HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 275 been born in 1810. His wife, who was born in 1814, was just twenty years of age when she came to Fulton county, and she died May 24, 1904, seventy years later. They had a large family of children : Edward C., Dixon, Theodore J., William Henry, Leonard, William Holland, John Milton, George, Elizabeth and James, twins, Helen Y., James Eugene and Mary Catherine. Only three are now living, John Milton, Helen Y., and James Eugene, the latter in California. John Milton Sindel has some early memories of Pike Township when the country was still only a few years removed from a virgin wilderness. He attended a log cabin school, and early learned the arts and discipline of farm life as practiced sixty or seventy years ago. On March 1, 1868, he married Elizabeth Elliott, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, a daughter of Simon and Susan (Scott) Elliott. After their marriage they lived on the Elliott farm in Pike Township, later rented a farm for two years at Marseilles, Illinois, and then spent another four years on the Elliott farm in Pike Township. April 6, 1874, Mr. Sindel bought an eighty acre brush farm in Pike Township, in section 3, clearing and improving the place. In March, 1905, he bought a partly improved place in the same section, and has cleared up all of this land, built a modern home, and for the past three years has hired all the farm labor. His son lives on his other farm. Mr. and Mrs. Sindel have two children, M. Leonard and Bernice. Leonard, who lives on his father’s farm in Pike Township, married Blanche Shaffer. They have five children : Elsie, wife of Paul Clough, who was a soldier in the National Army ; Marian, who is Mrs. Clinton Miller, of Delta ; Richard, Robert and Irene. The daughter Bernice is the wife of Erwin Tappin, of Pike Township, and has two children, John and Mary. Mr. Sindel is a member of the Christian Church and has been an elder since 1912., His official record comprises two terms as township trustee,' two years as assessor, one term as justice of the peace, and a number of years of service as school director, constable and road supervisor. He has held all the offices in the Etna Grange and is a republican in politics. WALTER EARL DISBROW. While most midwest families are able to trace their lineage through two, three and sometimes four generations, it is vouchsafed to Walter Earl Disbrow, a clerk in the Wauseon postoffice, to look backward through six generations to the Revolutionary period in American history to Henry Disbrow who carried the family name in that war. He also looks through three generations before that time, during the Colonial period; is in the tenth generation from the first Disbrow of whom he has any knowledge. The Colonial record shows that Henry was a son of Caleb Disbrow, whose wife was Sarah Davis, and he was one of nine children born to them. Caleb was a son of Thomas Disbrow, whose wife was Abagail. Gooding, and he was one of seven children born to them. Thomas was in turn a son of another Thomas Disbrow, whose will was probated February 7, 1706—the earliest Disbrow of which there is any record, and the second Thomas Disbrow was his only child. The name of the wife was Mercy Jones, and thus ends' the Colonial history of the Disbrow family. Henry Disbrow, the Revolutionary soldier through whom W. E. 276 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Disbrow is eligible to membership in the patriotic society of the Sons of the American Revolution, was born April 19, 1757, and he had not yet reached his majority when the colonists declared their independence from England. The records indicate that he lived in Connecticut. He married Hannah Merriam, April 1, 1819, at Harperfield, Delaware county New York, and May 15, 1838, he died at Medina, Ohio. His children were : James, Smith, Rachel, Caleb and Rebecca. The Fulton county Disbrows are descended from the oldest son, James. He married Polly Knapp and Orville Disbrow was one of five children born to them. Orville and Fanny (Buck) Disbrow passed their early married life in Lorain county. Their life story began in Fulton county in 1859, when they located in Chesterfield. He died in 1882, aged sixty-five years, while his wife attained to more than ninety years. Their children were: David J., Caleb E., Francis, Betsey and Adeline. David J. Disbrow married Angeline Briggs August 6, 1865, and through this alliance Walter E. Disbrow is in the fourth generation from Col. Alanson Briggs, who was in command of a regiment of "Green Mountain Boys" in the second war with England. He treasures the sword carried by this ancestor in 1812, and few men anywhere have more direct military ancestry, beginning with the first war with England—the American Revolution. The name Disbrow has been in America so long that "Blue-bellied Yankee," is a term applied to the pioneers.. The name Briggs is also in the earliest annals of the community. In 1834 Colonel' Briggs visited northwestern Ohio and the Michigan strip, and he invested in a large tract of unbroken wild land, and in 1835 he removed his family from Cleveland to what is now known as Chesterfield. He was a merchant, and brought a stock of goods to the Indian Trading post he established, and as he came to stay he brought livestock with him, coming through the Black Swamp to this wilderness country. Colonel Briggs was the kind of settler to build up any frontier community. While Colonel. Briggs thought he was the first white settler in that particular "Neck o, the woods," imagine his surprise when one day Chief Winameg came into the Trading Post with other Indians and told him of Chesterfield Clemmons, a "white man with a wigwam," who had been there "many moons." While the late Col. D. W. H. Howard was an Indian trader who came through the territory sometimes, Colonel Briggs was, unquestionably the first merchant in Fulton county. While he has posterity, the name is not perpetuated, as he had no son to reach manhood. Colonel Briggs married Olive Sweet June 2, 1829, and one son, Roderick A., was born, but died sixteen days later. The wife died September 2, 1830, and on December 8, 1839, the colonel married Lucinda Rogers. They had four daughters: Betsey, Maria, Eliza and Angeline. Only two, Eliza and Angeline, lived to womanhood. It was the marriage of David J. Disbrow and Angeline Briggs that united these two pioneer Fulton county families. Their children are: Charles Eugene and Eva Emma. Through the son comes Walter E. Disbrow, of this sketch. The daughter, Eva Emma, is the wife of George W. Corlett, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and they have one son, Robert. C. E. Disbrow, of Chesterfield, known to all as Gene, was born January 1, 1869, and on August 14, 1889, he married Reta Todd. She is a daughter of Henry M. and Alwilda (Newcomb) Todd. She HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 277 had two brothers, Francis C. and Royal T. Todd, and a step-sister, Alta Terpenning Retan, and two half brothers, Merritt and Homer Stewart, and a half sister, Mamie Stewart. The brother Francis C., and the two sisters are gone the way of the world. Mrs. Disbrow was reared by her great-grandmother, Susannah K. McLaughlin, near Delta, of whom she speaks in highest terms of praise as an excellent pioneer woman. Mrs. McLaughlin was a widow for many years. The Disbrow children of today are : Walter Earl and Montral Mack. Three children are deceased : Eugene, born may 19, 1890, died the same day; Sybil, born December 13, 1896, died three days later. Fern Eva, whose untimely death occurred February 10, 1920, was married November 29, 1916, to Fred E. King, of Jasper, Michigan. She was in the bloom of a beautiful young womanhood, and is survived by her husband and one daughter, Evlyn Fern. Montral Mack Disbrow lives with his parents on the hilltop overlooking Oak Shade, and he is a pupil in the Chesterfield Centralized Schools. Walter E. Disbrow graduated from the Wauseon High School and from the International Business College at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has been keeper of records and seal for the Knights of Pythias Lodge for five years. He is the record keeper of the Order of the Maccabees, and he belongs to the following Masonic orders: Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council and Knights Templar. He is financial secretary of Wauseon Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a member of the firm Campbell & Disbrow, Insurance. On July 19, 1916, Walter E. Disbrow married Rosella R. Crew, and their daughter is Geraldine Eleanor. The Crews and Disbrows live as one family. Mrs. Disbrow is the only daughter of Alva and Mary (Bond) Crew. The mother died and Sadie DeWitt came into the family circle, the daughter knowing nothing of another mother. Mary Bond was a daughter of Reuben and Sarah (Bollander) Bond, who were numbered among the pioneers of Fulton county. Alva Crew is a son of Micajah Crew, who was a native of Columbiana county. When he came to Fulton county he married Ellen Jane Lillich, thus connecting the Crew-Lillich families, who meet in annual reunions. While the early Fulton county Disbrow family history began in Chesterfield, there are now Disbrow relatives in many different communities. "Gene" Disbrow was agent of the Dayton, Toledo & Ironton Railway at Oak Shade for many years, and it was through his efforts that the postoffice and general store were located there. Mr. Disbrow was at once railway agent, postmaster and merchant in the Oak Shade community: The family homestead today is a farmhouse overlooking the village, and Mr. Disbrow devotes his attention to agriculture and its kindred industry, livestock. The family furnished several Revolutionary soldiers, the head of the house of Briggs was a colonel in the second war with England, and the family also furnished its quota of Civil war soldiers. If there were any first families in Ohio, then the name Disbrow would be among them. EDWIN JAMES BOWERMAN. Among the good influences which have brought about the improvement .of farming conditions may be mentioned the opening up at different times of vast areas of new land; the inventive genius of those who created labor-saving ma- 278 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY chinery ; the development of transportation by land and water and the consequent drawing together of the farm and markets; the establishment of government experimental stations and other agencies for the promulgation of agricultural information ; co-operation among the farmers, and the ready adoption of such important aids as irrigation, dry farming, selective plant and animal breeding, specialization in crops, fertilizers and cold storage, all of these have played an