150 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY and this he has cleared, and in many other ways directs his work along the line of advanced agriculture. He has put up a great deal of fencing and has laid about forty thousand tile to complete the. drainage system of his farm. Besides his own place Mr. Lloyd farms the old homestead, which is known as the Lloyd Jersey Stock Farm. Mr. Lloyd keeps one of the largest and best herds of Jerseys in the county, forty-two in number, and much of the revenue from his enterprise is derived from his cream shipments. His farm is also the home of some good horses. He raises registered Axworthy and McKinney trotting horses. Another branch of his industry is poultry, specializing in the White Leghorn chickens and Mammoth Bronze turkeys. His hogs are the big, type Poland China. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd have two children, Cary and Catherine. They are members of the Methodist Church, while Mr. Lloyd is a republican, affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Fayette, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fulton County Fair Association. JOSEPH D. SARGENT is proprietor of one of the high class farms found in Gorham township, the place where he was born, and where his grandparents in pioneer times acquired land direct from the Government: Mr. Sargent was born in Gorham township March 26, 1878, a son of Oscar M. and Georgia (Cottrell) Sargent. His father was a native of New York state and his mother was born in Gorham township. The paternal grandparents were Ephraim and Hulda (Collins) Sargent, while the maternal grandparents were Joseph and Maria (Lloyd) Cottrell. All were natives of New England and all of them arrived at an early day in Fulton county and settled on land grown up with heavy timber. Thus three generations of the Sargent and Cottrell families have contributed to the improvement of northern Fulton county. Oscar Sargent and wife after their marriage settled in Gorham township, and Oscar spent his active life as a substantial farmer in that section. He died February 24, 1912, and his widow. is still living on the home farm. They had three sons, Joseph D. being the youngest and only survivor. Frank, the oldest, died when one year old, and Wilber was accidentally shot and killed at the age of fourteen. Joseph D. Sargent since he was eight years of age has lived on his present farm. He acquired his education in the district schools supplemented by courses in the Fayette Normal. For a number of years he has been specializing as a dairy farmer, and has a herd of ten Holsteins, the prevailing dairy breed in this county. His farm comprises a hundred sixteen acres. Mr. Sargent is an official of the Methodist Church and in politcs is a republican. October 2, 1902, he married Jessie Baker, also a native of Gorham township, and a daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Muhn) Baker. Her father was born in New York state and her mother in Pennsylvania. RELMON D. AMSBAUGH, who has spent practically all his life in Fulton county, has had a career of more than ordinarily well directed purpose and energy, and has to his credit those achievements which represent real success, a good property, a good home, family and friends, and a respected name. Mr. Amsbaugh was born June 12, 1855, in Richland county, Ohio, a son of George I. and Lovina (Hopp) Amsbaugh, also na- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 151 dyes of the same county. About the time he was born or a little before his father, George Amsbaugh, had come to Fulton county and bought eighty acres of timbered land in Gorham township. After the purchase he cleared a space, erected a house and other buildings typical of the time, and thus made preparations for the removal of his family. George Amsbaugh did his work as a pioneer. well. When the eighty acres were well under cultivation he added land across the road, and about 1872 bought another forty acres a mile north in the same section. All of this became part of his orderly and well kept farm. Some years later he bought still another forty acres adjoining his first farm, and after his work had been done and the fruits of his career were in bountiful evidence, he died, honored and respected, in May, 1910. His wife died June 12, 1901. Their children were: Rissia, who died in 1893, wife of J. W. Lilly; Relmon D.; Frances, who lives at Fayette, widow of John Woolace; Cassius 0., of Gorham township, and Jennie, who died in 1900, the wife of Elbert Cottrell. On March 16, 1881, Relmon D. Amsbaugh married Estella E. Gay. She was born in section 8 of Gorham township, September 7, 1858. Both she and her husband grew up in the same community and received their educations in the local schools. Her parents were Willard E. and Adelia A. (Mace) Gay, both natives of New York, her father of Herkimer county and her mother of Onondaga county. Her grandparents were Amos and Sarah Gay and Abram and Sarah Mace, New York families, who were added to the citizenship of Fulton county in 1841. After his marriage Mr. Amsbaugh moved to the old Gay homestead of a hundred twenty acres, owned by Mrs. Amsbaugh. Her father had died shortly before her marriage, on December 2, 1880, while her mother died June 13, 1883. Mrs. A.msbaugh had one brother, Theodore, of Gorha.m township. After settling down Mr. Amsbaugh diligently cultivated the fields and improved the farm, remaining there until 1899. He then spent a year in the livery business at Fayette, after which he sold his stock and returned to the farm. In former years he was an extensive feeder of sheep, but his farm has been chiefly noted for its thoroughbred Holstein and Shorthorn cattle. Mr. A msbaugh has reinvested his returns in farm improvements, and all the buildings on the farm except the house, which has been remodeled, date from his ownership and management. He also added another twenty acres in section 8 and forty acres in section 17. Mr. Amsbaugh is a prominent Mason, being affiliated with Lodge No. 387, Free and Accepted Masons, at Fayette, Royal Arch Chapter No. 77, at Wauseon, Council No. 111, at Wauseon, Defiance Commandery No. 30, Knights Templar, Toledo Consistory of the Scottish Rite, and has held nearly all the offices in several of these Chapters and Orders, and he is also affiliated' with the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 689 at Fayette. His wife is a member of the Eastern Star, Fayette Chapter No. 77. Mr. and Mrs. Amsbaugh have two children, W. Mace and Georgia. The daughter is the wife of C. W. Sutherland, of Lenawee county, Michigan. They have two children, a son, C. W., Jr., ,and a daughter, Estella H. W. Mace is now the responsible manager of the Amsbaugh homestead, and has been in charge there since 1912. He has shown his abilties and good judgment not only as a general farmer, but has more than a local reputation as a breeder of pure bred Holstein and Shorthorn cattle. 152 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY WILLIAM OTIS FORD, who has been a resident of Fayette thirty years and prior to that time lived on his farm in Gorham township, has made his principal business since boyhood the buying of wool. He has been a wool buyer in this section of northern Ohio fully thirty-five years, and is one of the men who can speak with utmost authority on the subject of the sheep industry and wool production in Fulton county. Mr. Ford, who is one of the veteran business men of Fayette, has long been active in civic and fraternal affairs of that community, was born in Gorham township October 19, 1846. His great-grandparents were Hezekiah and Hulda (Cobb) Ford, of old New England stock. His grandparents were Ansel and Deborah (Tower) Ford.. Ansel Ford, who was born at Cummington, Massachusetts, June 27, 1788, became a farmer and carpenter in New England. Having a large family to provide for, he determined to seek better opportunities in the newer country of the west, and in the spring of 1841 arrived in Gorham township, then part of Lucas county. He arrived there with only five dollars in money, but at once arranged for the purchase of a hundred twenty acres of land covered with heavy timber, and made such good use of his time and energies in subsequent years that the greater portion of this tract was cleared and developed as a farm. Ansel Ford died December 21, 1858. His wife, Deborah Tower, was born July 16, 1786, and died August 1, 1869. Cyrus Ford, father of William O., was born at. Cummington, Massachusetts, March 18, 1821, and was twenty years of age when he reached Fulton county. He, too, gave his active years to agriculture, and died August 24, 1868, at the age of forty-seven. November 16, 1845, he married Fannie Landis, who was born in Erie county, New York, August 18,1825. She was a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Conally) Landis, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. Margaret Conally was a sister of John Conally, who distinguished himself as a colonel in the American army during the Revolutionary war. William Otis Ford acquired his early education in the schools of Fayette, including high .school. He was married at the age of twenty-three, and he and his wife began housekeeping on a .farm of eighty acres in section 21 of Gorham township. He planted his first crop on the land that had been cleared, and busily employed all his spare time in clearing additional acreage. He cleared a good farm there and continued to reside in the country until 1890, when he turned over his farm to a responsible tenant and moved to Fayette. Since then his principal business has been buying wool. He acquired his first experience in wool buying when about fourteen years of age. September 11, 1869, Mr. Ford married Sarah Binns, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, September 17, 1847, a daughter of Samuel and Ellen (Taylor) Binns. Her parents were natives of Bury, Lancashire, England, where her father was born August 22, 1816. At the age of fourteen he' was bound out as an apprentice to a tailor, the term of indenture being seven years. He acquired his education by private instruction. His wife was born February 27, 1816, and they left England in 1835, and after nine weeks on the ocean landed in America June 12, 1835. In October, 1843, .Mr. Binns located at Westfield, Ohio, and on. December 8, 1865, was ordained a minister of the Universalist Church, and became widely known in several Ohio communities in that capacity. He became a resident of Fayette in 1867 and died June 17, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 153 Ford have had no children of their own, though their home has been opened to many. They reared Clayton L. Murphy, an attorney, now of Toledo. Mr. Ford has a long record of public service, having been deputy sheriff sixteen years, constable for about thirty years, for a time was truant and health officer, one term a member of the high school board. He is a republican in politics. One of the prominent Masons of Fayette, he served twenty-four years as treasurer of the local lodge, as