A CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY, OHIO. INTRODUCTORY. From the east and southeast came the pioneers who made the early white settlement in the state of Ohio. Hardy sons of toil were they, following closely upon the steps of the retreating savages. Broad and deep did they lay the foundations of civilization; wisely and well did the old residents build thereupon; and the magnificent results have been enlarged, beautified and enjoyed by their successors. The state of Ohio was organized and ushered into existence on the 3d day of March, 1803, with its present limits of territory,—two hundred and ten, miles north and south, two hundred and twenty miles east and west, in length and breadth, embracing approximately 39,964 square miles. The closing days of the first century of existence of the state constitute a fitting occasion for the publication of a centennial biographical record of those whose civilizing influences wrought the great changes that have taken place in this region since its reclamation from the savages and of those who are now carrying forward the work thus inaugurated. To this end the succeeding pages of biography are devoted to the lives and deeds of many who have been prom, inent in the settlement, growth and development of Crawford county. The origin of Crawford county as a distinct political division of the state dates back to February 20, 1820; when the general assembly of the state passed an act for the "erection of certain counties" out of the vast tract of wilderness known as the "New Purchase," and acquired by treaty on the 29th of September, 1817, made at the foot of the Maumee rapids with the Indians, 10 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY who ceded to the United. States the Whole of the remaining portion of the 'state still under Indian domination. By a treaty. made at Greenville, August 3, 1795, the United .States had acquired of the Indians the whole of the state of Ohio save that portion included within a line drawn from the mouth of :the Cuyahoga river to Fort Laurens, :the present site of Bolivar, in Tuscarawas county, and thence west with the line known as the "Greenville Treaty Line" or "Indian Boundary." In 1807 a further cession was made by the Indians, of that part of their territories which was included between the line of the Cuyahoga river and a new one, drawn from a point on the southern shore of Lake Erie, between the mouth of Sandusky Bay and Portage river, to a point due south on the."Boundary line," a point just a little east of the village of Cardington, in Morrow county. This line passed through what is now Crawford comity, on the Western boundary of. the "Three-Mile Strip," represented in its width in this county by Sandusky township. It is to remembered that Richland county, then rapidly settling up, extended to the eastern border of the "Three Mile Strip," and that the eastern tier of townships of Crawford county; namely," Auburn, Vernon, Jackson and Polk, originally belonged to Richland county. By the act of the general assembly of Ohio, enacted February 20, 1820, the whole of the Maumee valley was opened to settlement, and was divided up into counties for judicial and governmental purposes. Townships 1, 2 and 3 south, in range 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 east; and all the land east of these townships up to 'What was then the western limits of Richland county, was named Crawford county, in honor of the gallant' soldier, Colonel William Crawford, who was captured by the Delaware Indians and burned by them at the stake, in 1782, on the plains -within these boundaries. At first the division of territory known as Crawford county did not have any political significance or power, but was attached to Delaware County: When Marion county was regularly organized, December 15, 1823; Crawford county was attached to it; as the act reads, "for judicial purposes." This. association did not continue Iong. On the 17th of February, 1824, the increase of population having become so great as to make it inconvenient for the more remote settlers to go to Marion to transact their business, that portion of Crawford county which was situated north of the Wyandot reservation, "including one tier of townships lying east and west," was attached to Seneca county for judicial purposes. This continued until January 31, 1826, when, by act of the general assembly; Crawford county was organized into a separate and CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 11 distinct county. This act declared "that those townships and fractional. town, ships in Crawford county which have heretofore been attached to and formed a part of any township in Marion Or Seneca counties, respectively, are hereby attached to and declared to be a part of Crawford township, in said Crawford county, till the same shall be otherwise provided for by the commissioners of said county." Crawford county as thus organized embraced a scope of territory three congressional townships in width, and extended from the eastern boundary of Sandusky and Cranberry townships to the western boundary of Crawford, Salem, and Mifflin townships in Wyandot county. The Wyandot Indian Reservation covered the larger part of what is now Wyandot county and three miles of the western portion of what is now Bucyrus and Holmes townships, Crawford county: In 1835 the Indians sold to the government a strip seven miles off the east, end of their reservation, which was sold by the government publicly in Marion, Ohio. February 3, 1845, Wyandot county was erected, and in the general reorganization of the counties that occurred Crawford lost all territory west of the middle line of townships in range 15 east, and gained from Marion county a strip of territory two miles wide extending to the Richland county. line, and from the latter county on the east a tract four miles wide, extending the whole length of Crawford from north to south, some twenty miles. But in 1848 a tier of fractional sections were taken off in the erection. of Morrow county, leaving Crawford in its present limits. On the 6th of March, 1845, the county commissioners organized the county into townships. A change was made in the following June, establishing Jackson township, and in March, 1873, Jefferson township was erected, and since then .no .change has been made in. boundary lines of townships. The county, as now arranged, is comprised of the following civil townships : Auburn, Vernon, Jackson, Polk, Jefferson, Sandusky, Cranberry, Chatfield, Liberty, Whetstone, Dallas, Bucyrus, Holmes, Lykens, Texas and Todd. A large proportion of the early settlers of Crawford county were from New England, New York, Pennsylvania and other eastern states, while a few came from the south. But later in the settlement of the county the German elements assumed the ascendancy. . About. the -year 1832 there. was a large accession of German population, coming direct from Germany, by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo and thence to Cleveland or Sandusky. The political troubles of Germany, in 1848, brought many Germans to the county, and, to-day, many a German "agitator" is represented among the county's most 12 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. reliable citizens. The Pennsylvania Dutch, also, are numerously represented in the county. COLONEL WILLIAM CRAWFORD, in whose honor Crawford county was named, was a Virginian, of Scotch:Irish lineage, born in the year 1732. His childhood home was that of a pioneer farmer of the Old Dominioo. His education was limited. In early life he learned the art of surveying in companionship with Washington, and followed the vocation, together with farm work, until about twenty-three years of age. In the year 1755 he forsook the plow and compass and began a' most brilliant military career. Commissioned an ensign by the governor .of Virginia, and joining a company of riflemen, he accompanied the army of the ill-fated. General Braddock in the march against Fort du Quesne. For gallantry displayed upon that disastrous occasion, Ensign Crawford was promoted the , following year to a lieutenancy. Later he received a captain's commission, recruited a company. and participated in the second march against Fort du Quesne, reaching which the army found it vacated. F or three years thereafter' Captain. Crawford . remained in the army service of Virginia, and then returned to his home in the valley of the Shenandoah. Until 1767 he was again engaged in farming and surveying. After examining the valley of the . Youghiogheny, he located there in what is..now Fayette. county, Pennsylvania, thither removing his family in the year 1769.. When the war of independence came on he recruited a regiment for continental service.. January 12, 1776, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Virginia Regiment, and October 11th, the same year, he was appointed colonel of the Seventh Regiment of Virginia battalions, by congress, commission to be dated the 14th of August. Colonel Crawford served under Washington upon the seaboard, repaired to. Fort Pitt, built Fort Crawford, engaged under McIntosh. in the Detroit expedition, aided Clark's expedition, then retired from active military service by returning to his' home, hoping to discontinue in warfare. But, induced to join in the Sandusky expedition, we find him again in warfare, and it was in this last named expedition that he lost his life.. While on this expedition. he was captured by the Delaware Indians, and at their hands met an awful death by torture,—burning at the stake, June 11, 1782! It is fitting that some mention, in this connection, be made of the gallant officers who served under Colonel Crawford in the Sandusky expedition: CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 13 COLONEL DAVID WILLIAMSON, one of them, participated in the Sandusky expedition as field major. He was a patriot, who loved his country. Worthy of especial note in his valor displayed at the battle of Olentangy, fought in what is now Whetstone township., Crawford county, June 6, 1782. He did much to encourage his heroic little band of soldiers, and was ably seconded by the indefatigable "John Rose," whose cheerfulness, suavity and coolness were only equalled by his wonderful skill and intrepidity. "JOHN ROSE;" the hero of the retreat of Crawford's army from the plains of Sandusky, it afterward developed,. was ready a young Russian nobleman—the Baron Gustavus H. Rosenthal, of Livonia—who, because of killing another in a duel, had been obliged to fly from his own country and seek safety, first in England and then in America. In the Revolutionary war he served the colonists with fidelity until its close, without having revealed his true name or rank, and then,. by permission, returned to Europe, subsequent to the Sandusky expedition. He was regarded with favor by Emperor Alexander and became grand marshal of the province of Livonia. The first link in that bright chain of friendship, which has ever existed between the Russian empire and the United States, was forged by "John Rose." Other officers who served under Colonel Crawford in the expedition were:. Thomas Gaddis, John McClelland, ____ Britton, who were field majors ; Daniel Leet, brigade major ; John Knight, surgeon; and John Slover and Jonathan Zane, pilots. On the site of the battle of Olentangy there stands a monument erected to the memory of the brave army of the Sandusky expedition. SAMUEL NORTON, the first settler of Bucyrus township, was born within one mile of Congress Spring, near Saratoga, New