important part in the transition from crude beginnings to methods and appliances of the present day. Among the farmers of Fulton county who is living up to the conception of the modern agriculturist and doing his part to bring about further improvement of existing conditions in this region is Edwin James Bowerman of York Township. Edwin James Bowerman was born on the farm he now occupies in section 36, York Township, December 25, 1866, and he has spent his life here. He is a son of Edwin R. and Maria J. (Smith) Bowerman, he born on June 1, 1835, in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and she born in. Seneca county, Ohio. The grandparents were James and .Phoebe (Tollman) Bowerman, of New York state, and Henry and Martha (Bergstresser) Smith. The great-grandfather Tollman was a soldier in the American Revolution. It was while the paternal grandparents were on their way from New York to Ohio that Edwin R. Bowerman was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, they being attracted to Ohio by the promise of work on the Maumee Canal, which James Bowerman helped to construct, and he was also a captain of one of the canalboats. The family settled on the Maumee River, but he later bought a farm in what is now York Township, Fulton county, owning at one time 480 acres of timber and prairie land, and being at the time of his death in 1854 a man of considerable means. After their marriage his son, Edwin R. Bowerman, and his wife settled on the old farm and became the owners of 320 acres of land. For some years he was engaged in further improving it, but spent his last days at Delta, Ohio, where he died in 1907, his widow surviving him until 1916. Their children were as follows: Eva, who is the widow of Charles Gross, of Wauseon.; Martha, who is the widow of Adam D. Mann, of Wauseon ; and Edwin James, who was the youngest. After the death of his father Edwin James Bowerman secured 120 acres of his father,s farm, which includes the homestead, and on it he is carrying on general farming and dairying, his herd numbering from six to ten cows of the Holstein strain. In his farming he has been successful and takes a pride in keeping everything in first class order. April 22, 1888, Mr. Bowerman united in marriage with Orpha Cameron, a native of Fulton county, Ohio, and a daughter of Alexander. and Jane (King) Cameron.. She is a member of that distinguished pioneer family of King, whose story is briefly told on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Bowerman became the parents of the following children : Frank, a farmer in York Township ; Clarence; Louise, Mrs. Marvin Greisinger, of York Township ; and Florence, at home. Politically Mr. Bowerman is a democrat. KING FAMILY. Hardly any of the pioneers of Fulton county came earlier and none were people of more substantial character than the King family, who settled in the woods near where the Village of Delta now stands in the year 1834. Many years ago the history HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 279 of this family was compiled by one of its members and a portion of the account is given here as an historic record that properly belongs in any history of Fulton county. The Kings went to Ireland in the seventeenth century as part of the English and Scotch Protestant occupation of the Ulster plantations. For many generations they lived in the County of Londonderry. About the close of the eighteenth century some of the original land was owned by William King. William King married Elizabeth Torrence, whose ancestry was Scotch, while William King,s family came from England. Their children, three sons and four daughters, were born on the farm near Newton-Lamavady. These children were named James, John, Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine and William. The sons James and William were given a liberal education, while John received the farm. John found the homestead too small for his family, and in 1824 moved to a large farm he rented, and lived there until 1833. At that time the rented farm was disposed of and the homestead sold. His brothers James and William also came to America at the same time. While the other members of the family remained in New York, William had come west to Ohio. He met the other members of the family at Cleveland in the spring of 1834, and they proceeded by boat to Manhattan at the mouth of the Maumee, where two lumber wagons were obtained to take the party and their baggage to Providence at the head of the Rapids, intending to go on to Fort Defiance, where William had discovered a place he thought would be suitable for settlement., While waiting at Providence John King examined a tract of land in the "six mile woods." He was so well pleased with the land and the location that he determined to go no further and bought a section of Government land densely covered with timber. That formed the original homestead on which the family settled in June, 1834. The country was all new with only a few families who had settled there that spring. The following week after the family came into the woods a tornado swept through where they had settled and laid the timber flat. It took a whole week to cut their way out to the oak openings. The family were mercifully preserved, a few trees having been cut where the shanty was erected, which saved them. Three of the daughters of the family, Elizabeth, Mary and Catherine, had married in Ireland. The other two families remained behind, but they all came out afterward and settled near the homestead in Fulton county. The parents lived after settling in the woods to a ripe old age and were buried in the family burying ground on the farm. James and William remained on the farm one year after they settled. They then went south and lived in Louisiana. The present sketch is chiefly concerned with John King, who was born in County Londonderry June 20, 1796. He had a peculiar talent for farming, and, as noted above, soon found the homestead too small and carried on extensive operations with rented land. He was also a road contractor in Ireland. The first year he spent in the woods of Ohio he cultivated little more than a garden, but after that the area of cultivation was steadily extended. In 1840 John King married Miss Barbara Shoemaker, of Muncy, Pennsylvania. She died October 14, 1846, the mother of two sons. In 1847 John King married Miss Elizabeth Shoemaker, a sister of his first wife. By this marriage there were five children : John, born April 2, 1848; Jane, born February 16, 1850; Elizabeth, born December 4, 1851 ; Martha A., born July 9, 1853; and Thomas 280 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY W., born March 4, 1855. The only one of these children to remain on the old Fulton county homestead was Thomas W. King, who married Elizabeth Goodwin. During the first thirteen years in the woods the Kings had no Presbyterian preacher visit them. The Sabbaths were spent in reading the Bible and other religious books. John got up a subscription to build a Presbyterian Church at Delta and a petition to the Presbytery of Findlay to send them a missionary. A missionary was appointed in 1847 and a congregation was soon formed at Delta. John King had the first Presbyterian Church erected there and was ordained one of the elders of the church. He held that office continuously until his death on September 27, 1865. Mary Jane King, the oldest daughter of John King, the pioneer, was married January 1, 1867, to Alexander Cameron, born October 17, 1845. Alexander Cameron spent most of his life in Fulton county, and served three years as a Union soldier in the One Hundredth Ohio Infantry. He and his wife had eight children : James K., born October 9, 1867; Orpha A., born November 21, 1869, now the wife of Mr. E. J. Bowerman, of York Township, Fulton county ; Arthur D., born August 31, 1872; Nelly M., born November 13, 1874 ; Charles L., born September 23, 1877; Frank S., born May 25, 1880; John T., born July 24, 1882; and William F., born November 3, 1884. WILLIAM ELSWORTH NUTT. An old and honored resident of Fulton county, owner of a valuable and well improved farm in Swan Creek Township, located on rural route No. 25 from Delta., William Elsworth Nutt has received many appreciative tokens of community esteem, and for twenty-seven years altogether has had some participation in the official affairs of his county or township. Mr. Nutt was born in York Township October 27, 1862, son of John and Sophrona Adeline (Kelley) Nutt.. His father was born near Kingbolton, Huntingshire, England, and married for his first wife Susanna Hankins on May 14, 1837. She died in England, and two of her children came with the father to Fulton county, Ohio. On November 24, 1859, John Nutt married Sophrona Adeline Kelley, who was born at Norwalk, Ohio, and moved to York Township about 1850. John Nutt by his first marriage had the following children : Rebecca, who married Gilbert Carver and both are now deceased; John, who enlisted as a Union soldier and was killed in battle in 1864; and William, who died in England September 18, 1839. By his second marriage John Nutt has two living children, William E. and Charles Emory, the latter a resident of Monroe, Michigan. William Elsworth Nutt while a boy on his father,s farm attended the district schools and was not yet twenty-one years of age when on December 7, 1882, he married Miss Alice Fouty. Mrs. Nutt 'was born in York Township March 4, 1865, a daughter of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Visher) Fouty. Her father was born in Columbiana county and her mother at Sylvania, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Nutt lived for a time with his parents, and then took forty acres of the home farm, all woodland, put up a small house, cleared away the timber, and did nearly all the work of improvement. In the course of years that forty acres has become a very productive and valuable tract. The buildings now there are the second set erected by Mr. Nutt. Subsequently he added another forty acres, partly cleared that, and later sold twenty acres, so that his HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 281 present farm contains sixty acres, practically all in cultivation. He now has three sets of buildings. He has made a judicious combination of dairying and general farming. His two children are Lulu and Clement. Lulu is the wife of Rolland Gawdern of Swan Creek Township, and they have one child, Leta, born March 5, 1916. Clement married Pansy Clace. The family are member of Shiloh Union Church and Mr. Nutt served as the first elder and trustee. For eight years he occupied the office ofjustice of the peace, and has always been a school director and road supervisor, and his fellow citizens have always regarded him as completely worthy of their