junior warden two terms, and has also held chairs and offices in the Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife is a Rebekah and Mr. and 'Mrs. Ford were charter members of Fayette Chapter No. 77, Order of the Eastern Star, Mrs. Ford having served as its first treasurer and was worthy matron and past associate matron. She was one of the chief organizers of the women's rest room and one of its managers; also organized the Profit and Pleasure Club, and served as .its president for three years. Mr. Ford is a member of the Fayette Detective Association of many years standing and is now president of that body. He has filled the office of Patron and Grand Sentinel of the Order of the Eastern Star of Ohio. NEWTON HOMER WARD was for a number of years associated in the furniture business at Fayette with L. J. Pike, a veteran business man of the community, and since Mr. Pike's death the establishment has been carried on with progressive enlargement of its facilities and service by Mr. Ward. Mr.. Ward was born at Holbrook, Canada, April 3, 1874, son of Samuel and Sarah Matilda (Freland) Ward. His father was a shoemaker, and after leaving Canada followed his trade at several points in Michigan until 1886, when he located at Fayette, Ohio. For nearly thirty years he continued his trade and business here, but since 1915 has been retired and makes his home with his children. His wife died in February, 1908. Newton H. is the youngest of the children, the others being noted as follows : Chauncey A., of Fostoria, Ohio ; Della, Mrs. George Newberry, of Croswell, Michigan ; Olive, Mrs. J. K. Dodge, of Omaha, Nebraska, and Eva, Mrs. Carl L. Ely, who died at Clayton, Michigan, in August, 1899. Newton Homer Ward was about twelve years of age when his father came to Fayette. Already he had begun contributing to his own support by selling newspapers. While he attended the high school and the Fayette Normal University, he was dependent upon his own exertions for his living and his education. At the age of nineteen he began learning the cabinet maker's trade in the Barnes Furniture Factory at Adrian, Michigan, but subsequently returned to Fayette and worked as a cabinet maker and clerk in the furniture business of L. J. Pike. That relationship continued for several years and in 1904. Mr.. Ward was taken in as an equal partner with Mr. Pike, and the business was profitably and harmoniously managed between them until the death of Mr. Pike in May, 1910, Mr. Ward soon afterward becoming sole proprietor. He is a licensed embalmer in Michigan and Ohio, and has served as registrar of deaths in the State of Michigan.. He has a store completely stocked with all the lines of furniture demanded by the local trade, and also has a picture and picture framing department. December 5, 1895, Mr. Ward married Eva McQuillin, who was born in Pike township of Fulton county, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Dunbar) McQuillin. Their only living child is Geneva, 154 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY at home. Carmon. Albert was born March 15, 1902, and died February 5, 1919. The Ward family are Methodists.. Mr. Ward is a democrats and has served two terms as senior warden of Gorham. Lodge No. 387, Free and Accepted Masons, at Fayette, and is a member of Defiance Commandery No. 30, Knights Templar. FRANK E. PRICKETT for a long period of years was a successful building contractor in Fulton county and over the line in Michigan, but latterly has given his energies to the successful management of a general hardware business at Fayette. He is now sole proprietor of this business and has made his store one of the chief supply points for everything in the hardware line and draws a trade from a wide territory surrounding Fayette. Mr. Prickett was born in Gorham township of Fulton county February 10, 1865, . son of Samuel and Naomi (Mason) Prickett. Both the Mason and Prickett families originated in Burlington county, New Jersey, where their ancestors settled as early as 1685. For many generations both families were staunch Quakers in their religious faith. Samuel Prickett was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, while his wife was a native of Franklin township, Fulton county, where her parents, John and Charity (Borton) Mason, had settled from Burlington county, New Jersey, at an early date. The Mason family were among the earliest settlers in German township of Fulton county. Samuel Prickett and wife after their marriage located in Gorham township, where he died about 1894. His widow was born in 1840 .and is now living in Wauseon. A brief record of their children is as follows: Elizabeth, Mrs. .Charles A. Smith, of Morenci, Michigan ; Ida, Mrs: C. Hochstetler, of Wauseon; Frank E.; Rhoda, deceased; Lillie, wife of George T. Curtiss, in Michigan, and Henry, of Fayette. Up to the age of twenty-one Frank E. Prickett lived at home with his parents and attended the county schools. He also learned farming by practical experience, and acquired his skill as a carpenter at Adrian, Michigan, and Morenci. He worked three years as a journeyman and then began taking contracts for building, and many examples of his workmanship can still be pointed out in the vicinity of' Morenci and in Fulton county. In 1903, with Charles Hause, Mr. Prickett bought a general hardware business fro.m Edward Perry, at Fayette. They were in partnership five years, and Mr. Prickett since then has had several other partners, but in the spring of 1917 he took over the sole management of the store. In October, 1890, he married Miss Clara Guilford, a native of Dover township, Fulton county, and daughter of George and Adeline (Fitzsimmons) Guilford, the former a native of New York and the latter of Fulton county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Prickett have two children : Dessa, .a teacher of domestic science in the public schools at Adrian, Michigan, and Kenneth, attending a preparatory school at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. Prickett is a republican voter. In the Knights of the Maccabees at Fayette 'he held the positon of finance keeper twelve years, and is also a prominent member of the Masonic Lodge at Fayette, being a past grand senior warden and past junior warden. GEORGE WASHINGTON CROUT, who. has been a resident of Fayette since 1878, is a. practicing lawyer, land owner, and in former years had a great variety of business experience. He is an honored, veteran of the Union army, and at one period of the war held the rank of major of an Ohio regiment. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 155 Major Crout was born in Lorain county, Ohio, August 11, 1835, and comes of old and prominent American ancestry. His parents were Elihu Taylor and Merintha (Lewis) Crout, the former a native of Bergen, New Jersey, and the latter of Elizabethtown, Essex county, New York. The paternal. grandparents were John and Phoebe (Van Sickles) Crout, the former a native of New York City. Major Grout's maternal grandmother was Mary (Durand) Lewis, a native of Vermont, and a daughter of Franz Joseph Durand, who came from France and was a cousin to. General Lafayette. Elihu T. Crout and wife were married in Ontario, Wayne county, New York, where his father owned a fine estate. In 1831 he came west and entered a tract of wild timbered land in Lenawee county, Michigan. He was there at the very beginning of settlement. He also lived a few years in Lorain county, Ohio, and in 1837 moved back to Lenawee county, a few years later to Liberty township, Jackson county, Michigan, then to Adrian township in Lenawee county, where in addition to looking after his extensive land holdings he operated a grist mill. In spite of his advanced age Elihu T. Crout enlisted in the Sixty-seventh Ohio Infantry as a drum major at the beginning of the war, and his death occurred before he returned home. George Washington Crout has spent nearly all his life in Fulton county Ohio, and Lenawee county, Michigan. His early environment was a pioneer county district. In the flush of young manhood, on November 8, 1861, he enlisted in Company A of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Infantry, which was also his father's regiment. After a brief training in a camp at Toledo he went to Camp Chase, Columbus, and was made drill master. He served in several battles, and while being transported across Chesapeake Bay was shipwrecked. After that he was consigned to a hospital at Washington, then returned to Baltimore and received an honorable discharge in the fall of 1863. Not long after his return home he helped organize a regiment of which Lawrence B. Smith was elected colonel; Louis Struble, lieutenant colonel, and Mr. Crout major. Prior to the war and for some time afterward Major Crout was in the sawmill and lumber business and owned several farms both in Michigan and Ohio. He also filled the office of deputy sheriff of Fulton county sixteen years. His milling operations were centered chiefly in Ogden township of Lenawee county. He had also begun the study of law before he entered the army, and resumed that study later, and for half a century has been a capable attorney and is still practicing law at Fayette, where he has made his home for over forty years. Major Crout owns eighty acres of land in . Texas and other property elsewhere. He served two terms as mayor of Fayette, and held various, township offices in Len awee county. He is a member of the Masonic order at Blissfield, Michigan, and is affiliated with the Methodist Church. September 17, 1858, he married Mary Jane Scantland, who became the mother of his two children: George Eugene, of East Toledo, and Cora Sedel, Mrs. Bert Richardson, of Lenawee county. Maior Crout married for his second wife Ursula Yeamans, a native of Pennsylvania. She had no children, and her death occurred in July, 1909. On March 15, 1910, Mr. Crout married Sarah Louise Jennings, who was born in Rowlin township of Lenawee county, Michigan. a daughter of Levi and Anna (Crout) Jennings, the former a native of Milton, Saratoga county, New York, and the latter of Bergin, New Jersey. Her paternal grandparents were Henry and 156 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Meribah (Dexter) Jennings, the former born at Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1877: Her maternal grandparents Were John and Phoebe (Van Sickles) Crout, so that she is closely connected with her husband's ancestry. Mrs. Grout at the time of her marriage to Mr. Grout was the widow of Joseph Marx.. By that union she had two children, Berkeley, of Rochester, New York, and Fannie Litz, wife of Lorin J. Ball, of Rowlin township, Lenawee county, Michigan. Mrs. Grout lived on a farm in Michigan until the death of her first husband in 1876, and afterward ,performed the service of teacher and school superintendent in .that vicinity for thirty-two years, and is held in high esteem and regard as one of the most capable educators the schools of that locality have ever had. Mrs. Crout's parents were married in New York in the fall of 1833, became