HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 975 (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) and Anna Goodlach. The Goodlach family located in Berlin Township, where Henry died at the age of sixty-three and his wife at seventy-two. They were both born in Hesse Kassel, Germany, and were loyal members of the Lutheran Church. Philip Diehl after his marriage began life as a renter on farms in Berlin Township, but after three years thus employed he moved to Milan Township, bought 79 3/4 acres, to which he devoted his energies and management until his death on July 2, 1892. Philip Diehl was a good citizen, a good man, faithful to his obligations to family, church and society, and enjoyed the love and respect of all who knew him. He was reared my the faith of the Catholic Church, and died in that same- faith. Politically he was a democrat. Since the death of her husband ,Mrs. Diehl has continued to live at the old homestead, and her declining years are sustained and comforted by the presence of her son Henry and her daughter Elizabeth, both of whom are unmarried. Mrs. Diehl owns seventy-five acres included in the old homestead, also two lfarms, of seventy-nine and forty-seven acres that lie not far distant from the present home, and just across the road her son Henry has a fine farm of seventy-one acres. This place is located three miles north of the Village of Milan. Altogether the farm is known as the Lone Star Farm. "In general improvement it bears favorable comparison with any of the best farms in Milan Township. A conspicuous feature on the place is the large red barn, on a foundation 30 by 46 feet, conspicuously displayed on one of the gable ends is painted a large white star, from which designation the farm receives its name. The family occupy a substantial , modern home of nine rooms, and they are people who get a great deal out of life, enjoy home comforts, and move in the best social circles. As a farmer Henry Diehl carries on his industry on mixed principles, growing crops of oats, corn, wheat, and keeping some good grades of livestock, including six good horses, five or six head of cattle and from eighteen to twenty hogs. Henry Diehl as was also true of the other children, received a good education in Erie County. married brother Philip also lives on the old homestead, while another sister Helen is the wife of John Fischer, of Milan Township, and the mother of two sons, William and Walter. All the family are members and attendants of the Catholic Church, and Henry Diehl and his brother are democrats. Henry has been the recipient of several honors in local offices in his township. WILLIAM ROSEKELLY. By reason of the extensive holdings and the interests as an agriculturist and by his long standing as a citizen, William Rosekelly deserves first mention among the citizens of Milan Township. He represents a family that during more than sixty years of residence in this part of Ohio has worked out a commendable destiny from beginnings in comparative poverty. Mr. Rosekelly himself has now reached a point in his career where he well could afford to withdraw from the heavier responsibilities and burdens of affairs and enjoy a well earned leisure. He is one of the largest landholders in Milan Township and has done much to raise the general average of the farming and stock raising industry in his section of Erie County. His birth occurred at the Village of Huron, Ohio, January 15, 1851. His parents were Edward and Mary (Jeffrey) Rosekelly. They were both natives of Cornwall, England, and for several generations both branches had lived in that part of England and were substantial agriculturists. The Jeffreys were especially well to, do people, and grand- father George Jeffrey at one time owned a considerable estate, but for some cause lost most of his property and in order to recoup his fortunes 976 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY set out for the United States, being accompanied by his wife and h is married son. It was about 1840 that they arrived in Erie County and there he and his wife spent the rest of their days, passing away in Berlin Township. They were both members of the English Church, and they and their descendants were valuable additions to local citizenship. Edward Rosekelly grew up in his part lof England, and after his marriage to Mary Jeffrey and after the birth of their first child Elizabeth, set out for the United States on a sailing vessel from Liverpool. Six weeks later they landed in New York City, and thence came to Huron County, Ohio. Other members of the family came about the same time, some of them locating in Berlin Township on farms. Edward Rosekelly was at that time in very humble circumstances, and located at Huron Village in order to find immediate employment to meet the needs of his household. While living in Huron there were born to himself and wife the following children, named Edward, Mary, John. William and George. They were all born in or about Huron. Edward Rosekelly lived as a renter on different farms for some years, but finally bought a place on the River road between Huron and Milan in Huron Township. There the parents spent their remaining days and the old homestead is still occupied by their bachelor son John. The father died March 5, 1880, at the age of sixty-five, and the mother passed away in December, 1890, when about seventy years old. They were for a number of years members of the Episcopal Church in Huron. Of their children the son Edward, Jr., was accidentally killed by a falling tree which he was engaged in cutting down on January 19, 1887, being then a single man. George also lost his life by a lamentable accident at Huron, September 2, 1904. A coal car standing on an incline became unbraked and starting down unexpectedly struck him and killed him instantly. He left a wife and four children, and his widow died soon afterwards, on March 22, 1906. The daughter Elizabeth, the oldest of the children, died March 5, 1878, leaving six children. In and about the Village of Huron and on his father's farm William Rosekelly grew to manhood, and his early experiences were characterized by much self-supporting toil in addition to the advantages he received from local schools. In 1877 he married Augusta Evertson. She was born in 1858 in Huron Village, and died at her home in Milan Township, December 23, 1879. Her parents were Nicholas and Ann (Nichols) Evertson, who were early settlers in Erie County. Her father died before Mrs. Rosekelly was born, and her mother lived to 1914, being then past fourscore years. By this marriage Mr. Rosekelly became the father of two children. Grace M., born April 10, 1878, is now the wife of A. W. Paul, who lives on one of Mr. Rosekelly's farms in Milan Township. Arthur W., born September 7, 1879, owns and occupies a farm adjoining the estate of his father, and by his marriage to Maude Harmon has a son Gerald H., born March 31, 1906. On December 8, 1886, Mr. Rosekelly married for his present wife Miss Sarah Hathaway. She was born on the farm where she now lives and where she has spent all her life, and represents an early family in this part of Ohio of old and substantial American stock. She was born January 18, 1852, and was liberally educated. Her parents were Peter A. and Betsey (Stevens) Hathaway, both also natives of Ohio. Her father was born in Oxford Township of Erie County August 2, 1824, and died February 18, 1880. His life was spent as a farmer, and for a great many years he owned the farm now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Rosekelly, where he constructed a substantial home that is still standing and doing service. Peter Hathaway was a son of Caleb and Rachel (Wood) Hathaway. This Caleb was a son of Capt. Caleb HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 977 Hathaway, who was born on the Atlantic Coast in 1761 and died in Milan Township of Erie County in 1834. Captain Caleb for a number of years sailed the Atlantic. ocean as_ captain of a vessel, and at one time was quite wealthy, but suffered severe reverses and started anew in the western wilderness of Erie County. Captain Caleb was married January 1, 1792, to Mrs. Mary (Wire) Maxfield, who died in 1807, at the age of. forty. Their son Caleb was born November 7, 1797. Both Captain Caleb and his son Caleb spent their last years on the old homestead which is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Homer Rosekelly. Rachel Wood, who became the wife of Caleb Hathaway, was born in New- York State December 2, 1805, and died December 22, 1893, and was laid to rest. by the side of her husband in Milan Village. In the earlier generations the Hathaways were of the orthodox Quaker stock, and the male members of the family voted regularly with the whigs and later with the republicans. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rosekelly moved to their present farm, and he has used his resources most intelligently and in the course of years has accumulated nearly 500 acres of some of the finest land in Milan Township and in Erie County. As a farmer he has never been wasteful ip his methods, and for many years has produced perhaps as large a volume of crops as any other agriculturist in his section of tlth state. His extensive land holdings are improved with five complete sets of farm buildings. His fields produce the staple crops of corn, wheat, oats and potatoes, and each farm is well stocked with high grade animals. For a number of years Mr. Rosekelly carried on an extensive business in the feeding of live stock, and much of his prosperity came from this source. To their marriage was born only one son, Rowland, born April 3, 1888, and who died at the age of sixteen while a student in the Sandusky High School. Mr. and Mrs. Rosekelly are members of the Milan Presbyterian Church, in which he has served as an elder and trustee for a number of years. In politics he is a republican, and his son is similarly disposed in his political faith. REV. GEORGE J. BARTLETT. In Rev. George J. Bartlett is found one of the most wholesome and human of philosophers and most courageous religious teachers that Erie County has known. Since 1880 he has been in charge of the meetings of the Society of Friends at Page's Corners, also for fourteen years during this time was in charge of the meetings at Berlinville and the first two years had the charge at Comptown, and the fragrance of his faith, his zeal, energy and devotion, unite in the making of a career of more than average purpose and usefulness. Reverend Bartlett was born at Greenwich, Ohio, January 3, 1842, and is a son of James and Phoebe A. (Barnes) Bartlett, the former born at Tuckerton, New Jersey, and the latter in New York City. The parents were married at Tuckerton, where Mrs. Bartlett had been a teacher, and in May, 1839, after the birth of two daughters, came to Ohio, by way of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal, Buffalo and Lake Erie to Huron, and thence by teams through Erie County to Huron County, locating at Greenwich. They were members of the Society of Friends and found a church of their faith there, and were soon established in a small log cabin home. The church at that point had been founded by Quakers who had gone before, and was located in a . large log meeting-house, and Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett soon became active in the work of the denomination. They also engaged in agricultural pursuits, on a farm of 109 acres, of which only a small part had been cleared of timber, and the remaining years of their lives were passed in the development and cultivation of this property. They con- 978 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY tinned to work devotedly in the church, in which both were deacons, and were thus connected when they died, the father passing away March 3, 1886; aged seventy-seven years, and the mother in 1884, when seventy-five years of age. George J. Bartlett was brought up as a Quaker and was educated in the schools of Greenwich, being engaged in agricultural work and preaching in Huron County until 1880. In that year he came to Milan Township, Erie County, to build up the congregations at Pages Corners and I3erlinville, both of which had been founded by his parents. Here he found only twenty-two members at one place and twenty-three at the other, but during the time he has labored here he has increased the congregations many times over, and with the exception of 2 1/2 years in charge at Comptown, has devoted his entire time and labors to his flocks at these places. Rev. Mr. Bartlett was married to Miss Clara Kellogg, who was born in Fairfield Township, Huron County, Ohio, October 22, 1849. She was there reared and educated and after her marriage became a member of the Society of Friends, in the faith of which she died May 16, 1886. Reverend Bartlett was again married when united with Miss Mary Anna Rosekelley, who was born at Huron, Erie County, Ohio, August 20, 1846, reared and educated there, a daughter of Edward and Mary (Jeffrey) Rosekelley, natives of England and members of the English Church. They were married in their native land, and when their first child, Elizabeth, was four months old, in June, 1842, they emigrated to America in a sailing vessel, arriving at Montreal, Canada, after a long voyage and then making their way to Buffalo, New York, and on to Huron, where were born their other five children: Edward, Mary Anna, John, William and George. Of these, Mrs. Bartlett, John and William are still living. After their marriage, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett settled on Mrs. Bartlett's farm of eighty-eight acres, which she had purchased in 1888. Rev. Mr. Bartlett had bought a small place adjoining, on which he had erected a fine eight-room home and good farm buildings, which are still kept in the best of condition. On Mrs. Bartlett's farm there are a large house and barn, erected by the former owner, Peter Hathaway, an early settler of Milan Township. The crops from these properties include corn, wheat, oats, potatoes and fruit, and Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have local reputations as skilled agriculturists. They have an important place in the life of the community, and particularly in regard to its spiritual welfare, Mrs. Bartlett being a member and elder of the Friends Church. Both have been active workers in the cause of prohibition, and have been stanch supporters of all movements making for advancement in morality, education and good citizenship. GEORGE M. SANDS. After many years spent in tilling the soil of Milan Township, George M. Sands is now living in comfortable retirement at his attractive cottage home, located on the Abbott Road, in Milan Township. While not born here, Mr. Sands was brought to this township as a child of three years, and his entire career has been passed within its borders. He has contributed in various ways to the advance, went and development of his community, and bears the good will and esteem of his fellow men, among whom he has lived a. life of integrity, honesty and probity. Mr. Sands was born at Loughlin Corners, in Berlin Township, Eric County, Ohio, May 29, 1852, and is a son of William and Alvina (Sales) Sands. William Sands was born at Erie, Pennsylvania, where his father died, and following that event his widowed mother, Nancy (Loughlin) Sands, brought her children to Erie County, Ohio, settling HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 979 in the little colony at Loughlin Corners. After some years there she came to Milan .Township, and here her death occurred when she was eighty-six years old, some time during the late '80s. She had three children : William ; George L., who married and left three children at his death ; and Julia, who married John Wetmore, and died when about fifty years of age, leaving two sons and two daughters. William Sands was educated in the district schools and brought up to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged throughout his life. He was married in Berlin Township, and in 1855 came to Milan Township; where he was living at the outbreak ,of the war between the North and the South. When the call came for 100-day men, in 1861, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty4ifth Regiment, Ohio National Guard, in which he served 128 days, although he was never called upon to do service outside of the state. His military service completed, he returned to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, and through thrift, industry, energy and good manager rent accumulated and put under cultivation a fine and valuable farm of 146 acres. In the operation of his property Mr. Sands displayed the possession of skill as a farmer, reaping rich returns from his labors, and in the evening of life was able to retire from active pursuits, and with his wife went to Milan, where Mrs. Sands passed away in 19043 at the age of seventy years, the father surviving until January 15, 1909, and being seventy-nine years of age at the time of his demise. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sands were highly esteemed in the community where they had lived so long, their many excellencies of heart and mind endearing them to a wide circle of friends. As neighbors they were kind and sympathetic, _ always ready to generously assist those less fortunate than they, and in -their daily life lived their religion. In their deaths the community Lost two of the kind of people whose activities and influence have served to build up and develop this part of the state. They were the parents of two sons : George M., of this review ; and James, a successful farmer of Milan Township, who married Lavina Jenkins, daughter of James Jenkins, and has two children who have been well edUcated,—Roy, who married Josie Brown, of Columbus, Ohio, and Forest, who resides with her parents. George M. Sands attended the district schools of Milan Township, devoting himself to his studies during the winter terms and spending his summers in assisting his father and learning the rudiments of farming. Thus, when he arrived at manhood, he was well trained in body and mind, fitted to enter upon a successful career in the realm of agriculture. Becoming half owner of the old homestead, he began to make numerous improvements, these including a fine 12-room house, painted two shades of green, a large barn, 34 by 76 feet, and commodious tool shed, both painted red, and other suitable buildings. To the cultivation and improvement of this property he devoted many years of industry and made it one of the really valuable farms of the township. By recent purchase he also owns 140 acres of highly improved land on the Abbott Road, where he and Mrs. Sands are living quietly, enjoying the fruits of their many years of earnest labor. Here they have an attractive cottage, painted white, with yellow trimming, and furnished tastefully and comfortably, as well as being equipped with every modern convenience. All of the buildings on both farms are substantial and commodious, and form material contributions to the upbuilding of Milan Township. Mr. Sands was married in 1874 in Milan Township to Miss Mary F. Turner, who was born at Fitchville, Huron County, Ohio, February 4, 1851, the estimable daughter of George and Lydia (Thatcher) Turner, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Sands' parents were 980 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY married in Richland County, Ohio, from whence they removed to Huron County, and there resided on a farm near Fitchville. There the father died at the age of forty-nine years. He was'a consistent member of the Baptist Church, in which he was a deacon for a number of years, was one of the highly esteemed and influential men of his community, and in his political views was a very decided republican. The mother, who was also a devout member of the Baptist Church, died at the age of eighty-six years: To Mr. and Mrs. Sands there has been born one daughter ; Cora, born March 4, 1875, educated in the public schools of Milan, and became an artist on the piano. She devoted her time to her music until her marriage to Clinton R. Balcom, who was born, reared and educated in Milan Township, and now occupies the old home of Mr. Sands and manages the Abbott Road farm, in addition to which he owns a good farm of his own. Mr. Sands accredits much of his success in life to the assistance of his devoted wife, whose shrewdness, acumen and business ability have frequently helped him overcome stubborn obstacles which have arisen in his path. Mrs. Sands was well educated in her girlhood, attending the graded schools and the Milan High School, and as a young woman was a popular and capable teacher in the public schools. She has been a devoted and faithful helpmeet, and; like her husband, enjoys the respect and esteem of a, wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Sands has never been a politician, but has done his full share in aiding his community to better things, and when progressive movements have been brought forward has always lent his influehce in their behalf, thus contributing materially to the welfare of the locality in which his long and useful career has been passed. GUSTAVUS BECK. Although more than a decade of years have passed since the death of Gustavus Beck, numerous evidences of his residence in Erie County are to be found in structures erected by his skill and good workmanship. For many years a carpenter, in the evening of life he adopted agriculture as his vocation, and his death occurred at his home on the Abbott Bridge Road, March 2, 1905. Mr. Beck was born near Georgetown, District of Columbia, October 19, 1816, a son of George and Rebecca Beck, the former a native of County Kent, England, and the latter of the Highlands of Scotland. They came to this country as young people and were probably married in the District of Columbia, where they resided for a number of years, later going to Baltimore, Maryland, where both died. They were the parents of two daughters and four sons. Three of the sons, Walter, Lemuel and Zebulon, lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Like his brothers, Gustavus Beck adopted the trade of carpenter in his youth, spending six years and six months as an apprentice and journeyman. After some years in the District of Columbia, he came to Erie County, Ohio, with his friends, John and William Black, all locating in Vermillion Township, from whence young Beck subsequently came to Milan Township. Here he met the young lady who later became his wife, and in Milan Township the remainder of his life was passed. A master of his trade, he was connected with the building of many of the largest structures erected in this part of Erie County during his day, and a number of these still stand as monuments to his mechanical genius and conscientious workmanship. When he finally retired from his trade, he took up farming on -his wife's homestead, and there passed away, March 2, 4905, aged eighty-six years. Mr. Beck was a stalwart democrat in his political views. He was not an office seeker, but took an intelligent and active interest in affairs as they affected his community, and was always willing to do his full share in HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 981 helping movements for the general public welfare.. His fraternal connection was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Milan, and he was fond of the companionship of his fellows, but his chief pleasure was found in his home. His career was characterized by honorable and straightforward dealing with his Fellows and his life record contains no stain or blemish. Mr. Beck was married in Milan Township, April 19, 1850, to Miss M. Jane Hollister, who Was born in Berlin Township, Erie County, Ohio, September 8, 1833, and who has lived in Erie County throughout her life, with the exception of the year 1854-55, when she was a resident of Wisconsin. For fifty-five years she has made her home at her present residence on Abbott Bridge Road, in Milan Township. She is a daughter of Edwin and Caroline (Webb) Hollister, the former born in Connecticut, in 1809. In 1816 he was brought to Erie County, Ohio, by his parents, Jesse and Anna (Horton) Hollister, and the family lived in Berlin Township from that time until Mrs. Beck's grandparents became aged people, when they went to live at the home of their son, Ashley Hollister, in Huron Township, where the grandfather died at the age of eighty-six years and the grandmother when seventy-three years of age. He was a whig in his political views, and Mrs. Hollister was a member-of the Baptist Church. After their marriage, Edwin and Caroline (Webb) Hollister went to live in Berlin Township. Thp.re :they engaged in agricultural pursuits, and the mother died on the farm July 25;1893, the father passing away at the Old Soldiers' Home, at Sandusky, Ohio, January 13, 1898. She was a Baptist and he a Universalist in religious belief, and in political matters Mr. Hollister was originally a whig and later a republican. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-fifth - Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and participated in several engagements, but after eleven months of fighting was finally taken sick and after a period in the hospital received his honorable discharge because of disability. Of the six sons' and six daughters that grew up, seven are yet living. Three other children died young. Mrs. Beck is the eldest ; Edward, Jr., married Susan Roscoe, who left three children at her death,-Bert, of Cleveland, who is married and has no children, Minnie the wife of Isaac East of Conneaut, Ohio, has seven children, and Vira the widow of Clay Hickock of Conneaut, has one son ; Anna,. of Burton Township, married William Bartow, a Vanfarmer, who served three years as a member of Company B, One Hundred and First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, saw much hard fighting, although the greater part of the time a wagonmaster, and died July 9, 1872, as a result of disease contracted in the service, while his widow lives near Greenwich, -Ohio, and is the mother of four children,— Frank, deceased, Cora, George and Fannie, all of whom married and had children ; Jesse, a resident of Toledo, who is married and has a family ; Amelia, the wife of Joseph Roscoe, of Toledo, with a family ; Harvey, of Huron, who is married and has a family ; and Frances, who is the wife of William Laughlin, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Of this family, Jay, Edwin, Jr., Jesse and Frederick, as well as the father, all were soldiers in the Union Army, and Jay died while in the service. The others now deceased are James, Cecelia and Lenora. Edwin Hollister, Jr., enlisted May 6, 1861, in Company B, known as the Erie Rangers, of the Third Ohio Cavalry.. After several engagements, the company and regiment were Veteranized and served until September, 1865. Mr. Hollister was with the forces of General Wilson in the great raid from Gravelly Spring, Tennessee, to Macon, Georgia, in 1865, and on several occasions was wounded, once by a sabre cut on top of the head, once by a musket ball through the right leg, and once 982 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY in the chest, where he still carries a bullet as a memento of his brave and faithful service. He receives a pension of one slollar a day. Mr. Hollister is a practical mechanic, and although he was for nine years a tenant of the Soldiers' Home, is now making his home with his sister, Mrs. Beck. Mrs. Beck has no children. During her long residence in Milan she has been the eye-witness to many changes and developments, and has done her full share in advancing the community. She has many friends in her home community, and is highly respected and esteemed by all who know her. WILLIAM MCREYNOLDS. One of the commanding constructive figures of Northern Ohio was the late William McReynolds, who died in Milan June 3, 1904. While he lived in Erie County only a short time, his broad and varied operations as a contractor, railroad builder, and in many other constructive enterprises, made him a familiar figure in this and other counties of Northern Ohio. Few men accomplished a more substantial success in a lifetime than the late William McReynolds. He was born in Ireland St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1830, and was of old Scotch-Irish ancestry. When not yet in his teens he was brought by his parents to the United States on a sailing vessel, and the family located in Cleveland, where the father soon died and the widowed mother was left to take care of her children with very limited means. One of the sons, John, served as a soldier in the Civil war and died from illness while still in the army. The two daughters are also now deceased. The late William McReynolds gained his education in the schools of Cleveland, and while still a boy showed great ability in practical mathematics, his faculty as a calculator being of great aid to him in his subsequent career as a contractor. He met and overcame many obstacles in his youth, came to know men and hard work on intimate terms, was a natural leader, and after building up a business as a contractor had the good fortune to assemble about him picked men and was nearly always successful in his undertakings. Asa contractor his equipment and staff of employes were used in constructing most of Cleveland's pavements for many years. He built the Fairmont reservoir and handled other large constructive undertakings. He had almost a genius at figuring out cost and all the details of a contract and while properly safeguarding himself against failure was known for the efficiency and reliability with which his work was always performed. He contracted for and built the Lake Shore electric street car line from Cleveland to Lorain, and served as president of the company for several years. He was also the pioneer in the commercial pork packing industry at Cleveland, and packed and shipped the first barrel, of pork sent out of that city as a regular commercial proposition. While he was identified with the pork packing business he fell into a vat of scalding \Veer and nearly lost his life. So remarkable was his recovery that the physicians attending him at the hospital made a special record of his case. For a number of years Mr. McReynolds was associated with Messrs. Price and Stewart of Norwalk in the manufacture of brick. They had a large plant in Huron County, and Mr. McReynolds invented a new process for paving brick which enjoyed high favor on the market. In later years he retired from active business and beught a large farm in Newbury Township near Burton, twenty-five miles froth Cleveland, and lived there until February, 1904, when he came to Milan to his wife's old home on Elm Street, and died there a few months later. In politics he was a republican, and somewhat active in municipal affairs in Cleveland. Mr. McReynolds also made a record of faithful service as a soldier in the Civil war, and was a much esteemed member HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 983 of the Grand Army Post at Cleveland. He was reared in the Episcopal Church, but later joined the Christian denomination after his first marriage. At Cleveland he married Miss Minerva E. Denton. She was born in Huron County, and died at Cleveland when about sixty years of age. She was an active worker in the1 Christian Church. She became the mother of five sons and two daughters, the daughters dying as children. The sons were : Rolland F., who is married and lives in Cleveland, where he is in the contracting business; William D., who died in August, 1915, leaving three children ; John, an extensive contractor at Cleveland; Edwin, in the plumbing business at Cleveland, and the father of two sons; Bert, a railroad man in Cleveland. In Milan October 7, 1903, Mr. McReynolds married Miss Jessie M. McKay. She was born in the comfortable old house on Elm Street in Milan which she still owns and occupies and where her husband passed away. Her birth occurred June 1, 1861, and she grew up in this locality, attended the high school and normal, and also a private school, and at the age of sixteen did her first work as a teacher. For twenty-five years she was one of the most popular and capable educators in this section of Ohio. She comes of the old McKay clan of Scotland. Some of the McKays came across the ocean to America during the reign of Queen Anne and acquired the entire section of the Province of New York, now Ulster County. Through another branch Mrs. McReynolds is descended from the Van Rensselaers of the pioneer Holland Dutch stock of New York. Mrs. McReynolds' grandfather was David McKay, who grew up in his native state and married Miss Margaret Hadley, also of that state. In later years they came to Ohio, and spent the close of their lives in Milan, where David died in 1849 when past eighty years of age, and his wife some twenty years later at the age of ninety-three. David McKay served as justice of the peace in New York State, was a farmer by occupation, and was always active in local affairs. John McKay, father of David, owned a large estate in New York and gave each of his children a farm. The son David was a college educated man, though his advantages were not quite so liberal as those of many of the other children. David McKay and wife had five children, two sons and three daughters. Of these, William L. McKay, the father of Mrs. McReynolds, was reared in New York State and married there Miss Mary Forest Dunlop. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and when six years of age was brought to America by her parents, who died in New York State. She grew up there and was reared in the home of Rev. James Williams of Orange, New Jersey. From 1850 until their death William McKay and wife lived in Milan and at the old home' on Elm Street which they built and in which Mrs. McReynolds now lives. William McKay died there in July, 1901, and his widow on February 6, 1907. Both were members of the Episcopal Church. In the McKay family were the following children : William J. died when six months old ; George H., who was born in Bellevue, Ohio, October 6, 1849, was only six months of age when his parents removed to Milan, and he has lived in that village ever since, having never married. He makes his home with his sister Mrs. McReynolds. Early in life he learned the trade of carpenter and painter, later for nearly forty years had a somewhat extended reputation as a bee keeper, and afterwards bouglit a farm in Huron County near Norwalk. He is a man of many positive virtues, and one of the leaders in the temperance movement in Northern Ohio. He has himself never chewed or smoked tobacco, has never taken intoxicating liquors, and is never known to have used an oath in his life. He is also an inventor of some note, and owns a patent on a harrow and has also perfected a sun's rays generator. In politics he 984 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY takes broad socialistic views. The next in the McKay family is Margaret J., wife of Willis M. Driver, a carpenter of Milan, and their children are Forest H., Thomas W., Leo M. and Hazel D. Agnes E. is the wife of Bert Root, a farmer in Oxford Township of Erie County, and they lost both their children, a son and a daughter. Lenora M., who was loved as the flower of the family, died when only fourteen years of age. Mrs. McReynolds has for many years been one of the social leaders in the Milan community. She is a member of the Episcopal Church and one of the charter members and vice president of the Fortnightly Travelers Club and of other organizations. She is a former president and is now vice president of the local W. C. T. U. and also belongs to the Milan Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. MADISON MIXTER. It was some of the fine old Dutch stock that was so valuable as a factor in clearing up and developing the commonwealth of New York State that was introduced into the rural communities of Erie County in the early days by the Mixter family. Mr. Madison Mixter, whose home is now in the Village of Milan, has spent his active career largely as a farmer in this county, and has developed possessions which indicate fully his vigor as a business man, and he has also enjoyed enviable and honorable relations with community affairs. Going back several generations, his great-grandfather was Daniel Mixter, who was born either in Massachusetts or Connecticut in 1775. The first name of his wife was Esther, and she was born in 1765. They were married in New England, and spent all their lives there where Daniel died October 29, 1841, and his wife on December 20, 1850. They were farmers, thrifty and strong, and worthy to be the heads of a long family line. Next in line comes George Mixter, who was born January 7, 1795, and died June 8, 1878. He married Chloe Calkins on May 22, 1820, and after their marriage they settled on a farm in New England, and spent the rest of his life there. Late in life he became a minister of the Liberal Baptist Church. His wife, who was born November 10, 1800, and died in January, 1895, was the daughter of David and Chloe Calkins, who were New England farmers. Rev. George Mixter and wife had the following children : George Gilbert, born February 10, 1821; Emerson, born May 17, 1823; Lovisa, born April 29, 1826; Addison, and Madison, twins, born July 12, 1829. Madison Mixter, Sr., who was born on a farm close to the line between Massachusetts and Connecticut, learned the trade of shoemaker under his brother Emerson, and subsequently became a skilled maker of custom shoes and boots, and had a shop near Sandusky for many years. About the time he was of age Addison Mixter came from the East and made settlement in Perkins Township of Erie County,.and his wife came to Erie County with her parents previous to that time, when she was six years of age. After their marriage they moved to Iowa, lived two or three years in that part of the then Far West, but returned to Perkins Township and not long afterward Addison Mixter took up farming as his regular vocation. In March, 1864, he moved to Milan Township, establishing his home on a farm on the, east side of the Huron River two miles north of the Village of Milan. That was his home until his death on August 27, 1890. His wife, who before her marriage was Miss Jane Wolverton, was born in 1828 and died March 27, 1907. They were members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he served as an elder, and he was a very ardent republican. Many years he served as township assessor of real estate and personal, property. The children of Addison Mixter and wife were : A. Lindolph, born September 10, 1852, and died February 18, 1853; Charles W., born PICTURE OF MADISON AND NELLIE E. MIXTER HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 985 April 5, 1854, now living in California, has three children, Breta L., Josephine C. and Susan Lovisa all of whom are married. George, Jr., was born June 21, 1857., and died December 10, 1859. Emerson, born March 1, 1860, lives in San Diego, California, and has a son Arthur M., also married. Lovisa, born May 21, 1862, died December 4, 1897. Madison was, next in age. Samuel G., born December 27, 1866, died November 5, 1893, leaving one son, now deceased. Chloe C., born April 25, 1870, died May 9, 1893, after her marriage to Clayton W. Graham.   Mr. Madison Mixter was born June 5, 1864, at the old homestead, on the Huron River near Milan Village. That was the locality which furnished him the associations for his childhood and youth, and from the country schools he continued his education in the Milan Normal. In the house where he was born he spent forty-seven years and in that time developed many interests as a farmer and came to enjoy the confidence and respect of a large community. On leaving his country home he moved to a beautiful estate close to Milan Village, comprising 171/2 acres of ground, and with a substantial eight-room house. He carries on farming on the intensive plan though with limited acreage, and he still owns the old homestead of eighty acres, which he has improved with a set of solid farm buildings, including a big bank barn on a foundation 34 by 66 feet. This farm has some of the best improvements found on any place. in Erie County, while the house is one of the oldest in this section of Erie County, but still doing good service. Running water is supplied throughout the barn and the feed lots and also to the house. On December 17, 1890, Mr. Mixter was married in Milan Township to Miss Nellie E. Cummins. She was born in Milan August 21, 1865, finished her education in the Normal School, and spent eight years as a successful and popular teacher before her marriage. Her parents were Capt. Enos C. and Harriet A. (Humiston) Cummins. Her father was born at Lorain, Ohio, December 25, 1826, and was of Scotch stock and ancestry. The mother was born at Friendship, New York, February 13, 1829, and was of English lineage. They were married February 22, 1853, in Milan, and spent the rest of their days in Erie County, where the mother died in the home of her daughter Mrs. Mixter in Milan, February 5, 1910. Capt. Enos Cummins was best known as a sailor, having gained his first experience on a lake vessel when a boy, and following the Great Lakes in almost every capacity up to captain, for a great many years. He was master of different vessels for over twenty years, and while in command of the Fannie Jones he went down with his boat in a storm just outside the breakwater at Cleveland, Ohio. His death occurred August 12, 1890. He was one of the best known of the old time lake captains, and had friends all around the Great Lakes. In politics he was a republican, and his wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church, which he also attended. Three sons comprise the household circle of Mr. and Mrs. Mixter. George Addison, born September 20, 1891, was well educated in the public schools and is now living at Philadelphia ; he married Sarah M. Neeley, and they have a son George A., Jr., born May 21, 1915. Fred Cummins, the second son, was born October 20, 1893. He was educated for the electrical engineering profession by courses in the Scranton School of Correspondence, from which he holds a diploma, was also graduated from the Milan High School and is now following his vocation as electrician in Cleveland ; he married September 6, 1915, Caroline J. Weinbrenner. Madison Clark, the youngest son, was born October 23, 1897, finished the course of the Milan High School in 1915, and is now a capable assistant to his father on the home farm. vol. II-33 986 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY Mr. and Mrs. Mixter and their sons are all members of the Presbyterian Church, and at Milan he has served as an elder for the past twenty-five years. Fraternally he is now serving as master, of Erie . Lodge No. 239, F. & A. M., at Milan, and also belongs to Milan Chapter No. 135, R. A. M., and the Council No. 24, R. & S. M. of Norwalk. Both he and his wife are identified with the Eastern Star and he is patron of Edison Chapter No. 112 at 'Milan, and for the past six years Mrs. Mixter has been secretary of the chapter. Their- interests as farmers have naturally brought them into close membership with the Patrons of Husbandry, and for years they have been identified with Milan Grange No. 342, P. of H., in which Mr. Mixter was master five years and he is now master of the County Pomona Grange, having been first elected to that conspicuous honor in 1911. In politics he is a republican. There are few names in Erie County that have so much real significance in agricultural affairs as that of Madison Mixter. RICHARD RAWLE. The career of Richard Rawle of Milan constitutes a steadily progressive success since early boyhood. He worked at a mechanic's trade and in ship building for many years, but eventually took up a new profession and occupation with the pioneer undertaker and embalmer at Milan, and now conducts the best known service in that line in Milan Township. He also carries a large stock of other goods, including wall paper and takes contracts for house decorating and picture framing. For the past twenty-three years he has been an embalmer, having graduated from the Clark School of Embalming at Cleveland in 1892. When the state law went into effect requiring licenses for embalmers, he secured such a state license in 1902. The undertaking house of Mr. Rawle at Milan was established more than thirty-five years ago by Henry L. Wilson. Mr. Rawle became apprenticed to Mr. Wilson in 1883 and after learning the business was taken into partnership. The two were together until 1899, at which time Mr. Rawle bought Mr. Wilson's interest and has since been sole proprietor. He has all the equipment and facilities necessary for his work, including a motor ambulance and a motor touring car. By birth Richard Rawle is a native of Cornwall, England. He was born at Newquay, a popular summer resort in the southwestern part of England, and his birthday was August 5, 1856. , His ancestors for several generations had been Cornishmen. His father, Robert Rawle, was born in Land's End, England, and spent most of his active career as a lead miner in the mines of Cornwall. He died there in 1898 at the age of seventy. He married a native Cornwall girl, Mary Ann Geary, who is still living in Cornwall, hale and vigorous, though in May, 1915, she celebrated her eighty-third birthday. She comes of a very old and hardy stock, and her grandfather was 101 years of age when he died, and had planted his garden only a few months before his death. There is an old painting of this venerable gentleman which shows rugged lines of character as well as physique. The family in England were members of the Congregational Church. Richard Rawle was next to the oldest in a .family of eight children; the names of whom were : Richard, William, Thomas, Henry, Lewis, Bessie, Mary and Anna. All grew to maturity, but Bessie died at the age of twenty-one and Thomas is also deceased. The others are living, and all married except Anna, who lives at home with her mother. Thomas at his death left a widow and children, and had spent two years in America. Richard Rawle and his nephew William are now the only ones in America. At the old home in Southwestern England Richard Rawle spent his childhood and gained some education in the local schools. At the age of fourteen he took up the ship carpenter's trade, and in 1879, at the PICTURE OF GEORGE FEICK HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 987 age of twenty-three arrived in the United States. He spent some time at Warren, Pennsylvania, was in the ship yards at Chautauqua Lake, New York, in the Ratelift yards at. Cleveland, and in 1881 came to Milan and spent a year with the Fries ship. yards. He was there when the Golden Age was being built and later helped to construct the tug Shepherd at Huron. He also did work in his trade at Vermilion, and then returned to Milan and started learning an entirely new profession under Mr. Wilson, the pioneer undertaker. Mr. Rawle was first married at Milan to Adelia Spratt, of a well known old family in Milan Township. She died nine years after her marriage, and had lost a daughter, Eva M., and was survived by one son, Robert, who now lives at Norwalk and is married and has a son, Harold. For his second wife Mr. Rawle was married, also in Milan, to Rena Stickradt. She was born in Milan, and educated in the local schools. Her death occurred in 1905, when thirty years of age. For his third wife Mr. Rawle married Miss Elizabeth Mefford. She was born in this section of Northern Ohio thirty-nine years ago and of German parentage. Both her parents are now deceased. She was reared and educated in Erie County and is a confirmed member of the German Evangelical Church. Mr. Rawle is a republican in politics, has always been interested in local affairs, and is well known for his public spirit. He is affiliated with Milan Lodge No. 117 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. GEORGE FEICK. For half a century much that is substantial and prominent in the City of Sandusky has borne the impress of the individuality of George Feick. Mr. Feick is a contractor and builder whose work finds striking testimony in many familiar structures not only in Erie County but elsewhere. These include some of the notable public and institutional buildings. Many of the qualities of durability and strength which he has introduced into his buildings have been found latent factors in his own character, and accounts for his success. Coming to the United States at the age of seventeen he has molded his destiny by his own efforts, and honorable purpose. He was born at Steinau, Kreis