confidence and trust. Politically he is identified with the republican party. GEORGE W. BERKEBILE. One of the best improved farms in York Township is that known as the Grove Fruit Farm, which has been brought to its present fine state through the efforts of the owner, George W. Berkebile, one of the representative farmers and fruit-growers of Fulton county. He was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, on April 12, 1857, a son of Jonathan and Catherine (Stutz-man) Berkebile, natives of the same county as their son. In 1870 the family moved from Pennsylvania to Fulton county, Ohio, where Jonathan Berkebile bought 150 acres in section 21, York Township, and here he was engaged in farming until his death which occurred in 1901. His widow survived him until 1903. Their children were as follows: Abram, who died in November, 1914, aged sixty-two years; George W., who was the second in order of birth ; Nathaniel, who died at the age of four years ; Samuel, who lives in York Township ; Sarah, who died at the age of five years ; Jacob, who lives at Delta, Ohio ; Amanda, who is Mrs. William Dailey of Delta, Ohio. George W. Berkebile grew up under the parental roof and attended the district schools. He continued to live on his father’s farm until in March, 1894, when he moved to an eighty-acre tract in section 22, York Township, which was cleared but not improved. Since then Mr. Berkebile has erected the necessary buildings, making them modern in every respect. There are electric lights in the house and other buildings, water is pumped from a reservoir in the basement to all of the buildings where it is needed, and the house is provided with a tiled bathroom and hot and cold water. In fact it would be difficult to find any city residence more comfortable than that of Mr. Berkebile. Owing to the fact that Mr. Berkebile is a practical carpenter and was engaged in contracting and building for a number of years in part accounts for the superior plans and execution of these buildings. He also owns sixty acres of land in Pike Township, and is a man of ample means. The distinguishing feature of his farm is its magnificent fruit, he having set out an apple orchard of 100 trees, a peach orchard of 140 trees, and a plum orchard of 100 trees, and also has about fifty cherry trees, some pear trees, and all kinds of small fruit and berries. Of late years he has specialized in fruit growing, and his produce is recognized as being of superior quality. In 1878 Mr. Berkebile was united in marriage with Sarah Harmon born in Pike Township on September 11, 1858, a daughter of David and Barbara (Steele) Harmon, natives of Tuscarawas and Ashland counties, Ohio, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Berkebile became the parents of the following children: Franklin, who died at 282 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY the age of 2 1/2 years ; Edward, who is a resident of Toledo, Ohio ; Florence, who is Mrs. Ira Seymour, of California; Nora, who was Mrs. Carl Savage, died in 1909, aged twenty-three years; Lawrence, who lives at Toledo, Ohio; Floyd, who died at the age of 21/2 years; Roy, who is a resident of Toledo, Ohio; and Orpha and Laverne, who are both at home. In politics Mr. Berkebile is a republican. Al. though he has never cared for public preferment, Mr. Berkebile, like all intelligent men, recognizes the necessity for careful supervision of local affairs and a broad-minded support of genuine improvements, and can be depended upon to do his duty by his neighborhood whenever the occasion arises. CHARLES L. SHREVES. One of the men who is prominently identified with the best agricultural interests of Fulton county is Charles L. Shreves of York Township, a practical farmer and good business man, whose fine rural property shows the results of his enterprise and industry. He was born in Huron county, Ohio, May 17, 1863, a son of Charles R. and Thankful (Stone) Shreves, natives of New Jersey and Connecticut, respectively. The paternal grandparents, William and Elizabeth (Reeves) Shreves, were natives of New Jersey, and they and the maternal grandfather, Oramil Stone, were early settlers in Mahoning county, Ohio, in which the parents of Charles L. Shreves met and were married. Soon after their marriage the parents moved to Huron county, Ohio, where they lived until 1864 and then went to Hancock county, Ohio. In 1867 they settled in York Township, Fulton county, first renting land, and then in 1890 buying a small tract on which he died in 1906, she having passed away in 1904. Their children were as follows: Oramil, who began preaching at the age of twenty-one years and was sent as a missionary from the Toledo district to India, where he spent six years and while there was married to the widow of Melville Birdsel, they had two children born in India, and he is now deceased; William L., who died in 1908; Alice, who is Mrs. Elmer W. Struble, of York Township ; Clarinda, who is Mrs. William Frederick, of Liberty Center, Henry county, Ohio; Maria, who is Mrs. William Bartlett, of York Township; Charles L., whose name heads this review; and Lodema, who is Mrs. Henry Hall, of Defiance, Ohio. On January 1, 1888, Charles L. Shreves was united in marriage with Mina E. Wise, born in York Township, a daughter of John S. and Angeline (Struble) Wise, natives of Pennsylvania and Fulton county, Ohio, respectively. For four years following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shreves lived with Mr. Wise, and then bought seventy-eight acres of land which was in those days considered as improved, but since he has owned it he has spent considerable money upon it, among other things tiling the whole farm. This property is in section 45 and he now owns forty acres additional in section 8, operating both and doing general farming and dairying with very gratifying results. Mr. and Mrs. Shreves became the parents of the following children: Blanche, who is Mrs. O. W. Spiess, of York Township; Opal, who is Mrs. J. R. Lemon, of York Township ; and Clive, who is at home. Mr. Shreves is a member of the Taylor Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was steward for many years and has been a trustee for thirty years. A republican, he has been elected on his party ticket as a school director a number of times. Believing in the value of the Grange to farmers, Mr. Shreves has been very active in HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 283 it and is now master of the local organization, having been elected to that office three successive times. Enterprising and practical, Mr. Shreves has forged steadily ahead and his present standing has been honorably earned through his industry and foresight. JOHN CLARENCE GEESEY. Not only does John Clarence Geesey operate his father,s valuable farm of 100 acres in German Township, but his own 100 acres additional, and he is recognized as one of the most progressive agriculturists in his neighborhood. He was born on his father,s homestead in German Township on May 3, 1867, a son of William H. and Eliza Jane (Wolverton) Geesey. The grandfather, a native of Germany, came to the United States in middle age and bought 113 acres of land in German Township, Fulton county, being one of the pioneers of this region. He and his -wife had twelve children born to them, of whom William H. Geesey was the third in order of birth. When a young man twenty-one years of age he took a trip to the western coast in search of gold, during the excitement occasioned by the discovery of gold in California. He was one of the first to .leave Fulton county for California, remaining there six years, and returning to the States during the year of 1864. The following year he purchased the farm of 100 acres located in German Township of Fulton county, Ohio. July 15, 1866, he was united in marriage to Eliza Jane Wolverton and resided on this farm until the year 1896, when they retired and moved to West Unity, Ohio, leaving his farm under the management of his son John Clarence Geesey, who still operates it. John Clarence Geesey attended the Edinburg School and the West .Unity High School, acquiring an excellent public school education. When he reached his majority he moved on his father,s farm. At the age of twenty-seven years he was married to Minnie •Irene Misel, a graduate of West Unity High School, and a daughter of John, and Sarah (Fisher) Misel, of West Unity, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Geesey have the following children : Mildred, who is Mrs. Frederick Salter, and has one child, John William, born on October 2, 1919'; Donald D., who is twenty-one years old; Ralph M., who is nineteen years old; Frieda Gertrude, who is seventeen years old; Charles Albert, who is fifteen years old; and Helen Marie, twelve years old. With the exception of four years spent at West Unity when he operated a bakery, Mr. Geesey has been on this farm and is engaged in general farming. In national matters it is his practice to vote the republican ticket, but in local matters he prefers to exercise his judgment and support the man he deems best fitted for the office in question. He belongs to West Unity Lodge No. 637, Knights of Pythias, and to Brady Grange No. 2164. At present he is trustee of German Township, and he is the only republican who ever acted as presiding judge of election in this township. Understanding farming as he does, Mr. Geesey has been enabled to make his work and his land pay him a fair profit, and he is proud of the fact that he, his father and his grandfather have all been producers of foodstuffs from land which belonged to them. GEORGE J. HALLAUER, manager of the Northwestern Ohio Telephone Company at Wauseon, is an expert in many branches of the electrical business, and for many years was a valued worker with the telephone company at Wauseon, where he learned his trade and profession. 