pioneers in Lenawee county, Michigan, entering timber land direct from the Government. Much of that land is still in the Jennings family. FRANK HICKER has been an honored resident of Fayette through a long period of years. The natural gift which he has used and developed through his active life was largely mechanical. As a. boy and later as a man he operated threshing outfits and was a dealer in agricultural implements. He also attended school of veterinary surgery, and for many years was the reliable veterinarian for all the country around Fayette. Mr. Hicker was born in Gorham township, Fulton county, March 26, 1851. His parents were Stephen and Mary A. (Acker) Hicker, natives of Seneca county, New. York. His parental grandparents, Henry and Susan Hicker, came at an early day to Fulton county, as did also his maternal grandfather, George Acker. Stephen Hicker learned the .shoemaker's trade, an was a diligent and expert workman for many years at Medina Michigan. Later he moved to a farm in Gorham township of Fulton county, and spent his last years in Fayette. Frank was one of two children, his sister Melinda being Mrs. Vincent Reynolds of Gorham township. Frank Hicker spent most of his boyhood on .a farm, acquired a district school education, and at the age of seventeen began making a regular business throughout the season of operating a threshing outfit. He has owned several outfits of threshing machinery, and in that connection is probably as widely known among the grain farmers of Fulton township as any other individual. He was married when nineteen years of age, and as his father left the farm about that time .and moved to Fayette the son remained on the old homestead and worked the farm eight years. He then bought a place of his own of sixty acres in Gorham township, cultivating and managing that property six years. When he rented his farm he moved to Fayette, and here for 'twenty years conducted a business as a dealer in the celebrated Champion line of agricultural implements. Mr. Hicker also drove the hearse for Judson Pike for nineteen years in. succession. As a young man he had attended the Chicago Veterinary School, and his practice as a veterinarian in the vicinity of Fayette continued for a period of thirty-five years. In 1910 Mr. Hicker became interested in a garage in Fayette, and for several years was local agent for the Chevrolet car. He still employs his time doing all kinds of machine work and repairing and is one of the experts of the old school of mechanics. Mr. Hicker is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias at Fayette, is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 157 lows, and hag held several chairs in both orders. He and his wife are members of the Rebekahs. In February, 1870, he married Mary A. Ford, a native of Gorham township and daughter of Cyrus and Fannie (Ely) Ford, of Scotch parentage. They have two children, Edward and Lena. Edward, who lives at Fayette, is a promoter and conductor of theatrical shows, and for several years has managed the business of the Florence Players, a troupe of traveling entertainers widely known in many states. The daughter, Lena, is the wife of Clare Rosa, of Fayette, and has two children, Franklin and Max. CHARLES E. YOST is proprietor of the only newspaper published at Fayette, and has been a hard working journalist of Fulton county nearly twenty years: He became well known in the county on account of his official work as a school man, and he was in the educational profession for a number of years before his capital and energies were attracted to the newspaper business. Mr. Yost was born at Hebron, in Licking county, Ohio, in September, 1862, son of John and Delila (Markley) Yost, his father a native of Virginia and his mother of Perry county, Ohio.. His grandparents, Peter and Margaret Yost, were Virginians. John Yost and wife lived in Licking county until 1873, moved from there to Hancock county, and in 1875 established their home at Van Wert, where both of them died. Partly while at home and partly through his own efforts Charles E. Yost acquired a good education. He attended grammar and high schools at Middlepoint, Ohio, also the Fayette Normal, and for about twenty years was one of the successful teachers and school administrators in northern Ohio. At one time he was superintendent of schools at Waldron. Michigan, also at Liberty Center, Ohio, and was ,superintendent at Tedrow and at ,Lyons, being located three years in the latter place. Some of his vacations he utilized as an employe in a printing office at Fayette, and finally,, in September, 1901, E. W. Balch started the Fayette Review. The next June he .became sole owner, and has very ably conducted that paper ever since. On June 6, 1913, Mr. Yost was commissioned postmaster of Fayette, which is a third class office. He is a democrat, arid is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of the Maccabees at Fayette. In August, 1886, he married Miss Ada Purcell. Mrs. Yost was born near Purcellville, Virginia, a daughter of Lott A. and Cornelia (Bird) Purcell. They have one son, Gaylord Yost, who is married and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. LAWRENCE L. YEAGLEY is a native of Hancock county, has been in business in several other Ohio counties and elsewhere, and is now a successful commission merchant at Fayette, handling a large part of the poultry and other 'general produce marketed from Fulton county. Mr. Yeagley was born October 7, 1876, son of John P. and Savilla (Miller) Yeagley. His parents were also natives of Hancock county and are now deceased; Lawrence L. Yeagley acquired, a good education, graduating from the high school of Rawson in his native county, and from the Ohio Northern University at Ada. For one year he had a business training as clerk in a mercantile store at Rawson, and from 1894 until 1896 was employed at Grover Hill, in Paulding county, after which he secured an interest in a general 158 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY merchandise enterprise there. He continued in that Way some ten years, and in 1905 be and Mr. N. V. Turner organized the United States Cooperage and Handle Company, with a plant at Malden, Missouri. He was secretary and treasurer of the company and they did a large business in manufacturing cooperage wares and implement handles. Mr. Yeagley continued as secretary and treasurer of the business some five years. Finally, on account of his wife's health he returned to Ohio, and at Grover Hill was in the merchandise business nine months. He sold out, and on November 1, 1911, came to Fayette, where he bought an established business for handling poultry, produce and other products, and has since extended the scope of his enterprise, having establishes a branch at Metamora in the spring of 1917. Mr. Yeagley is a public spirited citizen well known fraternally, is a member of the Fulton County Executive Committee of the republican party, has been a member of the Fayette School Board since 1917, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Masonic Lodge at Fayette, the Royal Arch Chapter and Council at Lyons, and the Defiance Commandery of the Knights Templar. In June, 1897, he married Miss Della Scott, a native of Indiana, and daughter of Henry and Harriet Scott, of West Union, Ohio. Two children were born to their marriage : Mildred, who died at the age of four years, and Paul, born April 20, 1906. GEORGE GRANTHAM WRIGHT. This is one of the names held in grateful memory in Fulton county, because of the long residence of Mr. Wright, the industrious part he took in earlier and later days as ,a farmer, and the honesty and good will that distinguished all his relations with the community. He was born at Kirkby, England, April 30, 1831, a son of Edward and Catherine (Grantham) Wright. His parents lived all their lives in England. George Grantham Wright was reared and trained to agricultural pursuits, followed farming in England, and on July 7, 1858, married Ann Parr. Mrs. Wright was born at Osgodby July 7, 1834, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Tomlinson) Parr. Her mother died in England in 1845 and her father married for his second wife Mary Ann Rushton and later came to America and lived out his years at Manchester, Michigan, where he and his wife are buried. In 1858 George G. Wright came to America, and.. in Fulton county bought sixty acres in Amboy township. A large part of the land was coveerd with woods and for a number of years he made a determined fight against the powers of the wilderness, -until he saw his farm under cultivation and with excellent improvements. That old homestead where he settled more than sixty years ago was the place where death came to him on March 19, 1912, and Mrs. Wright still occupies the farm. She is now eighty-six years of age, and still in good -health and retains her faculties. The late Mr. Wright was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving as steward,. superintendent of the Sunday School and was most regular in the performance of his church duties. He also served as a school director and politically voted as a republican. The oldest of the children is Edward G., of Amboy township, William lives in Lucas county, Ohio, Catherine E. died in infancy, James is a resident of Toledo, Clara Alsena is Mrs. John Hurtle of Amboy township, Brainard lives at Prairie Depot, Ohio, and Ralph is a resident of Cincinnati. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 159 The youngest of the family is Arthur Clinton, who lives with his mother and manages the home farm. In December, 1900, he married Edna Ford, who was born in Lucas county, Ohio, June 17, 1876. Her parents were Wallace and Eliza (Willson) Ford, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Fulton county, Ohio. Arthur C. Wright and wife have seven children : Dorothy, George Stanley, Paul 'Willson, Harold Arthur, Marian Eliza, Freda Frances, and Rachel Lucile. MILLARD LEWIS, now living at Fayette, has had an active association with the business interests of that town for over a third of a century. The work for which he is best remembered was his long service as Local express agent, though he was also interested in the newspaper business, local manufacturing and in other lines, and the net results of his life make up a very satisfactory record. Mr. Lewis was born in Gorham township of Fulton county November 24, 1854. His parents, George and Mary (Davis) Lewis, were early, settlers in Fulton county during the decade of the forties. His father was born at Boston, Massachusetts, and his mother in Seneca county, New York. George Lewis for many years was a farmer in Gorham township, and died March 30, 1891, at the age of seventy-four, being survived by his widow until May 27, 1915, when she was eighty-seven years of age. Millard is the oldest of their children. The daughters, Clara and 'Ida, still live on the old homestead farm. Another daughter is Jennie, and the other son, William D., is also on the homestead. Millard Lewis acquired a common school education and at the age of twenty began learning the printer's trade from L. D. Lyon, then publisher of the local newspaper at Fayette.. After working at his trade for a time Mr. Lewis bought an interest in the Fayette Record, and was associated with G. W. Griffin in that journalistic enterprise for about nineteen years. In the meantime he had become local express agent, and this work was performed by him in Fayette for over thirty years, during which time he successively represented the American, United States and Wells-Fargo Companies. Besides his association with Mr. Griffin in the newspaper business they were also partners in an excelsior factory and in a collection agency, and for a few years did some fire insurance business. Mr. Lewis since 1915, when he gave up his post as express agent, has been practically retired from business. During his early career he was elected and served two terms as justice of the peace, but resigned that office on account of the press of business duties. Later he served two terms as a member of the Fayette Council. Mr. Lewis is a republican. December 13, 1882, he married Miss Mary Saunders, who was born in Mill Creek township of Williams county, daughter of Samuel and Anna (Rhodes) Saunders. Her father was a native of England and her mother of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have two sons, Floyd E. and Earl D. Floyd lives at Hillsdale, Michigan, where he is division freight agent of the New York Central Railway. He married Bessie Cole. Earl is a jeweler and engraver at Jackson, Michigan, and married Clela Funk. HERBERT PARTRIDGE, present mayor of Fayette, through his trade and business relations as a cheese maker and dairy expert, has been an important factor in the dairy districts of northern Ohio for many years. Mr. Partridge now conducts a plant at Fayette, where a large part of the milk produced in that vicinity is sent to market. 160 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY He was born in Fairfield township of Lenawee county, Michigan, October 12, 1870, son of John W. and Marian (Ratan) Partridge. His parents were natives of New York state and his grandfathers, Ira Partridge and John H. Ratan, were among the early settlers of southern Michigan. John W. Partridge and wife after their marriage lived an a farm in Lenawee county. John Partridge enlisted in the Sixth Michigan Heavy Artillery in 1862, and served until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged. For nearly half a century after the war he was engaged in farming, and he died in December. 1911. The widowed mother is still living at Weston, Michigan. There were three sons: A. L., of Jasper, Michigan ; Herbert, and Herver, twins, the latter a resident of Oak Shade, Ohio. Herbert Partridge acquired his early education in the common schools of Michigan, was married before he was twenty years of age, and then lived on a farm in Lenawee county two years. He learned cheese making at Winemeg, Pike township, of Fulton county, working one year for W. L. Campbell there. After that he was employed for four years in a. cheese factory. at Tedrow in Dover township, put in another three years at the cheese factory in Oak Grove, Pike township, and for eight years was the expert cheese maker for Brown Brothers in Amboy township. For another eight years Mr. Partridge was owner and manager of a factory in Gorham township, and from there he moved to Fayette and bought the local creamery. For several years he continued to make cheese and butter, but in August, 1918, discontinued the cheese industry and is now using his facilities for the buying and collecting of milk from the surrounding districts and shipping it to the Van Camp Packing Company at Wauseon. He handles between a thousand and two thousand gallons every day. Mr. Partridge was elected mayor of Fayette in November, 1919, beginning his office at the first of the following year. He is a republican and for eight years served as a member of the council of Fayette. He is a member of the Baptist Church of western Michigan, and has been through the chairs of the Knights of Pythias at Fayette. On June 8, 1890, Mr. Partridge married Zurah Miley, a native of Clinton township, Fulton county, and daughter of W. B. and Eliza. Jane (Robinett) Miley. They have one son, Ross Byron, who was horn March 1, 1892, and is now preparing for his profession in the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery. ARTIE G. AUNGST. As one of the successful business men of Fayette, Mr. Aungst for several years has been the responsible manager of the local grain elevator, and besides buying and handling a large volume of the grain produced in that locality, is a dealer and distributor of coal, cement, flour and feed. Mr. Aungst was born in Richland county, Ohio, February 25, 1876, son of John and Elizabeth (Green) Aungst. His parents were natives of Richland county, and his father died about 1896 and his mother in 1898. John Aungst for many years combined farming with the threshing business. There was a large family of children : S. J., of Hudson, Ohio ; Quinnie, deceased; Sylvia, Mrs. Charles Brown, of Mansfield, Ohio; Verna, Mrs. Clem Lemley, of Richland county ; Jessie, Mrs. Taylor Simmons, of Knox county ; Artie and Alphina, twins, the latter a resident of Butler, Ohio ; Wilbur, also of Butler, and Cecil, who died when about five years old. Artie G. Aungst was a farmer before he was a business man. He HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 161 spent his early years on a farm, was disciplined in its work, and secured his education largely by attending district schools in the winter. At the age of eighteen he was working in a sawmill, while in the summer he followed a threshing outfit from farm to farm.. Those occupations kept him busy for about twelve years. Then with two brothers he bought a hardware store at Butler, Ohio, but a year later sold out and came to Fayette. He engaged in the grain elevator business with his oldest brother, but three months later this brother moved to Lebanon, where the Aungst brothers conduct a mill and elevator. Artis 0. Aungst has therefore had the active management of the business at Fayette practically from the beginning, and by his fair dealing, well known integrity and close attention to his work has developed a very substantial enterprise. January 26, 1901. he married Miss Alta Harrison, a native of Knox county, Ohio, where her parents, James and Dora (McGowen) Harrison, were also born. Mr. and Airs. Aungst have two children, Harley and Cecil, both at home. Mr. Aungst is a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church, has served one term as councilman at Fayette, is a democrat and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Butler. WILLIAM DORSEY VAN RENSSELAER, who represents some of the original Holland Dutch stock of New York State, has been an active business man at Wauseon for over thirty years, and is senior partner of Edgar & Van Rensselaer, undertakers, embalmers and funeral directors. Mr. Van Rensselaer was born at Port Clinton, Ohio, in September, 1851, a son of Peter Sanders and Jane (Depew) Van Rensselaer. His grandfather, Philip Van Rensselaer, was a practicing physician in New York City for many years. Peter S. Van Rensselaer was the second of three sons, was born in Schenectady, New York, moved to Albany, and for many years followed the life of a sailor on the Great Lakes. He located in the famous summer resort region of northern Ohio on Lake Erie, at Put-in-Bay Island and Bass Island. In addition to sailing on the Great Lakes during summer, he cleared and developed a. good farm. He reared his family there and died December 23, 1903. William D. Van Rensselaer acquired a country school education. He, too, sailed on the Great Lakes. In 1886 he engaged in the furniture business at Wauseon, and for twenty years his store, handling a class of goods high class in every respect, was located in the Opera House Building. He then moved to his present location at 145 South Fulton street, and now gives all his time to the undertaking business. In 1880 he married Miss Clara Ransom, daughter of Hiram and Jane (Parks) Ransom, of Port Clinton, Ohio. To their marriage were born two children': Hiram Sanders, born in 1883, now married and living in Detroit, and Hazel Pearl, who died in Wauseon in September, 1903, at the age of twenty. Mr. Van Rensselaer is a republican, and was three times elected a member of the City Council. He is affiliated with the Masons, Knights of Pythias. National Union and the Eastern Star at Wauseon. MICHAEL R. HILL, who for many years has had business connection with Wauseon people as a plumbing and heating contractor, has had an interesting career. He is a veteran of the Civil war, was wounded, and fell into the hands of the Con-. 162 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY federate forces, remaining a prisoner until March, 1865. He was a brick and tile maker for about twenty years, was a well drilling contractor for some time, was in the Government civil service for about six years, and latterly has been in the plumbing and steamfitting business in Wauseon, for a while in association with his son, Earl H. Hill. Throughout his life he has been a responsible citizen, and one who gave his best efforts to his country in the years of national stress. He was born at the family homestead in Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1847, the son of Henry and Margaret B. (Fansler) Hill. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his father was one of the early farmers in that section of Ohio. His father died when his son was only six years old, and the family was in straightened circumstances. Even as a boy he was compelled to rely upon his own efforts, mainly, for his sustenance. It was his custom to take employment of farming character during the summer months and attend school during the winter terms. In that way he managed to keep himself from overburdening his mother, and at the same time secure an elementary school course. He attended country schools in Wyandotte and Crawford counties, and was still scarcely in his teens when the Civil war began. When he was sixteen years old he enlisted in the Union forces, becoming, in February, 1864, a member of the, Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, joining that unit at Mansfield, Ohio. As part of the Western Army, under General George H. Thomas, the regiment participated in the Atlantic campaign of 1864, young Hill being wounded and captured during the fighting in Georgia. He was taken prisoner at Dallas, Georgia, and incarcerated in Andersonville Prison, where he remained until December, 1864, when he was sent with other prisoners to Milan Prison at Atlanta, Georgia, later being transferred to the Florence, South Carolina, Prison, where he remained a prisoner until March 1, 1865, when order came for his release. He was turned over to the United States Government forces at Wilmington, North Carolina. After a thirty-day furlough Mr. Hill was sent to Texas to serve with the Fourth Army Corps, then doing patrol duty on the Mexican border. There he remained until December, 1865, when he was mustered out at San Antonio, Texas. Returning home, to Shelby, Ohio, he took up farming operations again, and steadily followed such work until he was twenty-eight years old, when he engaged in brick and tile making at Wauseon. For twenty years he followed that occupation in Wauseon, Toledo and other places. In 1895 he was in business for himself in Fulton county, Ohio, as a well-drilling contractor. Later he secured ap- pointment as mail carrier, under the administration of Postmaster Harrison. He was in the Federal service in that capacity for more than six years, poor health then compelling him to cease such work. He then became associated in business with his son, Earl H., who was at that time in good business in Wauseon as a plumbing and beating contractor. The father acted as manager, and when the son gave up the active part in the business in order that he might take the appointment offered him, that of superintendent of the Wauseon plant of the Van Camp Packing Company, which responsibility Earl H. Hill still has, the father took over the whole control of the plumbing and heating business, and has since conducted it, much to his advantage, having a good city and country trade. This brings Mr. Hill's life story up to the present and records a worth-while life, one of steady industry and of courageous national service. He has many life-long friends in the Grand Army of the Republic circles, HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 163 being an honored member of Lozier Post. In politics he has been staunchly a republican since his early voting years. He married Mary A., daughter of Christian Barth, and they had four children, only one of whom is still living, their son Earl H., who has been previously mentioned herein. JACOB FRANK HAAS. There is no nobler occupation than that connected with the development of a farm and production of foodstuffs. Hitherto the farmers have not been fully appreciated, but now, with the world depending upon them for existence, they are accorded the credit that has always been theirs and the respect and consideration to which they are certainly entitled. One of these farmers of the younger generation, who has been wise enough to remain on the farm and enjoy its independent life, is Jacob Frank Haas, of Clinton township, operator of his father's farm of eighty acres of valuable land. Jacob Frank Haas was born in German township, Fulton county, in 1894, a son of Conrad and Katherine (Steinbrecher) Haas. When he was twenty-four years old Conrad Haas came to the United States from Russia and located in German township, Fulton county, but he is now retired. He and his wife have five children, of whom Jacob Frank Haas is the second in order of birth. The boyhood of Jacob F. Haas was spent, as is the custom among the youths of Fulton county, in the rural districts, in attending the country schools in the winters and in working on the farm in the summers. After reaching his majority he began working his father's farm, but his operations were interrupted by his period of service in the United States army during the late war. He was called into the service under the Selective Draft on July 23, 1918, and was sent to Camp Jackson, South Carolina, until on August 16, 1918, when he was transferred to Camp Stewart, Newport News, Virginia, and became a member of the Fifteenth Replacement Troops. On August 21st of that same year he was sent overseas to France, arriving at Brest, France, on September 3, 1918, and from there was taken to a rest camp. On September 10th he was taken to Camp Hunt, near Bordeaux, and then on October 9th, was assigned to Company L, Three Hundred and Thirteenth Infantry, Seventy-ninth Division. This company went into action at Verdun. As a part of this command Mr. Haas was in the offensive of the Argonne. Forest and the succeeding campaigns of his regiment until the signing of the Armistice put an end to these hostilities. During the campaign of the Argonne Forest Mr. Haas was one of those holding the front line in reserve, and in spite of his exposed location was not injured. He left Saint- Nazaire, France, for the United States on May 18, 1919, and landed in Newport News, Virginia, on May 29th, whence he was sent to Camp Stewart, where be was kept until June 2d. On that date he was sent to Camp Hill, Virginia, and kept until June 8th. He was honorably discharged from Camp Sherman, Ohio, on June 12, 1919, and returned to the farm. Mr. Haas was married to Ola May Hicks, a daughter of Harry and Fannie (Porter) Hicks, of Dover township, the ceremony taking place on January 3, 1918. Mr. Haas a republican. The Lutheran Church holds his membership. Although yet a very young man, Mr. Haas has had experiences of life which make him appreciate the good government, fine living conditions and freedom of the people of his own land, especially in the rural districts, and having seen other lands and their people, he is very well content to be an American and proud of his country and his calling. 164 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY EARL H. HILL. Possessing to a marked degree industry, financial sense and business capacity, a group of able men have developed so important and necessary an industry that the whole nation has become interested, and the genius of these men is still exerted in securing the services of first-class men to hold their various positions. Possibly no canning industry ,in the world is better known than that operated under the name of Van Camp's, and the manager of the Wauseon branch of this great concern, and superintendent of the machinery of its six plants, is Earl H. Hill, of this city. Earl H. Hill was born at Napoleon, Ohio, on August 26, 1877, a son of Michael R. and Mary (Barth) Hill. He comes of Scotch-Irish stock, but the family on both sides of the house has been located in America for many years. The boyhood of Earl H. Hill was spent in his native place, and he attended its schools, completing the high school course. Entering upon his business career, Mr. Hill engaged with Thomas Cecil to learn the plumbing and steam fitting trades, and remained with him for five years, and then left Wauseon for Coldwater, Michigan, and spent a year there. Returning to Wauseon, he opened a shop of his own and conducted it until February, 1919, gaining a reputation for efficiency that was not confined to local territory, and which brought him to the attention of the Van Camp people, and he is now manager of the Wauseon plant with ninety persons under his supervision, and has charge of the valuable machinery in the plants at two points in Wisconsin, two in Ohio, one in Michigan and one in Illinois, and few men connected with this great enterprise are held in higher regard for their abilities than he. Mr. Hill was married in 1902 to Grace Isabel Cooper, a daughter of Henry and Jane (Shufelt) Cooper, of Waterville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have no children. While he votes the straight republican ticket, Mr. Hill has not had the time to go into politics very thor- oughly and so has never come before the public for consideration as a candidate for office, but judging by his personal following if he cared to do so he would -poll a good vote. Aside from belonging to the Knights of Pythias, Mr. Hill has not formed fraternal affiliations, his spare time being spent in his home. The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Wauseon holds his membership, and he and Mrs. Hill take an active part in its good work. Enterprising and capable, Mr. Hill has gone right ahead doing what he felt was his duty, shirking no added responsibility, and his present success has been honorably gained and is most certainly deserved. It would be difficult to find a man more highly esteemed by his fellow townsmen than he, and he is deeply interested in the progress of Wauseon, where practically all of his business life has been spent, and where his present congenial occupation keeps him in close touch with industrial affairs. GEORGE E. GORSUCH, clerk of the courts at Wauseon, is one of the very representative men of Fulton county, and a man known over this section of the state as one in whom the people place the most implicit confidence. Although in the very prime of young manhood, he has already attained to considerable success, and, judging his future by his past, will doubtless go far before his race is run. George E. Gorsuch was born at Waverly, Kansas, on September 8, 1882, a son of Thomas E. and Mary C. (Kahoe) Gorsuch, of Pennsylvania Dutch and Trish stock, and inheriting the solid traits of the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 165 one people and the brilliancy of the other, a combination which has worked out for good results in the case of Mr. Gorsuch. When he was five years old his parents came to Wauseon from Kansas, and he was reared in Fulton county, acquiring a public school education here, which included the high school course, from which he was graduated in 1902. Mr. Gorsuch then entered the employ of Nicholas Freppel, a baker, and remained with .him for three years, learning the trade, but, not caring to pursue it, he began writing fire insurance, representing fourteen reliable companies, handling city and farm risks for five years, with his office at Wauseon, and being so successful that he was able at the expiration of that period to establish himself in a bakery of his own, and conducted it for seven years. Always a staunch republican, he was the successful nominee of his party for the office of Clinton Township clerk on several occasions, and held it from 1906 to 1912, inclusively. His record in this office was of such a nature as to redound to his credit, and he was the logical candidate of his party for the office of clerk of the courts in November, 1918, and was elected by a gratifying. majority. Having disposed of his bakery at a good price, he now gives all of his attention to the duties of his office. In 1906 Mr. Garsuch was united in marriage with Nellie Bennett, a daughter of Abraham S. and Abigail (Hebble) Bennett, of Pettisville. Mr. and Mrs. Gorsuch adopted a child, Berdello M., who was born in 1898, and died in 1918. They also became the parents of two children : Arthur Bennett, who was born in 1907, and Howard E., who died in 1909, aged six months. Mr. Gorsuch is a Mason, belonging to Wauseon Lodge No. 349, Free and Accepted Masons, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. For some years he has been a consistent member of the Christian Church, to which he is a generous contributor. Public-spirited to a marked degree, Mr. Gorsuch is accounted one of the men of dependability in the city and county, and his popularity with all classes is unquestioned. THADDEUS O. LINDLEY. In such men as Thaddeus O. Lindley, a successful farmer of Clinton Township, Fulton county, there is peculiar satisfaction in offering their life histories— justification for the compilation of works of this character—not that their lives