50 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY pioneer families of that section of the state. Christian Rychener, the pioneer, crossed from Wayne county through the wilderness to German township, Fulton county, and was one of the first to settle and begin to clear land in that township. His marriage has historic interest, in the fact that it was the first to be solemnized in German township, that is, the first in which white people were the principals. Since that time the Rychener family, in its many descendants, has had prominent part in the industrial and public life of many Fulton county communities. Simon Rychener was born in Pettisville, Ohio, in 1873, the son of John and Anna Rychener. He was unfortunate in losing his father early in his life, Simon being only four years old when his father died, which misfortune much altered the boy's prospects. He was only able to obtain a country school education, and that amounted to practically only the winters spent in school, for during the growing season he helped his uncle, who had adopted him, in the operation of the latter's farm. Thus he passed his life until he had reached his sixteenth year, when his schooling ended altogether, and for the next two or three years he stayed on the farm, giving his labor in exchange of board and clothing. When he was eighteen years old he returned to his native place, Pettisville, where he made his home with his mother and found good work as section man on the New York Central Railroad. He remained so employed for two years, being very provident, and accumulating as much of his earnings as he possibly could. And at the end of the two years of railroad work he found himself possessed of sufficient capital to venture into independent business as a. butcher. His beginning was inauspicious, but he was a man of good poise, and went to the extent of trading his limited capital would permit him to undertake, but during the next ten years his little butchering business in Pettisville grew to such dimensions that he had to close his connection with retail butchering and devote his time to the larger affairs of his wholesale trade in live stock. He had been in partnership with Fred Bennett, a well-known local man, and their trading in cattle and hogs had been extensive, but in 1903 the firm of Rychener and Bennett ceased to operate the retail butchering business in Pettisville, the partners selling that business and dissolving' partnership. From that time Mr. Rychener has been alone in business, which with the years has assumed very substantial proportions and wide scope. He trades in wool, seed and live stock, buying extensively and shipping all over the country under his own name. Needless to say, the trading has been materially to his advantage, the volume of business bringing him substantial return, so that as the years have passed and his capital has increased he has seen fit to enter into other enterprises of industrial and financial character. He is closely identified with the Pettisville Grain Company, which does an extensive elevator business, and he was one of the organizers of the Pettisville Savings Bank, of which he is a stockholder and director. And among his other interests is a good farming property. Altogether he has had notable success in business. Personally he is respected in his home district. He has lived a steady, honorable life; and has shown a readiness to support any project that has for its object the welfare of the community. Politically he is an independent republican, but has not manifested any desire for political office. In 1894 he married Mary, aughter of Samuel and Anna (Roth) Krieger, of near Pettisville. They have three children : Herma, who HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 51 married George Sherer, of Waterville, Ohio, and has one child, a daughter, Thelma; Orville Samuel, who was born in 1903; and Thelma Henrietta. WILLIAM JOHN WEBER, cashier of the Pettisville Savings Bank, Pettisville Ohio, is one of the consequential men of affairs .of that community. His life record stamps him as a man of wide knowledge, of unblemished character, of commendable public spirit, and of definite and pronounced executive, organizing and administrative ability. He has been an educator, an agricultural and industrial company organizer and manager, and a financier and banker of enviable repute. He is part owner of the Pettisville Grain Company, was one of the founders of the Pettisville Savings Bank, has membership in two Ohio State Bankers' Associations, was the organizer and is sole owner of the Pettisville Electric Light Company, and among his other interests has a good farming property. So that he is a man of consequential business and financial affairs. And his public record has been equally notable, especially in educational activities. He is president of the Fulton county Board of Education, and holds similar office in the deliberations of the Pettisville School Board. He was born on the family homestead in Clinton township, Fulton county, in 1873, the son of John and Margaret (Fink) Weber. The family has long had residence in Ohio, and for many decades has been in Fulton county. William J. was educated in the Pettisville public school, after passing through which he went to the Fayette Normal School in order to qualify for entry into the teaching profession. For five years he taught in schools of Clinton and German townships, teaching during the school period and farming for himself during the long summer vacations. The latter occupation was not a strange one to him, as having been born and raised on a farm he had necessarily became conversant with most operations of agricultural life. He was also a man of good business instinct, as was shown by his enterprise in joining with G. D. Wyse and J. S. Rychener, two well-known Pettisville young men, in the organiza- tion of the Pettisville Grain Company. Of that prosperous concern Mr. Weber acted for twelve years as manager, and still holds a one-third interest in the company, the property of which includes a grain elevator with capacity of 15,000 bushels. As an organizer, however, Mr. Weber perhaps came most prominently before the people of the county when he, with nine other substantial business people of Pettisville and Wauseon, founded the Pettisville Savings Bank, of which he has been vice-president or cashier since its establishment. The bank is one of the strong finacial institutions of the county, and of course much of its stability must be attributed to Mr. Weber's skill as a banker, and to his comprehensive understanding of finance. The bank owns a fine building, has deposits of $230,000, and resources of $200,000. By reason of this banking connection Mr. Weber is a member of the Ohio Bankers' Association, and also belongs to the Ohio Private Bankers' Association. In 1917 he ventured into the automobile business, establishing a service station, garage and a general business in auto supplies and accessories in Pettisville, and later he sold that business to some advantage. Then another of his business enterprises was the organization in 1915 of the Pettisville Electric Light Company. That company, of which Mr. Weber is sole owner, furnishes light and power to Pettisville and vicinity. 