284 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Mr. Hallauer was born at Wauseon in 1883, a son of Martin and Bena (Greser) Hallauer. He attended the public schools at Wauseon and one year in high school, and then went to work for the Home Telephone Company. He advanced rapidly in its service and for many years was night manager. He is now a stockholder in =the telephone company. In 1919 he resigned his position to invest his savings and experience in association with Charles E. Mattison, under the firm name of Battery Service Company, and they had complete facilities for recharging, rebuilding electric batteries and had the agency in Fulton county for the Willard Battery Service of Cleveland. January 1, 1920, Mr. Hallauer sold his interest in the business to G. Scott Roos, and he then accepted the position of manager at Wauseon of the Northwestern Ohio Telephone Company. In 1917 Mr. Hallauer married Mina Miller, daughter of Dr. Jay and Lilly (Adams) Miller, of Wauseon. They have one son, John William, born in 1918. Mr. Hallauer is independent in politics and is affiliated with Wauseon Lodge No. 347 of the Masons and with the Knights of Pythias. GOTTLIEB ECKERT. It was in 1884 that Gottlieb Eckert came to Ottawa county, Ohio. He was born in Germany May 15, 1865, and had not yet attained to his majority when he immigrated to America. He was a son of William and Rebecca Eckert, both of whom died in Germany. Mr. Eckert always worked at farming in Ottawa county, and sometimes he would run an engine in a saw mill. In fact he was a man of all trades. Tn November, 1892, he married Margaret Schug, who was also a German. She was a daughter of Peter and Catharine (Mork) Schug, who were immigrants, although she was born in Amboy. The parents met and were married in Fulton county. The wife died in 1914, and Mr. Schug, who survives, is eighty-five years old. Gottlieb Eckert worked as a farmer in several Ohio counties and in 1905 he bought eighty acres of partly improved farm land in Pike Township and finished making a farm of it. He cleared the brush and stumps, remodeled the buildings and fenced the fields. He put the farm into excellent condition. He died December 29, 1918, and Mrs. Eckert relates the family history. Their children are : William, deceased, who was a soldier in the war of the nations, and died October 25, 1918, at Camp Sheridan ; Sherman, a discharged soldier from service in France; Lawrence, Fern, Ernest, Paul, Mary and John. Mr. Eckert was a republican. He held membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 584 of Genoa, Ohio. The late Mr. Eckert was in his fifty-fourth year when he died. He had come to America a poor boy, with only his ambition and the skill of his hands. He was the type of man that America readily and kindly adopts. He possessed the qualities of good citizenship. Fundamentally he relied upon his hard work and energy to gain the things he desired, and while he realized his modest ambitions, improved and developed a good farm for his family, his life was also an expression of worthy citizenship, and that citizenship is also continued through his children, two of whom earned the lasting honor of their country by service as soldiers. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 285 LEWIS G. ATON, of Swan Creek, is a native of Bradford county, Pennsylvania. He was born there January 18, 1842, being a son of Rufus and Usebia (Mead) Aton. The father was born in Pennsylvania, but the mother was a native of York state. They married and settled in Pennsylvania, but in 1848 they removed to Erie county, Ohio. In 1852 they moved again, this time locating in Swan Creek, Fulton county. Mr. and Mrs. Aton came with her grandparents, Amos and E!izabeth (Garrison) Mead, to Fulton county. They had bought an eighty-acre tract of, land and here they lived and died, and Mr. Aton,s father also died in .a short time, but his mother bought a twenty-acre tract and continued her residence in Swan Creek until 1913, when her death occurred, and Mr. and Mrs. Aton were left in the community. Mr. Aton has brothers Levi D., of Calhoun county, Iowa, and David M. and Chauncey M., both of Swan Creek Township. In May, 1861, Mr. Aton enlisted in Company I, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he served as a private in the Civil war under Generals Grant, Thomas and Sherman. He was in many of the hard-fought battles and he was with General Sherman in the famous march from Atlanta to the sea, having covered the distance from Chattanooga and continued the march from Atlanta. Mr. Aton received his honorable discharge from the army July 21, 1865, escaping without injury and returned then to private citizenship in Fulton county. On September 9, 1867, Mr. Aton married Melia D. Nicholas. She was born September 9, 1852, in Huron, Erie county. She was a girl wife, the daughter of Thomas and Roena (Fuller) Nicholas. The parents were from. Vermont. Soon after his marriage Mr. Aton invested in a twenty-acre tract of timber land in Swan Creek, but he farmed other land on the shares, working at odd time clearing his own land, and in 1871 he built the house and moved to his own home, and here he has lived since that time, engaged in general farming. His early education was in common school, and he has given his children the improved advantages of the present day. The children are Thomas Edison, of Toledo, who married Nellie Inman. They have two daughters ; Ada May 'is the wife of W. A. Harp of Toledo; Edna Belle is the youngest in the family. The first born, Millie Leola, died at the age of seven years. Mr. Aton is republican in political affiliation, and he is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 228, of !Swanton. ROLLA E. MILLER. Born and bred in York Township, Rolla E. Miller is still a resident of this portion of Fulton county and one of its successful farmers and enthusiastic boosters. He was born on February 25, 1872, a son of Warren T. and ,Henrietta P. (Dumaresq) Miller, natives of York Township and Cuyahoga .county, Ohio, respectively. The grandparents, John S. and Rebecca (Wright) Miller, natives of Pennsylvania, were very early settlers in York Township. The maternal grandparents, John and Margaret (McKay) Dumaresq, were also among the early settlers of Fulton county. Following their marriage Warren T. Miller and his wife located in York 'Township, and there he continued farming until his death, which occurred in February, 1915. His widow survives him and lives 286 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY in Wauseon. Their children were as follows : John, who was drowned at the age of eighteen months; Martha, who was Mrs. Theodore Fonty, died in 1897 ; Rolla E. whose name heads this review; and Octavia, who is Mrs. Ira Free, E., York Township. On August 22, 1893, Rolla E. Miller was married to Lucy C. Seymour, born in York Township, a daughter of Gideon and Rosena B. (Slagel) Seymour, natives of Pennsylvania and Coshocton county, Ohio, respectively. Immediately thereafter he moved to his farm of eighty acres on section 27, York Township. At that time there were thirty-nine acres of it cleared, the remainder being in the timber. Since then Mr. Miller has put his place in fine order, all of it but ten acres being under cultivation, he preferring to keep that in timber, and he has erected a set of modern buildings. Here he carries on general farming according to the most approved methods, and is a man universally respected. By his first marriage Mr. Miller had three children, namely : Cecil, who lives at Wauseon, married Laura Leitner and they have two children, June Christine and Ruth Arlene; Kenneth and Ford R., who died in infancy. The first Mrs. Miller died on May 1, 1911, and Mr. Miller was married on January 5, 1916, to Minnie A. Timbers, born in York Township, a daughter of Eli and Lucinda E. (Wise) Timbers, natives of Van Wert and Fulton counties, Ohio, respectively. Mrs. Miller was the widow of James P. Atwater at the time of her second marriage, and the mother of the following children : Maurice Burdett, who lives at Toledo, Ohio ; Rosco, who died in infancy; Paul Edmund, who also lives at Toledo, Ohio; and Adelia May, who married Reville Regenold of Swanton, Ohio. Mr. Atwater died on December 14, 1914, at Milton Center, Wood county, Ohio, having been a harnessmaker by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have one son, Ralph Herman. While Mr. Miller’s attendance at school was limited to the time he went to the Empire District School, his wife had the advantages offered by the Delta High School. In politics Mr. Miller is a republican, and fraternally he belongs to Wauseon Lodge No. 156, Knights of Pythias, and Mrs. Miller belongs to the Eastern Star. A member of the United Brethren Church, Mr. Miller is now serving the local congregation as trustee and treasurer. Mrs. Miller’s son, Paul E. Atwater, spent a year in the United States Navy during the World war, and her son-in-law, Reville Regenold, was in a machine gun corps and served in France for fifteen months during the same war. He was in the following offensives: Aisne-Marne, August 1 to 6, 1918; Somme, August 8 to 12, 1918; St. Mihiel, September 12 to 16, 1918; and Meurtha-Moselle, November 10 to 12, 1918. EZEKIEL U. HOLLAND. When it is remembered that the earliest permanent settlements were made in Fulton county during the ‘30s and that Ezekiel U. Holland was born here toward the close of that decade, it is evident that he is a connecting link between the real pioneer period and the present. Mr. Holland, who lives on his farm in Amboy Township, was born in Fulton county December 18, 1839. He was eleven years of age when Fulton county was created and organized. His parents, Thomas R. and Deborah (Thompson) Holland, were natives of Buckingham, England. They came over on the same ship, were married after landing in America, and soon after settled in what is HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 287 now Royalton Township of Fulton county. Thomas R. Holland had some unusual experience as a pioneer home maker in this wilderness. The land he entered was covered with timber, and there were no roads to connect his farm and home with the few towns in northern Ohio. As he could not raise a crop, in order to get the money for his necessary household supplies he secured employment in helping build the first dock in the Toledo harbor. It required a courage surpassing that of most modern women for his wife to remain alone in the wilderness, in the little cabin home, surrounded by wolves and other wild animals, while her husband was away. At midnight on Sunday he would leave his wife at home, walk the entire distance within four miles of Toledo, do a day’s work on Monday as well as every other day 'in the week, and after a full day on Saturday would walk home. He kept this up for two winter seasons. The summers he was busy in clearing and trying to get a modest crop of wheat or oats to grow among the stumps. At times the food supply in the ' house would get so low that members of the family would go into the fields, husk corn from the stalk, grate it and convert it into mush. Thomas Holland never hired work done on his farm, but by the device of changing work with his neighbors got forty acres cleared and thus did his part in the development of at least one farm in Fulton county. The children of Thomas R. Holland and wife, were: Anna M., deceased; Ezekiel U. ; Louisa, wife of Joseph Southworth, of Weston, Michigan ; John P., of Toledo ; and Esther Jane, deceased. Ezekiel U. Holland has many memories of the conditions above described and the hardships of the life of the earliest pioneers. In order to get some