400 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY (Reginski) Lacumska, also an immigrant family from Germany. When he was twelve Mr. Leiska began working in a sawmill, and remained there four years. When he was twenty-five he went to Wisconsin and worked eighteen months on the railroad, when he returned to Ottawa county. He remained there on a farm seven years, when he sold it and located in Fulton county. Mr. Leiska bought land in Amboy and finished clearing and improving it. He started with seventy-four acres and added to it until he now has nearly ninety-five acres, and aside from a few acres in timber and pasture it is all under cultivation. The Leiska children are: Reinhard August, Ernest William and George Edward. Mr. Leiska and his wife went to common school and had special studies in German. They belong to the German Lutheran Church, and he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 875 of Metamora. JACOB KLEIN. It was in 1875 that Jacob and Magdalena Klein came from Kiesterburch, Prussia, in Germany and located in Amboy. In another biographical sketch is the story that a colony of Prussians was planted in that community, and Jacob Klein of Am- boy, is the second" Jacob Klein of Amboy Township. He was born April 26, 1871, and was four years old when the family left Germany. He is the oldest child. Jacob Klein, Sr., bought sixty acres, with about twenty-five acres cleared, when he reached the wilds of Amboy. He has added to the farm until there are now 200 acres of excellent farming land, in two separate groups of bodies. There are enough work in clearing, draining and improving the land, but when he died April 17, 1915, he had accumulated sufficient of "this world's goods" to make him very comfortable. The widow lives in Metamora. Their children are: Jacob ; Peter of Fulton Township ; Wendell, of Van Buren county, Michigan ; and Edward, of Amboy. Children deceased are: John, Nicholas, Louis, Randolph and Lena. Four are living, five are dead and there was only one girl among them. Jacob Klein, Jr., always lived with his parents, assisting them. in every way until St. Valentine's Day of the Century year, February 14, 1900, when he married Anna Gerten, of Rab, Lucas county. She is a daughter of John and Mary (Herr) Gerten, another immigrant family, the father coming from Germany, but the mother was born in Lucas county. Mrs. Klein passed away December 4, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Klein at once took up their residence on an eighty acre farm he had acquired the previous year. It was almost all cleared, and he had made the improvements himself. He tiled and fenced and rebuilt some improvements, and he has added to the farm until there are now 225 acres all in one body. Mr. Klein has fed and marketed a great many cattle, and he has a Holstein dairy herd at the present time. The Klein children of this generation are: Louis E., born December 1; 1900; William P., born July 29, 1902; Arnold W., born January 14, 1904; Harold R., born March 24, 1906; Leon J., born February 5, 1908; Maynard J., born August 29, 1910; Vincent S., born August 8, 1912; Rosella M., born September 6, 1914; and Ursula M., born June 28, 1916. Mr. Klein is a democrat, and for eighteen years he has been a school director. He is interested in HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 401 the good roads question and has been road superintendent two terms. The Kleins are communicants in 'St. Mary's Assumption Catholic Church at Caraghan. The son of a pioneer, Jacob Klein has exhibited many of the best characteristics of those who did the pioneer work of reclaiming Fulton county from the wilderness. His mature life covers a span of three decades, and in that time an enormous volume of useful work has been rolled up to his credit. His farm is one of the best in the county, and that taken in connection with the good citizenship and the active part he has taken in local affairs, make a record of achievement that any man would be proud to possess. ANDREW STRONG deserves success because he has always been a hard worker, has gone out and sought opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to him, and as a consequence, while still by no means an old man, is able to take life at leisure and merely supervise the fine farm where he lives in Amboy Township. Mr. Strong was born in Fulton Township February 18, 1854. He is a son of Hiram and Sophia Ann (Johnson) Strong. His father, a native of New York state, left home when a young man and came west to Michigan, but moved soon afterward to Fulton county, where he married and settled down to farming in Fulton Township. He died in Pike Township August 29, 1890, his widow surviving him until February 12, 1910. By a previous marriage he had two daughters, while by her union with Hiram Strong there were seven children. Andrew Strong attended the district schools of his home locality, and from the age of sixteen until his marriage at twenty-four he was gaining experience, making a reputation for industry, also providing for his living expenses by working as a hired hand on farms. After his marriage he rented for two years in Fulton Township. He then bought a house and lot in that section and for seventeen years was busily engaged in buying, butchering and selling livestock. In the meantime he acquired fifty-one acres of timber land in section 19 of Amboy Township, and in 1893 moved to that place and undertook the heavy task of clearing and developing. All but twenty-four acres of his splendid farm today is under cultivation, the rest being reserved for timber pasture. He has added to his land until his home farm now contains 117 acres. Its improvements are of the highest class, comprising a large brick house, barns and complete facilities for the business carried on. Mr. Strong has not considered himself in the class of active farmers since 1907, though he is busy every day, and personally looks after the management of his land. February 10, 1878, he married Nancy Haynes, who was born in Fulton Township, a daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Berry) Haynes. They are the parents of four children: E. J., of Metamora ; Frank M.. of Columbus, Ohio ; Zina, at home; and Zera, whose husband, Roscoe Sullins, is the practical man in charge of the operations of the Strong farm. Mr. Strong has been quite active and prominent in local affairs, serving as township trustee seven years, and nine years as clerk of the School Board. He is a republican and a member of the Gleaners in Amboy Township. 402 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY EDWARD A. OTTGEN. Just one generation from the German immigrant, Edward A. Ottgen of Amboy was born there in July, the American Centennial Year. He is a son of John C. and Fannie (Schwen) Ottgen. The father came from Germany and the mother from Switzerland. John C. Ottgen was born August 10, 1839, in Prussia, Germany. His parents were Simon and Louise Ottgen. In 1844 they moved to the United States and settled in Huron county, Ohio. About two years later they removed to the wilds of Amboy in territorial days in Fulton county. It was in 1846 that John C. Ottgen bought a tract of timber land and busied himself clearing it. When Mr. Ottgen had chopped off space he built his cabin home, and here they ended their days. Their children are: Henrietta Lutz, of Toledo ; 'Christian, of Amboy; Edward A., of Amboy, Elizabeth, wife of Charles White, of Chico, California; Margaret, wife of Henry Smith, of Blissfield; Ollie, wife of William Cook, of Fulton ; and Katie, wife of Charles Bagoon, of Bowling Green. Although a German immigrant escaping military duty in Germany, John C. Ottgen enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he served the country of his adoption three years. At the end of the service he met with an accident, a broken arm, and it always troubled him. He died June 26, 1914. There were but two acres cleared when Mr. Ottgen settled on an eighty acre farm rented from his father. He built a log house on it, and before many years he had purchased all the shares in it. John C. Ottgen died with cancer on his lip, suffering more than three years from it. He married Fannie Schwen December 19, 1867. She was born December 19, 1846, in Switzerland, and the day she was twenty-one she became a bride in America. She was a daughter of Alexander and Anna (Len) Schwen. In 1850 they located in Spencer Township, Lucas county. They later lived in Richfield. He died in 1889, as a result of an accident, and she died ten years later. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ottgen are: Anna Albertina, wife of Frank Ottgen, of Amboy ; Edward Alexander, of Amboy ; Ora C., who married Alta M. Mills and resides in Amboy at the old homestead. Edward A. Ottgen married Ethel E. Mills March 25, 1904. She is a daughter of William and Serena (Carpenter) Mills and was born in Ogden Township, Lenawee county, Michigan. The father is a native of the Wolverine state while the mother is from England. Mr. Ottgen owned a threshing outfit in partnership with Clare Champion, and for eighteen years they served the community in threshing season. He combined threshing with general farming, but in 1910 they disposed of the threshing outfit and engaged in the automobile repair business, having a garage at the farmstead. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Ottgen are: Mildred Orlena and Leota Rosamond. The Ottgen family vote has been with the republican party. They are members of the Reformed Church and for many years J. C. Ottgen was an elder. For fifteen years he was Sunday School superintendent. E. A. Ottgen is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 875 of Metamora, and of the Ancient Order of Gleaners of Whitesville. JOHN PETER SHAFFER. While John Peter Shaffer, of Amboy, is Ohio born, his ancestry came to the United States under cir- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 403 cumstances out of the ordinary. Mr. Shaffer was born February 24, 1855, at Upper Sandusky. He is a son of Henry and Julia (Ottgen) Shaffer. They were from Prussia and came from Germany with a colony seeking a home in the United States. They were married in Prussia, and in the winter of 1855 they reached America in time for their son to be a native born citizen of the United States. The Prussian colony traveled directly to Maumee, and a land agent met them there and escorted them through the woods to Amboy Township, only five years after the organization of Fulton county. On the way from Maumee the travelers blazed the trees so they could find their way back to civilization. The colony, however, bought a tract of land and only returned to Maumee for their families and household goods. The next western journey was made with ox teams, and the Prussians were in Amboy Township to live there. They cut a space in the timber and built a large log house in the clearing, where they all lived together until the different families could build cabins for themselves. The land was divided among the colonists, and Henry Shaffer, who founded the house of Shaffer in Amboy, received fifty-three acres to his portion. When Mr. Shaffer first lived in the wilds of Amboy he walked to Maumee many times with a sack of corn to have it ground into meal in order to furnish food to his family. He would fill a two bushel sack half full of meal and start on the long walk home again. The men and the women of the colony all worked in the clearings until finally the men had an opportunity of working on the railroad to earn some money and the women went on with clearing the land and planting crops in order to have food for their families. The pioneers knew many hardships the young people of today do not understand at all. It was not the high cost of living, but the problem of something to eat at any price or sacrifice. Would the men and women of this day and generation survive the test that was given the forefathers in the wilderness country? Mr. Shaffer added to his place until he had 132 acres of land, and he died there surrounded with comforts. He died May 30, 1889, far from the land of his birth, at the age of sixty-seven. She died there February 5, 1913, aged eighty-seven years. Their children are: Evelyn, the wife of Elisha Barneby, of Lyons; John Peter Shaffer; Thomas, of Toledo; and Minerva, wife of Fred Jeffries, of Toledo. On February 20, 1881, John Peter Shaffer married Isabelle Snyder. She is a daughter of Jonas and Susannah (Hostder) Snyder, the father from Pennsylvania and the mother from Holmes county. For one year they lived in the Shaffer home with his parents, and then they moved into another house and worked part of the same farm. At the end of two years they moved to the Snyder farm in Fulton Township. They lived there three years and returned to the Shaffer farm in Amboy and remained six years as a tenant on the farm owned by his father. They then bought a farm in Fulton Township, remaining there three years, when they moved to a farm in Swan Creek Township they had owned for eight years. Mr. Shaffer remained three years in Swan Creek Township, when they removed to Swanton. They remained one year in Swanton and lived again in Amboy. While he bought forty acres, he inherited part of the Shaffer homestead and lived there. He bought out other heirs and the old homestead is still in the family name. 404 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY The buildings are in good condition, and a modern residence is the plan for the early part of 1920—a place to hold them the rest of their days. It is called "The Popple Grove Farm." Mr. Shaffer has registered Holstein cattle and operates a farm dairy. He is also a breeder of thoroughbred Duroc-Jersey hogs. The Shaffer children are : Claud, who died at the age of four and one half years ; Harry, aged twenty-seven, who met an accidental death December 25, 1918; Hollis E., who is the active farmer at "Popple Grove Farm." He spent twelve months as a sergeant in a truck company in France and Germany. Mr. Shaffer votes the republican ticket and frequently serves on the election board. He has been a member of the Board of Education for twelve years. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the community. FRANK OTTGEN. Although born in Amboy, December 2, 1872, Frank Ottgen is a son of German immigrants. His father, Christian Ottgen, was born in Germany. When a young man he came to the United States. His mother was Lana Hable. They now live in Amboy. When Frank Ottgen was twenty-one he worked the home place for two years and then he worked for others. Mr. Ottgen married in September, 1902, Anna Ottgen, a daughter of John and Fannie (Sweep) Ottgen. They were also German immigrants. After his marriage Frank Ottgen bought a farm of fifty-three acres in Amboy and improved it. He has put up barns and remodeled the house and made many improvements. He is a general farmer, combining livestock with agriculture. Mr. Ottgen has one daughter, Lela, born July 27, 1905. He was educated in the district school and votes with the republican party. SAMUEL L. RICE. There is a Michigan side to the life story of Samuel L. Rice of Metamora. He was born September 7, 1877, at Ogden, Michigan. He is a son of George W. and Lillie (Gestwite) Rice. The father was born at Ogden while the mother was born at Metamora. The. paternal grandparents, Samuel L. and Margaret (Sebring) Rice, of New York, were very early settlers in Lenawee county, and Samuel and Harriet Gestwite were early residents of Fulton county. The Michigan-Ohio line does not interfere with social relations between Lenawee and Fulton county citizens. When George Rice was married he settled in Ogden Township on a farm, and it is still his place of residence. Samuel L. Rice, of Metamora, is the oldest son. His sister Harriet is the wife of E. J. Bryant, of Sand Creek, Dover Township, Lenawee .county. Mr. Bryant is senator from Lenawee county to the Michigan Legislature. Another sister, Elise, is the wife of Eugene Wootring of Ogden, and Hazel is the wife of Lloyd Lathrop of Burkey, Ohio. S. L. Rice was educated in high school at Blissfield, Michigan. He taught school two years in Ogden Township. He worked two years in a grain elevator at Blissfield, and in 1903 he came to Metamora. He helped organize and .became business manager of the Metamora Elevator Company. The company deals in all kinds of grains, seeds, salt, feed and flour. It has been a profitable business enterprise, receiving excellent patronage from the community. On Christmas day, 1907, Mr. Rice married Laura Champion, of HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 405 Amboy. She is a daughter of LaClair and Julia (Conklin) Cham¬ pion, and she had always lived in Amboy Township. Mr. Rice has one daughter, Virgiwin, born September 13, 1913. The family belong to the Methodist Church and he is a steward and superintendent of the Sunday School. His early educational advantages fitted him for such work in the community. Mr. Rice is a republican and has served as village treasurer in Metamora for four years, and since 1915 he has been president of the School Board. . In a fraternal way Mr. Rice is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 875, of Metamora, and a Mason in Lyons Chapter and Council of Wauseon. He is a member of the Grange at Ogden, Michigan. He is serving his second term as a chairman of the Arbitration Committee of the National Grain Dealers' Association. HARTWIN H. TREDWAY, cashier of the Home Savings Bank of Metamora, was a member of the banking firm when it was organized in 1901. He had only reached his majority. He was born November 8, 1880, in Richfield Township, Lucas county. He is a son of Horace and Anna (Collins) Tredway. Horace Tredway was born in Riga Township, Lenawee county, Michigan, and Anna Collins was born in New York. Mr. Tredway supplemented his common school education by attending the Fayette Normal and the Northern Ohio University at Ada. He became cashier in a banking house of which E. S. Davoll was president, and his father, Horace Tredway was vice president. Charles J. Malone is the assistant cashier. On September 3, 1903, Mr. Tredway married Elsie Garnsey, of Metamora. She is a daughter of James H. and Catharine (Marshall) Garnsey, the parents having come from New York to Ohio. The children are : Marion, Beryl and Lucile. Mr. Tredway is a steward in the Metamora Methodist Episcopal Church and a teacher in the Sunday School. Since 1907 Mr. Tredway has been the Amboy Township treasurer, and he has served as mayor of Metamora. While he was mayor there were street improvements made that have added to the pleasure of living in the community. Mr. Tredway is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 875 of Metamora and of the Free and Accepted Masons .No. 434 of Lyons. Twenty years a banker, Mr. Tredway has kept in close touch with the financial and industrial affairs of his community, and has made his personal service and the service of his institution of farreaching value and good to the interests it serves. The people of Metamora and the surrounding district have a high regard for his qualifications as a business man, and they also appreciate the good work he has done as an officer of the town and township. FRANK LAWRENCE SIMON, of Metamora, born September 6, 1888, son of Jacob and Catharine (Gillen) Simon. The father and mother came from St. Wendell, Germany, locating in Amboy in 1880; and he died there September 29, 1909. Their children are: Elizabeth, widow of Jacob Welter, of Lucas county; Kate, who is a trained nurse; Lena, wife of Adelbert Knight, of Blissfield, Michigan ; Frank ; Mary, wife of John Van Ama, LaGrange, Indiana; Nicholas, of Amboy; Rosa, a Sister of Charity, 406 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Mercy Hospital, Toledo ; Veronica, a public school teacher, La- Grange, Indiana; Lucy, wife of Arthur Zink, Lucas county; Pauline, of Burkey ; Barbara, public school teacher of Adrian, Michigan ; and Frank Lawrence. From the time he was twenty-one years old F. L. Simon rented from others until 1916, when he moved to the Simon homestead and has since then farmed for his mother. On January 8, 1919, he married Catharine Conolly, of Toledo. She is a daughter of John and Catharine (Roach) Conolly. They live at the family homestead in Amboy. Mr. Simon was educated in public school in Metamora, and the family are communicants in the Catholic Church, St. Mary's of the Assumption at Caraghan. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus No. 386, of Toledo, and he is a trustee in the lodge of the Catholic Knights of Ohio at Caraghan. Mr. Simon votes the republican ticket. He was born in a presidential election year. NORVAL D. FOUTY, an esteemed and worthy farmer in York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, from early manhood until his death, which occurred on March 23, 1914, lived a life of useful industrious purpose, and both in private and public affairs he was esteemed for his manly, upright steady life, during which he gained an enviable reputation for material and moral integrity. His family record deserves good place in this history of Fulton county, for his grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers in Clinton Township. Norval D. Fouty was the son of Stephen F. and Charlotta (Haines) Fouty, and grandson of William Fouty, the pioneer, who came into Fulton county in about 1851. He acquired a tract of virgin timber land, eighty acres in extent, in Clinton Township, and resolutely applied himself to the task of clearing it and converting it from wild forest land into a tillable acreage. His son Stephen F., father of Norval D., was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, and after he had married moved from his parents' farm in Clinton Township to one of his own in York Township. The farm was only of twenty acres, situated in section 6 of York Township, but he had a further fourteen acres beyond the border line, in Clinton Township, and upon this York Township farm his son Norval D. was born. There the family lived until 1872, when Stephen F. Fouty traded it for a forty acre farm in timber in the same township, deeding this to his sons, Norval and Theodore. Stephen F. Fouty takes honorable place among the patriots of the Civil war, and it is singular to note that he served in the same regiment as did the father of Dora 0. Raker, who eventually married his son Norval, neither of whom, however, were born until some years after the soldierly comradeship of their respective fathers. Charlotta Haines, wife of Stephen F. Fouty, was born in Medina county, Ohio, and died on December 28, 1868, only a few years after she had married. To her and to her husband were born two children, sons, Norval D. of whom further is written, and Theodore, who now lives in D., Ohio. Altogether the actions of Stephen F. Fouty during a long life indicated that he was a man of worthy character and loyal heart. He passed away January 20, 1917. Norval D. Fouty was born in York Township, Fulton county, on January 18, 1866, and was not three years old at the time of his mother's death. Still he had a fond father, who took good HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 407 pare of him, and of his younger brother, Theodore. They both attended the district school during their boyhood years, and as they grew took increasing part in the work of the parental farm. In 1891 he married, and soon afterward bought his brother's right to his portion of the farm, sixteen acres of which at that time had been cleared. He cleared the whole of the land of timber, and eventually brought it all into good cultivation. He built all the buildings that are now upon the farm, and raised the fertility of the acreage to a satisfactory degree, gaining substantial return in general farming, in dairying and in hog raising. He acquired an additional twenty acres in 1902, and subsequently a further eleven acres in Clinton Township, proving himself to be an efficient, industrious and enterprising agriculturist. He died on March 23, 1914, since which time his widow and their son have managed to keep the property in satisfactory cultivation. Norval D. Fouty was well respected in his own district, especially by those who knew him well. He was a man of strong characteristics and a factor of influence in the township. He showed commendable interest in public movements that concerned the community, and was honored by his fellow farmers, who elected him master of the Grange at Westboro, Ohio. He also took office under the local administration, being for some time road supervisor. Politically he gave allegiance to the republican party, although he did not enter actively into national political campaigns. Fraternally he belonged to the Knights of Pythias Order, a member of the Wauseon, Ohio, Lodge. The marriage of Norval D. Fouty and Dora 0. Raker was solemnized on August 19, 1891. She was the daughter of Oliver and Martha (Dumaresq) Raker, and was born in York Township, Fulton county, on December 24, 1868. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war, an honored man of York Township. She attended the Toughmatch district school, and for one term attended Fayette public school. Eventually she entered the teaching profession, and for ten terms taught in the district schools of York and Swan Creek Townships of Fulton county. She is a woman of high attainments and much refinement, and has very many friends in Fulton county. Since the death of her husband she has resided on her husband's property in York Township, but expects soon to move into the City of Wauseon, Ohio, where she owns a residential property. Norval D. and Dora 0. (Raker) Fouty were the parents of two children, only one of whom, however, is now living. Their elder child, a daughter, Anna Louise, died in infancy, her birth occurring in 1894, and her death in 1896. Their second and surviving child is their son Grant, born in February, 1896. He has grown into reliable, responsible manhood, has married, and has taken over the direction of his father's farming properties. He married Frances Bresler, daughter of Henry W. and Eva (Elder) Bresler. She was born in Wood county, Ohio, September 20, 1893, and is now herself a mother, having borne to her husband a daughter, Catherine Louise, on August 12, 1918. Another member of the household of Norval D. and Dora 0. (Raker) Fouty was Martha Hester Raker, niece of Mrs. Fouty. She was born April 1, 1908, and has lived with her aunt since September, 1911, having been given a home soon after her parents' death. 408 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY JOHN W. SCHAMP, a well-to-do and respected farmer of York Township, where the family 18 of record since 1854, comes of a pioneer family of southern Ohio. He was born in Holmes county, Ohio, August 20, 1851, the son of Henry G. and Catherine (Batdorff) Schamp, and grandson of George Schamp, who was the first of the family to take up residence in Ohio, although the Schamps were of much earlier record in New Jersey. The grandfather was born in New Jersey. They were living in New Jersey, when Henry G., father of John W., was born, but they were early residents in Ohio. Henry G. Schamp married Catherine Batdorff, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and soon afterward they settled in Holmes county, on the border line of Wayne county, Ohio, but on April 10, 1854, they took up undeveloped land in York Township, Fulton county. The eighty acres Henry G. Schamp purchased was all virgin timber land, and he cleared it all with the exception of six acres. Later he purchased an additional thirty acres, which he improved. Both he and his wife died in York Township, and most of his children were born in the township. And the family has had good part in the development of the township, and vicinity. Henry G. and Catherine (Batdorff) Schamp were the parents of seven children : James, a well-known ,farmer of York Township; John W., of whom more is written hereafter; Ellen, who died in infancy; David, who died at the age of twenty-five years; George, now of York Township; Mary, who lives in Wauseon, the wife of Frank Moyer, of that city; and Lucy Ella, who married William Kline, of York Township. John W. Schamp was not yet three years old when his parents came to York Township, and he has spent the greater part of his life in the township. He attended the Batdorff district school, and while still at school gave much of his time to farm work on the home estate. During the long summer vacations he steadily applied himself to such of the farming tasks as he had the strength to undertake, and was in many ways very useful to his father. After leaving school he remained at home, giving all his time to his father until he was twenty-one years old, when he went to work for his brother, who was independently established as a farmer in York Township. Three years later he himself took the responsibility of independent farming, renting a moderately good farm in York Township. He was twenty-eight years old when he married, and for some time thereafter he continued to live on the farm he had rented. And there by industry, ability as a farmer, and general steadiness of purpose he accumulated sufficient capital to acquire a good property in section 21 of York Township. The farm consisted of eighty acres .of improved land, although the buildings were not in very good condition or adequate. However, in course of time John W. Schamp remodeled the house, and barns, erected a new granary, and in many other ways considerably improved the property, which is known as the Maple Leaf Farm. He farmed the acreage steadily and with good success until 1894, early in which year he rented the farm and moved to Toledo, Ohio, where for the next six years he was in the employ of the Wilson Spice Company, of that city. In 1900 he again took over the direction of his farm in York Township. He continued to live in the city, however, and to concurrently keep his farm in good cultivation until 1910, when he again returned to York Township to reside. There HISTORY OF .FULTON COUNTY - 409 he has since lived on his farm, steadily farming, although not as strenuously as was once his habit. He has no need to, having reached a satisfactory condition of material possessions. Still, he is characteristically an energetic man, and would not be content with an idle life. His farm is a good property, and he maintains a moderate sized dairy. On February 29, 1879, he married Sarah J. Berkebile, who was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, daughter of Aaron and Louisa (Horner) Berkebile, both of whom were natives of Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Schamp's mother died when she was only five years old, and four years later the family came to York Township, Ohio, where her father bought a farm. He was a resident in York Township for almost fifty years, as he lived until October, 1912, and during his long association with people of York Township gained for himself many sincere friends. His daughter Sarah, who married John W. Schamp, Sr., began her education in the primary school of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but the greater part of her schooling was obtained in the Koos District School of York Township. Mr. and Mrs. Schamp are the parents of three children : Kathryn E., who has remained with her parents; George W., now in successful business in Toledo, Ohio ; Harold Glenn, who is now at home, and gives his time to the affairs of the home farm. During the recent war he enlisted in the United States Army, and gained a