York, March 3, 1870. His father was of Scotch descent, and many years previous to the birth of Samuel had emigrated from Scotland and settled in Connecticut. Samuel Norton was married, January 1, 1804, to Miss Mary Bucklin, who was born in Coventry, Kent county, Rhode Island, October 31, 1785. The Bucklins were of English descent, and Mary Bucklin's parents removed from Rhode Island to Little Falls, New York, when she was about six years of age, and some twelve years afterwards to what is now Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where she was married to Samuel Norton. The young couple settled near Elk Hill, then in Luzerne but now in Susquehanna county. The 14 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. district is situated in the mountain regions of that state ; the land is poor, and even at that time the country was very wild. It is said that at one time, while Norton was still a resident of Elk Hill, he shot a panther which measured eleven feet and three inches in length ! These wild beasts have never been seen in Crawford county since it was first settled by white men ; and, although the first settlers of Bucyrus township emigrated to a newer country, they did not, in some respects, find a wilder one. Norton was dissatisfied with this wild, rocky Pennsylvania land, and, after residing there with his wife for fifteen years, determined to seek a more pleasing' country: He caught the western fever and finally decided that his destination should be the land obtained by the "New Purchase." His wife was opposed to this movement of the Norton family and refused to go unless her brother Albijence Bucklin would go along. Norton finally succeeded in inducing Bucklin to accompany him with his family, by promising him fifty acres of land. Norton had previously visited the new country, selected a quarter section on the present site of Bucyrus, and had returned to his native state . for his family. Very late in the spring of 1819 the pioneers left their home in Pennsylvania, and, after journeying about six hundred miles in a big "schooner" wagon, reached the quarter section of land which Norton had selected, in October, 1819. The party consisted of the following eighteen persons : Samuel Norton and his wife, Mary Norton; their three daughters, Louisa, Catherine and Elizabeth (the late Mrs. A. M. Jones) ; their three sons,—Rensellear, Warren and Waldo Norton; Albijence Bucklin and his wife; their six children,—Esther, Cynthia, Austris, Elizabeth, Almeda and Pitt ; also, Polly, an adopted daughter of the Bucklins, and Seth Holmes. After reaching their destination the two families lived for three days in an Indian wigwam, which stood near the present site of the court house,. and during this brief period the three men constructed a more durable residence. This first rude home was built of small round logs and erected upon the bluff of the Sandusky river. The two families moved into this log cabin, and shortly afterward another was built for the Bucklin family. When these early settlers constructed their first cabin the nearest white neighbors were eight miles off, on the banks of the' Olentangy, and that settlement consisted of only a few. squatters, who were generally as nomadic in habit as they were transient in location. The Norton family occupied their first log cabin home during one winter ,and until July, 1820. In this cabin was born, on the 11th of February, 182o, Sophronia Norton, who was the first white child born on the site of the present city of Bucyrus, and probably was the first born in the present limits of CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 15 Crawford county. Samuel Norton operated a tannery on. a small scale for several years, farmed and in 1835 built and opened a hotel. He was an old school Baptist and a man of many sterling qualities. He died April 18, 1856, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His wife, Mary Norton, lived three years after her husband's death, and finally passed away, April 29, 1859. Other children born unto them, not already mentioned, were Harris P., Charles, Jefferson and William B. Being the first settler and original proprietor of the land on which Bucyrus was laid out, Samuel Norton was justly, entitled to the name of the "Father of .Bucyrus." COLONEL JAMES KILBOURNE was a native of New Britain, Connecticut, born October 9, 1770, was highly educated, and in early life became a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and about the year 1800 was ordained. When scarcely more than nineteen years of age he married Lucy Fitch, daughter of the celebrated John Fitch, the inventor and builder of the first steamboat in the world. He became a pioneer settler of Ohio, in 1802, and the following year established a colony from his native state in the Scioto valley. A church was built and he became the rector. He visited neighboring settlements in other parts of the state, preacliing and organizing church societies, many of which became permanent Episcopal cliurches. He retired from the ministry in 1804. Upon the organization of the state government of Ohio, he was appointed, a civil magistrate, and also an officer of the militia for the northwestern frontier. In the spring of 1805 he explored the.southern shore of Lake Erie, and selected the site of the city of Sandusky. About this time he was made state's surveyor of a large portion of public lands. In 1806 he was appointed. one of the first trustees of the Ohio College at Athens, and in 1808 one of three commissioners to locate the seat of Miami University. During this year he married for a second wife Miss Cynthia Goodale, his first wife having died soon after he came to Ohio. About this time he was made major of the "Frontier Regiment," later was promoted to the colonelcy, but this position he resigned, as he also did the former position. On the organization of the Worthington College, in 1812, he was elected its president. The same year he was appointed by President Madison as a commissioner to settle the boundary between the public lands and the Great Virginia Reservation. Immediately after the completion of this service he was elected a member of congress. Later he became a colonel, hence his military title. In 1814 he was again elected to congress. 16 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY In 1823 he was elected to the state legislature, and again in 1838-39 he was a member of that body. After along, useful and active career he died, at Worthington, Ohio, April 9, 1850. Why is he mentioned in a biographical history of Crawford county. It was while surveying public lands that Colonel Kilbourne first appeared in what is now Crawford county. It was he. who then persuaded Samuel Norton to have a town survey made upon his farm. Norton owned the land on which Bucyrus is now located. The location the Colonel regarded as a beautiful site for a town. It was within a few miles of a direct line of travel from Sandusky, the nearest point on Lake Erie, to Columbus, the state capital; a tide of emigration had set in many were settling in the vicinity, and consequently the prospects for a thriving village at this point were flattering. After some hesitation Mr. Norton consented to the survey, and Colonel Kilbourne made the original town plat in February, 1822. The new town was named Bucyrus by the Colonel. One of his favorite historic characters was Cyrus, the Persian general who conquered the city of Babylon, and there is reason for believing that Colonel Kilbourne named the ,town in honor of this distingniShed character; prefixing to the name "Cyrus" the syllable "bu," the sound of the first part of the word "beautiful," declaring that the name Bucyrus should always. mean "beautiful Cyrus." DANIEL MCMICHAEL was born in Ireland about 1778, and when about sixteen .years old his parents emigrated to America and settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. When he attained his majority he married Mary McDowell, who was a native of Scotland and came to the United States with her parents at an early date. The following children were "the issue of their marriage : David, Mathew, William, Martha, Mary, Daniel, Allen and Hattie. In 1820 McMichael removed with his wife and family to Crawford county, and settled for a few weeks on what is now the northern part of Bucyrus corporation. Being a miller by trade and a mechanical genius, he desired to engage in the milling business, and, finding a more suitable location about four miles up the Sandusky river, removed his family to the land he first entered in Liberty township, which township he was the first settler to invade. In a few months he commenced Work on this new enterprise, which was the first mill erected in what was then Crawford county. He soon found he could not depend upon the Sandusky river for water to keep the machinery running twelve months each year, and, the outlook not being promising, he rented the mill in 1823 to Nehemiah Squire and removed to Bucyrus, where he died some two years later. CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 17 COLONEL ZALMON ROWSE was among the earliest pioneers of Crawford county. He was a native of the Bay state, born in the year 1789. His parents were poor and unable to give him the advantages of a classical education. He was endowed with a quick and comprehensive mind and by his own efforts he succeeded in getting a good education, which he turned to the best advantage by engaging in school teaching. When sixteen years old he went to Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and while there, when he had arrived at the age of nineteen, he was married to Miss Mehetabel Kent, who was then sixteen years old. In the spring of 1821 he Walked from Wayne county, Pennsylvania—five hundred miles—to Crawford county, Ohio, where he entered three tracts of land of eighty acres each, after which he again walked to his home. In the fall of the same year he came to thi-s county with his family, which consisted of his wife and six children, coming by means of a team of oxen, arriving in December. He first located in Whetstone township, but later in Bucyrus township. He taught one term of school after he came to the county. Mr. Rowse was a man well fitted for public trusts, and the citizens appreciated his natural abilities by electing him to many important positions. He was one of the first justices of the peace in Bucyrus township, and served in this capacity for nearly twenty years. In 1825 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Regiment of Ohio Militia. During the latter part of 1825 and until Crawford county was organized, in 1826, Colonel Rowse served as one of the commissioners of Marion county, to which Crawford county was then attached "for judicial purposes." Upon the organization of Crawford county Mr. Beardsley was appointed clerk, but shortly afterward resigned, and Colonel Rowse became his successor. He served the people faithfully in this position for many years. At this time the recording of deeds and mortgages was a part of the.duties of Colonel Rowse, and he left an excellent file of records. In 1826 he was one of the charter members of the Columbus & Sandusky Turnpike Company, and in 1846 a charter member of the Bucyrus Lodge of Freemasons. In 1831 he erected the American Hotel of Bucyrus. His death occurred August 15, 1854, after a residence in the county of over thirty years. He was a member of the Whig party and was a man of general respect. Of his children, Horace and William Rowse became prominent merchants of Bucyrus. LEWIS CARY, born in New Jersey, in 1783, first resided in Jefferson 18 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. county, Ohio, but came to Crawford county in the spring of 1822; erected the first hewed-log cabin, with a shingle roof and grooved floor, in Bucyrus, all other cabins until then having been made of round logs and puncheon floors ; built and operated the first tannery in Crawford county, and was the first postmaster of the village of Bucyrus, being appointed by President Monroe, about 1823. He died in Defiance, Ohio, in 1866. JOSIAH SCOTT.