Dieburg, Hesse Darmstadt, January 23, 1849. He was reared in his native land, was confirmed in the Lutheran Church, and had a common school education. For three years he also served an apprenticeship in the cabinetmaker's trade. With this experience and qualifications he set out in 1866 for the new world, and on July 10th of that year joined his brothers, Philip and Adam, in Sandusky. For several years he was employed by Adam Feick, but in 1872 they formed a copartnership, which endured to their mutual satisfaction and success until the death of Adam Feick in 1893. While the Feick brothers were associated in partnership they erected many fine buildings, some of which may be mentioned as follows : Tenth Ward School Building ; Erie County Jail ; a part of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home ; the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad stations in Sandusky and in Painesville ; Talcott Hall for Oberlin College ; the State Capitol Building at Cheyenne, Wyoming. During the last twenty years Mr. George Feick has been in the contracting and building business alone, and during the greater part of the time has had as his capable associate his son, Emil Augustus Feick. In this time the work has gone forward characterized by the same ability and skill as in earlier years. George Feick was the contractor who built the Law Building of the Ohio State University at Columbus; the Edward Gymnasium for the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware ; several buildings for Oberlin College, including the Severance Chemical Laboratory; the Warner Gymnasium; the Carnegie College Library and the Phinney Memorial Chapel, the Men's Building, Rice Hall, Keep Cottage, 988 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY the Administration Building; and in 1915 he built the handsome new Sandusky High School Building. Mr. Feick is not only a practical builder, and a man who understands all the technical details of the industry, but possesses a thorough artistic taste and talent, and has employed that not only in his business but in his avocations. Besides his business as a contractor and builder he is a director in the Citizens Banking Company of Sandusky and is president of the Sandusky Telephone Company. His public spirit has led him to accept the post of councilman in Sandusky at different times, and his name and influence are counted upon as strong individual assets in the community. Mr. Feick is a member of the Lutheran Church, is a liberal republican, and has attained thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite in Masonry. His first wife was Miss Augusta Ernestine Klotz, who was born at Dresden, Saxony, January 31, 1852, and died December 24, 1888. She was the mother of five children: Emil Augustus, who was born March 20, 1874, was liberally educated in the public schools at Sandusky and and they have two children, George and Mary. Ernestine, born December 7, 1888, married Clarence Handerson. On June 22, 1892, Mr. Feick married his present wife, Minnie A. Klotz. The only child of this union Olga Charlotte was born June 20, 1885. She married Edward Younk, children, Richard and Antonette. Clara Sofia, the second child of Mr. Feick, was born May 30, 1877. George, Jr., was born January 28, 1881. in the contracting and building business with his father. This son married Miss Louise DeLor in 1900, and they became the parents of two in the Ohio State University, and now for a number of years has been is Augustus H., born June 22, 1893. THEODORE J. FINZEL. For nearly half a century the members of the Finzel family have materially influenced the progress and development of various localities in Northern Ohio. The chief center of the family activities has been Milan Township, and the older representative of the name in that locality is Theodore J. Finzel, who has a fine farm located on Rural Route No. 1 out of Milan. It is only a matter of just deserts that a brief record should be given in this history of Erie County pertaining to the Finzel relationship. They are a German family, and Theodore J. Finzel was born in Bavaria November 21, 1863, though nearly all his life has been spent in this country. His parents were George C. and Canda (Schippel) Finzel, who were born in the same locality of Bavaria as their son, and represented old stock that for generations had made their home in Bavaria. George Finzel was a tradesman, both a harness maker and dealer, though later he became a farmer. There were two children born in the old country, Theodore and his sister Sophia. In 1865 this little family and Maria Schippel, the sister of Mrs. Finzel, set out for America. They took passage on a combination steamer and sailing ship at Bremerhaven and after twenty-one days landed in New York City. From there they came on to Sandusky, and there took up their venture in the New World, perhaps more prosperously than most immigrants, since they possessed some means which enabled them to start without the experiences of privation which many early settlers coming from Germany had to endure. George Finzel brought all his money in gold contained in a body belt. Several years later the family moved to Milan Township, where the father bought thirty acres on the Cleveland Road in the eastern part of the township, and there applied himself industriously to farming on the same place now occupied by his son Theodore. By much hard work and by gradual development and improvement year after year they produced a farm notable for its excellent fruits and vegetables. George C. Finzel died at that homestead in February, 1911, HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 989 when eighty-four years of age, and his wife passed away in December, 1908, at the age of seventy-six. Maria Schippel, the sister of Mrs. George Finzel and the aunt of Theodore Finzel, was quite a young woman when she came to America, and the sisters were very devoted to each other. She married Adam Wykel of Erie County, and they afterwards took up farming, lived in Townsend Township of Huron County seven years, and finally returned to Milan Township in Erie County, where they bought a small farm, on which Mr. Adam Wykel died in October, 1911, when seventy-three years of age. Mrs. Maria Wykel died January 3, 1914, at the age of sixty-five. All the members of the Finzel and Wykel families were confirmed in Germany in the Lutheran Evangelical Church. Mr. and Mrs. Wykel had three children, The son Theodore is a skilled and high class mechanic, and stands high in the industrial affairs of Lorain County. He was educated in the public schools, and in early life served an apprenticeship in the machine shop of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, rose to department foreman, and in 1900 took charge of the engineering department of the National Tube Company's plant at Lorain in Lorain County, and by successive promotions is now assistant master mechanic and has made an excellent record all along the line. He is married, and has three children : Leland, aged eleven • Loda, aged nine; and Theodore, aged three. The only daughter in the Wykel family was Anna, who died in girlhood in 1898. The other son, Frank, is a tool maker and automobile engineer at Elyria, and has one son named Raymond. Mr. Theodore J. Finzel, who is now prosperously managing the old farm formerly owned by his father, was the oldest of three children. His sister Sophia, already mentioned, is the wife of Edward Butler, and lives in Huron County. The daughter Emma is the wife of John Huber, and reference to this family will be found on other pages of this publication. Mr. Finzel, who has never married, has surrounded himself with many comforts, has an excellent home, including a large white eight-room house, surrounded with barns and other substantial farm buildings. JOHN SPRANKEL. Among Milan Township farms that are deserving of mention as places of value in the material sense and as homes of thrifty and energetic citizens, there is the Sprankel place situated on Rural Route No. 1 out of Milan. For more than thirty years the members of the Sprankel family have been known and esteemed in this section of Erie County, and John Sprankel, above named, is one of the successful representatives of the younger generation. He was born on his father's farm in Milan Township on the Berlin Road, February 4, 1886. His parents were Henry and Elizabeth (Schuester) Sprankel. Both were natives of Germany. His mother was born in Kur-Hessen, Germany, and the father was born in Hesse Darmstadt. Both came when young people and alone to the United States. Their parents had spent all their lives in the old country and died there when quite old, and both the Sprankel and Schuester families were of the Reformed Church faith. Henry Sprankel left Germany in 1881 and after arriving in New York City came on to Erie County, and subsequently located a good farm of sixty-five acres in Milan Township. His first wife was Udeck Zeller, and she died not long after they came from Germany to Erie County. She left a number of children, and more extended reference to this branch of the family will be found on other pages under the name George Sprankel. Henry Sprankel married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Schuester. They were married about thirty years ago, and before his death, which occurred October 29, 1911, when he was seventy-eight years of age, he had continued to prosper and had accumulated a large amount of fine farm land in Erie County. 990 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY He was a democrat in politics, and held several local offices, and in church affairs was a Lutheran. Mrs. Sprankel, his widow, is still living and with her sons conducts the fine farm comprising the homestead and is also owner of some other land. Mrs. Sprankel and her sons long since solved the problem of how to make both ends meet, and each year sees a little increase in their permanent prosperity and holdings. The Sprankel farm grows some of the finest crops, and one specialty is potatoes. John Sprankel since the death of his father has assumed much of the active responsibilities in connection with the management of the old homestead, and is a valuable assistant to his mother. As a boy he attended the public schools of Milan and has deservedly prospered. John Sprankel married Gertrude Goodsite. She was born in Huron Township, September 9, 1893, and grew up and received her education in that locality. Her parents were Charles and Jeannette (Paul) Good- site. Her father was born in Germany and now lives in Milan Township, and her mother was a native of Erie County and died in. Huron Township. Martin Sprankel, brother of John, was born November 15, 1898, and is unmarried and lives at home with his mother and brother. Both these young men are democrats in politics. PRESCOTT MILLIMAN, whose valuable and well managed farm is situated in Milan Township, comes of the old pioneer stock of Erie County. In the early days his grandfather performed a much needed service to his community as one of the early blacksmiths. On the whole the family have been devoted chiefly to agriculture, and in the different generations they have lived upright and useful lives, have provided well for themselves and for their descendants, and the family record is one of unbroken thrift and good citizenship. Amherst Milliman, grandfather of Prescott; was born near Tonawanda, New York, about the beginning of the nineteenth century. He had a brother William who went West to Indiana in the early days, lived there as a farmer, and left descendants in that state. Amherst Milliman married Sarah Young. He was married after he came out to Huron County. His location in Huron County was prior to the division of that territory and the creation of what is now Erie County. Amherst Milliman's how was what was known as the old stone house east of West Corners in Townsend Township, Huron County. Being a blacksmith by trade, he established a shop there, and for a number of years worked industriously engaged in the general repairing of tools and implements, and included in his routine work was the making and fitting of shoes for the work oxen, which were then so generally used instead of horses. From blacksmithing Amherst Milliman gradually took up farming, and continued that as his chief means of livelihood until he retired. He died in 1880, followed four years later by his wife, and both were about the same age. Amherst Milliman in politics cast his ballot for the whig candidates as long as that party was in existence and afterwards was a stanch republican. He and his wife had fourteen children, divided equally between sons and daughters. Several of the sons gave a good account of themselves as soldiers in the Civil war. The names of these soldier sons were Thomas, Ezekiel, Robert, George, John and Bryant. Goorge died while in the army from black measles. Robert saw some service on Johnson's Island in Lake Erie as a guard to rebel prisoners. Ezekiel went through all the war and is now living at Topeka, Kansas. Thomas also had nearly a full term of service in the war. Lieutenant John and his brother Thomas were both in the Seventh Ohio Regiment of hundred days' men. John later enlisted in the One Hun- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 991 dred and First Ohio Infantry, and was first lieutenant of Company E. He participated in some of the greatest campaigns in the history of the civil conflict. He was present at Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, and other places in that vicinity, went with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, and followed him on his march to the sea. He was once made prisoner and for a time was confined in Andersonville prison. He also received three wounds. At one time a lrebel bullet injured his scalp, another shot struck him in the foot, and a third wound was in the hip, and this bullet was never extracted, but remained in his body for a great many years and was ultimately the immediate cause of his death, which occurred December 5, 1913. After the war John Milliman became very stout and at one time weighed 320 pounds. In spite of this weight he was a very active man, and made a successful record as a farmer. Following the war he bought fifty acres of land, and gradually increased that until at one time he owned 165 acres; 115 acres of this is now included in the homestead owned by Prescott Milliman. John Milliman spent most a his years at this homestead farm, and died there. He was a strong republican in politics. In Berlin Township he married Miss Maria Hoak. She was born on the old Hoak farm in Berlin Township, August 31, 1842, a sister of Nathan Hoak, a family to whom reference is made on other pages. She was reared and well educated, and at one time was a student under the noted Erie County educator, Job Fish. For several years before her marriage she taught school, and is still living, quite active in spite of her years, in Milan Township. Religiously she is a member of the Spiritualist faith. John Milliman and wife had three children. Lucy, who died in 1904, had attended some of the schools taught by Job Fish, and afterwards married Edward Butler, who is still living and has children named Myrtle, Ruth and Mark, all of whom have completed their education and are living in Huron County. The next in age is Prescott Milliman. Ernest, born February 12, 1874, gained his education in Milan, and is now a farmer in that township ; he married Bertie Curtis of Milan Township, and their two sons are named Russell and Donald. On the farm that he now owns and occupies and which was included in the old homestead of the late John Milliman, Prescott Milliman was born, March 6, 1872. He grew up in a good home, attended the public schools and also had Job Fish as one of his instructors and completed his education by a course in the Ohio State University at Columbus. From early boyhood he was taught the duties of farming, and that has been his real vocation since starting out on his own account. For a number of years he has owned 115 acres included in the old homestead, and has it well improved, well stocked, and grows all the best grain crops for Northern Ohio. He recently put up a substantial barn 36x60 feet, and also has a silo of eighty tons capacity. His home is a ten-room residence, well furnished and with surroundings that are most attractive. In Milan Township Prescott Milliman married Miss Sarah Merry. She was born in that township June 26, 1880. attended the Milan High School and also the University of Ada, and took a course in the Sandusky Business College. Her father was Charles Merry, of a family whose record will be found on other pages. Mrs. Milliman taught school for some time before her marriage. Their little household circle comprises three children. Doris E., born October 25, 1905, is now in the fifth grade of the public schools. John L., born October 12, 1906, is also in school ; and Marjorie Lucile was born October 14, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Milliman attend the Presbyterian Church at Milan, in which Mrs. Milliman is an active member. He is affiliated with Milan Lodge No. 329, F. & A. M., and he and his wife belong to Milan Grange No. 342, of the Patrons of Husbandry. Politically he works with the republican party. 992 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY ERNST C. A. SCHEUFFLER. There is an old German publication which contains a complete record of the Scheuffler family history and lineage, and from the data contained in that work it is evident that Ernst C. A. Scheufflier, one of the best known citizens of Milan Township, traces his ancestry in direct line back to the year 1530. The Scheufflers were identified, one generation after the other, with the old capital city of Saxony, Dresden. Not a few of the family attained distinction. They were soldiers, artisans, and were represented in many of the professions, frequently in the Lutheran ministry. While he takes a quiet and justifiable pride in the past record of his family, it is evident that Mr. Scheuffler of Milan Township has exemplified many of the virtues and qualities inherited from previous generations, and he and others who have long since become true Americans have earned credit for the family on this side of the ocean. The grandfather of Mr. Scheuffler was Ernst Scheuffler, who was born in the City of Dresden, became a Lutheran minister, and spent his life in Saxony. He had a son also named Ernst, who was born at Larmagh, in Saxony, was educated for the ministry, but gave it up and at the age of twenty years set out a young unmarried man to find a home and fortune in the New World. He spent three months in crossing the ocean, and finally reached Cleveland, Ohio. He was married in that city to Augusta S. Suhr. She was born in Germany, was adopted into a family who brought her to America, and she grew up at Cleveland when that now flourishing city was little more than a village. There she met and married Ernst Scheuffler, and during their residence at Cleveland four children were born to them. In 1873 the parents with their three youngest children moved to Milan Township in Erie County, and bought 104 acres of land, a part of which is now the home place of Ernst C. A. Scheuffler. In this locality the father spent the rest of his days in usefulness and honor, and died in 1885 at the age of sixty-nine. His widow survived him some eight or ten years and was still under sixty at the time of her death. Both were confirmed members of the Lutheran Church. Their oldest child was Caroline, who married Francis Denman of Cleveland, and she died there in the prime of life, her only son having also passed away as a child. The next, in age is Ernst C. A. Augusta, the widow of Charles Chambers, lives near her brother Ernst in Milan Township, and has a son, Charles, who is the father of two children and lives in Fremont, Ohio; and a daughter Eda, who is the wife of Ralph Brown, of Cleveland; while another daughter of Augusta, Clara by name, died at the age of twelve. Otto, the fourth in this family, is a carpenter at Milan, and by his marriage to Lena Scholl has two sons, named Paul and Carl. In the City of Cleveland Ernst C. A. Scheuffler was born September 21, 1855. The first seventeen years of his life were spent in that city, and in the meantime he acquainted himself with the common branches as taught-in the public schools and was trained in those habits and vocations which would make him useful after reaching manhood. He came to Milan Township in 1873 and has ever since lived on the farm which formerly belonged to his father and a part of which he himself now owns. His place comprises a little more than fifty-two acres. All of it is well improved and cultivated except eight acres of pasture land, and his crops during many successive years have included practically everything that would grow in this climate. He and his family reside in a comfortable seven-room house, and his farm buildings are in good condition and represent a considerable investment. At East Norwalk Mr. Scheuffler married Miss Hannah Cunningham. She was born in that village April 30, 1861, and grew up and received her education there. Her parents were Warren and Ann (Wagner) Cunningham, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New York State. They came PICTURE OF MR. AND MRS. JOHN C. WIKEL HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 993 to Huron County when young people, were married there, and Mr. Cunningham spent a great many years in and around Norwalk. He died at the age of eighty-four, while his wife passbd away when about seventy. In politics he was a republican. There were two sons and six daughters in the Cunningham family, and with the exception of one who died without children after marriage, all are still living and have homes of their own. The home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Scheuffler comprises seven children. The oldest, Henry, now lives in Sandusky and by his marriage to Ethel Williamson has a daughter, Thelma. Carrie is the wife of Grant Lowman, and they occupy the old Cunningham home at East Norwalk and have two children, William and Viola. Bessie is now studying to become a professional nurse at Cleveland. Ernst is a machinist at Brewster, Ohio, and is still unmarried. Daisy May has completed her public school education and is still at home. Bertha M. is in the Sandusky Hospital studying for the profession of trained nurse. Anna Amelia graduated from the Milan school with the class of 1915. In polities Mr. Scheuffler is a democrat. JOHN C. WIKEL. Among those leading and representative farmers of Erie County whose labors have contributed to the material advancement and general welfare of the, community was the late John C. Wikel of Milan Township. His life was a busy and useful one and furnished an example of honorable dealing, steadfast purpose, fidelity to principle and invincible moral courage that is well worthy of emulation. At his death, which occurred March 30, 1914, the community mourned the loss of one of ,its esteemed citizens, and his memory is still enshrined in the hearts of his many friends. Mr. Wikel was born May 31, 1848, near Weavers Corners, Huron County, Ohio, a son of Charles and Helen (Root) Wikel. Charles Wikel was born in Germany, and in 1831, with his four brothers, Peter, Jacob, Adam and Ernest, came to the United States on a sailing vessel and located in Huron County, Ohio. All were married in this country and had families with the exception of Jacob, and all settled in Huron and Erie counties and here died. Their parents later set sail for this country to join their sons and the journey consumed seventy-five days, during which the little vessel encountered numerous storms, one of which carried away its mast. A substitute was rigged and the vessel finally made port at New York, but not long thereafter went to pieces in the harbor as a result of the vicious pounding it had received from the heavy seas. Like his brothers, after settling in Huron County, Charles Wikel became a well-to-do farmer, gaining prosperity by characteristic industry and thrift. There he was married to Helen Root, who was born in Connecticut of New England ancestry, but who had been brought to the Western Reserve by her parents when a child. After the birth of their eldest child, John C., Mr. and Mrs. Wikel