have been such as to gain them particularly wide notoriety or the admiring plaudits of men, but that they have been true to every obligation and have shown such attributes of character as entitle them to the regard of all who know them. Thaddeus O. Lindley, .whose splendid farm of 120 acres lies in Clinton Township, was horn near Ridgeville, the neighboring County of Henry, in 1866, and is the son of Josiah B. and Nancy (Durkee) Lindley. Through both lines of progenitors the subject inherits good old Scotch blood, his great-grandfather Durkee and two brothers having immigrated from Scotland to this country, settling in Vermont, where they became successful farmers. Thaddeus O. Lindley received his education in the common schools of Freedom Township, Henry county, which he attended until sixteen years of age. He was reared to the life of a farmer and remained with his father until twenty years of age, when, in 1886, at the time of his marriage, he bought land and went to farming on his own account. Since that time Mr. Lindley has owned and lived on many farms, his practice having been to buy a farm, improve it and then sell it. In this plan of operations he has been uniformly successful and has thus handled a good many acres of Fulton county 166 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY farm land. At the present time he is the owner of 120 acres of land. in Clinton township, comprising one of the best farms in that section of the county. He has exercised sound judgment in his work and has maintained his land in good condition, the general appearance of the place being attractive to the passer-by. In 1886 Mr. Lindley was married to Cora J. Robinson, the daughter of Lorenzo and Cordelia (Bates) Robinson, and to their union have been born six children, three sons and three daughters, of which number one son died at the age of eight years. Politically Mr. Lindley is an earnest supporter of the republican party, though he does not take an active part in public affairs. However, he is intelligently interested in the welfare of the community in which he lives and consistently supports every worthy movement for the material, civic or moral advancement of the locality. Because of his earnest qualities of character and his business success, he is numbered among the representative citizens of his community and enjoys the esteem of all who know him. ALBERT ZIMMERMAN. If it were not for the capability and energy of the agricultural class the whole world would go hungry, especially now when foreign countries are clamoring for American foodstuffs. It is the farmers who are feeding the world, and all honor should be given the men who are willing to work as they have to in order to get even a fair profit upon their investment of money and time. One of the men who is conducting his fertile eighty-acre farm in Clinton township both profitably and according to modern methods is Albert Zimmerman. Albert Zimmerman was born in German township, Fulton county, in 1865, a son of Jacob and Anna (Miller). Zimmerman, farming people. Until he attained his majority Albert Zimmerman alternated attendance at the country schools during the winter with working on his father's farm in the summer, and in this way acquired a practical knowledge of what was to be his life work while he was gaining an educational training. In 1889 Mr. Zimmerman was united in marriage with Anna S. Leu, a daughter of George and Salome (Wanner) Leu of Franklin township, Fulton county. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman have two children, namely: Minnie, who is now Mrs. E. W. Sturdevant, of Toledo, Ohio and George A., who is also a resident of Toledo, Ohio. Following his marriage Mr. Zimmerman rented eighty acres of land and conducted it until 1913, working very hard to accumulate a sufficient amount of money to buy a farm of his own, which he did in that year, it being his present one. Since moving on it he has been engaged in doing general farming and making improvements, and now has a comfortable home. His neat buildings, well-kept fences, sleek stock and modern machinery proclaim his prosperity and skill louder than ,any words. This has not been brought about without a great deal of hard labor and many sacrifices, but he feels that the results are worth the exertion. Being a very intelligent man, Mr. Zimmerman has always felt that he ought to choose his own candidates and not be hidebound with reference to their party affiliations. The man, in his opinion, is the essential qualification, not his party, and he votes accordingly. Having worked hard for his money, and thriftily saved it, Mr. Zimmerman is not in favor of a lavish and extravagant expenditure of public funds, although he does believe in proper development and improvement brought about without undue strain. Sound, con- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 167 servative and reliable, Mr. Zimmerman stands as one of the best types of the successful agriculturists of Fulton county, and his community is proud of him. HEIRO ALAKAI FAUVER. A man who boldly faces the responsibilities of life and by determined and untiring energy carves out for himself an honorable success exerts a strong influence upon the lives of those who come into contact with him. Such men form the foundation of our republican institutions and are the pride of our civilization. To them life is so real that they find no time for either vice or idleness. Their lives are bound up in their duties and they feel the weight of their citizenship. Such has been the career of the gentleman whose name forms the caption to this paragraph, one of the best known men in local agricultural circles and, owing to his genial disposition and open heartedness, one of the most popular. Heiro A. Fauver, who owns and operates a fine farm of eighty-one acres in Clinton Township, was born in Lorain county, Ohio, in 1845, and is the son of Walter and Alzina (Cornell) Fauver through whom he inherited sterling old German and French blood. The parents were farming folk in Lorain county, in connection with which they also raised stock, and they were numbered among the successful and respected residents of that county. The subject was reared under the parental roof and secured his educational training in the common schools of Lorain county, then entering Berea Academy at the age of fifteen years and remaining there 11/2 years. At the age of eighteen years he began his independent career, gaining employment as a farm hand in tile neighborhood of his home. He was so employed for about a year and a half, when he moved to Henry county, where he remained for three years, at the end of that time returning home and working for his father for a time. He then went to Defiance county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming on a tract of about two thousand acres, which engaged his attention for about 2 1/2 years. His next move was to Ridgeville, Henry county, Ohio, where he bought a small farm of forty acres, to the operation of which he. devoted his attention until 1904, when he removed to his present fine farm of eighty-one acres in Clinton Township. Here he carries on general farming, raising all the crops common to this section of the country, and has so ordered his affairs that he has been splendidly successful in his operations. The place is well improved with substantial and attractive buildings, the general appearance of the farm indicating the owner to be a man of excellent judgment and sound discrimination. Mr. Fauver has been married twice, first to Mary Dowd, of Henry county, Ohio, in 1865. She died on April 5, 1868, without issue, and in 1872 he was married to Jennie Beckham, the daughter of William and Hannah Beckham, also of Henry county. To this union have been born four children, three of whom are living. Politically Mr. Fauver gives his support to the republican party, and has given intelligent attention to local public affairs. He has been honored by his fellow citizens by election to several of the township, offices and discharged his official duties to the entire satisfaction of the community. He has been specially interested in educational affairs and has consistently given his support to every movement looking to the material, educational and moral advancement of the community in which he lives. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he gives liberal support. He has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and by close application 168 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY he has established those habits of industry and frugality which have insured his success in later years. Because of his success and his fine personal qualities he enjoys to a marked degree the confidence and esteem of all who know him. DANIEL CLINGAMAN. That the plentitude of satiety is seldom attained in the affairs of life is to be considered a most beneficial deprivation, for where ambition is satisfied and every ultimate end realized, apathy must follow, effort would cease and creative talent waste its energies in inactivity. The men who have pushed forward the wheels of progress have been those to whom satisfaction lies ever in the future, who have labored continuously, always finding in each transition stage an incentive for further effort. Daniel Clingaman, who carries on general farming operations in Clinton township, Fulton county, is one whose well directed efforts have gained for him a position of desired prominence in the community, and his energy and enterprise have been crowned with success. Thus, having ever had the interests of his county at heart and seeking to promote them in every way possible, he has well earned a place along with his enterprising fellow citizens in the permanent history of his county. Daniel Clingaman is a native son of the old Buckeye State, having been born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1846, and is the son of William and Rebecca (Kleckner) Clingaman, who were of sterling old German stock, though the families had been represented in. America for many generations and had been conspicuous for their industry, , integrity and loyalty. They had mostly followed the vocations of farming and mechanics. Daniel Clingaman accompanied his parents on their removal to Fulton county when he was about six years of age, and in the country schools of this county he received his educational training, attending the winter terms of schools until his seventeenth year. In March, 1865, when his country was bending its final effort to crush the great southern rebellion, he enlisted as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he took part in the final campaigns in Virginia, seeing some very active and strenuous service. He was honorably discharged on December 18, 1865, and,. returning home, was employed at farm work on the farms of the neighborhood of his home, being so employed for about three years in Clinton Township. He then located in Tedrow and engaged in the blacksmith business, in which he was successful and which engaged his attention for about seventeen