—Perhaps the most distinguished lawyer and jurist of Crawford county was Josiah Scott, of whom the following eulogy was delivered in 1886 before the Ohio State Bar Association, by the Hon. Stephen R. Harris, of Bucyrus "Josiah Scott was born on. the 1st day of December,. 1803, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on his father's farm, three miles from Cannonsburg, the seat of Jefferson College, where he was educated under Dr. Matthew Brown, and received his religious impressions under the celebrated Dr. McMillen. He lived at home, walked daily to and from the college, and graduated in the year 1823, with the highest honors of a class of thirty-two young men, many of whom afterwards rose to distinction, mostly in the church and as college presidents, among whom may be mentioned the names of David H. Riddle, LL. D., president of Washington and Jefferson College, and David L. Carroll, D. D., president of Hampden Sidney College, Virginia. "After his graduation he was thrown entirely on his own resources and set out at once to enter courageously upon the life work before him. He first went to eastern Pennsylvania and for a period of two years taught in a classical academy at Newton, Bucks county, and in this time prepalred several students for the freshman class at college, some of whom graduated at his own alma mater and came to preferment in after life. He went south and taught a classical school for two years in Richmond, Virginia, employing his leisure time in the study of law. He then returned to the home of his youth and was soon after chosen by the authorities as a tutor in Jefferson, where four years before he had taken his degree with distinguished honor. He taught in this institution for one year, during which he employed his leisure intervals in pursuing his legal studies. At the end of that time he decided to visit Ohio, with a view of selecting a location for the practice of law. He traveled west on horseback, as was the custom of the day, and arrived at Mansfield in, the spring of 1829, where he visited Hon. Thomas W. Bartley, who had been his pupil .at college and afterward became his associate on the bench. He was admitted to the bar and permanently located himself at Bucyrus, the CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 19 county seat of Crawford county, Ohio, in the month of June, 1829, when that village was but a hamlet in the wilderness, and nearly half of the coi!mty was, and for some fifteen years afterward remained an Indian reservation, occupied by the Wyandots. "His abilities were very soon appreciated and he rapidly rose in his profession, so that he was regarded as a lawyer of great influence with court and jury, both in Bucyrus and in the surrounding counties, where he had a growing practice. In 1840 he was elected as a representative to the general assembly for the counties of Crawford, Marion and Delaware. In 1855 he removed to Hamilton, Butler county, and continued the practice of his profession with great distinction and success, in competition with such lawyers as John Woods, Lewis D. Campbell, Thomas Milliken and William, Bebb. In October, 1857, he was elected judge of the supreme court of Ohio, for the term commencing on the 9th day of February, 1857. Shortly after his election he was appointed by the governor, Chase, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Ranney, and held under the appointment until the gth day of February, the commencement of the regular term. He was twice re-elected and continued on the bench until the 9th day of February, 1872, having declined to be a candidate for another, term. "Some years before he left the bench he returned again to Bucyrus, and at the expiration of his term he resumed practice and continued until January, 1876, when he was appointed by Governor Hayes a member of the supreme court commission. On the expiration of the commission, in February, 1879, he again resumed the practice of his profession, but was soon stricken with a malignant disease, which terminated his life on the 15th day of June, 1879, in the se enty-sixth year of his age, but still in his intellectual prime. "Such, gentlemen of the Ohio State Bar Association, is a brief sketch of the eventful life of one of the most gifted men who ever adorned our profession. It is with a willing heart and grateful mind that I embrace the present opportunity to commemorate his virtues; only regretting my inability to set forth in a deserving manner the tribute which I shall endeavor to bring to his memory. "Over thirty-seven years ago I came to Bucyrus a stranger, and commenced the practice of my chosen profession. I was young and diffident, and the first member of the bar to give me a friendly greeting and extend the hand of encouragement was the Hon. Josiah Scott. After a few months' acquaintance and professional intercourse he invited me into his office as a partner. We continued our partnership until he removed to Hamilton. After 20 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. he returned from Hamilton to reside in Bucyrus, while still on the bench, he made my office his headquarters, and at the expiration of his term we resumed our partnership, after an interval of over twenty years. We continued together until his death, and by the terms of his last will and testament he made me one of his executors. Do I need, therefore, to apologize for my veneration of the man, and when I say I will revere his memory as a. friend and benefactor until the last pulsation of my heart? "In the professional and judicial career of Judge Scott he did not neglect the pursuits of learning, but habitually indulged in mathematics, the reading of English classical authors and the study of Latin and Greek literature. Of the ancient classics, Horace and Demosthenes were his favorite authors. He would turn at random to any portion of Horace or Virgil and translate them fluently into elegant English. Sometimes, in his arguments at the bar, in the midst of a flight of eloquence, he would quote and adapt passages from Pollock's Course of Time or Milton's. Paradise Lost with such ease and grace, and so appropriate to his theme as to make his hearers lose sight of the quotation. "He was always diffident and retiring until called out by some genial friends or professional associates, in whose company he might be cast. On such occasions he was always found to possess conversational powers of a high order, enlivening his conversation by a warm glow of delicate humor and brightening it often by lively flashes of wit. His knowledge and skill in mathematics were astonishing. No mathematical problem capable of solution baffled him. It may be safely asserted that he was absolute master of algebra and geometry. He would solve difficult algebraic problems mentally in an incredibly short space of time, announcing his methods as he progressed. By way of light reading he would peruse by the hour that wonderful pro-. duction, Euler's Elements of Algebra, with as much delight as if it were a romance, instead of a work so deep that few but professional mathematicians could comprehend it. "Whilst he was a profound scholar and linguist, yet his greatest triumphs were at the bar. He had leading practice in all the counties in his part of the state, and rarely was an important jury case tried but he conducted one side of it. It was there he displayed his great power as a nisiprius lawyer. His skill was displayed in the cross examination of witnesses. He seldom rebuked or intimidated a witness so as to excite his stubbornness or aggravate his hostility, but rather led him along first in the line of undisputed facts in a pleasant manner until he would get the truth out of him, CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 21 when it was unintentional on the part of the witness, who had gone on the stand with the full determination to perjure himself in behalf of the opposite party. On such occasions a grim shade of disappointment might be observed to steal over the countenances of the opposing counsel. In his argu-, ments he was ordinarily mild, eloquent. and persuasive before a jury, but when occasion required he would pour out a torrent of invective that was overwhelming, like that of Curran's celebrated denunciation of Flood in the Irish parliament. In his argument to the court, Judge Scott was logical and convincing. He belonged to that older class of lawyers who began the practice when books were few, but read, studied and thoroughly mastered all the elementary principles of the law. I have seen him in combats with other lawyers of the same class, a race that has nearly all disappeared, such as Judge Stewart, Bartley, Kirkwood, Brinkerhoff and Cooper K. Watson, and deep were the impressions they made on my mind in the outset of my practice. What models for the emulation of the young practitioner ! In their legal conflicts it was a battle of giants. What ponderous arguments, mostly on principles rather than an array of authorities, with Judge Bowen on the bench to appreciate them, without requiring the production of books ! Such thrusts and such parries ! Such logical reasoning, so pregnant with legal principles that they would seem unanswerable, and then see an antagonist meet and combat them like Hercules with his club! I sometimes pause and ask, Will ever cases be tried like those again ? "Whilst on the bench, Judge Scott's position was characterized by the highest degree of learning and accuracy. His published judicial opinions are found in the Ohio State Reports, from volume V to yolume XXI inclusive, and the first series of volumes containing the decisions of the commission, and they take rank with the best ever announced from the bench. In preparing a brief, when a lawyer finds a decision of Judge Scott on the subject, it always affords pleasure and relief. His analysis is so complete and his reasoning so conclusive and easily understood that one almost wonders why the question should ever have been involved in doubt. It is also a notable feature of the Ohio State Reports that there are few, if any, dissenting opinions in cases where the decisions were announced by Judge Scott. He left his impression upon the jurisprudence of Ohio as distinctly as any other figure in the history of our courts, and his opinions are not only sound, but instructive. "He was an earnest believer and professor of the truths of the Christian religion, whose holy precepts he practiced in the whole course of his life. It may safely be asserted that he never in his life, in his business, in his pro- 22 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. fession, in court or elsewhere, did or conceived a dishonorable act, and his life teaches us that without professional uprightness and integrity there can be no enduring success. Judge Scott always regarded it as a duty, not only to his client and himself, but a higher and more important one to his country, which bestows on a lawyer important privileges and requires of him important