52 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Mr. Weber has taken proper and creditable part in the administrative responsibilities of the community. As a former educator it was but proper that he should lean more closely in his public endeavor to matters connected with the educational welfare of the community than to other phases of the public administration. He is especially honored among the educational administrators in Fulton county, being president of the Colinty Board of Education. He is also president of the Pettisville. School Board. Personally, he is a man of strong personality and praiseworthy private life, and in his home community is generally well regarded. In 1898 Mr. Weber married Mary, daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Freyenberger) Rupp, of Clinton township, Fulton county. They have two children, sons, Aurelius Christian, who was born in 1900, graduated from the Wauseon High School, and entered the Ohio State University Training Camp. He took the engineering course at the university, and is now taking the same course at Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio. Maurice Eugene was born in 191.2. HARVEY HENRY RYCHENER, owner of a substantial business in automobile supplies and repairing at Pettisville, Ohio, is a native of Fulton county, and comes of a family well known in that part of Ohio: He does a consequential business in tires and other automobile accessories, as well as in auto repairs. He was born in German township, Fulton county, on June 1, 1881, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Stutzman) Rychener. His early life was spent on the home farm, and in due course he went to school, attending the public school of District No. 1 of Fulton county. He continued attendance at school until he was nineteen years old, and concurrently, or rather during the long summer vacations, did much work upon his father's farm. After leaving school he settled down industriously to the affairs of the home farm, and did not leave home until 1916, being then thirty-five years old. For the greater part of his young manhood he had taken upon himself the greater part of the burdensome work of the family property, and eventually bought the farm from his father, thus permitting the latter to pass his declining years in comfort. Harvey H. prospered well by his farming, and in 191.6 formed business association with William Weber, the partners building and organizing an auto sales room and garage on Main street, Pettisville, and entering energetically into the automobile business. They secured some good agencies, and being good salesmen, energetic, enterprising and of good repute, they were not long in establishing a satisfactory busine. The partnership continued to mutual advantage for three years, when, on January 1, 1919, Mr. Weber sold his interest to Mr. Ervin Lantz, the firm name changing from that of Weber & Rychener to that of Rychener & Lantz. Some months later Mr. Rychener purchased the interest of his partner and has since conducted the business as the sole proprietor. With the agencies for the Nash and Dort cars, with a good repair service station, and with a comprehensive line of automobile supplies he is equipped to do a substantial business. Personally Mr. Rychener is a man of strong, steady characteristics, of fine moral and material integrity, of commendable industry and of praiseworthy private life. He has the characteristics of so many other men of that section of Fulton county, sons of pioneers, and with much of the strength of purpose of the pioneers. He is a HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 53 good churchman, has always endeavored to act honestly by his neighbor, and has always been ready to give support to church and community undertakings. In 1907 he married Sarah, daughter of J. Nafziger, of Hickory county, Missouri, and to them have been born three children : Dorothy F., Elden Erwin, and Glen. Politcally Mr. Rychener is an independent. FRED H. WOLF, judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Fulton county, was born at Bluffton Indiana, on March 28, 1870, a son of William B. and Martha (Hawker) Wolf. The Wolf family has been located in the United States for many generations. Fred H. Wolf attended the common schools of Shelby county, Ohio, and a commercial college at Gilboa, Putnam county, Ohio, and then studied law in the office of Bailey & Bailey at Ottawa, Ohio. He was then appointed court stenographer for the district embracing Putnam, Henry and Fulton counties, and held that position for six years, and following that became stenographer for Attorney-General Sheets at Columbus, Ohio. His record in these positons attracted the attention of those in authority and he was appointed official stenographer to the Supreme Court of Ohio at Columbus, Ohio, and held that office for two years. In the meanwhile, during 1900, he had been admitted to the bar, and in 1904 he came to Fulton county and embarked in a general law practice with C. C. Handy under the name of Handy & Wolf, which connection was maintained for seven years. In November, 1905, Mr. Wolf was elected prosecuting attorney on the republican ticket, and was re-elected to the office, holding one three and one two-year term. With the dissolution of the firm of Handy & Wolf, Mr. Wolf continued in practice alone until 1915, when he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and is still ocupying this office. During the late war Judge Wolf was exceedingly active and was chairman of the Red Cross campaign in 1917, and was chairman of the executive committee of the War Chest drive. He belongs to Wauseon Lodge No. 349, A. F. and A. M., and is a past master of it, and he is a. thirty-second