commission as lieutenant, serving as such in Camp Lee, Virginia, preparatory to crossing the sea. JAMES DICKSON was born on his present farm, section 4, Pike Township, May 15, 1843, a son of James and Eliza (Dixon) Dickson, natives of Maryland and New Jersey, respectively. James Dickson was a printer by trade, and worked at it in New York City, New York, Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.. In the meanwhile he had married. In 1839 his health failed him and he was advised to engage in a calling less dangerous than typesetting, and one which would take him into the open. Naturally he turned toward farming, and in order to secure land at a reasonable figure he and his wife came to Fulton county, Ohio, and bought 120 acres of wild land in Pike Township, which he succeeded in placing under a measure of cultivation prior to his death, which occurred in 1866. His widow survived him until about 1888. Their children were as follows: Phebe, who died in 1905 ; Wickliffe, who is deceased; Eliza, who is also deceased; and James, who is the only survivor. James Dickson, the younger, was reared on his father's homestead, and while he was learning how to be a good farmer he was acquiring the fundamentals of a common school education in his district. In the course of time he bought the interests of the other heirs to the homestead, and acquired possession of it. Since then he has rebuilt the house and barns and put up numerous other buildings, and made many improvements. Here he continued to be engaged in farming until 1905, when he bought a residence at Wauseon, Ohio, renting his farm to his son-in-law, Charles Dunbar, and for twelve years and eight months lived at Wauseon. Mr. Dickson then felt that he would be happier on his farm, so returned to it, and his house at Wauseon is now occupied by a tenant. His return to Pike Township was welcomed by his old associates, and he is now enjoying the pleasures of rural life one more. 410 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY On August 28, 1862, Mr. Dickson was united in marriage with Sarah Baxter, born in Green Creek Township, Sandusky county, Ohio, on October 31, 1843, a daughter of Erand and Polly (Rose) Baxter, natives of Connecticut and Niagara county, New York. Mr. Baxter died in Sandusky county, Ohio, when Mrs. Dickson was a small child, but Mrs. Baxter did not pass away until April, 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson became the parents of the following children: William H., who married Mary Shoemaker and died within a few months, at the age of twenty-one : Polly Rose, who died at the age of nine years; and Frances E., who was born March 29, 1869, married Charles B. Dunbar, and they have six children, namely: Clarence J., who served during the World war as a soldier and was sent overseas; Kate Belle, who married Benjamin F. Ramseyer, of Chesterfield Township, Fulton county ; Bessie June, who is at home Lena May, who is Mrs. Verne Sindel, of Toledo, Ohio ; Sarah, who is Mrs. Albert Frey of Pike Township; and William J., who resides at Toledo, Ohio. Although now a Christian Scientist, Mr. James Dickson was for twenty-five years Sunday School superintendent for the United Brethren Church of his community, of which he was a member during that time. He is a republican and has served as a justice of the peace, assessor for three terms, and has been a school director for many years. While living at Wauseon he was secretary of the Blind Relief Board for five years. He is a man who has faithfully and cheerfully discharged every obligation of both private and public life which has been laid upon him, and carried out in his life the principles of his religious belief. Success has come to him, but he has worked for it, and deserves in no slight measure the prosperity which is now his. Surrounded by his family, living at the home he. is so deeply attached, Mr. Dickson is enjoying an honorable old age, and is entitled to the respect he receives from those who have known him all his life, in the neighborhood where his parents before him stood equally high in public confidence. SETH JAQUA. While the name Jaqua is French, it has been in America since the days of the Colonists, soldiers by that name having come over in the French and Indian wars. Seth Jaqua, of Walnut Grove Farm in Chesterfield, is a. native of Liberty Township, Henry county. He was born there March 8, 1851, and only since 1905 has he lived in Fulton county. Seth Jaqua is a son of John C. and Emily (Margueratt) Jaqua. The father was born in the State of New York, but in 1821, when he was five years old, his parents came to Seneca county. In turn, his father was. Richard Jaqua, -the Ohio line being Richard, John C. and Seth. The mother's family name was Wilsey, and she was Canadian by birth. Her name was Emily. The name Margueratt is Swiss, and the father of Mrs. Emily Jaqua was John Rudolph Margueratt. He came from Switzerland and had no relatives in America. While John C. Jaqua and Emily Margueratt were married in Seneca county, and one child was born there, in the fall of 1849 they removed to Henry county. At that time there were only three houses between Napoleon and the farmstead that has since been the family homestead. They had one son, Frank, when they came, and Seth was the first child born in Henry county. The others are: HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 411 Richard, Randolph, Janette, Elizabeth, Hettie, Alta, and John C. Three of them, Frank, Richard and Elizabeth, have joined the silent majority. Seth is the only resident of Fulton county. John C. Jaqua died in 1871, but the wife and mother of the family still lives at the old homestead in Henry county. The day she was eighty-nine years old, June 29, 1919, she was the honor guest at a family dinner party at Walnut Grove. Her living children were all present, guests of Seth Jaqua. She came by automobile from her home in Henry county. On April 11, 1878, Seth Jaqua married Pluma Williams. She was a young woman of the same community in Henry county, although many of her relatives lived in Fulton county. She is a daughter of Lemuel Burton. and Margaret Susan (Dayton) Williams. Their children were: Harvey, Pluma, Rosa, Mary, Isa, George, Leonard, Hettie and Lemuel Burton Williams, Jr. Mary, George and Hettie are numbered with the dead, and only Mrs. Jaqua and Lemuel Burton Williams, Jr., live in Fulton county. Three children were born to Seth and Pluma (Williams) Jaqua. They are: Harry Walton, March 24, 1879, who married Ella Wiles, August 20, 1905, and their children are: Roy Walton, Ray Curtis and Vern Dale. Their oldest son, Charles Seth, died December 26, 1911, as the result of a playground accident at school at Oak Shade. Susie Emily, born June 21, 1880, became the wife of Wilson Wiles, December 24, 1900, and their children are: Lena, Clarence, Harley, Leon, Glen and Irene. Another child, Arthur Jaqua, was born March 28, 1884, and died the same day. The son and daughter, Harry Walton and Susie Emily, married into the same family, a daughter and son of Thomas and Lena (Hoover) Wiles of Henry county. The father is English and the mother German, although they met and married in Henry county. H. W. Jaqua and his family live with Mr. and Mrs. Seth Jaqua at Walnut Grove Farm, and their children attend Chesterfield Centralized School, while the Wilson Wiles family live at White House, in Lucas county. Their daughter Lena is temporarily at Walnut Grove for public school advantages. While for several generations the Jaquas have not been actively identified with any church organization, in their early history they were French Catholics. The Williams relation have been Methodists and the Daytons have been Baptists. Elijah Williams, the grandfather of Mrs. Jaqua, who was an early resident of Fulton county, was a Methodist, but his wife, Hannah (Harrison) Williams, who was a cousin to President William Henry Harrison, came of Presbyterian stock. When President Harrison was making his campaign, Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, in 1840, he was a guest of the Williams family, whose oldest daughter, Lucinda, was the first white child born in Fulton county. It is related that she afterward became a bride at a time of high water, and that her father, Elijah Williams, a justice of the peace, performed the marriage ceremony with her on one side of the stream and the bridegroom, Thomas Lingle, separated from her by the turbulent waters of Turkey Foot' Creek. The young people did not postpone their wedding day on account of high waters. Since living in Fulton county the Jaquas have sometimes attended the churches and Sunday Schools in the vicinity, and 412 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Mrs. Jaqua always works with the different aid societies. She was an active Red Cross worker, being present whenever the Chesterfield branch workshop was open, and often having work on hand at home, which she did at odd times. The Jaqua family vote has always been with the democratic party, and John C. Jaqua was at one time sheriff of Henry county. The Jaqua family was represented in the Civil war by Uriah, a brother of John C. Jaqua, and an uncle of Seth Jaqua. The occupation of the Ohio Jaquas has always been agriculture, and at Walnut Grove general farming and dairying claim attention. While there are average good farm improvements, one of the barns was burned. August 28, 1919, with complete loss of harness, vehicles and farm implements. It happened that all the horses were saved from the conflagration. Plans were made for rebuilding the barn—the blackened ruins of which was an unpleasant view from the window. The family at Walnut Grove is not exempt from accident and disease and have had their share of such visitations, and yet the three generations sheltered under one roof are making the most of everything and all have their part in the Chesterfield community of interests. "It is a good place to live," said Mrs. Jaqua, and that sentiment expresses the feelings of all about it. JAMES L. BACHMAN. The story of the Bachman family of which James L. Bachman of Chesterfield is a member had its American beginning in Pennsylvania. While he was born at Lockport, Niagara county, New York, January 26, 1856, his own life history is part of the history of Fulton county. He was only one year old when his parents came from the State of New York to Ohio. Mr. Bachman's father, John L. Bachman, was married twice, and he is a son of the second marriage. The first marriage was with Elizabeth Acker, October 