years. At the end of that time he sold his shop and bought 120 acres of land in Clinton Township, comprising his present location, though he has since sold forty acres of his original holdings and then bought fifteen acres, his present farm comprising ninety-five acres of as fine land as can be found in the locality. Here he conducts general farming and, through the exercise of sound common sense and excellent discrimination, he has been successful to a gratifying degree, being now numbered among the prosperous and enterprising agriculturists of Clinton Towhship. In 1874 Mr. Clingaman was married to Louisa Minnick, the daughter of Peter and Catherine (Downs) Minnick, of Franklin Township, this county. To this union have been born two children, namely : Peter, born in 1876, and now living in Wauseon, is married and the father of five children Jessie Lodema is the wife of C. B. Fauver, who gives his active personal attention to the subject's farm, and they are the parents of one child. Politically Mr. Clingaman gives his earnest support to the demo- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 169 cratic ticket and takes a commendable interest in everything affecting the general welfare of the community in which he lives. Fraternally he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and his religious membership is with the Christian Church, to which he gives liberal support. His has been a life of honor and integrity, he being a consistent man in all he has ever undertaken, and his career in all the relations of life has been utterly without pretense. He is held in the highest esteem by all who know him, and the community in which. he lives can boast of no better man or more enterprising citizen. TIMOTHY FRANKLIN ESTEP. The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless abridgment, the historian being obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details and to marshal them in logical and concise order. This applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category is included the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and incidents, and yet in summing up such a career as that of Mr. Estep the writer must needs touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of his character and eliminating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman whose name appears above has led an active and useful life, not entirely void of the exciting, but the more prominent events have been so identified with the useful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following paragraphs. Timothy F. Estep, whose fine poultry and fruit farm near Wauseon enjoys a widespread reputation, was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, in 1862, during the first period of the great Civil war, which had one of its most spectacular settings in that historic valley. He is the son of William and Hannah (Biller) Estep, who were descendants of good old German and Dutch stock respectively, and who were highly respected and successful farming folk in the Old Dominion. The subject was reared under the parental roof and secured his education in the winter terms of school in his home neighborhood, his summers being devoted to work on the home farm. When he was fifteen years old the family moved to Kosciusko county, Indiana, where they on a farm, to which the subject gave his efforts, and he also received another winter's schooling. He remained there until 1908, when he was married, and immediately thereafter he moved to Fulton county, Ohio, where he bought eighty acres of land, to the cultivation of which he devoted himself for two years. His next home was at Oak Shade, Ohio, where he bought a farm of 102 acres, but at the end of three years he sold that place and bought sixty acres in 1914, near Wauseon, where he lived until after the death of his first wife, when he sold off everything and moved into Wauseon, where he and his children established their home. In 1915 he bought fifty-two acres of land near Wauseon, on which he lived during the summer, when he again sold out. His next purchase was eighty acres of land near Delta, which he did not occupy, however, renting it out. Soon afterwards he bought his present home of eight acres near Wauseon, which he devoted to poultry and fruit raising and in which lines he has met with very gratifying success. The place is well improved in every respect and here Mr. Estep has one of the best flocks of poultry in this locality. He makes a specialty of white leghorn fowls, of which he owns about five hundred, many of them being of the best strains obtainable, and from which he has 170 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY derived a very comfortable income. Mr. Estep is also the owner of other landed interests in this county and is numbered among the successful and enterprising citizens of the community. He also engages quite extensively in the buying and shipping of poultry, which he has built up to a considerable business. Mr. Estep has been married twice, first, in 1908, to Sylvia Steward, the daughter of Matthew and Alice (Mitchell) Steward, of Henry county, Ohio. She was a well educated and cultured woman, who had successfully taught school at Alva, Oklahoma, prior to 'her marriage to Mr. Estep. To this union were born two children, Paul Steward, born in 1909, and Matthew Carl, born in 1913. The mother of these children died in 1914, and in 1916 Mr. Estep was married to Minnie Whitmer, of Fulton county. Politically Mr. Estep isa stanch supporter of the republican party, and has taken an active part in local public affairs, having served on the township committee in 1904. 'In religion he subscribes to the creed of the Baptist Church, of which he is a member and liberal supporter. Such in brief is the record of Mr. Estep, than whom a more whole-souled or popular man it would be difficult to find in his community, where he has labored not only for his individual advancement, but also for the improvement of the entire community whose interests he has ever had at heart. FRANK R. WHITESELL. Years of operation as an agriculturist have made Frank W. Whitesell one of the expert farmers of Clinton Township, and the properties he has owned and conducted in Fulton county were all improved by his appliance to their operation. The modern methods he is still using. He is a practical farmer and understands his work thoroughly, and so successful has he been that his advice is sought and taken by many of his neighbors. Frank R. Whitesell was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1862, a son of Samuel and Mary (Willgus) Whitesell, of English stock. The founder of the family in the American colonies was the paternal great-great-grandfather of Frank R. Whitesell, who came to this country from England. In 1865 Samuel Whitesell brought his family to 'Williams county, Ohio, and after a year to Fulton county, where he secured a farm in Clinton Township, now the property of his son, Frank R.. Whitesell. Being but a little child when brought to Fulton county, Frank R. Whitesell has practically spent his life here, and his educational training was secured in its rural schools. Under his father's careful supervision he was taught the fundamentals of farming, and when he was twenty-one years old his father permitted him to assume management Of the homestead, and he continued to do so until 1884, when he bought sixty acres of land in York Township, and remained on it, making all necessary improvements and developing it into a fine farm, which he sold at a fair profit in. 1917, and he then bought the old homestead of fifty acres in Clinton Township, which is his present farm and place of residence, and here he is engaged in raising a general diversified line of crops. In 1884 Mr. Whitesell was united in marriage with Elizabeth Eck, a daughter of Leon Eck of Wauseon. Mr. and Mrs. Whitesell have one child, Mabel, who is now Mrs. F. K. Gilson, of Wauseon. In his fraternal connection Mr. Whitesell maintains membership with the Knights of Pythias. Having earned all that he now owns, Mr. Whitesell has every reason to be satisfied with the results of his years of hard work, and all the more so inasmuch as he has also been HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 171 able to win and hold the respect of his associates. Having spent so many years in Fulton county, he is naturally interested in its progress and may be depended upon to render an efficient and generous support to those measures tending to advance it. WESLEY A. BLAKE. The farming interests of Fulton county are of such importance as to form a very considerable portion of the wealth of that part of the state. These properties, with their modern 'buildings, fine stock, well-kept fences and improved machinery, are considerably different from the farms in the early days of the county, and yet this magnificent state has been brought about through the energy, industry and efficiency of the men who have taken pride in putting their land under cultivation and placing upon it all the work of which they were capable. Wesley A. Blake of Clinton Township owns eighty acres of splendid farming land, and is satisfied with the results of the years he has put in on it. Wesley A. Blake was born in Chatham, Medina county, Ohio, on December 28, 1840, and comes of New England stock, his family having lived at Litchfield, Connecticut, for generations. He is a son of Orrin and Caroline Blake. After attending the public schools and a select school at Chatham Mr. Blake at the age of seventeen years came to Fulton county and for a time was occupied learning the harness trade, at which he worked in Wauseon for six years, and then in 1863 bought 100 acres of land in Clinton Township and since then has devoted himself to farming. In 1863 Mr. Blake was married to Anna Newcomer, the first white child born in the Village of Wauseon, and they became the parents of the following children : George W. who resides in Anderson, Charles A., who is at home; W., C., who is the wife of Rev. D. H. Helms of Lima, Ohio; and Bertha, who is the wife of J. C. Hodges, and lives at Anderson, Indiana. Mr. Blake is independent in his political views. He is the only living charter member of Wauseon Lodge No. 349, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was worshipful master for six years, and he was also high priest of Wauseon Chapter No. 111, Royal Arch Masons, for ten years. In every respect Mr. Blake has lived up to the highest conceptions of good citizenship and upright manhood. He had the misfortune to lose his wife by death on April 28, 1913. She was a lady of beautiful character and many Christian virtues, and she is deeply mourned not only by her family but the entire neighborhood, in which she shared with her husband the respect and esteem of all their acquaintances. Mr. Blake has never been a man to ask favors of anyone, preferring to carve out his own fortune, and he has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable property. FRANK T. BIDDLE. Fulton county farm land repays well those who spend their days