degree Mason, Scottish Rite. Judge Wolf is also a member of Wauseon Lodge, K. of P. In his religious connections he affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has long been a member. Judge Wolf was married to Lillian A. Eastman, a daughter of E. R. and Ellen (Parrett) Eastman, of Ottawa, Ohio, on June 28, 1900. Judge and Mrs. Wolf have two children, namely : Eleanor E. and Frederick E. The record of Judge Wolf is one that proves that real merit and conscientious performance of the duty that lies at hand meet with commensurate reward. While learning the fundamentals of law he discharged the exhausting tasks of a court stenographer and through them gained an intimate knowledge of jurisprudence which has the better fitted him to preside on the bench. As a prosecuting attorney he exhibited an unusual fearlessness in handling, the problems of his office, and in every way he has risen to each increasing responsibility and justified the faith others have always placed in him and his capabilities. CLYDE LAWRENCE CANFIELD. It is a laudable ambition that induces sincere workers in any profession to seek honorable advancement in the same. Not every one succeeds equally, for all are not 54 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY willing to make the necessary strenuous effort or undergo the self-denial that so often the price of progress demands. One of the prominent men of Fulton county, who has won distinction in the law, is Clyde Lawrence Canfield, who early made choice of his future career and by determined personal effort reached the goal of his ambition. Clyde L. Canfield was born in Fulton county, Ohio, August 19, 1879, and is a son of Edward T. and Mary (Bryarly) Canfield. On both sides of the family his ancestry is English, and his forefathers settled in the American colonies before the Revolutionary war, in which has great-great-grandfather, Daniel Canfield, took part as a soldier in the Continental Army. The family in the main, however, has been one of peaceful pursuits, each succeeding generation producing its full quota of both professional and business men, all of whom have been definitely and distinctively loyal and patriotic upholders of American principles. For many years the father of Mr. Canfield owned and operated lumber mills in .Fulton county, and is still active in business affairs at Pettisville, Ohio. Mr. Canfield's early educational advantages were those obtainable in the country school of Dover township. He applied himself assiduously and before he reached manhood was deemed proficient enough to be aceptable as a teacher in the country schools. He was anxious to teach because he had a college career in prospect and knew that funds for the same would have to be provided by himself. It was to the law he was looking forward, and with this goal in view he spent several years in the country schools in Franklin and Clinton townships, very often numbering among his pupils young men older than himself. Such also was the experience of other self-dependent young men,, an example being Governor Lowden, of Illinois, who has declared the discipline of those years was invaluable. In 1900 he entered the Ohio Northern University, from which he was graduated in 1904, with the degree of B. S., when he resumed teaching, spending one year in the schools of Clinton township and two years as principal of the Tedrow village school. In the meanwhile Mr. Canfield had devoted all his leisure to the private study of law, and in the summer schools of 1905-6-7 he was a student at Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, during 1908 taking the regular law course, and in that year was graduated with his well won degree of LL. B. To enter upon the practice of his profession he went to Toledo, where he became junior partner in the law firm of Smith, Myers & Canfield, three years later the firm becoming Neilson & Canfield. Failing health caused Mr. Canfield to withdraw, and he then spent two years recuperating in the genial climate of Louisiana, spending two years on a plantation in LaFourche Parish. He returned then to the old home at Pettisville, and in January, 1917, formed a law partnership with Charles T. Stahl, under the style of Stahl & Canfield, which continued until July, 1918, when Mr. Canfield became a member of the firm of Paxson & Canfield. In 1918 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Fulton county, his democratic opponent being Fred B. Fowler. Mr. Canfield was elected by a handsome majority, carrying all but two of the precincts, and in the administration of his office has justified the confidence reposed in him, in a number of especially notable cases proving so admirable a prosecutor that the ends of justice were entirely served. During the continuance of the great war Mr. Canfield's interest never flagged, and both time and resources were expended in behalf of the Red Cross and other patriotic movements. He served as secretary of the Civilian Relief Committee of the Red Cross, better HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 55 known as the Home Service Committee, and was a member of the Legal Advisory Board of the selective draft. He has been extremely active in republican politics in Fulton county and wields wide influence. He belongs to Wauseon Lodge, F. and A. M., Tedrow Lodge of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. Of proved sterling character, exceptional talent in his profession, vigorous American citizenship and ' genial personality, Mr. Canfield is held in high esteem in his native county and state. CARL F. ORTH. It is probable that few men are ever elected to the responsible office of county treasurer without having a background of business ability and personal integrity. The far-sighted people of Fulton county had this background in view when they elected Carl F. Orth to this position. Carl F. Orth was born at Wauseon, Ohio, in October, 1881, and is a son of Adam and Mattie (Kellar) Orth. The paternal grandfather, Rev. William Orth, was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany. When he came to the United States he located first in Coshocton county, Ohio, where he was a minister of the United Bretheren faith, and later came with his son Adam to Wauseon. Here Adam Orth was a dry goods merchant for many years, an honorable and respected man. His death occurred May 2, 1899. The mother of Carl F. Orth survives and resides at Toledo, Ohio. Primarily educated in the common schools, Carl F. Orth spent three years