HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 925 (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) married Miss Blanche Maxon, who was born in the West and educated at Oberlin College, Wooster, Ohio. They are the parents of one son, John Bert, Jr., aged one year. Professor and Mrs. Graham are members of the Congregational Church, as is also Mrs. John R. Graham, while the elder man is an attendant of that church. John R. Graham is a republican, and while not a politician is known as a man of influence in his community. He is the possessor of an excellent reputation in business circles, is relied upon absolutely by his associates, and in public affairs is ready to do his full share, in supporting public- spirited movements and enterprises. ARDEN A. STORRS. In his extensive agricultural operations, which he is carrying on in Perkins Township, on his handsome farm of 135 acres, Arden A. Storrs has adopted modern methods, which he has directed in an intelligent manner that has brought him a full measure of returns from the labors he has expended upon his property. While general farming has interested, him principally, Mr. Storrs has also been engaged quite extensively in the raising of stock, an occupation to which he has given much thought and study, and in both lines he has come to be accounted an expert by those who have watched the increasingly successful results of his undertakings. Mr. Storrs is a native son of the community in which he now lives, born on a farm in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio, November 19, 1852, a son of Elisha C. and Jerusha (Taylor) Storrs. His grandfather, Reuben Storrs, was born in Connecticut, and some time after his marriage left his native state and started in ox teams on the long and perilous journey overland to the then new country of Ohio. When the family reached Dunkirk, New York, a stop was made and there was born Elisha G. Storrs, April 25, 1821. Subsequently the little party started again on their migration, and finally, after traveling a number of miles over Indian trails, the only roads to be found at that time, arrived at their destination, the woods of Perkins Township. There the grandfather continued to spend the remaining years of his life in agricultural pursuits, and died well advanced in years, one of his community's honored pioneers. His son, Elisha G. Storrs, grew up amid pioneer surroundings and acquired his education in the little schoolhouse visited by the subscription teacher. His boyhood and youth, were passed in learning farming methods, and when he attained his manhood he began to farm on his own account, that vocation receiving his attention throughout his life. Like his father he was widely known as a man of integrity and straightforward dealing, and his community suffered a distinct loss in his death. Mrs. Storrs, who was a native of Perkins Township, and also a member of one of the pioneer families of this locality, also attained advanced years. Both she and her husband were members of the Perkins Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, and took an active and helpful part in its work. Arden A. Storrs was reared on the old homestead farm in Perkins Township and obtained a good education in the Perkins Township School. Subsequently, he entered the Sandusky High School, AA here he was duly graduated in 1870, and at that time entered upon a career as a schoolteacher. After several years thus spent, Mr. Storrs returned to ,the home farm and began to engage in the vocation which his father and grandfather had followed before him and in which he has continued to be occupied to the present. His farm of 135 acres is now under a high state of cultivation, and under Mr. Storrs' excellent management yields large crops. Since early manhood he has been foremost in the public enterprises which have proved advantageous to his home locality, and is now, and has been for a number of years, serving as vice president of 926 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY the Erie County Mutual Insurance Company, of which his father was one of the founders. He is a charter member of the Perkins Grange, in which he has served as master and in other capacities, and his political views correspond with the platform of the republican party. A consistent member of the Perkins Methodist Episcopal Church, he, has held various offices therein and for a long period has been superintendent of the Sunday school. All in all, he is an active and stirring citizen, and a worthy representative of the best agricultural element of Erie County. Mr. Storrs was married December 7, 1876, to Miss Mina H. House, daughter of the late Lindsley and Mary A. (Young) House. Her father, a native of Connecticut, was brought to Erie County When three years of age and passed the rest of his life in Perkins Township, where he became a man of influence and a prominent and successful agriculturist. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Storrs: Edith V., who is the wife of Ross Sour, a resident of Fremont, Ohio; Maud, who is the wife of Jesse C. Seymour, of Elyria, Ohio ; Harry E., who is engaged in farming with his father in Perkins Township ; and Blanche E., who is deceased. JAY C. SMITH. Of all the multifarious occupations of mankind, probably the most indispensable is that of agriculture, for upon the farmer all other classes of society depend in large measure. The extent of the obligation is not- always recognized by those in other walks of life, nor do they appreciate at its full value the extent of theoretical and practical knowledge required to pursue this calling successfully at the present day. The fact, however, that colleges are established all over the country for teaching this important science should be conclusive evidence to everyone that the cultivation of the soil, with its related branches of dairying and stockraising, is much more than a matter of mere manual labor. To have attained rank among the successful and prosperous farmers of any up to date America community implies the possession of qualities that would compel success in many other important callings. A conspicuous example of this kind is the subject of this memoir, Jay C. Smith, proprietor of the Well known Smith farm in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio. Mr. Smith was born in this township, November 8, 1844, a son of Samuel H. and Rachel (Mack) Smith. His paternal grandfather was a pioneer settler here and resided in the township many "years, following the occupation of a surveyor. He was a Master Mason and a prominent member of Mount Vernon (Ohio) Lodge. About 1852 he went to Texas, where he found a wide field to exercise his professional skill, doing a large amount of surveying in the neighborhood of Houston. Although he died during the Civil war period, he had by that time acquired a large amount of land, at his death owning something like 50,000 acres in that vicinity. Samuel H. Smith, son of Samuel and father of Jay C., spent the entire active period of his life in Margaretta Township, this county, operating the farm now owned by his son, Jay. In early years, when he settled here with his parents, the land was heavily timbered and deer and other wild game were plentiful in the forest. To him in large measure devolved the pioneer task of clearing the farm, and many years of arduous labor were necessary before the rank forest growth gave way to the smiling, fruitful fields of today. But our pioneer forefathers were never lacking in either courage or energy and in course of time the beneficial change was effected. A man of much force. of character, Samuel H. Smith was well and favorably known both in Erie and adjoining counties. He was strongly opposed to slavery, and after the HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 927 formation of the republican party he became one of its most stanch supporters. To the cultivation of the soil he added the raising of stock, carrying on both branches of farm work with prosperous results. He died in 1871, honored and respected by all who knew. him. His wife, Rachel Mack Smith, was a native of Erie County, Ohio. Of their children the subject of this memoir is now the only survivor. Jay C. Smith, who was his parents only son, acquired his literary education in the public schools of Margaretta Township, this county, and the Sandusky High School, at the same time acquiring a practical knowledge of farm life and work. In June, 1863, when a young man not yet nineteen years of age, he enlisted as a private in Company M, First Ohio Heavy Artillery, under Capt. Henry J. Ely, who subsequently became the father of the famous Nellie Bly, journalist and war correspondent, now or recently following her vocation on European battlefields. After two years service in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, during which time he saw plenty of good fighting and took part in many a long and weary march, he was honorably discharged in 1865, after the close of the war, and returned home to Castalia, Ohio, hisl present place of residence. Here he took up farm work, including dairying and stock-raising, and applied himself with the energy of his forefathers to achieve success in his chosen calling. How well he has done so is known to every inhabitant of Margaretta and the neighboring townships. His farm contains some 400 acres of excellent land, a considerable portion being highly cultivated and the rest utilized for grazing purposes, as he makes a specialty of raising thoroughbred Holstein cattle. In this branch of his work, as in all the rest, he has been highly successful and his name figures among those of prominent stockmen in this part of the state. For over a quarter of a century he has furnished the milk for the State Soldiers' Home, near Sandusky. A public- spirited citizen, Mr. Smith is always ready to lend his aid and influence to any plan for the improvement of local conditions and the general welfare of the community. He is a 'prominent member of the Grand Army Post at Castalia. Mr. Smith was first married to Miss Alice Sewell, of Louisiana, of which union there were three children, all sons, namely : James, Jr., , residing in Castalia ; Jay B., who is a member of the heavy artillery, United States army, and is now stationed at Boston, Massachusetts, and Floyd S., a resident of Castalia, who is a veteran of the Spanish- American war. Mr. Smith married for his second wife May O. Palmer, of Castalia, Ohio, daughter of V. Palmer, an esteemed resident of this town. By this union also there have been three children, as follows : Flossie, wife of Carl Ketter, of Sandusky, Ohio; Mary, a student in a ladies' college at Nashville, Tennessee, and George L., of Castalia, who s carrier on a rural mail route connected with that postoffice. The members of Mr. Smith's family are typical representatives of the best American citizenship, who do credit to their upbringing, and are respected and esteemed wherever they reside. MICHAEL MCGOOKEY. This venerable citizen of Erie County, now past seventy-five years of age, who with firm step and unclouded mind still attends to the daily routine of affairs, has during his long and useful life in this county witnessed the greater share of its development and has borne a part in its material and civic progress. Though now living somewhat retired at his comfortable farm home in Margaretta Township, he still manifests a keen and intelligent interest in all that affects the welfare of his native county, and is widely and favorably known as a man of progress and public spirit. 928 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY The McGookey family have been identified with Erie County since early pioneer times, and Michael McGookey was born at Venice in this county December 28, 1839. His parents, James and Catherine McGookey, were both natives of Ireland, and after coming, to this country settled at Venice, where they lived a number of years, but when their son Michael was seven years of age the family went to Margaretta Township and bought a farm half a mile west of where Michael now resides. At that time Margaretta Township's lands were covered with a heavy growth of forest, and the McGookey family for a number of years lived in the woods and gradually worked out the process of clearing and planting the soil. Both parents died there, and James McGookey should be remembered for his pioneer part in that community. Nearly all the early childhood associations of Michael McGookey are with Margaretta Township, and while subject to the influences of the rural environment, he also attended the public schools, and came to manhood with a good preparation for the serious duties of the world. He was not yet twenty-two years of age when on May 13, 1861, he enlisted in Company C of the Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went with that regiment into the Army of the Ohio and subsequently the Army of the. Cumberland. His most important battles - were those of Pittsburg Landing, Stone River and Perryville, and he did his duty faithfully as a soldier in the great campaign which wrested an important part of the Mississippi Valley from the Confederacy. At the end of his three years he received an honorable discharge on June 22, 1864, and then returned to Erie County. For more than half a century now his home has been in Margaretta Township, and with farming as his principal vocation he has prospered in proportion to the hard work and intelligence which he is well known to have applied to all his undertakings. On December 11, 1864, not many weeks after he returned from the war, he was married to Sarah W. Wiegel. She was born in Huron Ohio, February 12, 1844, a daughter of Bernhardt and Anna (Mantz) Wiegel, both of whom were natives of Germany, and early in their lives settled in Margaretta Township. A family of five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McGookey: Harry B.,. who lives in Sandusky ; Anna S., wife of Frank J. Fitz, of Margaretta Township ; James W., of Margaretta Township ; Jay M., whose home is in the State of Georgia; and Carrie, who is a professional nurse and lives with her parents in Margaretta Township. While securing his share of prosperity which rewards the efforts of the thrifty farmers of Erie County, Mr. McGookey has also attended to the public affairs of his community. He served two terms as township assessor, and since war times has been a regular republican in politics. He is affiliated with the Grand Army Post of Castalia, and is a member of Crystal Rock Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees, in which tent he has served as record keeper for a number of years. AUGUST B. APPEMAN. Some of the capable and successful farm enterprise of Florence Township has been conducted for a number of years by members of the Appeman family. The late August B. Appeman possessed unusual ability in agricultural lines and was also a citizen who commanded the respect and regard of all who knew him. Mrs. Appeman since her husband's death has shown herself the equal of many men in business affairs and with her children growing up about her has looked well after the duties of her household and has thriftily managed the farm, which both in appearance and in substantial value should be classed with the best country estates in the vicinity. of Florence Village. PICTURE OF AUGUST B. APPEMAN HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 929 The late August B. Appeman was born at Amherst in Lorain County, Ohio, June 15, 1862, and died October 24, 1912, when a little more than fifty years of age. His parents were John and Catherine (Smith) Appeman, who were born in Germany, came to this country when young, and were married in Lorain County, where they afterwards spent their lives as farmers near Amherst. They were members of the. German Reformed Church. For further information concerning the Appeman family see sketch of Charles P. Sebolt. August B. Appeman grew up and received his education in the vicinity of Amherst and made his home there until about thirty years ago, when he moved into Florence Township and bought 176 acres half • a mile south of the Village of Florence. On that farm he spent the rest of his active career, and before his death had brought all the land under cultivation and had effected many improvements, so that he left his wife and children with a handsome property. The home is an eight-room house, with a good barn 20 by' 40 feet. The late Mr. Appeman was a man to be relied upon, and his word could be implicitly trusted whenever it was spoken as a promise. He was a 'democrat in politics but sought no participation in local offices. In Florence Township he married Miss Anna M. Stickreth. She was born in Germany, March 14, 1867, but has no recollections of her home in the fatherland since when nine months of age she was brought to the United States by her parent's, August and Elizabeth (Peter) Stickreth. The family at that time also included her brother, August, who died at the age of nine years. On leaving Germany the Stickreth family embarked on a sailing vessel at Bremen and some weeks later were landed in New York City, coming on west as far as Huron in Erie County and after a few years moving into Florence Township, where her father bought a farm south of Florence Village, but later sold that place of thirty acres and secured a larger farm of sixty acres north of the village. There her parents spent the rest of their useful careers. Her father died in 1901 at the age of seventy-four and her mother passed away December 7, 1912, also at the age of seventy-four. They, were members of the German Reformed Church, and her father after securing citizenship voted as a democrat. Mrs. Appeman for the past three years, aided by her growing son, has proved herself a capable farmer as well as a home maker. She is the mother of children who are growing up to do their honor and are. proving themselves competent in their tasks whether at home or in school. Her oldest child, Carl, died when seven years of age. Elsie C., the oldest daughter, completed her education in the common and high schools, and is now employed as a stenographer with the C. E. Ward Company at New London, Ohio. The next in age is Harold J., aged nineteen, who has finished the course of the local schools, and is now his mother's capable assistant in running the large farm. Maude is now a student in the Berlin Heights High School and a member of the class of 1917. Florence M. is in the seventh grade of the public schools, while Esther G. is in the fourth grade and Hazel V., the youngest, is in the second grade. Mrs, Appeman and family are members of the Congregational Church. PROF. I. LEE DAVIS. The surest measure of the degree of advancement to which a community has attained is to be found in the efficiency of its public schools. Universal education is a thing of modern times and is intimately associated with modern progress. From the time early in the nineteenth century when Lord Brougham uttered the pithy phrase, "The schoolmaster is abroad," to the present, the tendency in 930 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY all the most advanced nations has been toward increased educational facilities for the masses. The famous Ordinance of 1787 for governing the Northwest Territory, which included the State of Ohio, contained the provision: Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary for the welfare of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged," and although the ordinance was later superseded by the constitution, Ohio has always lived up to that provision. Probably no community of equal size in this state has any advantage over Castalia, Erie County, in the high standard attained and maintained by its public and high school, which, since September; 1913, has been under the direction of Prof. I. Lee Davis, as principal. As the school as it is today is much what Mr. Davis has made it, a brief sketch of his career, will not be without interest to the readers of this volume. Mr. Davis is a native son of Ohio, his birth having taken place at Hamersville, Brown County, October 8, 1888. His parents were William L. and Lillie (Pask) Davis, of whom the father is now deceased, he having died when the son was but three weeks old. Mr. Davis' mother is still living and is now a resident of Cincinnati. Until he was sixteen years of age, I. Lee Davis resided in his native county, attending school at Locust Ridge, where he acquired the first elements of knowledge. His mother then removed with their family to Cincinnati, and here for a time he was a student at the Norwood High School.. He then taught school for about a year, subsequent to which he attended the academy connected with Marietta College, at Marietta, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1909. The next year was spent as a student at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, where he made an excellent record for scholarship. His ability was now beginning to be recognized and when he left Kenyon he found no difficulty in securing a position as teacher in the Boys' Industrial School at Lancaster, Ohio, where he remained for one year. At the end of that time, or in 1910, he came from that place to Castalia and for two years subsequently taught the seventh and eighth grades in the public school here, showing a high degree of capacity. An opportunity for a vacation now occurring, Mr. Davis spent a year in domestic travel, visiting various parts of the United States, improving his acquaintance with mankind and increasing his general stock of knowledge. When he resumed his educational labors here it was as principal of the school in which he had made so good a record as teacher. Capable and progressive, he has brought the school up to a high standard of efficiency, and that his efforts have been appreciated is evidenced by the fact that in April of the present year, 1915, he was elected superintendent of the public schools of Margaretta and Groton townships, Erie County, Ohio, his duties in this office to begin in the coming month of August. Professor Davis' record is the more creditable to him in that he acquired his education chiefly through his own exertions. Although not yet twenty-seven years of age, he has already taken rank among the successful educators of the state and his future career will be watched with interest by his friends. On June 11, 1914, Prof. I. Lee Davis was married to Mary L: Jones, daughter of Rev. Thomas I. and Ellen D. Jones, of Gallia County, Ohio. Her parents were both of Welsh extraction; her father, now deceased, was formerly a well-known minister of the Congregational Church in Gallia County. Mrs. Davis is a graduate of the' Department of Music of the Ohio Northern University, at Ada, Ohio. Both she and her husband are highly esteemed members of the best society of Castalia. GEORGE F. PARKER. The business of agriculture, although entailing plenty of hard work, and not free from occasional losses and disappointments, is one, nevertheless, that possesses some peculiar advantages. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 931 The master farmer is, perhaps, of all men who labor with their hands, the most free and independent. As a rule he owns his lands and homestead and every improvement he makes thereon redounds to his own benefit. His life in the main is a healthful one, much more so than that of the city toiler, for he gets abundant exercise in the open air and is not subject to anything like the same extent to those temptations to vice and dissipation which beset the city man and cut short so many a promising career. Neither is his work as hard as it was in former days, when practically all the land was a forest, diversified by streams, lakes and swamps. The labor of tree-felling is practically a thing of the past— at least in the middle states-and no farmer wishes' it back, though accompanied by all of its subsequent log-rolling festivities so familiar to our ancestors, and which compensated them for many a long day of back-breaking labor in the woods, with the constant danger of ambush and massacre by savage foes. No, compared with the lot of one of those old pioneers, that of the modern agriculturist is one to be envied and desired. Although removed from the city, he is not without its best advantages. The railroad brings him within easy reach of some large center of population, the rural mail carrier passes daily with letters and papers, bringing news from loved des or of the events occurring throughout the country, or in other parts of the world ; and if he wishes for immediate communication the telegraph office is not far away and in his own home is the telephone, by means of which he can talk with his neighbors in any part of his township or county, or in places still farther away. His farming operations are largely conducted with the aid of improved machinery, which would have made his grandfather, or perhaps even his father, open his eyes in delighted surprise, while in a convenient building on his homestead there is, not infrequently, a high-power automobile in which, on Saturday afternoons or on Sunday he can take his family out to distant points with all the speed and luxury of a city millionaire. A good example of this independent and prosperous class of citizens is George F. Parker, of Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio, who has a wide reputation as a successful agriculturist and fruit grower. Mr. Parker is no rolling stone, for he has resided in Margaretta Township all his life up to date, having been born here January 12, 1861. His parents were Jackson and Catherine (Shock) Parker, and he is a grandson of Isaac Parker, a native of Pennsylvania, and of English ancestry, who, at an early date, removed to Seneca County, Ohio, thence to Sandusky County, this state, and finally to Lansing, Michigan, where 'he died. Jackson Parker, father of George F., settled in Margaretta Township, Erie County, Ohio, in the late '50s of the last century, being then a comparatively young man. He engaged in agriculture and for many years was one of the township's best known citizens, as he remained here until his death, which took place in 1913, when he was in his eighty- fifth year. In politics he was independent. Both he and his wife were natives of Pennsylvania., Their son, George F. Parker, was reared in Margaretta Township and educated in its public schools. He was early initiated into all the mysteries of farm life and labor and has since seen no reason to change his vocation, being now the owner of an excellent farm of 158 acres, well provided with commodious barns and outbuildings and a substantial and comfortable residence. He raises the usual crops to be found in this locality and gives considerable attention to fruit growing, in which he has been very successful. In politics he is a republican with independent proclivities. 932 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. Parker was first married to Margaret Geastier, a daughter of, Frederick Geastier, of Oxford Township, this county. Of this union were born five children, namely : Clara C., wife of Elmer Russell, of Groton Township ; Frederick J., Freda S., Irvin H. and Grace. E. Mr. Parker was married secondly to Mrs. Louise Rind, widow of the Rev. Philip J. Ried, a Lutheran minister, formerly a .resident of Margaretta Township, this county, who died in February, 1912. Mr. Ried was a native of Michigan, but was educated in St. Paul, Minnesota. For some ten years he was pastor of the Lutheran Church at Castalia, Ohio, and was a man greatly loved and esteemed. By Mr. Parker's first marriage there were three children, Mildred, Theodore and Ruth. Mr. Parker is an active, up-to-date citizen, progressive and public- spirited, taking a friendly interest in his neighbors' welfare as well as in his own, and he and his estimable wife, who is a lady of culture and refinement, are among the most popular residents of this township. ALBERT H. MATT. One of the leading industries along the lake shore of Erie County is that concerned with the collecting and handling and marketing of fish. At the little City of Huron the main business along that line is the Huron Fish Company, of which Albert H. Matt is secretary and general manager. This is a highly prosperous concern, and its success can be largely traced to the energy and judicious management of Mr. Matt. The company is engaged both in the production or catching and the shipping of fish as a wholesale house. The business was incorporated in 1907 with John Lay, Sr., president, Oscar Lay as vice president, and Mr. Matt as manager and secretary. While the capital stock is $5,000, the operations of the firm are on a much larger and more important scale than this capitalization would indicate. The company has a large and well-equipped plant at the Huron wharf, with one building 30 by 50 feet, and the fish house proper, a structure 40 by 75 feet, both nearly new buildings. The company ships fish to hundreds of towns and cities between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Coast and from Wisconsin south to Nashville, Tennessee. They handle from about 500 to 800 tons of fresh fish each season. Since 1911 Mr. Matt has been the chief factor in the management of this business. The other four stockholders in the company are John Lay, Sr., of Sandusky, one of the pioneers in the fish business around Lake Erie ; .Charles Lay and Oscar Lay, sons of the first named, both of Sandusky, and John Lay, Jr., another son, of Port Clinton, Ohio. Mr. Matt is a grandson on his mother's side of B. A. Hudson, who came to Huron during the '30s and in the early '60s founded the fishery plant now owned and managed by the Huron Fish Company. B. A. Hudson not only operated at Huron, but also in Monroe, Michigan, finally disposing of his plant in the former city in the '70s and selling his interests at Huron in 1890 to John G. Matt, father, of Albert H. Mr. Hudson then retired from active business and spent his last years in comfort, passing away December 7, 1897, when past sixty years of age. He was born in Oneida County, New York, February 1; 1832, and came with his people from Buffalo to Huron by lake boat during the early '30s. Both his parents died in Erie County. B. A. Hudson married Julia Williams at Flint, Michigan, August 22, 1856: She died in Huron June 16, 1892. The Hudsons were among the early members of the Episcopal Church at Huron, and were among its chief supporters. B. A. Hudson was a radical democrat, and always showed an active interest in local affairs, serving as a member of the town council. In the early days he was an overseer of the Wheeling Dock at Huron. John G. Matt, father of Albert H., was born in Sandusky; Ohio, in 1853, and died at his home October 27, 1914. His parents were John G. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 933 and Otelia (Bermadinger) Matt, both natives of Germany, who came to America during the '40s and located in Sandusky. That was a time when practically all traffic across the ocean was by sailing vessel, and a sailing ship ,brought them to America, and from New York City they came on to Sandusky by. way of the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. After their family had grown up, John G. Matt, Sr., and wife removed to Venice, Ohio, and he died there when past sixty and she when about seventy-two years of age. They were Catholic in the old country, having been reared in that faith in Baden, Germany, but after coming to America became associated with the Episcopal Church, and died in that faith. There Was a large family of children, among whom may be mentioned Mrs. J. B. Weber, of Sandusky ; Mrs. Frank Shepherd, of Venice ; Mrs. J. G. Gillard, of Montana, and E. J. Matt, of Huron. John G. Matt, Jr., grew up in Sandusky and Venice and received his education at Castalia, Ohio, and in Oberlin College. He came to Huron as a young man and took work as a mercantile clerk with Mr. Shepherd, later became a grocer, and a few years after that was made foreman of the fish business of the Wickham Cpmpany. After spending a year or two in the West seeking renewed health, in 1890 he returned to Huron to takeup the business of his father-in-law, Mr. Hudson, and some years later advanced from a partnership to sole ownership of the industry. In those days the plant was known as Hudson Brothers & Matt. In 1895 John G. Matt sold the business to Henry Lay, of Sandusky, and after working as a fish buyer for a New York City house two or three years, retired. John G. Matt, Jr., was married in Huron, February 1, 1876, to Miss Sarah E. Hudson, daughter of B. A. Hudson, already mentioned. She was born in Huron August 24, 1857, was reared and educated and has spent practically all her life in this locality.. She occupies her own home on Ohio Street in Huron, and is a faithful and diligent member of the Episcopal Church. She was the mother of two sons, one of them being Albert H. and the other Lester E. Lester E. Matt was torn June 4, 1880, and now lives at Flint, Michigan, where he operates a moving-picture show, a business in which he is exceedingly successful. He has been twice married, and by his first wife has a daughter, Elizabeth, aged ten. Albert H. Matt was born in Huron November 11, 1876, grew up in his native village, was well educated both in the public schools and . also as a student in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and began his business career as clerk in a store, and he also worked at the dock, and learned the trade or vocation of fireman and hoister. In that, as in every other capacity, he proved himself a skillful and reliable workman, though on reviewing the ten years spent in that way Mr. Matt feels that much of the time was practically wasted, or that at least he was standing still. He dates the beginning of his productive career from 1911, when he assumed active management of the Huron Fish Company. Mr. Matt was married at Canal Dover, Ohio, June 11, 1902, to Miss Ethel L. Miller, who was born in that town September 6, 1879, and was graduated from the high school there with the class of 1897. Her father, Lemuel W. Miller, born at Canal Dover, Ohio, December 10, 1842, is now living at Canal Dover. For many years he and his father were totally identified with iron-ore industry in Tuscarawas County. Mr. Miller's wife, whose maiden name was Birchfield, was born at Canal Dover April 9, 1848, and died September 1, 1901, and by his second marriage he has a son, Clyde. The children of the first wife still living are Mrs. Matt ; Carl J., of Akron, Ohio ; and 0. S., of Seattle, Washington. 934 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. and Mrs. Matt have one child, Lucile E., born July 17, 1903, and now showing marked capacity as a student in the graded schools. Mr. and Mrs. Matt are members of the Episcopal .Church, in which he is serving as vestryman. He has taken a prominent interest in the Masonic Order, and has passed a number of degrees in both the York and Scottish rites, being a member of Mark Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Huron, Ohio, and is a man who in all his relations has stood on the firm ground of integrity and personal honor. IRA BENTLEY. Now living virtually retired in the village of Birmingham, Florence Township, after many years of close and successful . identification with the basic industry of agriculture, Ira Bentley is a sterling and popular representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Erie County and is still the owner of the fine old homestead farm on which his paternal grandfather settled upon coming to this county, about a decade after the close of the War of 1812. On this ancestral homestead, which was obtained by his grandfather directly from the Government; Ira Bentley was born on the 25th of December, 1856, and he is a son of John Bentley, Jr., who was born on the same homestead, on the 4th of June, 1830. John Bentley, Sr., grandfather of him whose name introduces this article, was born in the State of New York, on the 20th of April, 1782, and in his native commonwealth, in December, 1818, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Anna Parker, whose birth occurred in that state on the 1st of September, 1792. A few years after the close of the War of 1812, in the latter part of the second decade of the nineteenth century, John Bentley, Sr., came with his wife and children, the latter being then three or four, in number, from the old Empire State to Erie County, Ohio, and it is a matter of family record that the. long overland journey was made with wagons and ox teams. In the virgin forest wilds of what is now Florence Township John Bentley, Sr., entered claim to a tract of land on the present East River Road, so designated by reason of its situation on the east side of the Vermilion River, and this pioneer farm, which was then entirely unimproved and in a section where Indians and wild game were in evidence, is now owned by him to whom this sketch is dedicated, the place being endeared to him by many hallowed memories and associations. The farm comprises 150 acres, and its improvement and development represent the work of three generations of the family, his father having succeeded to the ownership of the property and he himself having come into possession of the homestead as the representative of the third generation. It is now one of the valuable farms of the county, the land being of unimpaired fertility and under a high state of cultivation, and the permanent improvements being of substantial and attractive order, including a good house of nine rooms, now occupied by the tenant who has -charge of the farm, and' the barn being 30 by 68 feet in dimensions, with wings and wagon sheds attached. The original domicile of the family was a primitive log house of the type common to the pioneer days, and John Bentley, Sr., with the assistance of his sons, gallantly carried forward the work of reclaiming his land, it having been his privilege to aid in the progress of oivic and industrial activities in Erie County and to have become a substantial and influential citizen of Florence Township, where he continued to reside on his home farm until his death, which occurred March 29, 1859, his widow surviving him only a few years and being called to the life eternal on the 28th of April, 1862. He was a lifelong supporter of the principles of the democratic party, and his wife held membership in the Christian Church. They became the par- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 935 ents of seven children, of whom brief individual record is given in the appended paragraph: Phoebe Ann became the wife of James Wood and died without issue, though she and her husband had one adopted child, who like wise is now deceased. Andromeda married Silas Dunham, and both were residents of the State of Michigan at the time of their death. Of their children, only one is now living. Parker continued to be engaged in farming in Florence Township until his death, and further mention of him is made on other pages, in the sketch dedicated to his son, George P. James, the next in order of birth, died in, infancy. Margaret became the wife of Dr. Moses Trumbull, and they continued their residence in Ohio until their death, all of their children likewise being now deceased. Anna became the wife of Ebenezer Hopkins, and both died in Florence Township, this county. They were survived by four children, of whom two are still living. John, Jr., the youngest of the seven children, was the father of Ira Bentley, subject of this review. John Bentley, Jr., was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm which was the place of his nativity, was educated in the primitive schools of the locality and period; these having been largely maintained on the subscription plan, and he continued to reside on the old homestead until his death, which occurred on the 26th of April, 1910. After the death of his parents he purchased the interests of the other heirs and thus succeeded to the ownership of the home farm, upon which he made many improvements. For many years he held precedence as one of the progressive, energetic and successful representatives of the agricultural industry in his native county, where his sterling character and worthy achievement gave him secure place in popular confidence and esteem. He was unswerving in his allegiance to the democratic party, but had no desire to enter the arena of practical politics or to become a candidate for political office. In Florence Township was solemnized the marriage of John Bentley, Jr. to Miss Jane A. Miller, who was born in New York City on the 13th of March, 1832. She was a daughter of John U. and Esther (Krantz) Miller, who came from their native State of New York and numbered themselves among the pioneer settlers in the present Township of Florence, where they passed the remainder of their lives, both passing away after the middle period of life and Mrs. Miller having survived her husband by a few years. They became the parents of nine sons and four daughters, and of the number, five are still living. Mrs. Bentley proved a true helpmeet to her husband and was a loving and devoted wife and mother. She preceded her husband to the life eternal, her death having occurred on the 11th of July, 1904. Of the two children, Ira, of this sketch, was the younger, and the elder child, Ellen, who was born May 30, 1855, died on the 23d of January, 1864. Ira Bentley acquired his early education in the common schools of Florence Township and was closely associated with the work of the home farm from his early youth until the autumn of 1912, when he retired from the active labors and responsibilities that had long engrossed his attention and removed to the Village of Birmingham, where he has since owned and occupied an attractive residence of eleven rooms, the same occupying a large lot, with a frontage of sixty-six feet on Main Street. Mr. Bentley, as the one surviving child, inherited the old homestead farm, and it is pleasing to record that he still retains possession of the same. He has always taken lively interest in all that concerned the welfare of his native township and county and has been loyal and public-spirited as a citizen. He served two terms as trustee of Florence Township and for a number of years as township assessor, his political 936 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY support being given to the democratic party. He was formerly affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. In Florence Township, when a young man, Mr. Bentley wedded Miss Olivia Partello, who was born in Gratiot County, Michigan, on the 20th of August, 1860, and who was there reared and educated, her parents, Phineas and Amelia (Whipple) Partello, having been early settlers of that county. Her father was born in the State of New York and her mother in the Province of Ontario, Canada, their marriage having been solemnized in Clinton County, Michigan. They removed to Gratiot County and became early settlers near the present thriving little City of St. Louis, the metropolis of the county, where Mr. Partello reclaimed a farm from the forest and became a prosperous agriculturist and influential citizen. He was born October 7, 1818, and died on the 4th of August, 1895, one of the venerable and honored pioneers of Gratiot County. His wife was born November 28, 1821, and passed to eternal rest on the 26th of September, 1906. Both were members of the Baptist Church and Mr. Partello was a staunch advocate of the cause of the republican party. Mr. and Mrs. Bentley have three children—Gertrude A., who was born July 27, 1880 ; John Bentley III, who was born February 27, 1882; and Leona M., who was born December 8, 1901. The daughter was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of her native county, and is now the wife of Charles W. Burke, a representative merchant of Bellevue, Huron County, where Mrs. Burke herself conducts a prosperous millinery business. They have one child, Vivian, who was born in 1900. John Bentley HI supplemented the discipline of the public schools by an effective course in Oberlin Business College, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908. He is now secretary of both the S. R. File Company and the Cleveland Salt Company, important industrial concerns in the City of Cleveland. He married Miss Louise Heimsath and they have one daughter, Catherine. Miss Leona M. Bentley remains at the parental home and is a member of the class of 1916 in the Birmingham High School. CHARLES A. BLAIR. During his long residence in Erie County and Florence Township, Charles A. Blair from modest beginnings has drawn around him for the comfort and happiness of his later years such substantial compensations as a fine farm and its improvements, the credit for having contributed to the general development of the community, and the confidence and good will of his fellow-citizens. The homestead which he and his good wife have occupied since their marriage is located along the Vermilion River. As an agriculturist Mr. Blair has deservedly prospered. He represents some of the oldest stock of citizenship found in this part of Ohio, and the people of his relationship have always been among the substantial members of any community where they have lived. A native of Florence Township, Charles A. Blair was born on his father's farm north of Birmingham, September 8, 1868. His parents were Albert and Eliza J. (Graves) Blair. His father was born in the same township, April 3, 1843, and is now living quietly retired at the age of seventy-two in Vermilion Village. All his active life he spent as a farmer, and his name has always been mentioned with respect in this part of the state. Albert Blair was a son of John and Ann (Beatty) Blair, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York State. They were married in New York, and after two children had been born they took passage on a vessel at Buffalo, and coming up the lakes, landed at Lorain, Ohio, in the year 1836. John Blair had learned the trade of cooper, and brought with him to Ohio a small equipment of tools and supplies. On reaching Lorain he had only a few cents in HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 937 his pocket, and faced a strange community with undaunted courage and had soon made himself a respected worker and citizen. Accompanying John Blair and his wife were the former's parents, Calvin and Frances (Terrell) Blair. After landing at Lorain, John Blair moved into Florence Township, locating a mile and a half north of Birmingham, and there he set up a shop and started to work at his trade as a cooper. He also bought a home, and his parents lived with him until they passed away. For some years John Blair followed his trade and also improved a fine farm of 124 acres, and eventually gave all his attention to its management. He died there May 31, 1895, at the age of eighty-nine, and his wife passed away in 1884 at the age of seventy-five. It is due to the memory of these good people to say that they contributed much to the improvement of their part of the township. They were hard-working and God-fearing people, were closely identified with the local Baptist Church as long as it existed, but after the number of the society declined until a church could no longer be supported, they became attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John Blair was first a whig and later a republican, and in his life exemplified many of the best qualities of the pioneer. He had established his home in Florence Township before the Vermilion Road was laid out. In the home which had been established by his father at that early date Albert A. Blair grew up, and after his marriage took up farming as his occupation. He located on .a place near the old home, and in the course of his active career gave many improvements to his farm of sixty-three acres. In 1908 he sold out, and he and his wife have since lived retired in Vermilion. He followed auctioneering for many years. Albert Blair has long been an active republican in his part of the county, has held the office of trustee and assessor of his township, and in every relation has given a good account of himself. During the exciting period of the Civil war he enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1862, and served about three years, when he was honorably discharged. His wife, Eliza Graves, is a daughter of Martin L. and Jane (Johnston) Graves, the former a native of New York State and of Massachusetts parents, and the latter of Pennsylvania. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Graves lived in Erie County, New York, where he conducted a woolen factory, and on moving to Erie County, Ohio, bought a farm in Florence Township, where he and his wife spent the rest of their days. He was born in 1812 and died in 1890, and his wife, who was a few years his junior, died in 1887. They were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he served as an official, and politically he was identified with the whig and republican parties. The genealogies of both the Blair and Graves families have been fully traced out and the record of the various generations can be found in published form. The oldest in a family of three sons and five daughters, all of whom are living except two, and all married except the youngest son, Charles A. Blair grew up on his father's farm in Florence Township, gained his education in the local schools, and has found a contented and useful career in the vocation of agriculture. He was married in Vermilion Township to Miss Emma E. Gegenhimer. She was born in that locality December 16, 1869. Both she and Mr. Blair were students at the same time in the old school at A xtel. Her parents were Phillip and Catherine (Miller) Gegenhimer, both natives of Germany. Her father was born in Baden, came to the United States at the age of nineteen, locating in Lorain County, and his parents followed him to America. Mrs. Gegenhimer was brought to this country when only one year of age, her parents locating in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County, where Mr, and Arm Gegenhimer married, and subsequently located on a farm in Berlin Vol. II-30 938 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Township of Erie County. Mr. Gegenhimer died in 1898 at the age of sixty, and his widow, who is nine years younger than her husband, is still living on the old homestead of sixty-four acres, which is under the management of her two sons. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Blair located on a good farm of 101 acres along the Vermilion River, in Florence Township. They have brought this under complete cultivation, have added many improvements, and their principal industry has been dairy farming. , The home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Blair comprises three children. Waldo T., born August 20, 1893, was educated in the Birmingham High School and is still at home. Merwyn Hayden, born March 31, 1900, is now attending high school, and Elton Roosevelt, born April 5, 1906, is in the grammar schools. As the name of his youngest child would indicate, Mr. Blair is a republican, and while never seeking office, has proved himself a valuable member of the community. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church in Birmingham. ALFRED K. BARNES. A career of steadfast industry has had its usual and merited reward in the case of Alfred K. Barnes, one of the most highly respected and substantial farmer citizens of Florence Township. His home is on Rural Route No. 2 out of Wakeman, and most of his early life was spent in Wakeman Township of Huron County, and part of his farm extends over into that county. He has lived so effectively as to gain prosperity and contentment, and represents some of the sterling English stock which has been so prominent in the development and settlement of this section of Ohio. Born at Royalton, in Lorain County, February 23, 1855, Alfred K. Barnes is a son of George and Sarah (Heith) Barnes. Both parents were born near London, England, his father in 1820 and his mother in 1827. Both were of families of farmers, and in the early days they participated in the methods of husbandry employed in the old country. The father reaped grain with a sickle, and his wife spent many days in the harvest fields binding up the cut grain. During their married life in England three children were born, William, Charles and Thomas. The last was only a few months old when the family started for America in 1852. They took passage on a sailing vessel at Liverpool, were six weeks in making the voyage to New York City, and after some months they came on West and settled at Royalton, in Lorain County. While living there two more children were born, Elizabeth and Alfred K. About 1857 the father brought his family to Camden, in Lorain County, rented farms in that locality for several years, but later bought 130 acres in Wakeman Township of Huron County. That was the" permanent home of the Barnes family, and after a career of well merited prosperity the father died there in 1893. The mother, who passed away in 1911, was a woman of wonderful physical vigor and is said to have never been sick a day in her life until her final illness.- Both were members of the Wakeman Congregational Church, and in politics he was a republican. A brief record of all their children is as follows , William, who is a farmer in Townsend Township of Huron County, is married and has two sons and three daughters; Charles died in Wakeman Township after his marriage, leaving two sons and two daughters ; Thomas, who is a resident of Camden Township, in Lorain County, has been twice married, having a son and daughter by his first wife and a daughter by his second; Elizabeth is the widow of C. D. Bacon, who was a farmer in Wakeman Township, and she still lives there and is the mother of two daughters; the next in order of age is Alfred K.; George is a farmer in Wakeman Township, and by his marriage to Miss Braley has two sons and two daughters; Edward, a resident of Townsend Township, PICTURE OF DELBERT E. WILLIAMS HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 939 has four sons and a daughter ; Fred, who as a farmer occupies the old homestead in Wakeman Township, is married, but has no children. It was on the old home in Wakeman Township that Alfred K. Barnes grew to manhood, combining the advantages of the local schools with the salutary discipline of farm duties and responsibilities. He was married in thattownship to Miss Nettie R. Erswell. She was born in Wakeman Township, and was reared and educated there. Her parents were Thomas and Mary J. Walden Erswell. Her father was also a native of England, coming to the United States when a boy with his parents who spent the rest of their lives in Huron,County, and he grew up there and married Miss Walden, who was a native of Huron County. By trade Mr. Erswell was a carpenter and house, builder, and after constructing his last house, in Wakeman Township died in 1872 when in middle life. His widow is still living in Huron County, and is now seventy years of age. It was in 1892 that Mr. and Mrs. Barnes moved to Florence Township, and here for the past twenty-three years they have steadily advanced in material prosperity. His homestead comprises forty acres in Florence Township, with forty acres adjoining in Wakeman Township of Huron County. All the land is well improved, and his buildings are especially creditable to his enterprise and ability as a home-maker. He has a large and comfortable eight room house, its white front set in the midst of green -frees, and also has a large basement barn 32 by 40 feet and other buildings needed for the care of his stock and crops. Besides the cultivation and productions of his home place Mr. Barnes does an extensive business in the buying and shipping of wool, and also buys and ships large quantities of general stock. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are both members, of the Congregational Church. They have one son, Charles Alfred, who was born May 23, 1874, graduated from the Wakeman High School, and quite early in life entered the employ of the Standard Oil Company, beginning as a ditch laborer, and working up until, he, is now head operator in the main office at Cleveland. He married Bess E. Balford of Brunswick, Ohio, and their two daughters are named Dorothy and Dora. Both Mr. Barnes and his son are active republicans in politics, and while the father is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees at Cleveland his son is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. DELBERT E. WILLIAMS. During nearly all the years since Erie County was a pioneer country some member of the Williams family has been actively identified with its development, especially in agricultural lines. As a family they have possessed qualities of exceptional industry, rugged integrity, and that enterprise which produces good farms and good homes as well as good people. On the third generation that has lived in Erie County, Delbert E. Williams has made his success as a general farmer and stock raiser. He is known in that capacity all over Milan Township, where he occupies a fine farm of 260 acres, and operates ninety-seven acres in addition to the homestead. None of this land is further than a mile and a half northeast of Milan Village, and is located on the Huron Road. Mr. Williams owns what has long been known as the Michael Schafer Farm, and has cultivated its generous and fertile acres for the past fourteen years. Among improvements should be mentioned two large barns, a corn crib 30x50 feet, a combined. tool shop and ice house, and everything about the farm indicates thrifty and efficient .management. Mr. Williams pursues a rotation plan of crop growing, and raises all the staple grains, but for several years has specialized in sweet corn. He 940 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY also raises large amounts of potatoes, usually about twenty acres each year. His home has been in Erie County all his life. A short distance east of his present residence in Milan Township he was born on November 13, 1867, and grew up and received his education in this locality, being a graduate of the Milan Normal School. One experience of his earlier years was teaching six terms in Erie County. Later he settled down to his real career as a farmer, and his success in that vocation can be judged by the high opinion his neighbors have of him and by such brief statistics as have already been reported. The Williams family came from Pennsylvania. His grandfather, John Williams, was born in that state, but quite early in life came to Ohio and married Mary Pittenger of Richland County. Several children were born to them while they lived in Richland County, and from there in October, 1843, they moved to Erie County, locating on a farm on the Berlin Road in Milan Township. That farm even to this day is known as the John Williams Place, though for several years he has lived retired in Milan Village. His farm comprised 125 acres. He has reached the remarkable age of almost a century, and on November 4, 1915, if he is spared, will celebrate his ninety-ninth birthday. He is well known all over the township not only on account of his venerable years, but for the worthy influence which he has exercised in this locality continuously for more than seven decades. His wife died .at their country home. in Milan Township in 1896, and was then quite old. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and John Williams is a strong republican, having cast his first presidential vote for the whig president, William Henry Harrison. In earlier years he was honored with such offices as township trustee and other places of trust. Peter Williams, father of Delbert E., was born in Richland County, Ohio, a short time before the family moved to Erie County. As a boy he attended local schools and the old Huron Institute at Milan, and early adapted the vocation of farming. For a number of years he lived just east of the Hardin A. Tucker farm in Milan Township, and effected numerous improvements to that estate, but later bought the farm of his wife's father, the Michael Schafer place, which is now owned by Delbert E. Williams. Peter Williams finally retired to Milan Village and died there in May, 1904. He is deserving of remembrance as a man of sterling worth, of good judgment in business affairs, and a citizen who stood for the best things in the community. He was a strong republican, and served for some time as trustee of the township. Peter Williams married at the home of the bride, Sarah A. Schafer, the daughter of Michael Schafer. Mrs. Williams was born September 3, 1855, in Seneca County, New York, and died at Milan August 1, 1893. She was quite young when brought to Erie County, and was carefully reared and trained by her parents. After her marriage she proved a devoted wife and mother and reared five children who did her honor and all of whom married and became heads of families. The second in the family of children, Delbert E. Williams, has for many years been an effective worker among the farming class of Milan Township. He first married Amelia Heimberger. She was born at Cedar Point May 16, 1868, and died at the home in Milan Township, August 13, 1904. Of this union the 'oldest child is Peter H., who was born December 16, 1891, was educated at Milan, and is now assisting his father in the management of the farm. G. Fred; the next in age, was born January 4, 1893, studied in the Milan High School, and is still living at home. Sarah L., born August 28, 1894, finished her HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 941 education in Milan and in Collingwood, Ohio, took a course in the Sandusky Business College and is now a stenographer at Unionville, Ohio. Morley, the youngest, was born March 16, 1896, and has completed his education in the local schools and is still at home. All these young people were carefully trained and possess habits and talents which will take them far in their respective spheres of activity. After the death of his first wife Mr. Williams was married in Milan Township to Miss Elizabeth Weilnau. She was born in Oxford Township, November 18, 1876, and is the daughter of John Weilnau. More extended reference is made to the Weilnau family on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have two daughters : Dorothy M., born August 4, 1906, and now in the fourth grade of the public schools ; and Mary E., born October 22, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Williams attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he is a republican, and he served one term as township trustee. PETER ROBERTSON. One of the sources of industrial prosperity in Florence Township are the stone quarries operated by The Cleveland Stone Company. The presiding genius of this industry is Peter Robertson, who for twenty-three years has been superintendent, and not only has an assured business position but is also a citizen of many esteemed characteristics and is the head, of One of the excellent families in that locality. The stone quarries now under the superintendency of Mr. Robertson constitute an old industry in this township. They were originally opened on the east side of the Vermilion River in 1877 by the firm of Nichols & Miller, who conducted, then until 1887. In that year The Cleveland Stone Company was organized and bought this property, but it was left unworked until 1892. In that year the company turned them over to. Superintendent Robertson, who reopened the quarries and worked them out. In 1902 the company acquired a large tract of land on the west side of the river, and Mr. Robertson began the development of these quarries in August, 1903. He has since made this a large and profitable industry, and keeps from sixteen to twenty men employed in the quarries, with an annual production of about 20,000 cubic feet of stone. With the exception of brief intervals these quarries have been in regular operation for many years. The quarries are located on the property known as the old Dr. Turnbull estate, and comprises about fifty acres of land. Mr. Robertson bought the old quarry property of fifty-one acres, known as the Wood Farm. Mr. Robertson came to Florence Township from North Amherst, Ohio, where he had been connected with The Cleveland Stone Company's business as a quarryman one year, and as derrick boss for three years. He is a quarryman of many years' experience, and his work at Amherst had so commended him to the confidence of the company, that he was given full charge of the quarries in Florence Township ' when made superintendent. He comes of a family which has furnished many workers in the stone industry, and was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, April 3, 1858. He was reared and educated there, learned the trade of quarryman, and was already an expert workman when he came to America. His grandfather, James Robertson, was born in 1794, and married Jeannette Smith, who was born in 1799. They spent all their lives about Edinburgh, where the grandfather died in 1849 and the grandmother in 1874. They were strict members of the Presbyterian Church, and that has been the family religion through all the generations. Among their children was Peter Robertson, Sr., who was born March 25, 1828, and died September 13, 1899. For forty-nine years he was 942 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY employed in a carpet factory in Edinburgh, was promoted to different grades of the service, and was finally pensioned and allowed to Spend his last years in retirement. He married Grace Christie, who was born in the same part of Scotland July 12, 1828, and died October 29, 1907. Both were reared and all their lives were faithful to the strict tenets of the Presbyterian Church. In their family of eleven children Peter was the fifth in order of birth. Most of them grew up, married and had families of their own. Only two of the children came to the United States, one of them being Peter Robertson, and the other his sister, Grace, the wife of John McQueen, and they live at Pittsburg, Kansas, and have quite a large family of children. Peter Robertson grew up it Edinburgh, learned his trade as a quarryman there, was married in that country in 1878 to Miss Elizabeth Armstrong. She was born near Edinburgh, May 7, 1859, and attended the same school as her husband. Her parents were Thomas and Agnes (McKenzie) Armstrong, both natives of Scotland. Her father died at the age of seventy-eight and her mother at fifty-five. They were also of the Presbyterian faith. Mrs. Robertson is the only one of their eight children who came to America. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson had twelve children born into their home, and a brief record of them is as follows: Agnes, born June 23, 1879, is the wife. of George Bruce, who occupies the Robertson farm on the east side of Vermilion River, and their children are named Peter, Robert, Mary, Grace, Stanley, Glenn and Hugh James, five of whom are attending school. Peter, who was the third in as many successive generations to bear that name, was born August 25, 1880, and died November 5, 1880. Christie Grace, born November 19, 1881, married Charles Barton, an electrician living at Elyria, and they have a son, Lloyd, now in school. Thomas was born March 8, 1884, and died December 22, 1884. Jane, born June 26, 1886, died December 10, 1887. John Armstrong, born November 9, 1888, lives at Oberlin, and by his marriage to Winifred Jenkins has a daughter, Vivian E. Elizabeth Margaret, born August 31, 1890, married Archie McDowell, who is a farmer in Henrietta Township of Lorain County, and they have two children, Clifton and Clyde. James George, born November 1, 1892, is his father's active assistant in farming. Hugh Brown, born April 16, 1895, has learned the trade of carpenter and is still living at home. Duncan William, born February 25, 1898, is now a student in the high school et Birmingham. Donald L., born July 24, 1902, is now in the seventh grade of the public schools. Ronald A., a twin brother of Donald, died December 28, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson and family are all working members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a democrat. He took his first three degrees in Masonry in Scotland, in Roslyn St. Clair Lodge No. 606, and later demitted to Stonington Lodge No. 503 at North Amherst, and is also affiliated with Wakeman Chapter No. 177, R. A. M. In 1890 he became a member of Phoenix Tent No. 42 of the Knights of the Maccabees, and is now a member of Wakeman Tent No. 93. WERNER SCHAFER. A successful general farmer on the Butler Road in Florence Township, Mr. Schafer has spent the greater part of his life in Erie County, and during his active career has been instrumental in improving a farm, has brought into his community the influence of good, rugged character and morel attributes, and is one of the highly esteemed men of this rural community. The Schafer homestead of seventy-one acres is located on the east branch of Vermilion River. Nearly all of its acres are thoroughly improved, and Mr. Schafer takes justifiable pride, in the fine crops HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 943 which grow up under his hands season after season, and also in the excellent stock, horses, cattle, hogs and sheep, which feed on his pastures and are housed in his substantial barn. His home is a large nine-room house, with a barn nearly new and built on a foundation 34 by 60 feet.. He also has an orchard of an acre planted quite recently. All these improvements are the result of Mr. Schafer's thrift and industry and he has many reasons to furnish him satisfaction while looking back over his career. Werner Schafer was born in Corhessen, Germany,. October 28, 1852. His parents were Johannes and Margaret (Stripple) Schafer, who were natives of the same province, the families having lived there as farmers for a number of generations. Both parents. died when past seventy, and were lifelong members of the German Reformed Church. Growing up and receiving his education in his native province, at the age of fourteen Werner Schafer started out to make a home in the New World. In 1867 in company with his uncle Werner Stripple, he set out from Bremen on a sailing vessel, the Emerald, and after twenty-one days landed in New York City. From there he went West to Buffalo, and lived with his uncle's family until his uncle and aunt died. After three years. there, he Game to the home of another uncle, George Schafer, in Florence Township of Erie County. By these early experiences he gained a practical knowledge of farming, acquainted himself with American language and customs, and has always relied upon industry and merit to advance him in the world. At Birmingham, Mr. Schafer married Miss Christina A. Heidrych. She was born in Henrietta Township of Lorain County June 14, 1860, and grew up and lived there until her marriage. Her parents were Henry and Christina (Dieck) Heidrych, both natives of Corhessen, Germany, where they lived until after their marriage and came with some five or six children from 'Bremen to New York City,. the voyage requiring four weeks by sailing vessel, and established their first home in Lorain County. While living there a daughter was born, and they then moved to Henrietta Township in the same county, where Mr. Heidrych bought forty acres, subsequently selling and purchasing seventy-one acres upon which he built a new home and otherwise improved the land and spent his career as a useful and prosperous citizen. He died July 12, 1901, at the age of eighty, while his wife passed away in 1895 aged seventy-nine. Both were members of the German Reformed Church. Mr. and Mrs. Schafer have had four children. Henry C., born in 1881, was educated in the public schools, is now a farmer in Lorain County, and by his marriage to Edith Freeman has two children, Eleanor and Clifford. Mary A. is the wife of Jacob Swanger, a farmer in Florence Township, and they have a son named Werner. Sylvester lives at home and assists his father in the farm work. One daughter, Adam, died at the age of one year. Mr. and Mrs. Schafer are members of the German Reformed Church, having been reared . in that faith, and politically he is a democratic voter. GEORGE A. PARKER. One of the surest means by which one can establish a reputation for integrity and good citizenship is to maintain a long residence in one community, where an individual becomes known to his neighbors under a great variety of circumstances and meets all the tests imposed upon reliability and efficiency. A citizen of Florence Township who has met these requisites during his career is George A. Parker. The Parker family is one of the oldest in Erie County, Mr. Parker's grandparents having located here more titan a 944 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY century ago. Through all the changing circumstances of pioneer times the name has been one of significance and honor. The farm now owned and occupied by Mr. George A. Parker, on the Butler Road in Florence Township, was his birthplace on November 8, 1863. It was also the farm on which his parents, George and Maria (Hill) Parker began their simple housekeeping after their marriage. Both his parents were also natives of Florence Township and they spent their lives in peaceful and dignified circumstances, and his father died in 1900 at the age of seventy-five, and his mother passed away in 1913 when seventy-six years old. Both the Hill and Parker families were established in Northern Ohio about the time of the War of 1812. They came from Connecticut. Arriving in their wilderness home, they had to clear spaces in the midst of the heavy forest before erecting their log cabin homes, and the long continued labors of Mr. Parker's grandfather in the course of time brought about the reclamation of many acres now included in the agricultural area of Erie County. George A. Parker was one of a family of two sons and five daughters. Others now living are Lester and Ida and Goldie. Ida is the wife of Pearl 'Fish, a farmer in Huron County, and they have a daughter Fern, who is now married. Goldie married Adam Burk of Wakeman Township, and they have a family of three sons and two daughters. Lester, the oldest son, married Edna Squires, and they live in Wakeman Township of Huron County, their children being named Rita and Kilton. In Florence Township George A. Parker grew to manhood, gained such education as was, supplied to the farmer boys of his time and generation, and early in his career adopted the vocation of agriculture. For about fourteen years he was a progressive farmer in Huron County, but then bought the old homestead comprising 118 acres. This is a splendid property, located in the fork of the east and west branches of the Vermilion River, and the fertility of the soil is almost unsurpassed by that of any farm in Erie County. The Parker family has introduced many improvements upon this land since it first came under their ownership, and Mr. Parker has done his part in keeping his farm abreast of the times and standards. He grows good stock, has an equipment of substantial barns, a comfortable home, and raises all the staple crops. In Florence Township he married Miss Rosa Bradway. Mrs. Parker was born in this township forty-five years ago, grew up and received her education here,. and is a daughter of Warren and Mary (Crawford) Bradway, both of whom are still living and reside in Florence Township at the age of about seventy. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have one living child, Clyde, who was born in 1904 and is now a promising schoolboy. Three other children born to them died in early childhood. In politics Mr. Parker is a democrat and has always been known as a% man of progressive citizenship willing to lend his support to any movement for local benefit. CAPTAIN DENNIS BLANCHARD. Erie County has an appreciable contingent of retired lake captains and prominent among the number who have devoted many years to commanding vessels in connection with navigation activities on the great inland seas and who are now living in well earned retirement, is he whose name introduces this paragraph and who is one of the honored and popular citizens of the Village of Birmingham, in Florence Township. Captain Blanchard was born in the immediate vicinity of New York City, on the 26th of February, 1831; and in the gracious twilight of a long and useful life he looks back with satisfaction to the conditions and influences that compassed him in his childhood and early youth HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 945 and that gave him association with the incidents of the pioneer days in the history of Erie County, Ohio, to which section of the Buckeye State he was brought by his parents when he was a child of three years, his father having become one of the early settlers in Florence Township. Here the captain was reared to adult age and here his early educational advantages were those afforded in the pioneer schools. He is a son of William and Sallie (Lawrence) Blanchard, both of whom were born in Connecticut, as representatives of sterling old colonial families in New England. In the year T833 the parents of the captain came from New York and established their home on a tract of land in Florence Township, Erie County, Ohio, where the father reclaimed a productive farm from the virtual wilderness and where he and his wife continued to reside until they attained to advanced age, the closing years of their lives having been passed in the home of one of their daughters, Mrs. Harriet Garrish, at Oberlin, Lorain County, where each died at the age of somewhat more than three score years and ten. Mrs. Blanchard was a devout member of the Congregational Church and her husband was reared in the faith of the Baptist Church, but he withdrew from the same in later years and attended that with which his wife was affiliated. William Blanchard was originally a whig and later a republican in politics and he was a man of strong mentality and sterling character, his name and that of his wife meriting an enduring place on the roster of the honored pioneers of Erie County. Of their children the captain is one of the three now living. His sister, Abigail, who died September 6, 1915, was a resident of the City of Norwalk, Huron County, and the widow of Capt. Isaac Walton, who was long identified with the lake-marine service. Charles Blanchard, another son, entered the Union service at the outbreak of the Civil war, and became captain of a company in an Ohio battery of light artillery. He developed tuberculosis while in the army and this disability compelled him to withdraw from the ranks. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned home, and his death occurred a short time later. Captain Blanchard celebrated in the spring of 1915 his eighty-fourth birthday anniversary ; his elder sister, Mrs. Walton, is more than ninety years of age in the same year, and she has one daughter, her husband having had one daughter also by a preceding marriage. Mrs. Lavinia Wickwire, the younger sister of Captain Blanchard, is the wife of Sebert Wickwire, and they reside in the Village of Clyde, Sandusky County, she having passed the seventieth milestone on the journey of life and her husband being ninety years of age. On the old homestead farm, in the township that is now his place of residence, Captain Blanchard remained until he had attained to the age of sixteen years, when he initiated his career as a sailor on the Great .Lakes by obtaining employment on the schooner Margaret Allen, which was in commission on Lake Erie. By efficient work he t raised himself through the various grades of promotion, and after having served in turn as second and first mate on different vessels he was given his first command as master when he became captain of the Herbert Spencer, a vessel named in honor of a leading banker at Sackett's Harbor, New York. This boat was .in the lumber transportation trade, and Captain Blanchard retained command for several years, after which he was associated with the Bidler line of vessels, of Chicago. Thereafter he commanded the Oden,, likewise in the lumber trade, and later he assumed command of the Helen Blood, operated by the Mason & Davis Lumber Company, of Muskegon, Michigan. After continuing in this company's employ about three years he commanded for several years a larger vessel, the schooner Artie, plying between Muskegon and Chicago. Still later he commanded the Robert 946 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Campbell and other vessels, and after continuing his active and efficient service as one of the representative navigators on the Great Lakes for a period of about half a century, the captain felt justified in retiring from the interesting vocation which he had long followed and which he had honored by his services. He was not, however, content to withdraw from the sight of and association with the inland seas, for he purchased Hen Island, in Lake Erie, and instituted on this tract of six acres the development of a vineyard and orchard. He finally sold the property to the Quinnebaque Club, of Sandusky, which organization erected a fine club house on the island and made the place a fine resort. Captain Blanchard sold the island property about twenty years ago and since that time he has lived in well ordered and pleasing retirement in the Village of Birmingham, where he is surrounded by friends that are tried and true and where he is honored not only for his own sturdy and upright character but also as a member of one of the well known pioneer families of this favored section of the old Buckeye State. Though he has never manifested any ambition for political office the captain has shown a loyal interest in community and governmental affairs and is a stalwart in the camp of the republican party. In 1859 Captain Blanchard wedded Miss Mary Haise, who was born and reared in Ohio and who was a member of a prominent family of this section of the state, as may be understood by reference to sketches concerning other representatives of the family, elsewhere in this publication. Mrs. Blanchard died at the family home in Birmingham, on the 2d of October, 1869, and here her remains were laid to rest beside those of her parents, Edwin and Ann (Klady) Haise, who were residents of Florence Township for many years prior to their death. There were no children by Captain Blanchard's first marriage. At Birmingham was solemnized, in 1894, the marriage of Captain Blanchard to Mrs. Florence Moore, who was born in this county in the year 1852 and who is a daughter of Isaac and Sylvia (Arnold) Moore, early settlers of Florence Township, where they continued to reside until their death. Captain and Mrs. Blanchard have no children, but they delight to entertain in their pleasant home their many young friends, as well as those of maturer years. WILLIAM PARKER. Much that is worthy and estimable in human life has been the lot of William Parker, of Florence Township. He is an honored old time citizen, has performed his obligations faithfully to country, home and community, and is one of the oldest native sons of Florence Township, having lived there continuously for a period of nearly eighty-five years. Another distinctive fact about Cis career is that he was born on the farm where he now resides with his two sons. It will soon be a century since the Parker family came into the wilderness of Northern Ohio and established a home in Erie County, and they were among the first to break down the barriers of the wilderness and to set up the institutions of civilization. Of an old New York State family, William Parker was born on the farm that is now his home January 7, 1831. Only a few years before his birth his father, William W., had settled in this township. William W. Parker was born in New York State, and was a son of Ansel Parker, who in early manhood enlisted from Connecticut for service in the Revolutionary armies and made a record of which his descendants will always be proud Ansel Parker was married in New York State to Phoebe. Finch, and they subsequently came to Erie County and died in Florence Township when old people. Ansel Parker was a democratic voter, and that brand of politics has largely characterized the family for more than a century. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 947 William W. Parker moved to Erie. County, in 1823. He secured a tract of land in the Township of Florence between the east and west forks of Vermilion River, built a log cabin, but being a young man and with little ready money, and there being no opportunities to get profitable employment in this vicinity, he soon returned to New York State and earned some money which enabled him to carry out his improvements on his farm in Erie County. Soon after coming back to Erie County he married Sarah Parker, who though of the same name was not related, unless very distantly. She was born in Orange County, Vermont, a daughter of Levi Parker. Levi Parker also served in the Revolutionary war, and in addition to his own record he had a son Isaac who went through the War of 1812 as a commissioned officer. Levi Parker married Miss Davis, who after the death of her husband went East, but finally returned to Ohio and spent her last years in the home of William Parker, where she died about 1864. She was born in 1766 and was therefore about ninety-eight years of age at the time of her death. After their marriage William W. Parker and wife located on their new farm in Florence Township, and there his sturdy toil and persistent effort finally evolved a fine farm and a comfortable home from the wilderness. However, his first farm was lost through some technicality, but without allowing this circumstance to discourage him he bought another place not far to the north of the first farm, and became one of the most prosperous citizens in that vicinity. William W. Parker was born in 1802 and died in 1880. His wife, who was born in 1802 within one day of her husband's birthday, died May 17, 1889. These good people did much to build up their community outside of their own home. They were early members and assisted in organizing the Christian Church. He was a strong and active democrat, and as a citizen could be counted upon to assist in any movement for the local welfare. It was with the background of such substantial ancestry and with the home environment of one of the best families of pioneers in Erie County that William Parker grew to manhood. Though now eighty-five he is still a smart and active man, and his career has in every way been most creditable to himself and to his community. On January 6, 1860, Mr. Parker was married in Michigan to Miss Susan Ann Stark. She was born at Rushville, Yates County, New York, May 3, 1840, when a child came with her mother to Ohio, where the latter died, and in young womanhood moved to Michigan, where she lived until her marriage. She died in the old Parker homestead of Florence Township February 4, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Parker had two sons, both of whom are now living with their father, and both are unmarried. Smith D., the older, born December 10, 1860, acquired his early education in the local schools and in the Wakeman High School, and is now a progressive agriculturist assisting his father in the management of the large Parker estate. Mr. William Parker owns about 200 acres of fine farming land in the eastern part of Florence Township. This land is divided into three distinct farms. The homestead comprises sixty-eight acres, and its improvements include a substantial nine-room house, a barn 26 by 30 feet, and the land is all well fitted for general farming purposes. Besides the buildings around the home there is an extra set of farm buildings, including a large silo. The second farm comprises seventy- five acres, and is situated in Wakeman Township of Huron County. The second son, Jay C. Parker, is proprietor of the third farm of fifty-five acres located in Florence Township and adjoining the old homestead. This is a portion of the old John Denman estate, and for fully a century the land has been occupied and much of it cultivated and improved. 948 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Jay C. Parker was born on the old homestead April 11, 1868, grew up there, and part of his education was received under the instruction of the venerable educator, Job Fish. He obtained a certificate permitting him to teach school, but never took up that profession. He and his brother, Smith, and their father occupy the old home which was built about seventy-five years ago, and the three have many of their interests in common both socially and in business affairs. The father and sons are all democrats in politics, and Mr. William Parker served some' years as trustee of his township, and Jay C. filled the same office for four years. Mr. William Parker has been a member of the Masonic Lodge since 1860. His father, William W. Parker, was the first man to take his early degrees in Masonry in the old lodge, Gibson Lodge at Birmingham, and William Parker took his degrees in the same fraternity two years later. CHARLES PARKER. Among the old families of Erie County the Parkers have quite a prominent place from the time when this county was a wilderness. They have been farmers as a rule, and for upwards of a century their lives have been led along the paths of quiet industry and prosperity, and as men of the soil and good citizens they have done their full share for the enrichment of community life. Representing the third generation of this name in Erie County, Charles Parker by his career has re-enforced the general reputation of the family name. He is a general farmer, stock raiser and fruit grower, his home being located on the River Road in Florence Township. This farm is one of the historic old places of Florence Township, having been originally the Denman place, and Mr. Parker bought the land from the Denman heirs. The Denmans located there fully a century ago, and it was the homestead about which a great many people of that name have some of their life associations. Mr. Parker is the owner of 100 acres, nearly all of it well improved, and growing abundant crops of all kinds, excellent both in quality and quantity. As a stock man Mr. Parker takes much pains in developing and maintaining a high grade of horses, cattle and sheep, and has shown proficiency in all branches of agriculture and stock husbandry. Much of his land is underlaid with a sand stone base, making it adaptable to fruit growing. Mr. Parker is also a practical fruit man, and has three acres of fine peach orchard. His birthplace was close to the home where he now lives in Florence Township. He was born April 25, 1865, grew up in Florence Township, attended its schools during the '70s and early '80s, and like many others pays a tribute to the splendid old educator, Job Fish, under whose instruction he graduated into a life of purposeful activity. It was in 1899 that Mr. Parker bought the old. Denman farm and has since carried forward its improvements and cultivation with a most profitable degree of skill and excellence of management. The parents of Mr. Parker were Alexander and Mary (Small) Parker. His father was also born in Florence Township on the old Parker farm, located between the east and west branches of the Vermilion River. He was born in 1823 and spent all his life on the old homestead, where he quietly pursued his vocation as a farmer until his death in 1894 at the age of seventy-one. He owned eighty-six acres of land, and had improved most of it by his own labors. His widow is still living there at the age of eighty-one, spending her last days in peace and comfort on a small homestead of twenty-four acres, comprising a part of the original estate. The originator of the Parker family in Erie County was Ormal Parker, grandfather of Charles Parker. He was born in New York PICTURE OF JUSTUS P. AND ANN BARBARA OETZEL HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 949 State, was married there to Hannah Bass, a native of the same state, and immediately after their marriage they started for the West, to make a new home in' the pioneer wilderness of Northern Ohio. They made the journey with ox teams, and on arriving after a long and tedious journey in Florence Township, located on a tract of the wildest of wild woods. For several years they lived in the midst of a forest which had been unbroken for centuries, and most of the meat which supplied their table was the flesh of wild game, which abounded everywhere. The Indians also still lived in that section and were not infrequent visitors at their humble log cabin. The nearest market and mill were at Milan, and theirs was a life of simple rugged industry not unmixed with hardships and privations. Grandfather Parker was a hard worker, cleared off and improved many acres of his land, and substituted a substantial frame house for the original log cabin, and having surrounded himself with reasonable comforts spent the rest of his days, passing away when quite an old man. He was a democrat, and as a citizen measured up to the best standards of pioneers. Charles Parker was the third of the nine children born to his parents, five of whom are still living, all of them in Florence Township, and all have children of their own. Charles Parker was married in Florence Township to Catherine Hayman. She was born at Joppa Vermilion Township March 2, 1865, and grew up and received her education in this county. Her parents were Henry and Martha (Krepps) Hayman, who were born in Germany and were quite young when brought to the United States by their respective parents, both families locating in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Krepps grew up and were married in Erie County, then moved to the State of Kentucky but soon returned to Vermilion Township and located at Birmingham, where he died in 1894 when past three score. His widow is still living at Clyde in Sandusky County, and is now bearing the burden of eighty-one years, although her physical activity and mental alertness heavily discount her real age. She and her husband were reared in the faith of the Reformed Church. Mrs. Parker was one of a large family of children, all of whom married and had families of their own. Mrs. Parker passed away June 3, 1915. She had been a devoted wife and mother, and everywhere enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew her. To mourn her loss she left her husband and two children. Martha, born May 28, 1886, received her education in Erie County and is still living at home. Clarence E., born July 10, 1903, is now attending the seventh grade of the public schools. JUSTUS P. OETZEL. In a lifetime that has been prolonged to usefulness and honor for more than fourscore years, Justus P. Oetzel has spent more than sixty years of this in Erie County. He is one of the citizens whose name and a brief record of whose career should $e permanently recorded in any history of the community. He is more than . typical of the indomitable spirit and energy of the German fatherland, where he was born and reared. Hard work was the means by which he opened the door of prosperity, and from the position of. a common laborer he has raised himself to a place among the largest property holders of Milan Township, where the respect and esteem paid him as a citizen and man are fully equal to his business achievements. Born in Hesse Casell, Germany, October 24, 1833, Justus P. Oetzel is a son of George and Magdalena (Oetzel) Oetzel. His parents were only distantly related if at all and were born in the same general locality of Germany. They were born before the close of the eighteenth century. grew up and married, and his father was a farmer in Germany until 950 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY his death. He died in the old country after his son Justus had come to America in 1853, while the mother passed away in 1855. They were both members of the German Reformed Church. George Oetzel was old enough to participate as a soldier in some of the latter campaigns of the Napoleonic wars in Europe, but escaped unhurt. In their family were two sons and three