moved to Oxford Township, locating on a farm near Weavers Corners, where they lived with Mrs. Wikel's parents until 1860. In that year they came to Milan Township, Erie County, where the father purchased 154 acres of fine land, on which there was some brush and a little swamp, but the former was soon cleared away and the latter drained, and the farm was developed with patient and painstaking industry into one of the really valuable properties of the neighborhood. There both parents passed their remaining years, the father dying December 16, 1888, at the age of sixty-two years, and the mother passing away November 24, 1904, when seventy- six years of age. Both were members of the Lutheran Church, in which they had been confirmed, as had their parents before them. Mr. Wikel was a democrat, but not a politician, being content to spend 994 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY his days in peaceful pastoral pursuits and not inclined to push himself forward for public preferment. There were eight children in the family, namely : John C., Adam, Peter, Mary, Henry, Marian, Helen and C. Albert. All were given the best advantages their parents were able to afford, and were reared to lives of usefulness and honesty and fitted for the positions they afterward occupied in the community. John C. Wikel received his early education in the district schools of Milan Township and passed his boyhood amid the atmosphere of pioneer surroundings, his earliest recollections being those connected with assisting his father in the clearing and cultivation of the soil. Later, through his own efforts, he secured a normal school training, but remained at home until 1872 when, at the age of twenty-three years, he left the parental roof and journeyed to Saunders County, Nebraska, where he entered a tract of eighty acres of land. To this he later added another eighty acres, and while not engaged in farming occupied himself with teaching a class of pupils in his own ranch home, having organized a school. Mr. Wikel continued to make his residence in Nebraska until 1885 and had met with a satisfying success, but in that year was called home by the ill health of his father, for whom he cared until his death three years later. About that time Mr. Wikel purchased the 160-acre farm in Milan Township, to which he subsequently added seventy-five acres in Berlin Township by purchase, and this was still later followed by thirty-five acres in Milan Township, the entire property adjoining. Here Mr. Wikel's labors continued to be prosecuted during the remainder of his long and honorable career. With the exception of several acres of native timber, he put the whole property under cultivation, and its soil was so fertile under his able treatment that it raised tremendous crops of all the staple grains and produce, well paying him for the labor he expended upon it. He was always a believer in the breeding of good stock, and much of his grain was fed to his large herds of cattle and his many hogs, which found a ready sale in the market. His large and substantial farm buildings included a 110-ton silo, and his commodious barns, sheds, cribs and outbuildings are painted red, while his 14-room house presented an attractive appearance, located on Wickel Road, a comfortable and modern residence fitted with all up-to-date comforts and conveniences. Mr. Wikel was a Methodist in his religious belief and endeavored to live his faith every day. In his dealings with his fellow men he exhibited the strictest integrity and honesty, while as a citizen he was public spirited and always ready to do his full share for the community or its people. On June 8, 1873, while residing in Saunders County, Nebraska, Mr. Wikel was married to Miss Mary H. Scow, who was born near Drammen, Christiana, Norway, August 2, 1853, daughter of Oliver and Bertha (Torgerson) Scow, natives of Norway of an old and honorable family, the father born in 1812 and the mother in 1814. In 1870 Mr. and Mrs. Scow came to the United States with their four children: Mary II., Christian, Hannah and George. Their eldest son, Edward, had preceded them five years, and had taken up a homestead in the West, while their eldest daughter, Isabelle, had come to this country two years before the parents. All met at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from whence they went to the Nebraska home, and there took up a full section of wild land. This property is still in the family name and possession and was the scene of the parents activities during the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1884, when seventy-two years of age, and the mother in 1897, when aged eighty-eight years. Both were faithful members of the Lutheran Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Wikel there were born the following children : Bertha, who died in infancy ; Henry, who is single, and conducting the old homestead farm for his mother; Nora, who is' the wife of Charles HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 995 Conkling, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work ; George, a farmer in Milan Township, who married Kate Fish, a native of Kansas, and has three children,—John, Edward and Henry L.; Alden, who died in childhood ; Marion ; Lewis, residing on the homel stead place, who married Grace Von Sehuetz, a native of. Nebraska, who died June 21, 1915; Mary Isabelle, who graduated from the Huron High School, in the class of 1905, a devoted daughter who still .lives at home and keeps house for her mother and brothers ; and Ida, who died at the age of six years. Mrs. Wikel is a member of the Methodist Church, while her children are Presbyterians. They are industrious, honest and hard-working sons and daughters, eminently worthy of their parents, of their training and of the community in which their lives have been spent. JOHN HUBER. Of John Huber of Milan Township, it can be, said as an expression of the general esteem in which he is held by his neighbors and fellow citizens that he is an industrious and successful farmer, a citizen who looks well after the interests of his own home and family and not without regard to the benefit and welfare of the community in which he lives, and also that he represents a thrifty German stock that has been identified with this section of Ohio more than sixty years. Born in Berlin Township, January 8, 1864, John Huber is a son of John Huber, Sr. The latter was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, in either 1826 or 1827, and his parents died in that country. As a young man he learned the butcher trade, and four years of his early manhood were taken by the German government for service as a soldier in the cavalry division. He went through the different campaigns to which he was called without injury and not long after being released from the army in 1849 he set out from Hamburg and five weeks later was landed in New York City. From there he came on to Erie County, and at Ceylon found his first regular. .employment as a laborer during the construction of the railroad which is now the Lake Shore Road. A little later he married Frederica Kugel:. She was born and reared in the same vicinity as Mr. Huber, and they came on the same vessel to the United States. After working and exercising the closest economy, John Huber left railroad employment and in 1865 moved to the western part of Berlin Township, buying fifty-six acres of land, to which he devoted many years of conscientious labor, and spent his last days there in comfort. He died June 6, 1910. His wife pasSed away in November of the same year, and was at that time eighty-nine years of age. They were members of the German Lutheran Church, and in politics he was a democrat. A list of their children is as follows : Louis is married and has two sons and lives in Elyria, Ohio ; William is a farmer in Berlin Township and has two sons and one daughter ; Paulina died after her marriage to George Penny, leaving a son and a daughter ; the next in age is John Huber ; August is a farmer in Perkins Township and married Miss Hart. It was during the residence of his parents at Ceylon that John Huber was born. He grew up on his father's homestead in Berlin Township, and after, getting his education in the local schools learned the trade of plasterer 'and stone mason. That was his regular means of livelihood for fifteen years, and in that time he was employed on many contracts in various parts of Northern Ohio. On April 17, 1912, he located on his present homestead, known as the old Sipp farm, in the southeastern quarter of Milan Township. His possessions include fifty acres of fertile land, and with some excellent improvements, including a good barn 32x36 feet, which was erected partly by his own hands and under his own management, and also a two-story residence of nine rooms in good repair and with an excellent slate roof. He also has a good tool house 996 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY and has practically every facility needed for efficient work. As a farmer he grows crops of corn, wheat, melons, fruit and vegetables. In the township of his present home Mr. Huber married Miss Amelia Finzel. She was born at Sandusky, March 14, 1866, but was reared and educated in Milan Township. Her parents were George and Anna (Shippel) Finzel, both now deceased. They were among the prominent early settlers from Germany in Erie County, and after living in Sandusky for a few years moved out to Milan Township, where they spent their last days. Thee were members of the Lutheran Church and Mr. Finzel was a democrat. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Huber. Norma H. is now fifteen years of age and is a student in the' Milan High School; Clarence W., born May 29, 1902, is now in the seventh grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Huber are members of the Lutheran Church, and politically he is also,identified with the democratic party. JUDSON PERRIN. In the course of a long life Judson Perrin has had many interesting associations with Milan Township. It was his birthplace, the home of his youth and mature manhood, and while for all these reasons he is loyal to its memory he has made himself further useful by active work and real service in every responsibility to which he has been called. Born July 16, 1843, his birth occurred on the farm and in the old house which then sheltered the Perrin family, and where his present home is now located. This farm comprises eighty-five acres, and has been in the uninterrupted ownership of the Perrin family fully three-quarters of a century. His father was Gurdin Perrin, and his grandfather Timothy Perrin. Both were natives of Connecticut, and Timothy spent all his life in the vicinity of Canterbury. He was of English ancestry, spent his career as a farmer, and died at the extreme age of ninety-seven years. He married a Connecticut woman, and of their eleven children all died before Timothy except three. Timothy was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and in earlier years had been captain of a company of state militia. Gurdin Perrin was born in Connecticut in 1801, and grew up to the life of a farmer. He married Polly Church, who had also been born and reared in the vicinity of Canterbury. After their marriage they moved to Lucerne County, Pennsylvania, and during their sojourn there most of their children were born, including Elizabeth Ann, Joseph H., Alman Church, Major C., Helen Rebecca, William, Gurdin, Jr. (who died at the age of seven) and Mary. With all these children except one who died in infancy the parents set out in 1837 to establish a new home within the State of Ohio. They made the journey overland, with wagons and teams, camping by the wayside as night overtook them, and several weeks elapsed before they accomplished their tedious undertaking and arrived at Milan. Gurdin Perrin bought from Benjamin P. Smith the old homestead just east and outside the Village of Milan where Mr. Judson Perrin now resides. After they came to this locality several other children were born : Lydia; Everton, who died in infancy; and Judson. Judson was the seventh son and the eleventh child. He was christened Judson in honor of Rev. Everton Judson, who for sixteen years served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Milan, and was an intimate friend of the Perrin family. Mr. Judson was not only greatly beloved in this community, but was one of tire prominent Presbyterian ministers in Northern Ohio and spent all his active career 1n spiritual labors and died at Milan in 1849. A memorial work was written of his career and published in 1852 by E. P. Barrows. Jr. After the Perrin family located in Milan Township they became very HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 997 useful and active workers in the Presbyterian Church and accomplished a great deal of good in the spiritual enlightenment of the community and did much to upbuild the church organization. Gurdin Perrin died at his old home on his birthday, August 13, 1867, when only a few hours past the age of sixty-six. He was a very strong and positive republican in politics, and had given his full support to the abolition movement before the war. His wife had died here October 5, 1855, and she had likewise been closely in sympathy with him in church affairs. After the death of his first wife Gurdin Perrin married Minerva S. Stanton, and she survived her husband several years, though she died without children. She was also a Presbyterian. Judson Perrin has a brother, William, who is a farmer at Norwalk, Ohio,- and by his marriage to Mary Newson has a son and daughter, William N. and Emma. There is one sister living, Lydia, the widow of William Schubert, and she lives in Norwalk, and her son, Lewis J., resides at Mansfield, Ohio. As a boy Judson Perrin was impyessed by the usual influences which go to the making of the character of a youth in a country community with such excellent moral atmosphere as Milan Township. He acquired a good education, and at the age of twenty started teaching. For thirteen consecutive winters he gave his time to this vocation, and during the rest of the year was an active farmer on the old homestead, He has owned the Perrin farm for a great many years, and while providing for the needs of his family through agricultural industry has worked in every way possible to keep up and maintain those vital forces of every community, church and school. At Norwalk, in Huron County, Mr. Perrin married Miss Hannah Theresa Benedict. She was born in Connecticut August 22, 1846, and died at the old home December 22, 1896. She was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. She was still a child when her parents, Rufus and Betsey Benedict, came from Connecticut to Norwalk, and they spent the rest of their lives in that locality. Her father died when past fourscore, and her mother much younger. Mrs. Perrin's mother was a member of the Congregational Church. Three children were born to Mr. -and Mrs. Perrin. The son Gurdin A., born in 1868, was educated in the Milan public schools and in the Northern Ohio University at Ada, and at the age of twenty taught his first school in the same district where his father at the same age had begun his work as an educator. For several years he has been actively associated with his father in the management of the home farm, and under the name Judson Perrin & Son they carry on an extensive dairy .and truck farm. The daughter, Carrie H. who was also well educated in the public schools at Milan and finished her education in the University at Ada, took up teaching and has spent eighteen years in that noble calling, and is now principal of the Benedict Avenue School at Norwalk. Nellie E. is the wife of Finley W. Kirkpatrick, of Joliet, Hlinois. Mr. Perrin and all his children are members of the Presbyterian Church at Milan. The daughter is a teacher and the son is superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Perrin is himself an elder in the church,' is clerk of the sessions and for twenty-two years filled the post of superintendent of the Sunday school. He and his son are strong republicans in politics. Both are also in great sympathy with the prohibition movement, and lend every influence towards the abolition of the liquor traffic. CONRAD SCHISLER. A native son of Erie County, Mr. Schisler has here maintained his home from the time of his nativity and that he has had the energy and ability to take full advantage of the opportunities here offered can not fail to be appreciated by any person in the least 998 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY familiar with his career or aware of his status as one ,of the most progressive and substantial business men of the Village of Birmingham and as one of the honored and influential citizens of Florence Township. As a general merchant he controls a specially large and representative trade, and his establishment in the Village of Birmingham would be a credit to a place of much greater population. That he has secure vantage ground in popular confidence and good will is shown not only in the broad scope of his business enterprise but also in his having been called upon to serve in various positions of public trust, including that of postmaster of Birmingham. The general merchandise store of Mr. Schisler occupies a main building 24 by 56 feet in dimensions and two stories in height, and the demands placed upon the establishment finally made it virtually necessary to erect the addition or annex, which is 24 by 40 feet in dimensions, and which is used for the display of kitchen furniture as well as for the storage of surplus stock in other lines. All departments show well selected and ample stocks of staple and special goods, and in the store provisions are made for supplying all demands of a large and appreciative patronage, few similar establishments in rural communities having as excellent appointments and facilities. The second floor of the building is used for the display of linoleums and other floor coverings and for rubber footwear, besides which it affords accommodations also for the local exchange of the telephone company of which Mr. Schisler is treasurer. Mr. Schisler has been locally influential and zealous as a representative of the republican party and he served twelve years as postmaster at Birmingham, under the administrations of Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft, and two years after the election of President Wilson, his retirement having naturally come with the change in the general political administration of the national affairs. Mr. Schisler served four terms as treasurer of Florence Township and has given effective service also in the office of treasurer of the board of education of his district. He is at the present time treasurer and a director of the Riverside Telephone Company, which was organized in 1906, with Charles A. Heald as president, and the company now gives service to 300 subscribers, its facilities being of the best in its local lines and also through its direct connection with the lines of the Bell and Independent Telephone Companies. Mr. Schisler is a representative of a sterling family whose name has been identified with the civic and material affairs. of Erie County for half a century. He was born on the old James Douglass farm on the shore of Lake Erie, in Berlin Township, the date of his nativity having been March 20, 1862. Under the sturdy discipline of the home farm he early learned the lessons of practical industry and in the meanwhile he made good use of the advantages afforded in the public schools of the locality and period. In 1881 Mr. Schisler severed his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture and assumed a position as clerk in a mercantile establishment at Vermilion. Ten months 'later he became associated with Phillip A. Baker in the general merchandise business at Birmingham, and this alliance continued until 1889, when Mr. Schisler formed a partnership with John Geary and engaged in the dry-goods and hardware business in this village. On the night of May 20, 1891, the entire business section of the village was destroyed by fire, and after having thus suffered the loss of their entire stock of goods Mr. Schisler and his partner were given the temporary use of the town hall, without charge, as a place to continue their business until they could effect the erection of a proper building for the purpose. In the following October the firm's new building was ready for occupancy, and in the same the business was developed into one of general order, though much of its HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 999 amplification has been accomplished during the time that Mr. Schisler has been sole proprietor, Mr. Geary having retired in 1901 and his death having occurred in the following year. The finely equipped store now shows excellent lines of dry-goods, groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, kitchen furniture, floor coverings and manifqld special lines, and the high reputation of the establishment and its ,owner constitutes its best commercial asset. Mr. Schisler is a son of Paul and FreVrieka (Sprenger) Schisler, both born near Hesse Cassel, Germapy, where the former was born August 3, 1834, and the latter on the 1st of January, 1835. The parents were reared and educated in their native province and there they remained until after the birth of their three eldest children, two of whom died in infancy. In 1860, in company with their one surviving child, Martin, they immigrated to America, the voyage from Bremen to New York having been made on a sailing vessel and six weeks having been passed on the Atlantic before they reached the port of New York City. Shortly after landing in the United States they came to Erie County, Ohio, and here the fathbr found employment on the Douglass farm, in Berlin Township, where the family home was maintained several years and where the three younger children were born—Conrad, who is the immediate subject of this review, is the eldest of the three ; Anna is the wife of Andrew Huttenloch and they reside at Berlin Heights, this county ; Andrew, who still remains on the old homestead farm, in Florence Township, married Miss Mary Stephens, and they have two children : Andrew, Jr. and Catherine. In the early '70s Paul Schisler purchased his farm in Florence Township, and he reclaimed the same into one of the valuable places of that part of the county, this homestead being the residence of himself and his devoted wife until the close of their long and useful lives, each having been about eighty years of age at the time of death. Both were zealous and consistent communicants of the German Evangelical Church and they assisted in the organization of the church of this denomination in Florence Township, as well as in the erection of the church edifice. Mr. Schisler was for many years an influential and valued official of this congregation and thus continued until his death. In Florence Township was solemnized the marriage of Conrad Schisler to Miss Catherine Rosenstock, who was born near Hesse Cassel, Germany, on the 24th of February, 1860, and whose parents there passed their entire lives. Her father, a man of superior intellectual attainments, was a successful teacher in the schools of the fatherland for fully half a century and in recognition of his devoted services he was granted a pension at the time of his retirement. He was about eighty years of age at the time of his death, his wife, who had been for several years an invalid, having preceded him to eternal rest and their daughter, Catherine, Mrs. Schisler, having had charge of the domestic affairs of the home until the time of her mother's death, after which she came to the United States to join her sister, Mrs. Eliza Baker, in Florence Township, Erie County, where her marriage to Mr. Schisler was solemnized a few years later. Mr. and Mrs. Schisler became the parents of one child, Conrad, Jr., who died at the age of two days. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Birmingham, and Mr. Schisler has served as trustee and steward of the same. They are popular in the social activities of the community and their pleasant home is known for its generous and unostentatious hospitality. . GEORGE R. CURTIS. For many years the name George R. Curtis has been familiarly associated with business affairs and with the public life of Milan Village. His family is one of the oldest in this section of North- 1000 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY ern Ohio, and nearly a century ago his grandfather was a. prominent factor in the shipping trade which largely centered at Milan. This pioneer, Rufus Curtis, was born in the State of New Jersey, and married Rachael Hughes, of the same state. Soon after the close of the War of 1812 they came to North Milan Village. Rufus Curtis was a ship master along the Milan Canal, and owned and operated a fleet of lighters which carried the grain from Milan down to the lake port at Huron. Those familiar with the history of old Milan will recall that in the early years of the last century it was the principal market for all the grain raised in a wide radius of country, and on being delivered at Milan it had to be lightered in small vessels down the canal to the larger lake boats. at Huron. This was the regular business of Rufus Curtis for some years, but he later sold out and bought a farm not far from the Village of Milan, improved it and died there in the early part of the present century at the advanced age of eighty-four. A part of that farm, seventy-five acres, is still owned by his descendants. Rufus Curtis survived his wife about four years, who was eighty-two years of age when she djed. These worthy old pioneers had witnessed nearly all the important phases of development in Erie County. They were here when the country was completely new, when log cabins were the typical and almost exclusive residences, and they used their influence and their work to aid in the upbuilding. In politics Rufus Curtis was a democrat, and he and his wifd were both members of the Universalist Church. They had three sons and three daughters, of whom Samuel Minor was the oldest. The only two still living are : Mrs. Mary Harris, of Berlin Township, a widow now making her home with her son ; and Louise, wife of Joseph Lotshar of Indianapolis, Indiana. Samuel Minor Curtis, father of George R., was born at Milan December 20, 1835, and grew up on the old homestead already mentioned which his father had Vought after retiring from the vessel trade. He received his education in the old academy and normal and after his marriage lived on a farm in Vermilion Township, in 1862 moved to Huron Township, and three years later returned to Milan, where he began operating a threshing outfit. Subsequently he became agent for the manufacturers of a. special line of threshing machinery, and sold threshers, engines, and other supplies, as general state agent all over Ohio. This was his regular business for many years, and he was still at it at the time of his death on October 6, 1906. He was a man of great activity, hard working, and made a successful record in business affairs. He was a vigorous exponent of the democratic principles in politics, affiliated with Milan Lodge No. 329, F. & A. M., and always identified himself helpfully with any movement for the benefit of the community. Samuel M. Curtis was married in Huron Township to Ann J. Harris. She was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1838, but when eleven years of age came with her parents to Huron Township in Erie County. Her parents were George P. and Esther (McSpadden) Harris. Her father was born in Hertfordshire, .England, while her mother was a native of County Down, Ireland, and came to America in the early '20s with her mother, locating at Pittsburg, where some years later she married Mr. Harris. Both had come to America in the old fashioned sailing vessels which required from twelve to fifteen weeks to cross the ocean. Mr. Harris had thoroughly learned the trade of machinist in England, and had much natural ability in mechanical lines. He came with his brother William, and the latter subsequently moved to Erie County and for many years lived on a farm in Ifuron Township. George P. Harris married Miss McSpadden in Pittsburg. It was his distinction to have constructed the first locomotive engine over the Pittsburg and Johnstown Railway, now part of tile Pennsylvania Railway system. That first engine was known as the Washington. He re- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1001 mained an engineer in the employ of that road for nine years. He was not only an engineman but had a thorough knowledge of all features of construction, and it is said that he could have built an engine complete, and was always able to make every repair necessary. As one of the pioneer railway men of this country he deserves mention and memory. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Harris were all born in Pittsburg. Subsequently the family lived in Johntown, Pennsylvania, and from there in 1849 came to Huron Township in Erie County, buying land on which Mr. Harris conducted farming operations until his death on June 12, 1872, at the age of sixty-two. widow passed away in 1877 aged seventy-six. They were members of the Lutheran Evangelical Church and in politics he was a rabid democrat. There were five children in the Harris family. One of the sons, William J., served as a color bearer in the Union army and was killed while before Atlanta and was buried in the National Cemetery at Marietta. The only two now living are: Thomas J., a farmer in Huron Township, and head of a family ; and Mrs. Ann J. Curtis, who now lives in Cleveland and is still hale and hearty at the age of seventy-seven. George R. Curtis, who was the only child of his parents, was born while they were living on a farm in Vermilion Township, April 25, 1858. Since he was seven years of age he has lived in Milan Village and Township, and was given an excellent and liberal education preparatory to his business career. He attended the Milan public schools, Oberlin College and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and while in the University was a member of the Greek Letter fraternity Sigma Chi and is a stockholder in the chapter house at Delaware. During his residence at Milan he has taken a prominent part in local affairs, and for fourteen years served as mayor of the city. He has also had many relations with local business undertakings, was associated with his father for a number of years, and owns valuable property both in the country and in the village. His home is one of the most attractive residences of the city, a twelve-room house, with all the modern conveniences and comforts. At Milan Mr. Curtis married Miss Sarah R. Lockwood, a member of one of the most prominent pioneer families of Northern Ohio. She was born in Milan Village, August 26, 1860, and was educated both here and at Buffalo. She is a daughter of Stephen A. Lockwood, who was prominent as a merchant and farmer. The Lockwood ancestry in America runs back to Robert Lockwood, who came from England in 1635, and was an early settler at Watertown near Boston, Massachusetts. He was married in Massachusetts and died there. A generation or so later members of the family moved to Connecticut, and about 1815 later descendants came West and established their home in Milan Township of Erie County. Successive generations from the pioneer ancestor, Robert Lockwood, to the present were : Ephraim Lockwood ; Joseph Lockwood ; Joseph Lockwood II; Stephen Lockwood; Ralph Lockwood ; Stephen A. Lockwood, Sr., who became the father of Mrs. Curtis, who consequently is in the eighth generation of this family in America. It was Ralph Lockwood, her grandfather, who with his brothers George and Henry, and sisters Esther, Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary, became identified nearly a century ago with that part of Northern Ohio around Milan and Norwalk. The family came to this country about 1817, and Ralph and George preceded the others already mentioned. They acquired the ownership of large tracts of land, in what was then known as Huron County, prior to the erection of Erie County. A part of the land owned by the Lockwoods has since been incorporated in the village sites of Norwalk and Milan. Ralph and George Lockwood were well educated young men, and as surveyors they laid out much of the lands in and around Milan and Norwalk. The Vol. II-34 1002 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY surveying instruments which these pioneers used are still in possession of their descendants. Part of the large land tract owned, by the Lockwoods was awarded to them as their share of the firelands. As a family they were sufferers from the devastations committed by the British troops in the Revolution and in the War of 1812. Stephen A. Lockwood, father of Mrs. Curtis, was born at the old homestead in Milan, June 10, 1820, grew up there as a farmer boy, and some years later with his brother, William, established a business on the west side of Milan Square, handling a general stock of goods. They were thrifty and intelligent young men, and prospered in proportion to the growth of the village community, erected some of the substantial business blocks of their time, but subsequently on account of lack of organized fire protection they suffered heavily when, the entire west side of the square was burned. William subsequently became associated with other members of the Lockwood family, while Stephen A. left merchandising to engage in farming In this vocation he also prospered, and left a large property to his family and descendants. He died at Milan in April, 1889. Like the other male members of the Lockwood family he was first a whig and later a republican, and during the Civil war served for three years in the United States Navy. In after life he could never be jot to speak much of his naval experience, and this was due to his natural modesty and his conviction that his service was only a mere matter of duty and should not be boasted of. Stephen A. Lockwood was married in Milan to his cousin, Sarah A. Lockwood, the daughter of his uncle, George. She was born at Milan, in November, 1826, and died in April, 1914. She was a fine type of the pioneer wife and mother, had many noble traits of character, and for many years was one of the most active members of the Presbyterian Church. In the Lockwood family were five sons and five daughters, several of them now deceased, and Mrs. Curtis was one of the youngest of the children. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis have two daughters. Mabel A., born August 15, 1882, is a graduate of Oberlin College and is now the wife of Walter T. Dunmore, who graduated in 1900 from Oberlin College and later from the law school of the Western Reserve University; was admitted to the bar in 1904, and is present dean of the Western Reserve Law School. Mr. and Mrs. Dunmore have two children : Marjorie C., born December 29, 1905 ; and Helen E., born July 8, 1915. The second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis is Maude S., born October 5, 1885. She graduated from Oberlin College and from the Woman's College at Cleveland, and is now the wife of Harry H. Doering. Mr. Doering graduated from Oberlin with the class of 1906 sand now lives in Philadelphia. Mr. Curtis and family are members of the Presbyterian Church and he is affiliated with Marks Lodge No. 239, F. & A. M., at Milan. In politics he is an independent democrat. J. CHARLES RUSSELL. Probably every resident of Milan Township has had occasion to admire the capable management and well kept appearance of the Russell farm near Avery. Its proprietor is a man who has effected a great deal in the course of a career of some forty years. He started life with very little capital except what he earned himself, and from youth to middle age has been one of the thrifty, industrious workers in this section of Ohio. Born at Sandusky, November 24, 1853, J. Charles Russell is a son of Philip and Elizabeth (Utha) Russell, both of whom were born, in Hesse Nassau, Germany, and grew up and married there. Their first child, Nettie, was born in Germany. In the spring of 1853 the little family embarked on a sailing vessel and came to the United Sfates from Bremen to New York, making the voyage in forty days. From New York they came on to Sandusky, where the father arrived prac^tically at the end of HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1003 his resources. Without money or influential friends, he supported his family for a time by sawing wood with an old fashioned buck saw. In the spring of 1854 he went to Hunts Corners in Huron County and was engaged in farming in that locality until his death in 1858, when only twenty-eight years of age. He had been confirmed in the Lutheran Church in his native country. Four children survived him : Nettie, now deceased; J. Charles; Christopher, who died as a child only two days after his father; and Philip, who is afarnier at Parkertown and prominent in democratic politics and is married and has five sons and one daughter. The widowed mother was married in Huron County to Christ Gillamaster. They then located in GratOn Township on a farm and spent the rest of their lives there. She died 'at the age of seventy-six and her husband at seventy-five. To her second marriage were also born four children, two of whom died young. Her sons, Louis and William, are still living, the former a farmer in Groton Township and the father of two sons and four daughters, and the latter a farmer in Sandusky County and he has four sons and three` daughters. It was in Huron County that J. Charles Russell spent his early youth and manhood. He lived at home with his mother and step-father until reaching his majority, and profited by attendance at such schools as existed in that community. His first independent work as a farmer was done in Groton Township, where he lived six years, and the following three years in Lyman Township of Huron County. Returning to Groton Township, he spent another four years there, and then moved to the Captain Coulter farm in Milan Township near Avery. That was the scene of his productive efforts for nineteen years, and he carried on his extensive operations with profit to all concerned. During a year following his removal from the Coulter farm he •rented another place, but in 1908 bought the Avery farm, known as the Hawley place. This is a farm of first class improvements, with splendid soil, with tiling drainage, and capable of producing all the standard cereal crops. Mr. Russell finds potatoes one of the best crops for his land, plants usually from ten to twenty acres, and his yield is as high as 275 bushels per acre. The building improvements about the farm represent a large investment. He has a big gray barn, built in the most modern manner for the housing of stock and grain, and standing on a foundation 36x62 feet. His home is a large white eight-room house, surrounded with a large lawn and with beautiful shade trees. Besides this farm Mr. Russell also owns 78 1/2 acres in Groton Township, which is likewise well improved and has a good set of building improvements. In Oxford Township Mr. Russell married Miss Nettie Schamp. She was born in that township November 11, 1853, and died November 20, 1911. She grew up and received her education there and became a splendid mother to her children and a most capable home maker. Her parents were German people, Peter and Emma (Schafer) Schamp, who were born in Nassau, Germany, and when young people came to America and settled in Oxford Township of Erie County, where they married and subsequently lived as farmers. Her father died there twenty years ago and her mother about sixteen years ago, both being at the time about three score years of age. They were members of the Lutheran Church and her father was a democrat. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Russell are briefly mentioned as follows : Jennie died five years after her marriage to Henry Gastier, who is now living on Mr. Russell's farm in Groton Township. William, the second child, died when two years of age. Frank married Mabel Saylor, and they live at the Russell home in Milan Township. Fred is a graduate of high school and business college, is now twenty-seven years of age, and while living at home is one of the capable workmen in the employ of Isaac W. Hoover, the prominent Avery manufacturer ; flred is affili- 1004 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY ated with Milan Lodge of the Masonic Order. Mr. Russell and family are all members of the Evangelical Church, and he and his sons are democrats in national politics. JOHN W. WEILNAU. Many of the most enterprising young men of the present generation find in farm management an outlet for their highest degree of skill and efficiency. Among the younger agriculturists of Erie County special mention should be given to John W. Weilnau, who fully measured up to the tests and requirements of modern industrial life in the point of efficiency, skill, industry and general ability. For the past eight years Mr. Weilnau has had ample scope for his career as a farmer as manager of the large Hoover homestead at Avery. This is one of the best farms in Erie County, and the manner in which Mr. Weilnau has conducted it reflects credit upon his personal skill. His crops are grown at the rotation and intensive method. During the past year he had 16 acres of corn, 24 in wheat, 8 acres in oats and 12 acres in potatoes. His wheat yields about 29 bushels to the acre, oats 40 bushels, corn 80 bushels, and he gets a particularly abundant yield of potatoes. Practically all his life John W. Weilnau has been a resident of Erie County. He was born in Oxford Township December 29, 1878, grew up and was educated in that township. and made a definite choice of farming as his vocation. He has been independently engaged in that business for the past nine years, and with a degree of success such as few men of his age and experience can show. Besides the raising of general crops he gives much attention to horses, hogs and cattle on the Hoover homestead. His parents were John and Mary (Goodsite) Weilnau. They were both natives of Germany, his father of Hesse Nassau and his mother of Mecklenburg. When young people they came with their parents to the United States and to Ohio, and the grandparents on both sides spent their lives here and died when about seventy years old. Both families were of the Evangelical Church faith. After their marriage John and Mary Weilnau started out as farmers in Oxford Township. He died there July 20, 1913, when past sixty-three years of age. The mother is still living with her children at the old homestead and is now sixty-two years of age. John W. is the oldest son and the second child in a family of four sons and one daughter. His sister Elizabeth is the wife of Adelbert Williams, a farmer in Milan Township, and their two daughters are named Dorothy and Mary. John W. Weilnau's brothers are Henry, Fred and James, who are still single young men living with their mother. John W. Weilnau was married in Oxford Township to Catherine Ebert. She was born in Oxford township March 19, 1880, and grew up and was educated there, a daughter of Lewis Ebert and a sister of Charles Ebert, reference to whom is made on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Weilnau have a family of four children : Catherine M., seven years old ; Paul William, aged six ; John Louis, aged four ; and George H., who is three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Weilnau are active members of the Evangelical Church, he is a democrat in politics, and is past grand of Milan Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. ANSEL G. ODELL. The Odell family to which this well known resident of Milan Township belongs has long been prominent and numerously represented in the Empire State of New York. Former Governor Odell of New York was of the same stock. The Odells have been identified with this section of Northern Ohio fully eighty years, and their record here as honorable and useful citizens runs through three successive generations. Ansel G. Odell is well known not only as a general farmer, vegetable grower and fruit dealer, but also as a business man in Milan Township. His home is on the Cleveland road. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1005 It was in the early '30s that the family came to Northern Ohio. His grandfather, Samuel Odell, came from New York State to Huron County, Ohio, and settled about seven miles smith of Norwalk. He secured Government land there at the regular price of $1.25 per acre. At that time the value of land was judged mainly by its timber, and Samuel Odell chose his location in Huron County in preference to one in Erie County largely because of the timber resources. The farm on which Ansel G., his grandson, now lives, was at that time known as white oak opening and could be bought at 75 cents an acre. After locating in Huron County Samuel Odell earned money for the support of his household for several years by making staves in the woods and hauling them to Milan, a distance of more than twenty miles. His first home was a typical log cabin, and after making some improvements on his land he sold his first place, which was situated southeast of Olena, and bought another farm southwest of that village. On transferring his residence he again lived in a simple home such as most people owned at that time, but later erected a substantial frame dwelling, and developed a large farm. He died there when in venerable years. He had been married three times. His first wife was a Miss Wooley, who came from New York State. She died leaving a daughter, Mary J., who married Anson Kellogg. It was the second wife of Samuel Odell who was the mother of William Odell, who in turn was the father of Ansel G. She died in middle life, leaving quite a family of children. Besides William there was Angeline, now the widow of D. K. Gauff, and living in Milan, having one daughter. Another son of Samuel was Joseph Odell, who is living with his son and daughter, Elmer and Ethel, in Huron County near Greenwich. William Odell was born April 22, 1835, in Huron County. He died at the home now owned by Ansel Odell on New Year 's Eve of 1912. He was a man of great variety of experience, but his natural modesty served as a cloak to his achievements, and even members of his own family never heard the full story of his life, particularly of his adventures as a soldier in the Civil war. He grew up in Huron County, and for many years was a trader. The last fifteen years of his life were spent in Milan Township. His service as a Union soldier covered four years twelve days. He was a member of Company C of the One Hundred Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went out from Monroeville. During most of the time he was a private in the ranks, but was discharged as a corporal. He took part in many of the historic battles, including one of the Bull Run engagements, was at Lookout Mountain, at Gettysburg, and in several of the great campaigns before Richmond. At one time he was captured and kept for several months in the notorious Libby Prison. After escaping he was again captured, and this time was sent to Andersonville. While at Andersonville he saved both himself and a comrade, the latter sentenced to be shot on the following day. By a clever maneuver he effected the escape of both himself and his companion and finally reached the Union lines. He had many thrilling experiences as a soldier, but was always reticent on such subjects, and had the modesty characteristic of a truly brave military man. Politically he always voted with the republican party. He married Rachel Phillips. She was born on the old Phillips farm on the Ridge Road in 'Huron County, April 25, 1836. Now feeble with the infirmities of age she is living her son Walter. Ansel G. Odell was born in Eaton County, Michigan, November 9, 1867, during a brief residence of his parents in that state. However, most of his life has been spent in Erie County, and as a boy he attended the little white schoolhouse not far from his present home. He was reared chiefly in the home of his aunt, Mrs. Angeline Gauff. After his 1006 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY marriage he succeeded to the ownership of the farm which he still occupies, and which formerly belonged to 1Vers. Odell's family. For fourteen years prior to his marriage he had conducted the farm as a renter. It is a small but well improved little homestead of nineteen acres, containing a good house and barn, and with an orchard of 240 peach trees. During the summer seasons Mr. Odell deals extensively in fruit in Erie County, and also conducts a good business as a manufacturer of acetylene gas plants. At the home where he now lives Mr. Odell married Miss Anna Curtis. She was born in Ridgefield, Huron County, May 25, 1866, and when a child came with her parents to Curtis Corners or Petersburg in Milan Township, and grew up and received her education there. Tier parents were Ezra D. and Thankful (Winchester) Curtis. Her parents were both natives of New York State, her father born November 7, 1823, at Barry in Orleans County, and her mother born December 20, 1826, in Chautauqua County. They were married July 12, 1848, at Perry in Lake County, Ohio. Ezra D. Curtis was a son of Rev. Henry Curtis, who spent many years as a minister of the Methodist Church. Thankful Winchester was a daughter of Marcus Winchester, who made a notable record as a soldier in the War of 1812 and afterwards died in Huron County, Ohio. After Ezra and Thankful Curtis were married they lived in Waterloo County, Ontario, for several years, and their daughter, Olive R., was born there in 1849. Subsequently they returned to Huron County, lived in Ridgefield Township, and from 1851 to 1854 resided at Perry in Lake County. In April, 1872, they moved to Erie County and bought a small farm at the Petersburg schoolhouse in Milan Township. There Mr. Curtis died November 5, 1900, at the age of seventy-seven years five days. His widow is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Odell, and in December, 1915, celebrates her eighty- ninth birthday. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were always closely identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Odell have an adopted son, Robert A., who was born February 16, 1908. In their religious affiliations they are members of the Friends Church. Mr. Odell is a republican. EMMET PARK. Two enterprising young men who have done much to stimulate manufacturing in Erie County are Emmet Park and Dennis Tucker of the firm of, Park & Tucker, proprietdrs of the plant at Avery, which is run to its full capacity most every working day in the year for the manufacture of tile and brick. They have built up an industry which is more notable for the quality of the output than for the quantity. To manufacture something that is a little better than the ordinary run of material is a sure means to success. The principal output of the Park & Tucker plant is tile, and they make a varied assortment, ranging from three to fifteen inches in diameter. There is perhaps nothing superior to this on the market anywhere, and the firm has had no difficulty in extending the sale of the product to the full capacity of the plant among high grade users of this important clay product, and practically the entire output is taken by dealers and contractors who have patronized this Avery firm for several years or more. Messrs. Park & Tucker have been engaged in this industry for the past twelve years. They bought out the old established plant at Avery, conducted for about fifteen years by Dennis Gilmore, and the tile manufactured here is used in the tiling and draining of land. Both members of the firm are Ohio men, and Mr. Park was born at Olena in Huron County, Ohio, in 1870. He grew up on a farm and was engaged in that industry until he combined with Mr. Tucker in the present industry. His parents were James and Martha (Ersburg) Park, PICTURE OF JAMES K. DOUGLAS HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1007 his father a native of Ireland and his mother of Ohio. They were married in Huron County, and for a number of years farmed in Olena. Mr. Park lost his mother when he was a small child, and the father died in 1897. They were Protestant people and he served as trustee of his home township for a number of years, was for nine years director of the Huron County Infirmary, and in politics was a republican. In June, 1897, Mr. Emmet Park married in Ashland County Miss Sadie A. Berkey. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, September 23, 1870, was reared and educated in Ashland County, and for several years before her marriage was a teacher in the county schools. She is a woman of thorough culture and education, is active in religious work and all the local benevolences. Her father, Christian Berkey, died February 7, 1915, at the age of seventy-four, having for many years been an active farmer. Her mother is now living at :the old home in Ashland County and has reached venerable years. She is a member of the Evangelical Church and her father was a German Baptist. Mrs. Park has a brother, James W. Berkey, who lives in Savannah, Ohio, and has a son named Paul C., and her only sister is Clara 0., who for a number of years has been a teacher in Ashland County. Mr. and Mrs. Park are active workers in the Presbyterian Church at Milan. Besides his interests as a manufacturer Mr. Park and Mr. Tucker own considerable acreage which they have developed intensively as a small farm, improved with excellent buildings. His partner, Dennis Tucker, is an Erie County boy, having been born and reared in Oxford Township. Except for a few years spent in Huron County he has lived in Erie County all of his life, and is a young man of means, industry, thorough ability and high standing. J. K. DOUGLAS, D. D. S. One of the chief branches of professional knowledge upon which mankind is dependent for a maintenance of healthful conditions is that which is connected with the care and preservation of the teeth. Careless habits of living, neglect and indifference continually result in a demand for the first-class practitioner of dentistry. Like other professions, this vocation is constantly advancing, demanding of its devotees constant and continued study in order to keep abreast of its progress. The profession of dentistry is well and honorably represented at Sandusky by Dr. J. K. Douglas, a native of Erie County. Engaged in practice here for more than twenty years, his advancement has been sure and consistent and his high professional standing is evidenced by his incumbency of the office of president of the Northern Ohio Dental Association. Doctor Douglas was born August 26, 1869, in Erie County, Ohio, and is a son of James and Cornelia A. (King) Douglas. His father was born in Canada and was a youth when brought by his parents to the United States in 1833, the family locating in Erie County, Ohio. In young manhood, James Douglas adopted the vocation of fisherman on the Great Lakes, extending his pursuit of the finny tribe from Sandusky, Ohio, to Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was industrious and ambitious, and when he had accumulated the means, invested in farming land in Berlin Township, Erie County, where he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits with success until his death, which occurred in this county in 1900. Mrs. Douglas, who still survives, has reached the advanced age of eighty- three years. The second in a family of three children, J. K. Douglas received his early education in the public schools of Erie County. He was further prepared at the normal school at Milan, and then took a commercial 1008 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY course at the Ohio Normal School at Ada, Ohio, following which he entered upon his professional studies in the dental department of the University of Michigan. Graduating with the class of 1894, he at once entered practice at Sandusky, where by diligent attention to his work he has acquired a profitable patronage, and by keeping himself abreast of all current developments and improved methods in his art has maintained an excellent professional standing and inspired confidence in his skill throughout the community. In the meanwhile his amiable disposition and genial deportment have attracted to him many friends. Doctor Douglas maintains membership in the District Dental Society, in the Ohio State Dental Society, of which he was president one year, in the American Dental Association, and in the Northern Ohio Dental Association, of which he is the chief executive officer at this time. For six years he was a member of the State Board of Dental Examiners. Fraternally, the doctor is a third degree Mason, and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Doctor Douglas was married December 30, 1895, at Sandusky, to Miss Maora B. Hill, who was born in Berlin Heights, Ohio, a daughter of George F. and Mary Hill, also of Berlin Heights, and to this union there has been born. one daughter, Elizabeth, November 13, 1901. On the maternal side of the family, Mrs. James Douglas is a daughter of Gideon King, Jr., who celebrated his golden wedding anniversary in Berlin Township, Erie County, March 20, 1872. Mr. King was the son of Gideon King, of East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York, and was born at East Bloomfield, November 17, 1795, hence he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his marriage at a little more than seventy-six years of age. George King, the grandfather of Gideon King, Jr., died while serving as a lieutenant in the patriot army during the War of the Revolution, and the family is supposed to have descended from Stephen Hopkins, who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620. JOHN B. KURTZ. When farming is conducted skillfully and up to the best standards of modern experience and knowledge it is at once the roost independent and satisfactory of all human vocations. A striking. illustration of this type of modern agriculture is found on the place of John B. Kurtz in Milan Township. Mr. Kurtz has behind him many years of practical experience, and at the same time is a student and observer of agricultural progress; He is a skilled rotation farmer, and can be said literally to 'have effected the achievement of making two blades of grass grow where only one grew before. Measured by its cultivation, its products, and improvements, his is truly one of the most valuable and productive farmsteads in Erie County. The very farm where he now lives and of which he is proprietor was his birthplace, where he first saw the light of day April 2, 1866. In this one locality he spent practically all his life. As a boy he attended the schools of Milan Township, but since 1899 has owned the old farm on his own account. Here are seventy-two acres of as flu land as Erie Oeunty affords. Adjacent to the main farm is another tract of twenty acres, while Mr. Kurtz also owns another place of twenty acres near the Village of Milan. The ninety-two acres in the home farm are fully drained and beautifully improved. One attractive feature of his farm is a grove of fine native timber. Mr. Kurtz grows the very best of crops, corn, wheat, oats and potatoes, and his potato crop produced from ten acres of land yields more than 200 bushels to the acre. For storage and stock shelter Mr. Kurtz has large barns. One of these is a basement structure on a foundation 40x60 feet. There is another large building HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1009 for grain storage and used as a carriage and tool house. The attractive - country residence contains ten rooms, and it is the same house in which Mr. Kurtz was born, but has undergone under his management a number of alterations, enlargements and improvements. He keeps excellent cattle for beef, and feeds a considerable number of stock every year. He also has horses, sheep and hogs. John B. Kurtz is a son of Barthold Kurtz, a record of whose career will be, found on other pages in the sketch of Philip Kurtz. Barthold Kurtz obtained the land- in a wild condition where his son John now lives. This was more than seventy years ago, and the purchase price of some of it was only twenty-five dollars an acre. It was on this farm that Barthold spent his many years of useful activity and died in 1895. Many of the improvements still found on the place are the result of his labors. His wife died there four years before his own death. One of a family of seven children, John B. Kurtz was the one whom filial love and a sense of duty caused to remain at home and take care of his parents as long as they lived. He came into the ownership of the old farm by buying out the interests of the other heirs, and has since cleared up all the financial obligation and debts, and has refused as much as $200 an acre for his place. In politics Mr. Kurtz is a republican. In the old home township Mr. Kurtz married one of his neighbor girls, Miss Sarah Fauser, daughter of George and Mary Melissa (Weichel) Fauser. There were four children born to this honored couple, Carrie, Sarah, Emma and William, and of these Emma died in 1912. Mrs. Kurtz was born and reared and educated in this township, and her parents were German people. Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz became the parents of seven children. Edna, now twenty-four years of age, is a graduate of high school and college and holds a responsible position in Sandusky. Estella married Floyd Rockwell and died at the birth of her first child, Elmer Rockwell, who is now living with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz. Arthur completed his education in the Milan High School and is now a farmer in Erie County, and his brother John is likewise placed in life. Cleo died when three years of -age. Sarah Elizabeth and Paul Rolland are both at home and students in the public schools. PHILIP KURTZ. A resident of Erie County nearly all his life, Mr. Kurtz is the owner of a valuable farm in Milan Township, where he pursues his industry as a general farmer and stock raiser near Spears Corners. This has been his home for the past twenty-six years. Mr. Kurtz is not only one of the progressive and successful agriculturists of the county, but an upright, loyal and public spirited citizen. The Kurtz farm comprises 180 acres, and most of it is under cultivation, while there is some acreage of good timber and considerable pasture land. Mr. Kurtz and family reside in an attractive rural home of nine rooms, and among other improvements that should be mentioned is a large barn built on a basement and with foundations 40x70 feet. The entire place presents a picture of comfortable prosperity, and the possession of such a home is an adequate reward for the enterprise and ambition of any progressive man. The birth of Philip Kurtz occurred in Milan Township, September 13, 1864, not far from the Village of Milan. He grew up and received his education in this locality, and for fully thirty years has been numbered among the substantial farmers. He is of German ancestry, a son of Barthold and Elizabeth ( Wihl) Kurtz. His father was born in 1822 along the River Rhine, and was still a young man when in 1844 he embarked on a sailing vessel at Bremen, and unaccompanied by relatives or friends, set out for America. After a voyage of nine weeks he landed 1010 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY at New York, and soon afterward arrived in Huron, Ohio. Some years later he met and married in this county Miss Wihl. Who was also a native of Germany, and had come with friends to the United States when a young girl. Both her parents had died when she was about two or three years old. After their marriage Barthold Kurtz and wife lived in the vicinity of Milan, where he combined the occupation of tailor and of farmer. He assisted his brother Henry, who for many years conducted a tailor shop in Milan. Both had learned their trade in Germany. Barthold Kurtz subsequently took up farming as his exclusive vocation and became the owner of seventy acres at North Milan. After effecting many improvements in the place he died there in April, 1904. His wife passed away in February, 1892, at the age of sixty-two. They were members of the German Lutheran Church, and helped to build up the church of that denomination at Monroeville. In politics he was a democrat. A brief record of their children is as follows : Mary is the wife of Fred Ayes and lives in Marion County, Kansas,, and has two sons and four daughters ; Henry, who owns a farm in Milan Township, married Nettie Moore, of Milan, and they have one son and two daughters living, and lost one son at the age of twenty-three; Sophia is the wife of Riley Smith, and they live at Hastings, Nebraska, and have four sons and two daughters. Elizabeth B. is the widow of Benjamin F. Willcox, who died in Milan Township in 1904 and she now lives with her daughter Belle in Toledo, and her other children are Matilda, Harry and Dora, while two sons arc deceased, and all her children are married except Belle; Adam, who is a meat dealer in Clayton, Ohio, has three sons and a daughter; and John B., a farmer, of North Milan, married and has five children living, two daughters and three sons. On the farm where he now resides Mr. Kurtz was married to Miss Lizzie Anna Willcox. She comes of an old Ohio family, was born at Bowling Green in Wood County, September 18, 1870. When about four years of age she came to Milan Township with her parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Root) Willcox. Her father was born in Connecticut, and when a young man set out for California, making the voyage around the Cape Horn and spending some years in the lumber business in the West. On returning East he came by way of the isthmus, and soon afterwards settled in Erie County in Milan Township, where he married Miss Root, who was born in Erie County. Later Mr. Wilcox lived three years in Illinois, came back to Erie County, and from there moved to Wood County, Ohio, where he conducted a large farm of 320 acres for seven years, and then for thirty-five years was engaged in the operation of the old Root farm at Spears Corners of Milan Township. From ,there he once more removed to Bowling Green in Wood County and died there in 1913 at the age of eighty-one. His widow is still living, being now seventy-five years of age. Mrs. Kurtz was one of three children. Her brother Robert died at the age of forty, leaving one son, Hart. Her sister Martha is the wife of George Chapman and they live at Bowling Green. To Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz have been born two children : Maude E., born April 19, 1890, attended the public schools and a business college, and is now the wife of Berton Karbler, a farmer in Sandusky County, and their one child is named Mildred E. Grover G., who was born August 16, 1891, also attended the public schools, finishing his education in the normal school at Sandusky, and is now at home. Mr. Kurtz and family attend the Presbyterian Church, and he and his son are democratic voters. HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1011 JOHN UPPER. There is a fine farm in Milan Township, not far from Avery and on Rural Route No. 2 out of Milan, which is a significant testimonial to the thrift and industry of a splendid German-American citizen, the late John Upper, and continues to bear fruit and furnish a home of beauty and comfort to its present proprietor, Miss Rena Upper, his daughter, who probably deserves first rank among the women of Erie County who are classed as farm owners and managers. The late John Upper was born at Gittersdorf, Hessfeldt, Germany, August 30, 1809. He lived a long and industrious career, was a man of sound physical and mental stock, and had passed the eighty-seventh milestone of his mortal journey when he died at the old home on Milan Road near Avery, September 10, 1896. His father, also John Upper, spent all his life as a prosperous and thrifty farmer in Germany, and in the same locality where John Upper was born. Both parents died when about seventy years of age, and were lifelong communicants of the Presbyterian church. The late John Upper was the oldest in a family of three sons and three daughters. Two of the daughters came to America, Elizabeth and Barbara, they married in this country and left descendants. Elizabeth's one son, John, is now deceased, while Barbara's children are living in Missouri. The father being a man in comfortable circumstances, John Upper grew up in Germany without any severe test of his practical ability as a working man. He was liberally educated, and at the age of twenty-four, when still unmarried, took passage on a sailing vessel at Bremen in the fall of 1834 and after seven weeks reached New York City. From there he came on to Milan in Erie County, and here first became acquainted with real privation and hardship. Unused to physical labor and without experience, he found great difficulty in finding employment, and literally had to sell part of his clothes before he could supply his daily wants. He finally got work at wages of twenty-five cents a day, and after that was continuously employed for a period of ten years by Laban Lowrey, a well known Erie County farmer. John Upper proved not only an efficient farm hand, but also exercised a degree of economy and thrift such as seems marvelous at the present time. At the end of seven years, though his wages were always small, as measured by modern standard, he had accumulated $1,400 capital, which he had loaned out at interest. Three years later he bought fourteen acres near what is now the Village of Avery. This he thoroughly improved, and invested from time to time in more land until his estate comprised sixty-one acres. Practically all of it had formerly been covered by a heavy growth of timber, and he cut his land from the forest, subdued the wild soil, and continued to cultivate crops there for one season after the other until the close of his period of activity, which was almost coextensive with his life. John Upper was a strong democrat in politics, and was frequently solicited to accept such offices in his home county as county commissioner and township trustee, though he was not an aspirant for such honors. He also was a regular attendant and a worker in the Presbyterian Church at Milan. At the age of forty-four, in Milan, John Upper married Miss Anna Gertrude Wicker. She was born in Mawden, Germany, January 3, 1830, and in young womanhood came to the United States with five girl companions. It required nine weeks for her to make the voyage on an old fashioned sailing vessel from Bremen to New York, and from that city she came by way of the Hudson River and the Erie Canal to Buffalo, and thence to Huron, Ohio. In the same year she made the acquaintance of John Upper, and they were married. She was an old-fashioned housewife, devoted to her children and home, and took great pride in keeping her house spotlessly clean and constantly adorned with those touches 1012 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY of beauty and comfort which the true housewife knows so well how to produce. She died very suddenly at the old homestead December 26, 1894. After her marriage she became, like her husband, a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church. She was generous both in her home and among her friends and in church, and there are many who will recall with gratitude this splendid woman who spent so many years in Erie County. In the family of John Upper and wife were three daughters. Elizabeth first married John Reer, and her two children are by that marriage, namely : Rena, who died after her marriage to Albert Phillips, leaving a daughter, Gertrude E., now ten years of age ; and Fred Reer, who is married and has two sons named Raymond and Harold. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Reer married Louis Light, and they now live on a fine farm at Shinrock.in Berlin Township. The youngest daughter of the late John Upper was Mary, who was also twice married. Her first husband was Martin Wicker, who was a farmer. She then married Conrad H. Cook. She died not long after her second marriage in 1902. There are no children surviving her. Miss Rena Upper, the second child of John Upper, grew up on the farm where she was born and where she still lives. She was devoted to the care and welfare of both her parents as long as they lived, and has never married. Miss Upper is a woman of thorough intelligence and refinement and is especially distinguished among her neighbors for the skillful manner in which she conducts the forty-one acres of the fine farm which she inherited from her father. For many years she has made this farm produce abundant crops and fine stock, and the grounds about the old home she has rendered a triumph of effective landscape gardening. There is a beautiful lawn in front of the house, she grows flowers of many varieties, and has a neat and well kept garden. It is almost literally true that both the house and the grounds surrounding it are swept and kept clean every day. Miss Upper is a vivacious, witty and intelligent woman, keeps well posted on the affairs of the day, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is insistently active in endeavoring to do good in her community. JOHN SCHARER. Since the primary object of the history of any county is to preserve the names and careers of those citizens who have been longest identified with the community, there is special fitness in referring to the name and family of John Scharer, who has spent all his life in one locality of Milan Township, and whose parents were among the thrifty German immigrants of fifty or sixty years ago who so largely shaped and moulded the destinies of many agricultural communities in America. The enterprise of John Scharer marked him out conspicuously among the general farmers and stock raisers of Milan Township. His home is on the Milan Road, and besides raising and feeding stock he also conducts a butcher business. His farm comprises 107 acres, well drained, with excellent soil, and improved with first class buildings. Conspicuous in the group of farm buildings is the large barn, 58x30 feet. His white house with green trimmings contains eight rooms, and he and his family have always lived in comfort and solid prosperity. Another feature that adds value to his farm and convenience to the social life of the community is the interurban electric line that passes almost by his doorway. Mr. Scharer makes his fields produce most abundant crops of the leading cereals. He takes from thirty to forty bushels of wheat from each acre, his corn crop frequently runs over 100 bushels an acre, and he usually expects about eighty bushels of oats. Like other progressive farmers, Mr. Scharer follows the rotation plan in crops, and HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1013 conserves the fertility of his soil by putting back in one form or another all the resources which his crops drain from the soil. One of his chief means of keeping up the quality of his soil is successive planting of clover in the different fields previously occupied by grain crops. He also grows large quantities of potatoes, about 800 or 1,000 bushels each season. Another crop which he has specialized in has been barley, which . on his fields yields about fifty bushels per acre: For twenty years Mr. Scharer has owned the farm to which he now gives intelligent management, as is indicated by the above statistics. Ile has handled it so well that it is now worth fully $200 an acre. It was on this farm and in the house he now owns and occupies that Mr. Scharer was born, October 2, 1865. He grew up in this one community, obtained his education from the local schools, and has been steadily at work in improving his land, doing his share of the work of the world for fully thirty years. Mr. Scharer speaks, reads and writes both the English and German languages. His parents were John and Caroline (Schmidt) Scharer. His father was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, in 1826, while his mdther was born in 1835 at Baden, Germany. The paternal grandparents spent all their lives in Switzerland. In 1856 John Scharer immigrated to the United States. There were few steam vessels making the voyage back and forth across the Atlantic at that time, and he came in a sailing vessel, which endured rough seas and was forty-eight days in crossing. After landing in New York he came West to Sandusky, and soon found employment on a farm in Groton Township. While thus employed he met and married in 1858 Miss Schmidt, who had come about the same time as her husband from Germany with her mother, her father having died in the fatherland. She worked as a domestic with a family in Groton Township until her marriage. For about four years after they began housekeeping they lived on a farm and conducted it on shares in Groton Township. From there they moved to Milan Township and in 1862 bought the land which is now the site of John Scharer's notable agricultural enterprise. The father was an industrious, unassuming and upright citizen, and his death occurred in Milan, Township February 10, 1897. Some years later his wife was taken ill and died in the state hospital May 15, 1909. The parents now rest side by side in a cemetery which the father carved out of his own farm about half a century ago. Both were confirmed members of the Lutheran Church, having been reared in that faith in the old country, and they were among the organizers of the Lutheran Church at Union Corners. They were strong supporters and liberal givers to its work and maintenance and in the handsome new church edifice which was dedicated on February 28, 1915, their son John has placed a memorial window as a token of his love to his parents and of their active influence in building up this church. The Lutheran Church at Union Corners was organized in 1866, and its complete membership at that time comprised Peter Scheid, John Scharer, John Smith, Henry Rau, Philip Schnell, Jacob Schnell, Jacob Nicholas, William Hart, Henry Zorn, Jacob Bauer, Ernest Brown, and their respective families. The first church was built in 1868, and for half a century it has been one of the important centers of Lutheran church people in Erie County. In the family of John and Caroline Scharer there were seven children : Jacob, now deceased ; John ; William ; Carl, deceased ; Caroline; Elizabeth ; and Johanna, deceased. Three of these died as children, and those still living are all married. John Scharer after reaching manhood was married on a farm adjoining his own to Miss Hannah Bachmann. Mrs. Scharer was born on the farm where she was married October 28, 1868, grew up there and 1014 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY has always lived within a few stones' throw of her birthplace. Her parents were John and Maria (Bauer) Bachmann. Her father was born in Hessen, Germany, and her mother in Wuertemberk in that country, and as young people came to America by sailing vessel, locating, in Erie County during the decade of the '50s. They grew up , there, married, and after that event worked hard for a number of years, in order to get a start and lay the foundations for home and family. Mr. Bachmann finally bought sixty-five acres, to which he subsequently added by purchase twenty-eight acres and later thirty-three acres, and this land, all adjoining and in one body he developed into an excellent farm before his death, which occurred August 15, 1884. He was then forty-five years of age, and though taken away prematurely, had accomplished a great deal to make his name respected and remembered by his descendants. His widow died in 1905 at the age of sixty-five. They were among the charter members of the union Corners Lutheran Church, in which he served as a deacon for many years. Mrs. Scharer was one of several children. John, Mary, Elizabeth and Minnie are still living, while one sister, Catherine, died after her marriage, and other children died when quite young. Mr. and Mrs. John. Scharer have a happy household circle. Their son Albert, who is now employed with one of the electric railway lines at Sandusky, married Dora Jasper, and has two children named Margaret and Bernice. Laura is the wife of Lloyd Hart, and they live on a good farm in Milan Township and have two children, Alverna and Vesta. Meta, now twenty years of age, received her education in the public schools and is living at home ; Norma is eighteen years of age and is also at home. John, aged sixteen, is a bright ana ambitious student still attending the local schools, while the youngest, Lester, is twelve years of age and is also a schoolboy. Mr. and Mrs. Scharer and their family have all been confirmed as members of the Lutheran Church. Politically he is a republican. HENRY J. KELLEY The youngest man ever elected to the Board of County Commissioners in Erie County is Henry J. Kelley, who was not quite twenty-seven years old when that honor was paid him, and who is still giving much of his time and attention to the duties and respon sibilities of this office. There is perhaps no better known citizen of Erie County than Henry J. Kelley, and he is a splendid representative of the young and vigorous type of business men, farmers and citizens. He has large possessions in the agricultural district of the county, and also carries on a considerable business as a dealer in sand. His home is in Milan. In that township he has spent most of his life, was graduated from the Milan High School, graduated in 1907 from the Cleveland University School, and for one year was a student in Cornell University. Mr. Kelley is one of the ablest athletes who ever went from Erie County into the larger circles of collegiate and university sports. At Cornell he made a great reputation on the football team, and has been a follower of clean and wholesome sport since boyhood. He is essentially a student, particularly in the lines of applied science and politics. When only twenty-four years of age he was elected trustee of Milan Township and resigned from his first term in order to accept the nomination for county commissioner. He is a natural leader of men, and politics is a natural element for him. His large portly stature and commanding figure, furnishing a picture of rugged health, a vigorous mind in a vigorous body, have had much to do with his ability to make progress in business and politics. Commissioner Kelley ha's the frank, open and genial nature and thorough honesty which generates confidence wherever he goes. Ever since coming to years of manhopd he has been PICTURE OF HENRY J. KELLY HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1015 a leader in the republican party of Erie County. Nominally Mr. Kelley is a farmer, owns a substantial property near Milan, though other affairs have taken so much of his time that it has become necessary to rent his valuable place and give over its cultivation to others. Among other interests he handles coal and has established a successful business. Mr. Kelley was born in Milan September 17, 1888, and has many interesting relationships with some of the older families of Erie County. His parents were Frank and Ora Ann (Williams) Kelley. His father was born in Erie County, December 2, 1855, and the name of his parents was Streeter, and they died and left him an orphan, and when twenty months of age he was adopted and. took the name of Capt. Henry Kelley. Captain Kelley was one of the fine old figures in early Erie County. He was born near Rochester, New York, March 1, 1816, and was himself orphaned when a child and grew up to the trades of ship carpenter and builder. He came to Milan when that village was one of the greatest ship building centers in America. Later he became prominent as a lake captain, and was master of the Surprise, the Monsoon, the Minot, the Mitchell, the Day Spring, and other boats that helped to handle the great grain cargoes that went out of the port of Huron. From 1831 for thirty years he was a sailor and master of boats on Lake Erie, keeping his home in Milan, where he spent his later years in quiet retirement and died in 1903 at the age of eighty-seven. He was a wealthy and prominent citizen, served the village as mayor, and also served as county commissioner for one term. He was first a whig and later a republican in politics. Captain Kelley married Betsey Jones, who was of Welsh family. She died in Milan some years before her husband. Frank Kelley, under the direction of his foster parents, was given a substantial education in Milan and in the Oberlin. Business College. He took up a career as a farmer and was also interested in various business matters at Milan. He has long occupied a substantial place in the community, and owns and occupies one of the most commodious homes of the village, having accumulated a substantial fortune through his long continued work as a farmer and business man. On May 30, 1877, in Milan Township, Frank Kelley married Ora Ann Williams. The Williams family is one of the oldest and best known in Erie County. Ora Ann Williams was born on her father's farm near Milan, March 3, 1856, and died June 23, 1907. She was a woman of splendid qualities of mind and heart, and performed nobly every relationship imposed upon her as daughter, wife and mother. Her father is the venerable John L. Williams, who is now almost a century old and is passing his rapidly declining years in the Kelley home at Milan. John L. Williams was born in Wayne County, Ohio, November 4, 1816, a son of Daniel and Catherine (Harney) Williams. The parents were born and reared and married in Center County, Pennsylvania, and after four children were born to them there they set out in 1813 and became pioneers in Wayne County, Ohio, locating in the wilderness of Perry Township, where the father fashioned a cabin out of the logs from fresh cut trees on the site, and started his improvements on the land among the Indians and surrounded by the dense forest filled with wild game of all kinds. John L. Williams was the second white child born in that township. After he and the other children were partly grown, Daniel Williams moved and pushed into the new lands at Milan Township and Erie County. He came here during the '20s and secured a fine property two miles east of Milan Village. That farm is still owned by his descendants. Daniel Williams improved the land, and both he, and his wife died there at the home of their son John, Daniel at the age of seventy-nine and his wife at the age of seventy-six. They now lie side 1016 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY by side in the old Milan cemetery, where many of their descendants are also buried. Daniel Williams and wife were among the earliest members of the Methodist Protestant Church in Erie County, and had much to do with the founding and upbuilding of that denomination. John L. was the first of their five sons and seven daughters born in Ohio. All of them are now deceased except John, who in many ways is a most remarkable centenarian. His descendants and other members of younger generations can have only admiration and wonder at the tremendous work he was able to do in his time in improving the large farm which he has subsequently donated to other members of the family. He remained active and vigorous until past eighty years of age, and even after that was found almost daily working in his garden and performing other chores. He has reached a fullness of years such as seldom is bestowed upon mortal men, and by all is honored for his upright character and will bear the love and veneration of his large circle of friends and family to the grave. He has voted the republican ticket ever since that party was organized. In Wayne County, Ohio, John L. Williams married Mary, daughter of Peter Pittenger. She was born in Perry Township of Wayne County, near the old Williams home in 1824, and died at Milan in 1891. Like her husband, she possessed a large list of old time friends and neighbors, and some of them survive to mourn her loss. To the marriage of Frank Kelley and wife were born a son and a daughter : Henry J. and Bessie May. Miss Bessie May is a highly educated and cultured young woman. She graduated from the Milan High School and from Oberlin College, took normal training in the Ypsilanti (Michigan) Normal, gained a life certificate as a teacher, and for several years taught in Michigan. She is a musician and artist, and some of her delicate and faithful pictures adorn the beautiful Kelley home. Commissioner Kelley also has a wife and family. He was married at Norwalk to Miss Helen G. Harrington. She was bprn in Columbus, Ohio, April 28, 1889, was reared and received her education in Norwalk, and is a young woman of many qualities of social leadership and interested in the various social programs of Milan. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley have a daughter, Jean Elizabeth, born October 26, 1911. The family are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church: Mrs. Kelley is a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Lamb) Harrington, who now make their home at Milan, Mr. Harrington being connected with the American Publishing Company of Norwalk. WILLIAM H. BEUTEL. In Erie County as elsewhere the day of the loose farming methods has almost passed. Farming is now both a practical and scientific business, and many of the most successful are pursuing it according to the intensive methods, making one acre grow what the old-fashioned farmer produced on two or three acres. There is probably do better and practical illustration of this new era in agricultural enterprise than is furnished by the firm of Beutel Brothers, farmers and stock raisers in Milan Township. These brothers are sturdy young Germans, and in the course of twenty years have developed a business which is an object of pride to the entire township and would compare favorably in management and productiveness with any of the larger industrial and business concerns of the county. The partners are Carl G. and William H. Beutel. Their fine farm is located on the main road between Sandusky and Milan, and another valuable feature is the convenience of their farni to the line of the electric interurban road. These brothers have accumulated 211 acres of land. It is the fine soil with good bottom, and they have invested a HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1017 large amount of money in under-draining. They have two complete sets of farm buildings, and one of their barns is not surpassed in size and convenience of arrangement in the entire township. This barn stands on a basement foundation 40 by 70 feet. The Beutel Brothers believe in efficiency and have equipped this barn according to the results of their own experience so as to furnish the promptest and most satisfactory results. They handle the various details of their farm in the same way that a competent factory owner would get the best results from his men and machinery. It was in 1894 that the Beutel Brothers started as farmers and stock raisers in this community, beginning with only a nucleus of their present handsome estate. They first bought forty-two acres, later added forty acres, and in 1906 purchased 127 acres adjoining. Their land is capable of growing every crop suited to this soil and climate, and in the past year their fields of wheat, thirty-seven acres, have produced about forty bushels to the acre, and the yield of oats has been about fifty bushels to the acre. They also grow corn, and have meadows of hay and clover. They employ the rotation plan of crop management, and every few years a field that has grown corn or other cereal is planted in clover in order to restore the richness of the soil. Both the brothers are also practical stock raisers, and each year feed up a large herd of steers, keep a number of cows, about 100 head of sheep and some hogs. Practically every bushel of grain and every pound of forage crop raised on their fields is fed in their own barn lot, and they are constantly building up their place and it is getting more valuable every year, whether measured from a standpoint of money value per acre or from fertility. The Beutel Brothers were both born in Wuertemberg, Germany. Carl G. was born. in 1865, and his brother William Henry was born in 1874. They grew up and received their education according to the German standards and practices; and the first of them to come to America was William H., who made the journey across the ocean and located in Erie County in 1891. Later in the same year his brother Carl G. and their sister Amelia and their father, Christian Beutel, likewise came to this country. Christian Beutel died in Erie County in 1909, when seventy-four years of age. He was a baker by trade, had followed that occupation in Germany, and his son Carl G. had also been trained along the same lines. William H. learned the trade of butcher, and that was his means of self-support after coming to America prior to embarking in his present business as a farmer and stock raiser. The sister Amelia is now the wife of Fred Ruff, an engineer living at Sandusky. The mother of these children died in Germany in 1889 at the age of forty-eight. Her maiden name was Catherine Bauer. All the family are members of the Lutheran Church, the sons are democrats, and their father adhered to the same political faith. C. VICTOR TURNER. When a citizen of any community has lived to the age of more than three score and ten years, maintaining through all vicissitudes an unblemished character, faithfully meeting the obligations incident to his lot and discharging with manly fidelity the duties incumbent upon him in all the relations of life, it is eminently appropriate that the story of his career be placed in enduring form. The foregoing lines apply with obvious pertinence to C. Victor Turner, of Milan Township, who as soldier, citizen and agriculturist is entitled to the good will and esteem of the people of his community, among whom he has lived and labored for so many years. Mr. Turner was born in a log cabin on the old Turner homestead in Milan Township, a part of which property he. still occupies, November Vol. II-35 1018 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY 20, 1843, and is a son of Alvin and Sophia (Carpenter) Turner. His grandfather was Peter Turner, a native of Connectieut; who moved as a young man to Massachusetts, and later, as an early pioneer, to Victor, Ontario County, New York. Alvin Turner was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and as a boy was taken to Victor, New fork, where he resided until 1835. In that year, deciding to seek his fortunes in the West, he mounted his horse and traveled across the country to Ohio, where, in company with his brother, Benjamin D., he purchased 344 acres of land, along each side of the Huron and Milan Road, in Milan Township, paying therefor at the rate of $12 per acre. This land was but partly improved, but the brothers settled down to its cultivation and continued to operate it as partners until the death of Benjamin D. Turner. At that time one-half of the property was deeded to his widow by Alvin Turner, who took over the management of the other half and continued as its owner until his death in 1865. He was an industrious, thrifty, painstaking and progressive farmer, practical in his views yet possessed of the courage to try new methods, and out of his labors won a satisfying success. He improved his land in numerous ways, and his substantial farm buildings included a large and well equipped barn and a brick house of modern construction and attractive' appearance. When he came to Ohio it was as a bachelor, but in 1844 he was married in Milan Township to a young Quakeress, Sophia Carpenter, who was born in Westchester County, New York, who had been brought as a child to Ohio. She was born 1807 and died in 1882, at the age of seventy-five years, in the faith of the Episcopal Church, which she and her husband had supported in their declining years. Mr. Turner was active in the councils of the democratic party, although his only interest in public life was that taken by a public-spirited citizen. There were three sons in the family, all of whom became soldiers during the Civil war : Martin V., C. Victor and George V. Martin V. Turner was engaged in farming until the Civil war, when he enlisted and served for some months in Company C, Eighty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and when his services were completed returned to his agricultural pursuits. He died at the Soldiers' Home at Sandusky, at the age of seventy-one years, leaving two sons. George V. Turner was for two years a member of Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and while serving on the skirmish line in front of Atlanta, was shot through the lungs, two of his ribs being knocked loose from his spinal column. Although apparently mortally wounded, lie was taken to the hospital, made a quick recovery and was paroled to his home, and after a few months was sufficiently well to rejoin his regiment at the front. He was honorably discharged at the close of the war and returned to his home where he carried on farming pursuits until his retirement, and since that time has been living at the Old Soldiers' Home, at