13, 1844, in Seneca county, New York, and two sons, Joseph and Lorenzo, were born to them. The death of the wife occurred April 27, 1850, and June 30, 1853, he married Catharine Bair, of Niagara county, and two children, Sarah and James L., were born there before the removal of the parents to Ohio. Those born in Fulton county are: Eliza, Ida, Gordon, Emma, George, Cora, John, Robert and Samuel. All but Lorenzo, of the older and John of the younger set of children are living, November 3, 1919, when this data was given by James L. Bachman. Joseph lives in Seneca county, New York, and Eliza and Gordon are in Michigan. The others all live in Fulton county today. The father, John L. Bachman, was a son of John L. and Catharine Bachman. These grandparents of James L. Bachman had lived in Pennsylvania and New York before accompanying their son to Ohio, and they lie buried in Olive Branch Cemetery in Williams county. The burial ground of the the next generation is at Fayette. The home of John L. Bachman was in Gorham. He owned three different farms before 1872, when he located where his son, James L. lives today. On May 24, 1894, James L. Bachman married Mary Orilla Clark, and since then he has lived at the family homestead in Chesterfield. She was born November 21, 1868, in Richland county, her parents being Eli and Maggie (Clay) Clark. They were married there, January 28, the year she was born in November, and HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 413 she is the oldest in a family of twelve children. She had a twin sister, Sarah Cordelia, and the twins and Ira Clinton were born in Richland county. In 1872 the Clark family removed to Williams county, and those born there are : Ora Allen, John Nelson, Eliza Belle, Joseph William, Charles Howard, George Lewis, Harvey Franklin, Arthur J. and Nancy Jane. The twin sister, Sarah Cordelia, Eliza Belle and Charles Howard are deceased, while the others are all living in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James L. Bachman are: Bert Donald, Roscoe Garfield, Orla May, Zelma Belle, Alta Dell, Virgil Dale, Vera Jean and James Leslie. Zelma Belle is the wife of Floyd L. Powers, and they live in Lenawee county, Michigan. She was married July 2, 1918. Alta Dell died April 7, 1902. On February 13, 1918, Roscoe G. enlisted in the Army Air Service, Spruce Production Division, and he was located at Vancouver Barracks. He was discharged from Camp Sherman January 9, 1919, and with his older brother, Bert D., is engaged in farming at the family homestead in Chesterfield. Floyd L. Powers was also in the war of the nations, holding the commission of first lieutenant. He was in several different training camps and was finally discharged from Camp Taylor, Kentucky. Orla May, who is employed in the Morenci Hospital, had two years in high school at Fayette. The younger children all attend the Chesterfield Centrallized Public School at Oak Shade. - "Politics?" both the sons queried, "why, Dad voted for Wilson," and then Mr. Bachman said the family vote had always been democratic down to the present generation. "Every Bachman I ever knew was a stiff democrat, and when some of us began voting the republican ticket, father quit voting at all." "Everybody's church," was the echo from the sons, and it developed that some of the pioneer relatives had been members of the Church. of Christ while others were United Brethren. While John L. Bachman always owned a farm, he was a carpenter. He was a master builder and some of the old time houses and barns still standing in Gorham are his handiwork. He built the house in which James L. Bachman lives today. When he came to Fulton county in 1857 it was all woods, there was game and they had wild turkey on the dinner table frequently. In his boyhood days Mr. Bachman used to put on skates and go on errands to Morenci. Now the land has been drained and there is a hard surface road where he used to glide along over the ice. Instead of going to town on skates the family now rides out in a modern touring car—quite the fashionable idea in Chesterfield. While Mr. Bachman was a broom-maker for years and would sometimes have as many as 300 dozen brooms on hand, in the last ten years his attention has been turned entirely to farming until now the sons are the farmers there. However, Mr. Bachman is still on the job and finds plenty of odd jobs to keep him out of mischief. The twin silos and other farm commodities attest the prosperty that has rewarded his efforts. HENRY B. MANN is in the second generation of his family in the United States, his parents both having come from Germany. He was born February 8, 1855, in Perkins Township, Erie county. His parents were Frederick and Mary (Fisher) Mann, the father 414 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY born near Dresden and the mother on the River Rhine. It was the first marriage of the father, but the second marriage of the mother. Mary Fisher had been the wife of a Mr. Weed, and one child was born to them in Germany. He immigrated to America and worked three years in the Pennsylvania coal mines and sent for her. Three more children were born in Pennsylvania. Mr. Weed died and Frederick Mann, being a bachelor of forty, married the widow. They lived in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. His mother was a widow and they all lived together. While living in Germany Mr. Mann was a coachman, and one time, when Queen Victoria of England was visiting in Germany, she was his passenger. While living in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and working as a miner Mr. Mann went on a prospecting trip via the Great Lakes to Chicago, and going on via the Illinois River to the Mississippi, he went down it to the mouth of the Ohio, and returned up the river to Pennsylvania again. He soon afterward married and removed to Erie county, Ohio. For seven years he rented land and then removed to Henry county, where he bought forty acres in timber. He improved the land and eight years later he sold it and located in Swan Creek Township. In 1863 Mr. Mann bought a twenty-three acre tract partly cleared, and he improved it. His wife died in December, 1895, and he died in March of the Century year. One daughter, Rebecca, wife of Robert Reighard, of Swan Creek, remains of the older set of children. Of the second marriage Mrs. Weed-Mann had the following children : Catharine, wife of Edson C. Moore, of Delta; Henry B., of Delta; Adam, deceased; William M., of York ; and James, deceased. At the age of thirteen Henry B. Mann began working by the month in Fulton county, receiving thirteen dollars a month and having the privilege of school in winter. In this way Mr. Mann secured sufficient education to begin leaching school in the fall of 1875, and he spent his summer vacation working in a brick yard. He taught continuously for seventeen winters, and finally engaged in farming in the summer vacations. He had a home with Mr. Platt three miles from Delta. Mr. Platt was a blacksmith, and part of the time he worked with him in the shop. He always saved his money and invested it, buying twenty acres of land when he was only nineteen. Mr. Mann has been dealing in land since that time, and he continued farming until 1915, when he retired to Delta. He owns a good farm of eighty acres and another of 106, and some smaller tracts of land. On January 1, 1880, Mr. Mann married Martha Ellen Detwiler, a daughter of Jacob and Penelope (Miller) Detwiler. She was born in Marion county, while her father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Maryland. Their children are: Ray Melville, of Toledo ; Charles Henry, on the Mann farm ; and Marion Lawrence, of York Township, on another of his father's farms. The Alarms are Presbyterians, and Mr. Mann has been deacon and Sunday School superintendent. At present he is teacher of the Bible Class. He is a Mason of Fulton Lodge in Delta. He has been a school director and a democratic justice of the peace in a republican township. Such is a brief record of nearly half a century of good citizen- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 415 ship and effective work in his own interests and the interests of a large community in Northwestern Ohio and the Nation, as he was a strong supporter of the Federal Government during the World war both morally and financially. He was a purchaser of over $12,000 in Government Liberty and Victory Bonds. Ray Melville, the eldest son of Mr. Mann, had charge of the Liberty Bonds sales of Van Wert and Williams counties for the government. Beginning as a humble wage earner when a boy, never avoiding the arduous tasks of life, whether of manual toil or of intellectual endeavor, employing one modest success to win another, Mr. Mann has deserved well of his fellow citizens, and none will envy him the comfortable prosperity he enjoys and the good will and respect that are his. JACOB GOTTLIEB STIRIZ. The name Stiriz harks back to Germany, Jacob Gottlieb Stiriz of Delta having been born April 20, 1849, in Lauffen, Wuertemberg, Germany. In 1852, when he was but three years old, his parents, Jacob Godfried and Elizabeth (Rueckle) Stiriz, sailed for the United States, being forty-nine days on the Atlantic. They landed in New York City, but came directly to Buffalo, where they lived for three years. He worked in the Jewett and Root Foundry, receiving the magnificent sum of seventy-five cents a day for his service. The Stiriz family came from Buffalo to Toledo by boat, and one week later they moved to Lucke Corners in Fulton county. Mr. Stiriz worked around at anything he could find until in 1857, when he bought eighty acres of wild land in the timber, paying six dollars an acre for it. He at once built a log cabin and set in to clear and improve the homestead. In 1865 he sold it for $1,500 and worked for six months on the railroad, when he again bought eighty acres, only 1/, miles west of his former home, paying $1,500 for it. He and the son who relates the story cleared it, and in 1870 he added forty acres to it, and in 1875 he added an eighty, and at this time he had $4,200 invested in Fulton county timber and wild land. In 1880 he bought forty acres more land, paying $1,000 for it. Mr. Stiriz and his son cleared and improved much of this land and in 1882 he built the largest barn ever seen in the community. Fulton is known as the county of big barns, and the Stiriz barn, 38 by 76 feet and 20 feet from the ground to the eaves, was the first one in its class in Fulton county. Today there are mammoth barns on