in the Wauseon High School and three more in Kenyon Military Academy at Gambier. He then turned his attention to the study of law, spent one year in the Western Reserve Law School at Cleveland, then went to Seattle, Washington, where he embarked in the real estate business and in 1901 was admitted to the bar. He engaged there in the practice of law for two years, but in 1903 re- turned to Wauseon, where he found an encouraging opening in the insurance business. Purchasing the business of A. R. Townelle, he developed a large business in both life and fire insurance, becoming representative of such old line companies as the following: National Liberty Fire, Milwaukee Mechanics Fire, W. W. National Fire, United States Fire, Northern Insurance of New York, Globe Insurance of Pittsburgh, Superior Fire of. Pittsburgh, Allemania Fire and Travelers Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut. In all business relations, covering many years, Mr. Orth has proved just and trustworthy. On January 2, 1911, Mr. Orth was united in marriage to Miss Edna Cochran, who is a daughter of F. W. and Anna (Fox) Cochran, of Wauseon. Mr. and Mrs. .Orth have two children, namely: Carl Frederick, who was born in 1913, and William Marvin, who was born in 1918. For a number of years Mr. Orth has been quite active in public affairs at Wauseon and a leader in republican political, circles. In 1914 he was elected city clerk, serving two years, and in 1916 became a member for two years of the Board of Trustees of Public ,Affairs, and in 1918 was made secretary of the Fulton County Fair Board. He has been a. member of the School Board since 1917. To the duties of these offices he applies himself with the same scrupulous care that he gave to his private business matters, the same careful attitude marking his administration as county treasurer, to which office he was elected in 1918. He is ever ready to encourage business enterprises of worth and is a stockholder in the Home Telephone Company at Wauseon. Personally he is genial and hearty in manner and is a valued member of the Knights of Pythias at Wauseon. 56 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY EDWARD HARVEY JORDAN. During an extended and diversified career Edward Harvey Jordan's activities have invaded several fields of endeavor, in all of which he has displayed ability and enterprise. He has been successful as a merchant, has always been rated high as a public-spirited citizen, and in his present position as assistant postmaster of Wauseon has rendered excellent and efficient public service to the people of this thriving and growing city. Mr. Jordan was born on a farm in Lenawee county, Michigan, July 31, 1871, a son of George W. and Sarah (Aldrich) Jordan. He comes of 'an old New England family which was known and honored for a number of generations in Vermont, from which state George W. Joran migrated to Michigan, where he spent the remainder of his active career as a Lenawee county farmer. Edward H. Jordan secured his education in the public schools of that county and in Fulton county, Ohio, and at the age of twenty-one started to learn the baker's business at Wauseon. This he followed with a gratifying degree of success for nine years, at end of which period. he turned his attention to the trade. of carpenter, and this he followed for two years. While thus employed he came into connection with the lumber and supply business, and he finally became associated with the Wauseon Lumber and Supply Company for four years. In 1908 he accepted his present position as assistant postmaster of Wauseon, a post which he has since filled with marked efficiency and fidelity. In 1891 Mr. Jordan was united in marriage with Miss Millie Trory, daughter of Charles E. and Elizabeth (Trounce) Trory, of Wauseon, and they are the parents of two sons: Clarence T. and Arthur H. both of Toledo, the former born in 1900 and the latter in 1902. H., Jordan is a republican in his political allegiance, and is affiliated fraternally with the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Maccabees, and the F. and A. M., in all of which he has numerous friends. He is public-spirited and progressive, and a staunch supporter of constructive measures having for their object the betterment of the community. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan are members of the Christian Church. CHARLES H. JORDAN. One of the lines of activity which combines business and art is that connected with the production and handling of plants and flowers, and one of the men of Wauseon who has attained to considerable success in it is Charles H. Jordan, sole proprietor of the Wauseon Floral Company. Mr. Jordan was born at Oakharbor, Ohio, on April 26, 1872, a son of Frederick and Rachael (Lopp) Jordan, and grandson of Christopher Jordan. His parents now make their home at Port Clinton and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary there on April 27, 1920. Christopher Jordan was born at Baden, Germany, and came to the United States at an early day, settling in Erie county, Ohio. In about 1860 he moved to Oakharbor, Ottawa county, Ohio, which continued to be his home until his death, in 1895. There were six children in his family of whom Frederick Joran was the third in order of birth. Charles H. Jordan attended the public schools of his native place and was graduated from its high school in 1890, and in 1893 he matriculated in the dental department of the Northwestern University, from which he was graduated in 1896. For the subsequent two years he was engaged in the practice of dentistry at Oakharbor, but finding it too confining, branched out into his present business and HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 57 for seven years conducted extensive greenhouses at Oakharbor. In 1907 he came to Wauseon and built his present greenhouses, which require 15,000 square feet of glass. Here he raises his own flowers and ships them all over the county, having built up a large and paying business. Mr. Jordan was married to Sue Harrison, a daughter of Henry and Lydia Marion Harrison, of Oakharbor, Ohio, in 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan have two children, namely : Marietta W. and Raymond Harrison, both now attending the Ohio Wesleyan University. Politically Mr. Jordan is a republican and served for four years, from 1911 to 1915, as a member of the City Council of Wauseon. The First Methodist Episcopal Church holds his membership and affords him expression for his