schooling he walked through the woods from his home to the schoolhouse more than a mile away, but attended school only two or three months each winter, the rest of his time being spent at work, and his education was practically ended by the time he was eighteen years of age. After that he was a working factor in the household, and at the age of twenty he left home and became dependent on his own resources. During the Civil war Mr. Holland enlisted, but after one month of training was released from further duty. On January 7, 1862, he married Louisa Jane Driscoll, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, daughter of John and Susan (Myers) Driscoll, natives of the same county. After his marriage Mr. Holland bought fifty-two acres. Five acres had been cleared and seven acres were in "slashings." This land was in section 18 of Amboy Township. Some years later he had it cleared, and then bought fifty acres more in section 19. At the present time he has a farm with about forty acres in cultivated fields, while the rest is used for timber and pasture. Mr. Holland served one term as constable. His first wife died May 23, 1890. She was the mother of two sons, Willis Edgar, deceased, and William Emery, of Amboy Town- ship. Mr. Holland married for his second wife Sarah C. Moore, doughter of William Moore. WALTER A. TAPPAN. The history of the Tappan family in Ohio begins in 1835, when the grandparents of Walter A. Tappan arrived at Toledo. These grandparents were Moses Q. and Hettie (Miller) Tappan, natives of New Jersey. From Hanover, New Jersey, they came west by way of the Erie Canal and Lake Erie to Toledo. Moses Q. Tappan was a 'shoemaker by trade, but his ambition was 288 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY to own an Ohio farm, and in 1839 he bought 160 acres of timber in what later became Fulton county. Along with being a shoemaker and farmer Mr. Tappan was a great hunter and provided wild meat for his family. He improved his timber claim and spent his life there, dying June 27, 1858. His widow survived him more than forty years, passing away September 16, 1899. Their grandson, Walter A. Tappan, was born in Pike Township October 27, 1870, son of Herman M. and Harriet (Wood) Tappan. Herman M. Tappan was born in Fulton county, on the old homestead, and first saw the light of day and lived and died in a house that is still standing, an historic landmark, being the first frame house built in Pike Township. Herman Tappan died. April 23; 1914, and his wife on April 11, 1917. Harriet Wood was born. in Medina county, Ohio, a daughter of William H. and Laura (Fuller) Wood, natives of New York. Her parents were married in Cleveland and about 1860 they located in ,Fulton county. Walter A. Tappan, the older of the two children of his parents, had a common school education and also attended the Wauseon Normal School one winter. On, St. Valentine,s Day, February 14, 1897, he married Edna E. Wright. She was born in Pike Township July 17, 1877, a daughter of Charles and Clarissa (Tappan) Wright. Her paternal grandparents, George and Ann (Harrison) Wright, came from England in 1826 and located in Fulton county in 1853. Her maternal grandparents, Whitfield and Amanda (Woodford) Tappan, were also pioneers of Fulton county, reaching here about 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Tappan began farm activities on an eighty, and they have added to it from time to time until they have a farm of 190 acres under splendid cultivation. They have good farm buildings and besides general farming Mr. Tappan has thoroughbred Duroc Jersey hogs and a dairy of Holstein cows. There are two children: Gertrude, born January 3, 1898, and Herman, born May 13, 1903. Mr. Tappan votes with the republican party. He has served as township treasurer and township clerk for twenty-five years. He believes in the social uplift of the rural 'community and is active in the Grange. When the roll of pioneers is called in Fulton county an interesting answer can always be made to the name of Tappan, since it represents a family that not only helped to clear the wilderness and establish homes and other evidences of community life, but through successive generations have 'maintained the same high standard of citizenship, and among those of the present generation Walter A. Tappan, as this brief outline shows, has many things to indicate the value .of his material achievements as well as his public spirit and willing service to the community. AMOS WOOLACE, who has been a resident of Fulton county most of his life, began his career as an independent farmer nearly forty-five years ago. He converted a comparatively raw tract of land in Gorham Township into a high class farm, built one of the finest country homes in that section, but for the past eighteen years .has been a retired resident of Fayette. Mr. Woolace was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 13, 1853, son of William and Mary (Schlotman) Woolace, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York. William Woolace was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1816, son of Evan HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 289 and Elizabeth Woolace. Mary Schlotman was born November 13, 1816, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Schlotman. William Woolace and wife were married January 30, 1840, and a year or so later moved to a farm in Fairfield county, Ohio, and after fourteen years of residence there moved to Gorham Township, Fulton county. William Woolace bought eighty acres of partly improved land, added 120 acres more, and eventually had the entire farm completely developed and improved. Late in life he sold this place to his sons, Frank and William, and after that he and his wife spent their last years in Fayette. A record of the children of William and Mary Woolace is as follows: Daniel Franklin, born January 3, 1841, a resident of Gorham Township; Perry, born November 16, 1842; James Jacob, born October 3, 1844, a resident of Fayette; Lovina Elizabeth, born October 8, 1848, died August 16, 1864; William A., born August 22, 1851, deceased; Amos, born April 13, 1853; and John Evan, born September 12, 1855. Amos Woolace was educated in the district schools of Fulton county and at the age of twenty-three, on December 13, 1876, mar- ried Amanda Gambee. She was born in Seneca county, New York, July 18, 1847, daughter of Jacob and Susanna (Scheaffer) Gambee, the former of Seneca county, New York, and the latter of Northampton county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Woolace,s paternal grandparents were Jacob and Catherine (Gamber) Gambee, of New York State, while her maternal grandparents, George and Elizabeth (Beaver) Scheaffer, came from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Woolace was one of the following children: Valeria, Mrs. George Bodley, of Fayette, Ohio; George, who died in childhood; Mrs. Woolace; Edward, of Fayette; and Frank, of Clayton, Michigan. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Woolace moved to eighty acres in section 30 of Gorham Township. Some of the land had been cleared and cropped, and the building improvements were an old house and equally old barn. Through the energy and progressiveness of Mr. Woolace the farm took on new life, and in the fall of 1889 he began the construction of a splendid fourteen-room modern brick home, his family moving into the new residence in the spring of 1890. After that he continued his work as a general farmer until 1902, when he bought a fine residence at Fayette, and has since thoroughly modernized it. Mr. Woolace is a democrat, has served as senior and junior warden of Fayette Lodge No. 387 of the Masons, is a member of the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias at Fayette, and his wife is a member of the Eastern Star and Rebekahs. Of their children the older is William Dayton, who was born April 28, 1879, and is now living on the home farm. Earl Ganbee, born May 6, 1881, lives at Fayette. He married Gartha Garland, a native of Gorham Township and daughter of William and Ethel (Scott) Garland, of Lenawee county, Michigan. JOHN F. WITMER, of Sunnyside Farm in Swan Creek Township, is a son of immigrant parents, although he was born, September 25, 1859, in the Swan Creek community. Rudolph and Maria (Kaiser) Witmer were born in Switzerland. The grandfather, John Witmer, came with his family to America, and in 1834 he located in Lucas county, Ohio. He afterward removed to York Township in Fulton county. Soon after their marriage Rudolph and Maria Witmer bought wild land and located in the timber in Swan Creek. He was born 290 - HISTORY OF FULTON. COUNTY in Switzerland in 1815, and was a young man when he began the transformation of this timber country into cultivated farm lands. On June 21, 1834, while this pioneer family was living in a bark shanty in the woods, there was a terrible wind and rain storm, blowing down the forest trees in great numbers all about them, not a limb, however, striking this primitive dwelling, and they regarded their escape as little short of miraculous. There were two Witmer brothers in the Union Army, one of them being killed at the battle of Pittsburg Landing. Rudolph Witmer died August 3, 1882, while his wife died July 17, twenty years later. She had one daughter by a former marriage, Sophia, who became the wife of John Hall. The children born to Rudolph and Maria Witmer are:. Mary Ann, wife of Amos Raker, of Pike Township ; John F.; and Elizabeth, who died in childhood. On February 5, 1900, John F. Witmer married Florence Bixler. She is a daughter of Balser and Sarah A. (Deck) Bixler, and she is a native of Swan Creek. Her father was born in Stark county and her mother is a native of Tuscarawas county, Ohio. The grandparents on both sides of the house, Samuel and Susan (Mock) Bixler, and Abraham and Sarah (Snyder) Deck, were all Pennsylvanians although early residents of Fulton county. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Witmer secured possession of Sunnyside Farm. It was partly improved, but they remodeled the farm buildings and added to them until they have an attractive farmstead today. He has always carried on general farming and specializes in the dairy business. He had a common school education, and has been road superintendent in Swan Creek. He affiliates with the Grange, votes the democratic ticket, and is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Witmer is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge in Delta. The two daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. Witmer are: Dorothy Florence and Alma Marguerite. Sunnyside Farm is the home of a very interesting family, and some of the names and facts brought out in this brief sketch of the proprietor suggest a wide range of historic circumstances and events in this part of northwest Ohio. The Witmers have lived here for over eighty-five years, and it seems appropriate and just that such a substantial citizen as the owner of Sunnyside Farm should be the grandson of one of the rugged pioneers who helped develop the wilderness. FRANCIS EDGAR GUILD, superintendent of the light and power department of the Toledo & Indiana Railway Company, is an efficient engineer, and has shown himself to be an executive of definite capability since he has made his headquarters in Wauseon, Ohio. He was born in Amherst, Ohio, on April 9, 1884, the son of George and Mary (Claus) Guild, of that place. The Guild family is of Scottish origin, but for some generations has been in America, and scions of that family have generally followed merchandising and industrial occupations in this country. Francis E. spent his minority in Amherst, attended the local elementary and high schools, and after leaving school worked for six months in the local railroad station as telegraph operator. Leaving the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where for eight months he was in the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 291 employ of A. J. Thrasher and Company, wholesale groceries. His next business connection was with a Cleveland, Ohio, machinery company, and shortly afterward he entered the employ of the Cleveland Electrical Company as switchboard operator. For three years he served as such, and then finished a course in the switchboard construction department. He had definitely taken up electrical work as a profession, and resolved to take all the theoretical training necessary to properly qualify as an expert. He started the electrical course at the Case School of Applied Science, and finished at Indiana State University at Bloomington, Indiana, showing commendable characteristics in so doing, as it was necessary for him to work his way through to the junior year. For eighteen months after leaving the university he was in comparatively good employment, traveling as erection engineer for the National Meter Company of Chicago. Then he received a similar but more lucrative appointment with the Southern Indiana Power Company, which appointment he held for 2 1/2 years, when he resigned so that he might accept the position of superintendent of the Amherst Municipal Light Company. In that capacity he remained in his native town for five years, after which he was erecting engineer to the George E. Milligan Company at Elyria, Ohio, for nine months. Then followed fifteen months of good work as construction superintendent for the Gibsonburg, Ohio, Electric Light Company, which brings his professional record up to 1915, when he became connected with Wauseon in his capacity of superintendent of the light and power department of the Toledo and Indiana Traction Company, which responsibility he has since held to the general satisfaction. His territory covers a distance of forty-eight miles, from Stryker to Toledo, and he has proved to be a popular and efficient executive. Politically Mr. Guild is an independent. He is a Mason, a member of the Blue Lodge of Amherst, and to the Eastern Star, and also belongs to the Amherst branch of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, and to the Wauseon Lodge of the Knights of Pythias Order. Religiously he is a Methodist. Mr. Guild, who is unmarried, has made very many friends since he has been in Wauseon, and has shown a good and generous public spirit. WALTER WILLIAM CADDELL. Owing to his long and active connection with the amusement interests of Wauseon, the name of Walter W. Caddell needs no formal introduction to the readers of this work. In a straightforward manner he has sought to perform the duties of a progressive citizen of the community, and while advancing his own interests he has also in a very definite way contributed to the entertainment of the people in a wholesome and satisfactory manner, which has won for him the commendation of the people generally. Personally he is public-spirited and enterprising, and gives his support to every movement looking to the advancement of the best interests of the locality in which he lives. Walter W. Gaddell, owner of the popular Princess Theater at Wauseon, was born in Buffalo, New York, on March 8, 1890, and is the son of W. W., Sr., and Ella. (Franke) Caddell. On the paternal side he is descended from sterling old Scotch stock, his grandfather having immigrated to America, settling in Toronto, Canada, where he followed the business of contracting. He was married there and became the father of thirteen children, of which number the subject,s father was one of the youngest. The latter was reared 292 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY to manhood in Toronto, but subsequently moved to Buffalo, New York, where he became engaged in the lithographing business. In 1892 he returned to Toronto, where he spent the remainder of his days, having become superintendent of the McDonald Lithographing Company,s plant and holding that position at the time of his death, which occurred in 1900. His widow is now making her home in Buffalo. The subject of this sketch received his education in the public schools of Buffalo and Toronto. When fifteen years of age he gained wide reputation as a boy soprano singer in the great spectacle, "The Life of Christ," which was shown during the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and he was afterward the leading boy soprano in St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Cathedral at Buffalo for two years. During the following year he was employed as a singer of illustrated songs in Buffalo, after which he was connected for a time with various theaters in that city. He then produced a comedy sketch, "I Remember You," which he showed throughout New York state for seven months. He then was employed as a baritone singer at the opening of the Academy Theatre in Buffalo, following which he joined the staff of the Princess Theater at Detroit, Michigan. Later he went on the road in a black-face act, showing at various points over the country for four months, following which he organized the Lancaster & Small Comedy Company. With this company he came to Wauseon, and was so well pleased with this place that he decided to locate here and has made this his home ever since. He entered into a partnership with Harry Sinerick and they bought the Princess Theater, which they operated together for one year, at the end of which time, in 1913, Mr. Caddell bought his partner,s interest and since that time has been the sole owner of the house. The theater, which has .a seating capacity of 2,350, is one of the most popular amusement houses in this section of the state and draws its patronage from a radius of fifteen miles. It is now devoted exclusively to the silent drama, Mr. Caddell making it a point to exhibit none but the best films, and owing to this fact and the courteous treatment accorded the patrons of the theater it has become the favorite playhouse of the best people of the community. On October 10, 1916, Mr. Caddell was married to Margaret Payne, the daughter of Charles Payne, of Buffalo, New York, and they have one child, Walter William, Jr., born on September 23, 1917. In his political views Mr. Caddell is independent, fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, while his religious affiliation is with the Congregational Church. In all his relations with the community Mr. Caddell has been actuated bv the highest motives, and his efforts to provide the cleanest and most wholesome amusement and entertainment has been duly appreciated. Genial and unassuming, he has earned and enjoys the respect and good will of all who know him. ELVAN R. BABYLON. The men whose achievements have been of the greatest benefit to their communities are not those who, through exceptionally favorable opportunities, have in a comparatively short period of time gained both wealth and prominence, but the men whose careers have shown a steady and gradual development. Elvan R. Babylon, manager of Baldwin,s Tool Works of Wauseon, is eminently one who has risen gradually through his own efforts, and whose love of principle and strength of character HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 293 have gained for him the respect of all with whom he comes in contact. Elvan R. Babylon was born near Sidney in Shelby county, Ohio, in 1895, a son of Marion L. and Emma (Love) Babylon, solid and substantial people of German descent. After attending the common schools of Piqua, Ohio, and Parkersburg, West Virginia, Elvan R. Babylon took the high school course of the latter city and was graduated therefrom in 1914. Resolving upon a practical career Mr. Babylon entered the Baldwin Tool Works at Parkersburg,. West Virginia, and spent a year in the handle department. While there he found that better educational training would secure him advancement as nothing else, and so he entered the University of Cincinnati, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and took a three years, course in electrical engineering, and upon the completion of it returned to his old employers, who sent him to their plant at Wauseon, of which they made him manager, for they recognized that his natural abilities had been so trained as to make him available timber for such a responsible position. In 1919 Mr. Babylon was united in marriage with Mary Betty Martin, a daughter of Leo Martin of Parkersburg, West Virginia, whom he had known and admired for several years. Mr. Babylon is a Mason and belongs to Wauseon Lodge No. 349, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is 'a typical hustler and knows how to handle the many and intricate problems presented in his everyday work. Having been in the mechanical end of the business, he knows how to enter into the feelings of his men and give them a fair deal, and at the same time protect the interests of his company. Because of this understanding and a naturally sympathetic nature Mr. Babylon is a very valuable man to his concern, and has less labor troubles than many. Upright and honorable, he is a valued addition to the civic life of Wauseon, just as he is to other circles, and although as yet, aside from exercising his right of suffrage by voting the republican ticket, he has taken no decisive part in politics, he is regarded as one who has the best interests of the city at heart and is willing to 'exert himself to see that good men are elected to office. As he is both intelligent and progressive he naturally is in favor of improvements, but believes that they should be made after due consideration and not merely to afford grounds for foolish boosting and the creation of over-confidence. The