services, to discourage groundless and unlawful litigation, and to. present his client's case truthfully and fairly. Sad, indeed, would be the thought, when such a man is gone from earth, were all his learning and wisdom gone, too. But all of such men cannot die. While his body slumbers in the earth his words of wisdom and his example of purity will shed their lustre as a beacon to guide those who succeed him." LAWRENCE W. HALL came from Cuyahoga county in the spring of 1844 and commenced the practice of law in Bucyrus. For six years from October, 1845, he held the office of county prosecuting attorney ; was elected judge of the common-pleas court in 1851 and held the office until 1857; was elected a member of the house of representatives of the thirty-fifth congress, and then resumed the practice of law. He was a brilliant, able lawyer, and as a political and partisan leader possessed even still greater ability. In the last years of his life his course was less commendable. The opposition to the war of the Rebellion, developed in Bucyrus and vicinity, attracted the attention of the government, and in 1862 Judge Hall was arrested and nominally held for several weeks a political prisoner, at Camp Mansfield, and finally discharged without further action. In consequence of ill health, largely on account of drink, he was on parole, and required to report,—only as it suited his convenience. He died at Bucyrus, January 18, 1863. JOSIAH S. PLANTS, born in Pennsylvania in 182o, died in Bucyrus, August 23, 1863, of wounds received by the accidental discharge of a gun. He was educated in Ashland (Ohio) Academy, studied law under the preceptorship of Judge Josiah Scott, and was admitted to the bar and began practice at Bucyrus, in 1844. He rose very rapidly in the profession, and, in 1858 was elected judge of the common-pleas court; and while in office he was distinguished for industry, honesty of purpose, devotion to his friends, fidelity to his clients and earnestness and force as a public speaker. His career at the bar and on the bench was such as to justify the highest expectations of his friends had his life been prolonged. CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 23 ALONZO M. JONES, deceased, was a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, born April 4, 1811. His parents were Ludwig and Mary (Hale) Jones. They removed to the Western Reserve in the .spring- of 1817 and settled in Lorain county, where their son was reared. He had gained a limited education when, at the age of fourteen, he lost his father in death, and thereafter, until twenty-one, the care and support of his family fell upon him.. He began the study of medicine, in the spring of 1832, at La Grange, in the office of Dr. E. W. Hubbard. A year later he attended lectures at the medical school in Worthington, Ohio, graduating in July, 1834. He came to Bucyrus, in December, 1835, and thereafter continued his profession with scarcely an interruption until 1843: For some seven years thereafter Dr. Jones operated a woolen mill, and then, selling his interest in the mill to a partner, he engaged in the real-estate business, for several years with success. In 1866, in company with three other gentlemen, Dr. Jones embarked in the manufacture of hubs, spokes and bent work. He was a competent business man and a worthy citizen. In 1838, he married Elizabeth Norton, a daughter of Samuel Norton, an early pioneer of the county, and the original proprietor of the land on which the village of Bucyrus was first laid out. Of the eight children born unto the marriage, five died in infancy and childhood. The other three were Mary L., wife of Col. W: C. Lemert, Lorenzo E. and Volney W. DR. GEORGE KELLER, deceased, was one of the most eminent and skillful physicians and surgeons that ever graced the medical profession in Crawford county. He was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, the date of his birth being November 24, 1826. He was three years old when his father removed to Ohio and settled at Dalton, where Dr. Keller spent his youth and was educated. When only fifteen he began the study of medicine, under a practitioner of Dalton, and until he vas prepared to practice, both studied medicine and taught school. At DeKalb, Ohio, he began the practice and after some time spent there he went to Cleveland to further prepare himself for the profession by attending medical lectures during the sessions of 1846 and 1847. Returning to Dalton, he practiced there until March, 1850, when he became physician for a party of two hundred and forty people, who were traveling overland to California, this journey covering a period of one hundred and eight days and fraught with some accidents and fatal occurrences, nine men being killed by the Indians on Pitt river. On July 4, 1850, they reached their destination, arriving at a point on the Sacramento river. For six months Dr. 24 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Keller practiced in Yuba City and Marysville. Returning to Ohio, in May, 1851, he located at West Liberty, where he remained about three years, and, graduating, in the spring of 1853, from the Cincinnati Medical College, he was then located for a short time at Bluffton, Indiana, but in 1861 became a resi:- dent physician of Bucyrus, where he continued until the time of his death, with an interruption of about two years spent at Churubusco, Indiana. In 1877 and 1878 he was a member of the faculty of the Fort Wayne Medical College. He was well educated and of varied knowledge and skill in his profession. He was noted for his literary ability and extensive knowledge of various subjects. Some ten years ago death closed his useful and exemplary career. In 1848 he married Mary J. English, of Canton, Ohio, who survives him and still resides in Bucyrus. JAMES S. MCCARRELL, one of the best known older citizens of Bucyrus, was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1836. His parents were James and Nancy (Shearer) McCarrell. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools until. fourteen years of age, when he was sent to an academy at Hookstown, Pennsylvania, where he studied for three years, after which he spent six years in teaching school. When aged twenty-four years he entered a dental office at New Brighton, Pennsylvania, where he was a student of dentistry for three years. After a further stay of two years in. New Brighton he came to Ohio and located in Bucyrus, and began the practice of dentistry, in which he has been so successful as to establish a high reputation for himself. January 16, 1867, Dr. McCarrell married Mary Matthews, of Sandusky, Ohio. ASA HOSFORD was among the early settlers of Crawford county. He was born in Richfield, Massachusetts, in 1799, and lived to .a ripe old age, spending an active. and fruitful. life. When he was six years of age his parents became residents of Jefferson county, New York, Where they spent fourteen years and then removed to Ontario county, New York. He was reared on the farm, and when he.becarne twenty-one years of age, and having a strong desire to see Ohio, he and his brother went by steamboat to Cleveland, and then started out on foot for the interior of the state. This was in the fall of 1819, and in Huron county Mr. Hosford remained all winter, and was joined in the spring by his parents, who with him located in Crawford county, where, he worked for several years to earn his first one hundred dollars, with CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 25 which he entered eighty acres of land near Galion. In the year. 1824 he opened the first hotel in the neighborhood. It was located within the present site of Galion, and for eight years he was its proprietor, and then sold it for six hundred dollars; and purchased forty-three acres of land, which was situated where the heart of Galion is to-clay. It was his intention to lay out a, town on it, but finally sold the land to Michael and Jacob Ruhl, who laid out the town of Galion, September 1o, 1831. Mr: Hosford, in 1832, purchased the mill property in Polk township, which he operated for more than fifty years. In 1825 Alta Kent became his wife, who bore him three children, viz. ; Rebecca, Eri and Stephen. JOHN RUHL, the father of Michael and Jacob Ruhl, who laid out the town of Galion, September 1o, 1831, came from York county, Pennsylvania, direct to Crawford county. His family consisted of his wife and his children,. —Michael, Jacob, Levi, Henry, Peter and Rebecca. He was possessed of considerable means in land and money, and his sons became important factors in the development of Polk township, and the town of Galion. His grandson, Alexander A. Ruhl, son of Jacob and Sarah (Davis) Ruhl, served as auditor of the county four years from 1859, and was elected clerk of courts in 1879. Alexander A. Ruhl was born in Shrewsbury, York county, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1828; was well educated; married, in 1853, Aurelia M. Shanke, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopaichurch. CHARLES G. RUPP, son of Peter and Hellena (Earnst). Rupp, was born February 3, 1822, in York county, Pennsylvania. Gottleib Rupp, his grand-, father, was a native of Germany, came to America late in the eighteenth century and settled in York, Pennsylvania, where he was a butcher : he had four sons and two daughters. The marriage of Peter Rupp and Hellena Earnst was blessed with four sons and two daughters. The father died at York, Pennsylvania, in 1825,, while the mother survived him many years, dying at Wapakoneta, Ohio, in 1878, aged ninety-three years. Charles G. Rupp received a limited` education, became a clerk at the age of eleven, at his native town, and was thus employed for ten years.. In 1.843 he came to Ohio by stage and canal, remained only a short time in Galion, then went to Leesville, where he kept store for three years, and then removed to Bucyrus, in 1848, and was employed as a clerk for four years. He then engaged in business for himself, with partners, for a short time and was 2 26 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. compelled to retire on account of ill health; but later he became a clerk again. Upon the failure of the Bucyrus Machine Works he became the assignee and settled up the business, which required some three years. In 1873 he bought a stone quarry at Leesville, which was a profitable investment. He was postmaster of Leesville during the administration of President Polk. In politics he was first a Free-soiler and then a. Republican. He was married, in 1848, to Margaret J. Ruhl, of Galion. To the marriage were born four children, —Annie, Clara, Maggie and Lincoln, who grew to maturity, while five died in childhood. HORACE EUGENE VALENTINE. In the affairs of state, as taken aside from the extraordinary conditions of warfare, there are demanded .then whose Mental ken is as wide and Whose generalship is as effective as those which ensure successful maneuvering of armed forces by the skilled commanders on the fieldof battle: The nation's welfare and prosperity may be said to hang as heavily upon individual discrimination b.nd executive in the one case as, the other. It requires master minds to marshal and organize the forces: for political purposes and produce the best results by concerted effort. One of the honored Democratic political leaders of Crawford county is Hon. Horace Eugene Valentine; who served for two terms as state senator from the thirty-first senatorial district, and his public record reflects credit upon his constituents and .district