah (Crumerine) Sellers. His father was a native of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, son of Leonard and Eliza (Weinert) Sellers, who leaving Pennsylvania came to Allen County in 1837, driving overland. At that time Lima was a little hamlet of log houses. Leah Crumerine was born in Perry County, Ohio, a daughter of Martin and Catherine (Broshes) Crumerine, also originally Pennsylvanians and early settlers in Allen County, Ohio. Joseph Sellers after his marriage lived for a few years in Auglaize County, but then bought eighty acres of unimproved land in section 30 of Perry Township. He was a very capable and industrious farmer and in subsequent years acquired the ownership of more than 500 acres, all in Perry Township except sixty-five acres in Shawnee Township. Much of this land was improved by his labors and under his supervision, and some of it is still _owned in the family. Joseph Sellers was born March 2, 1828, and died in August, 1892. His wife died in 1895. Their children were: Daniel and David, both living in Perry Township ; Eliza, Mrs. George Beeler, of Perry Township ; William, also of Perry Township ; Mary M., widow of George Mosier ; and Franklin Pierce. Franklin Pierce Sellers is the youngest of the family and has never married. His life from birth has been spent on the old homestead, and many years ago he secured eighty acres, including the home place. In 1906 he improved his farm with a fine concrete block house and continued to be actively identified with the cares and responsibilities of the 202 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY farm until 1917, since which date he has rented out his fields. Mr. Sellers acquired his early education in District School No. 9 near the home farm. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, is a democrat in politics, and served one term as township trustee. His home is capably looked after by his widowed sister, Mary M., who was married in May, 1883, to George Mosier. Mrs. Mosier has two children, Tolbert, now at Lima, and Leah Viola, living with her mother. William Sellers, brother of Franklin P., was born at the old home in Perry Township July 30, 1859. He was first married in 1886 to Viola Haines, but his wife died at childbirth a year later. He then lived in Perry Township with his father-in-law for a year or so, later bought twenty acres in section 31 and his father also deeded him eighty acres, all but twenty acres in timber. Of this tract Mr. Sellers has cleared all but seventeen acres of timber, and now has a fine group of farm buildings and one of the good and productive farms of the township. In 1920 he formed a partnership with his son as a manager of the farm. In 1889 he married Daisy Ulry who was born in Perry Township, a (laughter of Silas and Lillian (Munch) Ulry. They have five children: Victor Norman, of Lima ; Grace, Mrs. Samuel Lowrey, of Shawnee Township ; Harold, who is his father's partner on the farm ; Doris W. and Lois, both at home. JOSEPH C. HARTLINE, sales directbr of the White Company, is one of the sound business men of Lima, and one who holds the confidence of all with whom he carries on transactions, either great or small. He understands the automobile business from the bottom up, and is very well posted with reference to the car he handles. The birth of Joseph Clinton Hartline took place at Strasburg, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, July 2, 1879, and he is a son of Frank and Adolphine (Chatlain) Hartline, and grandson of Peter Hartline, who was a son of Peter Hartline, a soldier in the American Revolution. The family originated in Alsace-Lorraine, France, and was of French-German stock. Frank Hartline is a retired farmer and stockraiser now living at Strasburg. He and his wife had nine children, of whom Joseph C. Hartline was the third in order of birth. Joseph C. Hartline attended District School No. 4, at Sugar Creek, Franklin Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and the Boliver High School at Boliver, Ohio, and was graduated from the latter in 1895. Following that he was a student for one term at the American Normal School at New Philadelphia, Ohio. His business career began when he entered the employ of a coal and clay mine as a mule driver, and he worked as such for three years, when he left to go to work for the Garver Brothers Company at Strasburg as mail order clerk, and so capable did he prove to be that when he left after five years he was manager of the household department. He then went into a grocery and bakery business, but after a year of operating it he sold and conducted a dairy farm of 600 acres near Franklin, Pennsylvania, known as the Argeon Farm. His next experience was gained at New Comerstown, Ohio, where he and his brother, Calvin Hartline, conducted a hardware store under the caption of Hartline Brothers, but they sold their store after three years, and Joseph C. Hartline went to Zanesville, Ohio, to become trveling salesman for a mercantile company, his territory being confined to the State of Ohio. After a year he resigned and engaged with the Wagoner Hardware Company, of Mansfield, Ohio, as a traveling salesman, and for five years was on the road for it. Lima was included in his territory, and he was so pleased with it that he determined that it should be his permanent home. In 1914 he was able to realize this ambition and moved to Lima, at that time being with the Lima Overland Company as a salesman, and after a year was made one of the directors of the company, and continued as a salesman for three years more. On March 1, 1919, he took over the management of the Lima Motor Company, and became one of its stockholders and a director. He had the agency for the Peerless and Reo cars and White trucks, and his territory extended over a radius of thirty-five miles from Lima in the Peerless and Reo cars, while that for the White trucks covered Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, Van Wert and Hardin counties. In April, 1921, he resigned as manager of the Lima Motor Car Company and became associated with the White Company, through the Overland Herring Company, of Mansfield, for the distribution of White trucks over a territory including ten and one-half counties and is now representing the company as sales director with the White Motor Truck Company. Mr. Hartline has other interests and is a -stockholder in the Lima Sheet Metal Products Company, the Rapid Transit Company of Lima, and the Hunt Trouble Light Company of Lima. In 1899 Mr. Hartline was married to Aurelia Blaser, a daughter of George and Philipine Blaser. Mrs. Hartline died in 1903, having borne her husband two children, namely : Hazel Margaret, who married Don C. Close, of Akron, Ohio ; and Loretta Aurelia. In 1905 Mr. Hartline was married to Flora Emma Styer, of Marietta, Ohio, a daughter of Henry Styer. They have two children, namely: Bernice Naomi, and Evelyn Gertrude. In politics Mr. Hartline is a republican, and he is very active in party affairs. He is a thirty-second degree and Shriner Mason, and he belongs to Lima Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, to the United Commercial Travelers, and the Kiwanis Club. Through the medium of the Lutheran Church Mr. Hartline finds an expression of his religious faith. In every walk of life he measures up to the highest standards of American citizenship, and Lima is fortunate in having in its midst a man of his caliber, for his own enthusiasm and actions stimulate others to whole-souled endeavors in business and politics. He is a member of the Allen County Good Roads Council, the Ohio Good Roads Council, the National Good Roads Council, is president of the Allen County Automobile Trade Association, a member of the Ohio State Automobile Trade Association, a sustaining member of the National Auto Dealers' Association, is vice president of the Allen County Auto Club, which he is also serving as a director, and belongs to the Shawnee Country Club, the Lima Business Club, the Lima Chamber of Commerce and the Young Men's Christian Association. WILLIAM WELCH was born in eastern Indiana, but for a number of years has lived in Allen County, and since directing his energies to the field of agri- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 203 culture has been steadily prosperous and owns one of the well situated farms in Shawnee Township, on rural route No. 1 out of Lima. He was born in Randolph County, Indiana, in May, 1862, son of Thomas and Rebecca (Shelly) Welch. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania but for a long period of years lived on their farm in eastern Indiana. His father died in 1913, at the age of seventy-two. Rebecca Welch died in 1874, the mother of six children : William; Jacob, of Randolph County, Indiana; Luther, deceased; Alice, Mrs. Elsworth Conklin of Randolph County; Ida, Mrs. Charles Bothast of Randolph County; and James, also of Randolph County. Thomas Welch married for his second wife Margaret Coddington, who died in March, 1920, being survived by one daughter, Maggie, Mrs. Normand Shockney of Harrisburg, Illinois, William Welch acquired his early education in the district schools of his native county, and as a young man learned the trade of butcher. He married forty years ago, and after his marriage lived for two years on a farm in Randolph County and for the next two years followed any employment that offered a means of living. On coming to Ohio he spent a few months at Wapakoneta, and thence to Lima, where he did work as a day laborer and at his trade as a butcher. Mr. Welch was a resident of Lima until 1905. For eight years he had charge of the Shawnee Country Club. He then put all his capital into a farm of ninety-four acres in section 25 of Shawnee Township. This farm had some improvements, including house and barn, and all the land was cleared except eight acres of timber. Since then he has been working steadily toward a better arrangement of facilities, has constructed all new inside fences, put up new buildings, has laid a great deal of tile, and has brought his farm to a point of high production and value. Mr. Welch is a democrat in politics. He married in 1881 Matilda Rinehart, a native of Randolph County, Indiana, and a daughter of George Rinehart. They have two daughters : Minnie, Mrs. Perry Heller, of Fort Wayne, Indiana ; and Ida, Mrs. Burr Nose of Gas City, Indiana. JOHN B. SEVERNS, of Perry Township, is the type of citizen whose presence has a distinctive value to any community where he resides. A practical and successful manager of his own affairs, he has always been interested and willing to take a part of responsibility in movements affecting the common welfare, and thus in past years his name has been frequently associated with the public annals of his home locality. Mr. Severns was born in Holmes County, Ohio, in June, 1850, a son of Simon and Catherine (Shaffer) Severns, the former a native of Knox County, Ohio, and the latter of Maryland. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Severns, was of Scotch ancestry and married a Miss Butler, of Irish descent. The maternal grandfather, John Shaffer, was of German stock, transplanted to this country in colonial times. The Severns were early pioneers in Knox, County, Ohio, and the Shaffers also came to that county at an early day. In 1852 Simon Severns moved his family to Perry Township of Allen County, acquiring eighty acres of school land. Some clearing had been done and a log cabin erected, but he was the first to secure title. He continued the work of clearing and also bought more land, and lived a busy career in that community until his death, as a result of a boiler explosion, in 1879. His wife survived him until 1890. A brief record of their children is as follows : Samantha, who died in Colorado as Mrs. Sylvanus Budd; Merriman, who lives at Brighton, Colorado; Sarah Ann, who died in childhood; L. A. Severns, who lives at Van Wert, Ohio ; John B.; Frank, who was born in 1852 and died in 1879; and Stephen D., who died in childhood. John B. Severns grew up on his father's farm and obtained a district school education. He remained at the home farm and after his father's death faithfully cared for his mother as long as she lived. In September, 1879, he married Sarah J. Hanthorn, who was born in Perry Township, a daughter of James A. and Nancy (Daniels) Hanthorn, also natives of Perry Township. Mrs. Severns died in April, 1883, the mother of two children: Roscoe W., of Perry Township, who married Nancy Heffner and has a son, Wilbur ; and Florence R., Mrs. George McClain, of Bath Township. In July, 1889, Mr. Severns married Hattie E. Cummings, who was born in Auglaize Township, a daughter of William E. and Mary (Manahan) Cummings, the former a native of New York and the latter of Maryland. Mr. Severns lost his second wife in April, 1906. To their marriage were born five children: Hazel M., Mrs. Homer Shaw, of Lima; Etta, who died in 1908, at the age of sixteen; Frances, wife of V. 0. Letherman and they live on Mr. Severns' farm ; Velma, Mrs. Donald Hardin, of Perry Township; and Simon E., who is in the United States Navy. After his first marriage Mr. Severns bought the old homestead, his mother remaining with him there. Later he sold that farm and moved out to Colorado, buying forty acres of improved land near Boulder, where he had an active part in the intensive irrigation farming of that district. He remained there five years, from 1890 until 1895, and then came back to Allen County, where he has had his continuous residence for the past quarter of a century. On his return he bought an eighty-acre farm in section 27 of Perry Township, this being an improved place. He still owns it but it has been operated by other parties since 1914. Mr. Severns in 1919 also bought twenty acres in section 20 of Perry Township. Mr. Severns' public record includes one term as township clerk, two terms as township treasurer, member of his local school board four years, and five years on the Allen County Fair Board. He was also a leader.in his section in Colorado while he lived there, served two terms as justice of the peace, and was also president of the Left Hand Ditch Irrigating Company. During the World war he was a member of the local committee in three bond drives and also in the Victory Loan campaign. Mr. Severns is an elder in the Disciples Church, is a democrat, is a past master of Perry Center Grange, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 91 at Lima, and was formerly a charter member and prelate of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Unionopolis, Ohio. CHARLES RUDOLPH BOOSE has for many years been identified with Allen County agriculture, and is owner of one of the best improved farms in Perry Township, located on rural route No. 5 out of Lima. The family have been in Allen County since 204 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY pioneer days, his grandfather having entered land here from the Government when all the conditions were typical of the frontier. His grandparents were Rudolph and Susanna (Walker) Boose. The father of the Perry County farmer was Henry Boose, who was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1832. It was in 1854 that he came to Allen County to occupy some of the land his father had entered from the Government in Bath Township. This quarter section of 160 acres was covered with heavy timber, and Henry Boose cleared the ground and erected a frame house. He then went back to Pennsylvania and on December 6, 1855, married Mary S. Coleman, who was born in Somerset County, a daughter of Daniel and Phoebe (Shunk) Coleman. She died January 20, 1869, the mother of four children : Eliza J., widow of Joseph Neishwetz, living at Los Angeles; Cyrus D., of Lima ; Charles Rudolph; and Henry F., of Alberta, Canada. Henry Boose for his second wife married Catherine Crites, a native of Allen County, where her parents, Charles and Sophia (Ludwig) Crites, were very early settlers at Elida. At the time of her marriage Catherine was the widow of Isaiah Westbay, by whom she had three children: Charles and Sophia, twins, both living at Lima, the latter the wife of L. W. Allen; and Martha, deceased wife of John Osborn. Henry Boose by his second marriage had three children : Ellen, Mrs. William Blackburn, of Lima ; Clara R., wife of Charles Baxter, the present sheriff of Allen County ; and Harry Tilden, of Lima. The late Henry Boose achieved a substantial place in the affairs and citizenship of Bath Township. He acquired 320 acres of land and with the help of his children cleared away the timber and improved a farm, for many years a scene of well ordered industry. He was an extensive stock dealer and raiser. He died in August, 1906, his second wife surviving him some years. For twelve years he held the office of treasurer of Bath Township, and was also given other offrcial places. He was a democrat in politics. Charles Rudolph Boose was born at his father's home in Bath Township August 11, 1863. His early education was supplied by district schools, and from youth up his chief interests have been identified with the land and its cultivation. May 4, 1892, he married Emma M. Irvin, who was born in Sugar Creek Township of this county December 8, 1870, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Poage) Irvin. Her father was born in Kentucky, was married in Missouri, and afterwards came to Allen County, Ohio. Mr. Boose after his marriage rented a farm in German Township for five years. Then for two years he lived in Sugar Creek Township, and for eight years operated his father's old homestead. It was in the spring of 1907 that he bought the Well improved eighty-acre farm in see, tion 16 of Perry Township where he lives today, and where his time and energies are fully occupied with general farming and stock raising. He is a member of the Perry Center Grange, is a democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Boose had three children: Irvrn R., born March 19, 1893; Mary Elizabeth, who was born August 16, 1897, and died January 19, 1916 ; and Sarah Helen, born November 20, 1902, still at home. The son Irvin enlisted in the army during the World war, serving in the Medical Corps from March 7, 1918. He was first at Camp Greenleaf, later in Camp Jackson, and July 26, 1918, went overseas as an attendant to army surgeons in the hospitals in France. He also spent some time with the Army of Occupation at Coblenz, Germany. He returned to the United States May 4, 1919, and in the latter part of the same month was discharged and returned home. Irvin Boose married Bessie Blaine and has one daughter, Gladys Helen. JOSEPH FRANKLIN YOAKAM, owner of "The Riverside Farm," one of the most highly improved farms in Allen County, is justly numbered among the most successful agriculturalists of Shawnee Township, His farm is not as large as some others in this region, but every part of it is made to yield, and all of its resources have been developed so that the returns from it are greater than from many of much greater acreage. Mr. Yoakam was born in Amanda Township November 26, 1859, a son of James and Mary Ann (Brown) Yoakam, born in Ohio, and grandson of Solomon Yoakam and Jacob Brown, early settlers of Allen County. Following their marriage James Yoakam and his wife settled in Shawnee Township but later moved to Amanda Township, returning, however, to Shawnee Township in 1869, at that time buying a farm, to which they kept on adding until at the time of his death he owned 300 acres, which he had improved, and of which 100 acres were very valuable. His death occurred in August, 1910, when he was eighty-eight years of age. His wife died when she was fifty- five years old, and following her demise he was twice married. Growing up at home, Joseph Franklin Yoakam learned how to be a practical farmer under his father's watchful supervision, and attended the district schools. Until 1882 he remained at home, but .then moved on the thirty-six acres he had inherited in section 15, Shawnee Township, from his father's estate. He also owned eighty acres in section 16 the same township, but sold it in 1915. Quite recently he has sold ten. acres of his home place, so that he is now operating twenty-six and one-half acres, doing general gardening. In 1882 Mr. Yoakam was united in marriage with Lydia Ann Verbryke, born in Perry Township, a daughter of Peter and Ann (Ridenour) Verbryke, natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania, respectively, and a granddaughter of Peter Verbryke and Isaac and Lydia Ridenour, early settlers of Allen County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Yoakam became the parents of the following children: Zelma, who is Mrs. Frank Harpster, of Shawnee Township ; Harley, who is a resident of Lima; Claude and Clyde, who are twins, the former being a resident of Lima and the latter of Marquette, Michigan; Merle, who lives at Lima; Harry, who lives at Cleveland, Ohio; and Richard and Harold, both of whom are at home. Clyde Yoakam enlisted in the great war in May, 1918, at Washington, in the Navy. He was sent to the Charleston, South Carolina, Naval Academy, and was discharged in August, 1919. He served fifteen months, eleven months overseas, and also served three months in the Belgium Relief service. Merle Yoakam enlisted July 24, 1918, and was honorably discharged August 24, 1919. He spent eleven months overseas with Battery T, Sixth Field Artillery, First Division. Seven months were passed with HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 205 the Army of Occupation in Germany at Coblenz Bridgehead. Mr. Yoakam belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Shawnee Township. He is a republican, and has been township trustee since 1915. Fraternally he belongs to Lima Camp No. 84, Woodmen of the World. While he has been very much occupied with his own private affairs, as township trustee and a public-spirited citizen, Mr. Yoakam has taken a creditable part in current events, and is entitled to the respect and confidence he inspires, for he has earned them. He and his wife have reared a fine family of children, all of whom are doing well, and are a credit to their parents and Allen County. OLIVER LOWELL DE WEESE, sole proprietor of the automobile accessories and repair house of the De Weese Garage at 119 East North Street, Lima, is the oldest dealer in this line in Allen County, and one of the men who has honorably earned and held the confidence of his fellow citizens. He was born at Lima in 1870, a son of Oliver C. and Sarah Ann De Weese, of Holland-Dutch stock, the bearers of the name being either farmers or merchants, with but few exceptions. Reared by careful parents, Oliver L. De Weese attended the public schools at Lima, and then learned the machinist trade and later that of a toolmaker. On March 21, 1904, he established a machine and automobile repair shop at 132 Union Street under the name of the Mullenhour Manufacturing Company, later selling and becoming associated with the Lima Automobile Company, with which he remained for three years. Once more he went into business for himself, opening his present establishment in 1910 and conducting it continuously ever since. A natural as well as a trained mechanic, Mr. De Weese is noted for the excellence of his workmanship, and his trade is a large one and comes to him from a wide area. In 1891 Mr. De Weese was united in marriage with Cora Roush, a daughter of Theodore and Martha (Diltz) Roush of Lima. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. De Weese, namely : Pearl Adel, who is Mrs. Cochensparger, of Allen County, has a son, Harold; Theodore Cheney, who is with his father in business; and Paul Lowell, who married Ella Churchill, of Lima. The first Mrs. De Weese died in April, 1916. In 1918 Mr. De Weese was married to Laura Genevieve Sharp, a daughter of Harry D. Sharp and his wife, Myra Brown Sharp, of Lima. Mr. De Weese is an independent democrat, but has never come before the public for favors. He is vice president of the Allen County Auto Trade Association, is a member of the Elks, of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, the Lima Automobile Club, which he is serving as a trustee, and the Kiwanis Club, taking a constructive part in all of the operations of these organizations. Mr. De Weese has not sought spectacular methods of doing business, for he has realized during all of his career that it is the man who gives fair value for the money paid to him who gains the real rewards of life. He is recognized as a dependable, upright and trustworthy man, whose promise verbally given is as binding to him as his written bond. The Baptist Church has in him a faithful member, and he carries his religion into his everyday life. Theodore C. De Weese was born at Lima, Ohio, and educated in its graded and high schools, and when he had completed his educational training he went with his father in business. When this country entered the great war Mr. De Weese enlisted and went into the service of the United States Navy on November 24, 1917, at the Great Lakes Training Station. He spent sixteen and one-half months in the service enlisting as an electrician third class Radio, was transferred to chief yeoman April, 1918, and was released from active service on April 5, 1919, and is now a member of the Naval Reserves, Class 4. He belongs to the Elks and Kiwanis Club. His religious connections are with Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is on the rolls of its membership and is superintendent of its Sunday school. Like his father, he is a fine man, and his experience in the service has broadened his outlook and made him realize that his home interests must, if he remains the good citizen he has proven himself, include the welfare of his country. It is almost too soon for the people of the United States to realize the effect the months of sacrificial service have accomplished for the young men who responded to their country's call. In the years to come, however, as these young men of the war period grow into the middle-aged men of their communities the influence will spread and the rising generation will be the better because of what was endured during the fateful years of 1917 and 1918. JASPER W. BOWSHER. During a long and active career Jasper W. Bowsher has been identified with agricultural operations in Allen County, and as evidence that his industry has been well applied has amassed a comfortable competence and is the owner of much valuable property in. Shawnee Township. Mr. Bowsher's life has been passed in this locality, where he has won and held public confidence by a policy of strict integrity and thorough performance of the duties of good citizenship. Jasper W. Bowsher was born November 26, 1869, in Shawnee Township, Allen County, a son of George W. and Harriet (Arthur) Bowsher, the former born in Shawnee Township in 1840, and the latter in Auglaize County, Ohio. Benjamin Bowsher, the paternal grandfather of Mr. Bowsher, was born in Berk's County, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1803, and died December 30, 1873, while his wife, Elizabeth De Long, a native of Pickaway County, was born June 9, 1809, and died September 15, 1888. They were among the earliest settlers of Shawnee Township, where they were highly esteemed and where they passed their honorable lives in the peaceful pursuits of the soil. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Bowsher were Daniel and Malinda (Rue) Arthur, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Clark County, Ohio, who were early settlers of Auglaize County, where they secured a grant of land from the United States Government. Following their marriage the parents of Mr. Bowsher settled on a farm in section 21, Shawnee Township, and there passed the remaining years of their lives, gaining and holding the friendship and respect of their fellow-citizens. George Bowsher died November 9, 1913, and his widow in April, 1917. Their children were: Etta, the wife of M. J. Crawford, of Auglaize County ; Ellen M., the wife of W. N. Bowsher, residing on South Collett Street, 206 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY Lima; Jasper W.; Daniel A., of Shawnee Township; Myrtle, the wife of Eugene T. Lippincott, of Lima ; and Albert C., and Benjamin Carlton, of Auglaize County. Since the founding of the Bowsher family in Shawnee Township in 1836, when Grandfather Bowsher brought his family here, its members have worthily espoused the cause of all good movements and have inherited the strength, kindness and Christian spirit of their worthy pioneer forebear, a great hunter in his day, one of the early contractors and builders of this locality, and a man of powerful physique though kindly heart. Jasper W. Bowsher was given good educational advantages in his youth, attending first the district schools and later the Northern Ohio University at Ada. He resided on the home farm until April 8, 1898, when he was united in marriage with Naocia Coon, who was born in March, 1876, in Shawnee Township, Allen County, daughter of Sylvester and Amelia (King) Coon, the former a native of Shawnee and the latter of Amanda Township, Allen County. Her grandparents were Alexander and Eliza (Owen) Coon, early settlers of Shawnee Township, and Christopher and Sophia (Shields) King, natives of Germany, and early settlers of Amanda Township. In 1884 Sylvester Coon located at Lima, where for twenty-two years he was an employe of the Standard Oil Company, being a machine operator in the refinery. In March, 1910, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where his death occurred January 4, 1920, and his widow still makes her home in that city. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Coon were: Arthur, of Whiting, Indiana ; Wilbert, of Lima, Ohio ; Effie, the wife of James Curtiss, of Chicago ; Electa, the wife of Charles King, of Chicago; Mrs. Bowsher ; 011a, the wife of John Jones, of Oakland, California; Addie, who makes her home with her mother; and Sheldon, of Chicago. Following his marriage Mr. Bowsher moved to a tract of forty acres of land in section 21, Shawnee Township, of which ten acres were in timber, and here he has erected a new set of modern buildings and made numerous other improvements, making this one of the attractive and valuable farms of the township. He is also the owner of twelve acres in section 22, as well as forty acres of the old home estate, and on this property carries on extensive operations as a general farmer, in addition to which he has been successful as a raiser of hogs, horses and cattle. His operations have been rewarded prosperously, and he is known as one of his community's substantial and progressive agriculturists. Mr. and Mrs. Bowsher have four children: Marion J., born April 8, 1900, who enlisted in the United States Army Medical Corps and saw nine months' service in France during the World war, Base Hospital No. 64; Earl, born January 31, 1902 ; Rue King, born August 21, 1907; and Mildred Adda, born October 15, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Bowsher are members of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in which Mrs. Bowsher is a member of the Ladies Aid Society and a teacher in the Sunday school. Mr. Bowsher's political tendencies make him a democrat. WALDO E. COURTAD. A man of versatile talents, enterprising and progressive, Waldo E. Courtad, senior member of the firm of Courtad Brothers of Lima, is carrying on a substantial and lucrative business, handling real estate, insurance and loans. A son of J. L. and Rosetta (Moser) Courtad, he was born in 1887 in Bluffton, Allen County, Ohio, of German and French ancestry, the founder of the American family of Courtads having immigrated from Alsace-Lorraine to this country. A native of that part of France, his great-grandfather Courtad came to the United States in 1848 and settled in Ohio, near Lake Erie. Martin Courtad, grandfather of Waldo E. Courtad, was born on Lake Erie and spent the larger part of his life in Wyandot County, this state. He was a man of much talent, and actively interested in public enterprises. He spent his last year in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, passing away at a good old age. His son, J. L. Courtad, was a mechanic by trade, and for years was a resident of Allen County. He has two sons, Waldo E., the special subject of this brief personal review, and Sidney Ray. After attending the Bluffton High School Waldo E. Courtad was a student rn the Mennonite College for awhile, and later took a business course of study in Bluffton. In the meantime, however, he had worked some at the blacksmith's trade, receiving a dollar a week for his services, and for two years worked in a grocery, beginning as a delivery boy and being promoted to chief clerk. After leaving college he learned the printers' trade, and becoming an expert linotype operator worked in that capacity as a journeyman in various cities, including New York City, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. and in other large places. While learning the trade he studied in the evenings the art of embalming and in 1910 successfully passed the state examination therefor. In 1918, in company with his brother, Sidney Ray Courtad, he opened an office in Lima, where he has since established an extensive business as a real estate and insurance agent. Mr. Courtad married in 1917 Lillian, daughter of Thomas and Lucinda (Burden) Sibert, of Auglaize County, Ohio. An active member of the democratic ranks, Mr. Courtad was a candidate for city auditor in 1919, but was defeated at the polls. Fraternally he is a member of Lima Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and religiously he belongs to the First Reformed Church. GRIFFITH ALVA BREESE. Since its establishment in Allen County during Indian days the occupation of agriculture has received decided impetus through the labor and good judgment of the members of the Breese family. Among them, one who was a worthy representative of the name and who was held in high esteem in Shawnee Township was the late Griffith Alva Breese, who carried on farming on the old home place for many years, and who established a lasting reputation for honorable citizenship and business integrity. Mr. Breese was born on the homestead farm in Shawnee Township December 26, 1860, a son of William D. and Ellen (Yoakam) Breese. He received his education at the Shadyside district school, and January 20, 1881, married a schoolmate, Iva John, who was born near Elida, Ohio, February 16, 1862, a daughter of John and Mary Catherine (Clark) John, natives of Allen County. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Breese began housekeeping in a home built for them by Mr. Breese's father on the home place, and at the elder man's death Mr. Breese, who was an only child, secured the home place of 139 acres, as well as the old brick HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 207 house which had been built of brick burned by his grandfather and erected by him in Indian days. The land has been in the family name since it was entered from the Government by the grandfather. Here Griffith A. Breese passed his active and honorable career as a farmer, and at his death, October 13, 1912, left 131 acres of finely improved land. Of this his widow has sold sixty acres and rents out the rest. She has built a small but comfortable home on the farm, where she now lives, and is surrounded by many friends. Mrs. Breese is a devout member of the Shawnee Methodist Episcopal Church, to which her husband belonged. He was a republican in politics and served for some years as a member of the Board of Township Trustees, and throughout his life was a man who was held in the highest esteem in his community. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Breese were as follows : Clifford Ellsworth, born February 28, 1882, who died December 4, 1918; Julius Carl, born July 19, 1883, who died November 5, 1893; Vida May, born November 29, 1884; Don Clark, born February 17, 1890, now a resident of Sapulpa, Oklahoma ; Viola, born February 18, 1896, the wife of B. W. Perry of Bellefontaine ; Leah Anna, born March 6, 1898, the wife of Ralph Miller of Allen County ; Marcile Dugan, born June 3, 1904, residing with his mother ; and Juanita, born December 30, 1906, also with her mother. On February 12, 1921, Mrs. Breese was married to Albert Cary McGinnis, born in Ross County, Ohio, a son of Wesley S. and Aseneth Any (Miller) McGinnis. HARRY J. PFLUM. Considerable ability and strong personality are required for the building up of a dependable business in any line, and especially is this true in one of so intimate a nature as that connected with the supplying of high-class haberdashery to a critical trade. Not only does a merchant need to have a knowledge of business details, but he must possess that innate sense of the fitness of things which will enable him to impress his customers with his reliability and good taste so that his advice., can be followed without question. The average man has neither the time or natural taste to follow the fashions, nor, as a rule, is he a good judge of what is fitting and becoming for different occasions, and he knows it, and wants to trade with an expert in the line so that he can throw the burden of the responsibility for his appearance upon his haberdasher and take no further thought about the matter. The careful dressers of Lima and the surrounding country realize that in Harry J. Pflum they have just such a dependable adviser, and his business is steadily growing because of this confidence he inspires. Harry J. Pflum was born at Lima, Ohio, on October 12, 1877, a son of Frederick and Wilhelmina (Ulmer) Pflum, natives of Germany and Austria, respectively, who upon coming to the United States located at Bellefontaine, Ohio, where the father engaged in the butchering business, but later came to Lima, and here he died on October 12,o1902. The mother is still living, but is an aged lady. They had five children of whom Harry J. was the youngest born. Growing up at Lima, Harry J. Pflum attended St. Rose Catholic parochial school until he was sixteen years old, and then began working for Harold Cunningham, a druggist in the public square, receiving $2 a week at first, and remaining with him for five years as a clerk, and while there he studied pharmacy. Mr. Pflum then went with T. N. Cunningham of 136 North Main street, a brother of Harold Cunningham, and also a druggist, and was his clerk for another five years. Feeling that there was not enough opportunity to suit him in the drug business Mr. Pflum left it and spent eighteen months with Francis A. Hume, a haberdasher of the City Bank Building on the public square as a salesman. His next business connection was with the Eilerman Clothing Company as salesman in charge of the furnishing goods, and after six years in this department he left to spend six years as salesman for the Morris Brothers Clothing Company. Then, in March, 1917, Mr. Pflum was enabled to realize his ambitions, for he felt he had saved sufficient money to justify his embarking in a business of his own on the public square, and his remarkable success justifies his confidence in himself. For a radius of thirty miles outside of Lima, as well as from all parts of the city, Mr. Pflum receives his trade, and he is justly numbered among the leading men in his line in Allen County. In 1910 Mr. Pflum was united in marriage with Loretta Dimond, a daughter of John and Mary (Ward) Dimond, of Lima. Mr. and Mrs. Pflum have three children, namely : Mary Adela, Julia Loretta and James Frederick. Mr. Pflum is a democrat, but is not active in politics. A Roman Catholic. he belongs to St. Rose parish. ELMER CHASE MYERS, who enjoys the comforts of a modern town home at 1100 East North street in Lima, has been identified with the citizenship of Allen County forty years, and his active career has been one of essential industry and useful service. Mr. Myers was born in Morrow County, Ohio, August 2, 1860, son of John Wesley and Emily Jane Myers. The home in which he was born was on a farm adjoining the old state road near the historic Town of Cardington. When Elmer Chase was about two and a half years of age his father left the farm, and on January 5, 1863, enlisted in Company C of the Ninety-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He had been in service with his command only a few weeks when he fell a victim to the life of the camp and the southern climate and died at Brashear City, Louisiana, March 9, 1863. His widow made the best of circumstances following her husband's death, and reared her children and continued to live on the old home farm until she too passed away in 1894. At the old homestead Elmer Chase Myers spent his boyhood and early youth. He attended a country school near Cardington, and for several years worked out as a farm hand. He came to Allen County in 1881, and on October 29, 1882, at West Cairo, Ohio, he married Miss Mary Jane Epperson. It is a singular coincidence that her father too died while a Union soldier and when she was too young to remember him. Mrs. Myers was born in Knoxville, Auglaize County, Ohio, November 26, 1860, daughter of John and Marguerette Epperson. John Epperson joined an Ohio regiment in 1863 to substitute for Barney Lacey. He was assigned to duty rn the commissary department, and died in an army camp the same year. After that his widow lived on her farm until she became the wife of Jacob Bousher of Cridersville, Ohio. After his marriage Elmer C. Myers located at Lima. Among other activities he became distin- 208 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY guished for his remarkable ability in shearing sheep, and for years was known as the champion sheep shearer in this part of Ohio. It was a skill in great demand in a section of the state where sheep husbandry has been an important part of the agricultural industry, and Mr. Myers did a big and practical part in producing the annual wool clip credited to northwestern Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Myers have two children, the son, Clarence Wesley Myers, being a well-known Allen County citizen whose career is sketched below. The daughter, Alta Eva, is the wife of John B. Long. Mr. Myers and his son Clarence and family reside together on East North Street. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are members of the Shawnee Methodist Church of Shawnee Township. CLARENCE W. MYERS, who has had a long experience in technical and business lines and is well known in Lima, is a dealer in automobiles and accessories and a garage proprietor at 127-129 East Spring street. Mr. Myers was born in Shawnee Township of Allen County November 1, 1887, a son of Elmer C. and Mary J. (Epperson) Myers. His parents spent many years on their farm in Shawnee Township, and since leaving have lived retired at Lima. The younger of two children, Clarence W. Myers attended Shadyside country school in Shawnee Township and later the Raymond school, securing his education largely in the winter months, while he was employed on the farm the rest of the year. At the age of seventeen he went to work in the Baltimore & Ohio Railway shops, spending a year and a half learning the blacksmith's trade. For two years following he clerked in the freight house of the Lake Erie Railroad, and then began driving a truck and doing other work for the Lima Locomotive Works. Mr. Myers spent four years in different garages, learning everything there was to be learned about automobile mechanism, construction, repair and operation. The Garford Motor Truck Company employed him six years as service man and road tester, and after this varied experience he joined Mr. William Heatwole in a business on East Spring street. This partnership continued until September. 1920, when Mr. Myers became sole owner. He runs one of the best equipped establishments of its kind in Allen County. In 1916 Mr. Myers married Miss Anna Lauefer, daughter of Jacob and Anna Lauefer of Lima They have one son, Elmer Jacob. Mr. Myers is a democrat, a member of the Methodist Church and is active in the Allen County Auto Trade Association and the Automobile Protective Association. C. LLOYD LE FEVRE, sole proprietor of the Le Fevre Boot Shop in the public square of Lima, is engaged in giving the people of his city an effective service in furnishing them well-fitting as well as artistic footgear. He was born in Union City, Indiana, in 1888, a son of I. F. and Turah (Bennett) Le Fevre. The great-great-grandfather, John Le Fevre, came from Alsace-Lorraine, France, to the American Colonies, and settled near Erie, Pennsylvania. A man of education and intelligence, he took a great deal of interest in local politics, and when his adopted country went to war he became a soldier in the Colonial army and took part in the revolution for freedom which resulted in the establishment of the United States. After the close of the war he returned to his farm, and on it rounded out his useful life. His descendants have been farmers and merchants as a general rule. The son of the immigrant Le Fevre also spent his life in Pennsylvania, but his son, Samuel Le Fevre, the grandfather of C. Lloyd Le Fevre, located at Union City, Indiana, where he remained the rest of his life. For many years his son, I. F. Le Fevre, made Union City his place of residence, but he is now living at Dayton, Ohio, and is in the employ of the Wright Airplane Company of that city. He and his wife had six children, of whom C. Lloyd is the second in order of birth. While he was attending school at Union City, C. Lloyd Le Fevre worked on Saturdays and morning and evening for a grocer and received 35 cents per week for his services. Later he had a laundry route, but at the same time he kept up his studies and was graduated from the high school course at the age of eighteen years. Mr. Le Fevre went to Springfield, Ohio, and was a salesman for Oscar Young of that city, but in a year went to Dayton, Ohio, and spent five years in the Haas Shoe Company. The subsequent eighteen months were spent at Chicago, Illinois, in the employ of O'Connor & Goldberg, whom he left in 1914 to come to Lima as salesman for Leo Netzorg, was made manager of the concern and held that position until 1916, when he opened the Lloyd's Shoe Store, and conducted it until he entered the United States army in May, 1918. He was sent to Newport News, Virginia, and was on the United States Shipping Board as ship fitter for seven months, when the signing of the armistice made it unnecessary for him to remain in the service any longer and he was mustered out of the army. Returning to Lima, he opened his present store under the name of the Le Fevre Boot Shop, and is doing a splendid business. In 1919 Mr. Le Fevre was married at Lima, Ohio, to Grace Huntley, a daughter of Dr. J. H. Huntley of Lima. Mr. Le Fevre is a republican. Fraternally he belongs to the Elks and Knights of Pythias, both of Lima. The Presbyterian Church holds his membership, and he is active in its work for moral uplift and community betterment. Having made his own way in the world and given his country a military service when it was needed he is deserving of whatever prosperity comes to him, and is rightly numbered among the dependable citizens of Allen County. H. W. METER, D. C., is one of the capable chiropractic practitioners of Lima, who is fully demonstrating in his every-day work the value of the philosophy, science and art of things natural and the system of adjusting the subluxated vertebrae of the spinal column, by hand, for the restoration of health. While this system has been before the public but a comparatively short time, the first chiropractic adjustment having been given in 1895, its principles are as old as man, and as they are becoming better understood the men who are demonstrating them are being recognized as valuable additions to the ranks of the healing profession. Doctor Meier was born at Pana, Christian County, Illinois, January 11, 1885, a son of H. J. and Caroline (Schempf) Meier, the former of whom was born in Germany in 1854, and came to the United Slates in young manhood, locating in Illinois. A sheep herder in his native land, he became a farmer in this, and is now living retired at Byron, Michigan, and his HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 209 wife also survives. Doctor Meier is the third of their seven children. Growing up at Byron, Michigan, to which locality the family had removed in his childhood, H. W. Meier attended its schools, and was graduated from the high school course in 1902, and then taught school for a year. For the subsequent two years he was a rural mail carrier. Still later he and a brother formed a partnership and carried on a hardware business at Byron, Michigan, under the name of Meier Brothers for four years. Although he was not successful financially as a merchant, H. W. Meier gained valuable experience and finally decided upon a professional career. After giving all of the schools careful consideration he found that the one of chiropractic was more in accordance with his own convictions, and so he entered the Palmer School of Chiropractic at Davenport, Iowa. It was here that Doctor Meier met Miss Jean Adams, who later became his wife. She was also a student at the Palmer School, from which they graduated in 1911, after a course of eighteen months with the degree of Doctor of Chiropractic. Immediately thereafter Doctor Meier located at Fenton, Michigan, and they both there engaged in practice for a year, and then they returned to the Palmer School to finish the course, which had been extended to a two years' course. They were then engaged in practice at Ashtabula, Ohio, from October 16, 1912, until 1914, when Doctor Meier practiced alone with remarkable success until July, 1918. However, he felt the necessity for a broader field, and took a prospecting trip in order to locate a new place of operation, which he found at Lima, and settled here permanently in November, 1918, buying the practice of the pioneer chiropractic of Lima, Doctor Miller. Doctor Meier carries on a general practice of his school, and his patients come to him from both the city and the outlying rural districts for thirty miles. He is now vice president of the Ohio Chiropractic Association. In addition to his practice Doctor Meier has other interests, and he is a man of considerable importance in his city. In 1911 Doctor Meier was married at Sterling, Michigan, to Jean Adams, a daughter of James Adams. Dr. and Mrs. Meier have two children, Muriel Maybell and Henry Adams. He is a republican in politics, and fraternally is a Blue Lodge, Chapter and thirty-second degree Mason, and also belongs to the Elks. In addition to his connection with the state association of his school of healing, Doctor Meier is a member of the Universal Chiropractic Association of America. ARTHUR BERTRAM BERNHARD, proprietor of the Bernhard Paper Favor Company of Lima, is one of the energetic business men of Allen County, and one who stands high in public esteem. He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 26, 1884, a son of Arthur G. and Caroline (Heil) Bernhard, of German stock. The father was a merchant and was also interested in scientific matters. He is now living retired in California, but the mother died in 1902. The elder of the two children of his parents, Arthur B. Bernhard attended the public schools of San Francisco, California, and the California School of Mechanical Arts, taking the mechanical course of that institution and the preparatory university course, and completed it in 1903. He then engaged in railroad work for the Santa Fe Railroad at Richmond, California, for a year, leaving that road to go with the Salt Lake & San Pedro Railroad, and was employed in its yards at San Bernardino, California. Here he remained for six months, and then went to the Santa Fe Railroad again, being employed for a year as night clerk at Oakland, California. Mr. Bernhard then went into business at San Francisco, handling all makes of typewriters and repairing them and carrying typewriter supplies for two years. Moving to Fresno, and later to Santa Rosa, California, he operated under the name of the Bernhard Typewriter Company until 1916. In that year he returned to Ohio and, locating at Van Wert, was sales manager for the Van Wert Novelty Company for a year. In 1918 he came to Lima and for a year was assembler at the Lima Locomotive Works, but found more congenial employment as a member of the firm of Morford & Bernhard, manufacturers of crepe and artistic party favors. In a short time Mr. Bernhard bought his partner's interest, and adopted his present caption. His quarters are in the Metropolitan Building, and he gives employment to twenty-five persons. The company ships all over the United States, and has a large trade. Mr. Bernhard devotes some time to oil painting among his other interests, and is recognized as a man of ability in business matters. He was married at Van Wert, Ohio, in 1917 to Charlotte Budd, daughter of Andrew and Flora May Budd. Mr. and Mrs. Bernhard have no children. While he votes the republican ticket, Mr. Bernhard is not interested in politics to any great extent, his time being fully occupied by his private affairs. He has made his own way in the world and deserves credit for what he has accomplished. ELMER D. WEBB, a man of superior business ability and tact, Elmer D. Webb of Lima has for upwards of twenty years been an important factor in aiding the development and growth of this section of Allen County, as a dealer in realty having handled property of much value, while as president and treasurer of the Elmer D. Webb Company, Incorporated, is officially associated with one of the best known and most prosperous real estate firms in the county. Of English descent, he was born in 1876 on a farm in Union County, Ohio, being the fifth child in order of birth of the six children born to his parents, Isaac and Rebecca (Ballinger) Webb. His father, a lifelong agriculturist, died in 1900, but his mother is living, her home being in West Mansfield, Ohio. Brought up in Union County, Elmer D. Webb attended the winter terms of the district schools until sixteen years old, helping on the home farm summers until old enough to run a huckster wagon, which was quite a profitable employment. Energetic and enterprising, he worked in a general store at York, Ohio, one year, and later acted as a book agent for a year. Going then to Akron, Ohio, he was salesman for Witmore & Robinson for two and a half years. Changing his line of work, Mr. Webb became identified with the Prudential Insurance Company at Fort Wayne, Indiana, first as a salesman and afterward as assistant superintendent, being very efficient in both positions. Locating in Lima in 1898, Mr. Webb established himself in the insurance and real estate business, and met with well-merited success from the first, developing a very large business in both the city and county. In 1911 he reorganized the business, and had it incorporated under the name of the Elmer D. Vol. I I-14 210 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY Webb Company, of which he has since been president and treasurer, as above mentioned. He has also other interests of importance, being a director in many different companies, all of which he helped organize. Mr. Webb married in 1903, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Margaret M. Ballinger, a daughter of A. W. and Elizabeth Ella (Winner) Ballinger, and their marriage has been blessed by the birth of three children, namely: Russell L., born in 1904; Eleanor Elizabeth, and Margaret Louise. Politically Mr. Webb is identified with the republican party. He is a member of the Lima Real Estate Board, of the Lima Club, of the Lima Country Club and of the Lima Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has taken the thirty-second degree ; to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Knights of Pythias, FORSTER ROBINSON. For over twenty years Doctor Robinson as a Doctor of Dental Surgery has enjoyed a place of leadership in his profession at Lima. He is one of the advanced men in dental surgery, and his work, study and experience entitle him to all the prestige attached to the modern science of dentistry. Doctor Robinson was born at St. Petersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1874, son of James and Sarah (Creech) Robinson. His father in early days was a proofreader on the New York Tribune, but later went to the oil fields of western Pennsylvania, and for many years was connected with the Standard Oil Company. He became a tank gauge engineer, originating the system of tank gauge measurement or tank computation. He was also deeply interested in public education and for a time served as president of the Bradford School Board. He was born in County Derry, Ireland, and came to the United States when a young man. He died in 1898. His wife, Sarah Creech, was member of a New York family of English descent. Forster Robinson was the seventh among ten children. He graduated from the Bradford High School in 1892 and the following year worked in his father's office. In 1893 he entered Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, but studied for that profession only one year. In 1895 he began the regular course of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati, and at graduation in 1897 received honorable mention. He at once came to Lima, and has been steadily in practice in this city ever since. A student of the profession, he has neglected no opportunity to keep in touch with the best ideas and the best men in the profession. He took post-graduate work in the St. Louis University in 1910, and is now specializing in X-ray, Focal Infection and Extracting. He is a member of the Northwestern Dental Society, the Ohio Dental Society and the National Dental Association. Doctor Robinson has always maintained an interested connection with the oil industry, particularly the productive end. He is a stockholder and investor in a number of oil companies. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Sisterville, West Virginia, with Lima Lodge of Elks and is a member of the Lima Club and Chamber of Commerce, and a vestryman in the Christ Episcopal Church, having held that post since 1910. Politically he is a republican. Doctor Robinson's residence at 429 South Jameson avenue, Lakewood, is one of the better homes of Lima and was built entirely after his own plans. In 1900 he married Miss Belle Blake, daughter of Isaac E. and Agnes (Maloney) Blake of New York City. They have two children: Blake W., born in 1902, and Robert F., born in 1903. WILLIAM C. FRIDLEY. Enterprising, active and progressive, William C. Fridley, a well-known citizen of Lima, is a typical representative of the self-made men of Ohio, and as a dealer in Ford automobiles and tractors is prominently identified with one of the leading interests of the city. A native of Indiana, he was born in 1881 in Howe, Lagrange County, of Swiss and English stock. His grandfather, Jacob Fridley, immigrated from Berne, Switzerland, to the United States, landing at Castle Garden, New York, in 1865. Crossing the country to Indiana, he settled in Lagrange County, and there continued his residence until his death, in 1896. The youngest child of the parental household, Charles W. Fridley, father of the subject of this sketch, was for several years engaged in general farming in Indiana, but later was manager of a theater in Detroit, Michigan, where he is now living, retired from active pursuits. He married Loretta Harding, and they had one child, William C. Fridley, of whom we write. Acquiring his rudimentary education in Lagrange County, Indiana, William C. Fridley continued his educational training at the Howe Military School in Howe, Indiana. At the age of fourteen years, without leave or license, he ran away from home, going on his bicycle to Detroit, Michigan, and for three years thereafter was employed on one of the Detroit and Cleveland boats plying between Detroit and Mackinaw. Being industrious and economical, he saved his money, and at the end of the three years found that the $5 that formed his sole capital when he left home had been many times multiplied. The wife of E. D. Stain of Detroit then secured him a position as treasurer of the Lyceum Theater in Detroit, with which he was connected many years. He was subsequently sent to New York, where for nine years he was manager of the Majestic Theater, located at the corner of Broadway and Fifty-ninth street, serving in that capacity under Faber & Pabst. Resigning that position, Mr. Fridley, through his friend, Norval A. Hawkins, sales manager for the Ford Automobile Company, became identified with that company, and spent two years as an organizer, working in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. Coming to Lima in 1913, Mr. Fridley took the agency for Ford cars, and soon worked up a fine record, becommg known as one of the best agents in the employ of the firm. He now deals in Ford cars, not as an agent, but buys and sells with his own money, and is carrying on an extensive and highly satisfactory business, dealing in all motor productions of the Ford plant. He has recently erected a fine three- story building, 72 by 219 feet, with a floor space of 45,000 square feet, it being one of the most modernly constructed and furnished garages in Allen County. Mr. Fridley married in 1905 in Detroit, Michigan, Theresa Jane Tender, a daughter of John and Jane (Conroy) Tender, and they have two children, Myra Jane, born in 1908, and William C., Jr., five years younger. In politics Mr. Fridley is independent. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 211 Protective Order of Elks, and he also belongs to the Lima Club, the Country Club, the Rotary Club and to the Lima Chamber of Commerce. HARVEY MILES COOPER, general boiler foreman over eighty men in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad shops at Lima, is one of the practical railroad men of Allen County, and one who has traveled far on the road to success in his chosen occupation. He has held his present responsible position since November 23, 1914, and reached it through individual merit, Mr. Cooper was born at Norwalk, Ohio, March 1, 1887, a son of Henry and Ellen (McGinn) Cooper, and comes of English stock. The grandfather, George T. Cooper, was first a farmer and later a blacksmith for the Norfolk & Western and Lake Erie railroads at Toledo, Ohio. For years the father, Henry Cooper, was a brass moulder for the same roads which employed his father, but he was located at Norwalk. The grandfather died in 1902, but both father and mother are still living. Harvey Miles Cooper attended St. Mary's parochial school at Norwalk until he was seventeen years old, and then began working in the finishing department of the Smith Moulding Works at Norwalk, where he remained for six months, leaving that concern for the Norwalk Foundry and Machine Company. He then went with the Lake Erie Railroad as an apprentice to the boilermaker trade at Norwalk, and remained there for four years. From that road he went with the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad as boilermaker for six months. His next position was as boilermaker with the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad at Norwalk. Leaving Norwalk, Mr. Cooper went to Chicago, Illinois, and for six months was with Hick Brothers of that city, and then for two years was with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad at Cincinnati, Ohio, all of this time continuing to work as a boilermaker. In 1912 he came to Lima and continued with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad as boilermaker. He then went to Flora, Illinois, and for a year was a boilermaker in a foundry at that point, and was also a foreman. Returning to Lima in 1914, he was offered and accepted his present position, which he has since filled with efficient capability. In 1910 Mr. Cooper was united in marriage with Lillian A. Eline, a daughter of Joseph and Anna (Claybough) Eline, of Norwalk, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have no children. He is independent in his politics, preferring to cast his vote for the man rather than for party platforms. A Catholic, Mr. Cooper belongs to St. Rose parish, and he is also a member of the Knights of Columbus. WILLIAM POST. Individual enterprise, which is the just boast of the people of Ohio, is forcefully illustrated in the career of William Post, one of the substantial farmers of Spencer Township. He is a worthy representative of one of the old and most highly honored families in this locality, mention of whom will be found in various parts of this work. The qualities which have made him successful have also brought him the esteem of his fellow men, for his career has been one of well directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods. William Post was born in Spencer Township, four miles northwest of Spencerville, on February 28, 1854, and is the son of Martin and Caroline (Wien) Post. His father was born in Richland County, Ohio, on September 24, 1827, and married February 7, 1851, and his mother was born on March 2, 1827, in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The Wien family came to Richland County and became near neighbors of the Post family. Here the children grew up together and eventually the subject's parents were married. Immediately thereafter they came to Allen County and settled four miles northwest of Spencerville, where they bought 120 acres of land in 1850. This land, which was located in section 26, he cleared of the dense timber which stood on it and there he created a comfortable home and a productive farm. They lived there until 1881, when they moved to Spencerville, where the father died the following year. He was survived several years by his widow, whose death occurred in December, 1890. They were members of the United Brethren Church and active in its work. Politically, Mr. Post was a democrat and served efficiently as a trustee and school director of Spencer Township. They were the parents of four children, namely: Lucretia, the wife of John M. Biner, of Spencer Township ; William, the subject of this sketch ; John H., deceased ; Theo, who is foreman of carpenters of the Erie Railroad in Spencerville. William Post's boyhood days were much like those of the average farmer boy, his summers being spent in work on the home farm, while he attended the district schools of the neighborhood. He remained at home until twenty-three years of age, at which time he was married, and immediately after that event he bought eighty acres of the old Post farm, onto which he moved and devoted himself to its cultivation. By persistent industry and good management he has prospered and finally, in 1905, he laid aside the more strenuous labors of the farm and moved to Spencerville, where he now lives. On December 28, 1876, Mr. Post was married to Cinderella Uncapher, who was born in Marion County, Ohio, on April 7, 1856, but who came to Allen County with her parents in 1865. Her death occurred in 1897. To Mr. and Mrs. Post were born three children, as follows : Walter W., born on October 16, 1877, died at the age of twenty-four years ; Flora, born on April 1, 1880, is unmarried and remains at home; Rolla, born on June 15, 1887, died the same year. For his second wife, Mr. Post was married to Florence G. Shaffer on April 3, 1901. She is a daughter of Emanuel Shaffer and was reared in Spencer Township. Politically, Mr. Post gives his support to the democratic party and has served as school director of Spencer Township. There are in him sterling traits which have commanded uniform confidence and regard, and he is generally recognized as a man of broad views and public-spirited interest in the general welfare of the community in which he lives. CLARENCE OBADIAH HOLMES. Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails of success. It carries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are often attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance. The every-day life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experience of the best kind, and its most 212 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and self improvement. Clarence Obadiah Holmes, one of Lima's substantial and progressive business men, is a son of Joseph B. and Lydia (Prosser) Holmes and was born in Monroe Township, Allen County, Ohio, on June 11, 1886. His family is originally of English origin, though it has been established in America for many generations. They first became established in the eastern states, whence they emigrated to Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Mr. Holmes' paternal grandfather, Clem Holmes, the first of the family to come to Allen County, was a carpenter by trade, and his son, Joseph B. Holmes, followed the dual occupations of farming and bricklaying. Clarence O. Holmes is the second in order of birth of the seven children who were born to his parents: He secured his education in the country schools of Monroe Township, which he attended until twelve years of age, completing his studies in the Lutz school in Bath Township, which he attended during the winter terms until sixteen years of age, devoting his summer months to the cultivation of forty acres of his father's farm. He then turned his attention to his father's trade, that of a bricklayer, at which he worked until he had attained his majority, when he apprenticed himself to learn the plumbing trade, serving an apprenticeship of five years with Theo G. Scheid. He then worked about two years as a journeyman for different firms in Toledo and other Ohio cities, and in 1917 he came to Lima and engaged in the general plumbing and heating business on his own account. He was first located at 641 North Main street, but subsequently moved to his present location, 625 North Main street, where he has a finely equipped shop for the performance of any work in his line. He has done a large amount of general contracting in the heating and plumbing line, having fitted some of the finest residences and business blocks in this community, his patronage coming from a wide radius of surrounding country. The high quality of his work has been his best advertiser and he is held in high esteem by all who have had dealings with him. In 1910 Mr. Holmes was married to Grace Fetter, of West Cairo, Ohio, and they are the parents of three children, Burdett Paul, Marion Grace and Helen. He is independent in politics, reserving the right to vote according to the dictates of his own judgment. Fraternally he is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He is deservedly popular throughout the community which is honored by his citizenship. ORRIN S. JUNE. It is generally conceded that the man who concentrates upon any one line is more apt to attain to success, especially in these days of strenuous competition, than one who wastes his talents by going from one thing to another and learning nothing thoroughly. One of the men of Lima who has proven this conclusively to his own satisfaction and to that of his company is Orrin S. June, superintendent of the Buckeye Pipe Line Company, who has risen to this general superintendency through the various subordinate positions and has a practical knowledge of each branch of the business in which his entire mature life has been spent. Mr. June was born at Great Bend, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1852, a son of Silas and Lucy (Snow) June, the former of whom was born in New York State and the latter on the state line between New York and Pennsylvania. Early in life Silas June was the owner of a tannery, but later on went into the oil regions of Pennsylvania, and there passed his last years. Until he was nineteen years old Orrin S. June attended the common schools of Pennsylvania, acquiring a practical education in them, and then began working in the oil regions of Pennsylvania in connection with the oil pipe line. In 1901 he was made superintendent of the Buckeye Pipe Line at Marietta, Ohio, and after holding that position for five years came to Lima in 1906 to assume the responsibilities pertaining to the general superintendency of the company. He was later made vice president and still is discharging his duties with energetic capability. On December 13, 1877, Mr. June was married to Mary A. Haverstraw, born at Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Christopher and Sarah (Nunnemaker) Haverstraw, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively. Mr. and Mrs, June have the following children: Louis, Charles, Frederick, George, Orrin, Alvin, Mary, who is Mrs. Carl K. Rowlands of Lima, and Ruth, who is Mrs. Walter F. Renz of Lima. Mr. June is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is serving as trustee of the local body. In politics he is a democrat. Well known in Masonry, he has risen in that fraternity until he has taken about all the degrees. He also belongs to the Lima, Kiwanis and Automobile clubs and is popular in all of these organizations. In his responsible position Mr. June is obliged to strive to meet the needs of many interests, and that he succeeds so well is proof of his capabilities as an organizer and executive. EDWIN BLANK. Among the lawyers of Allen County who have attained success in their chosen field of endeavor is Edwin Blank, of Lima, whose career has been that of a broad-minded, conscientious worker in the sphere to which his life and energies are now devoted, and whose thorough knowledge of his profession has won for him a leading place among the practitioners at the bar of Allen County. Mr. Blank is a native son of the Buckeye State, having been born in Union Township, Auglaize County, on May 22, 1870, and he is the son of Joshua and Olive (Focht) Blank, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. Joshua Blank was the son of John and Theresa Blank, of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and on the maternal side Mr. Blank's grandparents were Adam and Jane (Bailey) Focht, the former born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Virginia. The Blank and Focht families came to Auglaize County, Ohio, in an early day, being numbered among the pioneers of that locality. There Mr. Blank's parents were reared, educated and married, and after the latter event they settled on a farm in that county. In 1871 they moved to Paulding County, Ohio, where for a number of years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, eventually, however, moving to Paulding Center, where he engaged in the shoe business, conducting a store there up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1877. His widow subsequently became the wife of Levi Rousculp and moved to Perry Township, Allen County, where she lived until her death, which occurred in 1911. To Joshua and Olive Blank were born the following children: Rachel, the wife of George T. Boop, died in 1898; Edwin, the subject of this sketch; John A., of Okla- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 213 homa; and William, of Union Township, Auglaize County. Edwin Blank was reared on the home farm in Auglaize County and remained with his mother until he was twenty-three years of age. He attended the common schools of that neighborhood and was intensely ambitious to continue his studies in higher institutions of learning. To this end, at the age of sixteen years, he engaged in teaching school, following that vocation for eight years and carefully saving his earnings. He became a student in the Northwestern Ohio Normal University at Ada in 1887, and later, having decided to devote his life to the practice of law, he entered the law department of Cincinnati College, where he was graduated on May 29, 1892. On that same day he was admitted to the bar and in the spring of 1894 he came to Lima and entered upon the practice of his profession in partnership with Howard P. Williamson. In 1898, on account of the failure of Mr. Blank's health, the partnership was dissolved and for some months Mr. Blank devoted himself to the retrieving of his health. In 1899 he engaged in the business of general contracting and building in Lima, in which he continued successfully until October, 1916, when, having fully regained his health, he relinquished the contracting business and again applied himself to the practice of law, in which he is engaged at the present time. As a lawyer Mr. Blank evinces a familiarity with legal principles and a ready perception of facts, together with the ability to apply the. one to the other, which has won for him the reputation of a sound and safe practitioner. By a straightforward and honorable course he has built up a large legal business and is numbered among the successful attorneys of Allen County. On February 24, 1894, Mr. Blank was married to Callie B. Harrod, who was born and reared in Auglaize County, Ohio, the daughter of Miner and Phoebe A. (Falkner) Harrod, the former a native of Knox County, Ohio, and the latter of Allen County. To Mr. and Mrs. Blank the following children have been born: Leslie H., entered the United States Regular Army and went to France as a member of the Fifty-ninth Regiment. He was a second-lieutenant of Infantry, was promoted to the rank of first-lieutenant, and was placed upon the retired list, having been "gassed" and rendered unfit for further military service. Walter J. also served in the World war as a private at Camp Sherman, Ohio. Beatrice and Carl M. are at home. Mr. Blank has always taken a keen interest in local public affairs, giving his support to all movements for the advancement of the public welfare. He rendered appreciated service as director of public safety in 1912-13, and was then appointed chief of police of Lima, to fill a vacancy, serving from December to May. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the American Insurance Union. He is a member of the Carpenters' Union and is district organizer for the American Federation of Labor. In political matters he gives his support to the socialist party. Because of his professional success and his high personal character, Mr. Blank enjoys to a marked degree the confidence and esteem of all who know him. FRANK P. SEVIER. Occupying a foremost place among the prominent and representative men of Lima is Frank P. Sevier, who is manager of the Fisk Rubber Company of this city and has other interests. Mr. Sevier was born November 3, 1884, at Jonesboro, Tennessee, the second oldest of six children born to Samuel and Cassia (Hall) Sevier, and a direct descendant of John Sevier, who was the first territorial governor of Tennessee and who died in office after serving eight and a half terms. France was the original home of the Seviers, and, expelled as Huguenots, they came to America and had much to do with the early settlement of more than one state and winning renown in the Revolutionary and Indian wars. The great-grandfather of Frank P. Sevier was the father of sixteen children, and once owned vast tracts of land in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was a man of distinguished public service, and a monument was erected to commemorate the 'same in the public square at Knoxville. Samuel Sevier, father of Frank P., was born in Tennessee, the youngest of a family of five children. His father was a farmer, planter and slave- holder in Tennessee. Samuel Sevier was a prominent lawyer in that state and practiced at Jonesboro and Knoxville until his death on March 4, 1909. His widow resides at Kremmling in Grant County, Colorado. Frank P. Sevier attended the public schools of Jonesboro, Tennessee, a private school at St. Joseph, Missouri, and the Southwestern Baptist College there. His first business venture was as a salesman for a lumber company at Cripple Creek, Colorado, his success in the selling field leading to his embarking in the business of selling automobiles, in which line he continued for four years at Denver and three years at Los Angeles, California. In 1915 Mr. Sevier came to Lima as manager of the Fisk Rubber Company, in which he is a stockholder. His territory covers nine counties in Ohio and the company's volume of business is constantly on the increase. In 1903 Mr. Sevier was married to Miss Florence Spaith, who died March 31, 1919, leaving one son, John Paul. Mr. Sevier's second marriage was to Miss Olga Abe, a daughter of Edwin and Marie (Smith) Abe, of Wapakoneta, Ohio. Mr. Sevier is a thirty-second degree Mason, having attained that high honor at Manitou, Colorado. He belongs to the Chapter, Council and Commandery at Colorado Springs and is a member of the Mystic Shrine at Denver. Although never entering the political arena as a candidate. Mr. Sevier has been an earnest and active participant in public matters as a private citizen, and at all times consistent in his devotion to the principles of the republican party. He has been active in various ways at Lima, has served one year as chairman of the Associated Charities and is a trustee of the Lima Chamber of Commerce. During the continuance of the great war he was conspicuous, although personally unassuming, in assisting in promoting the success of war measures, for one year serving as chairman of the Relief Board of Charities, and throughout was chairman of the Allen County Red Cross Commission of Civilian Relief. Social by nature and, of genial personality, he is a valued member of the Rotary, the Lima and the Lima Country clubs. GUY CUSTER. In the experimental forms of government that, strangely enough, seem to appeal to certain individuals, the orderly processes that insure both safety and justice to every one without dis- 214 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY crimination have no place, consequently confusion and oppression reign and the law of might instead of right prevails. Fortunately such is not the case in American communities. Not only have wise laws been made for the general protection of life and property, but it is by the will of the people themselves that competent men are chosen to administer them. The public officials of Allen County, Ohio, are, as a body, men of high personal character, well qualified in every way to perform every duty pertaining to the offices to which they have been elected. One of these public officials, Guy Custer, county recorder of Allen County, is particularly well known in this section of Ohio, belonging to a prominent old agricultural family of the county, and, prior to becoming recorder, serving with honesty and efficiency in other important county offices. Guy Custer was born on his father's farm in Allen County in 1872, and is a son of Jacob and Phoebe (Heath) Custer. He was reared on the farm and continued with his father until twenty-one years old, having country school privileges until seventeen. Farm life does not appeal to every young man, and when old enough to leave home and with his father's approval he went to Lima, where he found a ready business opening as a clerk with the Watson Grocery Company, with which firm he remained for seven years. In the meanwhile Mr. Custer had become interested in politics, as a young, ambitious man can scarce avoid being when keeping wide awake as to future prospects. In 1900, when James W. Gensel was elected county treasurer on the democratic ticket, his appointee as deputy treasurer was Guy Custer. After his term of service in that office was over Mr. Custer returned to the business field and from then until 1913 covered a large territory as a traveling salesman in the interest of a Lima business house. In that year he received the appointment of deputy treasurer under County Treasurer W. E. Tussing, and remained in the county treasurer's office until 1917, when he was elected county recorder. His democratic friends made him their candidate for the 1920 campaign, and he was re-elected as county recorder. In 1912 Mr. Custer was married to Miss Kathryn Prophat, who is a daughter of H. S. and Frances (Beebe) Prophat, residents of Lima, where Mr. Custer's parents also live retired. He had two brothers and five sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Custer have two children : Judson S. and Alice E. The family belong to the First Congregational Church. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Order of Moose and the Elks at Lima, and with the United Commercial Travelers Association. CLARENCE J. FRAUNFELTER, who is serving as deputy sheriff of Allen County and whose popularity is reinforced by his loyalty and efficiency in official capacity, is a representative of an old and honored pioneer family of this county, where his grandfather, Israel Fraunfelter, became one of the early settlers of American Township, where he reclaimed and improved a productive farm and where he reared his family of five children. He was one of the substantial and highly esteemed men of the county, and remained on his old homestead farm until the close of his life, as did also his wife. Of their children the youngest is Otis, father of the present deputy sheriff of the county. Otis Fraunfelter was reared to manhood in American Township, where he received the advantages of the common schools of the period and where he remained at the parental home until his marriage to Miss Eliza Baxter, who likewise was born and reared in this county. They have for many years resided on their excellent farm in American Township, the same being well improved and comprising forty-nine acres. They became the parents of four sons and one daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch is the youngest. Clarence James Fraunfelter was born on the farm which is still the home of his parents, and the date of his nativity was September 7, 1892. He received the advantages of the district schools and at the age of seventeen years he entered the Lima Business College, in which he completed a thorough commercial course and was given a diploma. For three years thereafter he had charge of a delivery wagon for the National Biscuit Company in the City of Lima, and he then became cashier in the local offices of this concern. He held this position eighteen months, after which he was for three months a traveling representative of this company. He passed the ensuing fifteen months in the City of South Bend, Indiana, in the interests of the same corporation, and he then returned to Lima and assumed a clerical position in the warehouse of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. Nine months later he became a clerk in the store of the Lima Locomotive Works, in which connection he was soon advanced to the position of timekeeper. His connection with this concern continued eleven months, at the expiration of which he was appointed deputy sheriff of the county, in May, 1919, by Charles W. Baxter, the present sheriff, under whose administration he has since served with marked efficiency. Mr. Fraunfelter has not yet joined the ranks of benedicts, but permits his name to remain on the roster of eligible young bachelors in his native county. He is affiliated with Lima Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, and his political proclivities mark him a loyal supporter of the cause of the democratic party. HARRY B. LONGSWORTH. Even the ordinary observer takes an interest, although, perhaps, not a purely personal one, in the beauty, power, speed and evident efficiency of the automobiles that penetrate to every part of the country, realizing that a vast business has developed. Men of capital have not hesitated to risk wealth in cars or motors, and fortunes have been reared on a favorite model, but the time has not yet arrived when these speedy examples of rapid and comfortable transportation can do without attention at a service station or go forever without a period of repairing rest in a first- class garage. Hence there are many ambitious, energetic young men with both mechanical experience and sound business judgment who have embarked in a business which evidently presents so favorable a future. Among these at Lima who have apparently made no mistake in choice attention may be called to Harry B. Longsworth, who conducts a service garage on South Elizabeth Street and also has the agency for the popular Columbia cars. Harry B. Longsworth was born at Convoy, Van Wert County, Ohio, and is a son of Howard B. and HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 215 Elizabeth (Butler) Longsworth, of English stock. For many years the paternal grandfather of Mr. Longsworth was both farmer and physician in Van Wert County. The parents of Mr. Longsworth now reside at Hominy, Oklahoma. Preceding his graduation from the Lima High School Mr. Longsworth was with Frank Mullenhauer in his garage at Lima as service boy for one year, and then for a short time worked in the freight house of the Lake Erie Railroad. He then went to Flat Rock, Illinois, and Geneva, Indiana, and at the former place worked as a tool dresser for four months, and at the latter for six months, at which time he entered the employ of Oliver De Weese, with the determination to learn the automobile business from the ground up. He remained there three years and then went with the Gramm Motor Truck Company as a general mechanic, where he continued until April, 1919, when he started his own business, the Service Garage Company at its present location. He is prepared to give expert service of every kind and has built up a fine trade. He carries all necessary accessories and has a thoroughly equipped repair shop. In 1913 Mr. Longsworth was united in marriage to Miss Fern M. Longsworth, who is a daughter of W. M. and Ada (Young) Longsworth. Mr. Longs- worth is intelligently interested in politics but merely as a good and vigorous citizen, and has always cast his vote with the republican party. He has made his own way in the world and is entitled to the general esteem and business confidence that he enjoys. GUY HOWARD. Outsiders do not generally appreciate the value of the service rendered to humanity by the modern life insurance man, nor the personal sacrifices he makes in order to bring home the necessity for an adequate provision for the two contingencies of life, either one of which, and sometimes both, have to be met by all, death and old age. Many only think of life insurance as something to be taken out for the protection of a wife and children, but this, important although it is, forms but a part of the object of insuring. It is difficult for many to grasp any other idea, so that the business of the insurance man is necessarily one of education, and he oftentimes finds that in order to live up to the ethics of his calling he must sacrifice his own interests in the way of commissions in order to give sound and dependable advice. Once, however, he has won the confidence of a man he has made a friend, and one who does not forget a service, and this appreciation and the feeling of satisfaction in a duty well performed are no small part of the profits from this line of business. One of the reliable and conscientious insurance men of Lima who is living up to these high standards is Guy Howard, manager of the Lima office of the 'North America Life Insurance Company, and which is now considered one of the best producing offices of the company. Mr. Howard was born at Williamsport, Ohio, on May 13, 1887, 'a son of Stewart and Eliza (Jones) Howard. Stewart Howard enlisted for service during the war between the States as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. By trade he was a painter and decorator. His death occurred in 1904, his widow surviving him until 1908, when she, too, passed away. Guy Howard attended the public schools until he was fourteen years old and then began working in various callings, among them being that of a musician, for which he had a natural talent, and he was a member of the best band of Columbus, Ohio, until he was twenty-three years old, at which time he began his association with his present company. He gained such a position with this corporation that when in January, 1920, the North American Life Insurance Company opened an office at Lima, Mr. Howard was placed in charge of it. This company is one of the standard, old-line insurance companies, and does a general life insurance business. In May, 1908, Mr. Howard was united in marriage with Elizabeth Darling, born at Darbyville, Ohio, a daughter of Washington and Elizabeth (Seymour) Darling, natives of Colton and Waverly, Ohio, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Howard have one daughter, Marvene, who was born on August 4, 1909. The family are interested in Christian Science and attend the services of that society. In politics Mr. Howard is a republican. Well known in Masonry, he belongs to Magnolia Lodge No. 20, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a thirty-second degree and Shriner Mason. He also belongs to the Odd Fellows of Richmondale, Ohio. JAMES ROY JONES, It is certainly something worthy of notice that very many of the business enterprises of modern type are successfully conducted by the younger men in a community, such as formerly were not much more than through college. Many of these have never had the opportunity of attending college, but that means only that they have been educated in a different way, mainly through self effort and the proud spirit of industry that never permits careless idleness. These wide-awake, energetic young men seem to have evolved sound business policies and are able to carry them through creditably on their own initiative, and in doing so succeed in commending themselves to the public and to their business associates. One of the young men of this type who is well known at Lima is James Roy Jones, of the Herrett Tire Service Company, in which he is a partner. James Roy Jones was born on a farm near Delaware, Ohio, December 28, 1890, and is a son of William Monroe and Josephine (Crawford) Jones. Like other farmer's sons, as soon as old enough he found innumerable duties particularly suitable for strong, healthy farm boys awaiting his strength and energy, so that school attendance was confined to the winter seasons, when farm chores were not so pressing. He was about fourteen years old when his people moved to Cincinnati, where he had more school privileges, and in 1906, after his father moved to Lima, he had several years in the high school, applying himself closely to his studies, mathematics in particular. Mr. Jones then secured a situation in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad offices at Lima, where he served two and a half years as clerk and storekeeper, then went with the Gar ford Truck Company as chief clerk in the cost department, where he worked for two years. He then entered into partnership with A. M. Herrett, and together they conducted a successful business in school supplies under the name of the United States Flag Company until the great war came on, when this enterprise, like many another, proved unproductive and the busi- 216 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY ness was closed out. Mr. Jones then accepted a traveling position with the Watterson & Denio Company of Rochester, Ohio, and was on the road for this house for the next two years. Some time afterward Mr. Herrett organized the Herrett Tire Service Company at Lima, and as it prospered called Mr. Jones to once more become a business partner, the latter responding by the purchase of a half interest on May 15, 1919. The scope of the business has become somewhat enlarged as capital has been freely introduced, and a very prosperous future evidently awaits the able young firm. Mr. Jones is an active and influential member of the Chamber of Commerce. He belongs to the Allen County Automobile Trade Association, is a worker in the cause of good roads, is an uncompromising republican in his political views and is a member of the Elks and the Wayfarers Club at Lima. He was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ARTHUR M. HERRETT. Many of the most prosperous business enterprises of the present day at Lima are those connected with the great automobile industry, including the distribution and handling of necessary adjuncts and accessories. This line of business has engaged the attention of many men of capital and far-sighted business vision. One of the well financed and thoroughly reliable houses here in the distribution of tires and batteries, and jobbers of automobile accessories of all kinds, is the Herrett Tire Service Company, in which Arthur M. Herrett is a partner. Arthur M. Herrett was born at Brimfield, Indiana, not far from Kendallville, March 29, 1892, and is a son of G. A. and Lena (Hayes) Herrett, who are the parents of three sons. G. A. Herrett was born at Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and was a near neighbor and life-long friend of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the Bell telephone. He attended school at Brantford until nineteen years old, then entered the service of the Lakeshore Railroad, with which he was connected at Hillsdale, Michigan, and other points for nineteen years as traffic agent. After coming to Lima he was engaged in the grocery business on Main and Vine streets, but later sold out and is now interested in numerous other lines, being a partner in the Herrett Tire Service Company and vice president and treasurer of the Buckeye Machine Company. Arthur M. Herrett attended the public schools, and after completing his high school course at Lima in 1910 entered the Ohio Wesleyan College, where he pursued his studies for three years. When he returned to Lima he went into his father's grocery store, learned the business and was manager for one year. After that, in partnership with James Roy Jones, he embarked in a jobbing business in school supplies, under the name of the United States Flag Company, with offices in the Holland Building. This enterprise promised well, but was discontinued when the great war came on, and Mr. Herrett later was engaged as traveling salesman for the Ajax Rubber Company for one year through Ohio and West Virginia. He then determined to re-enter business on his own account, and on March 1, 1919, started the Herrett Tire Service Company, on May 15th following admitting his former associate, Mr. Jones, to partnership, and in December of the same year Mr. Herrett's father became the third partner. The company is distributor of Swinehart tires throughout nine counties in the state, supplying forty-eight dealers in this territory; distributes storage batteries over five counties ; and does a large jobbing business in accessories over a wide territory. With standard goods and honorable business methods there has been no difficulty in building up a going business for this concern. On January 5, 1915, Mr. Herrett was united in marriage to Miss Ruby Ford Lynde, a daughter of Isaac Lynde, of Maryland ancestry and Puritan stock on the maternal side, the Wetherspoons having been Mayflower passengers. In political sentiment Mr. Herrett is a progressive republican. He belongs to different Masonic bodies at Lima, and still preserves membership in his college fraternity, Sigma Chi, is active in the Chamber of Commerce, is secretary of the Allen County Automobile Trade Association, and belongs to the United Commercial Travelers, the Kiwanis and the Wayfarers Clubs and to the Elks. M. AUSTIN POTTER. Though comparatively young in years, the life of M. Austin Potter, successful business man of Lima, has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best, owing to the fact that he has been true to the trusts reposed in him and has been upright in his dealings with his fellow men, at the same time lending his support to the advancement of any cause looking to the welfare of the community at large. Mr. Potter was born at Sherwood, Ohio, on the 9th day of March, 1891, and is the only son and child born to the union of Leonard L. and Mary Belle (Austin) Potter, who were natives of Eaton, Ohio. Leonard L. Potter was a telegraph operator by vocation for many years, but in May, 1917, he came to Lima and went into business with his son, the subject of this sketch. The latter received his educational training in the public and high schools of St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of fifteen years he went to work in a bookbinding establishment in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the modest salary of $1.50 per week, but a few months later he went to work in other shops, in order to gain wider experience. In 1912 Mr. Potter went to Terre Haute, Indiana, and became connected with the B. & T. system of farm and city loans. He became not only thoroughly familiar with all details of this business, but demonstrated executive ability of so high a type that in 1915 he was transferred to Lima in the capacity of district manager for the same corporation, and still retains this position, one of trust and responsibility. In May, 1917, he entered into a partnership with his father and organized the Potter Motor Equipment Company, dealers in automobile accessories, both wholesale and retail. This business was successful from its inception and on February 8, 1920, the business was incorporated, with the following officers : Leonard L. Potter, president; M. Austin Potter, secretary; and Mary B. Potter, treasurer. This company has developed into one of the foremost concerns of its kind in this community and is enjoying a wonderful degree of prosperity. On January 19, 1919, Mr. Potter was married to Iva May Miller, who was born and reared in Terre Haute, Indiana, the daughter of John A. and Anna (Hampton) Miller, who were natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are members of Trinity Meth- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 217 odist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Potter is independent, while fraternally he is a member of Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Lima. He is also a member of the Wayfarers Club, which he has served as treasurer ; of the Kiwanis Club, of which he is vice president, and of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he has been treasurer since January, 1920. He served as assistant chairman of Allen County during one of the earlier Liberty Loan drives, doing effective work in that field. Also during the earlier period of the war he served as food administrator for Allen County. On July 24, 1918, Mr. Potter enlisted in the United States Field Artillery, being located at Camp Jackson, near Columbia, South Carolina, but three weeks later was transferred to the Officers' Training Camp at Camp Taylor, near Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained until his discharge, with the rank of sergeant, on November 29, 1918. He is now a member of the American Legion. Personally Mr. Potter is a genial and companionable gentleman, who has won a host of warm and loyal friends since locating in Lima. HOMER H. HUGHES. At Lima are afforded excellent opportunities for the development of large business interests and the employment for talents along diversified lines, and therefore a number of men of sterling qualities have permanently located in this city to their own profit and the good of their community. One of these representative men is Homer H. Hughes, junior member of the old-established jewelry firm of Hughes & Son. Homer H. Hughes was born at Lima, Ohio, November 11, 1889, a son of Richard M. and Anna (Ashton) Hughes, natives of Lima. R. M. Hughes established himself in a jewelry business in 1880, and has since been occupied in conducting it along dependable lines. He has a beautiful home at 762 West Market Street. Mrs. Hughes died November 19, 1917. They became the parents of two children, namely : Fannie B., who is Mrs. Charles Hover, of Lima; and Homer H., whose name heads this review. Growing up in his native city, Homer H. Hughes attended its schools, being graduated from the high school course in 1907, following which he was taken into partnership with his father, theirs being the oldest jewelry house of Lima. On May 12, 1915, Mr. Hughes was married to Charlotte Aiken, born at Northwood, near Bellefontaine, Ohio, a daughter of William J. and Margaret (Milroy) Aiken, both of whom were born near Northwood, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have no children. They belong to the Presbyterian Church, and he is serving as a member of the Board of Trustees of the local body. In politics Mr. Hughes is a republican, but has never cared to enter public life. He belongs to the Lima and Shawnee clubs, and has served as a trustee of the latter. The jewelry establishment of Hughes & Son is not only the oldest house in this line in the city, but it is the most reliable, and a beautiful and varied assortment of jewelry and silver goods is carried, and orders are executed for the most artistic work from original designs, which come from a wide area. Both Mr. Hughes and his father are rightly numbered among the most highly esteemed men of Lima, and theirs is a constructive influence in the community in which their interests are all centered. WILLIAM T. KETTLER. The firm of Kettler Brothers is one of the most reliable ones in Allen County, and the trade controlled by it is conservant with the fact that these partners understand meats and groceries thoroughly and are able to give excellent service and sell a high grade of goods at prices as reasonable as the market quotations will permit. The junior member of this concern, William T. Kettler, is a practical man in the business and he and his brother, August Christian Kettler, have made their own way in the world, for they had the misfortune to lose their father, Gottlieb Kettler, when they were still boys. William T. Kettler was born at Kettlerville, named in honor of their grandfather, Christian Kettler, one of the sturdy and upright Germans of the old school who came to this country and developed into one of its sound and dependable citizens and a prosperous farmer. The birth of William T. Kettler took place in 1874, and he was reared on the family homestead of 115 acres in Van Buren Township, Shelby County. After he was sixteen years old he had to leave school so as to give all of his attention to agriculture, and he remained on this farm until he was twenty-nine years of age. Leaving home he went to New Bremen, Ohio, and entered the furniture factory, spending eighteen months in the glue department. With the expiration of that period he came to Lima and was with Hamisher Brothers as a grocery salesman for eight years, leaving that concern to engage with John Hamisher, grocer, for a year. In 1905 he and August Christian Kettler formed their present connection and have since been operating under the caption of Kettler Brothers at the location they still occuy. In addition to his half interest in the store Mr. Kettler is a stockholder in several concerns at Lima and elsewhere. He has also invested in Kentucky oil land and is a man of ample means, all of which possession he acquired through his own efforts. In 1905 Mr. Kettler was united in marriage with Bertha Pohlman, a daughter of Louis and Katherine (Bieler) Pohlman of New Bremen, Ohio. They have no children. Mr. Kettler is independent in his political views. The Spring Street Lutheran Church of Lima holds his membership. Like his brother, Mr. Kettler is a man of fine characteristics and a practical turn of mind, and both are held in the highest esteem not only by their customers but by their business competitors, the latter recognizing the fairness of their methods and the uprightness of their transactions, in the majority of cases following their example. LUCIEN EARL LUDWIG. Clear thinking and calm reasoning are perhaps the most potent solvents for the ills that now afflict our country. Men of this type, able to hold and influence audiences through the spoken word, have a great opportunity for service, fully as patriotic as came to them in the stress of war. Such a reasoner and speaker is the well known Lima attorney, Lucien Earl Ludwig, who practically gave up his profession during the war to carry the American war gospel to the people, and who since the war has had a growing fame as a platform orator. 218 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY Mr. Ludwig was born in Marion Township of Allen County in October, 1883, a son of Charles C and Melissa (Neff) Ludwig. The associations of his early life were such as to develop in him that close touch with the humanity that lives by labor and thinks simply but in terms of clear reality. He was on the farm, doing the work of the fields, attending district schools, and engaging in the diversions of his boy friends. At the age of fifteen he was granted his first teacher's certificate and taught his first school. It is also said that in the same year he made his first political speech from the same platform on which sat John R. McClean, candidate for the governorship of Ohio. Altogether he taught school twenty-six months in the country districts of Sugar Creek and Marion Township. In 1902 he entered the Ohio Northern University at Ada, where he graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree. During 1908-09 he was superintendent of public schools at Leesburg in Highland County and at the conclusion of that year entered the law department of the University of Michigan and graduated with the Class of 1912. Since then Mr. Ludwig earned many honors and successes as a lawyer. He is a democrat in politics and only once has been a candidate for office, that of city solicitor in 1916. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, and is vice president of the Allen County Bar Association and a member of the Commercial Law League of America. He assumed responsibilities at the very beginning of the great war, and soon became so absorbed in the work that he gave over his practice altogether, and it is said that he made more than two hundred patriotic addresses, being a four-minute speaker, a leader in all the campaigns for funds and other purposes, and his work was highly commended not only by the local press and committees but by members of the State committees having in charge the Liberty Loan and other drives. Mr. Ludwig is also the author of several formal addresses, dealing with the tremendous social and economic forces that now affect the equilibrium of the nation, but his discussions are the more forceful because of his inveterate optimism and the courage and faith that dominate his attitude toward both the present and future. National reputation as an orator awaits this young Lima attorney. He married in 1905 Lizzie L. Judkins, daughter of W. J. and Eliza Jane (Baxter) Judkins of Allen County. They have one daughter, Jennie Aletha. Mr. Ludwig is a member of the Trinity Methodist Church, on its official board, and is affiliated with the Lima Club, Lima Lodge of Masons, Elks, Moose and is a member of the Lima Chamber of Commerce. A. STANLEY CHENOWETH, a partner in the men's clothing and furnishing goods business at 204 West Market Street, has enjoyed a long and active association with Lima commercial life and is one of the citizens honored and respected for his work and his character. Mr. Chenoweth was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, August 19, 1878, a son of C. N. and Miriam (Copeland) Chenoweth, the former a native of Allen County and the latter of Auglaize County, both of them still living. The paternal grandparents were James H. and Nancy (Skilling) Chenoweth, while the maternal grandparents were Amos and Mary (Layton) Copeland. C. N. Chenoweth still owns a farm in Auglaize County, but in later years has lived at Lima and is a traveling salesman. He and his wife had four children: A. Stanley; Madie, Mrs. J. T. Bell of Dayton, Ohio; Edna, who died at the age of thirty years, the wife of Leslie L. Lusk; and Nan, Mrs. Wilbur Klingensmith of Warren, Ohio. A. Stanley Chenoweth acquired his early education in a district school, spent one year in Lima College and one year in Lima Business College, and before launching himself into a commercial career was a successful teacher for three years. He then joined the Michael Clothing Company of Lima as bookkeeper, and was faithfully associated with that concern altogether for fifteen years. On August 1, 1916, he became associated with Mr. J. L. Jolley in establishing the men's clothing and furnishing goods business at 204 West Market Street, in the Savings Building, and he has had the satisfaction of seeing his long training and acquaintance the means of building up a flourishing business. October 6, 1901, Mr. Chenoweth married Blanche Bell, a native of Noble County, Ohio, and daughter of Robert and Sarah (Ogg) Bell, also natives of Ohio. To their marriage have been born two children, Miriam and Robert, both at home and attending school. The family are members of the Christian Church, Mr. Chenoweth being on the official board of the church and superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Masonic Order. He is also a member of the Lima Club and of the Chamber of Commerce. He takes an active part in the religious work of the city and county, having served as president of the Christian Endeavor organization of Allen County and is now adult divisional superintendent of the Allen County Sunday School Association. FRANK EDWARD DUFFY is a veteran railroad man, and has for twenty years been in the Lima offices and headquarters of the Lake Erie & Western, most of the time as chief clerk to the superintendent of motive power. Mr. Duffy was born at Wellsville, Ohio, April 18, 1874, son of Patrick and Angeline (Riddle) Duffy, His grandfather, John Duffy, came from Ireland with his wife and two children, and four other children, three sons and one daughter, were born after they came to America. Patrick Duffy began railroading as a waterboy, became a brakeman on the old Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania in 1870, was promoted to freight conductor in 1872, later was a conductor on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Division, and from 1903 to 1912 was a passenger conductor. He finally resigned after more than forty years of service with the Pennsylvania System to become deputy sheriff of Cuyahoga County in Cleveland, and served in that office until his death November 6, 1916. His widow is still living, and of their three children Frank E. is the oldest. Frank E. Duffy was reared and acquired his early education in the public schools of Wellsville, Ohio. He graduated from high school in 1891, and his first railroad service was as a messenger boy in the offices of the Pennsylvania Railway at Wellsville. He became fuel clerk and timekeeper, and in 1898 was transferred as clerk to the office of engineer of maintenance of way at Wellsville. In 1899 he went to the division superintendent's office at Cleveland and on October 18, 1900, began a service that HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 219 has been continuous for two decades with the Lake Erie & Western at Lima. He came to Lima as assistant chief clerk and since November, 1902, has been chief clerk to the superintendent of motive power, his present superior in office being J. J. Maginn. In 1913 Mr. Duffy married Florence Louise Losee, daughter of C. and Elizabeth (Romer) Losee, of Lima. They have one son, Richard E. Mr. Duffy is a democrat and a member of St. John's Catholic Church. JOHN CRUMRINE. Upon the roll of representative citizens of Allen County of a past generation appears the name of the late John Crumrine, whose death occurred at his home in Lima on March 8, 1920. He spent practically his entire life in this county and won his way into the confidence and esteem of the people because of his persistent industry, unswerving honesty and business success—in short, he possessed those sterling qualities of character which commend themselves to persons of intelligence and the highest morality. He was a public-spirited man, standing for the upbuilding of his community in any way possible, and his support was not withheld from any laudable movements looking toward the general welfare of the people. John Crumrine was born in Prairie Township, Allen County, on February 29, 1844, and he was the son of Martin and Catherine (Brockins) Crumrine, natives of Pennsylvania and who became early settlers of Allen County. John Crumrine was reared on the parental farmstead and secured his education in the district schools of Prairie Township. After his marriage, in 1866, he remained with his mother for about a year and then, his wife's parents having moved to Michigan, he lived on the farm at Elmhurst, Ohio, about three years. Be then moved into a log cabin which he had built on his father-in- law's farm, living there for several years, at the end of which time he bought a farm in Prairie Township, to the operation of which he devoted his energies until 1889. when he sold that farm and, coming to Lima, bought residence property and engaged in the buying and selling of mortgages, in which he met with splendid success, carrying on the industry until about 1915, when he retired from active business and lived quietly at home until his death. He had made a definite impression on the community in which he lived, and his death was sincerely mourned by a host of loyal friends and acquaintances. On April 8, 1866, Mr. Crumrine was married to Frances Emma Hanthorn, who was born two miles west of Westminster, Allen County, on November 18, 1847, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hardesty) Hanthorn. Her parents were natives of Virginia, and bore the distinction of being among the earliest settlers of Allen County, becoming residents of this county while the Indians were still here in large numbers. Mrs. Crumrine is still living in the old home in Lima. They became the parents of the following children : Bronson E. and Charles, who still live with their mother in Lima ; Frank Martin, who died at the age of forty-five years ; James Howard, of Lima; Stella B., who lives with her mother ; Alice Maude is the wife of Charles Keller, of Cleveland, Ohio ; and Delbert Ray, of Lima. p>Mr. Crumrine was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which his widow still belongs. He was a democrat in his political faith and was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons. He was a man of kindly and generous impulses and made friends of all who knew him. Delbert Ray Crumrine was born in Perry Township, Allen County, on August 15, 1885, and secured his educational training in the district and high schools. At the age of eighteen years he learned the trade of a machinist, which vocation he followed for about eight years, when he engaged in the second-hand business, which he has continued to the present time. He handles goods of every description and has made a marked success of this business, in which line he is the leader in this community. He is located at 822 South Main street. He is a wide-awake and energetic man of affairs and is an ardent supporter of everything which promises to be of material, civic or moral benefit to the community. In November, 1907, Delbert Crumrine was married to Myrtle McKercher, a native of Columbus Grove, Ohio, and the daughter of Daniel and Ella McKercher. To Mr. and Mrs. Crumrine have been born four children, namely: Mildred, who died at the age of twelve years ; John, Adelbert Woodrow, and Frances Lucile. Politically Mr. Crumrine gives his support to the democratic party, while fraternally he is a member of Lodge No. 199, Loyal Order of Moose, at Lima. WALTER G. DE WEESE. Efficiency is the keynote along every line. It is the symbol, the correlated sign and working feature of the marvelous accomplishments of every age and all people. Without it civilization today would never have passed beyond the stages of the cave man. None of the learned professions would have been developed from the faint beginnings of people striving for mental advancement, nor would the air, the earth, the water and even the sky over all be bound together to produce power and place for each generation. To raise anything beyond the low level of mediocrity requires skilled and carefully trained knowledge, and the power to use this knowledge to the highest degree for half-way methods cannot succeed. In nothing is this truer than in the development and maintenance of large business enterprises, especially those of recent origin, which the exigencies of modern commercial and industrial life make important. One of the men who possesses this quality of efficiency to a marked degree is Walter G. De Weese, of Lima, sole proprietor of the De Weese Sign Company. Walter G. De Weese was born at Lima in December, 1888, a son of Oliver A. and Christy Ann (Haller) De Weese. The family is of Holland-Dutch extraction., Oliver A. De Weese is one of the substantial farmers of Allen County. He and his wife had three children, of whom Walter G. is the second in order of birth. Growing up in Lima, Walter G. De Weese attended the Franklin public school, and took one year of the high school course, and then for two years was in the office of Leech & Leech, architects. In the meanwhile he had developed a talent for designing, and went with the Weixelbaum Post Card Company as designer, and held that position for six years. Then for six months he was with the 220 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY Novelty Sign Company, when, seeing a favorable opportunity, he established himself in business as a contracting sign painter, and also gave lessons in free hand drawing and painting. His talent was so generally recognized that his services were obtained by the Young Men's Christian Association, and he taught free hand drawing in the night school of that organization for two years. Since 1910 he has been carrying on his present business and gives employment to ten men, and has a very large business in first-class work. He also does all kinds of advertisement writing in all sections of the state, and is recognized as one of the best designers of catchy advertising in this part of the country. He is also interested in other ventures at Lima, and holds the welfare of the city close at heart. At the Elks convention held in Chicago in July, 1920, the float designed by Mr. De Weese, representing "Golden Days of Childhood," took second prize. The trophy, handsomely engraved, is now on display at the Lima Elks Home in Lima. In 1915 he was united in marriage with Myrtle Hulliberger, a daughter of S. L. and Cora (Rumbaugh) Hulliberger. Mr. and Mrs. De Weese have no children. In politics Mr. De Weese is a republican. He belongs to the Home Circle, Wayfarers Club, Kiwanis Club, of which he is a charter member, Loyal Order of Moose, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias. The Presbyterian Church holds his membership and benefits from his generous contributions. An alert, capable and enterprising man, Mr. De Weese has succeeded far beyond his original expectations, and the future looks bright in the further possibilities it holds for him and his expansion. MRS. LUAH (MILLER) BUTLER. A woman of rare mental attainments, possessing literary talent of a high order, Mrs. Luah (Miller) Butler, of Lima, Allen County, is distinguished not only for the prominent position she holds in the social, charitable, literary and religious circles of city and county, but for the honored ancestry from which she is descended. A native of Allen County, she was born in January, 1861, in Delphos, a daughter of Alexander Miller, and granddaughter of John Miller. Alexander Miller, Mrs. Butler's father, was born in Wampum, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1823, and early in life migrated to Ohio, settling first in Cincinnati. Soon after his marriage he located in Delphos, Allen County, and here established an extensive milling business, being engaged in the manufacture of flour, paper and woolen goods. He married Martha Ann Cooper Riddle, widow of Thomas Jefferson Riddle, of Cincinnati. She was born in Cincinnati Ohio, January 10, 1823, a daughter of Spencer and Hannah (Stewart) Cooper ; granddaughter of Spencer and Anna (Crane) Cooper ; and great-granddaughter of one Spencer Cooper, who was born in England, and having immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in colonial days, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Butler's grandfather Cooper served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and subsequently moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was employed as a surveyor for many years, and was a frequent contributor to local periodicals. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Miller became the parents of two children, Edwin J., deceased, and Luah, now Mrs. Butler. Luah Miller married April 4, 1888, Wilson W. Butler, who was born in Knox County, Ohio. For fifteen years he was associated with the Westerley Granite Company in Lima, but sold his interests in the concern and has since lived in Canada, being separated from his family. One child was born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Butler, Gladys, whose birth occurred November 16, 1889. She attended Dana Hall School at Wellesley, Massachusetts. She married Robert Burney Lind, of Columbus, and is now living on the Butler Farms in Danville, Knox County, Ohio, on the estate laid out by her great- grandfather Butler in 1802. He also laid out Mount Vernon, the county seat, in the same year. Mr. and Mrs. Lind have two children, Ormonde, born September 18, 1911 ; and Jack, born January 23, 1914. Luah Miller Butler from 1895 until 1904 was editor of the Woman's page of the Lima Times Democrat, and also wrote advertising for a local firm, supporting her mother and daughter in this way. Going then with her daughter to Wellesley, she continued her studies there three years in special English work in Wellesley College. Returning to Lima in 1910, Mrs. Butler subsequently spent one season in California and various western points and subsequently traveled in Europe. Going to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1917, Mrs. Butler took a special art course in interior decorating, and after her return to Lima interested herself in the work of home service for the Lima soldier boys, and took an active part in the drives to secure funds for them. Active in club circles, she is now president of the Federated Clubs of Lima, with an aggregate membership of 1,500 women; is a member of the Lima Woman's Club, which she has served as president ; and is a charter member of the Lima Music Club, which has a membership of 1,000 people, and of which she has been secretary and treasurer three terms. An active and valued member of the Market Street Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Butler has served as president of its Ladies' Aid Society. and for nine years taught in its Sunday school. In 1918 and 1919 ,she was key woman for the Lima Presbytery of twenty-four towns. Mrs. Butler is a charter member of the T. and T. Club, which was organized in 1893, and in which she has held various offices. She also belongs to the Allen County Historical Association and to the Lima Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1919 Mrs. Butler directed the doughnut drive for the Salvation Army, when the 10,000 or more sold netted the round sum of $1,400. She still writes for different periodicals, her articles always being worthy of attention. She is both mentally and physically strong, and attributes her good health to plenty of fresh air and outdoor living, as she has lived in open camps in the north, east and south, but is thankful to call the city where she has lived for fifty years her home town, and was one of the makers of the slogan, "Lima Leads." HARRY LEROY DEWITT. Prominently identified with large enterprises at Lima and. elsewhere, Harry Leroy DeWitt, president and general manager of the Lima-Buick Company, is numbered with the progressive and able business men of this city. He has not yet reached middle age, but his business achievements would be creditable to a veteran captain of industry. As may be inferred, Mr. DeWitt HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 221 has never been a laggard on the path of life, as a fact having welcomed work and responsibility from early boyhood, and has accomplished much through the driving force of manly energy and constant industry. Harry L. DeWitt was born in 1882 in Delaware County, Ohio, and is of Scotch ancestry and Revolutionary stock. The DeWitt family came from Scotland and settled very early in the vicinity of Syracuse, New York, in which state many of its representatives may yet be found. It was from New York that the grandfather of Harry L. DeWitt, Francis DeWitt, came to Ohio, reared a family of ten children, and died in old age at Au Gres, Arenac County, Michigan. The parents of Harry L. DeWitt were John L. and Mary (Hartley) DeWitt, the former of whom was born in Ohio, the fourth youngest of a family of five sons and five daughters. His life was mainly spent in Paulding and Delaware counties, as his contracting business demanded, and he was well known all over that territory, where the family was held in high regard. Of the four children Harry L. is the youngest. Until he was fourteen years old Mr. DeWitt attended the public schools. It was then that he went to work at his first job, and two years later might have been discovered as district manager and field superintenderft of the Houston River Canal construction work in connection with the irrigation of rice land near Galveston. He remained on that job, a hard and responsible one for a boy to undertake, for three years. He remained in the south two years longer, and during the greater part of that time was engaged in breaking wild horses. Mr. Dewitt then went to Missouri and invested his capital in a grocery store at Roaring River, but the confinement entailed by this business irked him and he sold out and began learning the brickmaking trade, and this led, in a way, to his embarking in business for himself as a contractor. Mr. DeWitt returned to Ohio and continued in the contracting and building business at Paulding until 1917, when he came to Lima, where he is still interested in contracting as a member of the firm of Stapleton & DeWitt. He has been concerned in the erection of structures all over the state, including twenty-two big churches at different points, a notable one being the Catholic Church at Wapakoneta. He also erected the fine bank building for the First National at Bartlettsville, Oklahoma. In 1918 he became manager of the Lima-Buick Company, of which he is now president and owner and sole agent for the Buick cars in this territory. In 1905 Mr. DeWitt was united in marriage to Miss Jessie McEwan of Saginaw, Michigan, who is a daughter of John and Ellen McEwan, and they have one son, John Leslie. In addition to business interests already mentioned, Mr. DeWitt is a stockholder in the Lima Ice Company, and is financially interested in the Lima Cut Stone Company. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and has thereby been the means of placing the advantages of Lima in a favorable light before capitalists who are cautious about investments. He is a thirty- second degree Mason and belongs to the Commandery at Lima. He is a member also of the Lima Club, and in politics is a republican, but, before everything, is a true American. WILLARD EMANUEL TUSSING is one of the successful real estate and insurance operators of Lima, whose energies and capabilities are recerving proper recognition at the hands of his patrons. He was born in Perry Township, Allen County, Ohio, a son of John and Delilah (Sparr) Tussing, and grandson of John Tussing, natives of Germany. When John Tussing and Delilah Sparr were young people they were brought to Putnam County, Ohio, by their parents, and they were married in that county. Later they moved to Perry Township, Allen County, Ohio, and there he alternated farming and discharging the duties pertaining to the Baptist ministry. Both he and his wife died some years ago. Until he was sixteen years old Willard E. Tussing attended the district schools, and then began working by the month for a man by the name of Dick Crabb, who gave him a note for $25 in payment for his summer of hard work. Mr. Tussing still has that unpaid note. He was more successful with his other employers, and continued to work by the month until 1872, when he began farming for himself, and after five years sold his farm equipment and bought seventy-five acres three-quarters of a mile west of Waynesfield, but rented this farm and went on the road for the International Machine Company, selling buggies and machines, and maintained this connection for four years. Moving then to St. Mary's, Ohio, Mr. Tussing worked for a year for Gordon, House & Folk, manufacturers of machinery, harness and all kinds of farmers' supplies. For the subsequent year he was on his farm, then moved to Mendon, Ohio, and was in the employ of his old company for five years, and then came to Ohio, in the meanwhile selling his farm and investing a part of the purchase price in an implement business. After conducting it for two years he again went on the road, this time for the Crone Buggy Company of Selina, Ohio, and was with it for three years, when he was elected treasurer of Allen County, and served for a term of four years. On leaving this office Mr. Tussing went into the real estate and insurance business with Samuel Parks and William Biddinger, under the name of Parks, Biddinger & Tussing, and they are still operating under that caption. In September, 1872, Mr. Tussing was united in marriage with Ida L. Leedom, born in Perry, Township, Allen County, Ohio, a daughter of George and Jennie (Ice) Leedom. The children born to Mr. Tussing and his wife are as follows : Hattie, who is Mrs. Charles Shaffer, of Florida ; Orlie, who is a resident of Reliance, Ohio ; Irvin, who died November 22, 1919, aged thirty-two years ; and Enola, who is Mrs. Carl From of Pandora, Ohio. Mr. Tussing is a democrat, and active in his party, and in addition to being the successful nominee of his party for county treasurer has also been elected to various township offices. Fraternally he maintains membership with Lima Lodge No. 91, Knights of Pythias. CHARLES KRUSE, proprietor of the hardware store which bears his name, is one of the responsible men of Elida, and one who commands the confidence of his fellow citizens and the respect of his competitors on account of his reliable and honorable manner of doing business. He was born in Champaign County, Ohio, October 2, 1860, a son of Henry and Doretta 222 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY (Bowman) Kruse, natives of Germany, who came from that country to the United States as young people, and met and were married in Ohio. By trade Henry Kruse was a shoemaker, having learned it in his native land and worked at it for five years at Cincinnati, Ohio, but when he moved to Champaign County he was engaged in farming near Urbana, and continued to live there until 1866. In the latter year the family moved to Elida, and a homestead was established one-half a mile outside of the village, on which Charles Kruse is now residing. There the father died in 1906, and the mother is also deceased. They had seven children, of whom Charles is the eldest. Growing up at Elida, Charles Kruse attended its schools until he was sixteen years of age, and then gave all of his attention to the farm, on which he had already been working during the summer months. He remained at home until 1907, being occupied during the latter part of the time with operating the 187-acre farm. In 1907 he embarked in the hardware business, and has developed it into its present proportions, and he handles the Emerson Brantingham agricultural implements, for which he has the Allen County agency, and a full line of light and heavy hardware, and is also handling coal. He owns twenty acres of the old homestead, which is now on the edge of Elida, and is very valuable. Mr. Kruse is a stockholder in the Lima Coal Company. In politics he is a democrat. The Lutheran Church holds his membership, and he is held in high regard in his congregation. In 1890 Mr. Kruse was united in marriage with Etta Arminnie Counselor, a daughter of Rev. Elias and Elizabeth Counselor, the former being a minister of the United Brethren Church. Mr. and Mrs. Kruse have seven living children, namely : Doretta, Carrie Elizabeth, Charles Duane, Elias Henry, Zilpha Lucinda, Anne Isabell and Dorsey William. A daughter, Margaret, died in 1910, when five years of age. MICHAEL JAMES MOONEY. Few names are better or more favorably known in insurance circles of Ohio than that of Michael James Mooney of Lima, district manager of the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company. Mr. Mooney's connection with this institution dates back to the time of its inception, and his connection therewith has been largely responsible for the great growth and development which made possible its present prestige in this field of business endeavor. While he is primarily an insurance man, he is likewise identified as an official and director with numerous other enterprises which have benefited by his sound judgment and experienced counsel. Mr. Mooney was born at St. Mary's Ohio, in 1871, a son of M. J. and Catherine (Salmon) Mooney. His maternal grandfather, Thomas Salmon, was a well-known railroad contractor of his day, among his achievements being the grading of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Orrville to Lima, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton through this city, and work on numerous lines in the east. William Thomas Mooney, the paternal grandfather of Michael J. Mooney, was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, and was forty-five years of age when he immigrated to America in 1845, bringing with him his wife and three small children. The journey was made on a sailing vessel which consumed seven weeks in mak ing the passage, during which time the grandmother fell ill and subsequently died at a hospital at Quebec, where the ship made port. William T. Mooney had been a small farmer in his native land, but after coming to the United States was variously employed at Watertown, New York, and in Carroll County, Ohio, and in 1850 came to Lima, where he made his home four years. Eventually he went to St. Mary's, where his death occurred. M. J. Mooney, the elder, was reared at St. Mary's and in his youth followed a number of vocations. Finally he became one of the founders of the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company, of which he was manager of the branches in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. He died at his home at St. Mary's, Ohio, in 1906. Of his ten children, four sons and two daughters are living: Daniel F., who has been United States minister to Paraguay since his appointment by President Wilson in 1914; Joseph, who is second vice president of the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company; Charles A., one of Cleveland's leading democratic politicians, who is serving his second term as a member of the United States House of Representatives ; Catherine Ella, the wife of Dr. Harry S. Noble of St. Mary's ; Michael James, and Margaret S., now Mrs. Charles A. Lang of Delphos, Ohio, with one daughter, Catherine Amelia. Michael James Mooney was educated in the public schools of St. Mary's, and after his graduation from high school in 1888 entered upon a short career as a teacher. Later for four years he was bookkeeper for the Home Banking Company at St. Mary's, during which time he was appointed village clerk, and later was elected to that office, in which he served four years. Mr. Mooney then began to learn the insurance business as an associate of his father in the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company at St. Mary's where he remained until the elder man's death, subsequently going to Columbus, where he was in charge of the office for five years. In 1913 he came to Lima as manager of the Lima office, a position which he has since retained, being also a stockholder and director of this company. He is also a stockholder in the Glass Block Company, the St. Mary's Hardware Company and the GordonHauss-Folk Company, all of St. Mary's ; the Catholic Columbian, a newspaper, and the General Laundry Company of Columbus ; and the First National Bank, the Chalmers Pump Manufacturing Company and the Shook Laundry Company, all of Lima. He has always been a staunch and unwavering democrat. He has numerous connections of a civic, social and fraternal nature, and holds membership in the Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Rotary Club and the Lima Club. His religious affiliation is with St. Rose's Catholic Church. JOHN SHERMAN WILLIAMS. A highly esteemed and valued citizen of Lima, noteworthy for his many excellent traits of character, John Sherman Williams, vice president of the well-known firm of Williams Brothers Heating and Plumbing Company, also general manager of its heating and ventilating department, in that capacity being kept busy. A native of Ohio, lit was born June 21, 1887, in Venedocia, Van Wert County, and there spent his childhood days. William R. Williams, his father, was born in Jackson County, Ohio, and during his earlier years was employed as a blacksmith. Soon after his mar- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 223 riage he came to Columbus, Ohio, where he remained for several years, when he settled in Van Wert County, and on the farm which he improved resided until his death in 1900. He married Susan Jones, who was born in Ohio, near Cincinnati, being a daughter of John T. Jones. After the death of her husband she removed with her three children to Columbus, Ohio, where she resided until 1914, when she removed to her present home in Lima, Ohio. Having acquired his first knowledge of books in the public school, John Sherman Williams further advanced his education by taking a course of study with the International Correspondence Schools. After the death of his father he with a brother fifteen months older took entire charge of the home farm of eighty acres for four years. Going then with the family to Columbus, he learned the art of heating and ventilating buildings, serving an apprenticeship of four years with one of the leading firms of that city. He subsequently did journeyman work for the same firm for two years, being foreman of the work done in different places. Locating in Lima in April, 1914, Mr. Williams, with his brother George Edgar Williams, organized the firm of The Williams Brothers Company, and the company thus established has since carried on a flourishing business, doing its full share of installing the plumbing, heating and ventilating apparatus in different buildings and residences since erected in this part of the county, Mr. Williams superintending the heating and ventilating propositions, while his brother, president of the firm, is general manager and supervisor of the plumbing department. On April 24, 1916, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Mary J. Phillips, of Lima, a daughter of Martin and Josephine (Nichols) Phillips, of Allen County, and they have one child, Robert Eugene, born December 11, 1918. Religiously Mr. Williams is a Presbyterian. Politically he is identified with the republican party. He is an active member of the Business Men's Club, of the Young Men's Christian Association, of the Lima Club and the Kiwanis Club. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree and Knight Templar Mason, and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and he is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order" of Elks. HOMER KING HEINIGER. Possessing a comprehensive knowledge of the vast and intricate problems which the conduct of the immense system of transportation of the Rapid Transit Company of Lima involves, Homer King Heiniger, treasurer and manager of the company, is naturally a man of practical ideas with reference to matters of special interest in the several lines in which he is a forceful factor. Mr. Heiniger was born at Elmore, Ohio, in 1888, a son of J. W. and Lucretia Heiniger, the former of whom was born in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, where his father was a merchant of considerable importance. After coming to the United States J. W. Heiniger located at Lima, and for twenty years was engaged in mercantile pursuits in this city. His death occurred in 1917, but the mother is still living. Until he was fourteen years old Homer K. Heiniger attended the public schools of Lima, but then became a student of the Miami Military Institute at Germantown, Ohio, and remained there for two years. Returning to Lima, he was made timekeeper for the locomotive works, leaving that position to go to Salina, Kansas, for the T. D. Lee Mercantile Company, as a salesman with all of Kansas as his territory. For the succeeding two years he was very successful, but returned to Ohio and for two years was engaged in selling queensware for George H. Bowman & Company of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1911 Mr. Heiniger came back to Lima and organized the Lima Mercantile Company, and was actively engaged in selling a general line of merchandise for three years, when he sold this business and became selling agent for the Studebaker, Maxwell and Chevrolet cars, with a branch agency at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and covered twenty-three counties. His headquarters were on the present site of the Regent Theater, and he did a big business for two years. He then bought the City Taxi Company on the public square and is still treasurer and general manager of it. Mr. Heiniger was instrumental in securing a reorganization of the Rapid Transit Company, Lima, Ohio, and is its treasurer and general manager, a director and heavy stockholder. Having supreme confidence in the future of Lima, Mr. Heiniger has invested in a number of its business enterprises, and is a man of ample means. In 1908 he was married to Pearl Mack, a daughter of Chief Mack of the Lima Fire Department. There are no children. Mr. Heiniger is a republican. He belongs to the Elks, the Chamber of Commerce and the Auto Club of Lima. LEONARD CRUMRINE is one of the older native sons of Allen County. He spent many years as a successful and practical farmer, and since coming to Lima has carried on some extensive business, but is now practically retired. He was born in Perry Township March 12, 1847, son of Martin and Catherine (Procius) Crumrine. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania, where his father's people represented an old and prominent family. They were early settlers of Allen County, making the journey from Perry County, Ohio, with wagons and teams in March, 1835. After stopping over night at Ridenour they had to cut their way through the forest for three miles to reach their destination in Perry Township. Here Martin Crumrine bought some state land, all covered with heavy timber growth, erected a log cabin, and saw the place well improved and a highly productive farm before his death in 1859. The widowed mother died in 1886. Their children were : David, who married Miss Sellers and died when a young man ; Leah became the wife of Joseph Sellers; Catherine married Christ Martin; Margaret was the wife of Levi Rosculp, all these daughters being now deceased; Mary is Mrs. Isaac McLean of Perry Township ; John married Emma Hanthorn; and Leonard is the youngest of the family. Leonard Crumrine grew up on the home farm, was educated in the district schools, and on February 4, 1869, married Thamer L. Burns. She was born in Perry Township, a daughter of Hiram and Emma (Ulry) Burns, the former a native of Cincinnati and the latter of Knox County, Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Crumrine acquired sixty acres of the old homestead, and later bought the interests of the other heirs until he had 160 acres. He used this as the scene of his profitable farming 224 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY efforts until 1891, when he sold out and moved to Lima. Buying two lots on South Main Street, he built a large brick block 50x70 feet, with three business store rooms below and the second floor being used for flats and apartments. For a time he was engaged in the grocery business there, also had some interests in the oil producing field, but is now practically retired except for the supervision of his private affairs. He owns a fine home at 723 South Elizabeth Street. Mr. Crumrine is a democrat and is a member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife had the following children : Alva, who died at the age of forty years, married Emma Martin and was the father of seven children; Harry died at the age of nineteen months; Emma is Mrs. H. E. Morrison of Lima ; Lawrence L., a resident of Lima, married Ella Mehan, and has one daughter and one son; Carrie is the wife of Edward Crossley of Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Cliff, of Toledo, married Ella Hughes and has two daughters; Margaret is Mrs. James Heffner of Lima and has a son, George ; William, the youngest of the family, lives at Providence, Rhode Island. EMMETT J. JACKSON. There are few native sons of Lima to whom her citizens point with more pride than to Judge Emmett J. Jackson, judge of the Criminal Court of Lima, who, both in war and peace, has won distinction. It is a poor American indeed who does not feel his pulses stir and his heart warm when St. Mihiel and Argonne Wood are mentioned. Of those historic spots Judge Jackson has intimate and never-to-be-forgotten memories. He was there and fought by the side of comrades who will never return, endangering his own life as they did, doing what he felt to be a man's duty in preserving the liberties of his country. Judge Jackson had the distinction of being elected the first judge of the Criminal Court of Lima after the law was enacted. Emmett J. Jackson was born at Lima, Ohio, October 11, 1885, the youngest of a family of children born to Johnson P. and Cora Estella (Marshall) Jackson. His father was born in Hardin „ County, Ohio, and his mother at Galion in Crawford County. Their other children are as follows: Estella, who is the wife of C. H. Shappell of Lima, Ohio ; Walter S., who is an attorney and ex-city solicitor of Lima ; and Pearl May, who resides with her parents. Formerly the father was a conductor on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, but at present is connected with the Eastern Iron and Machine Company. After completing his high school course at Lima Mr. Jackson attended Kenyon College and in 1911 was graduated from the Western Reserve University with his law degree, and immediately entered into practice at Lima. In November, 1915, when the new Criminal Court law was enacted for the city, Mr. Jackson was elected on the democratic ticket for a term of four years, and served on the criminal bench until June, 1916, with acknowledged judicial ability. At an earlier period he had become a member of the Ohio National Guard and when the force was called to suppress disturbance on the Mexican border, as first sergeant of Company C, Second Ohio Infantry, he put aside everything else to accompany his comrades in national defense. The Second Infantry remained on the border until Janu ary, 1917. On his return to Lima he enlisted in the Eighty-Third Division, National Army, resigned his position as judge in May, 1917, and prepared for overseas service. In June, 1918, he sailed for France as captain of Company D, Three Hundred and Eighth Ammunition Train, and took part in all the operations between September 18 and November 11, 1918, which included St. Mihiel and Argonne Wood. He was with the Army of Occupation in Germany and crossed the Rhine for Bordeaux, France, January 29, 1919, from which point he sailed with his comrades for the United States in April, and on arrival was honorably discharged with the rank of captain on May 14, 1919. His regiment was with the Ninety-first, the Seventy-ninth and the Thirty- second divisions. Very shortly after his return to Lima Captain Jackson was re-elected judge of the Criminal Court of Lima for four years and with greatest possible efficiency is performing his duties. In June, 1916, Judge Jackson was united in marriage to Miss Florence Jane Morrison, who was born at Lima, Ohio, and is a daughter of Thomas Morrison, a native of Pennsylvania. They have one son, Emmett J., who was born in February, 1919. They are members of the Episcopal Church. Judge Jackson is a thirty-second degree Mason, and is identified also with the Elks and the Odd Fellows at Lima, and belongs to the Lima Club. He still retains his membership and interest in his college fraternities, the Delta Tau Delta, at Kenyon, and the Phi Delta Phi, at the Western Reserve University. PERRY MARCUS DRIVER. The importance of insurance is becoming more and more recognized by the general public, not only as a safeguard for the family in case of death of the bread-earner, but also as a sound investment, and consequently the services of men of ability and reliability are enlisted to take care of the interests of the various companies writing these risks. One of the men who is finding congenial employment as general agent for the National Life Insurance Company of Montpelier, Vermont, is Perry Marcus Driver of 212 West Market Street, Lima, Ohio. Perry Marcus Driver was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, on June 13, 1862, a son of Benjamin and Lucinda (Allen) Driver, natives of Singers' Glen and Dry River, Rockingham County, Virginia, respectively. The paternal grandparents were Peter and Dorothy (Myers) Driver, natives of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Driver, with his brother, Dr. Jacob Driver, in company with a party of neighbors, drove overland to Allen County, Ohio, at an early day, and Doctor Driver secured land and built one of the first brick houses northeast of Lima, and it is still standing, so substantially was it constructed. Benjamin Driver subsequently returned to Virginia and remained there until his death. He and his wife had the following children : Mary E., a teacher in public schools of Virginia twenty-nine years, and Samuel, who are both residents of Lima, Ohio, Samuel being a Dunkard minister, also serving as elder of the church for forty years; Barbara, who is Mrs. James H. Stover of Allen County ; A. J., who is also a resident of Lima, an auctioneer ; Sina, who is Mrs. C. H. Long, a widow and a resident of Lima; Hattie, who is Mrs. W. J. Carpenter, wife of a Methodist minister, of St. Petersburg, Florida; B. F,, who is deceased, having passed away when HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 225 fifty-five years old ; Perry Marcus, of whom we write; and C. W., who is a resident of Citra, Florida. Perry Marcus Driver was reared in Virginia, but in 1884 he came to Lima, Ohio, and began working for his brother, A. J. Driver, on a farm owned by the latter, remaining with him for a year, when he went to Warren County, Illinois, for a short period. In five months Mr. Driver returned to Lima and spent three months. He then went back to his home in Virginia, took charge of the homestead and conducted it until after the death of his father, which took place on April 12, 1895. When the estate was settled Mr. Driver decided to continue to conduct lhe farm, and did so until 1901, when he took the general agency for the National Life Insurance Compapy of Montpelier, Vermont, having as his territory the counties of Allen and Auglaize under contract. Aside from this he is given control of Logan, Mercer, Van Wert, Hardin and Putnam counties. He has since been occupied with the duties pertaining to this responsible position. In 1915 he bought a farm of fifty acres of land at Beaver Dam, Ohio, which he rents, and he also owns one acre of land and a house of seven rooms that he rents. His offices are conveniently located at 212 West Market street, as before stated. On October 28, 1908, Mr. Driver was united in marriage with Ada Romshe, born in Auglaize County, Ohio, a daughter of John and Frances (Sellers) Romshe, natives of Auglaize and Allen counties, respectively, and grand-daughter of George and Mary (McClintoch) Romshe, natives of Germany and Ireland, and John and Susan (Remley) Sellers, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Driver have one daughter, Phyllis, who was born July 17, 1917. Mr. Driver belongs to Trinity Methodist Church. In politics he is a democrat and he is a member of the Elks Lodge of Lima, Ohio. While still a resident of Virginia he held the office of constable, being elected in Linville District. His name was only used as a fill-in on the ticket, there not having been a democrat elected in that district for twenty years, so overwhelmingly republican it was. To the sur- prrse of all he carried by a majority of thirty-two, having made no contention for the place. Mr. Driver is a man of unusual fitness for his work, and has been able to form some very desirable connections for his company in the counties over which he has jurisdiction, and at the same time educate the people to take a proper view of the obligation of providing during their most productive years, by making in small annual payments through the medium of life insurance for old age and to secure the comfort apd well being of those held dearest. As both a man and a citizen he stands very high in public esteem and has every reason to feel satisfied with the results of his life work. GOTLIEB WINTERS HENSLER. The grocery business has one essential advantage, in that it is an absolute necessity to its community. There are too many, however, who are engaged in the business who trade upon this fact too complacently, and in consequence are a long way removed from the enterprising, progressive, resourceful man known as the twentieth- ceptury grocer. As in all lines of business a financial creed is necessary in order not to fall behind in the procession. Among the grocers of Lima who have shown a progressive spirit and whose enterprises have been conducted under a policy calling for high principles, one who is making a success of his activities is Gotlieb Winters Hensler, proprietor of the oldest established grocery in the city, at 318 North Main street. Mr. Hensler was born on a farm in Adams Township, Champaign County, Ohio, a descendant of German stock and a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Martz) Hensler. His father, a cabinet maker of Careysville, Ohio, died at that place in November, 1917, while his mother still survives as a resident of Sidney, Ohio. The fifth in a family of nine children, Gotlieb W. Hensler attended the public schools until he was eighteen years of age, following which he worked on the home farm and then came to Lima to learn the trade of custom shirt maker. For nine years he was with J. H. Knisely, Jr.; whose business he finally bought and conducted successfully for twelve years as the Lima Shirt Company, 206 West Wayne street. In the meantime he had entered the grocery business with his father-in-law, buying out the oldest established grocery in Lima, the store of Ed Snook, located at 335 North Main street, which was conducted as Schlupp & Hensler. In 1919 Mr. Hensler disposed of his interest in that business in order to devote his entire time to the grocery enterprise which is now located at 318 North Main street and is owned solely by him. At this time he is doing a large trade in the city, and his patronage also extends into the country for a radius of ten miles. Mr. Hensler has gotten away from threadbare traditions of the business. His goods are always arranged in orderly and attractive manner, and with a view to harmonious color effects. Cleanliness of floors and shelves is always insisted upon and his clerks are expected to carry out the general scheme of neatness in their personal attire. He directs much attention to supplying the best goods obtainable for the money and has a reputation for reliability that is in itself a trade winner. He has won out on merit and on belief in himself and his ability to succeed. In 1895 Mr. Hensler married Miss Ella Schlupp, daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Haver) Schlupp, of Lima, and they have four children: Phyllis Mae, Dorothy Elizabeth, Frances Josephine and Donald Otis. Mr. and Mrs. Hensler are members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a republican and interested in political affairs, and as a fraternalist holds membership in the Odd Fellows and Elks. SIMON SHAFFER. Prominent among the residents of the southwestern part of Allen County, one who is now living in retirement after many years passed in successful contracting operations is Simon Shaffer, of Spencerville. Mr. Shaffer has been a life-long resident of Allen County, having been born on a farm in Shawnee Township July 6, 1849, a son of Michael and Sarah (Whitstone) Shaffer. Michael Shaffer was born in Pennsylvania and in young manhood went to Auglaize County, Ohio, where he met and married Miss Whitstone, a native of that county. Coming later to Allen County, Michael Shaffer entered eighty acres of land in section 29, Shawnee Township, on which he erected a small log cabin and settled down to the clearing of his land from the timber and brush. Here he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives in agricultural pursuits, being known to their neighbors as honorable and industrious people and faithful members of the Christian Church, in the work of which Mrs. Shaffer was active. Mr. Shaffer was a demo- Vol. 11-15 226 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY crat in politics, but never held public office. There were thirteen children in the family, of whom nine are living: Simon, John, Rebecca, Will, Sarah, Amanda, Elsie, George and Luella. Simon Shaffer acquired an ordinary education in the public schools and was reared on the home farm, where he assisted his father until he reached the age of seventeen years. At that time he commenced to learn the trade of carpenter, and after its mastery applied himself to that vocation for a number of years. He eventually developed a highly remunerative contracting and building business, in which he was engaged successfully until 1903, at which time he retired and moved to Spencerville. On occasion Mr. Shaffer occasionally works at his trade, but ' merely to keep himself employed as he succeeded in amassing a competency sufficient for his wants during the active years of his life. He is the owner of 186 acres of valuable farming land in Amanda Township, Allen County, in addition to several properties at Spencerville, and is accounted one of the substantial men of this village. Many evidences of his good workmanship and superior skill are to be found in the community, testifying to the honorable and efficient manner in which he fulfilled his contracts. He is a member of the Hartford Christian Church, of which he has served as a member of the Board of Trustees, while as a fraternalist he belongs to Acadia Lodge No. 306, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master, and to the Royal Arch Chapter. Politically he is a democrat. On June 24, 1871, Mr. Shaffer was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Richardson, who was born in Amanda Township, Allen County, and educated in the public schools. The mother of six children, she died October 11, 1911, greatly mourned by all who recognized and appreciated her many splendid qualities of mind and heart. The children are as follows : Rosella, the wife of Amos Miller of Spencer Township ; Alba, who married a native of Allen County and now lives in Oklahoma ; Michael, who is engaged in farming in this state; Julia, the widow of Barton Graham ; Carl S. of Spencerville ; and Margaret, the wife of Conrad Miller of Greenville, Ohio. WALTER W. NIXON is one of the men who knows Allen County agriculturally from the standpoint of many years of active experience, a residence in several different farming sections, and as a man who has won his prosperity by hard work and reliance practically altogether on his own efforts. Mr. Nixon, whose farm consists of sixty acres located in American Township, on rural route No. 2 out of Elida, was born in Liberty Township of Hardin County, Ohio, in 1872. He is of Scotch-Irish and German ancestry. His parents were John B. and Hannah Smith (Rayl) Nixon. His grandfather, Jeremiah Nixon, with his son John B. moved from Muskingum County, Ohio, to Hardin County prior to the Civil war, and located in Liberty Township. Walter W. Nixon was the third among four children. and was about three years of age when the family moved to Allen County. He attended the Rayl country school to the age of seventeen, but his schooling was limited to a few months each winter, the rest of the time being spent in the fields as a worker on his father's farm of forty acres. After completing his education he worked as a hired man for neighboring farmers to the age of twenty-three. In 1895 Mr. Nixon married Miss Ella Case, daughter of James and Emma (Staadt) Case. Five children have been born to their marriage: Ernest Guy, born in 1897, who married Retta Richards, lived at Ada, Ohio, and has a son, Leo; Leona Evadna, who married Warren Cotner of Allen County ; Irene; Robert Ray, born in 1907; and Gerald LeRoy, the youngest, born in 1913. After his marriage Mr. Nixon rented his grandfather's farm in Hardin County for seven years. This is a place of eighty acres in Liberty Township. For another year he lived on the Boutwell farm of eighty acres in the same county, and then moved to a house west of Ada and did teaming a year. His next home for seven years was a rented farm of 100 acres near Ada. Selling out his interest there he moved to a place southwest of Lima, and operated a dairy farm for a year. Then followed a period of time in which he lived in Lima and was employed in the roundhouse of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway and also did city work. For another three years he operated his father's farm of eighty acres in Jackson Township, and in April, 1919, moved to his present home, where he owns sixty acres and where he enjoys the comforts of a good home and a position of high esteem in his community. Mr. Nixon is a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ELMER B. MITCHELL. The Mitchell family is one of the oldest in Allen County and for over forty years the name has been prominently associated with banking at Lima. Elmer B. Mitchell, who is president of the City Bank of Lima, was born in that city October 2S, 1854, son of Thornton T. and Nancy (Stephens) Mitchell, the former a native of Perry County and the latter of Champaign County, Ohio. Bolh the grandparents were early settlers in Ohio. The father of Thornton T. Mitchell, was John Mitchell and the father of Nancy Stephens was Joshua Stephens. The Mitchell family settled in Lima in 1831, being the second family to locate on the townsite. The late Thornton T. Mitchell was a harness maker by trade and followed that occupation actively until 1878. In that year he became associated with the organizers of the City Bank, his chief associate being Alfred C. Baxter. Alfred C. Baxter and brother had entered banking in 1874 under the name Baxter Brothers & Company. In 1881 Alfred C. Baxter sold his interests to Thornton Mitchell, who turned it over to his son Elmer and about 1889 Ernest T. Mitchell acquired a third interest in the institution, while Thornton W. Mitchell became another partner at the death of his father in 1907. Thornton W. Mitchell died in September, 1915, and since then the City Bank has been owned by Elmer B. and Ernest T. Mitchell. The bank is a highly prosperous institution, conducted with a capital of $50,000, and with surplus and undivided profits of $25,000. Elmer B. Mitchell is president; E. T, Mitchell, cashier, and E. F. Kerman, assistant cashier. Elmer B. Mitchell has spent practically all his life in Lima, and acquired his education in the grammar and high schools. In November, 1879, he married Claude Ralston. She was born in Harrison County, Ohio, a daughter of Joseph E. and Isabel Ralston. Mrs. Mitchell died December 15, 1905. She was the mother of two children : Madge is the wife of George W. Barnes of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and has two children, Mary Claudina and George War- HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 227 ren. Frank R. Mitchell is now a dealer in automobile trucks, and by his marriage to Margaret Finley has two children, John E. and Madge. September 3, 1910, Mr. Mitchell married Coleen Collins, a native of Iowa and widow of Dr. Charles Collins. She has one daughter, Dorothy. Mr. Mitchell attends the Presbyterian Church, is a republican in politics, and is affiliated with Lima Lodge No. 54 of the Elks. ALVA EARL BENEDUM is one of the successful merchants and business men of Allen County, was born and grew up in this section of Ohio, had a farm training and experience, but fora number of years past has been proprietor of Benedum's general merchandise store at Allentown in American Township. Mr. Benedum was born in Amanda Township February 20, 1882, son of W. H. and Lydia (Coon) Benedum. He is of German ancestry. He was reared on his father's farm, worked in the fields for his father to the age of eighteen, and in the meantime attended a country school in Amanda and American townships. He made good use of limited advantages consisting of a few months each winter ip school. After completing his education he worked for T. C. Long in the latter's quarry and cement business. After his marriage he rented 100 acres near Allentown and farmed on the shares four years. He had practically no capital to start with and had to establish his capital and his credit by thrifty and industrious management. For four years he also operated his father's farm of 140 acres. For about a year Mr. Benedum was on the road as traveling salesman for the Wrought Iron Range Company of St. Louis. His territory was northeastern Ohio, northern Pennsylvania and western Maryland. In 1893 he bought the general store of J. W. Clippinger at Allentown, and during the past seven years has greatly improved the service and broadened the trade so that he is head and owner of a very successful business. He is also a stockholder in the Lima Candy Company. In 1917 he was elected on the republican ticket as a member of the local School Board and was re-elected in 1919 and is giving much careful thought and study to his duties in connection with the maintenance of the schools. He is a• member of the Methodist Church and affiliated with Elida Lodge No. 818 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Benedum in 1903 married Miss Ethel Post, daughter of Alvan and Sarah A. (Crites) Post. Their three children are Ruth Evelyn, Margaret Post and Marcelle Helen. JACOB FREDERICK RENZ. The purpose and enterprise which led Jacob Frederick Renz to avail himself of the opportunities offered for success at Lima during the '80s are reflected today in his large and prosperous wholesale and retail bakery business, located at 320 North Main street. Mr. Renz is eptirely a self-made man, and his career has been characterized by hard and persistent struggle in his earlier years, culminating in the attainment of an honorable and worth-while success. Mr. Renz was born at P fulling, Wurttemberg, Germany, October 18, 1864, a son of Jacob. F. and Katrina (Schanlein) Renz. His father, a stationary engineer, never left his native land, where he died in 1897, being survived by his widow until 1909. Educated in the public schools, Jacob F. Renz was sixteen years of age when he came to the United States, at that time renouncing all rights of a German citizen. He landed at New York in 1880, the year of the election of James A. Garfield to the presidency. After remaining with an uncle in the metropolis for three months he came to Bucyrus, Ohio, and worked for another uncle for three years, learning with him the trade of baker. Later he was employed by other bakers and worked in Upper Sandusky for one and one-half years. In 1885 Mr. Renz came to Lima and entered the employ of William Fisher, with whom he remained four months, continuing with his successor, Ed Maxwell, for one and one-half years. At the end of that time Mr. Renz purchased Mr. Maxwell's business at 327 North Main street, and continued in business there for fifteen years. In 1903 he bought the corner store at 320 North Main street, where he erected a large modern plant, and where he has since carried on a constantly increasing wholesale and retail business. Mr. Renz is now one of the leading bakers of Lima and has an enterprise that commands the best kind of patronage. He has an excellent standing in business circles, due to a long observance of a policy of the strictest integrity, and in addition to his plant has other holdings, his real estate interests being large. In 1886 Mr. Renz married Miss Fredericka Eib, also a native of Wurttemberg, and they have four children: William Jacob, born in 1887, a resident of Lima, Ohio, who is married and has one son, Jacob Adolph, born in 1910 ; Karl Ludwig, born in 1890, married and is a resident of Lima ; Walter Frederick, born in 1903, a resident of Lima, is married and has one child, Freda ; and Beatrice Catherine, who is attending the Lima High School. The sons are associated in business with their father. Mr. Rnez maintains an independent stand in regard to political questions and votes for the man whom he deems best fitted for the office. His fraternal affiliations include membership in the local lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Improved Order of Red Men, in both of which he has numerous friends, as he has also in business circles of the city. With his family he belongs to the Lutheran Church and has supported its movements liberally. HAROLD WILLIAM ASKINS, though trained to a business career, has made a successful venture of farming, and is one of the progressive men in the community of American Township, where he is working out his destiny as a practical farmer. His home is on rural route No. 2 out of Elida. Mr. Askins was born at Middlepoint in Van Wert County, Ohio, October 10, 1895, son of Charles C. and Anna (Wehrs) Askins. In the maternal line he is of German ancestry and Scotch-Irish in the paternal. The family have been in America for many generations, and for the most part the Askins people have followed merchandising. His father and mother are still living. His father was a general merchant at Middlepoint for thirty years. The older of two children, Harold W. Askins attended public school at Middlepoint, spent one term in the Lima Business College, and for three years was bookkeeper in his father's store at Middlepoint. He continued this work for a year after his marriage, then spent a year as a car inspector with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and in 1919 bought his present farm of eighty-three acres near Allentown. Here his work has attracted favorable com- 228 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY ment from his neighbors and his seniors in agricultural matters. Mr. Askins is a democrat and a member of the Lutheran Church. In 1916 he married Miss Mary Slentz, daughter of Henry and Emma Slentz. HENRY KRUSE, owner of a farm in American Township, whose improvements are largely of his own making, is both a good farmer and thoroughly all around mechanrc and business man. Besides farming he learned a mechanical trade as a youth, was also identified with the practical operations in the Lima oil fields for a number of years, but is now well satisfied with the work, environment and rewards of a farmer's life. Mr. Kruse was born near Urbana in Champaign County, Ohio, son of Henry and Doretta (Bauman) Kruse. His parents were born in Germany but were married in this country, and first settled near Urbana. In 1868 the family came to Allen County. Henry Kruse, Jr., the second in a family of three sons and two daughters, was reared and educated in Allen County, attending the Elida public schools to the age of nineteen. He went to school in winters and otherwise worked on his father's large farm of 163 acres. Leaving the farm, he spent three years in Cincinnati learning the cabinet maker's trade. He then came home and took a part in the management of the home farm for three years. Another three years he was in Louisville, Kentucky, employed at his trade in the coach department of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. About the time Lima became one of the leading centers of the petroleum oil industry in Ohio Mr. Kruse returned to Allen County and went to work as a pumper in the fields. He was actively connected with the industry fourteen years, and four years was manager of the W. P. Colt oil wells. About the time oil production gave out in the Lima district Mr. Kruse bought his present farm of sixty-three acres. He has willingly accepted his share of responsibilities in community affairs, is a democrat, and for the past eight years has been a trustee of the Elida Lutheran Church. Mr. Kruse married Bertha Baechler, a daughter of Christopher Baechler of Shawnee Township in Allen County. She died leaving two sons, Karl E., born in 1894, and Kenneth D., born in 1896. For his present wife Mr. Kruse married Martha Stewart, a daughter of John Stewart, of the Dutch Hollow community. WILLIAM L. PARMENTER. In no profession is there a career more open to talent than is that of the law, and in no field of endeavor is there demanded a more careful preparation, a more thorough appreciation of the absolute ethics of life or of the underlying principles which form the basis of all human rights and privileges. Also, it is a profession into which none should enter without a recognition of the obstacles to be encountered and overcome and the battles to be fought, for success does not perch on the banner of every person who enters the competitive fray, but comes only as the legitimate result of capability. Possessing all the requisites of the able lawyer, William L. Parmenter stands today among the eminent practitioners of Allen County, Ohio. He was born in the city now honored by his citizenship on May 12, 1867, and is the son of Cornelius and Mary E. (Boyer) Parmenter, the former a native of Greene County. New York, and the latter born .and reared in Lima, Ohio. The maternal grandparents were Daniel and Sarah Gano (Hughes) Boyer, he a native of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but became an early settler in Lima. Cornelius Parmenter became an aggressive and prominent citizen of Lima, and during his active years was a prominent factor in its growth and development. He served as postmaster of this city during the administrations of President Lincoln and Grant, and for many years was the owner and able editor of the Lima Gazette. Both he and his wife are now deceased. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom the following are now living: Robert W., of Lima ; George L., of San Francisco, California ; William L., the subject of this sketch; Walter, of Lima ; Mary Estella, the wife of Dr. J. M. Chase of Dayton, Ohio ; Madge Edna, the wife of W. H. Cleaver of Everett, Washington; and Fred S. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. William L. Parmenter attended the common and high schools of Lima, graduating from the latter. Having determined to devote himself to the practice of the legal profession, he took a full course in law at the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in July, 1888, and immediately thereafter engaged in active practice in Lima, forming a partnership with D. J. Cable, an association which was maintained for nearly twenty-five years, since which time Mr. Parmenter has practiced alone. Unflagging application and the ability to utilize all the facts apd materials at hand have been contributing concomitants to the splendid success which has attended him ever since his entry into the profession, and he today not only enjoys a comfortable competency but also the sincere respect and confidence of the general public as well as his professional colleagues. On June 2, 1891, Mr. Parmenter was married to Hattie A. Crippen, who is a native of New York State, and the daughter of Milton A. and Eunice M. Crippen, both of whom also were natives of New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Parmenter have been born three children, two of whom are now living, Warren C., who is now a student in the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Mary E., a graduate of Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, and now a student in Columbia University, New York City. Politically Mr. Parmenter has been a lifelong and active supporter of the republican party, and has taken a prominent and effective part in its campaigns. having served as a member and chairman of the State Central Committee. Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Religiously he and his family are members of the First Baptist Church, while socially he is a member of the Lima Club and the Shawnee Country Club, of which he is president. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of his church for a number of years, and he gives his earnest support to every worthy benevolent movement or other enterprise for the advancement of the public welfare. Aside from his professional labors Mr. Parmenter is also interested in the oil business, owning interests in producing oil properties in Ohio and Oklahoma. A man of high moral character and excellent professional judgment, he enjoys lhe respect of his colleagues and the confidence and good will of all who know him. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 229 HARRY E. BOTKINS. In the citizenship of Lima Harry E. Botkins has been an effective figure for a number of years, has shown qualifications as a good business man and capable citizen, has made a success of his own affairs, and enjoys a wide and favorable esteem throughout Allen County. Mr. Botkins was born at Lima March 24, 1878, son of William S. and Ella (Hanson) Botkins. His paternal grandparents, Russell and Catherine Botkins, were both natives of Shelby County, Ohio. William S. Botkins was born in Shelby County February 22, 1855, and on Jnue 28, 1877, in Allen County married Ella Hanson, who was born in Allen County in 1848. She died August 12, 1913, and he passed away June 20, 1916. William S. Botkins, was for twenty-five years a passenger conductor of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway Company. On leaving the railroad he engaged in the livery and boarding stable business on East Spring street in Lima. About four years later his stables were burned and he then moved to. the corner of Market and Central avenue, later to the corner of Market and Union street, and for thirteen years was located at 123 West Spring street. Harry E. Botkins made good use of his educational advantages while growing up at Lima, attending the grammar and high schools. At the age of sixteen he went to work, and for three years was employed in the Stolzenbaugh bakery as a wagon driver. For two years he was timekeeper with the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, spent a similar time as head timekeeper for the Lima Locomotive Works, and then for nine years was assistant secretary of the Lima waterworks. At the time of his father's death he took over the livery business, renting additional equipment of a large barn on the Williams property at the rear of 549 South Main street. In March, 1920, he sold out the livery establishment, but still maintains a general boarding stable to accommodate thirty-eight head of horses. Mr. Botkins is a leader in the republican party of Allen County and in 1920 accepted a place on the county ticket as candidate for treasurer. Since 1912 he has been treasurer of Lima. Lodge No. 54 of the Elks and is a member of Lodge No. 91 of the Knights of Pythias. November 24, 1903, he married Alma Cotner, who was born in Allen County, a daughter of George and Anna Cotner. They have two children, William Russell, born November 24, 1904, and George Alvin, born February 11, 1915. JEFFERSON WILLIAM ZERKEL. The gentleman to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith directed is among the favorably known and representative citizens of Allen County, where he has spent the major portion of his life. He has by his indomitable enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way to the general advancement of the community, and during the course of his business career has met with splendid success, being a man of energy, sound judgment and honesty of purpose. Jefferson William Zerkel was born in Logan Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, in 1872, and is the son of Michael Lafayette and Margaret (Pierson) Zerkel. On the paternal side he is of old Pennsylvania Dutch stock, his grandfather, Lewis Zerkel, having been a native of that state. The latter moved from the Keystone State to Ohio, settling in Logan Township, Auglaize County, where he engaged in farming and the rearing of a family. Of the nine children born to him and his wife, the subject's father, Michael Lafayette Zerkel, was the third in order of birth. He has always followed farming and has spent his entire life in Logan Township, Auglaize County, where he still lives. Jefferson William is the eldest of the six children born to his parents. He attended the country schools of his native locality until twenty years of age, his summer months being spent in work on the home farm. After he had completed his schooling he remained with his father for five years, but at the end of that period came to Lima and went to work in the locomotive works, being employed in the frame department for three years. During the following five years he was employed as salesman for a hardware company. He then formed a partnership with C. F. Butturff and started a feed store at 119 East Spring street under the firm name of Zerkel & Butturff. Two years later they moved to their present location at the Market House and are now extensively engaged in the grinding of feed and meal. Under the name of the Market House Mills they are doing a large and steadily increasing business, handling flour, feed and poultry supplies. In 1913 Mr. Zerkel was married to Elizabeth Burtchin, the daughter of William and Mary (Spindler) Burtchin of Shawnee Township, Allen County. To them has been born one child, Mary Margaret, who is now six years of age. Politically Mr. Zerkel gives his support to the democratic party, while his fraternal relations are with Lodge No. 2285, Brotherhood of American Yeomen, at Lima. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church, to which they are generous contributors. Mr. Zerkel's business career has been one that reflects the greatest credit on himself, for he has attained his present success solely through his own efforts. Earnest labor, unabating perseverance, a laudable ambition and good management have been the elements by which he has ascended the ladder of success. Therefore he is well worthy of the high esteem which those who know him best freely accord. BERNARD J. BEACH. Before turning his attention to the real estate business in Lima, Bernard J. Beach had been an educator and connected with public schools in several different localities. He was born May 30, 1816, in Delaware County, a son of Newton M. and Sarah E. (Griffiths). Beach, the father coming from Columbiana and the mother from Morrow County. They were married in Delaware County, and they were farmers there for many years. On August 12, 1861, he enlisted in the Ninety-Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the Civil war, and after his discharge from the army he located in Union County, Ohio.. The mother died in 1871, and the father died in 1915, in Portland, Oregon. There were children as follows : Ella May, deceased; Bernard J., and Zora of LeGrande, Oregon. When B. J. Beach was twelve years old the family moved from Delaware to Paulding County, and a year later to Putnam County. He attended common school and worked on a farm in Putnam County until when he was seventeen years old he secured a certificate to teach, and for five years was a teacher in the district schools of Putnam County. He then 230 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY taught five years in the New Bremen graded school, when he became assistant superintendent of the public schools of Columbus Grove. Two years later he was elected superintendent of Crawford College in Putnam County. Three years later he located on a Putnam County farm, remaining there five years. Mr. Beach's next business venture was in the real estate line in Lima, and since 1905 he has given his entire attention to it. On August 24, 1884, he married Ida B. Craine of Putnam County. She is a daughter of Milton W. and Sarah A. (Harman) Craine, both natives of Franklin County. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Beach are: Nellie G., wife of Raymond Campbell of Lima ; Gladys M., wife of William Delaney of Sugar Creek Township ; Harman W. and Bernard M., of Lima ; Marjorie, wife of L. Pepiott of Lima ; and Emerson, Richard and Beatrice Leona. The family are members of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Beach is a Mason. In politics he is a republican. ROBERT D. KEMMER has been a resident of the City of Lima from the time of his birth, and is here associated with his father in the conducting of a representative and substantial real estate and insurance business, with offices in the Metropolitan Building. He was born in Lima in 1897, and has secure standing as one of the representative young business men of his native city, besides being a popular member of one of the old and sterling pioneer families of Allen County. He is a son of Christian and Martha (Hanes) Kemmer, his father likewise having been born and reared in Lima and having long been actively identified with business affairs in this city, to the advancement of which he has contributed notably through the medium of his real estate operations, which has included the handling also of farm properties in this section of the state. To the public schools of Lima Robert D. Kemmer is indebted for his early educational discipline, and after his graduation became associated with his father's well established real estate and insurance business, with which he has since been identified and in connection with which he is well upholding the high standards set by his father. Mr. Kemmer is a republican of somewhat independent tendencies as touching local politics, is affiliated with Lodge No. 205, Free and Accepted Masons, and he and his wife hold membership in the First Baptist Church, the while both are popular figures in the representative social activities of their home city. In June, 1919, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kemmer to Miss Clara Zulliger, daughter of Bayard and Minnie Zullinger of Lima. EMANUEL HIGGINS, one of the veterans of the Lima Fire Department, and for many years a captain in rank, has shown all the qualifications that make the ideal fire fighter, and as such is one of the invaluable citizens of this community. Captain Higgins was horn at Lima March 6, 1875. His parents were Henry C. and Adelaide (Keivil) Higgins, who moved to Lima about a year or so before his birth. His father was born at Cambridge, Ohio, and his mother at Indianapolis, Indiana, where they were married. Henry Higgins spent the greater part of his life in the railway train service, chiefly on one of the divisions of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway. He died in the spring of 1919, and his widow is now living at Marion, Ohio. Their chil dren were: Robert H., of Marion; Emanuel; John Calvin, deceased; Aretta Gertrude, wife of William Michel of Waldo, Ohio; and Bertha Rosella Mrs. Okey Kester of Akron. Emanuel Higgins acquired a public school education at Columbus and Lima and from the age of fifteen was employed for four years in Bantals candy factory. For a year he also lived at Indianapolis. Captain Higgins has just rounded out a quarter of a century of continuous service with the Lima Fire Department. On December 14, 1895, he became a hoseman at Station No. 2 on East Kibby Street. With the opening of the West Side station he was appointed captain in charge, and remained on duty there handling all the fires of that district until 1910. He was then returned to the South Side as captain of No. 2 for two years, for another two years was at the Central department, and since then has again been in charge of No. 2 station, in command of an effective fighting force of three men. The station is equipped with an automobile truck. October 23, 1898, Captain Higgins married Rebecca Ann White, a native of Bath Township, Allen County, and daughter of Reuben and Anna (Edge- comb) White. Mrs. Higgins' grandfather, A. White, served as first treasurer of Allen County. Captain and Mrs, Higgins are the parents of six children: Paul Russell, at home; Roberta Helen, wife of Harry J. McDonald of Lima ; Ida Louise. Nida Pauline, Herbert Lee and Laura Elnora. The son Paul spent fourteen months as a mechanic with the air craft division during the World war. Captain Higgins resides at 663 South Union street. In politics he is a republican. ZELA L. BEDFORD is the only exclusive dealer in used cars at Lima. He has been in the motor vehicle business practically ever since he left high school, and has both the mechanical and expert judgment required for success in that line. He was born on a farm in Bath Township, Allen County, March 15, 1888, son of William A. and Ella A. (Osman) Bedford. His parents were also natives of Bath Township. The paternal grandparents were Pennsylvania Quakers who came into Bath Township at a very early day. The maternal grandparents, Bezelius and Sarah Osman, were born in Allen County. William A. Bedford for a number of years has been a general contractor at Lima and lives at 1439 East High street. Zela L. Bedford began his education in the district schools, and in 1908 graduated from the Lima High School. Forthwith he began dealing in bicycles and motorcycles and supplies and continued that line for five years. He then began handling used cars, and has found a broad and profitable scope for that business, now is located at Market and Union streets, Lima. In October, 1913, he married Edna L. Cook, a native of Forrest, Ohio, where her parents, Clyde C. and Carrie (Dye) Cook were also born. To their marriage one daughter, Thelma Elinor, was born August 27, 1916. Mr. Bedford is a member of the Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church, is a republican, is affiliated with Lima Lodge No. 54 of the Elks and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, CARY C. WILLIAMS, a partner in the firm of Williams & Davis, funeral directors and embalmers, HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 231 at Lima, has given practically all the years of his life since boyhood to undertaking and is one of the most widely experienced men in the profession in Ohio. He was born in Defiance County, Ohio, February 10, 1872, son of George A. and Eliza (Bruner) Williams, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Defiance County. The paternal grandfather, Cyrus Williams, was a native of New England, while the maternal grandparents were Daniel and Magdalena (Lehman) Bruner, the former born near Dayton, Ohio, and the latter in Germany. Both the Williams and Bruner families located at Brunersburg, Ohio, two miles from Defiance, a community named in honor of the Bruners. George A. Williams has for many years been an undertaker at Defiance and is now living there retired. He was born June 9, 1843, and his wife July 19, 1848. They had three children: Frank B., who died in 1916, at the age of forty-eight ; Cary C.; and Bert, who died at the age of three years. Cary C. Williams had a public school education and as a boy became associated with his father and learned undertaking, and also took a practical course in embalming. About the time he reached his majority he went to Fredericksburg, Ohio, and was employed by J. E. Grosjeen, an undertaker. A few months later Mr. Grosjeen moved to Lima and bought an undertaking business. Mr. Williams continued with him five years and then returned to Defiance and engaged in business there for a year and a half. For three and a half years he was employed by an undertaking firm at Toledo, and then returning to Lima with J. D. Jones bought an established business which they continued together for five years. Mr. 0. E. Davis then bought the interest of Mr. Jones, and the firm has since been Williams & Davis. Both are practical embalmers, and they have built up the largest establishment in the city, with a complete equipment. The business headquarters are at 114 West Market street, and have been there since 1906. Mr. Williams married September 16. 1896, Alberta G. Jones, who was born at Montpelier, Indiana, October 3, 1876, daughter of John D. and Alice (Seal) Jones, the former a native of Piqua, Ohio. My. and Mrs. Williams have two sons, Fred J., born September 12, 1897, and John C., born February 10, 1900. The family are members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Williams is affiliated with Lima Lodge No. 54 of the Elks and Lodge No. 91 of the Knights of Pythias. JOHN E. TALBOTT, M. D. Graduated in medicine ten years ago, Doctor Talbott has had an interesting range of professional experience, including a year as an army surgeon, and is one of the busy and successful men in his profession at Lima. Doctor Talbott was born in Green County, Indiana, in March, 1884, a son of James E. and Ann Elizabeth (Adamson) Talbott, being of Irish-English ancestry. His father's family came of a long line of physicians and Presbyterian ministers, and he also took up the profession of medicine and practiced for many years with success and honor at Linton in Green County, Indiana, where he died in 1914, and where his widow is still living. The fourth among five children, John E. Talbott attended public schools at Linton, graduated from high school in 1904, received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University at Bloomington four years later, and took his medical course in the Indiana University School of Medicine, graduating in 1910. During his senior year he was an interne in the Tuberculosis Sanitarium at Rockwood, Indiana. Then followed four months of experience as surgeon with the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company at Ely, Nevada, after which he returned to Indiana and for six months was interne in the City Hospital of Indianapolis. He then joined his father in practice at Linton for two years, and from 1914 to June, 1918, was a physician at Alger, Ohio. Doctor Talbott offered his services to the Government as a member of the Medical Reserve Corps on November 1, 1917. He was called to duty in June, 1918, with the rank of lieutenant, attending the training school at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, one month, and for a time was instructor in medicine at Camp Greenleaf and Fort Oglethorpe. Until April 6, 1919, he was hospital surgeon at Raritan Hospital, Metuchen, New Jersey, and received an honorable discharge with the rank of first lieutenant. Doctor Talbott came to Lima and began practice May 1, 1919. He is a member of the Allen County, Northwest Ohio and Ohio State Medical associations. In October, 1911, he married Margaret Yoakam, daughter of E. S. and Ella (Reeves) Yoakam of Lima. They have one son, Thomas J., born in 1915, and one daughter, Ellen Ann, born July 22, 1920. Doctor Talbott is a member of the Lima Club, is a democrat and is affiliated with the Sigma Nu, Alpha Delta Sigma and the Phi Beta Pi medical fraternity. While in college he took a prominent part in athletics, making both the football and track teams of Indiana University. IRA W. BASINGER, D. D. S. A prominent, prosperous and skillful dentist of Lima, Ira William Basinger, D. D. S., is actively identified with a calling that more aptly illustrates, mayhap, the swift advance of science during the present century than any other profession, dental surgery having formerly been left largely in the hands of men with but crude knowledge of dentistry as now practiced by those skilled in the art. A native of Allen County, he was born November 18, 1885, in Richland Township, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, Peter P. Basinger. His paternal grandfather, Christian Basinger, a native of Virginia, married Catherine Geiger, who was born in the southeastern part of Ohio, and subsequently they settled in Allen County in pioneer days, and on the farm which they redeemed from its primitive wildness spent their remaining years. A lifelong resident of Allen County, Peter P. Basinger is still successfully employed in tilling the soil on the same farm in Richland Township on which he and his good wife began housekeeping many years ago. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Alice Lower, was born in Wayne County, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Baer) Lower, pioneer settlers of this part of Ohio. Obtaining the rudiments of his education in the rural schools of Richland Township, Ira W. Basinger subsequently entered the high school at Pandora, Ohio, and was there graduated with the class of 1904. The following seven years he was variously employed. In 1911, feeling attracted toward his future profession, he entered the Starling, Ohio, Medical College at Columbus, and was graduated 232 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY from its dental department with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery on May 27, 1914. Immediately locating in Lima, Doctor Basinger opened a dental parlor on the third floor of the Eilerman Building and later moved to the ninth floor of the Citizens Loan Building, and has built up an extensive and lucrative patronage, his skill in using the latest and most highly approved modern methods of dentistry being highly appreciated by the general public. Doctor Basinger married, November 18, 1917, Helen B. Meeks of Waynesfield, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel B. and Luella (Dawson) Meeks, and into their hospitable home at 325 North Collett street one little daughter has made her appearance, Virginia Louise, whose birth occurred September 23, 1918. The doctor is a democrat in politics, and he and his family are Mennonites in religion. He is a member of one college organization of Columbus, Ohio, Psi Chapter, Psi Omega fraternity, and he also belongs to the Northwestern Dental Association. Fraternally Doctor Basinger is a member of Pandora Lodge No. 509, Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all the chairs; of Lima Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of Banner Tent 356, Knights of the Maccabees of the World. SAMUEL BOWMAN MEEKS. Talented and cultured, with a natural taste and talent for music, Samuel Bowman Meeks holds a place of prominence among the leading educational circles of Allen County, having won both success and popularity as a school teacher, a teacher of music, and as a band and orchestra leader. A son of the late Amos Meeks, he was born August 5, 1855, in Perry Township, Allen County, Ohio, of pioneer stock. His paternal grandparents, Samuel and Sarah (Bartlett) Meeks, natives of Virginia, were slave owners while living there. In 1834 the grandfather, with his wife and young children, traveled overland across the National Highway to Springfield, Ohio, from there detouring to Allen County. Taking up a tract of heavily timbered land from the Government, he erected the customary log cabin to shelter his family, and in common with the other pioneers of that day labored with unceasing toil tol improve the farm on which he and his wife subsequently spent their remaining days. Born near Natural Bridge, Virginia, Amos Meeks had not yet entered his teens when he came with the .family to Allen County, where he acquired his early education and a practical knowledge of agriculture. During his earlier career he taught school five years, and later began buying, feeding and shipping live stock, becoming one of the largest and best known stock dealers in Allen County, an occupation in which he continued until his death, in 1887, at the age of three score and three years. He was a man of powerful physique, five feet and eleven inches in height, weighing 240 pounds, and possessing greater physical strength than any other man in this part of the state. Amos Meeks married Elizabeth Bowman, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Garrettson) Bowman, who migrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in pioneer days, locating first in Ashland County, from there coming, in 1835, to Allen County, where Indians were still plentiful and the deer so abundant that her father killed twenty-seven the first winter he was here. Mr. Bowman took up land from the United States Government, and the deed given him was written on sheepskin, and contained the signature of President Jackson. Mrs. Meeks died on the home farm in 1881, aged forty-eight years, leaving three children, as follows : Samuel Bowman, the special subject of this sketch; Sarah Irene, widow of J. D. Jones of Lima ; and Alonzo Myron, who was engaged in the live stock commission business at Buffalo, New York, died in December, 1919. Educated in the district schools and at the Ada, Ohio, Normal School, Samuel B. Meeks began teaching in the rural schools at the age of sixteen years, and was subsequently superintendent of public schools for seven years, serving three years in Westminster, Ohio, and in Waynesfield, this state, four years. He has since taught in the district schools, at the present time, in 1920, having charge of the school located in Auglaize Township. Mr. Meeks has also taught vocal music, and given instruction on the piano, organ and violin, and while in Waynesfield and Westminster was band and orchestra leader. He is a pleasant and forceful speaker, and has always taken great interest in debates, never hesitating to defend his side of a question. Mr. Meeks has been twice married. He married first, November 10, 1876, Martha Cochran, a daughter of William and Sarah (Bowers) Cochran, of Allen County, Ohio. She passed to the life beyond March 28, 1883, leaving two children, as follows : Sarah Elizabeth, now the wife of F. P. Neff of Waynesfield, Ohio, and Alonzo Wilson Meeks of Lima, Mr. Meeks married, May 20, 1896, Luella Dawson who was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, a daughter of E. F. and Urzilla (Kelly) Dawson of Waynesfield. Her paternal grandparents, Joseph and Maria Dawson, were natives of England, while her grandfather Kelly was born and bred in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Meeks have one child, Helen Beatrice, wife of Ira W. Basinger, D. D. S., of Lima. One of the -leading republicans of Allen County, Mr. Meeks is a member of the Republican Executive Committee, and has served as township clerk and township assessor. Fraternally he is a member of Spencerville Lodge, Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all the chairs ; and of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, in which he has also filled all of the offices. He belongs to the Perry Township Grange. Liberal in his religious views, Mr. Meeks is an active and faithful member of the Universalist Church, while Mrs. Meeks is an equally devout member of the First Baptist Church. HARRY M. CRAWFORD, D. D. S. A well known and highly esteemed resident of Lima, and one of the leading representatives of the dental profession of the city, Harry M. Crawford, D. D. S., is actively associated with one of the most important branches of surgery, for its application at some period of life is required by almost every member of the human family. A son of John Crawford, he was born November 27, 1876, in Madison, Indiana, and there grew to man's estate. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, John Crawford came with his parents to Indiana when a child, and was brought up and educated in Jefferson County, and having learned the trade of a machinist when young followed it successfully for many years in Madison, that county, where he is now living retired from active pursuits. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Scott, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 233 when a young girl was brought by her parents to this country, settling with them in Indiana, where she has since resided. Obtaining the rudiments of his education in the district schools, Harry M. Crawford continued his studies in the high school at Marion, Indiana. His tastes and inclinations leading him to adopt a professional career, he entered the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1907. Coming soon afterward to Lima, Doctor Crawford has been successful from the start and deserves credit for the high position he has won, not only as a skillful and popular dentist, but as a man and a citizen. He is an active member of the Northwestern Ohio Dental Association and of the Ohio State and National Dental associations. Doctor Crawford married, July 23, 1910, Evelyn A. Booth, daughter of Walter and Jennie (Whiting) Booth, of Lima, and they have one child, John E. Crawford, born March 13, 1912. Politically the doctor is a staunch supporter of the principles of the republican party. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he belongs to Lima Lodge No. 91, Knights of Pythias. GEORGE EDGAR WILLIAMS. The younger generation of prominent and progressive business men of Allen County have no more worthy representative than George Edgar Williams of Lima, who has charge of the plumbing department of the enterprising firm of Williams Brothers, which is well patronized in the city and country roundabout. A son of the late W. R. and Susan (Jones) Williams, he was born in Venedocia, Ohio, February 5, 1896, being one of a family of three children. Born in Jackson County, Ohio, W. R. Williams learned the blacksmith's trade when young, but subsequently bought land in Van Wert County, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1900, while yet in the prime of life. His widow subsequently moved to Columbus, Ohio, where her children received excellent educational advantages, but since 1914 she has been a resident of Lima. Acquiring a practical education in the public schools, George Edgar Williams began the study of plumbing and heating when nineteen years old, making a specialty, however of plumbing, and while living and working in Columbus became proficient in the art. Forming a copartnership with his brother, John S. Williams, under the firm name of Williams Brothers, he located in Lima in 1915, and has since had the entire supervision of the plumbing department of the firm, which has filled many large and important contracts in the plumbing, heating and ventilating of public buildings, churches, schools and residences. On June 22, 1913, Mr. Williams was united in marriage with Mary Lewis, daughter of Wallace and Nancy Lewis of West Jefferson, Ohio. They have no children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Williams are valued members of the Market Street Presbyterian Church. Politically Mr. Williams uniformly supports the principles of the republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Lima Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is also a trustee; a member of Lima Lodge No. 91, Knights of Pythias; and also belongs to the Lima Club. EARL CLARENCE DAILEY, one of the enterprising business men of Lima, is finding ample employment for his abilities as a wholesale commission merchant, and is located at 132-134 East Wayne street. He was born at Dunkirk, Ohio, March 31, 1890, a son of W. A. and Alice (Brown) Dailey, farming people of fine character who moved to Lima when Earl C. Dailey was two years of age. Up to the time he was eighteen years old E. C. Dailey enjoyed the advantages of the Lima public schools and made good use of the time he spent in school: He then became heater boy in the Lima Locomotive Works, and during the three years he remained with that corporations he held all kinds of jobs, finally reaching the tool rooms. Upon severing these connections, he went with A. R. Atkinson, dealer in fruit at wholesale, and was one of his drivers for two years. He then went into the wholesale commission business for himself, and for a year was on South Market street, from whence he moved to East Spring street, and two years later secured his present quarters, which he has occupied since 1916. Mr. Dailey is engaged in buying and selling all over the country, and has met with a success that is almost phenomenal, and all that he today possesses has come to him through his own business acumen and wise investments. In addition to his commission interests he is a stockholder in the Lima Candy Company. He has given practical expression to his faith in the future of Lima by investing heavily in its real estate. In 1911 Mr. Dailey was united in marriage at Lima to Hazel Banning, a daughter of Ed Banning, and they have two children, Edgar Carl and Richard Owen. In politics Mr. Dailey is a republican. He belongs to the American Insurance Union and the Lima Chamber of Commerce. Both he and Mrs. Dailey attend the services of the Baptist Church, and are on its membership rolls. They are fine young people, popular socially and are recognized as being among the worth-while residents of Allen County. WALLACE H. KING. A man is never doing better service to humanity than when he is trying to raise the standards of commercial or political morality, and probably no one class of men are accomplishing more along this line than the insurance man, for when he succeeds in insuring a man against death and old age he relieves his mind of a source of constant worry and not only takes from him the temptation to do wrong for material advancement, but gives him more time to devote to civic betterment. The insurance man of today prepares himself for his work by study of human nature, discipline of his own nature and takes each experience as post-graduate work in the school of life. He is constantly developing not only his own natural resources of character, but is assisting others to take a fair estimate of their capabilities, and many of those whom they write up for adequate policies date from their acquaintance with the insurance man a new era of usefulness. One of these alert young men successfully engaged in this important line at Lima is Wallace H. King, district manager of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. Wallace H. King was born at Warren, Pennsylvania, on September 13, 1892, a son of John P. and Sarah (King) King; he was born at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and she at Petroleum Center, Pennsylvania, respectively. For some years John P. King was a hotel keeper at Warren, Pennsylvania, but in 234 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY 1904 he came to Lima and conducted the Lima House for a period of six years. He then entered the life insurance business in Lima and was district manager of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company until 1914. He then went to Columbus, Ohio, as district manager of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. After attending the Tome School for Boys at Port Deposit, Maryland, Mr. King became a student at Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio. In 1913 he became associated with his father in the insurance business at Lima, and since 1915 has been district manager for the Lima office of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, with offices at 509-10 Citizens Loan Building. On October 16, 1914, Mr. King was united in marriage with Alice Wright, born at Chicago, Illinois, a daughter of Harry and Elizabeth (Davis) Wright, natives of Pennsylvania. There are no children. Mr. King is an Episcopalian in his religious faith and a republican in politics. Fraternally he belongs to Lima Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while socially he maintains membership in the Lima Club, the Shawnee Country Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Automobile Club and the Wayfarers Club, serving this latter club as a trustee, and for six months was its secretary. JOHN J. WYRE. The realtors and insurance men of Lima are not only doing a flourishing business, but they are at the same time increasing the prestige of the city, providing adequate housing facilities for the. people in spite of the shortage of buildings, and attending to the wise insurance of properties, both real and personal, from disaster of various kinds. One of these live and energetic men of the city who is enjoying a well earned prosperity is John J. Wyre of 211 Savings Building. John J. Wyre was born at Apple Creek, Wayne County, Ohio, in November, 1858, a son of Washington W. and Frances Ann (Crumel) Wyre, natives of Stark County, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, respectively. They were married at Apple Creek, Ohio, where he carried on a plastering business and died in 1911. His widow, who survives him, still lives there. Growing up in his native place John J. Wyre attended its schools and the Northern Ohio University at Ada, Ohio, where he took the scientific course. In 1883 he came to Lima, Ohio, and was with his brother-in-law, W. H. Hay, for seven years. Later he was made a railroad postal clerk and for twenty-two years was continuously in that service, his duties making it more convenient from 1903 until 1913 for him to reside at Chicago, Illinois, but in the latter year he returned to Lima, and since then has lived at 1066 West Market street. Upon his return to Lima Mr. Wyre bought the real estate and insurance business owned by John H. Phillips, and he has since carried it on very profitably, and now represents nine of the old line insurance companies. In November, 1884, Mr. Wyre was united in marriage with Ada C. Hay, born in Auglaize Township, Allen County, Ohio, a daughter of James and Isabel (Faulkner) Hay, natives of Tuscarawas and Allen counties, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Wyre became the parents of the following children : Donald H, who is a resident of Chicago, Illinois ; Dwight E., who is a resident of Madison, Wisconsin ; Kathryn, who is Mrs. John R. Carnes, of Lima, Ohio ; and W. V., who is attending the Miami Military Institute. Mr. Wyre belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a republican, but not active in politics. The Elks and Moose fraternities of Lima hold his membership and he also belongs to the Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Lima Real Estate Board, of which he has been secretary and treasurer since its organization, and a member of the Lima Fire Insurance Club. In addition to his realty and insurance business Mr. Wyre is interested in the Lima Motor Car Company as chairman of the Board of Directors, of which his son, Donald H. Wyre, is president; M. L. Johnson is vice president, and John R. Carnes is secretary and treasurer. This company handles the Peerless and Velie automobiles, and have Joseph C. Hartline as general manager. JOHN R, HOOKER, junior member of the well known and thoroughly reliable firm of Hover & Hooker, horsemen and owners of the famous Caducues the Great, is a man who has devoted his life to the horse business and is known all over the country for his achievements in the breeding of registered stock. Mr. Hooker was born at Spencerville, Ohio, on April 3, 1872, a son of A. S. and Elizabeth (Fissel) Hooker, natives of Knox County, Ohio, and Germany. The paternal grandparents were Charles and Mary Hooker, natives of Knox County, Ohio, and Adam and Henrietta (Louth) Fissel, who settled at Spencerville, Ohio, in 1847. The parents were married in Allen County, Ohio, where the father carried on a lumber and sawmilling business, becoming one of the most extensive operators in his section of the country. His death occurred on January 13, 1911, and the mother died in July, 1917. Their children were as follows : Charles, who lives at Ellwood City, Pennsylvania ; John R., whose name heads this review ; George, who lives at Lima, Ohio ; Lovina, who is Mrs. Garfield Greer, of Spencerville, Ohio; Addison S., who is a resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio; and Ralph S., who is a resident of Lima, Ohio. John R. Hooker attended the common schools until he was fourteen years old, at which time he went to Kirkland, Indiana, and worked as head sawyer in a sawmill for four years, after which he went to Chickasaw, Ohio, and continued sawmill work there until he reached his majority. On April 5, 1892, Mr. Hooker was united in marriage with Hattie Stout, born at Brainbridge, Ohio, and they had two children, namely: Herbert T., who was born on January 13, 1893, married Florence Custy and has two children, Monica and Florence Avis ; and Avis, who was born December 12, 1895, is Mrs. Mervin Smith of Lima, Ohio. Mr. Hooker was married, secondly, to Clara (Lechlider) Cole, of Greenville, Ohio, widow of Chester Cole. By her first marriage she had one daughter, Jeanette, now Mrs. Roland Whilley of Lima, Ohio. Mr. Hooker is a democrat. He belongs to Lima Lodge No. 199, Loyal Order of Moose ; Buckeye Loyal Legion No. 104, and to the Lima Real Estate Board. Since he was a boy Mr. Hooker's hobby has been horses, and he has paid special attention to racing horses. He and Clint Hover own a farm in Bath Township and have twenty-five head of fine racing stock. In March, 1920, the firm of Hover & Hooker sold a racing horse for $3,000, and this horse soon afterward was sold for $4,000. In addition to his extensive operations with horses Mr. Hooker has HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 235 been engaged in the real estate business at Lima for a number of years. The record of Caduceus the Great, triple world champion, is worthy of record. He was sired by Peter the Great, and is regarded as the futurity sire of the world. His dam was Rubber, the race mare of her day, by Wilton 2:19 1/4% ; second dam Magalene Patchen, show ring champion and dam of four trotters, by Mambrino Patchen, the brood mare sire. Caduceus the Great, 2:07 1/4, has sired the following: The first yearling filly to trot to a standard record over a half-mile track, 2:29 1/4 ; the first yearling colt to trot to a standard record over a half- mile track;, the winner of the first governor cup and stake race given by the State of Ohio ; the world's champion trotting two-year-old filley on a half-mile track; the first pair of yearlings to pole in the world; is the only horse in the world to sire two yearlings to trot to standard records on a half-mile track; Little Jean, 2:16 1/4, trotter, world's champion three-year-old, seventeen starts, six first, seven seconds, raced again aged horses; Great Night, 2:13 1/4, now 2:08 1/4, champion trotter over one-half mile track in 1917; Alexander the Great, race record 2:05 1/4 over a half-mile track, and has been a mile in 2:03 1/4 ; received first premium in the standard bred class and also the sweepstakes at this fair ; sired five trotters that could trot in 2:10 in the year 1919; and in 1919 he sired twelve new and reduced record and not a pacer ; also Bob the Great. 2:09 1/4. SAMUEL GRANT PARKS. An enterprising business man and well known citizen of Lima, who is now giving particular attention to real estate and allied interests, is Samuel Grant Parks, whose Buckeye ancestry can be traced back many generations. Mr. Parks was born in Willshire Township, Van Wert County, Ohio, April 11, 1864, and is a son of Samuel W. and Sarah A. (Philbee) Parks, and a grandson of Andrew Parks and James and Matilda Philbee. After their marriage the parents of Samuel Grant Parks settled on a farm .in Licking County, Ohio. on which they lived for eight years, then moved into Van Wert County, which remained the family home for fifty-five years. The mother died March 4, 1893, but the father survived until April, 1906. They were among the most worthy and highly respected people of Van Wert County. They had children as follows: Alexander, who lives at Fort Wayne, Indiana; Esther Louisa, who is the wife of Charles Bowen of Van Wert County ; Margaret Elizabeth, who is the wife of William McMichael of Van Wert County; Catherine Malissa, who is the F wife of Thomas Bowen of Van Wert County; Miranda Ellen, who is the wife of George W. Stettler, of Van Wert County ; Elsie Jane, who is the wife of E. F. Hunter, also of Van Wert County; William Wesley, who lives at Eaton Rapids, Michigan; Samuel Grant, whose interests are at Lima ; James A., who is a resident of Portland, Indiana ; and Benjamin L., who lives at 1230 West Wayne street, Lima. Samuel Grant Parks attended the public schools in Van Wert County and assisted his father on the home farm until his own marriage in 1885,. after which he rented a farm in Van Wert County and operated it for three years. He moved then to Decatur, Indiana, where he conducted a livery stable for a year, but sold when he had an advantageous opportunity and returned to Van Wert, where he conducted a stable for two years, then sold and went to Willshire, where he remained in the same business for two years and eight months. He then moved over into Mercer County and operated a stable for a year and a half at Mendon, and from there went to Spencerville, where he did a fair business for four and a half years and then sold in order to locate in Lima. Here he purchased a first-class livery barn on the corner of Market street and Central avenue, where he continued in the livery business for nineteen years. The general use of automobiles by that time had made appreciable inroads on the regular livery business, and Mr. Parks decided to definitely retire from that line of business and give attention to something else. Probably no one in the city is a better judge of horseflesh than he, and in his time has owned animals noted for their speed and fine appearance. After disposing of his livery interests at Lima he went into the real estate business as a member of the firm of Biddinger & Tussing. On March 4, 1885, Mr. Parks was united in marriage to Miss Huldah C. Royston, who was born in Willshire Township, Van Wert County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Moses and Catherine (Bollets) Royston of near Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Parks have two children : Orlie Leroy, who resides at home, and Pearl D., who is the wife of J. J. Klay, and they reside at 604 East Kibby street, Lima. Mr. Parks and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has a wide acquaintance and many personal friends at Lima, but has never united with any fraternal organization except the Knights of Pythias. From early manhood he has been affiliated with the democratic party, and as a private citizen has been loyal to its principles and candidates, but has never been willing to consider suggestions that he accept political honors for himself. ADOLPH FRUEH is a veteran florist and landscape gardener, and has been a citizen of Lima and vicinity for more than thirty years. He developed a greenhouse business that has long been one of Lima's chief sources of supply for flowers and vegetables. Mr. Frueh was born in Baden, Germany, April 12, 1845, son of Valentine and Anna Mary (Meyer) Frueh. His parents spent all their lives in Germany. Adolph Freuh after acquiring a common school education served an apprenticeship at the trade of florist and landscape gardener, and from 1871 until he left Germany he was in that line of business at Colmar in Alsace-Lorraine. In July, 1868, at Neuilly, France, Mr. Frueh married Josephine Guellbert, a native of Moir, France. In 1889 he and his family left the old country and arrived in Lima January 2, 1890. Mr. Frueh came to this, country with a very limited capital, insufficient to enable him to set up an independent business in the line to which he had been trained in the old country. Therefore for two years he did farming in Bath Township and for about eighteen months worked as a landscape gardener and in other capacities at Lima, chiefly for Doctor Baxter. He then rented two acres in Lima and began raising vegetables and flowers for market. His skill in the meantime having become well known, he was frequently employed for special work as a landscape gardener. Mr. Frueh extended his enterprise in 1894 by renting a tract of twenty-four acres in the east part of Lima. Five years later he bought five acres of this land and 236 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY in 1900 built his first small greenhouse. Since then the growing and culture of flowers has been a business for the entire year. At the present time the greenhouses comprise 10,000 square feet under glass. While flowers are the chief product, the Frueh property has also continued growing vegetables for the market. A fire in 1900 destroyed all the buildings, but Mr. Frueh afterward rebuilt them anew. In 1918 Mr. Frueh sold the business to his son Henry, but he still spends most of his time working in and around greenhouses. Mr. Frueh and family are members of St. John's Catholic Church. His children are: Mary, Mrs. Leo Neshelhauf of Lima ; Theodore, who died at the age of eighteen and a half years ; Louisa, wife of Emeron Schoonover of Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Henry, proprietor of a greenhouse property; Anna of Lima ; Louis and Camoran V., both living on East High street in Lima. GLENN LINDSLEY POTTER. While the art of healing is as old as man, within recent years students who have devoted their talents and knowledge of the human body to the study of methods and remedies have become convinced that old systems are at fault and have brought before the public the results of their experiments with such amazing success that chiropractic is by many regarded as the profession of the hour. The phenomenal results of chiropractic in great numbers of cases formerly considered hopeless have led thousands of people to become adherents of this remarkable spinal adjustment treatment. Consequently the demand for skilled practitioners has grown accordingly, and some of the ablest men in every community of any size are entering what is one of the new fields in the healing art. One of these practitioners of Allen County who has attained a widespread reputation is Dr. Glenn Lindsley Potter of Lima. Doctor Potter was born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, on October 15, 1892, a son of Tyler and Etta, (Lindsley) Potter, natives of Pennsylvania and New York, respectively. The paternal grandfather was Elisha Potter, and the maternal grandparents were George W. and Mary (Lockwood) Lindsley, natives of Scotland. Tyler Potter was a retail grocer, as was his father before him, and he also owned a farm, which was located on the state line between Pennsylvania and New York. Until 1905 Doctor Potter lived on his father's farm, and his educational advantages were those afforded by the rural districts, but in that year removal was made to Binghamton, New York, and not long afterward the father died and the son went to live with an uncle at Montrose, Pennsylvania, where he continued to attend school. On November 1, 1913, he entered the Palmer School of Chiropractic at Davenport, Iowa, and following the completion of his course in March, 1915, he established himself in practice at Defiance, Ohio, where he remained until April, 1920, at that time coming to Lima. Although a newcomer, Doctor Potter has already won laurels and is recognized as one of the able men in his profession. In addition to a thorough knowledge of his school of healing he possesses a personality which inspires confidence, and he has a bright future before him. On March 22, 1916, Doctor Potter was married to Ida Marie Carman, born at Napoleon, Ohio, on June 21, 1894. They have no children. Doctor Potter is a Presbyterian. He belongs to several college fraternities, and to Defiance Lodge No. 147, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a republican, but he has never entered public life, confining his support of party principles to the casting of his vote for republican nominees. LEHR ELLSWORTH MILLER has spent his entire life within the borders of Allen County, and his persistent and commendable efforts have benefitted alike himself and the community, for he has always had deeply at heart the well being and improvement of the county, using his influence whenever possible for the promotion of movements for the advancement of the community along material, moral and civic lines. He is the scion of an excellent old pioneer family, and because of his fine record as a public official and his sterling qualities of character he has gained and retains the general esteem of the people of his county. Lehr Ellsworth Miller, the present efficient and popular treasurer of Allen County, was born on his father's farm in Amanda Township, this county, on September 13, 1878, the son of Azariah D. and Darthula (Place) Miller, both of whom were also born and reared in Amanda Township. He is descended from sterling old pioneer stock, as will be noted in the following lines. His paternal ancestors were established in Virginia in an early day, and from that state in an early day came his great-grandfather, Ferdinand Miller, who took a prominent and active part in the establishing of civilization in Allen County. He was the first juryman ever drawn from Allen County, and the first Methodist Episcopal meeting ever held in the county was held in his house. The paternal grandparents, Joseph and Manenia J. (Shock) Miller, were natives, respectively, of Ross County, Ohio, and Somerset, Pennsylvania, while his maternal grandparents, James and Susan (Culver) Place, were both born and reared in Ohio, the former in Belmont County and the latter in Delaware County. Joseph Miller settled in 1827 in Amanda Township, near what is known as Fort Amanda, and nine years later, in 1836, James Place brought his family here and located at old Fort Amanda in Allen County. All of these old pioneer settlers of Allen County took up land of their own and became farmers, thus assisting materially in the early development of the county. After their marriage Azariah D. and Darthula Miller settled on a farm in Amanda Township, where they lived for many years. In 1894 Mr. Miller was appointed deputy probate judge of Allen County, and in 1900 was elected judge of the Probate Court, and was elected to succeed himself, thus serving two terms, or six years. On the expiration of his official term he entered upon the practice of law, to which he is now devoting his attention. Lehr E. Miller received his educational training in the public schools, and remained at home until eighteen years of age, when he became a traveling salesman for the American Woolen Mills Company, with whom he remained until twenty-one years of age. After his marriage, which occurred at about that time, he rented a forty-acre farm in Amanda Township, to the operation of which he devoted his energies, eventually increasing the acreage under his control until 1910, when he became manager of a stone quarry. In the spring of 1913 Mr. Miller entered upon the business of contracting, specializing HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 237 in bridge and cement work, but in the fall of 1914 he sold that business and became deputy sheriff of Allen County, under Sheriff Eley. He held this position about sixteen months, resigning then because of his nomination to the office of county treasurer, to which he was chosen at the ensuing election. In the fall of 1918 he was again elected to that office, of which he is the present incumbent. Mr. Miller firmly believes in the axiom pronounced by a once prominent leader of his political party, to the effect that "Public office is a public trust," and he has so discharged his duties as to win the universal commendation of the voters of the county. Promptness, accuracy and courtesy have characterized the work of his office, one of the most important in the county organization. While living in Amanda Township, Mr. Miller had served two terms as township assessor, one term by appointment and one term by election. He was also elected and served six years as director of the Allen County Agricultural Society. Politically Mr. Miller has always given his support to the democratic party, in the ranks of whirh he has been an active worker. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and, fraternally, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Loyal Order of Moose. During the World war he took an especially active part in all the war work in this county and assisted in the organization and successful completion of nine different drives. On March 31, 1900, Mr. Miller was married to Josie Q. Staup, who was born and reared in Amanda Township, the daughter of Lewis and Nancy (Bowers) Staup, the former of whom was born in Miami County, Ohio, and the latter in Amanda Township, this county. They are the parents of one child, Lawrence Ellsworth, born on June 21, 1909. Mr. Miller possesses to a marked degree those sterling traits which have commanded uniform confidence and regard, and he merits the public recognition which he has received at the hands of his fellow citizens. THOMPSON R. TERWILLEGER. One Of the best known and most successful physicians and surgeons of northwestern Ohio is Dr. Thompson R. Terwilleger of Lima. He has won success in life in a definite manner because he has persevered in pursuit of a worthy purpose, and is gaining thereby a most satisfactory reward. His life has been exemplary and he has always supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit his community. He is the representative of honored old pioneer families of this part of the Buckeye State, and today occupies an honored position among his fellow citizens of Allen County. Thompson R. Terwilleger was born at New Richmond, Clermont County, Ohio, on June 29, 1860, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (McDonald) Terwilleger, both of whom were born and reared in Clermont County. The subject's grandparents on the paternal side were Abraham and Amelia (Peckingbaugh) Terwilleger of Clermont County, while his maternal grandparents were William and Mary McDonald of Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. The Terwillegers were originally from Holland, whence they came to the United States in an early day and settled in Pennsylvania. Eventually members of the family came to Clermont County, Ohio, being num bered among the pioneers of that locality, and there they entered a tract of Government land. The McDonalds also were early settlers in that county, and, entering a tract of timber land, they did their part in clearing the land and putting it into cultivation. They spent the remainder of their lives on that first farm and died there. Abraham and Amelia Terwilleger moved some time later to Champaign County, Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their lives. John and Elizabeth Terwilleger, the parents of Thompson R. Terwilleger, spent their lives in New Richmond, where they were married and where Mr. Terwilleger devoted his efforts to agricultural pursuits. He was a man of prominence in the community and held several local offices. He was born in 1830 and died on July 9, 1892, while his wife, who was born in 1833, died on August 31, 1913. They were the parents of two children, the subject of this sketch and an elder sister, Alma, of Lebanon, Ohio, the widow of James F. McColm. Thompson R. Terwilleger spent his boyhood days on the home farm and attended the district schools of the neighborhood. In the fall of 1879 he entered the Ohio Western University, pursuing the literary course for five years and graduating. Later he took a commercial course in the Nelson Business College at Cincinnati, and in the fall of 1884 matriculated in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in 1887 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He first located at New Richmond, where he practiced his profession for about six months, when he came to Lima, where he has remained ever since. From the beginning of his professional career Doctor Terwilleger has commanded the respect of his professional colleagues as well as the general public for his skill and success in his work, especially as relating to surgery, in which he is acknowledged to be without a superior in this part of the state. In May, 1906, he went to Berlin, Germany, where he took a nine months' post-graduate course, specializing in abdominal surgery. While still in Berlin he was affiliated with the Anglo-American Medical Association, of which it was a great honor to be a member. He has always commanded a large and lucrative practice in this and adjoining counties, and is numbered among the leading citizens of the community in which he lives. On November 5, 1891, Doctor Terwilleger was married to Elizabeth Frances Davis of Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of William and Mary (Williams) Davis, natives of Wales. Doctor and Mrs. Terwilleger are members of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been a trustee for many years. In politics he gives his support to the democratic party and has rendered appreciated service as a member of the Board of Education of Lima, having been. appointed in 1900 and serving two years, and was elected in 1906 for a four-year term. Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is a member of the Allen County Medical Society, which he has served as president and secretary, the Ohio State Medical Society, the Northwestern Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The doctor served for thirteen years as physician to the Allen County Infirmary and is a life member of the Lima Hospital Society. He is also associated with the staff of the Lima City Hospital and St. Rita's. Those who know him well are unstinted in their praise of his 238 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY genial disposition, clean character and his superior ability. Older men in the profession here have relied upon his judgment and younger ones frequently seek his counsel, all admitting his eminence in his profession, for he has stood for many years among the scholarly physicians and surgeons in a community long distinguished for the high order of its medical talent. THOMAS W. BLACKBURN, the Lima real estate dealer, is a native of Auglaize County. He was born October 3, 1860, a son of Samuel and Lucy (Welsh) Blackburn, the father a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and the mother of Perry County. The paternal grandparents. John and Rachel (Hammond) Blackburn, came from Pennsylvania in 1850 to Auglaize County. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Blackburn settled in Auglaize County. When T. W. Blackburn was only eighteen months old his mother died and he afterward lived among relatives. From the time he was fifteen until he was twenty he worked on a farm and then went to Cridersville, where he worked ten years in a general store. From Cridersville Mr. Blackburn went to Wapakoneta, where for ten years he was employed as salesman in a clothing store. He then returned to Cridersville, where in partnership with H. G. Fisher he bought the old store where he was first employed as a salesman for ten years. The firm traded the Cridersville stock for two grocery stores in Lima, which they conducted a year, when Mr. Blackburn went with W. H. Butcher in the chattel loan office, remaining there five years. More recently he has been associated with W. R. Mumaugh in the sale of real estate. In 1916 the firm took the local agency for the Ohio Simplex Trailer for automobiles, retaining the agency until January 1, 1920, since which time Mr. Blackburn has devoted himself exclusively to the real estate business in Lima and the surrounding country. On November 3, 1885, he married Alice M. Brown of Kalida, a daughter of Davis I. and Elizabeth (Shaw) Brown. Their children are: Leslie of Cleveland ; Hazel, wife of Clinton Strawbridge of Shawnee Township ; and Carl H. Blackburn of Chicago. The family are Methodists. Mr. Blackburn is a democrat, and while living in Auglaize County he was one time a township clerk. From 1886 to 1890 he was postmaster at Cridersville. He is a Knight of Pythias, and while in Wapakoneta he passed all the chairs in that order. His membership has been transferred to Lima. He is a member of the Lima Real Estate Board, the Lima Chamber of Commerce and the Automobile Club. He is one of the live wires in the Lima business community. OREN DICKASON, who is engaged in the real estate business in Lima, was born September 29, 1871, and has always lived in Allen County except for temporary periods of absence. He is a son of John and Sarah E. (Lones) Dickason, the father a native of Marion County, while the mother always lived in Allen County. The maternal grandfather, Leonard Lones, was born in Germany. He was among the early settlers in Jackson Township, Allen County. The Dickasons were married in Jackson Township. John Dickason, who was engaged in the timber and lumber business, died March 8, 1911, his wife having died April 4, 1884, and Oren and Frank Dickason were their sons. Oren Dickason spent his boyhood days in Allen and Paulding counties. When he was thirteen years old he began working on a farm by the month in Paulding County. Four years later he began farm work in Allen County, continuing three years as a laborer by the month, when he went with his father in the lumber business, remaining six years. Feeling the need of better education, Mr. Dickason then attended the Ohio Normal University at Ada, and after completing the business course went into the lumber business again as an inspector for Joseph Morris, a wholesale lumber dealer of Lima. Mr. Dickason's next business enterprise was as a traveling salesman for a wholesale paper house of Cincinnati. Seven years later he became interested in oil production in Ohio and Indiana. For six years he was active in the oil fields while the production was at its best in Ohio and Indiana, but since 1911 has been engaged in the real estate business, with an office on the public square in Lima. He confines his efforts to farm deals, and always has some good properties on his sale list. As a real estate dealer he is incidentally a community booster. On October 19, 1904, Mr. Dickason married Bertha A. Dicus. She is a daughter of George H. and Anna (Listerman) Dicus of Paulding County. Although of Irish descent, the father was born in Indiana. The mother, now deceased, was born in Germany. They at one time lived in Defiance. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dickason are: Paul J., who died at the age of fourteen years ; Morris D., and Oren Edward. Mr. Dickason is a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Lima. He is a Mason, both of the Chapter and Council, and also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 54, of Lima. Mr. Dickason is a republican. FRANKLIN A. BURKHARDT. A man of excellent business and executive ability, talented and cultured, Franklin A. Burkhardt, now serving as mayor of Lima, is greatly interested in education, art, history and literature, and as a public speaker, lecturer and impersonator has won fame and popularity not only in his home city but throughout the entire county. A son of George Burkhardt, he was born in Shawnee Township, Allen County, Ohio, December 31, 1872, of German lineage. His paternal grandfather, George Burkhardt, Sr., lived in his native land, Alsace-Lorraine, until 1847, when he started with his wife and children for the United States, the land of promise and plenty. His wife died on board ship, and he came with his children to Columbus, Ohio, where he lived two years, Going from there to Auglaize County, Ohio, he improved a farm, on which he spent his remaining days. Born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1845, George Burkhardt was but two years old when he crossed the Atlantic. He was brought up and educated in Auglaize County, and after his marriage bought land in Shawnee Township, Allen County, where he has since been prosperously engaged in general farming and stock raising. He has been twice married. He married first Mary Bowsher, who was born in Shawnee Township, a daughter of Benjamin Bowsher, whose immigrant ancestor came to this country from Alsace-Lorraine in the eighteenth century, HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 239 locating in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Her paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Bowsher, migrated from Pennsylvania to Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1803, and there redeemed a homestead from its primitive wildness. Their son Benjamin moved to Shawnee Township, Allen County, in 1836, settling in an Indian's cabin. He cleared a tract of land, and was for many years engaged in tilling the soil. There he and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth De Long, reared their thirteen children, all of whom married and settled in that locality, and in that vicinity their 121 grandchildren were born. George Burkhardt's first wife, Mary (Bowsher) Burkhardt, died in 1876, leaving five children, as follows: Charles W., of Shawnee Township ; Ida E., living on the home farm; Franklin A., the special subject of this personal record; W. A., of Lima, manager of the People's Loan Company ; and Mary J., living on the home farm. By his marriage with his second wife, Emma Bowsher, who was a second cousin of his first wife, one child was born, Francis E. of New York City. Acquiring his preliminary education in the district schools and at the Cridersville, Ohio, High School, Franklin A. Burkhardt subsequently continued his studies at the Ohio Northern University at Ada and at Lima College. Embarking upon a professional career, he taught in the district schools three years, when, in 1895, he abandoned the teacher's desk to enter upon an entirely different line of work. Entering the employ of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company, Mr. Burkhardt served as assistant ticket agent three years, and was afterward ticket agent for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company until 1901, when he was made joint agent for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, a responsible position that he filled ably and satisfactorily for five years. From 1906 until 1919 he had charge of traffic of the Ohio electric lines running out of Lima, a position of importance and responsibility that he resigned in October, 1919, when he was elected mayor of Lima. In this capacity Mr. Burkhardt is rendering his fellow citizens efficient and appreciated service, per, forming the many duties devolving upon him with honor to himself and to the credit and satisfaction of his constituents. Mr. Burkhardt has served as president of the Peoples Loan Company and was a director of the Elmer D. Webb Company for many years. Since 1897 he has served as historian of the Big Four Reunion, and in the "History and Genealogy of the Bowsher Family," which was published in 1917, and contains 400 or more pages, much interesting pioneer history may be found. A man of pleasing address and a good speaker, Mr. Burkhardt is often seen on the platform, both as a lecturer and impersonator, and is widely known as an entertainer. He has appeared as a lecturer before the Chamber of Commerce, and has lectured for the Church Brotherhood in Ohio and southern Michigan. An influential member and an elder of the Bethany Lutheran Church, he was national delegate to the Synodical meeting which convened in the City of New York in November, 1918, representing northwestern Ohio, the different Lutheran churches then becoming united. A prominent and active worker in the Young Men's Christian Association, Mr. Burkhardt has served on the Board of Directors many years, at the present time being one of the educational committee, and in that capacity became very much interested in art, and for his sketches in water colors, pastel, crayon and charcoal has received within the past ten years over 100 prizes and premiums in different art contests. He has more than 2,000 volumes in his library, which is the largest private library in Lima, while his collection of rare and old books is the finest of any in northwestern Ohio. He takes quite an interest in games and sports, being an expert bowler at tenpins, and has served as secretary of the Ohio Checker Players and Horse-Shoe Pitchers. He is a prominent member of the Kiwanis Club of Lima. Mr. Burkhardt married, June 16, 1896, Nannie Dearth, who was born near Franklin, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel and Carey Dearth, natives of Pennsylvania, and into their household four children have been born, namely : Ethel Lucille, supervisor of music in the Lima public schools ; Lorene ; Mildred ; and Dorothy. Politically Mr. Burkhardt is a democrat, and in 1895 served as assessor of Shawnee Township. Fraternally he is a member of several Lima organizations, including Lodge No. 91, Knights of Pythias ; Solar Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and Lodge No. 199, Loyal Order of Moose. BENJAMIN ROLLIN DONOVAN. The man who successfully carries on a realty business must have unusual characteristics, for not only is it necessary he know property values and keep abreast of all proposed improvements liable to affect them, but he must also be an excellent judge of human nature and be a superfine salesman. No man of ordinary abilities need expect to make himself felt as a realtor, the competition is too fierce. However, many do achieve a gratifying prosperity in this line, and therefore it is safe to say that the business is of a nature to attract to it those of capabilities that expand with their exercise. Benjamin Rollin -Donovan, of Lima, is one of the constructive citizens of Allen County who is finding congenial and profitable employment for his natural abilities in the real estate field. Mr. Donovan was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, on April 10, 1874, a son of Dorman and Elizabeth (Owen) Donovan, both of whom were born in the same place as their son. Dorman Donovan was a farmer. In 1902 he went to Gibson City, Illinois, where his wife died in 1909, and he joined his son at Lima, Ohio, and there passed away in 1918. Until he was fifteen years old Benjamin Rollin Donovan attended the common schools, and then began working on farms by the month, and was so engaged for two years, during this period laying a foundation for his present solid knowledge relative to farm lands. When he reached the age of seventeen years he went into the lumber woods of West Virginia and spent three years there. His parents having gone to Gibson City, Illinois, Mr. Donovan decided to join them, and until 1902 he was occupied with farming in that vicinity, but then engaged in farming for himself in Ford County, Illinois, leaving it four years later for Trail County, North Dakota. Three years subsequently he came to Lima, and for the first four years of his residence in this city he was very active in the practice of veterinary dentistry. During all of his experiences he had been developing just those qualities which so eminently 240 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY fit him for his present line of business, and when he began handling farm and city property he found his life work. He maintains offices at 204 Holmes Building, and is doing a very large amount of selling and trading in addition to his management of properties. On March 1, 1902, Mr. Donovan was married to Olive Arrowsmith, born in McLean County, Illinois, a daughter of David and Sarah (Hoover) Arrow- smith, natives of Shenandoah County, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Donovan have the following children: Alvin Earl, Estelle A., Benjamin Clyde, Gladys Pearl, Catherine Bernice, Eva Helene, Wilbur, Lucile and Raymond J. A man of strong determination, Mr. Donovan has kept himself from party ties, but can always be relied upon to give an intelligent support to public improvements, for he recognizes their value to a community, and the necessity for them if there is hope of any degree of development. SIDNEY RAY COURTAD. Possessing the energy, intelligence and business ability that is synonymous with success, Sidney Ray Courtad, of Lima, is actively identified with the advancement of the material interests of this part of Allen County, being a member of the firm of Courtad Brothers, real estate dealers and insurance agents. The younger of the two sons of Joseph L. and Rosetta (Moser) Courtad, he was born in Bluffton, Ohio, of Alsatian stock, his paternal great-grandfather having left his native country, Alsace-Lorraine, in 1848, immigrating with his family to Ohio, near Lake Erie, where he spent his remaining days. Martin Courtad, grandfather of Sidney Ray, was a life-long resident of Ohio, and actively interested in the establishment of public enterprises. Brought up in Bluffton, Sidney Ray Courtad attended the public schools, and as soon as old enough to be of use worked out of school hours and Saturdays as a grocery boy until about fourteen years of age, when he secured a better-paying position. Leaving school at the age of sixteen years, he worked in a blacksmith's shop for a while, and later worked in a poultry house for six months. Coming to Lima to live in 1908, he attended the high school three months, after which he was with the Biesel-Wermer Company for ten and a half years, working as a journeyman cigar maker. Giving up that position in 1914, Mr. Courtad was register clerk in the United States Post Office for nine months, and afterwards served as postal clerk. Forming a partnership with his brother, Waldo E. Courtad, in January, 1919, Mr. Courtad established himself in his present business as a member of the firm of Courtad Brothers, which has built up a large city and country trade in real estate, and being equally as successful as fire insurance agents. Mr. Courtad married in 1911 Lucille O. Hill, daughter of Thomas and Ruth Hill, of Lima. He is a member of the Lima Real Estate Board, and both he and his wife are valued members of the First Reformed Church. MATH O. VAN STRONDER is a Doctor of Dental Surgery whose work has commended him to the people of Allen County and Lima during the past seven years. His offices are in the Savings Bank Building at Lima. He is a son of Volney O. and Abbie (Darling) Van Stronder and in the paternal line is of Holland Dutch stock. He had an ancestor who was an early settler and large land owner along the Hudson Bay, in the province of New York. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Darling, came at a very early date to Putnam County, Ohio, secured land from the government, and developed a farm where he spent the rest of his days. Volney O. Van Stronder for some years was a druggist at the southeast corner of the Public Square in Lima, but later retired to the old Darling homestead and died in 1884. He was a Union soldier in the Civil war. His widow is still living at Pandora, Ohio. Dr. Van Stronder was the youngest of three children and was ten months old when his father died. He grew up in a country district, attended district schools at Pandora, graduated from the high school there, and for two terms was a teacher, one term' in Riley Township and another term in Palmer Township of Putnam County. This teaching experience was followed by a commercial course in the Lima Business College, after which for two years he was an employe of the First National Bank of Lima. By that time he had made up his mind and had secured the resources to prepare for a professional career, and from 1906 to 1909 was a student in the Ohio College of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati. Each year he received honorable mention for his proficiency in his studies, and when he graduated it was with the honors in Operative Dentistry. Doctor Van Stronder practiced for five years in his home community of Pandora and in 1913 moved to the larger opportunities of the City of Lima. He has continued post-graduate courses and is widely known in his profession. He is a member of the county and state dental societies, and is treasurer of the Northwestern Ohio Dental Society. Doctor Van Stronder, who has never married, is an independent voter, is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Columbus Grove, Ohio, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ALFRED G. SPEES. In the construction and equipping of modernly built residences and church, school, office and public buildings no more important profession is brought into use than that of the plumber, whose responsibilities are great, and whose problems are ofttimes perplexing and hard to solve. Lima is fortunate in having men especially skilled in that line of industry and prominent among the number is Alfred G. Spees, head of the firm of Spees & Baker, plumbing and heating contractors. He was born in 1883, at Wapakoneta, Ohio, a son of J. R. and Marietta (Brewer) Spees. He comes of German lineage on the paternal side of the family, his great- grand father Spees having immigrated from Germany to Ohio, settling in Auglaize County, where he cleared and improved a farm. Brought up in Lima, Alfred G. Spees attended the public schools until fourteen years of age, when he began working for the local street car company in a minor position, and having been promoted to street car conductor when but sixteen years old held the position two years and three months. The following two years he was salesman in the drapery department of the Lima Dry Goods Company's establishment, and the next two years was a pipe fitter on the passenger coaches of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad. Subsequently locating in Lima, Mr. Spees learned the trade of a plumber and steam fitter with the Lima Plumbing HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 241 and Heating Company, with which he was associated for thirteen years, in the meantime becoming one of the company's stockholders and directors. In March, 1917, Mr. Spees purchased the plumbing and heating business of Victor F. Gonnelli, and managed it alone until September, 1917, when he sold a half interest to Frank E. Baker, now junior member of the firm of Spees & Baker. As general plumbing and heating contractors this firm has since carried on an extensive and remunerative business, having installed the plumbing and heating apparatus in various buildings in and around Allen County, including among others of note the J. B. Wells residence at Waynesfield ; the Leipsic Church of Christ; the U. G. Alden and the J. B. Poling residences in Lima ; the building in which the general store of J. B. Shapiro, of Leipsic, is located ; and had the contract for heating the building of the Bank of Leipsic. Mr. Spees married in 1904 Ruth M. Rice, daughter of Seth E. and Catherine E. (Merritt) Rice, of Ottawa, Ohio, and into their home three children have been born : Myrtle Lenora, Arwilda Lois and James Frederick. Politically Mr. Spees is a staunch republican, and religiously he is a member of the South Side Church of Christ. Fraternally he is a prominent member of Lincoln Court, Tribe of Ben Hur, and in 1918 had the distinction of representing the District of Northwestern Ohio at the National Convention of the Tribe of Ben Hur, which was held in Crawfordsville, Indiana. WILLIAM I. HEATWOLE was one of the first men in Allen County to acquire a practical technical knowledge of automobile operation, and his business experience makes him the oldest man in that industry in the county. He is a senior partner of the firm of Heatwole & Myers, dealers in automobiles and accessories, and proprietors of the well-patronized repair shop and garage at 127-129 East Spring Street in Lima. Mr. Heatwole was born in Sugar Creek Township of Allen County December 12, 1882, the second child and only son of the three children of John R. and Magdaline (Stemen) Heatwole. His people have been in America for many generations, and came to Ohio from Virginia. His parents since retiring from their farm have lived in Lima. The family are members of the Mennonite Church. William I. Heatwole attended the Sandy Point School in Sugar Creek Township until he was about eighteen years of age, and then continued his work on the home farm a year. Coming to Lima, he spent four years learning the automobile trade as a repair man in the garage of W. E. Rudy. The next seven years he was a machinist and driver with the Lima Locomotive Works, spent one year with the Garford Motor Truck Company, three years as truck tester for the Gramm-Bernstein Company, and then engaged in the automobile garage business for himself as a member of the firm of Bowers & Heatwole. Selling his interest, he spent six months in the service and sales department of the Lima Jordan Automobile Company, and on November 1, 1918, became associated with Mr. Myers in the firm of Heatwole & Myers. In 1912. Mr. Heatwole married Miss Anna Cooksey, daughter of Obediah and Clara (McCrary) Cooksey, of Lima. They have one daughter, Melba Cleora, born in 1916. Mr. Heatwole is a democrat, a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, and belongs to the Allen County Auto Trade Association and the Automobile Protective Association. GUY YOUTH NEELY, senior member of the dependable firm of Neely Brothers, 512-514 West High Street, is engaged in the business of auto repairing, and is one of the dependable men of Lima. Both he and his brother are experienced men and give their customers an expert service, which is resulting in such a volume of trade that it has been found necessary to erect a modern brick and steel building. Mr. Neely was born December 14, 1881, a son of Frank and Mary (Morrow) Neely. The family is of Irish and English stock, and its members as a general thing have been interested in agriculture. Born and bred at Lima, Mr. Neely owes his educational training to its public schools, and also his practical knowledge of his business, for he went to work in a carriage shop in the city at the age of twelve years, and continued to give it his spare time until he was eighteen, when he left school and then devoted all of his time to the shop, learning the trade of a carriage painter there and at Allentown, in the vicinity of Lima. Having completed his trade Mr. Neely began working for Palmer & Owen, carriage painters of Lima, remaining with that concern for three years, and then going with Frank Bush, who was in the same line of business, and remaining with him for a year. Mr. Neely then was placed in charge of the paint shop of Owen Brothers, and held that position for nine years. Entering another field of endeavor, he spent two years as mail clerk on the Pennsylvania Railroad, running from Chicago, Illinois, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All of this time he cherished the ambition to have a business of his own, and when he left the railroad he formed a partnership with C. E. Meeks, under the name of Neely & Meeks, on West Spring Street, and for a year the business was carried on at that point, but was then moved to the location now occupied by Neely Brothers. After three years Mr. Neely's brother, Ray Neely, bought Mr. Meeks' interest, and the firm of Neely Brothers came into being, and at the same time the business was expanded to include, in addition to the original carriage painting, woodworking and blacksmithing. In the meanwhile the automobile came into favor, and thoroughly abreast of the times this firm gradually changed the character of their work and now conduct one of the largest automobile repair shops in the city. Employment is given to twenty-seven persons, and their trade extends over a radius of thirty miles outside of Lima. In 1911 Mr. Neely was united in marriage with Margaret Smith, a daughter of Richard Smith, of Lima, whose wife was a Miss Miller before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Neely have two sons, namely: John Robert, and Albert Frank. In politics Mr. Neely is a democrat. While he is fully occupied with the responsibilities of his growing business, he is never too busy to take a public-spirited interest in local affairs, and is ready and willing to support all movements looking toward a further advancement of the city and county, and is especially in favor of the good roads movement. SOL WIESENTHAL. One of the most substantial business men of Lima is Sol Wiesenthal, of Rich- Vol. II-16 242 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY man Brothers Clothing Company of Cleveland, Ohio, a stockholder of the Old National Bank of Lima, a member of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, and interested in many other enterprises and undertakings of moment. He was born at Lima on August 13, 1861, a son of Herman and Sarah (Cohen) Wiesenthal. Herman Wiesenthal came to the United States in young manhood, locating at Lima in 1861, and established himself in a mercantile business he carried on the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1896, at Lima. He and his wife had six children, four sons and two daughters, and Sol Wiesenthal is the third child. Growing up at Lima, Sol Wiesenthal attended its public schools and then early developing commercial instincts he began to make himself useful as a stock and errand boy in the employ of M. P. Sansorge, clothier. His talents soon brought him recognition, and he was made a salesman and remained with this house until he reached his majority, at. which time his father joined him in buying the business, for which they paid $3,500 cash, and gave notes for the balance. In 1882 removal was made to the Cincinnati Building, where the business was conducted under the name of Sol and H. Wiesenthal. Mr. Wiesenthal bought his father's interest in four years, and built up a large city and country trade and became a man of large means, so that in 1914 he decided to retire and sold out. However, he was a man of too active habits to be contented with a life of leisure, and he soon formed connections so as to be the local representative of the retail clothing house of Richman Brothers of Cleveland, Ohio, and is also occupied in looking after his very large realty interests in the city. In 1901 Mr. Wiesenthal was united in marriage with Rose Newman, of Brooklyn, New York, and they have one child, Ruth Newman. In politics a democrat, he stands very high in his party, and was offered by it the nomination for mayor, but declined as he has no inclination to go into public life. He is a man big of heart and brain, and devoted to his native city. Whenever there is any movement on foot designated to be of benefit to it, its promoters know they can call upon Mr. Wiesenthal for a generous contribution. In his business transactions he has always lived up to a high standard of personal probity, and there are few men of Allen County who are held any higher than he by the general public. FRANK E. BAKER. A well known and prosperous plumbing and heating contractor, Frank E. Baker, of Lima, junior member of the firm of Spees & Baker, has been variously employed, and in the many places in which he has resided has always been regarded as a man of integrity and worth, and in the community in which he now lives and labors is held in high respect. A native of Allen County, Ohio, he was born in 1871, in West Cairo, being the descendant of a family that immigrated from Germany to America many generations ago. Hugh Baker, his father, was for many years actively identified with the advancement of the agricultural prosperity of Ohio, and having performed his full share of labor is now living retired from active pursuits at Columbus Grove, Putnam County, this state. His wife, whose maiden name was Elzina Haven, died August 28, 1917. Until ten years of age Frank E. Baker attended the public schools of West Cairo, and the following ten years continued his studies in the rural schools of Monroe Center, Ohio. Then, after taking a business and commercial course in Fostoria, Ohio, he worked for a season in West Cairo, being employed in the brick and tile works of G. Jennings. Going from there to Townwood, Putnam County, he was there similarly employed for two years. Moving to Leipsic, Ohio, he was variously employed, for three years having worked in a stave factory. Making a change of residence and occupation, Mr. Baker was for two years associated with the Ottawa Roofing & Tile Company at Ottawa. Ohio, having charge of the company's yards. Coming to Lima in 1893, he was employed by the National Roofing & Tile Company eight years, and during the ensuing four years was superintendent of its affairs. He then spent a year in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as yard superintendent for the Fort Wayne Brick Company, and then for a year and a half was superintendent of the Murray Roofing & Tile Company at Cloverport, Kentucky. Returning to Lima in 1917, he purchased a half interest in the firm with which he is now associated, and since September, 1917, has carried on a thriving business as a plumbing and heating contractor, the firm of Spees & Baker, of which he is a member, having built up an extensive patronage in Lima and vicinity. Mr. Baker has been twice married. In 1892 he married Cora D. Wallen, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Shafer) Wallen, of Belmore, Ohio. She died in 1904, leaving three children, as follows: Mrs. Ford Warren, of Leipsic, who has two children, a son and a daughter ; Charles O., who enlisted for service in the World war, in Company M, One Hundred and Forty-Fifth United States Infantry, and died at Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama, in January, 1918; and Helen Elizabeth, living at home. Mr. Baker married in 1906 Dora E. Rice, who is a daughter of Seth E. and Catherine (Merritt) Rice, and a sister of the wife of his partner, Alfred G. Specs. Five children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Baker, namely: Eugene Lamar, born in 1908 ; Frank Owen, born in 1910; Bernardino Idona, born in 1912; Bernice Hope, born in 1914, died at the age of two months; and Mary Frances, born in 1919. In his political affiliations Mr. Baker is a sound Republican, but has never been an aspirant for official honors. Fraternally he is identified by membership with three Lima organizations, belonging to the Tribe of Ben Hur, to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Knights of the Maccabees. Religiously he is a valued member of the First United Brethren Church. HAROLD PIERSON. All occupations do not offer equal chances of success, but each one has its advantages and disadvantages, and these are more evenly balanced than is generally supposed. It is impossible to formulate any exact rules to govern every man's conduct. Time, locality, discoveries, inventions, political and social changes, are ever affecting the prospects of trades and professions. However, there are certain fundamental principles upon which ultimate success may be definitely built, among them being a decided natural bent in any one direction, sterling integrity of character, and an aptitude for meeting the demands of a trade, all of which will HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 243 work out for leadership if properly directed. Energy, adaptability, perseverance and tact must also be added, and the inborn power of intelligence brought to bear upon the everyday affairs if the man in question seeks to rise above those with whom he is associated. Harold Pierson, of Elida, senior member of the firm of Fry & Pierson, dealers in auto accessories and repairers of automobiles, is one of the successful business men of Allen County, to whom the above applies very closely. Harold Pierson was born on a farm near Elida February 3, 1892, a son of J. E. and Margaret Anderson, farmIng people of English stock, established in Allen County during its pioneer period. J. E. Pierson owns and operates 140 acres of land. Of lhe two children born to him and his wife, Harold is the younger. He attended the public schools of Elida, and was graduated from its high school in 1911, following which he was engaged in work on the homestead until he was twenty-three years old. At that time he went to Lima and for two years was in the employ of the Gar ford Truck Company of that city as auto inspector, and learned with them the trade of an auto mechanic. Returning to Elida at the expiration of that period, he went into business on his own account in partnership with Glenn Fry, under the name of Fry & Pierson, and they have built up a splendid trade throughout a territory embracing ten miles, and are recognized as expert workmen and nice people with whom to do business. In 1915 Mr. Pierson was married to Freda Mors- man, a daughter of Frank and Mary (Keller) Morsman, of Elida, and they have one son, Wayne Orlo. Mr. Pierson is a democrat. He belongs to Elida Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The Methodist Episcopal Church holds his membership. Still a young man in the very prime of life, Mr. Pierson is fortunate in having already so firmly established himself in his own business, and at the same time won appreciation as a man from his fellow citizens. JEHU EDGAR JOHN. During the past century some of the most sterling citizens and active business men of the Elida community have been members of the John family. One of them is Jehu Edgar John, whose interests have included a wide range—farming, retail and wholesale meat business, grain dealing and other enterprises. Mr. John is now practically retired from business and still lives at Elida. He was born at Elida in 1864, son of Jesse J. and Mary (Roush) John. He is of Quaker Welsh ancestry, and is descended from a Welshman who came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania and inverted his name, making it Griffith John instead of John Griffrth. The grandfather of Mr. John was a surveyor and one of the pioneer farmers of Northwestern Ohio. Jehu Edgar John attended the public schools of his native town to the age of seventeen, and while in school and until his marriage his energies were employed on the old homestead farm, a portion of which was within the city limits of Elida. In 1883 Mr. John married Emma Myers, daughter of Daniel and Rebecca (Spangler) Myers, of Elida. Three children were born to their marriage, one of whom, Harold, died in 1892, at the age of eight years, and the only one now living is Lena, Mrs. Irvin Sherrick, of Elida. Following his marriage Mr. John was employed for four years and eight months as a Pennsylvania Railroad section hand. For another two years he was foreman in the saw mill of Brenneman & Steman. Hard work brought about ill health and for three years he was practically an invalid. On resuming business he bought the only meat market at Elida, conducted it five years, did a wholesale butcher business, and after selling his shop continued as a leading livestock buyer for about twenty years. Mr. John made most of his money in the livestock business. For a number of years he was associated with his brother, C. E. John, under the firm name of John Brothers, owners and operators of the grain elevator at Lafayette, Ohio. Mr. John was also in the wholesale hay and grain business for several years. Since September, 1919, he has considered himself practically retired from business responsibilities. However, he is a stockholder in the Farmers Bank of Elida and the Elida Equity Exchange Elevator. In politics he votes as a republican, and at one time was defeated by a small margin as candidate for director of the Allen County Infirmary. He is affiliated with Elida Lodge No. 818 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. JOHN W. COTNER. From the active interests of his farm a mile and three-quarters north of Kemp John W. Cotner has extended his helpful enterprise to some of the important business and civic undertakings of his locality. He is a man of worth and fine character, and widely known over Allen County. Mr. Cotner was born in Shawnee Township of Allen County June 12, 1861, a son of Thomas and Sarah (Silver) Cotner. His father was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1831 and his mother in Stark County, Ohio, in 1835. The Cotner family when they left Southwestern Pennsylvania first established a home in Tuscarawas County, in 1845 came to Allen County and settled on Sugar Creek. In that then pioneer locality Thomas Cotner grew to manhood. He married in Stark County Miss Sarah Silver who had grown up there. After his marriage he bought thirty-five acres at the northwest corner of the Reserve, but a year or two later traded this for fifty-three acres and bought an additional forty acres, constituting a farm which with the improvements he added made him a comfortable home and source of livelihood the rest of his years. Both parents were active in church and the father was a republican. They were the parents of seven children, and the five still living are John W.; Clara, wife of S. D. Carr, of 800 West Kibby Street, Lima ; William, a farmer in Colorado ; 011ie, wife of William Swartz, of Lima ; and Charles, a farmer in Shawnee Township. John W. Cotner when one year old accompanied the family to Amanda Township, and in that locality he grew up, acquiring a district school education. supplemented by a course at Valparaiso Normal in Indiana. For one term he taught in Sugar Creek Township, but his chief work for fifteen years was at the carpenter's trade. While working as a carpenter he was in Springfield, Illinois, for some time and there met Miss Helena Schlitt, a native of that city. They were married March 22, 1899, and to their marriage were born two children: Herman, 244 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY who is a graduate of the Lima High School and is now a student in the Ohio State University, and Ruth, still in high school. The family are members of the Lutheran Church at Elida and Mr. Cotner is a republican. Besides looking after his farm he is one of the directors of the Farmers Equity Exchange, is secretary and treasurer and director of the Farmers Bank of Elida, and is also president of the Elida Mutual Telephone Company. JUDGE FRED C. BECKER is now in his second term as probate judge of Allen County, is a former mayor of the City of Lima, and for several years was actively associated in law practice with his father, the Becker name having been prominent in legal circles in Allen County for over forty-five years. Judge Becker was born at Lima September 18, 1875, son of M. L. and Mary J. (Fenstermaker) Becker. His parents were natives of Trumbull County, Ohio, where they were married. The paternal grandparents were Fred C. and Mary (Everett) Becker, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Mahoning County, Ohio. The maternal grandparents were Adam and Eliza (Schoenberger) Fenstermaker, natives of. Pennsylvania. M. L. Becker located at Lima about 1872, but subsequently returned to Trumbull County for his wife. Both are still living in Lima. M. L. Becker served many years as justice of the peace and was also on the Common Pleas Bench. Judge Becker, only child of his parents, acquired his high school education at Lima and graduated in law from the Western Reserve University in 1897. He returned to Lima to help his father in the law, and they were associated in partnership until the fall of 1912, when Fred Becker was elected probate judge. He has been very successful in handling the business of his office and has effected many adjustments of difficult cases satisfactory to all parties. He was re-elected and is now serving his second term. He served as mayor of Lima from 1908 to 1909. Judge Becker is a democrat and is a member of Lima Lodge No. 54 of the Elks, Loyal Order of Moose No. 199, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He married in November, 1904, Caroline Jones. Mrs. Becker was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, daughter of Emory and Mary (Rakestraw) Jones. ANTHONY PETER ZENDER. A gifted and accomplished musician, Anthony Peter Zender, of Lima, was endowed by nature not only with artistic talent of a high order, but with excellent business ability and energy, and as proprietor of a finely equipped music store on North Main Street he is carrying on a thriving business, handling sheet music and musical instruments of all kinds and descriptions. A native of Ohio, he was born in 1864, on a farm in Big Spring Township, Seneca County, of German ancestry. His father, the late Minert Zender, was born in Baden, Germany, and there acquired his education. As a young man he immigrated to the United States, the land of plenty. Locating in Seneca County, Ohio, he subsequently bought a tract of land, and on the farm which he improved spent the remainder of his days, dying in 1866. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Wagner, survived him, passing away in 1878. They were the parents of nine children, Anthony P., the subject of this brief sketch, being the youngest. Obtaining his preliminary education in the rural schools of Seneca County, Anthony Peter Zender continued his studies at Saint Vincent's College for a time, paying especial attention while there to music. Going then to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, he took a business course and also a musical course, developing his talent as a violinist. Subsequently locating in Kenton, Ohio, he taught music there for sixteen years, giving lessons on the violin and other stringed instruments, and organized the Second Regimental Band, of which he was leader for many years. In 1889 he there established a music store, and likewise engaged in the manufacture of cigars for the wholesale trade, employing his musicians as cigar makers. Coming from there to Lima in 1906, Mr. Zender established the "Tony Zender Cigar Factory" on North Main Street, and managed it until 1914, when he sold it. He had previously organized the Lima City Band, and in 1907 had bought the Starr Piano Company's store on West High Street. Succeeding well in the management of his affairs, Mr. Zender found that his business required more commodious quarters, and in 1910 moved to North Market Street, and in 1916 assumed possession of his present place of business on North Main Street, where he has the largest store of the kind in the city. Mr. Zender, who holds a distinguished position among the leading musicians of Allen County, inherits in a large measure his musical tastes and talent from his father, who was a noted violin and clarinet player in the fatherland. In 1885 Mr. Zender was united in marriage with Margaret Sullivan, of Kenton, Ohio, and of their union two children were born, Marguerite Mary and Marie. The death of Marie in 1914, when but eighteen years of age, was a grievous loss to her family and many friends. Marguerite Mary, a soprano singer of note, studied voice culture in New York City with Herbert Witherspoon, and laler, with her sister, Marie, studied for the dramatic profession in Albany, New York. She was later associated with the De Wolf Hopper Company in the presentation of the "Better Ole" play, and was the leading woman of Victor Herbert's musical comedy "Angel Face" and is now with George M. Cohan's musical comedy "Mary." Politically Mr. Zender is a democrat in national affairs, but in city matters votes without regard to party lines. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Religiously he is a valued member of Saint John's Catholic Church, in which he was for several years tenor singer in the choir, and in which his daughter Marguerite formerly sang. FRANK P. SHOBE. Ever since its incorporation Allen County has been noted for its phenomenal development, due partly to the fertility of its land, but more particularly to the energetic spirit and progressiveness of its agriculturists. Especially has this growth and development been apparent in great cultural counties of Ohio. One who has contributed strides and taken its place among the leading agri- his share to this advancement is Frank P. Shobe, who is the owner of a handsome and valuable property lying in section 26, Amanda Township. HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 245 Mr. Shobe was born on the farm which he now owns and operates, December 19, 1852, a son of Samuel and Mary (Gracy) Shobe, natives of Ross County, Ohio, the former born in 1831 and the latter in 1835. They were reared in their native county and came to Allen County during the early '50s, the balance of their lives being passed here in agricultural pursuits on their Amanda Township property. They were honorable and God-fearing people and faithful church members, and were highly esteemed because of their many good qualities. Mr. Shobe was a democrat. He and his worthy wife were the parents of thirteen children, seven of whom are living: Harriet E., now Mrs. McSane of Preble County Ohio ; Rachael J., who is the wife of John Umbaugh of Allen County ; Frank P.; Jacob W., a farmer of Shawnee Township, Allen County ; Cyrus D., of Fulton County, Indiana ; Harvey, of Lima, Ohio ; and Martha, the wife of Lewis Crow, of Jackson Township, Allen County. Frank P. Shobe was given the advantages of attendance at the district schools of Amanda Township and was reared to agricultural pursuits on the farm which he now occupies and which has been his home always. At the time of his marriage he and his wife took up their residence in the little building that had formerly served as the schoolhouse which he attended in his youth, but since then their circumstances have altered for the better, and at present they occupy a commodious and comfortable home, which is surrounded by other substantial farm buildings. The home property now consists of 222 acres, which are devoted to the raising of the standard crops of the locality and the breeding of good grades of cattle, hogs and horses, and the improvements and general prosperity of this estate speak well for Mr. Shobe's management and agricultural ability. Mr. Shobe's reputation in business circles is an excellent one, and he is a stockholder in the Equity Union Elevator at Elida. He is a democrat in his political allegiance, and Mrs. Shobe is a devout member of the Christian Union Church. On January 7, 1877, Mr. Shobe was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Bowers, who was born in Amanda Township, Allen County, March 4, 1853, a daughter of William and Rebecca (Barnt) Bowers, the former a native of Fayette County, Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were married in Allen County, where they passed their lives as agriculturists and were highly respected by their neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Shobe are the parents of four children: William L., engaged in farming in Amanda Township, who married Helen Fry; Ernest G., a resident of Lima, who married Carrie Miller ; Owen, a graduate in pharmacy and now a chemist in Cleveland, who married Edna Owen of that city; and Bertha, the wife of Enos Fosnaught, a farmer of Allen County. JAMES B. PETERS. The commercial interests of Kemp have grown consistently during the past several decades and the credit for this desirable state of affairs may be given to the business men who have centered their activities here and whose energy and modern methods have put the town on a sound financial basis, while co-operating with local citizens in looking after community interests. It may be said of James B. Peters, proprietor of the Peters Elevator at Kemp, that he has combined the qualities of citizen and business man into a happy whole that is worthy of emulation. Mr. Peters was born in American Township, Allen County, Ohio, May 15, 1869, a son of William S, and Mary (Brand) Peters. His father was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, August 16, 1842, and his mother in German (now American) Township, Allen County, August 13, 1848. Mr. Peters was reared in his home community and enlisted in May, 1861, in Company F, Thirteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued to serve with the Union forces until receiving his honorable discharge on February 9, 1865, a part of this time, two years, being in the marine service, on the Mississippi River. At the close of the war he returned to St. Paul, Pick- away County, but soon thereafter came to Allen County, Ohio, where he married and settled on a farm in American Township. In 1876 he came to his present property in Amanda Township, where he is now living in retirement. Mr. Peters is a member of Armstrong Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lima ; and of Deep Cut Lodge No. 311, Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Spencerville, Ohio, while he and his wife were formerly members of the Rebekahs. He is a republican in politics and Mrs. Peters belongs to the United Brethren Church. They were parents of six children : James B.; Armitta, the wife of J. N. Cremean of Florence, Colorado ; Daisy, the wife of T. J. Ludwig of Lafayette, Ohio ; Daisy's twin, Myrtle, the wife of I. M. Cochran, professor in a college at Northfield, Minnesota ; Harley B., of Marlow, Oklahoma ; and Clyde B., who is engaged in farming near Lawton, Oklahoma. James B. Peters was reared on the home farm and received his education through attendance at the district schools, two years of study at high school, and instruction under Prof. John Davison. With this preparation, he entered upon a career as a teacher, a vocation which he followed in the public schools of Allen, County for thirteen years, after which he settled down to farming in Amanda Township. While he still has large and important farming interests, since 1915 Mr. Peters has devoted himself principally to operating his elevator, which he built at Kemp in 1915. He has built up an excellent patronage in fencing, coal, tile and other commodities connected with a first-class modern elevator business, and in addition is a stockholder in the Elida Mutual Telephone Company and in the Lima Coal Company. His business standing is high and he is generally accounted one of the substantial men of his community. In politics he is a republican, but takes only a good citizen's interest in political affairs. Fraternally he is affiliated with Acadia Lodge No. 306, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Deep Cut Lodge No. 311, Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Spencerville. Mr. Peters is a pillar of Bethel Christian Union Church, where he has been superintendent of the Sunday school since 1912, a member of the Board of Trustees and secretary and treasurer of the board. He is also an honorary member of the United Brethren Church at Kemp and is serving as secretary and treasurer of the Church Board of Trustees. On March 27, 1895, Mr. Peters married Miss Fannie Odum, who was born in Marion Township, Allen County, May 17, 1870, and following their marriage they settled on Mr. Peters' property in section 35 Amanda Township. On January 9, 1903, was born 246 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY their daughter, Beatrice A., a graduate of Lima High School, class of 1920, who is now attending Ohio Wesleyan College at Delaware, Ohio. HENRY SWARTZ. Allen County has its full quota of professional men, manufacturers and merchants, but particularly has it been noted for the high standard set by its agriculturists, whose energy and enterprise during the past several decades, have made this part of the state one of the garden spots of the Miami Valley. One of the progressive and enterprising agriculturists who has played his role in this development and advancement is Henry Swartz, the owner of a well-cultivated property in section 25, Amanda Township. Mr. Swartz was born in this township, January 28, 1857, a son of Henry and Catherine (Day) Swartz, natives of Germany. The parents of Mr. Swartz were educated, reared and married in their native land, and shortly after the latter event emigrated to the United States and settled on a farm in Amanda Township, Allen County, where they spent some years. Eventually they disposed of this property and went to Van Wert County, Ohio, where they passed the remaining years of their lives. They were consistent members and liberal supporters of the Christian Union Church, in which Mr. Swartz served as a member of the Board of Trustees. Of their seven children, six are living : Catherine, the wife of Fred Newbreicht of Kansas ; Christina, the wife of Squire Kohn; John, engaged in farming in Amanda Township ; Margaret, the wife of Leslie Johnson ; Henry; Curtis, whose death occurred in 1920; and Charles, a farmer in Van Wert County. Henry Swartz was reared on the home farms in Allen and Van Wert counties, where he attended the district schools and remained under the parental roof in the latter county until he was past twenty-one years of age, at which time he returned to Allen County and settled on the farm which he now occupies in section 25, Amanda Township. When he located on this property it was all in the woods, but industrious work gradually brought it to a state where it could be cultivated, and today it is one of the highly productive properties of this part of the county. Mr. Swartz owns 136 acres, upon which he carries on general farming, raising the standard crops and paying some attention to the raising of live stock. He has good buildings and substantial improvements and is justly accounted one of the well-to-do men of his community. A democrat in politics, he has served in several township offices, in which he has given a good account of his executive capacity. In 1877 Mr. Swartz was united in marriage with Miss Patience Allen. who was born in Allen County, and received a public school education. Three children have been born to them: Rosa, who is the wife of Cil Shoemaker and resides at Delphos, Ohio ; William D., who is his father's assistant on the home farm ; and Mary E., who is unmarried and resides with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Swartz are members of the Christian Union Church, which they support liberally. They are highly regarded in their community, where they have numerous appreciative friends. EDWIN DANA WENTWORTH. Thoroughly conversant with every branch of electrical engineering, Edwin Dana Wentworth of Lima, president of the Wentworth-Dean Electrical Company, Incorporated, holds a position of prominence and influence as an electrical contractor, and in the solving of problems arising in his professional work his advice is always gladly welcomed and invariably needed. A son of Edwin A. Wentworth, he was born in 1874 in Irving, Marshall County, Kansas, of English ancestry. His grandfather, Hiram H. Wentworth, whose ancestors immigrated from Wadsworth, England, to New England, was born and reared in Providence, Rhode Island, where during his earlier life he was engaged in the manufacture of cotton print goods. Migrating to Kansas in 1855, he homesteaded in Douglas County, taking up land now included in the present site of the City of Topeka, and was there for many years engaged in farming and blacksmithing. Subsequently moving with his wife and four grown children to Marshall County, Kansas, both he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives in Irving, that county, her death occurring in 1881 and his in 1889. The youngest child of the parental household, Edwin A. Wentworth, was educated in the public schools of Topeka, Kansas. He began life for himself at the age of sixteen years, always keeping busily employed, for many years working for the state, and later being in the rural mail service as a Government employe. Having accomplished a satisfactory work, he is now living retired at Fort Dodge, Kansas. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Douglas, died in 1897, leaving six children, four daughters and two sons. Educated in the public schools of his native state, Edwin Dana Wentworth began the study of elec- trical engineering at the age of seventeen years, berng employed in different firms. In the meantime he took a course in that study at the International Correspondence Schools at Scranton, Pennsylvania, receiving his diploma in 1892. Continuing work as an electrical engineer, he still further perfected his knowledge of electrical engineering by taking a course of study at the American School of Correspondence in Chicago, Illinois, receiving his diploma from there in 1907. During the earlier part of his active career Mr. Wentworth was electrical engineer for a construction company at Buffalo, New York, for thirteen years, gaining valuable experience and knowledge. Coming to Lima in 1906, he started in business as an electrical contractor with W. O. Dean, becoming head of the firm of Wentworth & Dean, which was incorporated in 1908, Mr. Wentworth being made president of the concern, which has established a large and lucrative business, extending within a radius of 200 miles in any direction. Mr. Wentworth married in 1897 Margaret Gille, daughter of Henry Gille, of Gratiot, Wisconsin, and they have three children, Edwin Henry, Ethel Reid and Ruth Edna. In his political relations Mr. Wentworth is a sound republican. Fraternally he is a member of Atchison, Kansas, Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; of the Loyal Order of Moose; of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 54, of Lima. JAMES BAXTER has lived a career as a substantial and highly respected farmer and business man in that locality of Allen County where he was born and reared. The farm which he has cultivated many HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 247 years and where he has his home is in Amanda Township, section 23, on rural route No. 6, nine miles southeast of Delphos. Mr. Baxter was born in Amanda Township October 19, 1859, son of Samuel and Rachel (Cremean) Baxter. These are Allen County family names known from pioneer days. Both parents were born in Allen County. Samuel Baxter grew up on the farm where he was born in Amanda Township, acquired a common school education, and a few years after his marriage he left home to enlist in response to the call for patriotic duty in Company I of the Thirty-Fourth Ohio Infantry. He was in the service through many campaigns and at the battle of Winchester, Virginia, in 1864, met death like a true soldier. At that time he was corporal of his company. Politically he was a democrat, and he and his wife were Methodists. He was the father of three children : Mary, who died in infancy; James, and Elizabeth, wife of James Cochran of Marion Township. The widowed mother married for her second husband George W. Moore, but the only child of their marriage, John, is now deceased. James Baxter was only five years old when his father died. He grew up on the farm with his mother, attended common schools, and the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. For several years he was a teacher in Allen County and left the school room to take up farming. In July, 1883, he married Clara McBride, daughter of Levi and Drusilla (Daugherty) McBride. After his marriage Mr. Baxter bought a farm in Amanda Township, but eventually sold that and bought his present place, where he owns seventy well cultivated acres. He has always raised some stock. and his interests outside the farm are represented as a stockholder in the Farmers Equity Elevator at Elida. He has also served as township clerk of Amanda and is a democrat in his political affiliations. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter have three sons who have made splendid progress in individual careers of their own. The oldest, Charles W., lives in Marion Township and married Clona Counsellor. The second son, Chester C., who married Emma Washington, graduated in the scientific course from the Ohio Northern University at Ada, for several years was employed in the Government patent office at Washington and while there graduated from the law department of George Washington University, and is now connected with the legal department of the Victor Talking Machine Company as assistant counsel. Edward L., the third son, graduated from Otterbein University, also took post-graduate work in Columbia University, and is now superintendent of schools at Westerville, Ohio. He married Gertrude Post, a daughter of Charles C. Post. FRED F. MILLER. The farming element is very strong in Allen County, for this is essentially an agricultural locality, both soil and climate contributing to its qualifications for the successful promotion of farming and stock raising interests. Of the younger generation of agriculturists who have accepted the favorable conditions found here and have achieved success thereby, one whose accomplishments are worthy of mention is Fred F. Miller, whose well-improved and highly cultivated property is located in section 25, Amanda Township, two miles west and two miles south of Elida, on rural route No. 2. Mr. Miller was born in Amanda Township, February 2, 1890, a son of John H. and Clara E. (Sherrick) Miller, and a grandson of Fielding and Elizabeth (Strayer) Miller, natives of Fairfield County, where they were married, subsequently residents of Hancock County and finally pioneers of Allen County. Upon the arrival of the grandparents, Fielding Miller entered land from the United States Government in Amanda Township, where he continued to carry on farming during the rest of his life. He was the father of nine children: Mary J., Sarah A., Samuel S., Nancy E., William, Wesley, John H., Lauretta and Alice Elizabeth. Of these four are living. John H. Miller was born in Amanda Township, Allen County, where he received a common school education and was reared to the pursuits of farming. He has passed his life in the vocation to which he was reared and through industry and good management has made a success of his career, being accounted one of the substantial men of his community. He and his wife have had four children, of whom three are living: Noah C., who married Callie Strayer and is farming in Amanda Township ; Fred F., and Alice, who is unmarried and makes her home with her parents on the farm. Fred F. Miller is indebted to the district schools of Amanda Township and the Lima Business College for his educational training. His first experience other than that gained on the home farm, was obtained through his employment in the oil fields, where he worked for two years, following which he took up farming as his life work. At the present time he is the owner of a productive and modernly improved property of eighty acres, which he is cultivating in a way that makes it pay him well for his labors and is a stockholder in the Elida Equity Union Elevator and the Elida Telephone Company. He is a republican in his political affiliation and he and Mrs. Miller belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Zion. In addition to general farming he is engaged to some extent in stock raising, and in both directions is considered capable and well informed. On November 25, 1911, Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Henrietta L. Cremeau, who was born in Allen County, a daughter of Stephen Cremeau of Amanda Township, and to this union there have come two children : John C., born October 8, 1913, and Dorothy E., born January 3, 1917. THOMAS J. HAVERSTICK. A native son of Allen County Thomas J. Haverstick has been identified with the county's agricultural and live stock interests for over forty years. As a youth he began buying stock and in that business has gained a wide range of acquaintance. Mr. Haverstick owns a well improved farm in Amanda Township on rural route No. 2 out of Elida, five miles southwest of that town. He was born in Delphos December 24, 1856, son of Martin N. and Mary J. (Russell) Haverstick. His mother was one of the first white children born in Amanda Township. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Allen County when a young man, learned the miller's trade and for a time was in business for himself at Dayton until he met financial misfortune. Returning to Spencerville he was head miller of the local establishment and later was employed in mills at Delphos. He finally retired to 248 - HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY a farm in Amanda Township and spent the rest of his life in the agricultural community. He was a man of fine principles and thoroughly esteemed all over Allen County. Politically he voted as a republican. Martin Haverstick and wife had six children, four of whom are still living: Savannah, wife of James Sherrick; Thomas J.; Mattie E., and Netta L., twins, the former the wife of George W. Strayer and the latter unmarried. Thomas J. Haverstick grew up in Amanda Township, had a common school education and began life for himself as a stock buyer at the age of twenty- one. In 1884 he married Miss Gertrude Brooks, who was born in Iowa but was reared in Allen County. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Haverstick located in Amanda Township and have had their home here for over thirty-five years. Mr. Haverstick is a republican voter. He and his wife have ten living children named Ethel, Elizabeth, Nellie, Allen, Mary, Anna, Hazel, Iva, Edward and Jennie. FRANK M. LEECH. While American cities may never be able to show to the world a new Rheims Cathedral, there is no reason to believe that the soul of architectural art does not dwell here, there being thousands of examples of magnificent designing and building from one end of the country to the other. In other lands and in older times great structures were reared, the beauty of which attract the eye, but it is in America that the palaces that spread over the land and reach toward the sky not only have beauty of design but of utility also and possess every comfort that modern life demands. Lima has many beautiful buildings of this class, schools, churches, residences and business blocks, and the majority of these have been designed by a prominent firm of architects of this city, Leech & Leech, the senior member of which is Frank M. Leech, well known in many city activities. Frank M. Leech was born at Elida in Allen County, Ohio, August 5, 1866, the eldest of five children born to William F. and Mary (Ritenour) Leech, all of whom survive. The family is of Scotch-Irish stock and was founded in America by the great-grandfather. Jesse Leech, the grandfather, was probably the first of the family to own land in Allen County, and he died on his farm near Elida, in which city William F. Leech later became a building contractor. The family came to Lima in 1880, and the father died in this city in 1910, the mother having passed away January 12, 1898. They were people of worth, quiet and unpretentious, but influential in ways that left kind memories behind them. Frank M. Leech attended the public schools at Elida and the high school at Lima for two years. When sixteen years old he started as an apprentice under his father to the carpenter's trade, and with so competent an instructor learned it very thor oughly. Afterward he worked with other carpenters and then went into the carpenter and building business for himself. He was twenty-six years old when he decided to perfect his architectural knowledge, which in his work as a builder he had frequently to bring into play because of poor designs furnished him by others. Architecture and building are allied trades in a way, but the real architect has designing talent that the builder never claims. When Mr. Leech began the study of his profession with the idea of devoting himself to it entirely he found a wide field to cover, but perseverance and talent soon enabled him to make headway, and in 1897 he became associated with his brother, Charles M. Leech, also an architect, under the firm name of Leech & Leech. Charles M. Leech passed away January 27, 1921. Their work includes plans for city and country homes, office buildings, steel and reinforced concrete construction structures for every purpose and especially schools and churches. The Whittier and Garfield schoolhouses are examples of perfect modern school structure designing, and they filled contracts for various types of buildings within a radius of fifty miles in the country. Mr. Leech devotes much of his time to his profession but has additional financial interests. In early manhood Mr. Leech was united in marriage to Miss Mary T. Hursh, who is a daughter of John and Clara M. (Stewart) Hursh, of Mansfield, Ohio, and they have two children, Clara M. and Marjorie P. The latter is the wife of John J. Paine, who is chief chemist of the Carnegie Steel Company at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Leech is a man who has always recognized political responsibility. During the active period of that branch of the republican party dominated by the progressive party he was a member of the state and county executive committees, and still cherishes the high standards of citizenship demanded by its noble founder. In the critical times brought about by the great war and its resulting misunderstandings a steady man of firm business standing, unselfish aims and true Americanism was a most valuable asset to any organization. He belongs to the order of Elks and also the order of Moose, is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, is a factor in the Chamber of Commerce, is an enthusiastic promoter of the Lima Auto Club and is a valued member of lhe Kiwanis Club. With his family he belongs lo Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, Lima. EDNA. D. HURLEY. The constantly growing eagerness of women to attain positions in the business world formerly occupied only by members of the sterner sex has resulted in the formation of a number of enterprises the success of which has exemplified without the question of a doubt the entire fitness of women to compete effectively with men in the marts of commerce and trade. It is not unnatural to find women in the business ranks managing ventures associated with the finer things of life, but it is not so common to find them identified with enterprises whose activities concern the handling of the coarser necessities of the world. Yet it is in the latter field that Miss Edna D. Hurley, of the Hurley-Buchholtz Company, of Lima, has established a recognized position for herself in the business world, this concern being a wholesale dealer in grain, hay and feed. Miss Hurley was born on a farm in Clinton County, Ohio, a daughter of W. A. and Emma (Oglesbee) Hurley. She was educated in the country schools and having had some musical training and being impatient to make her own way in lhe world, she left the parental roof and for one year earned her livelihood by giving piano lessons. In this field of endeavor, however, she did not feel that she was making sufficient progress, and when the opportunity offered accepted a position with the Pollock Grain Company at Middle Point, Ohio, where she filled the positions of bookkeeper and HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY - 249 stenographer, accomplishments which she learned while performing her office duties. During the nine years in which she was connected with this concern she applied herself assiduously to learning every detail of the grain business. Eventually she felt herself fully equipped in this direction, and June 1, 1916, came to Lima, where with Miss Emma Buchholtz she founded the Hurley-Buchholtz Company, wholesale dealers in hay, grain and feed, with offices at 511-12 Citizens Building and a grain elevator at West Cairo, Ohio. This concern, under capable management, met with almost immediate success, and since its inception its operations have been increasing constantly in scope and importance. At the present time the Hurley-Buchholtz Company buys its product all over northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana, and ships to points throughout the east and south. The firm enjoys an excellent commercial rating and its members have the entire confidence and unquestioned esteem of their fellow members in the trade. Miss Hurley is a member of the National Hay Association, the conventions of which she atetnds regularly, keeping herself well posted in all matters pertaining to the trade and market. She is a member of the Pythian Sisters at Middle Point, Ohio, and of the Trinity Methodist Church at Lima. ESTEY C. YINGLING, M. D. In the medical circles of Allen County Dr. Estey C. Yingling has attained merited distinction as a specialist in the treatment and cure of affections of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Still a young man, with his best years before him, his career has been one of steady and consistent progress, and at Lima, where he has been engaged in practice since 1917, with the exception of the time spent in military service, he has gained public confidence and the esteem of his fellow practitioners. Doctor Yingling was born January 27, 1881, in McKean County, Pennsylvania, a son of W. W. and Amanda M. (Baker) Yingling. He comes of sturdy Pennsylvania Dutch and Welsh stock and of agricultural forebears, and was reared in the oil field region of the Keystone State, where his father had a small farm. W. W. Yingling died April 1, 1920, while his widow still survives as a resident of Celina, Ohio. After attending the graded schools of Lima, Ohio, and Logansport, Indiana, and the high school at Celina, Estey C. Yingling entered Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1898. He took the freshman course only, then entering upon his professional studies at Starling Medical College, Columbus, in the fall of 1900. He was graduated form that institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1906, and since that time has pursued a post-graduate course at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Infirmary, New York City, and two courses at St. Bartholomew Clinic, also in New York. Following his graduation from Starling Medical College, Doctor Yingling spent one year as interne at St. Francis Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, then beginning the practice of his profession at Beaver Dam, Ohio, where he was located from 1907 to 1917. In the latter year he changed his field of activity to Lima, and was engaged in practice until August, 1918, when he enlisted in the United States Army Medical Corps at Columbus, and was sent to Camp Greenleaf, Chickamauga Park, where he was assigned to the First Battalion, remaining eight weeks. Doctor Yingling was then assigned to detached service and went to Detroit, where he was identified. with the department of air craft production, and continued to be so engaged until April 1, 1919, when he received his honorable discharge. Returning then to Lima, he resumed his practice as a specialist in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, with offices in the Eilerman Building. His practice has shown a gratifying increase both in size and importance, and he is meritedly numbered among the rising men of his department of the medical profession. In 1903 Doctor Yingling was united in marriage with, Miss Amy Clark of Celina, Ohio, daughter of John and Sarah (Patterson) Clark, and of this union there have been born two children : Walter E. and Amy Martha. Doctor and Mrs. Yingling are consistent members of the Methodist Church. His professional connections include membership in the Allen County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association. Fraternally he is a member of the Masons and the Elks, and in politics he is inclined to favor the candidates of republicanism, although not strictly bound by party lines. ROBERT RAY WAGENMAN, Possessing excellent business judgment and discrimination, Robert Ray Wagenman, manager of the Ottawa Paint Company, is actively identified with the promotion of the mercantile interests of Lima, where he is carrying on a large and lucrative trade. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in 1883 near Greenville, Mercer County, a son of William and Eliza (Oakes) Wagenman. On the paternal side he comes from German ancestry, and on the maternal side is of English lineage. Brought up in his native county, Robert Ray Wagenman was educated in the public schools of Greenville. Subsequently becoming an expert telegrapher he was for ten months telegraph operator and station agent for the New York & Hudson River Railroad Company at Raymilton, Pennsylvania. Going from there to Bessemer in the same state, he served for six months in the same capacity for the Lake Erie Railroad Company, later being similarly employed at Port Perry. Resigning his position, Mr. Wagenman entered the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, with which he was identified at different times for ten years, for three years being station agent and telegraph operator at Renfrew, Butler County, Pennsylvania. Changing his occupation, Mr. Wagenman became associated with the R. F. Johnston Paint Company of Cincinnati as traveling salesman and remained with that firm fifteen months, the territory which he covered including the entire State of Ohio. Accepting his present position with the Ottawa Paint Company as manager of its Lima branch house, he located in Lima on January 1, 1919, and has since established a large and constantly increasing trade, his patronage not being confined within the city limits, but extending into the country for twenty- five or more miles in any direction. Mr. Wagenman married in 1904 Lena Clark, a daughter of Simpson and Pearlina Clark, of Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, and they have one child, Pauline, born in 1906. In his political relations Mr. Wagenman is a republican, but is not strictly bound to party lines, his vote being cast in favor of the best men. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Hampton Lodge No. 1004, of