future before Wauseon, in his mind,. is a very promising one, and expansion is bound to come, but it must be brought about in a sane manner, along legitimate lines, and not through a misguided and extravagant expediture of public funds. ALLEN BERTRAND CARTER, who for more than forty years has lived in Franklin Township, Fulton county, is among the representative successful farmers of that section of the county, industrious and enterprising in his farming, and generous in his personal and financial support of the public, church, and social responsibilities of the community. He comes of a family which has place in the early records of Dover Township, his grandfather, Daniel. Carter, having come into Fulton county and Dover Township from New England, where the Carter family had previously settled. It is therefore one of the old. American families. Daniel Carter raised a family in Dover Township; among his sons being D. Lafayette, who when he grew to man- 294 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY hood himself took to responsible farming in the county. He owned a farm east of Tedrow for some years, but later purchased a good estate in Franklin Township, where he died in September, 1906. He married Laodemia A. Minnick, and to them were born two sons, John Roscoe, now of Detroit, married, and the father of two children, and Allen Bertrand, who has remained on the home farm, which, since his father,s death, he has managed and now owns. Allen Bertrand, son of D. Lafayette and Laodemia A. (Minnick) Carter, was born on the parental farm east of Tedrow, Fulton county, in 1886. When he was three years old his parents moved to Franklin Township, his father having sold the Tedrow property and purchased a good farm of eighty acres at Franklin Township, where the boy was raised, and where he has ever since lived. He attended District School No. 7, of Franklin Township until he was seventeen years old. From that year until the present he has steadily continued to apply himself to the working of the home farm, having been responsible for the affairs of the family and the farm for practically the whole period, as he was only three years out of school when his father died. He has shown a sturdy, steady character, and is of enviable repute in the district as one of its most reliable, responsible residents. Politically he is a republican, and upon many occasions he has taken active part in community affairs, but he has never been interested in political affairs to the extent of hoping for or seeking public office. He has preferred to apply himself steadily to matters of production upon his own farm than to legislative occupations. He has prospered well, and has some other business interests, among them a holding in the Tedrow Mutual Telephone Company, of which he was one of the organizers. In 1915 he married Edna Bessie Nifzinger, of German Town, ship, Fulton county. They have one child, a son, Ivan Herbert, who was born in 1916. GLEN D. STETTEN, an enterprising and alert young man, in independent business as an ornamental iron and steel worker and general blacksmith in Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, in association with his father, is showing much steady manliness in his work and a business acumen of encouraging grade. He was born in Morenci, Michigan, in 1897, the son of Peter B. and Retta (Fogelsong) Stetten. His father, Peter B. Stetten, was until quite recently in steady business as a blacksmith in Morenci, Michigan, and during the years of residence in that place the family became widely known and well-regarded, Peter B. Stetten having always been a responsible citizen, of commendable industry and worthy life. He entered much into public affairs in the community, and held office in the local civic administration. And he also was prominently identified with the functioning of local branches of leading fraternal orders. He belongs to the Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Morenci, to the Morenci branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the local erie of the Order of Eagles. In connection with the local lodge of Odd Fellows he attended the Grand Lodge at Detroit. Politically Peter B. Stetten is a republican, and one of close and intelligent interest in national affairs. To Peter B. and Retta (Fogelsong) Stetten have been born five children, of whom their son Glen D. was the third born. He grew to manhood in his native place, Morenci, Michigan, attending the public schools of that place, and advancing in grade until he HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 295 became a senior in the Morenci High School. Entering business life, he took apprenticeship with his father at blacksmithing and iron and steel working, and for the next three years worked steadily at that trade in Morenci under direction of his father. Eventually he became a journeyman blacksmith, and for about twelve months traveled as such, afterward returning to Morenci and again taking up work with his father. In August, 1919, both came to Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, and established themselves in business as general blacksmiths and iron and steel workers. Both father and son are skilled workmen, and apt at most operations connected with the working of iron and steel. In political allegiance Mr. Glen D. Stetten is a republican, and, like his father, shows indication that he will take an active interest in political movements. He is a young man of good Christian principle and clean manly life, and will in all probability prosper well, being a man of marked energy and good business instinct, and, withal, of good education. JOEL YODER, who recently became independently established in business as a grocer and butcher in the town of Archbold, and is handling that business in a promising manner, is a native of Fulton county, and comes of a family which is placed among the early families of the county. He was born in German Township, Fulton county, in 1889, the son of John and Anna (Yoder) Yoder. His parents, although having the same patronymic, are not blood relatives, but Joel Yoder certainly belongs to the Yoder family of Fulton county record. He was born on the Yoder family homestead in German Township. Joel’s early experience was somewhat similar to that of other sons of farmers, in that he attended country school during the winter and spring period, but during the long summer vacations most of his days were spent in useful work upon the parental farm. He continued to attend school until he was sixteen years old, after which he took increasing part in the operation of the home farm. He remained with his parents, steadily working the family property, for fourteen years after leaving school, and it was only in the summer of 1919 that he resolved to enter commercial life. In September, 1919, he opened a grocery and meat market in Archbold, and although it is too early yet to state that the enterprise will succeed, he is a young man of good reputation, responsible, steady and aggressive and, withal, of good honest purpose so that in all probability he will as the years pass gain a reputation for reliability of product and fairness of price. He has shown a steadiness of purpose during his fourteen years of farming that augers well for his future as a merchant. WESLEY S. ROBINSON has always lived in Royalton, having been born. February 26, 1860, in that township. He secured a common school education, and in later years he has served as a school director in Royalton. In political matters he is republican, and he holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge of Lyons, fills the chair of noble grand, and also affiliates with the Rebekahs. Mr. Robinson is a son of Marvin E. and Lavina (Onweller) Robinson, the father having been born in 1833 in Seneca county, New York. The mother is of German parentage. His grandfather, 296 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Barnett M. Robinson, came to Royalton in 1835—territorial days in Fulton county. The word pibneer applies to the Robinson family. On January 11, 1887, Mr. Robinson married Victoria McGurer, who was born in December, 1858, in Lake county. She is a daughter of Eli B. and Harriet (Dowin) McGurer, who lived at Willoughby, Lake county. The mother died in 1859, and in 1887 the father came to Fulton county. Mr. Robinson lived 2 1/2 years in Toledo after his marriage, then located on the forty acre farm he had purchased in Royalton. About fifteen acres had been cleared when he located on this farm, and he completed the clearing and the land is all under cultivation. Mr. Robinson gives attention to all branches of farming. He has one daughter, Myrtle May. ESTILL LEONARD SINDEL, who for many years has been secretary of the Fulton County Mutual Insurance & Aid Association, is a resident of Delta and is descended from two of the earliest pioneer families in the county. He was born at Winameg May 21, 1865, son of Edward C. and Nancy A. (Tappan) Sindel. His paternal grandparents, John and Harriet N. (Dixon) Sindel, were natives of New Jersey and in 1834 traveled with wagon and team overland until they arrived in Pike Township of Fulton county. They settled on a tract of government land which the father of Harriet Dixon had entered from the government. Mrs. Harriet Sindel from that time until her death never moved from the farm, but through the accident of history it was her fortune to live in two states, four counties and several townships. The maternal grandparents, Moses and Hettie (Miller) Tappan, were also natives of New Jersey, and came to Fulton county about the same time as the Sindel family, occupying adjoining farms and being neighbors in the wilderness. Edward Sindel after his marriage located at Winameg, and for many years was a carpenter and builder, school teacher, merchant and postmaster. He died in 1907, and his widow, who was born in 1841, is still living at Winameg. Estill L. is the oldest of their children. Herman Elmer lives at Lyons, Bertha. Harriet was born in 1872 and died' at the age of two years, and Edward Everett lives with his mother, who is now Mrs. Philip Fetter. Estill Leonard Sindel acquired a first class education, beginning in the district schools, attending the public and high schools at Wauseon and the Fayette Normal and the Valparaiso Business College in Indiana. He taught his first school before he was sixteen years of age. At the age of nineteen he began a career as an educator which continued until he had taught in district schools for twenty-seven years. In all that time it was his daily custom to eat a cold lunch, put up either by his mother or his wife, and his noon meal was of that character except for six months. While teaching Mr. Sindel also busied himself with managing a twenty acre