which he represented.. He is also an active man of affairs in business circles; being the cashier of the First National Bank of Bueyrus, which position he has occupied since 1898. Mr. Valentine is one of the native sons of Crawford county, his birth having occurred in the village of Benton in Texas township, April 8, 1859. He represents an Old New York family, his ancestors having come from the Empire state. His father, James Valentine, removed to Crawford county from the city of Syracuse, New York, about 1830, his wife and his parents coming with him-. He secured a tract of land in Texas township and there devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in the year 1861. His Wife bore the maiden name of Angeline Clark. She was born near Syracuse, New York, and was a daughter of Edward Clark, who served in the New York Militia in the war of 1812. Mrs. Valentine was called to her final rest in 1866. They had four sons, the eldest being Edward, who enlisted for service in the Civil war and died in, Libby prison ; Jabez Clark, CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 29 deceased; George B., deceased, and Horace Eugene. There was one daughter, Emily, now deceased. Throughout his entire life Horace Eugene Valentine has been a resident of Crawford county. His preliminary education, acquired in the common schools, was supplemented by study in the Ohio Normal University, at Ada, Ohio, where he was graduated in the class of 1888. The following year he was elected county surveyor of Crawford county and was re-elected in 1892, serving continuously until 1895, covering a period of nearly seven consecutive years. Before his retirement from that office he was elected, as a Democrat, to the position of state senator to represent Crawford, Seneca and Wyandot counties, or the thirty-first district. He served for four years and filled the position so creditably that in 1897 he was re-elected. He was one of the active working members of the senate and gave to each question which came up for consideration earnest thought and study and left the impress of his individuality upon the legislation of the two terms served by him. He was the author of the anti-trust law of Ohio, known as the Valentine Anti-Trust Law. It was declared constitutional by the state supreme court and if enforced would effectually do away with injurious and unlawful trusts. His labors were untiring in behalf of the people and his record is creditable to the district which honored him. In 1889 Mr. Valentine was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Nedry, of Texas township, a daughter of Joseph Nedry, one of the pioneer settlers and native sons of Crawford county, who is now seventy-five years of age. His father came to Ohio from Pennsylvania at a very early period in the development of the state. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Valentine have been born two children, Allen Gladstone, and Florence Emily. Mr. Valentine is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and on the political stage such is his popularity and such his personal magnetism that his appearance to address the people is the signal of due enthusiasm. He is a sturdy American character and a stalwart patriot, and has ever had the strongest admiration for our free institutions, being ever ready to make any personal sacrifice for their preservation. CYRUS W. FISHER. Colonel Cyrus W. Fisher, who for many years was a prominent promoter, constructor and operator of railroads in the west, has for the past decade been a leading and influential citizen of Bucyrus. He was born in 30 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY Waynesville,. Warren county, Ohio, on the 22d of September, 1835. His father, a prominent physician of Waynesville, removed. to Indiana jia 1839 and in 1844, accompanied by his family, went to Illinois. The following year he became a resident of Monroe county, Wisconsin, and in 1846 settled in Rock county, that state, from which place Cyrus W. Fisher was sent to Ohio in 1848 to attend school at Waynesville. In 1849 his parents returned to Ohio, locating in Lebanon, Warren county, at which place our subject completed his academic studies in 1851. Soon afterward he joined a corps of engineers engaged making surveys of several railroads centering in Cincinnati. He was thus employed until 1854, when he entered the service'of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad Company, which was constructing its line between Crestline, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving in. various capacities with that company, in shops, offices and in running trains upon the road until July, 1856. Next he entered the employ of the Bee Line Railroad as conductor, running between Crestline and Indianapolis. In February, 1857, he accepted a position in the office of John Canby, superintendent of the same road, at Bellefontaine, Ohio, and continued in that capacity until 1861. When President Lincoln issued his first call for seventy-five thousand troops Mr. Fisher entered the army and was chosen first lieutenant di his company, which reported at Camp Chase, Columbus. It was mustered into the United States service for three years as Company F, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The field and staff officers of the regiment were: W. S. Rosecrans, colonel; Stanley Mathews, lieutenant colonel; Rutherford B. Hayes, major ; Cyrus W. Fisher, adjutant; and Skiles Gardner, quartermaster. The regiment was sent to West Virginia, in July, 186i, and .participated in the battles, marches and hardships of the campaign of that summer and fall which resulted in clearing West Virginia of Rebels. In November, 1861, Mr. Fisher was appointed major of the Fifty-fourth Ohio Infantry, and joined that regiment at Camp Dennison, Ohio. In February, 1862, his command was sent to Paducah, Kentucky, and was one of the regiments forming the division first commanded by Brigadier General W. T. Sherman. In November of the same year Mr. Fisher was promoted to lieutenant colonel of his regiment, which remained with that division that afterward became the nucleus of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and thus took part in many battles and sieges until the close of the war., His promotions are an indication of his ability as a military leader and of his unquestioned loyalty and fidelity to duty. CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 31 In Bellefontaine, Ohio, on the 15th of December, 1859, Colonel Fisher had been united in marriage to Miss Sallie M. Dunham, who died September 25, 186o, and on the 11th of August, 1864, he was again married, his second union being with Miss Martha I. Hetich, of Crawford county, Ohio, by whom he had three children—Cyrus, John and Sallie, but the second is now deceased. In March, 1865, accompanied by his wife, Colonel Fisher removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa, and purchased the Oskaloosa Herald, of which he was proprietor and editor-in-chief until February, 1868. During his residence in Bellefontaine, Ohio, he had studied law under the instruction of the Hon. Benjamin Stanton, who was for a number of years the member of congress from that district. In July, 1864, Colonel Fisher was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio, and after selling the Herald in 1868 he opened a law office in Oskaloosa,. Iowa, but threatened pulmonary troubles compelled him to seek the dryer climate of the Rocky mountains. Having been tendered the position of superintendent, general freight and ticket agent of the Denver Pacific Railroad, he accepted the appointment in November, 1869, being the first to hold those offices, on any railroad in Colorado. He acted in those capacities until the road was purchased by the Kansas Pacific Railway in 1873. In the summer of 1870 the Kansas Pacific Railroad was completed to Denver and he was tendered the position of superintendent of the Denver division, which he accepted in September of that year, thus serving until July 15, 1878. He was also superintendent of the Colorado Central Railway for a few monthg until Mr. Loveland again assumed control of the road in 1875. In the summer of 1878 he was made superintendent of the mountain division of the Union Pacific Railway, and assumed the duties of that office on the 15th of July, remaining there until February. 7, 1879, when he resigned to accept the position of general superintendent of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railway, of which he was also chosen a director and second vice-president in January, 1880. Upon the purchase of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad. by the Union Pacific he left that employ in September, 1882, and became general manager of the New Orleans & Denver Railroad Company, of which he was elected president and general manager in 1883. In 1884-5 he was lessee and general manager of this road, but resigned in March, 1886, to accept the position of general manager of the Rock Island lines west of the Missouri river, a position which he held until 1888, building and putting into operation thirteen hundred miles of railroad during that time. 32 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Colonel Fisher's wife, a sufferer from rheumatism, died at Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1888, and the Colonel then resigned his position and spent six months traveling in Europe, after which he returned to Denver. In 1889 he brought his children to Bucyrus, where he established a home for them. In 1891 he married Mrs. Mary D. Beer, and has since continued his residence in Bucyrus. In politics Colonel Fisher has ever been a stalwart Republican, and has done much active service in behalf of the Grand Old Party. In the campaign of 1896 he effectively supported William McKinley, who was his comrade in the Civil war, and in order to lessen the silver "craze" in Colorado he went to that state to do service for the party of sound money doctrine. While he was in Denver the Denver, Cripple Creek & Southwestern Railroad Company was organized, and Colonel Fisher was elected president of the company, acting in that capacity for two years, when the road was sold to the Colorado Southern. The Colonel has been identified with the Masonic fraternity since 1857, and is now a thirty-second-degree Mason. He is the present commander of the Grand Army post at Bucyrus, and is also identified with the Knights of Pythias lodge. His has been a very active and useful career, in which he has advanced steadily to positions of importance and responsibility. His prosperity has resulted entirely from his own efforts, and his promotions have come to him in recognition of his worth and merit. He is widely known in railroad circles throughout the country, and his reputation in business circles is above reproach, while in social life he is known as a genial, courteous gentleman who enjoys the warm regard, of many friends. JUDGE JAMES C. TOBIAS. Judge James C. Tobias was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 11th of November, 1856, a son of William B. and Catherine (Mills) Tobias. The father was born near Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 1, 1815, and was a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Clouse) Tobias. William B. Tobias resided on a farm until he was fifteen years of age, receiving but three months' schooling, and that at a night school. He then went to Carlisle, where he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker to learn the trade, serving four and a half