religious life. Mr. Jordan is a Mason, belonging to Wauseon Lodge No. 348, F. and A. M., and in 1917 was master of his lodge. He is one of the most representative and public-spirited men of Fulton county, and in addition to the recognition accorded to his ability he has won appreciation for his admirable personal characteristics. JOHN B. MCQUILLIN. With the coming of David McQuillin to Fulton .county in 1835 an element of strength and purpose was added to the upbuilding forces of a promising and prosperous com- munity. That the ideals of work and citizenship cherished by this early settler have been transmitted to those succeeding him in the race is not questioned by those familiar with the history of the family for the past three-quarters of a century. One of the worthy descendants of this pioneer is found in John B. McQuillin, deputy sheriff of Fulton county, who served for a long period in the capacity of sheriff and has also been a successful farmer of this locality. John B. McQuillin was born in Pike township, Fulton county, Ohio, March 30, 1863, a son of John W. and Elizabeth (Dunbar) McQuillin, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. His paternal grandfather, David McQuillin, was born in Pennsylvania, but in 1835 moved to Pike township, where he cleared a farm and spent the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits, dying in 1870. He was the father of six sons and four daughters. Of these, John W. McQuillin was born the year following the arrival of the family in Fulton county and spent his life as a farmer on his property near Delta until his retirement, his death occurring in April, 1911, while his wife passed away in January of the same year. John B. McQuillin secured a country school education in the Hoxie school in Pike township, attending to his studies during the winter terms and assisting his father on the home farm during the summer months. He was married in 1884 to Miss Clara B. Simpson, a daughter of William and Margaret (Taylor) Simpson, of Pike township, and to this union there were born children as follows: Everett W., born in 1887, a ranchman of the State of Oregon, who is married and has two children : Donald and Jeannette, 'Pearl T., the wife of Floyd Watkins, of Fulton township, this county, where he is engaged in farming and has one child; Ronald, Bessie, the wife of Clarence Saeger, a Fulton county farmer, has two children Hazel, and Harold, and Donald, who was born in 1898 and died in 1911. Following his marriage 'in 1884, Mr. McQuillin purchased forty acres of land in Pike township and there continued to follow agricultural pursuits until 1912. He is still interested in agricultural matters as the owner of fifty acres of good land, and maintains his reputation as a skilled and well-informed tiller of the soil and breeder 58 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY of a good grade of cattle. In 1912 Mr. McQuillin was elected on the republican ticket as sheriff of Fulton county, over the democratic candidate Bailey, and after serving two years was re-elected by the largest vote secured by any man in the county. Mr. McQuillin continued in that office until 1917, when his term expired, and he was then appointed deputy sheriff under Sheriff Boone. During his official career Mr. McQuillin has been a participant in some important cases, among others being the rounding up, with Sheriff Boone, of the notorious wife murderer, Fred Leyman. Mr. McQuillin is a staunch republican and has long been an influential member of his party in Fulton county, where he has served in a number of public positons, his record in office being an excellent one. For a period of fourteen years he acted as constable of ,Pike township, for nine years was justice of the peace and for sixteen years was a member of the Pike township school board. His fraternal connection is with the Knights of Pythias, in which lodge he has numerous friends. JULIUS TRONDLE. One of the old and honorable business names of Wauseon is that of Trondle, the Trondle Brothers, General Iroh Works, of this city, having been developed from the general blacksmith business, the founder of which was their honored father. The present firm consists of John and Julius Trondle, both of whom grew up in the business. Julius Trondle was born at Wauseon in 1879 and received his education in the public schools. He began early to help his father, and began to learn the blacksmith trade when fifteen years old, and has been identified with the same ever since except a short time when he was in a dry goods store. The parents of Mr. Trondle were Matthew and Lena (Goutz) Trondle. The mother is living but the father died in 1895. In 1896 the two sons, John and Julius, took over the business and have continued together ever since, in 1909 establishing themselves at No. 208 North Fulton street. Mr. Trondle was married to Miss Emma Bonnugh, who is a daughter of Jacob and Sophia (Destel) 'Bonnugh, and they have two children, Helen and Virginia. Mr. Trondle and family belong to the Lutheran Church. John Trondle, senior member of the firm of Trondle Brothers, was born in 1871, at Toledo, Ohio, and is a son of Matthew and Lena (Goetz) Trondle, who came to Wauseon when he was a child. He attended the public schools until sixteen years old, then helped his father in the blacksmith shop and also on the home farm. He continued with his father until he was twenty-fiveyears old, serving an apprenticeship. After his father's death he and his brother Julius took over the business as partners, continuing at the old stand, where they had sixteen acres of land, until 1909, when they moved to their present location at No. 208 Fulton street. The firm has prospered through good service and honest business methods, and their trade territory extends over a radius of fifteen miles from the city. In addition to owning farm land the firm has some valuable pieces of city realty. In 1898 Mr. Trondle was married to Miss Ella Sigg, who died in 1917, the mother of seven children, two of whom are deceased. Mr. Trondle is a thoughtful, well-read man and is a member of the Spiritualist Society. He is much interested in public questions and for ten years has given his political support to the Socialist party. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 59 WILLIAM S. BOONE. There always have been, even in the most civilized communities, certain elements that produce discord that interferes with the safe and peaceful pursuits of the great majority. To curb, control and, if possible, banish such elements has been the duty of certain carefully chosen officials in a county, a duty that can only be performed efficiently by a man of great personal courage, of sound judgment and of stable, reliable character. In William S. Boone, sheriff, Fulton county has had such an official. William S. Boone was born in Florence township, Williams county, Ohio, January 21, 1863. His parents were William and Catherine (Johnson) Boone, of German ancestry but of Pennsylvania birth. From that state they drove into Ohio and stopped in Wayne county, driving through the forests from there to Williams county and locating in Florence township. The father of Sheriff Boone died when this son was an infant, and as soon as he grew old' enough he assumed the care of his mother and five sisters, having no brothers. Until he was sixteen years old William S. Boone performed such tasks as came within his field of opportunity during the summer seasons and attended school during the winters. He continued work as a farm hand until he was nineteen years old, in the meanwhile learning the barber's trade at Edon, to which place he moved after his marriage in 1883, where he operated his own shop until 1887, when he moved to Bryan, in Williams county, and from there to Cleveland in 1889. In that city he worked at his trade for twenty-one months. Mr. Boone then came to Wauseon and went into business, conducting his own shop here until 1916, when he was nominated on the republican ticket for the office of sheriff of Fulton county. He was elected with a fine majority and assumed the duties of his office in January, 1917, general approval being shown of Sheriff Boone's administration by his subsequent re-election. As conservator of the peace in the county, he has effectively handled some very important cases, the capture of Fred Leyman for murder being one of wide notoriety. In 1883 Mr. Boone was married to Miss Florence E. Stuller, and they have two children, namely: Dolly May, who is the wife of Francis Guilford, of Wauseon, and Inez Pearl, who resides with her parents. Sheriff Boone and his family are members of the Christian (Disciples) Church. He is a Blue Lodge Mason and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias. As a business man, public official and private citizen Sheriff Boone stands deservedly high. He has always been a republican in his political preference, but has not been an office seeker: on the other hand, appreciative friends have often urged him to accept position because of his sterling honesty and thorough good citizenship. ROBERT I. BERNATH. president of the Northwestern Veterinary Medical Association, and secretary of the Ohio State Veterinary Medical Association, to which he was re-elected in 1919, is one of the leading men of his calling in Wauseon. He was born on the family homestead in Fulton county on October 7, 1883, a son of John H. and Mary Bernath, and grandson of John Bernath. John Bernath came to the United States from Switzerland and located three miles east of Elmira in Fulton county, Ohio, in 1840, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits the remainder of his life. He married Susan Kibler, whose parents had brought her to Fulton county in 1832. They had a large family and all of the children 60 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY grew up to be a -credit to their parents. John H. Bernath inherited this farm from his father and spent his life upon it until his retirement about ten years ago, when he moved to Wauseon. Robert I. Bernath attended the public schools of Wauseon, including the High School course, and then became a student of the Fayette Normal School at Fayette, Ohio. In 1904 he matriculated in the veterinary department of the Ohio State University, from which he was graduated in 1907, and immediately thereafter located in Wauseon and embarked in the practice of his profession. Having a natural inclination for his work, as well as being trained, Doctor Bernath has been very successful and has built up a large connection. In addition to his professional duties he is serving as secretary and manager of the Wauseon Holstein Breeders' Company, and in conjunction with his brother, George Bernath, is interested in the breeding of pure bred Holstein cattle. He belongs to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the United States Live Stock Sanitary Association, and other organizations connected with his calling, in all of which he is an active factor. On September 1, 1919, Doctor Bernath assumed the duties of the office of county surveyor, to which he was elected at the previous election on the republican ticket. He is also the owner of some valuable real estate in the city of Wauseon, and is enthusiastic about the future of the county seat. In 1908 Doctor Bernath was united in marriage with Ia F. Bucher, a daughter of John C. and Mary Bucher, of Whitehouse, Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Bernath have three children, namely : Margaret A., Robert I., Jr., and Irene Mary. When Doctor Bernath located at Wauseon the city gained a constructive citizen of merit, and his record since coming here is of such a character as to reflect credit upon him, his profession and his community, and he has the confidence of a wide circle of personal friends as well as of his constituents. DAVIS B. JOHNSON, the eldest of a family of seven children and the son of Arby D. Johnson and Effie Sellers Johnson, was born one-half mile south and one mile west of the village of Metamora, Amboy township, Fulton county, Ohio, in a neighborhood known to the old settlers of Amboy township as Duncan Town, on the 30th day of December., 1880. Sullivan Johnson, grandfather of Davis, was a Vermonter by birth and of Scotch descent, he being the son of Abel Johnson and Roby Thomas Johnson. Sullivan Johnson came to the State of Ohio and settled with his father near Geneva, Lake county, Ohio. He afterward came to Toledo, Ohio, where he met and married Phidelia Worden, at a time when that city could boast of only two or three little log houses. Sullivan Johnson settled in Amboy township about the year 1835, and played an important part in the early settlement of Amboy township and what is now Fulton county. He served two terms as sheriff of Fulton county. receiving his election by the republican party, to which he was a 'faithful and ardent member. Elias Sellers, grandfather on the mother's side, was of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, an