cultivating it, for it is fertile, well watered and conveniently located with reference to transportation facilities. Therefore some of the most level-headed men of this region are agriculturists, and one of them who has demonstrated the profit there is in this line of industry is Frank T. Biddle; owner of seventy acres of valuable land in Clinton Township. Frank. T. Biddle was born in York Township, this county, on March 3, 1872, 'a son of Calvin and Margaret (Todd) Biddle. The Biddle family originated in Scotland, but was transferred to American soil some generations ago, and many bearing the name have 172 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY devoted themselves to agricultural pursuits, including Calvin Biddle. Until he was seventeen years old Frank T. Biddle attended the local rural schools, but at that age left school and devoted all of his attention to farm work, to which he had only given it during the summer months hitherto, and became a practical man in his chosen calling. In 1893 Mr. Biddle was united in marriage with Mary Tedrow, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Hoffmeyer) Tedrow, of Clinton Township. The Tedrow family is one of the old and honored ones of this region, the Town of Tedrow being named for the founder of it in Fulton county, Isaac Tedrow, who, coming to the county at an early day, bought 320 acres of land and spent the rest of his life upon it. He was a sound, reliable man and became so important a factor in his neighborhood that when the Town of Tedrow was founded his name was given to it. Mr. and Mrs. Biddle have two children, Elizabeth and Florence, both of whom are at home. Until 1900 Mr. Biddle continued to farm for his father, but then bought forty acres of land from his father and conducted it for five years, at which time he bought his present property, and on it he is carrying on general farming, in which line he is very successful, for he understands his business, knows the requirements of his soil and the demands of his market. In his politics he is a democrat, and was elected on his party ticket a member of the school board of his district, in which capacity he is rendering a service to his community, for he is a firm believer in providing good schools and competent teachers for the children, the future men and women of the county. According to his views if they are not properly educated much of the work of development of the county will go for naught, so that good schools are the best kind of investment, in addition to being the obligation of this genera• tion to the next. His prosperity has not come to him through the gift of anyone, but because of his intelligently applied industry and carefully considered thrift. In all of his work and saving he has been ably assisted by his wife, and both of them are held in the highest regard by their neighbors, who know and appreciate their many excellent traits of character. CHARLES ROSS BATES. The fundamental industry of farming is becoming recognized as being so important as to loom up large among other callings of the world. Not only are all of the leading colleges and universities including agricultural departments in their courses of study, but there are also a number of educational institutions devoted exclusively to agriculture. The 'governments, both national and state, are urging the young men to remain on the farm, and those not satisfied with city life to return to the farm, as well as offering every encouragement to the men already engaged in agricultural pursuits. With the great scarcity of food all over the world, and the seeming necessity for this country to bear a large part of the burden of providing for the unfortunates in the war devastated regions of the old world, the responsibilities resting upon the farmer have given to him added dignity and importance. One of the men of Fulton county who has worked all this out for himself and, trained himself for an agricultural career is Charles Ross Bates, owner of a well-improved farm in Clinton township. Charles Ross Bates was born in Fulton county on January 16, 1888, a son of F. A. and Esther (Marks) Bates, farming people. The Bates family is of English origin, but has long been established on HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 173 American soil. Growing up in his native county, Mr. Bates attended its schools, following which he had the advantage of a two-years' course at a normal school and then became a student of the Ohio State University, where he took the agricultural course. Returning home, he operated the old homestead until the spring of 1919, when he bought forty-one acres of land in Clinton Township and is now devoting it to general farming and himself to the improvement of this property. In 1916 Mr. Bates was united in marriage with Tressa Metcliff, a daughter of William and Carrie (Russ) Metcliff. Mr. and Mrs. Bates have no children. A Mason, Mr. Bates belongs to Lyons Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. A republican, he has always given an intelligent support to the principles and candidates of his party and sees no reason for changing his politics, for he believes that under republican administrations this country has made its best progress and been the most prosperous. Mr. Bates belongs to the class of specially trained farmers, and his work is carried on according to proven scientific methods worked out from actual facts. He does not go ahead "hit or miss," but studies his soil, the climate and region before putting in a crop. If his land lacks certain elements he can find, out what they are and supply them in the proper amount. If his trees bright, it is not difficult for him to determine the cause, and he is equally fitted to learn how to avoid such conditions. Naturally, being progressive and intelligent, he favors the good roads movement, for he knows that those communities on the great national highways are the ones which will forge ahead, and then, too, he wants to have easy access to the larger cities so that he can keen in close touch with current events. The influence of such men as Mr. Bates on his neighborhood cannot help but be inspiring, and Clinton Township is fortunate in securing him as one of its property holders. WILLIAM GAMBLE. The period in which the late William Gamble of Gorham lived in the world was from September 1, 1845, when he was born in Richland county, to May 1, 1912, when he died in Fulton county. He was a son of Edward and Sarah (Dickinson) Gamble. They came from England in 1840 and located in Richland county. Their children were : Edward, John and Richard, all deceased, and William, who was the youngest of the family. They are all gone the way of the world. William was the only child born after they came to the United States. It was about the time of the organization of Fulton county in 1850 that the Gamble family removed from Richland to the new county in Western Ohio. They came overland direct to Gorham Township, where they entered, cleared and improved a farm—and both died where they located so long ago. The Gamble family story is related by Mrs. Frances A. Pontius Gamble, widow of William Gamble. She was born October 31, 1847, near Waterloo, New York. She is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Deal) Pontius. The father was a native of New York and the mother of Pennsylvania. It was in April, 1870, that Frances A. Pontius became the wife of William Gamble. As early as 1852 her family had come to Gorham—just two years after the coming of the Gamble family. The word pioneer is properly applied to both families. When William Gamble and his wife were married they lived for a 174 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY time on the Gamble farm in Gorham, then bought a fifty-acre tract partly cleared, and they improved it. They cleared and added more land until there is now a farmstead of 150 acres, all under cultivation but ten acres in timber and pasture land. Mr. Gamble was a hard working man, and very prosperous farmer—a good man in the community. The children were: Curtis and Edward, deceased Nelson, of Lenawee county, Michigan William, of Gorham Burt Van Buren, of Fayette; Artemus LeRoy, of Wauseon; and Ophie, wife of Herbert Tillotson, of Fayette. When their children were in school Mr. and Mrs. Gamble rented the farm and lived in Fayette, where he conducted a grocery business for fourteen years. They had been educated in common schools themselves and wanted to give their children the best educational advantages. The family belong to the Disciples Church in Fayette. In the same family circle is Richard Lagar Gamble, of Gorham, his ancestry also coming from England. He is a son of Richard and Mary Ellen (Stahl) Gamble, and was born August 23, 1885, at Primrose, Williams county. His mother was a New York woman. The paternal grandparents, Edward and Sarah (Dickinson) Gamble, were from England, while the maternal grandparents, Michael and Eliza (Lutz) Stahl, were from New York, but since 1852 they had lived in Fulton county. When Richard Gamble, Sr., was married he was a merchant in Fayette for two years, when he removed to Alberton, Ohio. Later he was a merchant in Primrose, Williams county. He died there in 1901, and the widow died in 1917. Their children are: Bertha, wife of H. O. Esterline, of Hudson, Michigan; Elsie, wife of Harvey Nicolen, of Wyoming; Norman, of Fort Morgan, Colorado; and Richard Lagar, of Gorham. In September, 1906, Richard Lagar Gamble married Rosamond Gleason. She lived in Fulton, although a daughter of Alson and Alice (Kosier) Gleason, of Williams county. For five years they rented a farm in Gorham. The wife died October 11, 1911, and Mr. Gamble removed to Bryan, Williams county. In 1912 he returned to Gorham, remaining one year on a rented farm, when he bought a store in Zone. He operated the 'store for a time and bought a threshing machine and ran it for three years. When he sold the threshing machine he farmed and bought and sold livestock for a year, and in March, 1918, he bought the farm on which he first lived and farms it today. He has one daughter, Alice Genevieve. AUGUST RUIHLEY, whose services as an advisory editor of this History of Fulton County it is the pleasure of the publishers to give special credit for, has for thirty years been one of the men of active influence in the affairs of German Township and the Town of Archbold. Mr. Ruihley was born in German Township east of Archbold August 3, 1869, son of Clemens and Mary (Schultz) Ruihley. His people were prominent in the early Swiss colony in this section of Fulton county. His father came from Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland, at the age of twenty-four, and at once located in German Town- ship. A mile and a half east of Archbold he bought fifty acres from his uncle, Conrad Kutzli, and after his marriage worked steadily clearing and improving his farm until his death in 1889. His wife died in 1874. August Ruihley was the youngest of three children. He attended the Schantz country school to the age of fifteen, then spent two years