years. Then, after working about six months as a journeyman, he went to Greencastle, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1836, there opening a shop, and worked at his trade for about three CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 33 years. His health failing, he closed his shop and took up farming in Franklin county, Pennsylvania., farming and residing in that county until 1864, when he came to Crawford county and settled in Liberty township, removing to Holmes township some four years later. In the latter township. he continued, his residence until 1877, when he sold his farm and removed to Bucyrus, where he spent the remainder of his life in retirement from active business affairs. He died in. Bucyrus, in 1882, at the age of sixty-seven years. In 1841 he married Catherine Mills, a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. She is. now,. in 1901, residing in Bucyrus, and is eighty-four years of age. She bore her husband the following children who reached mature years : William F., Jane C., Elizabeth, John L., James. C. and Daniel M. William B. Tobias was dependent upon his own resources from an early age, but by energy and industry he prospered and gained a good estate. When the Civil war broke out he was residing four miles from the Maryland state line, and the army of General Robert E. Lee marched through his farm, destroying much of his property, while the state militia destroyed his stock without scruples, taking all but six of his horses. At that time his son, James C., the subject of this biography, was a mere lad, and when the Union army encamped on the Tobias and adjoining farms to that of his father, the lad visited the soldiers' camp, where he was permitted to go in and out with freedom, as he was also permitted to do when a part of General Lee's army camped in the same vicinity. But the boy was soon to be taken from the scenes of his birthplace and that of warfare, for in 1864, when James was eight years of age, his father resolved to remove with his family to Crawford county. His youth was spent upon the farm and his preliminary, education was acquired in the common schools. He was afterward sent to Cold Run Academy, and in the spring of 1872 entered Oberlin College, where he studied until the following September, when he entered Mount Union College, remaining there three. years. He thus acquired a broad literary education to serve as a foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge. During the period of his college days he taught school during the winters, and all his vacations he labored upon the farm earning money to assist in paving collegiate expenses. Predilection led him to prepare for the profession of law, and in the fall of 1876 he became a student of law in the office of Finley  Swigart, well known attorneys of Bucyrus. He was admitted to the bar at Delaware, Ohio, July 2, 1878, at the age of twenty-one, and immediately afterward began 34 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.. the practice of law in Bucyrus, soon winning a fair share of the public patronage. Important litigated interests were entrusted to him and he soon demonstrated. his ability to successfully handle the intricate problems of jurisprudence. In 1881 he entered into partnership with F. S. Monnett, ex-attorney general of Ohio, under the firm name of Tobias & Monnett, their relationship being maintained until 1888, when Mr. Tobias was elected probate judge of Crawford county, a position he continuously filled until 1894. In 1896 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas for the district comprising Crawford, Marion and Wyandot counties, and is the present' incumbent, his term continuing over a period of five years and re-elected in 1901, without opposition, for a second term. His decisions have been conspicuously fair and impartial and based upon a thorough understanding of the law. In 1879 the Judge was united in marriage to Miss Amina J. Monnett, a: daughter of Abraham Monnett, elsewhere mentioned in this volume, and they now have two children, Deane A., who is now a student in the Ohio State University, at Columbus, and Helen, who is pursuing- her education in the Bucyrus high school. The Judge has always given his political support to the Democratic party and is unswerving in his advocacy of its, principles. The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend, and for fifteen years he efficiently served as a member of the school board, acting as its president during the last ten years of his incumbency. He did much to promote the interests of the schools, his labor proving of great benefit along the lines of intellectual advancement. The Judge has been identified with the financial interests of the city as well as with the practice of law, and was one of the organizers of the City Bank. of Bucyrus, in which he served as vice-president for ten years and director for eighteen years. Socially he is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Knights of Pythias fraternities, serving as past chancellor in the lodge of the latter organization. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the trustees. Endowed by nature with high intellectual qualities, to which have been added the discipline and embellishments of culture, his is a most attractive personality. Well versed in the learning of his profession and with a deep knowledge of human nature and of the springs of human conduct, he is in the courts an advocate of great power and influence and on the bench is a judge who ever commands the respect of the lawyers and of the public by reason of his dignity in office and extreme fairness in decision. CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 35 J. C. FREMONT HULL. The superior business ability of Mr. Hull has been an integral factor in the commercial activity whereon has rested much of the prosperity of Crawford county. The world judges the character of a community by those of its representative citizens, and yields its tribute of admiration and respect for the ability and accomplishments of those whose works and actions con, stitute the record of a state's prosperity and pride. Therefore it is proper that a just celebrity should be given to those men who are prominent in their day and generation that the living may enjoy the approbation of their contemporaries as well as that of a grateful posterity. J. C. F. Hull is one of the leading and pr,ogressive business men of Bucyrus, where he is occupying the important position of cashier. in the Second National Bank. He was born in Morrow county, Ohio, in 1861, and is a son of the late George W. Hull, who was born in Delaware county, Ohio, July. 21, 1824, his parents being Benjamin and Elizabeth (Smith) Hull. Benjamin Hull came to Ohio from New Jersey. In 1828 the family removed to Whetstone township, Crawford county, locating upon a farm, and there George W. Hull was reared to manhood. In 1844 he was united in marriage to Miss Attie Scribner, of Marion county, a daughter of Samuel and Elmira (Clark) Scribner. The Scribners were New Hampshire people, and the maternal grandfather of our subject was a soldier in the war of 1812. In an early day he engaged extensively in dealing in stock, which he drove over the mountains to the east. His death occurred when he had attained the very advanced age of ninety-six years. His wife's people lived and died in Marion county, Ohio. In 1855 George W. Hull removed with his family to Morrow, county, locating near Cardington. He was an energetic and wide-awake business man, made judicious investments in real estate and at one time was the owner of over fifteen hundred acres of land in Crawford, Morrow and Wyandot counties. In ante-bellum days he was a stanch abolitionist, and was one of the promoters of the "underground railroad," whereby many negro slaves were assisted on their way to Canada, where they could enjoy freedom without fear of being returned to their former masters. His earnest Christian life was in harmony with his belief as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he served both as steward and class leader, and was also prominent and influential in public affairs, having served as county commissioner in Morrow county for one term, while for twelve years he capably filled the office of justice of the peace. In 1877 36 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. he came to Bucyrus and assisted in organizing the Crawford County Bank, in which enterprise he was associated with Abram Monnett, who was made president, while Mr. Hull became vice-president, and his son, Lewis W. Hull,. cashier. These gentlemen, together with L. B. Harris, of Upper Sandusky, and E. Blair, of Bucyrus, constituted the board of directors. The bank was openixl for business January 1, 1878, and Mr. Hull was connected therewith until. his death, which occurred in 1891, when he was sixty-eight years of age. He became president of the institution on the death of Mr. Monnett, and remained at its head until a short time prior to his own demise, when he retired, Mr. Blair becoming his successor. In 1885 the bank was reorganized and chartered under the name of the Second National Bank of Bucyrus. . Mr. Hull took a very active interest in' many important concerns contributing to the substantial development and material progress of BuCyrus, and in his . death the town lost one of its most valued and honored citizens. He was a gentleman of keen discernment and sound judgment in business affairs, and his advice was valued very highly in commercial circles. His wife, surviv- . ing him about two years, passed away, in 1893, at the age of sixty-eight years. Their eldest son, J. G. Hull, is the cashier of the Farmers National Bank at Findlay, Ohio, a position which he has occupied since 1880. Lewis W., another son, was the first cashier of the CrawfOrd County Bank, now the Second National Bank of Bucyrus, and at present he resides. in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. There are also two sisters in the family, Mrs. Olive A. Monnett, wife of Mervin J. Monnett, of Central City, Nebraska ; J. C. F., our subject; and Adell, wife of Ed D. Wolfe, who is general freight agent at Dallas, Texas, for the Queen & Crescent Railroad Company. J. C. F. Hull, the immediate subject of this article, spent the first sixteen years of his life in his native county, much of that time being devoted to the mastery of the branches of study forming the curriculum of the public schools near his home. In 1877 he accompanied his parents to Bucyrus, and in 1879 entered the bank as collector. He closely applied himself to the work given to his charge, and from tinge to time was promoted, becoming cashier on the 1st of January, 1885, a position which he has occupied continuously since. Previously his father had established. the Farmers' National Bank at Findlay, Ohio, and our subject went to that place in 188o and acted as assistant cashier for three years, and was then cashier of the First National Bank of Fostoria, Ohio, a bank he assisted in organizing, securing its charter. In this bank his father was also a stockholder. He resigned the poSition of cashier of this bank to become the cashier of the Second National Bank of CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 37 Bucyrus. He is still a stockholder in the Farmers' National Bank of Findlay. Mr. Hull is thoroughly conversant with banking business in every detail and possesses excellent executive ability, keen discrimination and reliable judgment. These are qualities which are absolutely essential