almost every farmstead. In 1885 Mr. Stiriz built a brick veneered farmhouse with slate roof and two stories in height, and it was his home until 1892, when he went to Europe on a visit and died December 11 of that year, and he lies buried in Bietigen Cemetery, Wuertemberg, Germany. His wife died August 11, 1889, at the family homestead in Fulton county. The children born to this pioneer German family are : Christina, widow of Jacob Krauss, of Pettisville; and Jacob Gottlieb Stiriz, who is the younger and always had his home with the father and mother. On July 27 of the American Centennial Year, Mr. Stiriz married Margaret Herrmann, of Bavaria, Germany. She is a daughter of John and Barbara (Barth) Herrmann, the father dying in Germany and the mother in Fulton county. The children of the next generation are : Gottfried, who lives 416 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY on the home farm. He married Barbara Leininger, and their children are: Walter, Helen and Leon. Mary is the wife of Rev. J. Kauffman, a Lutheran minister. Louise is the wife of Rev. A. 0. Zeituer, a Lutheran minister. Amelia is the wife of Rev. A. G. Wacke, a Lutheran minister. William Paul, who lives on one of the Stiriz farms, married Louisa Wackentine, and their daughter is Ruth. W. P. Stiriz did overseas service in the World war. On June 24, 1917, J. G. Stiriz retired to Delta, and the sons are the agriculturists today. In his boyhood days Mr. Stiriz had the educational advantages afforded by the log school house. The family has always been identified with the Lutheran Church, and he has served on the board of trustees for many years. He is a democrat and has filled different offices in the township, and for twenty-five years he was chairman of the School Board. He was township trustee for four years in York. While the Stiriz name harks back to Germany, it is also inseparably identified with the historical development of Fulton county. The substantial improvements on the Stiriz farm in York Township mark an epoch in farm building history. Make a roundup of the farm improvements in Fulton county, and remember the barn on the Stiriz farm was the first in the series that now gives special distinction to Fulton—the county of big barns in Ohio. FRANKLIN PIERCE COLLINS. The Collins name belongs to the early history of Fulton county. Franklin Pierce Collins was born August 30, 1852, and his father and mother, G. Washington and Elizabeth (Alwood) Collins, had come early to York Township. For a time they had rented the farm on which F. P. Collins was born, and then they bought it. They ended their days there. In his early life F. P. Collins worked by the month on different farms until his marriage, March 25, 1879, to Mary Alice Koos. She is a daughter of Jacob and Julia (Tomer) Koos, the father born in Germany and the mother in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Collins began housekeeping on the Koos farm one mile west of Delta. At the death of her parents Mrs. Collins inherited this homestead. It is almost all under cultivation and is an excellent farmstead. In all there are 119 acres of it. Mr. Koos also acquired 160 acres of land in Swan Creek Township. It was all in timber, and he cleared it and put it under cultivation. In 1867 he acquired the farm in York Township where he died in 1890, and his wife died there in 1905, having disposed of their realty among their children themselves. The children in the Koos family are : Albert, on the old homestead; Ira, of Oklahoma; and Mrs. Collins, of Delta. The Koos children deceased are: Phoebe, Frederick, Julia, George, Flora, and Danny and Nancy, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Collins remained on the homestead she had inherited until 1903, when they bought a home in Delta. Their children are: Flora Alice, wife of Peter Smith, and Cora Opal. Mr. Collins is employed by the Delta Milling Company. He votes the republican ticket. JACOB HUTH. The name of the late Jacob Huth is commemorated by his daughter, Mrs. Ellen Close of Delta. Mr. Huth was born in Germany in 1826, and in 1834 he came with his parents on HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 417 a sailing vessel to the United States. They settled on a farm in Pennsylvania. In 1839 they came to Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, Ohio. In 1856 they located in Fulton county. They bought eighty acres in Fulton Township, and some years later they removed to York Township, where they bought another eighty. Both were in the timber when he obtained possession, and he cleared and improved them. In 1845 Mr. Huth enlisted at Cleveland in the Mexican war. There were 1,000 men when they went out, and after three\ years he was one of sixty who returned, and he had escaped without injury. When Mr. Huth gave up farming he bought a home in Delta, and in 1892 he died there. He married Mary Tomer, of Bolivar. She was born February 3, 1830, a daughter of John and Nancy (Mock) Tomer. They were Pennsylvanians who had moved to Ohio. There was one daughter, Ellen, who married George W. Close. Her children are: Mary Edna, wife of Fred Moore, of Toledo, and Georgiana, wife of Linn. Hobart, of Detroit. Mrs. Close is a member of the Disciples Church and of the Ladies Aid Society. She is the sole heir to the property that had been accumulated by her father, Jacob Huth. ALTON T. McCOMB, a respected and public-spirited resident of Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, who has been cashier of the Peoples Savings Bank of Delta since its inception fourteen years ago, has been among the leading residents of that place for many years, has earned the confidence of the community, and has since 1907 held the responsible office of corporation treasurer; and upon many occasions has manifested not only an ability and alertness in civic administration, but a commendably unselfish public spirit. He was born in Ogden Centre, Ogden Township, Lenawee county, Michigan, January 23, 1872, the son of Thomas and Isabel (Patterson) McComb. In both paternal and maternal lineage he is of Irish descent. Although his father was born in Mount Morris, New York, his mother was of Irish birth, as were also his paternal and maternal grandparents, William and Mary McComb( and William Patterson. The grandparents left Ireland in 1835, and all settled in Lenawee county of Michigan, at the outset living a pioneering life in a wild country. Thomas McComb, son of William and Mary and father of Alton T., was born in Mount Morris, New York, soon after the family arrived in America, but he grew to manhood on the Michigan farm of his parents. He married in Michigan, and was in merchandising business in Lenawee county, Michigan, for the greater part of his life, also entering extensively into the lumber business. He died in October, 1886, being then fifty-one years old. Therefore, although one record states that William and Mary McComb crossed from Ireland in 1845, they were obviously in the United States in 1835, or earlier, seeing that their son Thomas was born in New York state. Perhaps, the 1845 record is of a trip made by the grandparents of Alton T. to their native country ten years or more after they had immigrated, although there is nothing in the family papers to bear out that supposition. However, they were sufficiently early in America to have been among the pioneer settlers of Lenawee county, Michigan. Isabel (Patterson) McComb, mother of Alton T., died in 1907, the last years of her life being spent in Palo Alto, California, where she was 418 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY buried. The children of Thomas and Isabel (Patterson) McComb were: Estine, who married Dr. J. H. Moore, and is now deceased; Jennie, who married H. W. Daniels, and now lives in Fullerton, California; Alton T., of whom more is recorded below; Allison V., who is in San Francisco, California. Alton T. McComb, third child of Thomas and Isabel (Patterson) McComb, spent his early life in Lenawee county, Michigan, and attended the Michigan public schools. He was only fourteen years old, however, when his father died, and after having completed his academic years of schooling he seems to have resolved to enter commercial life, and with that object, apparently, took the course at the Davis Business College at Toledo, Ohio. Later, however, he decided to qualify for pharmaceutical work, and with that object went to the Ohio Normal School at Ada, Ohio, graduating in 1899. For three years thereafter he was the manager of a drug store at Lyons, Fulton county, Ohio, eventually taking similar capacity in the employ of Mr. Carmen of Delta, Fulton county, where in that connection lie followed his profession for six years. Then he was appointed to the position of cashier of the Peoples Savings Bank of Delta, which was founded in April, 1906, by a few of the substantial people of the place. The officials since inception have been : J. M. Longnecker, president; F. Briggs, vice president; Alton T. McComb, cashier; M. W. Casler, assistant cashier. It has developed into an institution of solidity, its capital being $25,000, its surplus $32,000, while its deposits total $500,000, which is a creditable building of a banking institution, limited in scope of patronage as it necessarily is. Mr. McComb, who as cashier has of course been the active responsible official, has shown the traits of a reliable, successful banker, and he has an enviable reputation both personally and for business acumen in that section of Fulton county. He has entered actively and effectively into community life. Religiously he is a Presbyterian, a consistent churchman and a steady supporter of church work. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of the Fulton Lodge No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, of Delta, Ohio, and of the local Royal Arch Chapter. He has taken responsible part in the civic administration, having been corporation treasurer since 1907. He was also borough treasurer for the three years during which he was a resident in Lyons, Ohio. Politically he is a republican, and has interestedly followed local and national politics. During the recent war he was especially active in the national cause, co-operating usefully and effectively with the local body responsible for the proper and adequate subscription in that district to the various war funds. And in many ways during that time Mr. McComb proved himself to be a patriotic and useful citizen. On May 23, 1894, he married Nellie M. Young, who was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, daughter of Edgar and Sarah (Herriman) Young, the former a native of Lenawee county, Michigan, and the latter of New York birth. Mr. and Mrs. McComb have for many years associated themselves in the social activities of the community, and both have many friends in Delta. WALLACE W. TROWBRIDGE, who is the oldest resident of Delta, and, in fact., is one of the first pioneers of the district, is a remark- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 419 ably well-preserved man, intellectually lucid, and very entertaining when he narrates his early experiences in Fulton county, at the time when the Indians used to come to trade with his father, who kept a store just a little to the westward of where Delta is now situated. Wallace W. Trowbridge was born in Saratoga county, New York, June 12, 1830, the son of James and Laura (Butler) Trowbridge. In both paternal and maternal descent he comes of colonial New England families, his father having been born in Connecticut and his mother in Massachusetts. His parents soon after marriage settled on a farming property in Saratoga county, New York, where Wallace W. was born. He was only seven years old when his parents resolved to venture into the frontier ,states and take up the lives of pioneering settlers. The journey from New York state was made almost wholly by water, they and their few household goods being transported by canal to Buffalo, and from there to Perrysburg by lake boat. From Perrysburg, Wood county, into the wild region now converted into the agriculturally rich Fulton county they came by wagon, James Trowbridge entering government land and securing title to an eighty acre tract situated somewhat to the westward of where Delta now stands. There the family settled, and as the years passed did much clearing of timber land. James Trowbridge also conducted a .general store, his being the only store in the vicinity. Many Indians were in that territory in those days, and they were in the habit of coming to James Trowbridge's store to trade, his store thus being to some extent similar to the frontier trading posts. The Indians were, however, for the most part friendly, and were honestly treated by James Trowbridge. And, as may be imagined, they were much interested in young Wallace Trowbridge, then a boy of seven or eight years. Such were the surroundings and the general conditions under which the family of James and Laura (Butler) Trowbridge was raised. The parents spent the remainder of their lives in Fulton county, and on the property upon which they first settled. Their children were: Eliza, who married Daniel Pettis and died in Beatrice, Nebraska; Wallace W., regarding whom more follows; Orlando F. C., who died in infancy. Wallace W. Trowbridge was unable to obtain much schooling, although during his long life he has been intellectually inclined, and has made good many of the academic deficiencies of his boyhood. In the primitive conditions under which he lived in his boyhood adequate schooling was not possible, and as ho grew he became more conversant with agricultural methods than with academic subjects. He remained on the home farm, taking good part in the clearing and agricultural tasks of the parental acres until he eventually became possessed of it altogether, his father in his declining years transferring the property to him. He farmed the property for the greater part of his life, until he, in turn, passed it on to the third generation, to his own son, Charles F. who has since conducted it. After the transfer of the property Wallace W. Trowbridge bought a small estate, five acres, a comfortable residential property situated in the northwestern part of the borough of Delta, and there he has since lived in comfort, well cared for by his daughter. He is a remarkable man in many ways, has lived a steady, upright, active life, and consequently now in nonogenarian 420 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY age is still comparatively vigorous, much more so than many men twenty years his junior and his mental powers he has retained almost unimpaired. His conversation proves that he is a well-read man, of retentive mind, and intellectually bright. During his almost life-long association with the affairs of Delta he has manifested a sincere public spirit, and in many ways has been helpful in the development of the place. Had he so wished he might have held many more town offices than he has, for he has always been well-regarded in Delta. He has undertaken the responsibilities of constable, and for many years gave much attention to educational matters, being a school director. Politically he is a republican.   In December, 1856, he married Lydia Hoag, who was born in Montgomery county, New York, and died at the Trowbridge homestead in York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, in 1885. She was the daughter of Stephen Hoag, for many years resident in Fulton county. And although Mr. Trowbridge has survived his wife for thirty-five years, their married life was of comparatively long duration, twenty-seven years, which emphasizes his longevity. Most of his life-long friends have passed away, and many not yet born when he had reached manhood have lived their whole lives and also passed beyond. Even his son, Charles Francis, who now owns the Trowbridge homestead, is himself an elderly man now. The only other child of Wallace W. and Lydia (Hoag) Trowbridge is Etta, their daughter, who married Dora Campbell, but now lives with her father in Delta.   CHARLES FRANCIS TROWBRIDGE. It is given to but few men to live always on the same town lot or on the same farm throughout a life time, but such has been the privilege of Charles Francis Trowbridge of York, who still lives where he was born April 30, 1858, a son of Wallace W. Trowbridge. But he has been a rolling stone to some extent and has come back there.   In 1879, when Mr. Trowbridge had reached his majority, he went to North Dakota, near Fargo, where he spent two summers and one winter pre-empting a claim of a quarter section of land which he afterward' traded to his father for ninety-three acres of the old homestead, and he returned to the scenes of his younger days. He paid the government price of $2.50 an acre for this land in the northwest, but it gave him capital through its advance in value, and he was able to live in Fulton county again. Mr. Trowbridge has always been a dairy farmer, and he has tiled, fenced and added farm buildings until he has a fine environment in York.   On November 2, 1882, Mr. Trowbridge married Julia Shoffner, who was born at Harverstraw, Rockford county, New York, July 27, 1863, a daughter of John and Anna (Steinbach) Shoffner. They were natives of Germany, but were married in the State of New York and in 1865 they came to Delta. He had been a miller in New York, but after coming to Fulton county he engaged in construction work on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, and thus helped work the transformation in northern Ohio.   The children born in the family are: Clifford Wellington, who died November 17, 1918 ; Maud Shoffner, wife of Clyde Arnold, of Delta; Anna Laura, wife of Fred Zimmerman, of Delta; Marion Wallace, who died December 26, 1.895; Ray Maurice, of Delta; Hazel Kirk, wife of C. J. Baser, of Delta; Frank Hoag, at home;   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 421   Josephine Florence, wife of H. H. Hadland, of Delta; Metra Eldora, Marjorie May, Mildred Louise and Imogene. F. H. Trowbridge married Pauline La May Bechtels, and R. M. Trowbridge married Fannie Pearl Bundy. They all had common school advantages in York and at Delta.   The Trowbridge family are Methodists. Mr. Trowbridge is a republican, and has been township trustee of York. In the winter of 1918 he was sergeant-at-arms in the House of Representatives in the Ohio Legislature at Columbus. The son Frank H. Trowbridge was in the service in the World war. He had his training at Camp Sherman and at the Broadway Auditorium in Buffalo. He was in the motor transport convoy service seven months, making frequent trips across the Atlantic.   JOHN H. TEEPLE, a well-known and respected resident of Delta, York Township, Fulton county, who for very many years has been responsibly identified with and successful in extensive farming in the township, is a native of California, but has lived in Fulton county for almost fifty years.   He was born in Omega, California, April 26, 1867, the son of David and Phoebe (Tomer) Teeple. His father was a native of New Jersey and his mother of Ohio, born in Bolivar Village of Tuscarawas county. She met David Teeple in California, in which state they were married. Her husband was interested in gold mining, and in 1871 returned north with his wife and children, settling in Delta. He was for some years interested with Dr. William Ramsey in local banking, but died in 1879, eight years after having taken up residence in Delta. His wife lived a widowhood of twenty-six years, her death not occurring until 1905. David and Phoebe (Tomer) Teeple were the parents of two children: Elizabeth, who married Dr. J. V. Newton, of Toledo, Ohio; and John H.   John H. Teeple was only four years old when his parents came to Delta, Ohio, to reside, and he was only twelve years old in the year of his father's death. Nevertheless, he was able to obtain a comparatively good education, attending the elementary and high schools of Delta. After school duties he took industriously to agricultural occupations, and in course of time became a skillful, responsible farmer. For very many years he has directed the operation of two large farms near Delta, and has been a large raiser of the big type of Poland hogs and Holstein cattle. He maintains a large dairy. Generally, his farming has been marked by enterprise and indefatigable application, and by an aptness which has enabled him to adopt and to benefit by many of the modern methods of farming. He lives in Delta, and has always been known as a responsible resident, substantial and honorable.   Politically he is a republican, although he has never taken an active interest in political campaigns, having no inclination for political work. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, local branch No. 199, and with Delta Lodge No. 460, and Fulton Encampment No. 197, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.   On May 21, 1895, he married Alice A. Snyder, a native of Fulton county, Ohio, daughter of Daniel J. and Anna (Geitgey) Snyder, formerly of Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Teeple have many sincere friends in Delta.   