Sandusky. He has been the father of five children, of whom three are living. One of his sons, Alvin Turner, was a marine on the battleship Oregon, the flagship of the Pacific fleet, at the time of the Boxer troubles in China, in which he met his death, his body being returned to San Francisco, California, and interred in the National Cemetery. Another of his sons, Frank Turner, has been in the United States Army for sixteen years, participated in the war with the Philippines, and now has headquarters at Pensacola, Florida. On the Soldiers' Monument at Sandusky, on the roll of the heroes who fought in defense of liberty, are to be found the names of Martin V., C. Victor and George V. Turner. C. Victor Turner was reared and educated in Erie County, attending the district and normal schools, and when but eighteen years of age, July 22, 1862, enlisted in Company M. First Ohio Heavy Artillery, as a private, Capt. H. J. Bly., Col. C. r. Hawley. The regiment went first HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1019 to Covington, Kentucky, where it was in defense of Cincinnati until February, 1864; when the command was transferred to Knoxville, Tennessee, in defense of the railroads in that state. While Mr. Turner experienced numerous hardships during his, army life, he never saw heavy fighting, and returned to his. home safely after receiving his honorable discharge at the close of the war at Knoxville, being mustered out of the service at Camp Dennison. Since that time he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits, and at the present time is the owner of 100 acres of very desirable land., all under a high state of cultivation and improved with up-to-date buildings and other improvements. His operations have been successful, for he has brought to his labor industry, intelligence and well-directed energy, and today he is considered one of the substantial men of his community. Always a democrat in his political views, Mr. Turner has been active in his party's interests. He has at various times been a delegate to county, judicial and congressional conventions, was elected a member of the board of commissioners for Erie County in 1883 and served in that capacity for three years. His reputation among those with whom he has had transaction is that of an honorable and upright man, reliable in his dealings and faithful in all his engagements. Mr. Turner was married in 1873, in Huron Township, Erie County, Ohio, to Miss Rhoda A. Hardy, who was born in Lorain County, Ohio, January 16, 1851, and was reared and educated in that county until she was sixteen years of age, since which time she has resided in Huron and Milan Townships, Erie County. She is a daughter of Charles and Katharine (Whitney) Hardy, natives,of Binghamton, New York, who had come as children with their respective parents to Lorain County, and lived in Camden Township as fdrmers all their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy spent some twelve years in Erie County and then returned to Lorain County, where their parents had died, and where they, too, passed away, both past sixty years and in the faith of the Christian Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Turner there has been born one son: Wade H., born in 1876, who was educated in the local schools and at Oberlin College, and since that time has been a farmer, at present operating the home farm and residing with his parents. He married Miss Dora Moore, of Milan Township, and they have five children : Alvin M., eight years . old and attending school; Ella M., who is six years old and also a pupil ; Grace A., aged four years ; and Claud and Clark, twins, aged eighteen months. WILLIAM MOLT. Erie County has no better source of supply for fine bakery products than the Molt establishment at Milan. William Molt is a practical, and scientific baker, and an excellent businessman as well, and at Milan, which has been his home for about twenty years, he has conducted and built up an enterprise which is a credit to that village. His success has all been made since he came to America a poor boy about a quarter of a century ago. He was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, June 21, 1870. In the same locality where he was born both his parents and his grandparents lived and died. His grandfather was a farmer. William Molt is a son of John and Maggie (Weiler) Molt. His mother's father was George Weiler, who had a reputation in that section of Germany as a flour miller. His son George Weiler served in the German Revolution of 1848, and was so severely injured that he died soon after his discharge. All these families were closely identified with the German Lutheran Church. John Molt died in Germany at the age of seventy-three, and his wife at the age of fifty. They were the parents of six sons and two daughters. Four of the sons and one daughter came to the United States. 1020 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY William Molt came to this country with his brother Jacob in company with their uncle Charles Molt. They emigrated in 1887, starting from Bremen and making an unusually quick passage for those days, only six days and six hours elapsing from the time they left Bremen until they arrived in New York City. From there they came on to Cleveland, lived in that city for about seven years, and the uncle then moved out to Wayne County, Illinois, where he is still living on his farm and has a wife and children. Later two other Molt brothers came to this country, Fred and John. Fred became a farmer and is now living in the State of Oregon and has a family. John located in Chicago, and for six or eight months was employed in a sausage factory, and while engaged in that work accidentally fell into a vat containing boiling water and died as a result of injury. He left a widow and four children back in Germany, where his widow still lives. Jacob Molt, who came with his brother William to this country, died while working at Norwalk, Ohio, and was still unmarried. In 1893, William Molt came to Milan. As a boy back in Germany he had learned the trade of baker in the fine old university Town of Goeppingen, and worked as a journeyman while living in Cleveland for seven years. On going to Milan he bought a small, bakeshop and has since employed his own technical ability as a baker and his business judgment to build up and extend his enterprise to one of the best in Erie County. The output of his ovens include about 2,500 loaves of bread each week and a large variety of other bakery products, which have a wide sale and are recognized as standard goods of the class. Mr. Molt's business is conducted in a large and prominent block, with a frontage of 51 1/2 feet and 70 feet in depth. Half of his store is fitted up as an ice cream parlor. Another branch of his business is the handling of flour and feed, and he also has a shelf loaded with a supply of sundry groceries. This block was formerly known as the Andrews Block, but after Mr. Molt came into possession of ft he remodeled it and it is now known as the Molt Block.   In Milan Village Mr. Molt married Miss Augusta Collman. She was born in Milan, grew up and received her education there and is a daughter of Herman and Louisa (King) Coltman. Her father was born in Wuertemberg and her mother in Bavaria. Her mother came to this country with her parents when she was thirteen years of age and they located in Huron, where she was reared and lived until her marriage. Her grandfather, Ernst King, went out to California following the discovery of gold on the Pacific Coast during 1849-50, and was never heard of again. Within less than a year his wife had died of grief because of his absence. Herman Coltman and wife were married in Milan, and he was a ship and house carpenter by trade, and died during the winter of 1.897 at the age of sixty-four. His widow passed away March 14, 1915, at the age of eighty-one. They were members of the Lutheran Church and he was a republican in politics, There were ten children in the Collman family, including Fred, George, Mrs. Molt, Louis, John and Mark. John and Mark are still unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Molt take an active interest in the work of the Presbyterian Church at Milan. In local affairs his name has been usefully and influentially associated with the village for a number of years. He has served as a member of the water board and is now on the city council. Politically he votes with the republican organization. The principles and benefits of fraternalism have always appealed to Mr. Molt, and he is identified with several of the older and standard organizations. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 239 of the Masons, with the Royal Arch Chapter No. 135 at Milan. with the Council No. 24 R. & S. M. and with the Knight Templar Commandery No. 18 at Norwalk. He is also interested HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1021 in the Scottish Rite degrees and belongs to the Consistory at Toledo and to-the Temple of the Mystic Shrine in the same city. In Odd Fellowship he belongs to the Lodge at Milan, of which he is a past grand, and to the Encampment at Norwalk. Mr. 1\lolt is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. CAPT. HUGH HASTINGS. Of the many fine characters that sailed the Great Lakes it is doubtful if there was one who represented a better type of physical manhood and thorough manliness than the late Capt. Hugh Hastings, who is deserving of long memory in Erie County, particularly at Milan, where he lived for more than half a century and where his widow and daughter still have their beautiful home. Captain Hastings was a true sailor, and life on the water was to him a delight as well as a profession. He lived past eighty years, and to the last retained the splendid physical proportions which were an excellent environment for his sterling character.. He made a most imposing figure on the bridge of the vessels which he commanded on Lake Erie for many years, and while he was a strict disciplinarian and a prompt and vigorous executive, he was also noted for his essential kindliness in his relations with subordinates. His life began in County Down, Ireland, October 6, 1834, and came to a close in the beautiful home at Milan, January 6, 1915. His father, Robert Hastings, was of an old Protestant Scotch-Irish family of County Down. The splendid physical attributes which Captain Hastings exemplified were more or less characteristic of the entire family, since most of them were large in build and proportions, and distinguished for strength of body and mind Robert Hastings married a native of his own county and in 1840 the little family set out for the United States. The voyage was made on a slow sailing vessel, and from New York they came on west by the Hudson River, Erie Canal route to Buffalo, and thence in a small boat to Huron and Milan. At that time Milan was the center of traffic in Northern Ohio for the grain products raised in the surrounding agricultural neighborhood, and was also one of the prominent ship building centers around the lake. Besides the parents there were the following children who came to Milan fully seventy-five years ago : Jane, Hugh, James, Robert, Jr. and Maria. Two others were born at Milan, William and Maggie. All these are now living except Jane and the late Captain Hugh and all of them married and had families except Robert, Jr. Robert Hastings, the father, after coming to Milan acquired a few acres of land, and followed farming. His wife died when about three score years of age at Huron. The father later worked on the lake on boats captained by his son, and at his death was quite an old man. Robert and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church and in politics he was a republican. Capt. Hugh Hastings grew up in Milan, acquired his education there, and from early childhood all his desires and thoughts were of a seafaring life. While a child back in his Irish home, which was close to the sea, he would stand for hours watching the vessels that sailed by, and this early longing and imagination proved the dominating influence in his life. When still a boy he gained his first practical experience on lake boats and when hardly past twenty-one was master of a vessel, the Darian. Later he became captain of the Jura, the Hyphen, the Amaranth and others, and for ten years was in command of several vessels operated by the Valentine Fries Company. After more than forty years in the lake service he retired in 1900, and there was no veteran mariner on the lake who had a better record for efficiency, for safe conduct of his vessel and cargoes, and for all round ability as a seaman than Captain Hastings. In lake marine circles he was one of the most familiar figures 1022 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY and had a host of friends and acquaintances at every port around Lake Erie, and it is of record that he made the fastest run of an master between the ports of Toledo and Buffalo. In the meantime his home for a great many years had been at Milan and there he spent the months when lake navigation was closed, and lived there in quiet retirement for the fifteen years before his death. His wife, while he was away engaged in his duties, put up the beautiful home in which she now resides. This is a twelve-room modern residence on Center Street, and is located on the same lot where they occupied a small cottage after their marriage more than fifty years ago. For ten years Captain Hastings was a member of the cemetery board at Milan and held that position at the time of his death. He was a strong republican, a Blue Lodge Mason with Milan Lodge 239, F. & A. M., and had maintained that affiliation since he was twenty-five years of age. At the Village of Milan September 23, 1864, Capt. Hugh Hastings married Miss Elizabeth E. Edridge. She was born in Norwalk, Ohio, seventy-four years ago, but was reared and educated at Milan, and had taught school before her marriage. She is a woman of thorough culture, and for a long period of years has been devoted to home and family and to kindly service among her friends and the community. For more than half a century her home has been on one lot in Milan, where she and Captain Hastings started housekeeping in a small cottage and she still owns that cottage. She has other valuable property interests in the village. Her parents were Charles and Nancy J. (Latham) Edridge. Her father was born in Gloucestershire, England, about the year 1810, and was a young man when he immigrated to the United States and located at Norwalk in Huron County, Ohio, and a little later met and married his wife there. She was a native of New London, Connecticut, and had been brought when an infant to Norwalk, where her father died not long afterwards., and the widow then returned to Connecticut and spent the rest of her years there. Mrs. Edridge and her twin sister subsequently returned to Norwalk, and she lived there until her marriage to Mr. Edridge, after which they lived in Huron County for several years and then made their home in Milan. Mr. Edridge was a grocery merchant at Milan for a number of years and died in that village when nearly fourscore years of age. His widow passed away some years later and was ninety-three years six months old. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Ha.stings had a brother and sister, Nelson and Mary, who were twins. Nelson is married and lives ' in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while Mary, who is deceased, was the widow of Capt. John Coulter, another old Lake Erie captain. Of the Coulter children there are two living daughters, Fannie and Libby, the latter now married. Captain Hastings and wife had only one daughter, Carrie E., who grew up in Milan, received good advantages in the schools, and is now living with her mother in their beautiful and attractive home. WILLIAM J. SMITH. In the fine little City of Huron Mr. Smith has built up a large and substantial business as a dealer in produce, and he has made a specialty of the buying and shipping of potatoes, a product for which this favored section of the Buckeye State has gained high reputation. Mr. Smith takes justifiable pride in his ancestral history and is a scion of a family that was early founded in the State of Virginia, where his paternal grandparents passed their entire lives and where his father was born and reared, the name having been closely and successfully linked with agricultural enterprise in the historic Old Dominion. The grandparents of Mr. Smith attained to venerable age, both were con- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 1023 sistent members of the Baptist Church, and they were residents of Cumberland County, Virginia, at the time of their death. James Smith, father of the subject of this review, was born in Cumberland County, Virginia, in the early part of the nineteenth century, and his death occurred in the year 1855. He was a successful planter and was the owner of a number of slaves, these having been given by him to his brother Charles, as he had become convinced that within ten years all slaves would be given liberty; a prophecy that came true within the decade after Ms death. He personally held much antipathy to the institution of slavery but in a degree was constrained by the customs of his native state, within whose gracious borders he continued to reside until the close of his life. His widow, Mrs. Lucy Smith, came to Ohio after his death and passed the closing years of her life in the home of her son Robert, in Medina County, where she died at the venerable age of eighty-four years of age, her earnest religious faith having been that of the Baptist Church. She became the mother of seven children, all of whom attained to years of maturity, the eldest of the number having been Rev. Charles Smith, who became a clergyman of the Methodist Church and who was a resident of Kentucky at the time of this death, one son and one daughter surviving him. Robert, whose wife is deceased, is still one of the substantial farmers of Medina. County, and with him resides his brother John, who is a bachelor. William J., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Dr. Edward Smith became a successful physician and was a resident of Berea, Ohio, at the time of his death, several children surviving him. Nancy, who is the widow of Frank Peek, resides at Milan, Erie County, and has.one son and one daughter. Mary is the wife of Charles Brasse, of Lorain County, and they have one daughter. William J. Smith was born .on the old home place in Cumberland County, Virginia. There he was reared to the age of nineteen years, and such were the conditions and exigencies of time and place that he received in his youth practically no definite school advantages, but his alert mentality and broad and varied experience in later years having enabled him effectually to overcome this educational handicap. In 1866, the year following the close of the Civil war, Mr. Smith provided a covered army wagon and a team of horses, and With this primitive vehicle he transported his mother and most of his brothers and sisters to Ohio, the journey having covered a period of twenty-seven days and the family having encamped at night by the wayside, while en route to the new home. Arriving at Union Corners, Erie County, the sons soon obtained a home for the family at Page's Corners, and later William obtained a position in the employ of Deacon Scott, under whose direction he acquired his first specific educational training, which was later supplemented by his attending school at Berea, Cuyahoga County. For many days he carried his books about with him when possible, and by his assiduous application in otherwise leisure moments he finally acquired sa fair degree of scholastic training. Since the year 1868 Mr. Smith has been a grower of potatoes, and in the initial stage of his enterprise along this line he paid two cents a pound for the famous old Early Rose variety of potatoes, his first crop having brought forth a splendid increase and netted him an appreciable profit. He finally extended his operations by engaging in the buying and shipping of potatoes, and with this branch of commercial enterprise he has been successfully identified for many years, so that he naturally pays due respect to the humble tuber which has in a sense been the basis of his prosperity. His operations have been of extensive order and he has gained throughout this section of Ohio the familiar and significant sobriquet of "Potato Smith," a distinction to which he has never 1024 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY objected in the least. Mr. Smith handles each year an average of 100 cars of potatoes, the product being purchased in Erie and adjoining counties and then shipped to the leading markets. Mr. Smith maintains his home at Huron, and is known and honored as one of the steadfast and reliable business men of the older generation in Erie County, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his-acquaintances. Mr. Smith is a stalwart and well fortified advocate of the principles of the republican party, takes a loyal interest in public affairs of a local order and is now serving his second term as trustee of Huron Township. He is an ardent temperance man and his example is well worthy of emulation, for he has never taken a drink of spirituous liquor and never chewed or smoked tobacco. lIe is one of the most genial optimistic and companionable of men, and a more loyal friend has never called for the friendship of others. He and his family hold membership in the Presbyterian Church. In the City of Sandusky, this county, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Louise Woodward, who was there born and reared and who is a daughter of Edward R. and Jane (Stapleton) Woodward, who were early settlers of that city, where they continued to reside until their death, Mr. Woodward having been for many years in charge of the oil department of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad at that point. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four sons, all of whom have conferred honor on the name which they bear : Edward G., who is successfully established in business at Madison, Lake County, is married but has no children ; William J. is identified with the sand industry at Sandusky, is married but has no children: Harvey W., who remains at the parental home, is associated with his father in the produce business and is an enterprising and popular young business man of his native county ; Andrew is engaged in the grocery business at Huron, where he has a finely equipped store and caters to a representative trade: he married Miss Vera M. Hart, of this city, and they have a daughter, Vera May. HENRY J. KISHMAN. Some of the best farms in Vermilion Township have as their proprietors people either of German birth or German parentage. No element has been of greater influence and benefit as developers of the soil and as good citizens in Vermilion Township than the people of the fatherland. The Kishman family has long been prominent in Vermilion Township, and one of its representatives is Henry J. Kishman. He is a farmer who thoroughly understands his business and has made his enterprise not only profitable to himself but a factor in the community welfare. He owns a fine place of 106 acres in Vermilion Township on Rural Route No. 2 out of Huron. His land is nearly all under cultivation, and season after season he has succeeded in growing the finest of crops of corn, wheat, oats and potatoes. Among other good farm buildings he has a substantial twelve-room house. Mr. Kishman also owns forty acres of highly improved land on the lake shore in the same township, and that has building improvements, including a substantial barn. On the first farm mentioned Mr. Kishman has had his home steadily since 1889. He was born on a place along the lake shore in Vermilion Township April 21, 1863, and as a boy attended-school in subdistrict Mo. 3. His parents were Werner and Eliza (Lutz) Kishman. His father was born in Kurhessen, Germany, in 1843, and when a young man came across the ocean on a sailing vessel to America, locating first in Vermilion, Erie County, there learning a trade as blacksmith. He met and married in Brownhelm, Lorain County, Miss Eliza Lutz. After, their marriage they moved to the farm on the lake shore in Vermilion