to the successful conduct of banking institutions, and his ability and labors have been a potent factor in securing the prosperous business which the Second National Bank has enjoyed. His labors have not been confined to one line, for he is president of the Bucyrus Board of Trade, and treasurer and general manager of the Bucyrus Telephone Company. He has acted as trustee for an unusually large number of estates in Crawford county, each of which he has settled up- satisfactorily to all concerned., He has also dealt quite extensively in real estate, and is the owner of valuable property in Bucyrus, including a handsome residence in the city. In Republican circles Mr. Hull is also recognized as a leader, and since April, 1900, he has represented the third ward of Bucyrus in the city council, being elected to that position in a' Democratic ward, which fact indicates his personal popularity and the trust reposed in him by those who know him best. He is treasurer of the Crawford county Republican central committee, and on a number of occasions he has served as a delegate to the state conventions of, his party. Socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in the first named he has passed all of the chairs. He holds membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church of Bucyrus, and during the past ten years he has served as its trustee and treasurer. His business career is above reproach. He has met every obligation most fully and honorably, is courteous and fair with his patrons and his reliability commends him to their confidence and good will. AUGUST BROEMEL. August Broemel is the editor and proprietor of the Bucyrus Courier, the German weekly paper of the county, and is a well known factor in journalistic circles. He is also regarded as one of the reliable and enterprising citizens of the community, whose active co-operation in the movements for the general good is both practical and profitable. As his name indicates, Mr. Broemel is a native son of the fatherland, his birth having occurred at Stadt Ilrn, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Germany. He pursued his education in the public schools of his native land and also in an academy where special 38 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY training was given after the manner of that received in Armour Institute, of Chicago, pupils being fitted for various lines of business life. He was nineteen years of age when he bade adieu to home and friends. and crossed the Atlantic to America. In 1872 he purchased the Bucyrus Courier, which he has since published. This is a German weekly newspaper, which was established. in 1874. For a short time Mr. Broemel was associated with a partner,.but during. the greater part of the period in. which he has published the paper he has been alone in business. It has a large circulation among the German .speaking people of this portion of, the state and exercises a wide felt influence in public affairs. Mr. Broemel is deeply interested in everything pertaining to the welfare and support of measures for the public good through the columns of the Courier, and at the same time advances the interest of the Democratic party.. In Bucyrus occurred the marriage of Mr. Broemel and Miss Emma Liebich, a native of Bucyrus. In 1896 he was elected a. member of the city council and by re-election has been continued in the office since that time. He is a member of the German Lutheran church and is found as a champion of educational, ,material and moral interests. WILLIAM C. KIESS. The subject of this review is a self-made man who, without any extraordinary family or pecuniary advantages at the commencement of his career, has battled earnestly. and energetically, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. By sheer force of will and untiring effort he has worked his way upward and is numbered among the leading citizens of Crawford county, where he is now occupying the position of judge of the probate court, having entered upon the duties of his office on the 9th of February, 1900. His public service has demonstrated that the trust reposed in him is fully merited, and his name is now found on the record of reliable and capable officials in this section of Ohio. Mr. Kiess was born on a farm in Whetstone township, in 1857, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Delker) Kiess. His paternal grandfather, Christopher Kiess, was a native of Germany, received excellent educational privileges and became a successful teacher in his native land. Crossing the Atlantic to America, he followed the profession of teaching for twenty years in Pennsylvania. Jacob Kiess, the father of our subject, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and after arriving at years of maturity CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 41 wedded Catherine Delker, whose birth occurred in Germany, and who came to the United States when a maiden of fifteen summers. In the year 1850 they removed to Crawford county, locating upon a farm, which the father owned and operated until his death, which occurred in 1882, when he was seventy-one years of age. His wife passed away in 1885, at the age of sixty-nine years. They were people of the highest respectability, enjoying the esteem and good will of all with whom they came in contact. Of their family, four sons and a daughter are living, namely : William Christopher, of this review ; Jonathan H., Simeon and Joseph H., all of whom are successfully following farming in Whetstone township; and Mrs. M. A. Butts, of Hiawatha, Kansas. Two sons, Daniel and Samuel, and two daughters, Lydia and May Margaret, are deceased. Born upon his father's farm, William Christopher Kiess was there reared and early took his place in the fields to assist in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting. In the public schools he acquired his elementary education, which was supplemented by study in the Ada Normal University in the year 1887-8. Subsequently he became identified with educational work, and for seven years was known as a competent instructor in the schools of Whetstone township. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, then called him to public office, and for four years he served as clerk of the township, and was also land appraiser there. In the fall of 1899 he was elected to the office of probate judge of Crawford county and entered upon his duties February 9, 1900, for a three years' term, so that he is the present incumbent. He is extremely faithful, prompt and reliable in performing the labors that devolve upon him, and is making a most creditable record. Mr. Kiess was united in marriage, in 1879, to Miss Sarah E. Wagner, a daughter of John and Mary Wagner, of Whetstone township, who came to Crawford county from Lycoming; county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1852. Both have now passed away, the father dying at the age of sixty-four years, the mother being called to her final rest when. sixty-nine years of age. The marriage of the Judge and Mrs. Kiess has been blessed with two children,— Thomas Clinton, who is now seventeen years of age and is a student in the high school, and Bessie Belle, who is also pursuing her studies in the schools of Bucyrus. In his political affiliations the Judge has ever been a Democrat, and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, politically and otherwise is religious views are indicated by his membership in the Evangelical church. On the 15th of March, 190o, he removed his family to Bucyrus, where they ow occupy a pleasant home, which is celebrated for its gracious hospitality. 42 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. In the county which has been his home throughout hid entire life Judge Kiess has made many warm friends, owing to his possession of those sterling traits of character which everywhere command admiration and respect. EMANUEL R. BIRK. Emanuel R. Birk is one of the prominent business men of Bucyrus, where he is engaged in the manufacture and sale of harness and saddlery. A country has but one chief ruler, be he king, emperor or president. Comparatively few men can attain to the highest office in civil or military life, but commerce offers a broad and almost limitless field in which one may exercise his powers unrestrained and gain leadership at the head of a chosen calling. Drawing the lessons Which we do from the life of Mr. Birk, we learn that the qualifications necessary for success are a high ambition and a resolute, honorable purpose to reach an exalted standard that has been set up. One of the native sons of Bucyrus, he was born July 25, 1866, unto the marriage of John G. and Johanna B. (Kuhn) Birk. His father was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born July 22, 1823. In accordance with the laws of his native country he attended school until fourteen years of age, and then began learning the harnessmaker's trade, which he mastered both in principle and detail. Believing that the new world offered better opportunities for advancement than the older and more thickly settled countries of Europe, he determined to cross the Atlantic, and in 1845 sailed for New York. In 1847 he came to Bucyrus and three years later established a harness shop on his own account, beginning the business which is now carried on by his son, our subject. In 1851 he married Miss Johanna B. Kuhn, of Whet-Slone township, Crawford county, though born in Germany, and unto them were born four sons and one daughter,—Christian F., who is now mayor. of Bucyrus ; Lewis C., foreman of the harness shop; Emanuel R., of this review ; George M., who is conducting a drug store in Bucyrus ; and Elizabeth, wife of F. P. Donnenwirth, of Bucyrus. The father was the treasurer of Crawford county from 1874 to 1876. His death occurred November 10, 1888. Emanuel R. Birk spent his youth in the usual manner of lads in the ordinary walks of life and enjoyed the pleasures of the playground and gave considerable time to the duties of the schoolroom. After putting aside his text-books he began learning the harnessmaker's trade of his father in 1882. He worked with him until the latter's death, in 1888, when he succeeded to the business, which he has since carried on. He now enjoys a large and CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 43 growing trade, which covers Crawford county and northeastern Ohio. The business has more than doubled under the management of Mr. Birk. He carries on a retail trade and also manufactures harness and saddlery, and the excellent quality of his goods, combined with his honorable business methods, reasonable prices and earnest desire to please, has secured to him gratifying prosperity. On the 25th of October, 1892, Mr. Birk was joined in wedlock to Miss Melinda L. Vollrath, a daughter of Albert Vollrath, who for a number of years conducted a planing-mill in Bucyrus, but is now living a retired life. He is a native of Stadtilm, Germany, born January 31, 1830, and is a son of Gottlieb R. Vollrath, who was born in the same place September 29, 1804.. There the grandfather acquired his education and married FrederikeMeissner. After coming to Bucyrus he carried on the cabinet-Making business, being one of the leading representatives of industrial concerns in this part of the state. He was highly respected as a reliable business man and public-spirited citizen. His son, Albert Vollrath, acquired his education in the schools of the fatherland, and when twenty:one years of age .came to Bucyrus, in company with his parents, his two brothers, Charles