daughters, all of whom grew up and married, reared families, but Justus was the only one to leave the fatherland and seek a home in America. He was nineteen years old when, having completed his education and early training, and in order to escape the compulsory military service, he embarked on a vessel at Bremen and started for America. The vessel, named America; was exactly eight weeks in making the voyage. He landed at what was later Castle Garden, August 15, 1853. Five days later he arrived at Sandusky. At that time he was one dollar in debt, having borrowed this amount from a casual acquaintance at Dunkirk, New York, in order to get something to eat, as he was nearly starved. On arriving at Sandusky he immediately sought and found employment in carrying brick for the construction of a new church building. At night as soon as he received his day's wages of one dollar, he redeemed his debt to the young man who had proved a friend in need. This scrupulous respect for his obligations, thus evidenced, has been a dominating characteristic of Mr. Oetzel throughout his career and he has made it a point of honor as well as business policy to discharge every just indebtedness. From Sandusky he soon went out into the country and found a home on a farm along the lake shore. In 1854 he began working for Harvey Curtis, and in the fall of the same year came to Milan. The greater part of his career since then has been spent in Milan Township. For eight years he was employed in a foundry. While learning the trade of molder his wages were $10 a month for the first year and $12 the second year. From 1861 to 1865 Mr. Oetzel was engaged in merchandising at Milan, having bought a grocery store, but after four years sold out and purchased a small tract of land of fifty-five acres in Oxford Township. Here he laid the basis of his sound accomplishments as a farmer. He improved the land, erected a good house, barns and fences, and remained there in the midst of his agricultural activities and responsibilities from 1866 to 1883. In the latter year coming to Milan Township, he bought 173 acres on the east side of the Huron River, 21/2 miles north of Milan. This has been his home for more than thirty years. It would take much space to describe in detail all his activities as an agriculturist and as an improver of his holdings in this locality. He erected two sets of farm buildings, and now has a handsome and valuable property. Many years of steady industry have merited reward, and having gained an ample competence sufficient for all his future needs, Mr. Oetzel turned over his property to the management of his son Justus, Jr. In the high tide of his work as a farmer Mr. Oetzel grew as high as 4,000 bushels of potatoes in a sea on, his fields produced 40 bushels of wheat, and his corn yield was not infrequently as high as 120 bushels per acre. This indicates the judgment and intelligence with which he looked after his farm. At the Village of Milan Mr. Oetzel married Ann Barbara Bauereis. She was born in Rhenish Bavaria, March 21, 1836. She was seventeen years of age when in 1853 she came to the United States on a sailing vessel. She was accompanied by her younger sister Elizabeth, and they both joined their brother Frederick, who had previously located at Milan. This brother afterward died in a soldiers' home in Springfield, Illinois. Her sister Elizabeth is now living in Chicago. A HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 951 brother, Thomas, who was the last of the family to come to America, died one year later. Ever since their marriage on December 25, 1857, Mr. and Mrs. Oetzel were active members of the German Lutheran Church at Norwalk, Ohio. Mrs. Oetzel died July 16, 1907. While his accomplishments have been such as to justify a reasonable degree of pride and a pleasing retrospect over the many useful years in the past, Mr. Oetzel probably finds his best solace in the fine family which have grown up around him and several of whom have 'already found worthy places in the world. The first daughter, Mary, died when four years of age. The next child is Justus, who now, owns 100 acres of the old homestead. He married Clara M. Bollman, who was born in the Province of Posen in Eastern Germany, and when a child came to America with her parents, who lived in Illinois and Nebraska until their death in the latter state, and she grew to womanhood in those localities. Justus Oetzel and wife have the following children : Cecilia and Amelia (twins), who graduated from the public schools in 1914 and are at home; Elizabeth who is a member of the graduating class of 1916, William, o the class of 1917, Caroline, of the class of 1918, and Fred in the seventh grade of the public schools. The third child, Emma, is the wife of John Schwitters, a merchant at Prophetstown, Illinois, and their children are named Carrie, Carl, Amelia, Hattie and Henry, twins, Freda and Theodore. Carrie, the fourth in this interesting family, is the wife of John Schamp, a farmer in Milan Township, and their two children are named Anna and Maria. The son Henry is unmarried. Thomas is an employee in the Hoover Manufacturing Company at Milan, and has children named Justus, Barbara, Violet and John. Catherine is the wife of Miles Lander, to whom reference is made on other pages of this work. George and Joseph, the youngest, are twins, and they married sisters, Iva and Mary Roscoe, respectively. George and wife have children named Roscoe, Alice M. and Ransom. Joseph and wife have no children. Mr. Oetzel is a democrat in politics. CHARLES KING CLARY. The important part played by the Clary family in Erie County, and particularly in Florence Township, during fully a century of residence, has been set forth at some length on other pages, in connection with the sketch of Mark E. Clary, a cousin of Charles King Clary. While the latter is now permanently settled in the quiet routine and profitable management of a fine farm in Florence Township, his earlier career was fraught with much excitement and adventure, and for three years he was a soldier in the regular United States army, part of his service having been coincident with the Spanish- American war, and he incurred all the dangers of battle, disease and inefficient management which characterized the operations of the American forces in the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. As a farmer Mr. Clary owns one of the happily situated and excellent homesteads found in Florence Township on the East River Road. The 105 1/2 acres in his farm are on the west bank of the east fork of the Vermilion River. Eighty acres of this is under improvement of cultivation and since taking possession of his farm in 1907 Mr. Clary has shown all the qualities which have made the name noted among Erie County agriculturists for generations. He grows large crops of corn, wheat, oats and potatoes, and has a small orchard of eighty apple trees, now in bearing condition. His farm equipment is well arranged and represents a considerable investment, including a number of farm buildings, and a substantial eight-room house. Charles King Clary was born at Birmingham in Erie County, January 21, 1876. He is the grandson of the late George W. Clary, who in his time was one of the most prominent and best known citizens 952 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY of Erie County, and who died January 15, 1899. His parents were George C. and Ella (King) Clary. Charles K. Clary was only three years of age when his father died in 1879, and his mother subsequently 'parried Newton Andress, who is also deceased, and is still living in Erie County. References are made to both the Andress and Clary sketches on other pages. Charles K. Clary while growing to manhood gained the equivalent of a liberal education, attended the local schools, the schools at Oberlin, and taking a business course in the Northern Ohio University at Ada. About the time he reached his majority he enlisted in the regular army as a private, and remained in the service for the full term of three years. Until he was called into active fighting during the Cuban war, his location was chiefly at Fort Snelling in Minnesota, where he was a member of Company E of the Third United Stales Infantry under Colonel Page. His company was sent to Cuba at the beginning of the war, and was also engaged in the brief Porto Rico campaign. He was in nearly all the important engagements on those two islands, serving in the armies of Generals Shafter and Miles. When his regiment went South it had the full complement of 1,000 Men, but less than 300 returned -alive. The heavy losses were largely attributable to the fever and to starvation. Though duly a private in the ranks, Mr. Clary gave a good account of himself as a soldier, was ready to accept all the hazards and tasks either on the firing line or in other duties to which he was assigned, and largely by virtue of his physical endurance and his hardihood came out of the service alive. While in the South he was stricken with the yellow fever, and when he was finally discharged at the end of three years he could best be described as more dead than alive. He received his honorable discharge August 1, 1898, and while still unable to walk came back to the old home at Berlin Heights. After partially recovering, he went West and regained his health in the mining regions of California. He worked as a miner and in other occupations, and in 1906 returned to Erie County and soon afterwards took up farming Mr. Clary has owned his present fine estate since 1898, having inherited it from his grandfather, George W. Clary. While living in California Mr. Clary married Helen E. Stone, who was born in Hastings, Minnesota, September 3, 1885. When eight years of age she went to California with her parents, Albert S. and Mary E. (Bates) Stone, who are now living retired at Chico, California. Mr. and Mrs. Clary have two children : Newton A,, born June 29, 1907; and Helen A., born August 12, 1908. Mr. Clary is a republican in politics, and he and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. OSCAR B. HAISE. Erie County is favored in claiming as one of its progressive citizens a man who is widely known as one of the most extensive and successful horticulturists in the state, and this. citizen further merits consideration in this publication by reason of his being a. native of the county and a representative of one of its honored families of the pioneer stock. He is a recognized authority in connection with the industry of apple-growing, and his fine orchards lie partially in Florence Township, this county, and partly in Henrietta Township, Lorain County. Save for twenty years' residence in the State of Kansas Mr. Haise has maintained his home in Erie County from the time of his birth to the present, and he is a citizen who commands the unqualified esteem of all who know him. Mr. Haise has been actively engaged in the growing of the finest grades of apples since 1902, and from a comparatively modest inception he has developed an industrial enterprise in this line that places him among the foremost and most extensive exponents of apple-growers HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 953 in his native state, the while his scientific methods and progressive policies have made his example well worthy of emulation. His original orchard was of his own setting, and he now owns well developed orchards that utilize the major part of a tract of seventy acres, in Florence Township, Erie County, and Henrietta Township, Lorain County, his landed estate being situated not far distant from the Village of Birmingham, where he maintains his residence. The extent of the business developed by Mr. Haise may be understood when it is stated that in a single year he has gathered from his fine Orchards as many as 24,000 bushels of fancy apples of the highest grade, the products of his orchards finding ready and appreciative demand in the markets of Cleveland and Indianapolis, to each of which cities he makes large shipments each year, as does he also to Cincinnati. In 1882 Mr. Haise established his residence on a farm in Russell County, Kansas, where he was associated with his brother, George A., in the raising and feeding of cattle on an extensive scale, their operations having involved the handling of an average of about 1,000 head of cattle annually. Mr. Haise continued his residence in the Sunflower State until 1902, when he returned o his native county and established his present important industrial enterprise. On the pioneer homestead farm of his father, in Florence Township, this county, Oscar B. Haise was born in the year 1842, and the environment and influences of the farm compassed him until he had attained to his legal majority, when he left the parental roof to go forth as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, his educational advantages in the meanwhile having been those afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. In the autumn of 1863, at the age of twenty-one years, Mr. Haise enlisted as a private in the First Regiment of United States Volunteer Engineers, and with this important and valiant command he continued in active service until he was transferred to the position of hospital steward in which he served till victory had crowned the Union arms and peace had been re-established. In the hospital service, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mr. liaise was retained for about one-half of the entire" period of his term in the army, and he received his honorable discharge in November, 1865. He perpetuates and vitalizes the more gracious memories and associations of his military career through his active affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic, the ranks of which are being rapidly thinned by the one implacable adversary, death. After the close of the war Mr. Haise returned to Erie County, where he continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits until his removal to Kansas, in 1882, as previously noted. After twenty years of successful business as a cattle grower in Kansas he returned to Erie County, where he has found ample opportunity for equally successful endeavor in the field of industry to which he is giving his attention. Mr. Haise, who has never left the ranks of eligible bachelors, is a son of Edwin and Ann E. (Klady) lIaise, both of whom were born in the State of New York and both of whom were young at the time of the immigration of the respective families to the pioneer wilds of Erie County, Ohio, both families settling in Florence Township, where the marriage of the young couple was solemnized After his marriage Edwin liaise established his residence on a farm in Florence Township, this having been a portion of the old homestead on which his parents had settled about the close of the second decade of the nineteenth century, the place being on the present Vermilion and Florence road. On this farm Edwin's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Haise, passed the remainder of their lives, the original homestead having comprised 160 acres and the same having been reclaimed from the forest by John Haise, an hon- Vol II-31 954 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY ored. pioneer concerning whom more specific mention is made on other pages of this volume, in the sketch of the career of George I. lIaise. Edwin Haise, a man of energy, integrity and mature judgment, held precedence as one of the substantial agriculturists and stock-growers of Erie County until his death, which occurred on the ancestral farmstead, in 1882, when he was seventy-five years of age. His widow thereafter accompanied her sons George A. and Oscar B. on their removal to Russell County, Kansas, and there she was summoned to the life eternal in 1892, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. This noble pioneer woman was a charter member of the Presbyterian Church in the Village of Florence, Erie County, and her entire life was guided and governed by her abiding Christian faith, which was manifested in kindliness, tolerance, abiding human sympathy and good deeds. Her husband was originally a whig and later a republican in politics, and he likewise was an attendant of the Presbyterian Church. Of their children the eldest was George A., who was born in the year 1836, on the old homestead farm in Erie County, where he was reared and educated. In '1862 he enlisted in the First United States Regiment of Volunteer Engineers, shortly after his graduation from the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati. He was made assistant surgeon of his regiment, and he continued in service in this capacity four years, or until the close of the war, his rank being that of first lieutenant. After the war he wedded Miss Martha J. Miles, of Platte County, Missouri, in which state he continued in the practice of his profession until 1874, when he engaged in the cattle business in Central Kansas, where he was joined by his brother Oscar, of this review, in 1882, as already noted in this article. Doctor Haise continued his residence in Kansas until his death, in the autumn of 1909, at the age of seventy-three years. He accumulated in Kansas a valuable landed estate of '3,000 acres, and his widow and son now own 4,000 acres in that state, the only son, Edwin M., being one of the representative agriculturists and stock-growers of Kansas and he and his wife being the parents of three children—George, Mary and Oscar. Mary A., the only sister of the subject of this sketch, became the wife of Capt. Dennis Blanchard, of whom individual mention is made in this volume, and she died on the 2d of October, 1869, without issue. Oscar B. Haise has been a lifelong and stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the republican party and though he has shown the utmost liberality and public spirit he has not been imbued with ambition for political office, his only service in such , capacity having been as assessor of Florence Township, a position of which he was the incumbent for a number of terms. He is one of the substantial and honored citizens of his native township and county and is well upholding the prestige of a name that has been long and worthily linked with the history of this favored section of the old Buckeye State. LOUIS WEBBER. About twenty-five years ago Louis Webber brought his family to America, and has since lived either in Lorain or in Erie County. He was a thrifty and skilled German mechanic and in the old country had earned a livelihood for his family by work as a cabinetmaker. However, he was in exceedingly modest circumstances on coming to Ohio, and has made his comfortable little fortune by hard work, steady economy and good business management, both at home and in all his affairs. He followed mechanical trades while living in Lorain County, and finally, after acquiring some means, invested in his present attractive farm in Florence Township. His place is located on the Butler Road, and he owns seventy-six acres, lying along the Vermilion River. There he carries on a substantial and profitable industry as a farmer and stock raiser. Most of his land is well improved, and HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 955 he pays considerable attention to the raising of good fruit, principally peaches and apples. His general field crops are corn, oats, wheat and potatoes. Since getting his land in 1908 Mr. Webber has invested a good deal of money- in improvements. He put up a fine barn on a foundation 34 by 50 feet, has a number of other farm buildings, and his home is a substantial seven-room house. For sixteen years Mr. Webber had his home in Lorain County. For nine years of that time he was connected with the large car shops at the City of Lorain, and subsequently for several -years was a city employe. Louis Webber was born in Prussia, not more than thirty German miles from the City of Berlin, August 5, 1851. His parents and most of his ancestors had been substantial small farmers in that country. He is a son of Louis and Mary (Mau) Webber, who were born in the same locality, and spent all their lives there. His father died in 1861, at the age of fifty-nine, and his mother passed away nine years later, in 1870, at the age of fifty-seven. They were members of the Lutheran Church. In his native country Louis Webber grew to manhood, gaining an education in the public schools, performing the duties required as useful Prussian citizens, and serving a thorough apprenticeship at the cabinetmaking trade. He was a Cabinetmaker at a time when very little work was crone by machinery, and practically all furniture and woodwork was the product of careful and skillful hand labor. While in Germany Mr. Webber married Fredericka Schrader. She was born near the same village where her husband grew up, January 16, 1853, a daughter of Christian and Christianna (Forge) Schrader. Her mother was twice married after the death of Christian Schrader, but her only children came from the first marriage. The Schraders were also Lutherans. While living in Germany Mr. and Mrs. Webber became the parents of five children. Then, in 1889, as a family, they left Prussia, em- barking on the ship Bohemia, at Hamburg, and landing in New York City, March 26, 1889. From there they came on west to Elyria, Ohio, lived in that city two years, and thence moved to Lorain. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Webber are briefly mentioned as follows : Her: man, who was born in Germany, finished his education at Lorain, became a telegraph operator and later a railway brakeman, and about nine years ago lost his arm, and his since been employed as a watchman for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company in Chicago ; he is unmarried. Freda is the wife of Ralph Hunter, an iron worker at Lorain, and their children are Dorothy and Irving. Anna married Fern Wadsworth, who is foreman with the Dean Electric Company. at Elyria; they have no children. Martha, who was educated at Lorain, is now in the employ of a physician in that city. Clara is also employed . in a physician's office at Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Webber were both confirmed as members of the Lutheran Church when children. In politics he is a republican. WARREN BRADWAY. One of the chief ends of life for a man is efficient service in some honorable department of the world's activities and proper provision for home and family. To accomplish this in a practical manner is in itself a high decree of success. Warren Bradway of Florence Township has acquitted himself well in this performance and at the same time has found opportunity to serve his community. Mr. Brad- way has spent nearly all his life in this one locality, has gathered many successive harvests from his fields, has effected numerous improvements on his land, and is a citizen who can look steadily and with courage into all the circumstances of the present and the future. 