farm in Pike Township. He was elected secretary of the Fulton County Mutual Insurance & Aid Association and has held that .office continuously since January 16, 1897. In August, 1913, he moved to Delta, buying a farm nearby, but in 1915 traded his country property for a modern frame residence in the village, and maintains his office in his residence. October 26, 1892, he married Lucy Lucinda. Geer, who was born in Fulton county December 7, 1866, daughter of Milo and HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 297 Rebecca (Parker) Geer, the former a native of New York and the latter of New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Sindel have one son, Walter E., born June 8, 1907. Mr. Sindel is an elder in the Christian Church. He has served as township clerk and justice of the peace in Pike Township and continuously since the age of twenty-one has held a commission as notary public. He is a republican, is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Delta, and he and his wife are members of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Sindel also owns an improved eighty acre farm in Pike Township. WILLIAM H. STANDISH, proprietor of the Royalton Stock Farm and an acknowledged expert and judge of livestock, is in the eighth generation of descent from the famous Capt. Miles Standish, one of the foremost figures in the Pilgrim colony that landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Mr. Standish's grandfather was Rial Standish, who came to Ohio from western New York in 1831 and settled in Huron county, but a few years later removed to what is now Fulton county, and was one of the pioneers in this vicinity. He had made the trip by ox team and wagon, and acquired his tract, of government land in section 18. William H. Standish was born in section 18 of Royalton Township May 17, 1864, son of Rial Clark and Harriet Adelia (Smith) Standish. His father was born in Cayuga county, New York, December 22, 1826, and was about five years of age when the family came to Ohio. Rial Clark Standish as a young than improved the land in section 18 of Royalton Township, cleared away much of the heavy timber and lived there until the spring of 1889, when he moved to Wauseon, and died December 18, 1898. His first wife died October 4, 1873. Later he married Minerva Camburn, who was born in Lenawee county, Michigan, and is now living at Toledo. The children of Rial Clark Standish were all by his first marriage: Fannie M., who died at the age of eight years; Phoebe, Mrs. Orin Ranger, of Newaygo, Michigan ; Viola, Mrs. Andrew Disbrow of Royalton Township ; Miles T., of Royalton; Charlotte, Mrs. Frank Camburn, of Lyons; Rial C., of Royalton; William H. ; and Orin C., of Wauseon. William H. Standish acquired his education in the district schools, was married at the age of twenty-one, and for several years afterwards lived on his father's farm. He then spent one summer season on Seven Islands at Grand Lodge, Michigan, and on returning to Fulton county worked his father's farm on the shares for seven years. He then acquired eighty acres of the tract which his father had taken up from the government, and subsequently enlarged it by the purchase of ten acres more from his brother. The Royalton Stock Farm therefore comprises ninety acres. When Mr. Standish bought .the land its improvements consisted of a house . and some old buildings. The farm- is now almost a village center, having a group of twenty-one buildings altogether. He has thoroughly modernized the house, has built numerous barns, a tenant house, and has his entire farm plant lighted by acetylene gas and has introduced from time to time every other equipment making for efficient and convenient management. Mr. Standish is deserving of. much credit for introducing the first herd of registered Holstein cattle to the township of Royalton. This is now probably the standard breed of dairy cattle in Fulton 298 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY county, and Mr. Standish has been raising registered stock of this class since 1885. He also has Duroc hogs and barred Plymouth Rock poultry, and has been a constant exhibitor of his cattle, hogs and poultry. For a number of years he has been a judge of dairy cattle. His first work of that kind was done at the Michigan State Fair in Detroit. With the exception of one year he has been a judge ever since, and has officiated in that capacity at the Canadian National Fair three years at Toronto, in all the provincial fairs of Alberta, for two years was a judge in the Ohio State Fair, one year at the Western. National Fair at Denver, judged the dairy exhibits at the Panama Pacific International Fair at San Francisco, and the Nashville, Tennessee, State Fair of 1919. Mr. Standish has been one of the prominent members of the Fulton County Agricultural Society, has served as director for sixteen years, and his personal influence has been constantly exerted in the direction of improved livestock for the farms of northern Ohio. July 12, 1885, Mr. Standish married Carrie A. Campbell, who was born in Richland county, Ohio, a daughter of Geotge and Cora A. (Van Doren) Campbell, natives of the same county. Her maternal grandparents were Nathan and Mary Ann (Cornwall) Van Doren. Mrs. Standish's father is now deceased and her mother is the widow of Dr. G. H. Waddell and now spends winters with a daughter at Raleigh, North Carolina, and the rest of the year lives with Mr. and Mrs. Standish. Mrs. Standish was educated in the grammar and high schools of Wauseon. They have one son, George William, born September 5, 1904, served as a member of the Boy Scouts of Wauseon from the age of twelve, was a member of the Boy Scouts' Band, attended the Culver Military Academy in Indiana and is now a student in King's College at Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Standish for many years has served as a trustee of the Universalist Church at Lyons, for two terms he was township trustee, is a republican voter, has held most of the offices of Lyons Lodge No. 622 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are active in Rebekah Lodge No. 289 at Lyons. ANDREW JACKSON HART is a citizen of more than half a century's standing in Fulton county and an old and honored resident of Swan Creek Township. Mr. Hart was born in Holmes county, Ohio, June 17, 1844, son of Samuel and Eliza (Moore) Hart. His father was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and as a young man lived in Steubenville, Ohio, and then moved to Holmes county. By his first marriage he had the following children: Jacob, Jane, Samuel, 'Julia, James Henry and John Wesley, all deceased. In Holmes county he married Eliza Moore, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio. She died in Fulton county in 1892. Samuel Hart died in Holmes county about 1866. Their children were Andrew Jackson; Joseph, deceased; John Martin, deceased; and Martha, Mrs. Stanley Herrin of Michigan. Andrew Jackson Hart received a common school education in Holmes county and lived there doing farm work to the age of twenty-one. He also learned the trade of wagonmaker, and in 1866 came to Fulton county, and after being employed a few weeks at Delta by Mike Carr he moved to the little community of Ai in Portage Township and opened a shop of his own. He conducted it HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 299 about six years, and then sold out and bought forty acres of unimproved land. He was busy with its improvement and cultivation for two years and then resumed his trade at Swanton, establishing a wagon shop and conducting it two years. The shop was then traded for twenty acres of land adjoining his forty acre place, and he went to work with a right good will building house and barn, clearing and improving, and cultivating the land for thirty years. After selling that farm Mr. Hart bought eight acres in Swan Creek Township. This land was improved. He also acquired a three-quarter acre tract at Brailey, Ohio, built a house and grocery store and was in business as a merchant there for PA years. He then returned to his eight acre farm, bought an adjoining thirty-two acres of cleared land, but after five years sold twenty acres. His present home now consists of twenty acres, highly improved with good buildings, and he continues farming it and has also done much work as a carpenter in the neighborhood, building a number of houses and barns. June 18, 1871, Mr. Hart married Mary Templeton, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, June 27, 1844, a daughter of John. and Susan (Watkins) Templeton, the former a native of Middletown, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Steubenville, Ohio. Her grandparents were Nathaniel and Elizabeth Templeton, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Penn:- sylvania. Mr. Hart has served as a school director, is a republican voter, and is affiliated with the Patrons of Husbandry, Good Ternplars, and the Grange. ' NELSON FALOR. In the early '40s, not long after the Indians left northern Ohio, the Falor family came into Fulton county, pushing their way over rough and obscure roads and trails through the woods. Their wagons were drawn by ox teams. The family consisted of Andrew and Hannah (McConkey) Falor and several children, including their last born, Nelson. Nelson Falor was born in Summit county, Ohio, June 1, 1842, and was just an infant when his parents came to Fulton county. His father entered forty acres of timbered land from the government and bought eighty acres more. He cleared it and made a farm and in order to frighten away the wolves from his sheep carried a torch at night. He would frequently work all day in the woods or in the fields, earning a wage of fifty cents, and then return home and split rails and do other necessary work around the house in the night hours. Nelson Falor was one of thirteen children and he grew up in the wilds of Fulton county and is one of the men still living who can speak from knowledge at first hand of the ways and customs of the pioneers. He attended a log cabin school and later the district school of Pike Center. As a youth he went to Summit county and worked at the cooper's trade. The Civil war was then on and in the spring of 1863 he enlisted in Company K of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio Infantry. Most of his service was guard duty at the Cumberland Gap. After his release from the army he returned to Summit county for a year and then back to Fulton county. In 1867 Mr. Falor married Mary A. Salsbury, a native of Pike Township and a daughter of David and Serena Salsbury. Her parents were born in Pennsylvania. After his marriage Mr. Falor bought forty acres of timber land, and cleared part of it. He then sold and bought eighty acres of