and William, and his sisters, Mrs. Christian Renkert and Mrs. Frank Blicke. Mr. Vollrath entered upon his business career in Bucyrus as a contractor and builder, and in 1852 he became a partner in the planing-mill, which he conducted up to fhe time of his retirement from active business life. Mr. Birk is identified with two fraternities, the Masonic and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He attends the German Lutheran church, and as a citizen he co-Operates. in all movements for the general good, withholding his support from no measure which he believes will advance the public welfare. JOHN C. SHERER. John C. Sherer, than whom there was no citizen more widely or favorably known in Whetstone township, Crawford county, was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 183o and was the eldest son of Adam Sherer, one of the pioneers of that county, where he was known as a public-spirited and progressive citizen and one who exerted considerable influence in political affairs, his opinions carrying weight in the councils of his party, while his labors contributed in no immaterial way to its success. John C. Sherer was his father's chief assistant after the removal of the family to Whetstone township, Crawford county. His educational advantages 44 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. were only those afforded by the common district schools, but reading, observation and experience constantly broadened his fund of knowledge and he became a well informed man, being recognized throughout the county as a gentleman of more than ordinary intellectual strength. He always followed agricultural pursuits and developed an excellent farm, to which he added all the modern accessories and improvements. Neatness and thrift characterized his place, and the practical yet progressive methods which characterized his work contributed to his prosperity. Mr. Sherer was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Helfrich, a daughter of Peter Helfrich, one of the leading farmers of the county, and they made their home about four miles west of Galion, where they owned a nice property. They became the parents of six children: Jenny M.; William; May S.; Harry W., who is now located in Columbus; Willard A., of Toledo; and John A., who is principal of the East End schools of Galion, Four of these children, together with their mother, still survive. the husband and father, and Mrs. Sherer and her son still reside upon the farm. In his political views Mr. Sherer was a Republican, and on account of the minority of the party in the county he was not,so prominent in political affairs as he otherwise would have been. He was abundantly qualified for office, and in a quiet way he did much to promote the welfare and progress of the community. He enjoyed the friendship and regard of all with whom he came in contact, irrespective of politidal or religious belief, and his death, which occurred in 1879, was sincerely mourned by the general public. CHARLES KINNINGER. The subject of this review is one of the best known and Most active workers in the ranks of the- Democratic party in. Crawford county, and has rendered most effective service in the party cause. But recently his second team as probate judge of the county closed. In this office he acted as deputy previouns to his election to the office for a period of six years, and. then having been elected twice to the position he served as the incumbent six years, and is now holding a clerical position in the same office. As a man of splendid character and much ability he has been conspicuous in public affairs, and has made a record whith commends him to the public confidence and assures him the esteem of the community. Judge Kinniriger is numbered among the native sons of Crawford county, his birth having occurred at Sulphur Springs, in Liberty township, July 22, CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 47 1853. His parents, John and Caroline (Schindler) Kinninger, were both natives. of Germany, and took up their abode in Liberty township, Crawford ccAmty, many years ago. They resided in Sulphur Springs, where the father followed wagon-making. He was a hale and hearty man at the age of ninety-two years, at which time, in 1881, he met with an accident which resulted in his death. His wife passed away in 1879, when seventy-two years of age. She was twice married, Mr. Kinninger being her second husband. By her first husband, Christian Sexauer, she had four Children: William F., Christian, Frederick and Lewis, all of whom are now deceased. By the second marriage there were also four children : Caroline, who has passed away; Rosa, wife of W. D. Mewhort, of Sulphur Springs; John, deceased; and Charles. The father was not in very affluent circumstances and therefore could not give his children more than. a common-school education, hence our subject received only such advantages of mental discipline as he could obtain in the village schools of his native town. He learned the trade of carriage painting in the carriage factory of his half-brother's at Sulphur Springs, conducted under the name of the Sexauer Carriage Works. He eventually became superintendent of the factory, for, although he began work in the humble capacity mentioned, he was advanced through various positions as he demonstrated his ability to perform the work entrusted to him. In early life much responsibility devolved upon him in connection with the support of his parents. He was employed in the factory until he Was made deputy probate judge, but his first public service was in the capacity of clerk of. Liberty township, in which he has served for several years. In 1888 he became deputy probate judge under Judge J. C. Tobias, and he made a splendid record, continuing in that position for six years, when in 1893 he was elected probate judge and entered updo his ditties in 1894. He was re-elected in 1896 and served as probate judge through six consecutive years, retiring from the office on the 9th of February, 1900, as he had entered it—with the. confidence and good will of the public. On that occasion the members of the bar presented him with a fine silver tea and water set,—a compliment to his efficiency in office and an expression of their friendly and high regard for him as a man and citizen. He has always taken a very active interest in political affairs as a worker in Democratic. ranks, has served as a member of the county central committee, and for three years was a member of the county executive committee. In Liberty township Judge Kinninger was united in marriage to Miss 3 48 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Alice Bickley, a daughter of Joseph Bickley, of Sandusky, Ohio, and their living children are Emma E., George E., Edria. M. and Grace Alice. Their first born, Harry 'N., died at the age of seventeen years. The son George E. enlisted in 1896 as a member of Company A, Eighth Ohio National Guard, and at the time of the Spanish-Atherican war he volunteered with his regiment in the: United States service, in which he was mustered in as a. corporal. The command was sent to Cuba and participated in active service there, being present at the surrender of Santiago. He recently received an banOrable discharge from the company after five years' connection therewith. The family now reside upon a fine farm two miles south of Bucyrus, in Bucyrus township, where the Judge owns one hundred acres of land. He is successfully carrying on stock-raising, and the fine grades of cattle which he raises enables him to command a ready sale on the market. In whatever Work he undertakes he is energetic and industrious, and thus he has advanced to a position among the affluent citizens of Crawford county. He belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Honor, of Bucyrus, and is also a member of the German Lutheran church. The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend, and while residing iiri Bucyrus he served for several years as a member of the city school board. During his residence at Sulphur Springs he was the leader of one of the best bands in the county, and his love of music is one of his salient characteristics and is a source of pleasure not only to himself but also to his many friends, enabling him to become an active factor in entertainment and social circles. JOHN A. SHERER. Professor. John A. Sherer, principal of the East End schools of Galion, is one of the most competent and successful educators in this portion of Ohio, a man of strong mentality, whose careful preparation has well qualified him for his work and who has a just comprehension of the importance .of the duties devolving upon him. Professor Sherer was born on a farm a few miles northwest of Galion and is of ancestry well known in Crawford and adjoining counties. His father, John C. Sherer, is mentioned on another page of this volume. His mother belonged to the distinguished and numerous Helfrich family, so closely allied with the history of this locality. Mr. Sherer was born in 1873, and in his early youth attended the district school near his home, while later CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 49 he enjoyed the privilege of a course in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. On its completion he began teaching and had charge of a number of schools in Crawford county through a period of ten years. His success in a general way attracted the attention of the school board of Galion and lie was called here to take charge of the East Side schools in 1900. The able manner in which he discharged his duties in that scholastic year recommended him for the position for the succeeding year, and through his two years' service he has won the highest commendation. In 1899 Professor Sherer was married to Miss Viola Kiess, the daughter of a prominent and well known family of Whetstone township. Professor Sherer is one of the county board of school examiners, and has the acquaintance and friendship of the majority of teachers in the county. He is also one of the board of trustees of the Crawford County Historical Association, and his literary contributions to the history of Crawford county, in various newspaper articles, have attracted not only local attention but also that of the State Historical Association. At this point it would be almost tautological to enter into any series of statements as showing ,the Professor to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have been shadowed forth betWeen the lines of this review. Strong in his individuality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions; but there are as dominating elements in this individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which, taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained to him the respect and confidence of men. CHARLES F. SCHABER. Charles F. Schaber is one of the younger representatives of the bar of Bucyrus,. but those who are acquainted with him and are familiar with his ambitious and resolute spirit have no fear in predicting for him a successful future. Bucyrus may well be proud to claim him among her native sons. His birth occurred in this city July 30, 1873, his parents being John A. and Bertha W. (Margraff) Schaber. The paternal grandparents were John George and Fredrica Schaber, who with their family, consisting of John A. and Frederick, came to Crawford county in June, 1854. The last named died in Bucyrus several years ago. The father of our subject, after following the blacksmith's trade in Bucyrus for several years, took up his abode at