956 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY His birth occurred February 16, 1850, on the old farm which he now owns and occupies, situated on the Butler Road near the Huron County line. He is of English ancestry, but both his parents and grandparents were natives of the eastern states. Mr. Bradway never knew his father, who died when Warren was a small child. Mr. Bradway 's mother was, before her marriage, Anna Parker. , She was a niece of William W. Parker, of the prominent Parker family of Florence Township, referred to on other pages of this work. Anna Parker was born at Livonia, New York, February 15, 1827, and as a girl came to Erie County. She died at the home of her only son and child, May 3, 1883. She was a member of the Methodist Church. Warren Bradway was born in a log cabin on the old farm, and grew up in a more substantial home which is still occupied by him and his family as a place of residence. While one of the older houses in Florence Township, it makes a cosy home, and the basement under the house rests upon. the solid foundation of natural stone which underlies all his home farm. If quarried, this stone would make a most excellent building material. The house in which he now lives was built by his mother's father, Ormal Parker, about fifty years ago. With the exception of about five years spent at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Mr. Bradway has lived all his life in this one home. His house is surrounded by fifteen acres of land, and he also owns a fine farm of 151 acres well improved with a good house and with other farm buildings, located two miles northeast of Wakeman in Huron County. This is a valuable and productive farm, well stocked, and with a twelve-acre bearing orchard. On the farm in Huron County on March 7, 1866, Mr. Bradway was married to Miss Mary Crawford, who was born and reared there. Her birthplace was also in a log house, and she first saw the light of day January 11, 1845. Mrs. Bradway's parents were Alexander and Sadilla (Kilburn) Crawford, her mother having been the last wife of Mr. Crawford. Both her parents were born in New York State and came to Wakeman Township when young, were married there, and started housekeeping on the farm now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bradway. They spent the rest of their lives there and her father died at the age of eighty-four and her mother in 1899, when seventy-one years of age. Both were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he was a democrat. Mrs. Bradway was one of a family of ten children, two sons and eight daughters, and of these five daughters. and one son are still living, married and have families of their own. One son, Charles, enlisted as a soldier early in the Civil war, going out with a company organized at Wakeman, and was shot in one of the battles in which they were engaged, and died not long afterwards while in hospital, and is buried near the scene of his last battle. Mr. and Mrs. Bradway have one child, Rosina B., who is now the wife of George A. Parker, reference to whose career will be found on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Bradway are active supporters lof churches and all moral influences in their community, he is a democrat in politics and has filled several of the local positions of trust and responsibility. Mr. Bradway is himself a splendid exemplar of a moral and upright life. He has never used tobacco in any form nor intoxicating liquors and his self-controlled and temperate living is well expressed in his perfect health, his clear eyes and fine' complexion. HENRY J. LATTEMAN. A life marked by unassuming rectitude and by resolute integrity of purpose was that of the late Henry J. Latteman, ' who for thirty years was numbered among the representative farmers and honored citizens of Florence Township, and to his career must be devoted a brief memorial tribute in this history. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 957 Born in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County June 29, 1857, Henry J. Latteman spent practically all his life either in Lorain or Erie County, and died on the homestead now occupied by Mrs. Latteman and her children May 5, 1910. The Latteman home is on the East River road, three miles south of Birmingham in Florence Township. This is a family which has exhibited all the sterling qualities of the German-American type of citizen. Mr. Latteman was a son of Adam and Mary (Engleberry) Lattemah, both of whom were born in Kurhessen, Germany, the former in 1828 and the latter in 1830. They grew up as neighbor children and came together as immigrants to the United States on a sailing vessel from Bremen to New York City in 1850. A week after their arrival in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County they were married and with an equipment of thrift and industry equal to all their necessities they started out to make a home. They acquired and developed a large farm in Henrietta Township of Lorain County, and spent their last days in peace and comfort there. The father died in September, 1907, at the age of seventy-nine, and the mother in May, 1898, aged sixty-five. For a number of years they attended an supported the Methodist Church, but later became members of the German Reformed denomination. Their family of children comprised Adam, Mary, Henry J., Maggie, Conrad, Charles, Anna and Fred, all of whom are living except Henry and all married except the youngest. Reared in Lorain County, Henry J. Latteman acquired an education in the district schools and learned also the lessons of industry and honesty in his home circle, and in prosecuting the various duties which were assigned him as a boy. He began farming in his native county, but in 1880 removed to Florence Township in Erie County, and there acquired 56 1/2 acres of land. That was his home the rest of his life, ' and all his children were born there: To his first farm he added more land as prosperity rewarded his efforts, buying ninety-two acres and later his wife inherited eighteen acres of land adjacent and formerly a part of the old homestead of her father. The Latteman farm is on fine rolling land, highly productive, and its buildings are in a good state of repair. One feature of the place is a four-acre apple orchard. This farm Mr. Latteman conducted with characteristic thrift and energy, and Mrs. Latteman since his death has proved an efficient manager, being assisted in that task by her sons. Since she was two and a half years of age Mrs. Latteman has lived on the farm where she married Mr. Latteman and which is still her., home. Her maiden name was Barbara Gleim. She was born in Amherst, Lorain County, November 23, 1856, a daughter of George and Anna Dora (Summer) Gleim. Both her parents were born at Christ Rosenberg, Kurhessen, Germany, were reared in that country and came to the United States on one of the old slow-going sailing vessels. They arrived in Lorain County sixty-four years ago, and after their marriage they started out as farmers in that county. In 1858 Mr. Gleim brought his wife and two daughters to Florence Township, and bought the land on the East River road where Mrs. Latteman still lives. His first purchase comprised forty acres, and to this he subsequently added another forty-two acres, and still later fifty-six acres. Mr. Gleim was a capable and methodical farmer, he and his wife were both good managers, and many of the improvements from their hands are still in evidence around the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Gleim worked very hard to acquire a competence, and after they reached a degree of comfortable circumstances they moved to another farm in Florence Township, where he passed away February 9, 1909. He was born January 14, 1829. Mrs. Gleim was born March 9, 1830, and died October 28, 1910. They had been reared and throughout their lives were faithful to the German Reformed 958 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Church, and in politics he was a democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Latteman were the parents of four children. George, born November 19, 1880, is still unmarried and is his mother's capable manager on the home farm. Katie is the wife of John Bohn, and they live on a farm in Lorain County and have one son, Theodore. Theodore, the third child, is now farming on part of his mother's estate, and by his marriage to Bertha Nason has a son named Harold and a daughter named Dorothy. Anna Dorothea, the youngest, born October 28, 1897, is still at home and has completed her education in the district schools. Mrs. Latteman is a member of the .German Reformed Church, with which denomination her husband was also identified, while politically he was a democratic voter. ADAM BERG. What Florence Township now represents as an agricultural and social community can be credited in a great degree to the splendid industry and thrift of the German settlers in this section, especially during its development through the last half century. It is o this fine stock that Adam Berg is a representative. His family has been identified With Erie County since the years preceding the Civil war and in gaining material prosperity for themselves they have also helped to forward the community good. In Florence Township and near his present homestead Adam Berg was born November 22, 1863. His parents Frederick and Elizabeth (Berlip) Berg were both born in Hasefeld, Germany, the father on March 15, 1843, and the mother in 1839. They were of old German stock, and Evangelical Church people. Almost immediately after their marriage in Germany they embarked on a vessel at Bremen and started for the United States. This was about 1857. The voyage on the sailing vessel was characterized by roughness of the seas and slow movements, and after some weeks they landed in New York, and came on direct to Erie County, first locating in Vermilion Township. A few years later they moved to Florence, and the father secured a small tract of two acres near Vermilion River. It was in that small homestead and in the midst of few comforts that all their children were born. Having advanced himself in prosperity the father then moved east of the first farm, and bought seventy-seven acres on the township line and opposite Henrietta Township of Lorain County. The new home was within a mile of the Village of Birmingham. The parents made some improvements on that land and spent the rest of their days there. Frederick. Berg died May 27, 1908, and his widow passed away on March 31, 1915. They were industrious, kind neighbors, regular in :their church' attendance, and after becoming a naturalized citizen Frederick Berg adopted the principles of the republican party as his own. There were three children. Catherine, born November 17, 1862, was reared and educated in Florence Township, has never married and is now sharing the comforts of the old home and keeping house for her brother Adam. The other daughter, Minnie, born August 30, 1870, married Theodore Ward of Pittsfield, Ohio, who died in April, 1910. He was a farmer. By this marriage there is one daughter, Leona, born February 19, 1903, and now attending the seventh grade of school. Mrs. Ward and her daughter live at the old Berg homestead, and all the three children share in its management and comfort. Adam Berg, who is also a bachelor, grew up in Florence Township, gained his education from the public schools and for the past thirty years has steadily pursued a successful career as a farmer. In politics he is a republican. RANSON F. MCLAUGHLIN. To mention the name of this fine old citizen and retired farmer of Milan is to recall one of the oldest and PICTURE OF MR AND MRS RANSON F. MCLAUGLIN HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 959 most prominent of the early families of Erie County. It was due to the enterprise of his Scotch-Irish grandfather that the family was established in the wilderness of Erie County, long before it became a county, and before the Northwest had been completely won from the dominion of the English and the Indians. Happily the county possesses a permanent memorial to this family of pioneers in the old community of McLaughlin Corners in Berlin Township. The pioneer settler was John McLaughlin, who was born in Ireland of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He came' to America With ten brothers, in the early years of the nineteenth. century. Most of these brothers remained in the State of Pennsylvania, but John, who was one of the youngest in the number; showed his enterprise by pushing on a few years later into the wilds of Oho, and found land that suited him in the vicinity of what was then only an Indian camp ground, but is now the Village of Milan. He and hjs little family were living here when Hull surrendered Detroit, and he heard the guns that announced the battle between Perry's fleet and the English vessels at Put-In Bay on Lake Erie. While living in Pennsylvania John McLaughlin married Elizabeth Hoak, who was a great-aunt to Nathaniel Hoak of Erie County. She was born at Georgetown in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. After their marriage they came out to what is now Milan Township, and settled on lot 10 in Berlin Township, where John McLaughlin secured 100 acres of completely wild land. It was about 1810 that they took possession and built a rude log cabin for their first shelter and home. After Hull surrendered to the American forces at Detroit it was feared, and with reason, that the Indians, the constant allies of the British, would swarm all over Northern Ohio and carry devastation and slaughter to all the settlements. Consequently the McLaughlins buried all they could in a well, and hurried back to Pennsylvania to her home in Georgetown. They did not return to Erie County until the American forces were once more in control, and not until 1814 or 1815. This fact is known because their son Milton, father of Ranson F. McLaughlin, was born at Georgetown, Pennsylvania, on Christmas Day, 1815. Not long afterwards the little family reoccupied their home in the western' part of Berlin Township, and around their settlement grew up in time a community which from that day to this has been known as McLaughlin Corners. John McLaughlin and his wife spent many years in quiet industry and useful and peaceable living there, and both died before the Civil war. John was seventy-seven when he passed away. His first wife, Miss Hoak, had died a number of years before, and he afterwards ,married a Miss Leach, who died without children. John McLaughlin and wife were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and among the first of that denomination in Berlin Township. In politics the McLaughlins were ardent supporters of the whig party from the time. it came into existence until it was supplanted by the republican' party, and most of the later generations have been republicans. They were also prominent as early abolitionists in Northern Ohio, and many a fugitive slave from the South, en route to Canada and freedom; found a haven of refuge in the McLaughlin home. John McLaughlin and his first wife had nine children, three sons and six daughters: Mary, better known as Polly, Catherine, Nancy, Elizabeth, Henry, Belinda, Milton, Anna and John. All married except Nancy and John, and those that married had quite large families. Most of them lived to be past middle age, but all are now deceased. The sons of John McLaughlin were all skillful and noted nimrods in the early days in Erie County. Milton McLaughlin was one of the most successful hunters in the state. In the fall of one year in order to provide meat for his 960 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY family he killed twelve deer, besides much other wild game. In a' single year he killed seventy-five opossums, hundreds of squirrels and wild . turkey. Practically every item of pioneer experience made familiar through the pages of this history would apply to the McLaughlin family. It is recalled as only one incident that the meal, for their corn cake was pounded and crushed in a mortar hollowed out from the stump of a tree. Milton McLaughlin, whose birth date has already been recorded as occurring on- Christmas Day of 1815, grew up in the wilderness of Erie County, and besides his activity as a hunter he was distinguished by great strength and industry in his more permanent vocation as a farmer. He was also employed in the early shipyards at Milan, and was an expert whip sawyer. From his own land he cut large quantities of timber and had the logs sawed in the mills at Milan, and then sold and delivered the dressed lumber to the markets in Liverpool, England. His industry largely improved the old home known as the McLaughlin homestead of 100 acres, and much of this land is still owned by his son William. Milton McLaughlin and wife spent nearly all their active years there, but finally retired to Milan Village, to a pleasant home on Center Street, where he died in 1887 and she, in 1893. He was a member of the Methodist Church, while his wife was a Presbyterian. He voted for a number of whig candidates for President, and later became an equally strong republican. Milton McLaughlin was married at Milan to Miss Mary Krom. She was born hi Ulster County, New York, April 28, 1822, and was seventy-one years of age when she passed away at Milan. Her parents were Abraham and Mary J. (Cotrant) Krom, both New York State people. In 1840 the Krom family came to Ohio, and her parents spent the rest of their days in Erie County. Abraham Krom was born in Paris, France, was educated there, taught school, and after coming to the United States wasmarried in New York to Miss Cotrant, who was a native of Scotland. They were both birthright Quakers, and their daughter Mrs. McLaughlin was also reared in that simple faith. Ranson F. McLaughlin, who with his descendants might well take pride in his sturdy pioneer ancestry, was born on the old farm in Berlin Township June 9, 1839. He has already lived' more than three quarters of a century. As a boy he attended school in Berlin Heights, and much of his education came from that great teacher, the venerable Job Fish. After reaching his majority he started out in the permanent vocation of his career as a farmer, and for fifty-three years occupied and operated 114 acres in Berlin Township near McLaughlin Corners. On that one place he and his wife spent fifty-three years, but .in 1913 they returned to Milan Village and bought an attractive home on Seminary Street, overlooking the Huron River valley and adjoining the birthplace of Thomas .A. Edison. In 1860 Mr. McLaughlin married Miss. Sarah Desire Springer. She was born near the Village of Berlin January 12, 1842, and besides such education as the local schools supplied she attended Oberlin College. Her parents were Job . L. and Lydia (Sayles) Springer.. They were both born in Cayuga County, New York, her father on September 3, 1804, and her mother in 1810. They were married there in 1829, and their first son, Lorin L. Springer, was born in New. York State. Then in 1832 the Springers came West, following the Erie Canal as far as Buffalo, and thence by small boat up Lake Erie to Huron Village. They finally located on a farm in Berlin Township, at a time when nearly all the surrounding country was new and undeveloped. On that farm Mr. and Mrs. Springer spent the rest of their lives. He died there in September, 1862, and his wife on March 6, 1874. They were consistent HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 961 church people, and deserve mention among the worthiest of the early settlers. Mr. Springer and all his seven sons were active republicans, and there were also two daughters in the family that grew up. All the children married except one son who was accidentally killed when a log rolled upon him. Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin have two children. Charles W., who died at his home in Berlin Heights in 1905 at the 'age of forty-four, married Louisa A. Weitzman; who died in 1900,) leaving two children, Clifford Ranson and Mildred May. Franklin E. the younger son, was born December 11, 1870, and was married in 1901 to Maude Wells of Milan. They now live in Waterbury, Connecticut, where he practices dentistry, being a graduate of the'dental department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Docitor and Mrs. McLaughlin have four children: Dorothy H., Herbert E.; Harold Ranson and Eunice Eugenia. Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin are active members of the Milan Presbyterian Church, and they have- been members of Berlin Heights Grange No. 345 of the Patrons of Husbandry since 1884. In politics he is a republican, thus maintaining the political traditions and principles so long supported by the family. WILLIAM HUMM. In the western part of Florence Township, Erie County, will be found the attractive farm home of William Humm, who is known in and about the community as a leader in progressive and scientific farming. Mr. Humm's acreage, while not large, is ample for his needs, his tract of 111 acres being enough to occupy his every moment and to require as well the added 'labors of one or more assistants - throughout the year. Ninety-nine acres is maintained in a high state of cultivation, while the remaining twelve acres is heavily wooded and is held in reserve by its owner. William Humm was born in Switzerland on January 31, /853, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Roth) Hurnm, born on March 23, 1813, and January 10, 1825, respectively. They were of Swiss birth and parentage, though residents of Bremen, Germany, for some time prior to their removal to America. Their son, William, of this review, was eighteen months old when his parents brought him to their new home, so that he is essentially American, though of foreign birth. With reference to the American experiences of the family of Jacob Humm, it may be said briefly that from New York they came west to Ohio, stopping first in Cleveland, where they remained about three. years, and later moving on to Erie County, Ohio, where they established a home and where they passed the remaining years of their lives. They- moved about some in Erie County before finding their real home, but Florence Township ultimately came to claim them as her own. They owned a 100 acre farm there, and it was reckoned among the fine places in the township. They were people who possessed many worthy traits of character and their lives were splendid examples of good citizenship, and of wholesome and thrifty living. Much credit was due to them for the organization and faithful support of the German Reformed Church at Henrietta, Ohio, and Jacob Humm was an elder in its ruling body for some years. HE died in 1894 and his widow followed in 1897. Twice married, Jacob Humm was the father of fourteen children. The seven children of his first wife reached maturity, but all are now deceased. William Humm was the first child of his father's second marriage, and two other sons and a daughter survive. The daughter, Martha Humm, is the wife of Sebert Curth, of Ashland County, Ohio, and Charles is a prosperous farmer of Florence Township, as is also Edward. Both are married. 962 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY William Humm had such educational advantages as the common schools of his home community afforded, and he continued at home with his parents until his marriage to Catherine Geist, of Henrietta, Loraine County, Ohio, in 1873. She was born in Germany, on July 17, 1855, and was but nine months old when her parents, William and Catherine (Eckhart) Geist, came to the United States. Lorain County became their home, and they passed the remaining years of their lives within its borders. William Geist manifested his allegiance to his adopted country by enlisting for service in the Civil war, and his service covered a period of twenty-two months. In that time he participated in many important engagements, and not once was he disqualified for action as a result of injuries. His record was a praiseworthy one in all respects. With the close of the war he took up farm life again in Henrietta, and there he passed away when he was in the sixty-eighth year of his well-spent life. His widow survived a few years and died at the age of seventy-nine. Both were charter members of the German Reformed Church of Henrietta, and ably assisted the parents of William Humm in its establishment. To them were born a son and daughter, the latter becoming the wife of the subject, as has already appeared. The son, Adam, resides near Kipton, Ohio; and there has reared a family of eight children. To William and Catherine (Geist) Humm one child was born, Caroline, born January 13, 1876, the wife of Aaron D. Webber, who was born April 13, 1873, in Jamestown, Pennsylvania. The Webbers make their home with Mrs. Webber's parents and are the owners of a twenty-five acre tract adjoining the Humm property. They have two living sons, Clarence William, born March 28, 1899, and Karl Elmer, born August 17, 1910. Their first born child, Warren, born March 25, 1897, died on October 1, in the same year. The home of William Humm is one that is worthy of special notice. The house, a comfortable and appropriate structure, with nine airy rooms and all modern conveniences, presents the cheerful and home-like exterior that a white house with green blinds invariably will, and all about are the evidences of the love of home that is a dominant characteristic in the family. Mr. Humm is justly proud of the record of his acres, and bumper crops are the rule with him. Twenty-five bushels of wheat to the acre, forty bushels of oats and 100 of corn are average crops on his place, and the meadow lands yield abundantly. He keeps a good deal of livestock on the farm, all of which is fed on the produce of the land. Mr. Humm came into ownership of the farm in the spring of 1894 and the many improvements there in evidence today have been made by him since that time. All considered, Mr. Humm is properly considered in the community to be a farming man of much ability, and his record and standing in matters of citizenship will bear rigid inspection. With his wife he is an attendant of the Congregational Church of Florence as is also the daughter and her family. He has no political affiliations, and has not entered into that phase of the community life beyond the reasonable activities of a voter. HARRY J. THOMPSON. Among the prosperous rural residents of Florence Township few have had a more active and varied career than Harry J. Thompson. Mr. Thompson, who has passed the psalmist's span of three score and ten, saw active service as a soldier during the critical time of the rebellion, and later for a number of years was one of the pioneer rubber manufacturers in America, and helped, to found one of the greatest concerns for the manufacture of rubber goods in the world. ' For the past thirty years his home has been in Erie County, and he has employed his time and energies in the quiet routine of agriculture. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 963 Though born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 26, 1842, Mr. Thompson spent most of his early career in the eastern states and cities. His parents were Andrew and Henrietta (Joslin) Thompson. His father was a native of Norway, and grew up in the industries connected with maritime enterprise, became a ship carpenter, and in the course of his employment in that work cave to America locating- at Cleveland. For some years he was connected with the Great Lakes marine, but finally removed to Brooklyn, New York, and died there: in 1846 at the age of thirty-nine. While in New York City he married Miss Joslin, who was a New Jersey girl. She married for her second husband William Hagadorn, and she died in New York City in 1852, at the age of twenty-nine. Her second husband also married again, but his subsequent career is not known to Mr. Thompson beyond the fact that he was a sailor. It was in New York City that Harry J. Thompson spent his early years, and along with public training educated himself as a pharmacist. Re gave this up to become a student, of rubber manufacturing, but in the meantime had made his record as a soldier of the Union d4ring the Civil war. He enlisted in_1861 at Trenton, New Jersey, in the Third New Jersey Regiment of Infantry for the three months service. In .1862 he again enlisted, this time in the Fourteenth New Jersey Regiment, and was in active service with that command from August, 1862, until March, 1863. He was then assigned to the medical department, in the regular army, and during the rest of the war served as a hospital steward. Mr. Thompson originated some of the processes which are at the basis of the modern industry of rubber' goods manufacture. In 1871 he came to Akron, Ohio, and soon afterward introduced his formula for the making of rubber goods into the small plant of Doctor Goodrich. He became the first superintendent of the Goodrich concern, and his processes served as the basis for that great industry. It was largely through his management that the business became prosperolis and after two years of experimenting he had the plant started toward permanent success. The products of the Goodrich Rubber Company are now known and in use practically all over the world, and it is an important distinction that an Erie County man should have been so closely identified with the early success of this concern. For several years Mr. Thompson also carried on a small factory of his own, but in 1884 came to Vermilion, Ohio, and after one year as superintendent of Linwood Park moved to Florence Township, where he has since followed farming. For his first wife Mr. Thompson married in St. Louis, Missouri, Ruth A. Cubberley, who was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and died in Florence Township of Erie County November 24, 1893, at the age of fifty-nine. No children survived her. In December, 1895, Mr. Thompson married in Florence Township Mrs. Anna E. Clary. Mrs. Thompson, whose maiden name was Anna E. Morse, was born in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County July 11, 1846, and since she was six years of age has lived on the farm now occupied by her and Mr. Thompson. She belongs to one of the old families of Northern Ohio, and was formerly the wife of Fred M. Clary, of the prominent Florence Township family sketched on other pages. Mrs. Thompson is a daughter of Mark and Harriet (Bartlett) Morse. Her father was a kinsman of Samuel B. Morse, famed as the inventor of the magnetic telegraph. Her father was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and was married in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County, whither both he and his wife had settled when young. In 1852 they removed to Florence Township, and lived on their farm until retiring to Birmingham. Her father died March 17, 1898, at the age of eighty-three. Her mother, who was born in Keene, New Hampshire, 964 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY in May, 1821, died in June, 1883. Mrs. Thompson's mother was a member, of the Baptist Church, and her father was a republican. The farm now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Thompson is one of the noted country estates of Florence Township, comprising 100 acres located near Birmingham. Mr. Thompson, who is a strong republican, served as postmaster of Birmingham under President .McKinley, and has also fined the office of justice of the peace in his township with great credit. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. BENJAMIN ISAAC HILL. The Hill family is one of the oldest continuously identified with Erie County for almost a century.. Benjamin I. Hill, who occupies a fine country home in Berlin Township with post-office at Berlin Heights, has himself witnessed fully seventy years of changes and developments in this part of Northern Ohio. The record of the Hill family in America begins nearly 300 years ago. The 'emigrant ancestor was John Hill, who emigrated from Northampton, England, in 1644, and first located in the Barbadoes in the British West Indies. He made the voyage on the Hopewell, and lived in the Barbadoes with his family for about ten years. In the meantime he married Frances Symonds, and in 1654 removed to Guilford, Connecticut, where his first wife died in May, 1673. He married for his second wife Catherine Chalker of Saybrook, Connecticut. John Hill died at GUilford June 8, 1689. His son James' Hill, who was born in 1646 and died Mareh 25, 1715, married Sarah Griswold, and they were the parents of eight children. The second child and the first son was Isaac Hill, who was born at Guilford September 5, 1685, and died February 7, 1775. He married Ann Parmelee and had a large family. Their son James, born early in the eighteenth century, died March 10, 1734. He married Mary Fry, and they were the parents of three children, including James, Jr., who married Hannah Nettleson. A son of James and Hannah Hill, Noah, Sr., who was born February 27, 1754, died, in May, 1826. Noah, Sr., married Carolina Parmelee, and had a large family. Next in line is Noah Hill, Jr., grandfather of Benjamin I. Hill. Noah, Jr., was born October 4, 1784, and died May 27, 1864. He married Susan Ingalls, who was born in Connecticut April 27, 1784. This pioneer couple established the family name and fortunes in Erie County, having left Guilford, Connecticut, in 1818. They came by way of river, canal and lake to Huron, Ohio, and thence through the dense woods to the present site of Berlin Heights. Noah Hill bought a tract of raw land, now situated in the eastern part of Berlin Heights Village.. There he erected his first home, a humble log cabin, and was soon. regarded as a man of influence and high standing in the community. At that time Berlin Township was called Eldridge Township, part of the land being owned by a man named Eldridge. This land owner was unscrurlous, and not only sold but resold the same pieces of land and defrauded many of the early settlers. In consequence of this conduct Noah Hill led a movement which brought about a change in the name of the township from Eldridge to Berlin. In many other ways he snowed his influence as a man of strictest honesty and upright character. By trade Noah Hill was a boat builder, an occupation which took him .out of Erie County and he frequently made business trips as far as Detroit. His widow survived him about sixteen years and died when about ninety-seven years old. She was a vigorous woman almost to the last and had been a successful teacher for ten years before her marriage. Both she and her husband lived the religious faith and doctrines as preached by the Episcopal Church. In politics he was a whig for many HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 965 years and joined the republican party at the time of its organization. He was likewise an ardent abolitionist, and courageously practiced the doctrine in which he believed at a time when the abolition movement was decidedly unpopular. Noah Hill and wife had eleven sons' and daughters. In the next generation is Edwin Ingalls Hill, who was the father of Benjamin I. Hill. He was born in Guilford, Connecticut, August 9, 1809, and was still a boy when the family came to- Erie County in 1818. He grew up on a farm not fr. from Berlin Heights, and for many years lie lived in nothing better in the way of a home than a log house. After his marriage he acquired the possession of part of the old Hill homestead, farmed there for a tune, and eventually bought a farm that is now included in the village corporation limits. There he constructed a substantial residence, now occupied by his widow. Edwin I. Hill was first married March 5, 1833, to Miss Lucy Ann Tennant, who came to Erie County when a girl from New York State. She died August 30, 1842, leaving the following children : Horace who was born March 6, 1834, and was the second man, to enlist at Berlin Heights for service in the Civil war, joining Company C of the One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Infantry, under Captain Sprague, and continuing a faithful soldier until shot down on the battlefield of Resaca, Georgia ; Benjamin Isaac, who is next in order of birth ; Alphia Amelia, who was born November 30, 1838, and died after her marriage to Charles Tillinghast ; and Henry E., who was born December 11, 1840, and died in Erie County in the fall of 1913, his widow, whose maiden name was Louisa Harter, now residing at Akron, Ohio, and fhe mother of four children. On May 7, 1843, Edwin I. Hill married Catherine Wendell, who was born in Ger- . many but was reared in Erie County. She died January .27, 1855, leaving a daughter Lucy Ann, who ',was born in 1844, and died May 10, 1864. On June 15, 1857, Edwin I. Hill married for his third wife Sallie .Bowler Peabody. She was born at Newport, Rhode Island, July 20, 1837, and has lived in Erie County since she was ten years of age. Her parents were George A. and Ann (Spencer) Peabody. By the third marriage Edwin I. Hill had two children : Sterling L., who was born on the old homestead in Berlin Heights November 24, 1859, and is now one of the largest fruit growers in Erie County ; and Louise Augusta, who was born June 4, 1868, and is now the wife of a Congregational minister near Chicago, Illinois. Benjamin I. Hill, a son of Edwin I. and Lucy Ann (Tennant) Hill, was born on the farm where he still lives near Berlin Heights in a. log cabin on February 20, 1836. With the exception of one year he has spent practically all his life of nearly eighty years in this one community. That exception of a year was due to a trip which he took in early manhood in search of wealth in the western goldfields. At the age of twenty-three in 1859 he and five others started out for Pike's Peak, Colorado, going from Milan, by way of Leavenworth, Kansas, and there equipping themselves with four yoke of oxen and a wagon. Their journey over the plains required about six weeks, and Mr. Hill drove the team all the way. While in the West he met Horace Greeley, who at that time was deeply interested in Colorado affairs. His experience in Colorado were of an arduous and varied character, but without the attainment of the principal object, riches in the gold mines. On the way out the party met a band of Cheyenne and Pawnee Indians, and - while unmolested the travelers had to summon up all their coolness and resolution when the Indians circled around them and made a conspicuous display of scalps taken from the heads of white men. These Indians employed every. resource and method of persuasion to induce the white 966 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY men to part with the only woman of the party, Mrs. George, Waft]. of Berlin Township. The chief of the Indians offered ponies and almost every article he had to secure this woman for himself. Mr. Hill since returning from his western tour has been content to pursue his career quietly as a farmer and has been bountifully prospered from the crops of the soil and has gained a greater wealth of goods and popular esteem' there than he could have found in the West had he been moderately successful as a miner. He has one of the best homesteads in Berlin Township. He has eighty acres under cultivation, eligibly situated near Berlin Heights, and has a fine orchard of fifteen acres, apples, three acres of peach trees, and some pear trees. His homy is a large and commodious dwelling of twelve rooms, and for many years he has had all the means necessary for his comfort and convenience. In the course of his long career Mr. Hill has performed his share of public-duties. He has held the office of township trustee and other . local positions ,and thus keeps up the honorable record of the family, his father and grandfather having similarly held kocal places of trust and responsibility. In Berlin Township not long after he started upon his independent career as a farmer, Mr. Hill married Miss Sarah Willey, who was born in New York State October 27, 1837, a daughter of Salmon and Durinda (Snow) Willey; who were born and married in East Haddon, Connecticut. Her grandfather Willey was a patriot soldier in the War of the Revolution and a man of the highest standing in his community in Connecticut. Her maternal grandfather was Ebenezer Snow of Connecticut. who late in life moved to Ohio and died at Berlin Heights when quite old. Salmon Willey and wife moved from Connecticut to New York State, where Mrs. Hill was born, and in 1863 made the trip from Albany to Erie County, where Mr. Willey died at the age of eighty-two. His widow subsequently returned' to Albany, New York; and died in the home of a daughter 'Mrs. Marietta J. Pultz at the age of ninety-two. Mrs. Hill received her education partly at Albany and partly in the high school at Kinderhook, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hill had one son, Willey Harvey, who was born in 1866, and was educated at Berlin Heights and pursued commercial courses in Oberlin College. For a time he was a teacher and later was employed by the firm of Carnegie & Phipps at Pittsburg, but subsequently returned, to live with his parents and died here. March 24, 1908. He was a man of active and progressive powers. and his early death was widely mourned in the county. He was affiliated with the Kn;ghts of Pythias order. Willey H. Hill was married at Portland, Connecticut, to Ann Goodspeed Strickland. She was born in Connecticut, and reared and educated there, and is a woman of high culture and refinement. One of her ancestors was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and she is also connected with the Kilburn family of Connecticut. Mrs. Willey H. Hill has two children : Benjamin Sage, who died in infancy ; and Willey Harvey, who *as born August 25, 1908, 4nd is now attending school. The younger Mrs. Hill was reared in the Nith of the Episcopal Church. Both Mrs. Benjamin Hill and her daughter are active members of the Tuesday Tourist Club at Berlin Heights, and both have held offices in that leading social and literary club of the village. Mr. Hill is a. republican and his son was of the same political faith. GEORGE DENMAN. A member of the class of men who have stepped aside from the path of active labor to allow to pass the younger generation of workers, with their enthusiasm, hopes and ambitions, George Denman of Birmingham is one of the highly respected residents of his HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 967 community. Throughout the period of a long and useful career he was , engaged in agricultural pursuits in Florence Township, and with the exception of four years in the State of Missouri has passed his entire life in Erie County, having been born on the farm which he still owns, 1 1/2 miles from Birmingham, in Florence Township, November 7, 1843, a son of Thomas and Fatima (Parker) Denman. William Denman, the grandfather of George Denman, was born in England, was there reared, educated and married, and with his wife emigrated to the United States prior to the year 1800 and settled in Sullivan County, New York, where they, passed the remaining years of their lives. Their son, Thomas Denman, was born in that county, April 20, 1800, and received a common school education, being reared to agricultural pursuits under his father's' direction. His brother, John, had preceded him to the then far West, and when still a young man Thomas Denman set forth on foot to make the long journey, carrying with him his trusty axe. Finally arriving in Erie County, he purchased land in Florence Township, paying therefor $3 and $4 an acre, hewed himself a home from the wilderness, and continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits here during the remaining years of his life, his death occurring July 28, 1858. This property, which subsequently became the home of his son and is still owned by him, was the site of one of the most famous camp meetings in the history of Ohio. Chosen as the scene of the event because of the presence of a fine spring of clear, cool water, it was at that time, some eighty-one or eighty-two; years ago, in the midst of a veritable wilderness, with no roads leading thereto save small openings which led to the state highways. Nevertheless the gathering, called together by one Reverend Shelby, a pioneer minister, was a large one, the pioneer farmers and their families traveling from their new homes for miles and miles around and from far beyond they limits of Erie County. Thomas Denman was imbued with the true spirit of the pioneer, a longing for a home of his own on which he could work out his own destiny and accumulate his own fortune. He belonged to the sturdy, hardy type without which the wilderness would have remained unconquered. While content to remain as a private citizen, and not desirous of public preferment, he took a keen and intelligent interest in the affairs of the day and voted stanchly with the whig party until the formation of the republican party, and his last presidential vote was cast for Gen. John C. Fremont, the "Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains," in 1856. Mr. Denman was married in Florence Township to Miss Fatima Parker, who was born in Vermont, July 4, 1816, and was brought to Erie County in 1820 by her parents, Zachariah and Ruth Ann Parker, natives of Vermont, who settled as pioneers of Florence Township. Mr. Parker 's first wife died soon after coming to Erie County, and he was subsequently married twice. Thomas and Fatima Denman became the parents of six sons and one daughter, George being the second in order of birth. George Denman received his education in the public schools of Florence Township, and was reared to agricultural pursuits, in which he has been engaged throughout his life. As a young man he was engaged in a venture in the State of Missouri, but after four years of experience there returned to the homestead place, which he did not leave until his retirement, in 1913, when he moved to Birmingham. Mr. Denman is the owner of 142 acres of rich, productive land, with not an acre of waste, well improved in every respect, and with a fine orchard. It is adapted to raising all the standard crops of the state, and its water is gained from the famous spring of campmeeting fame, while its broad pastures make it particularly desirable for stockraising. During his career as a farmer, Mr. Denman established a reputation for strict integrity, and his standing since his retirement has been equally high. As a citizen he 968 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY has contributed to the movements which have made for civic and county welfare and has denied his support to no movement which has had the betterment of the community as its object. In politics he is a stanch and unswerving republican, but has not sought preferment at the hands of his party. Mr. Denman was married in Florence Township to Miss Cordelia B. Townsend, who was born in New London Township, Huron County, Ohio, December 30, 1852, and brought to Erie County as a child of fifteen years, here completing her education in the public schools. She is a daughter of Lemuel and Elizabeth (Bishop) Townsend, the former of whom was born in March, 1812, in New York, and died February 7, 1892, in Florence Township, and the latter born near Bath, England, in December, 1821, and died in Florence Township, August 27, 1906. They were married at Carman Center, New York, March 20, 1845, and came west to Ohio in 1850 or 1851, locating first in Huron County. They resided at the Village of Greenwich, where Mr. Townsend followed his trade as a mechanic until 1867, and in that year, owing to failing health, turned his attention to an outdoor life. He came to Florence Township, Erie County, and settled on a farm, in the work of which he found the means to recover his health, and here continued to be engaged in farming throughout the remaining years of his long and active life. He was a republican in politics and a man who stood high in the esteem and confidence of his community. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend were the parents of three children : Mrs. Denham ; Robert, who died after marriage, leaving no children; and Emma,. who became the wife of Gustave Delafield, a farmer of Florence Township, and has no family. CHARLES Z. MONTAGUE. Of the many honored citizens of Ohio who have been long and actively concerned with marine service on the Great Lakes few are better known, have achieved greater prominence and have shown such ability and zeal, as well as love of the sea, as has Captain Montague, who may be said to be a devotee of his vocation both by natural predilection and long and varied experience. He owns one of the fine modern residence properties in the thriving little City of Huron, and here he and his gracious wife delight to extend hospitality to their troops of friends. The captain at one time attempted to retire from active service on the great inland seas, but their lure proved too strong for him to resist his inclination, with the result that he resumed his labors, with all of satisfaction and pleasure, eager once more to cope with the winds and waves of the "merciful, merciless sea." The lineage of the Montague family traces back to ancient Norman French origin, and records extant mark the family as one of prominence and influence both'in France and England, genealogical data being available and running back to the beginning of the eleventh century. The family became one of much distinction in the annals of English history, and from the "right little isle" came William Montague as one of the early colonial settlers in New England, that stern but gracious cradle of much of our national history. From this worthy ancestor the lineage is clearly traced through the various generations to Captain Montague of this review. Maj. Richard Montague, a son of Deacon Samuel Montague, was born on the old homestead, near the present Town of North Leverett, Franklin County, Massachusetts, and the date of his nativity was May 7, 1729. He was a gallant soldier and officer in the Continental Line in the War of the Revolution, and his valor and tactical ability brought to him promotion to the rank of major. He became a. member of the official staff of General Washington, and he not only proved a true patriot and valiant soldier but was known as a man of strong character and as one notable for consideration and HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 969 kindliness in all the relations of life. He took part also in the French and Indians wars, and his death. occurred February 21, 1794. By virtue of descent from this honored patriot Captain Montague is eligible for membership both in the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of American Colonial Wars. Zebina Montague, grandfather of the captain, was a son of Oreb Montague, and the latter was a son of Maj. Richard Montague, the Revolutionary soldier. Zebina Montague was born at Whitstone, Queens County, New York, on the 10th of October, 1795, and early became a resident of Cazenovia, Madison County, that state. For a short time prior to the close of the War of 1812 he served with the American troops stationed at Sacketts Harbor, New York. In 1817, at Cazenovia, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Olive Adams, who was born August 22, 1796, and who passed the closing period of her life at Huron, Ohio, where she died on the 5th of November, 1862, her husband having survived her by a decade. Robert Bruce Montague, son of Zebina and Olive (Adams) Montague, was their only child and was born in Madison County, New York, on the 23d of December, 1839. His parents cant to Ohio by way of Buffalo, where they embarked on a sailing vessel that transported them to their destination. They landed in the port of the little forest hamlet of Huron, Erie County, in 1846 and thus became pioneer settlers of this section of the state. Zebina Montague was a skilled mechanic and while working on a threshing machine he received injuries which necessitated the amputation of one of his arms. Upon coming to Huron lie purchased a tract of wild land on the east bank of the Huron River, and this he reclaimed into a productive farm, the homestead having continued the abiding place of both him and his wife until they passed from the stage of their mortal endeavors, he having entered into eternal rest in the year 1872. Both he and his wife were earnest members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he was aligned with the Whig party until the organization of the republican party, when he espoused the cause of the latter, his active identification with the same continuing until the close of his life. Capt. Robert Bruce Montague was .reared to manhood in Erie County, where he acquired his early education in the pioneer schools. As a youth he became interested in the building and sailing of small boats on Lake Erie, and finally he superintended the construction of the sailing vessel Winona, at Milan, this county. At the age of twenty-one years he was serving as master of a grain vessel of 20,000 tons burden, this boat operating between Ohio ports and the City of Buffalo. After a few years he severed his connection with this vessel, and the same was shortly afterward wrecked and lost at sea. He was thertafter identified with the operation of other vessels, and finally he became master of the grain schooner Jury, of 30,000 tons capacity, the building of which, at the Huron port, he had personally supervised. He was master of this vessel several years, and he then had charge of the completion and launching of the grain schooner John B. Williams, 45,000 tons capacity, as master of which he operated the same eight years, in the transportation of grain to the Buffalo market. He was known as a careful and skillful navigator, met with few accidents at sea and never lost a boat of which he had command, though, as a matter of course, he buffeted with the old-time sailing vessels many a severe storm on Lake Erie. For twenty-six years Capt. Robert B. Montague gallantly sailed his staunch vessels out of the port of Huron, and in the lake marine service he made a record that gave him prestige as one of the most able, brave and successful of navigators on the inland Vol. II-32 970 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY seas. In 1884 he retired from a seafaring life and removed to the City of Duluth, Minnesota, where he became a marine merchant and where his death occurred on the 2d of August of the following year, his remains being laid to rest in beautiful Forest Hill Cemetery at that place, and those of his wife repose by his side, she having continued her residence at Duluth until her death, in 1892, at which time she was sixty years of age. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church and Captain Montague was a stalwart and uncompromising advocate of the principles and policies of the, republican party. He took a loyal interest in community affairs and, to insure the betterment of conditions in the local "God's Acre," he served as president of the Huron Cemetery Association for some time. Of the children Capt. Charles Zeben (or Zebina) Montague, of this review, was the first born ; William A., who resides in Kansas City, Missouri, and is a commercial salesman for a Chicago wholesale house, has three children, Richard, Roland and Margaret, the wife and mother, whose maiden name was Alice Bacon, having met her death in 1914, as a result of an automobile accident ; Minnie M. is the wife of Henry D. Pierson, a representative business man in the City of Cleveland, and they have three children. Marjorie, Montague and Marian ; Olive E. is the wife of John W. Bowes, who is a prominent representative of the real estate business in the City of Oakland, California, and they have one son, Stuart. Capt. Charles Z. Montague was born at Huron, this county, on the 7th of July, 1857, and in the local schools he continued his studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school. At the age of sixteen years he joined his father in the navigation activities of the Great Lakes, and as a sailor he served a most thorough and effective apprenticeship, his father having been a strict and always consistent disciplinarian. By effective work and ambitious effort to further himself in knowledge of all details of the vocation of his choice, he won advancement through the various grades of maritime promotion, and when twenty-two years of age he assumed his first independent command, as master of the Oswasco, a 600-ton vessel, on which he transported to the City of Buffalo his first cargo. Later he was a sailing executive in the employ of Mr. Axworthy, a prominent Cleveland vessel owner, and in 1896 he became master of a 1,200-ton ore vessel operated by the Republic Iron Company. This position he retained, with marked success, until 1890, when he resigned his command to become associated with others in forming a corporation that built the steamer Elphewick, 3,000 tons, of the construction of which he was superintendent and manager, besides being one of the chief stockholders of the company. The vessel was placed in commission in the transportation of coal and ore, and a most prosperous business was developed, with Captain Montague in command of the boat, the stockholders realizing good returns from their investments. Captain Montague continued as master and superintendent of this vessel until 1893, when he was prevailed upon to supervise the construction of a modern steel vessel, the Arthur Orr, of which he was made master. After operating this vessel two years he had charge of the building of a larger vessel of the same type, the George Knorr, and after having been its captain for two years after it was placed in commission. he directed the construction of a still larger steel vessel, the "William L. Brown," 6,000 tons, which he commanded two years, in the transportation of ore and general lines of freight. In 1896 Captain Montague associated himself with the Carnegie Steel Company, for which he built and assumed command of the steel steamer "Cornell," 7,000 tons, which he operated four years. During the following two he lived a disquieted and unsatisfactory existence as a landsman, and he has stated that his HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 971 feelings were about those that harass a "fish out of water," and with all of verve and enthusiasm he then returned to his loved vocation, by associating himself with the Great Lakes Steamship Company, which operated at the time twenty-one vessels. He was assigned to the post of master of the "Harry Colby," the largest vessel of the company's fine fleet, and of this excellent craft, with a capacity of 12,000 tons, he has since continued in successful command, with unalloyed satisfaction to himself and to the best interests of the company. Each successive season that he has commanded this vessel he has won with the same a "bonus" of a few hundred dollars, an honorarium offered by the operating company, and in the navigation season of 1914 he made a specially admirable record in the avoidance of all accidents, losses and minor contingencies that are usually encountered. The captain is widely known in marine circles on the Great Lakes system, and his genial nature, his ability and sterling attributes of character have won him troops of loyal friends. Captain Montague has never wavered in his allegiance to the cause of the republican party and he has given effective service in its ranks. He was at one time made the party nominee for representative of Erie County in the State Legislature, but his official duties on the lakes made it impossible for him to conduct an adequate canvass and campaign in his district, notwithstanding which fact his defeat was compassed by the small majority of twenty-nine votes. The captain is an appreciative member of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, in which his ancient craft affiliation is with Marks Lodge, No. 359, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in Huron. In the City of Sandusky he is affiliated with Erie Commandery, Knights Templars, and in the City of Cleveland he holds membership in Al Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The captain and his family are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and he has been one of the prominent and influential members of the Huron Parish of historic old Christ Church, in which he is now serving as junior warden of the vestry. At Huron was solemnized the marriage of Captain Montague to Miss Sarah Newton, who was born and reared on the old homestead farm of her parents, in Huron Township, and who now owns this property, the old home being endeared to her by the hallowed memories and associations of the past. Mrs. Montague was graduated in Oberlin College, and is a gracious and popular gentlewoman of distinctive culture, a leader in the representative social activities of her home community. She is a daughter of the late Isaac Newton, who was one of the sterling pioneers of Erie County. The mother of Mrs. Montague was born and reared in England, and after the death of her first husband, whose name was Rielett, she came with her two children to the United States and established her home in Erie County, where she met and finally became the wife of Isaac Newton, Mrs. Montague being the only child of this union and her father having died when she was a mere child, her mother continued to reside on the fine old homestead farm until her death, in 1889. Captain and Mrs. Montague became the parents of two children. Newton Bruce Montague was but fifteen years of age at the time of his death, and was attending the Kenyon Military Academy, at Gambier, Ohio, at the time of his untimely demise. Miss Edith Montague acquired her education in the Gambier Episcopal College for young women and in St. Mary's Academy, in the State of Illinois. She remains at the parental home and is one of the most popular young ladies in the social circles of Huron. 972 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY GUST EBERT. A business that well deserves some particular mention is the wholesale butcher plant of Gust Ebert, in Perkins Township, located on Perkins Avenue. Mr. Ebert is a native of Erie County, a young man whose experience since leaving school has been in his present trade and since locating on Perkins Avenue in May, 1913, he has built up a most successful enterprise, which is combined with considerable farming Gust Ebert was born in Oxford Township, Erie County, on November 17, 1886, a son of Louis and Catherine (Herble) Ebert. His parents are still living in Oxford Township, and were born in Germany, and came to Erie County many years ago. Louis Ebert owns a good farm of fifty-three acres in Oxford Township, but for years has been identified with the wholesale butcher business. Gust Ebert grew up on the old place in Oxford Township, acquired his education in the local schools there, and early began learning the trade of his father. In 1909 he started in business for himself, and now enjoys a reputation as a rising young business factor in Erie County. On July 2, 1908, he married Miss Catherine Klotz of Sandusky, a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Klotz. By their marriage they have one son, Neill, born November 13, 1911. In politics Mr. Ebert is an independent and devotes all his time and energy to his growing business. ROBERT SICKINGER. Certainly few citizens of Erie County have had a more varied and eventful life than Robert Sickinger of Milan. Born in Germany, brought when a child to this country, serving in the Union army during the Civil war, afterwards in the regular army fighting the Indians of the Far West, spending several years on the western plains as a hunter, with a variety of business experience and much to his credit as a farmer and fruit grower in Erie County, he is now living and enjoying a well deserved leisure and retirement in one of the best homes at Milan. Born at Hambourg, Baden, Germany, December 25, 1846, he is a son of Edgar Sickinger, who was also born in Baden, and of an old Catholic family. The family have been members of the Catholic Church for several generations. The mother of Robert Sickinger died in Baden when the latter was only four years of age. Of her children Louise was the first to come to America. She came over with a kinsman, located in Milan, and married Louis Link. Both are now deceased, and they left Charles, Louise and Fannie, and both the daughters are now married and have children of their own. Pauline and her sister Adeline came as young women to the United States about 1850, also located and were married in Milan. Pauline became the wife of Christian Dorr and they lived and spent the rest of their lives in Erie County, and were survived by sons and daughters. Adeline married Anson Streck of Milan, who died there in 1906, while she is still living at Milan. Mr. Streck was for nearly half a century engaged in the retail meat business at Milan and was a highly respected citizen. Besides his widow he was survived by two sons and two daughters. In 1852 Edgar Sickinger and his other two sons, Robert and Reinhart, came to the United States by way of England and New York, spending thirty days on a slow going sailing vessel. From New York they came on West to Cleveland, and reached that city destitute of money. From Cleveland Edgar Sickinger and his two. young sons started to walk to their destination, but a sympathetic railroad section hand took them aboard his hand car and carried them into Huron over the tracks of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad. At that time Robert Sickinger was a boy of six or seven years. Edgar Sickinger PICTURE OF MR AND MRS ROBERT SICKINGER HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 973 soon found work on neighboring farms, and spent most of his subsequent years with his son-in-law, Anson Streck, at Milan. He died at the Streck home in 1888. He was then a very old man, having been born in 1801. He and other members of the family were active in the Catholic Church. Robert Sickinger spent his early life on a farm, and for a man whose early career was hemmed in by such inauspicious circumstances and comparative poverty he has effected a success that is in every way praiseworthy. He was not sixteen years of age when the Civil war broke out, but in the heat of that conflict both he and his brother Reinhart enlisted as privates. Reinhart went out with an Erie County company in the Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served faithfully until disabled by a gunshot wound at Chancellorsville. On account of that wound he was given an honorable discharge, but later re-enlisted and was a member of General Hancock's Invalid Corps and remained with that organization until the close of the war. After returning home he wandered out to the West, and finally died from dysentery contracted during his army service at St. Louis. v He was unmarried. It was in August, 1863, that Robert Sickinger, not yet seventeen years of age, enlisted in the Ninth Ohio Cavalry. He went out with Company E, and was soon with his command in the splendid cavalry brigade of General Kilpatrick. He took part in those great campaigns which broke the back of the Confederacy, beginning at Chattanooga and ending with the capture of Atlanta, fought at Decatur, Alabama, and in many other battles and skirmishes, and remained with the Union armies until the close of the .war and until he received his honorable discharge at Concord, North Carolina. He was mustered out at Camp Chase in Columbus, and though he was in the army almost three years he escaped without injury. Not long after returning to Erie County, being still unsatisfied of military life, he decided to join the regular army, and went into the Thirteenth Regiment under Gen. N. G. Whistler. This regiment was subsequently reorganized as the Thirty-first Infantry, and he remained the full period of three years, being finally discharged at Fort Stephenson, now the City of Bismarck, North Dakota. With all this varied experience Robert Sickinger returned to Erie County and for a time worked in the butcher trade under this brother- in-law, Mr. Streck. But the call of the west was still strong upon him, and in about a year he went to Kansas and Nebraska and was employed on the Star routes of the postal service. Three years later he took part in the final onslaughts which practically destroyed the great buffalo herds of the West. The climax of buffalo hunting come during the late '70s, and in two or three years, so vigorously was the industry prosecuted, the buffaloes had practically disappeared from the western plains. Mr. Sickinger did his hunting in the Dakotas, and shot hundreds of the noble animals, and has seen many thousands of their carcasses littering the prairies. The buffaloes were killed for their hides, which found a good market, and the industry gave occupation to thousands of venturesome men as long as it lasted. Once more back in Erie County Mr. Sickinger took up merchandising, and for ten years conducted one of the successful establishments at Milan. He then bought 120 acres in North Milan, and converted it into a fruit and berry farm, and still later made general farming his chief resource, raising grain and stock. Altogether he lived on the farm and conducted its operations for twenty-four years. Then, having acquired an ample competence, he retired from the cares and responsibilities which he had borne for so many years, and bought a fine thirteen-room house on Center Street in Milan. There he. and his wife 974 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY now enjoy all the comforts of life, and were among, the most highly honored and respected people of Erie County. Mr. Sickinger married his first wife in Milan, Miss Anna Beers. She was born at Milan, and died in 1887, ten years after her marriage. She left no children, and was thirty years old when she died. Mr. Sickinger was married in 1888 at Fremont, Ohio, to Mrs. Louise Fries, whose maiden name was Newberger. Her first husband, Joseph Fries, was born in Erie County and died near Milan just ten weeks after they were married at the age of twenty-one years six months. Mrs. Sickinger was born in Jackson Township of Sandusky County, Ohio, April 1, 1857. She was the only one of the six children in her parents' family born in that township. Her parents were John and Mary (Fries) Newberger, who were natives of Germany and had come to this country when young people and were married in New York State. Mr. Newberger was a cabinet maker by trade. After the birth of their first child, Joseph, the Newberger family came to a piece of wooded land in Sandusky County, and after clearing off a site erected a cabin of logs and began improvement which eventually converted the land into a handsome farm. Mrs. Sickinger's parents lived in Sandusky County the rest of their lives, and her father died there in 1895 at the age of sixty-five, and her mother in 1911 at the age of ninety-four. The Newbergers were also Catholic people. To Mr. and Mrs. Sickinger were born three sons. Robert E. is now well known in Milan Township as postmaster at Milan. He was reared in this county, received his education in the high school, and is now twenty-seven years of age, and unmarried. Herman B., aged twenty- five, was educated in Milan and in a business college at Sandusky, and already has an established position in business at Milan. He married Miss Madeline Doan. Clifford P., aged twenty, graduated from the Milan High School and the Sandusky Business College, and is now a clerk with the Lockwood, Smith & Company in their store at Milan. Mrs. Sickinger is a member of the Catholic Church at Milan. Mr. Sickinger served three years as township trustee, and has always enjoyed influential position in democratic politics and in civic affairs. He is an active member and has served as quartermaster of the local Grand Army Post. HENRY DIEHL. Many of the best farms in Erie County illustrate the thrift, businesslike management and industry of people of German ancestry and birth. One of the most noteworthy of these is the home of Henry Diehl in Milan Township, situated on Rural Route No. 1 out of the Village of Milan. Mr. Diehl and his mother jointly own a splendid farm, and they represent the typical thrift and progressiveness of German agriculturists. This is a fine old German family, and Mrs. Diehl, the mother, came of stock that was connected with the royally in the fatherland. For upwards of fifty years the name of Diehl' has been identified with Erie County. Henry Diehl was born in Berlin Township November 15, 1863, but has lived in Milan Township since he was three years old. His parents were Philip and Marie (Goodlach) Diehl. Mrs. Diehl was born in Hesse Kassel, Germany, while her husband was a native of Rhenish Bavaria. When he was twenty-four years of age he set out alone to find his fortune in the New. World. For forty-eight days he lived on a sailing vessel that slowly made its way across the Atlantic, and from New York came on by boat as far as Cleveland, and thence by railroad to Sandusky. Four years later he met and married Miss Goodlach, who had come to this part of Northern Ohio a number of years before as a young woman, with her parents, Henry