422 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   JAMES SANDERSON, who is widely known throughout Fulton county among agriculturists as the manager of the Delta plant of the Helvetia Milk Condensing Company, with which he has been responsibly connected practically since leaving school, is one of the leading business men of Delta, and has very many friends in that section of the county.   He was born in Greenville, Illinois, December 12, 1880, the son of James and Lucy (Davis) Sanderson, who were both natives of Bond county, Illinois. His father, James Sanderson, who of late years has lived in California, has a worthy Civil war record, and for many years was a farmer in Illinois. He also was one of the pioneer carriers of mail under the rural free delivery system. He has lived in Selma, Fresno county, California, since 1912.   James Sanderson, son of James and Lucy (David) Sanderson, spent his early years in his native place, Greenville, Illinois. He attended the elementary public and high schools of that place, and after graduating therefrom took a course in a business college. In 1898 he began his business career as an employe of the Helvetia Milk Condensing Company at Greenville, Illinois, taking minor executive capacity in that plant. Two years later he entered the employ of Swift & Company at East St. Louis, Illinois, having a position of some responsibility in the general offices of that huge corporation. Two years later, however, he again took up connection with the Helvetia Milk Condensing Company, coming to Delta,, Fulton county, to take the position of bookkeeper in the plant the company was then constructing at Delta. That was in January, 1904. He remained in Delta as bookkeeper for more than three years, then gaining well-merited promotion, being transferred to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, to take the assistant managership of the company's plant at that place. In 1911 he was transferred in the same capacity to the Westfield, Pennsylvania, plant of the company, becoming manager of that plant, where he remained for four years. In 1915 he was again sent to Delta, and since that time he has been general manager of the Delta plant, which is the largest of the eleven operated by the Helvetia Milk Condensing Company. Mr. Sanderson has manifested superior administrative ability and a commendable loyalty. He attends steadily to business, has a pleasing method of trading and of directing the operations for which he is responsible, so that he has the confidence and esteem of employes and of agriculturists generally throughout the district from which the Delta plant draws its supplies.   Politically Mr. Sanderson is a republican, and has shown much interest in local affairs. He is generally of, much popularity in the community, and in 1918 was elected councilman. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of Fulton Lodge No. 248 of Delta, and Aurora Chapter. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 199 of Delta.   In October, 1905, he married Catherine Watkins, who was born in Delta, daughter of L. C. and Drucilla (Snyder) Watkins, both of. whom also were born in Fulton county. Mr. Sanderson has been interested in Delta since his first coming to the place in 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson have two children, Richard and Dorothy.   HECTOR LEE MILES, who for more than forty years has been one of the representative business men of Delta, Ohio, and for the   HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 423   greater part of that time has conducted a substantial lumber business in Delta, is a man of good business ability, a capable administrator and an efficient public worker. He is of enviable per- sonal and business repute in Delta, has been an earnest church worker, and has served the community as councilman for many years, in very many other ways also manifesting a helpful public spirit.   He was born in Huron county; Ohio, on August 2, 1852, the son of David and Mary (Lee) Miles. He comes of a New York state family, his father having been born in Lockport of that state, and his grandparents, Lewis T. and Lucinda Miles, were also born in New York: His mother, Mary (Lee) Miles, however, was born in Ohio, and four generations of the Miles family have had residence in Ohio, Lewis T. and Lucinda Miles, grandparents of Hector L., having come into the state early in their married life. They took a farming property, or what later became a farming property, near Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio, although at the time he obtained possession it was practically in the wild state. He did much pioneering work, although his main occupation was that of millwright. In the last years of his life he was a farm owner in Clyde, Sandusky county, Ohio, where he died.   David, son of Lewis T. and Lucinda Miles, spent most of his early life in Huron county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood he was initiated into the work of a millwright by his father, and for many years he followed that trade. He married near Milan, Ohio, and in 1865 came into Fulton county, Ohio, having purchased a tract of 160 acres of land, mostly in the wild state, heavily timbered, situated near Metamora Village, Amboy Township. There he and his wife lived for some years, during which he cleared the timber from many acres of his land, eventually selling the property to advantage and going to Clyde, Sandusky county, Ohio, where his father and mother then lived. He remained associated with his father until the latter's death, when the, home farm passed into the possession of the son. Some time later David Miles traded his property, at Clyde for a farming property situated in Williams county, Ohio. There he and his son for some years mainly followed agricultural pursuits. Eventually, however, he sold the farm and returned to Fulton county, taking up his residence in Delta, where he died in 1896, four years after the decease of his wife in 1892. Their children were: Fitch, who died not long after having attained his majority ; Hector Lee; Lewis Levings, who died in 1917; and Llewellyn L., who lives in Toledo, Ohio.   Hector Lee Miles, second child of David and Mary (Lee) Miles, was born in Huron county, Ohio, spent some of his early infant years in Fulton county, but passed most of his boyhood in Clyde, Sandusky county, Ohio, attending the elementary and high schools of that .place. Having decided to enter commercial life, he took a business course at the Davis Business College, Adrian, Michigan, after graduating from which he at the age of nineteen years took employment as a clerk in a dry goods store. About two years later the farmhouse occupied by the family burned, and soon afterward Hector L., went into the Harkness Dry Goods Store, where he remained steadily employed for about a year; then coming with his parents to Delta, Fulton county, where he found employment for two years in a local bakery, in which enterprise he had acquired a   424 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY   partnership. At the end of two years he sold his interest in the bakery business and for eighteen months thereafter conducted a haberdashery establishment, known as the 888 Notion Store, which he sold to some advantage. He married in 1878, and soon thereafter became one of the principals of an established lumber, coal, lime and cement business in Delta, Ohio, his wife having been be- queathed an interest in that business by her former husband. Mr. Miles took partnership in the business with Mr. Dumeresq, the partnership continuing for eight years, when Mr. Miles acquired the interest of his partner. Since 1886 he has conducted the business alone, and has during the long period had an appreciable share of the business of that section of Fulton county. He has had a long career of consequential honorable-trading, and is widely known throughout that part of Fulton county. During his long connection with Delta he has taken much interest in its affairs, in his younger days entering actively into most of the social activities of the community, and throughout his life keenly interesting himself in civic matters. He has long been among the business leaders of the section, and for six years has been a member of the City. Council. Politically he is a republican, although he has not shown the close interest in national politics that he has manifested in local affairs. He is a consistent churchman, member of the local Methodist Episcopal Church, and an earnest church worker. He has been trustee of the church, and is one of its stewards. Fraternally he is a Mason, of Royal Arch degree, and is also identified with the Fraternity of Modern Woodmen of America.   On November 13, 1878, he married Louisa M. (Griffin) Van Fleet, widow 2f George Van Fleet, of Delta, Fulton county, and daughter of William and Clarissa (Gunn) Griffin. She was born in Fulton county, and has lived most of her life in Delta. No children were born to her first marriage, but she has borne three children to her second husband, Hector Lee Miles. Their children in order of birth are: Roy H., who was in successful business in Detroit, Michigan, for several years and is now on his farm south of Delta. He married Gertrude Biddle, of Delta, a daughter of John and Margaret Jane (Watkins) Biddle. Dorr Lee is associated in business with his father, latterly undertaking practically the whole management of the business. He married Mrs. Iva Seidel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Lowe, of Gibsonburg, Ohio. They have two children, Jean Louie, and Dorr, Jr. Bessie died when nine years old.   HENRY R. PELTON, a successful business man and respected resident of Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, has lived an energetic, responsible life, and has taken good part in the administrative duties of the township.   He was born in Ottawa county, Ohio, October 28, 1858, the son of Henry and Sarah (Van Pelt) Pelton, both of whom were born in New York state, his father in Onondago county and his mother in Yates county. The Pelton family for some generations had been resident in New York state, John Pelton and Anthony Van Pelt, grandparents of Henry R. Pelton, having also been born in the state, Mr. Pelton, of Delta, thus being descended in both paternal and maternal lines from colonial New York families. His grandparent's on his mother's side were also early residents of Ohio, being -Row 1, Cell 1-