early settler of Dover township, Fulton county, Ohio, and a veteran of the Civil war. During the winter months Davis attended the public schools of his native township and assisted his father on the farm in the summer time. He attended the public school in the village of Tedrow, Dover township, for a number of winters while the school was under HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 61 the supervision of Professor C. G. Miller, to whom he is indebted greatly for the education he has received. While attending the school at Tedrow he was nicknamed "Jeff Davis." After leaving the Tedrow school he spent one winter in the Fayette Normal and received a teacher's certificate the following spring. His first term of school was taught in the little brick school house east of Seward, Ohio, about one-half mile, the same building and same school district in which he was first enrolled as a scholar. At first he was not very successful as a schoolmaster, and quit the profession for about two years. Thinking the matter over one ay he came to the conclusion that he had been a quitter and decided to take another try at the business, and applied for a school in Amboy, his native township. After teaching the year in this district he was employed in the village school at Metamora, where he taught for about twelve years. During that time the school grew from a two-room school to the first grade high school, with one of the most modern buildings in the county. During this period he attended summer school in vacation time and studied. He spent two winters in the. Chattanooga Law School of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was admitted to the bar in the state of Ohio on the first day of July, 1916. In politics Mr. Johnson has always been a strong and active republican. He served six years as a member of the Village Council of Metamora, Ohio, and has held many important positions on the County Central and Executive Committees of his party. In the fall election of 1914 he was elected clerk of courts of the county, and re-elected in the fall of 1916. Retiring from that office on the first Monday of August, 1919, he opened an office for the practice of law in Wauseon, Ohio, in which practice he is now engaged. Mr. Johnson was married December 30, 1915, at Wauseon, Ohio, to Lillian Tressler, an adopted daughter of John and Louisa (Smith) Strong, of Wauseon. Mr. Johnson has one daughter, Louisa Elizabeth Johnson, born September 27, 1919. Mr. Johnson is well known in the Masonry of his county, being a member of Wauseon Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Wauseon Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Wauseon Council, Royal and Select Masons, and Defiance Commandery, Knights Templar. Mr. Johnson is of an active and progressive nature, always for public improvement, good roads, good schools, good citizenship. He is one of the most dependable citizens of the county and is always ready and willing to contribute his services both in a private and professional capacity for civic betterment. His advancement has been steady, and each step has been gained through earnest and painstaking effort. He has many friends throughout the county, and his further progress is watched with interest by all who know him. THOMAS W. SMITH has spent over fifty years of his life on the borders of Fulton county, and his friends and neighbors recognize in him a man of substantial industry and thrift, one who has improved his opportunities and achieved a comfortable home and farm, and altogether proved worthy of his American citizenship. Mr. Smith was born at Elyria, Ohio, on June 4, 1860, son of Chapman and Mary Jane (Haden) Smith, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York. The maternal grandparents, Thomas Jefferson and Hannah (Russell) Haden, moved 62 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY from New York state to Lorain county, Ohio. Chapman Smith also went to Lorain county, was married there, and in 1865 moved to Fulton county and located in Pike township. He lived in that community about twenty years and then moved to Fulton township. He died February 3, 1901. His widow made her home with her son Thomas, until her death May 15, 1918. Each of his parents had been twice married. Thomas W. was the only son of his parents. He grew up on a farm, acquired a district school education, and at the age of eighteen began earning monthly wages from neighboring farmers. He continued in that way until April 29, 1883, when he married Flora Alma Eldred. Mrs. Smith was born in Pike township, a daughter of Ambrose S. and Cynthia O. (Hall) Eldred, her father a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and her mother of Ash- land county, Ohio. Her maternal grandfather was named Ambrose S. Eldred, while her maternal grandparents were Charles and Ruth (Weeks) Hall, the former a native of England and the latter of New York state. Mr. Smith after his marriage rented a farm in Fulton township for six years, then bought twenty acres in the northwest corner of that township, and his parents lived with him there for thirteen years. He then rented another farm in the same locality, and in the meantime sold his place and bought sixty-four acres of partly improved land in section 30 of Amboy township. The Amboy township farm has been the scene of his best work as a farmer. He has remodeled the house and other buildings, kept the improvements up to the standard of the times, and has conducted its operations as a general farmer and also operates a small dairy of six cows. Mr. Smith is a republican voter and is affiliated with Lodge No. 555 of Masons. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one son, Emira Willard, who was born March 1, 1884. He is ndw a resident of Detroit, Michigan. He has been twice married, his present wife having borne the maiden name of May Smith. By his first marriage he has three children, Sidney Max, Marjory Fern and Hazel May. MYRON E. DOANE. The gentleman to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith directed is among the favorably known and representative citizens of this section of Ohio, in which lie has spent his life. He has by his indomitable enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way the advancement of his locality, and during the course of an honorable career has met with success as a general farmer, being a man of energy, sound judgment and honesty of purpose. Myron E. Doane, who operates a fine farm of 168 acres in Clinton township, Fulton 'county, was born in Hartland township, Huron county, Ohio, on April 2, 1855, and is the son of Eliphalet Joshua and Selina (Dunn) Doane. He is descended from a long line of honorable ancestry, his antecedents being traced in a direct line to some of the prominent families of the earliest colonial period in New England history. On the paternal side the family is of English stock, while the maternal line is of English-Scotch-Dutch blood. The Doane family was established in England in a very early ay, it having been mentioned in English records as early as 1199, and a little later the home of the Doanes in England was at Utkinton, north of Tarperley. Deacon John Doane was one of the historic band of Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, and is prominently mentioned in connection with the HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 63 Plymouth Colony in 1630. Later the family was established at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Deacon John Doane became a deacon of the Plymouth Church, and later of the Eastham Church, at Eastham, Massachusetts, and it is noteworthy that five successive generations of Doanes served as deacon of the last named church. The family remained identified with New England for many generations and became prominent as educators and merchants. On the maternal side the ancestors owned a block and ran a tavern in Glasgow. The grandfather came as an English soldier to Canada in the war of 1812, but remained and came to the new country in the northwest territory. The subject's father, Eliphalet Joshua Doane, was born in Wayne county, New York, April 7, 1816, and followed agricultural pursuits mainly throughout his life. He came to Fulton county August 14, 1863. v He died April 24, 1886, at the age of seventy years, and was survived a number of years by his widow, who died February 11, 1894, at the age of eighty-four years. She was born in Genesee, Lexington county, New York. When the family came to Fulton county the farm was in heavy woods, only a few acres having been cleared. Myron E. and his father cleared the remainder, as well as built roads and 'performed the other tasks of pioneering farmers. This section was then wet and swampy, and even the main highways had not been cleared of trees and logs. Myron E. Doane secured his educational training in the old Markley School in District No. 3, later known as the Olive Branch School. His summers• were spent on his father's farm of 160 acres, the greater part of which is still in the estate. He now farms this in connection with his own property, and has given intelligent direction to its operation, in which he has met with abundant success. Mr. Doane has never married, but lives on the old homestead with two of his sisters, Mary Selina and Jane Ann. The former is the widow of Charles H. Kline, who died on April 14, 1904. Politically Mr. Doane is a supporter of the republican party, while his church affiliation is with the United Brethren in Christ (Old Constitution). He is a member of the board of trustees of the United Brethren Church, a trustee of the parsonage, a member of the annual conference board of trustees of the United Brethren Church, and has for twenty-six years been secretary of the quarterly conference of the Wauseon Circuit of the United Brethren Church. Such, in brief, is the record of Mr. Doane, than whom a more wholesouled or popular man it Would be difficult to find within the borders of Fulton county, where he has long maintained his home and where he has labored not only for his own individual advancement, but also for the improvement of the entire community, whose interests he ever has at heart. GEORGE WASHINGTON TWISS, of Amboy, is only two generations away from the British Isles, and there is both English and Irish blood in his veins. He was born June 24, 1850, in Seneca county. He is a son of Russell and Sally. Ann (Hall) Twiss. While the parents were horn in Holmes county and afterward lived in Seneca county, the grandfather, Abial Twiss, came from England, and the grandmother, Mary (Mullit) Twiss, was born in Ireland. The Twiss family first lived in Philadelphia, and came from there to Ohio. The maternal grandparents were Reuben and Almira (Wheaton) Hall. 64 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Abial Twiss was a cooper, and he also operated a water power saw mill. At one time when he was along the stream there was a panther lying in the sun, and without disturbing it he returned to the house for his trusty flintlock gun. He hurried back and shot the panther, breaking its shoulder. The gunshot aroused the bull dog and it attacked the panther, which was so crippled it could not climb a tree in making its escape from the place. While the dog and panther were fighting they both got into the stream, and Mr. Twiss waded in and clubbed the panther to death. The settlers frequently bad adventures with wild animals of the forest. When Russell Twiss came to northern. Ohio he lived for four years in Spencer and then moved to a farm in Richfield township, of Lucas county. The place was under water and he cleared and drained it. His wife died there June 16, 1900, and he died January 3, 1903, in Swanton. Their children are: Caroline, widow of Walter Stinson, of Casanovia, Michigan; Reuben, of Niagara Falls, New York; Eliza Jane, wife of Joseph Corth, of Toledo ; G. W. Twiss, who relates the family history; Mary, wife of Eugene Crissey, died May 30, 3.900, and Arletta, who died in infancy. On April 20, 1879, G. W. Twiss married Clarina J. Sloan, of. Seneca county. She is a daughter of Horatio and Rebecca (Hall) Sloan. The parental grandfather was Alonzo Sloan and the maternal grandfather was Reuben Hall. When they were married they located on a forty acre tract of timber in Amboy. It was under water and he cleared and drained it. While reclaiming this land Mr. Twiss frequently shot wild turkeys, and it was no trouble to supply wild meats for his dinner table. While Amboy is now fine farming sand, it was wild country When Mr. Twiss first located in it. While he only had frame buildings in 1899, Mr. Twiss bought and hauled brick from Toledo and built a fine ten-room brick house. From time to time Mr. Twiss has bought more land, paying $16 to $20 an acre for it, but now the price of land is a different story. Some of the young men would like to have such opportunities of securing farmsteads in Fulton county. Mr. Twiss planted an orchard of more than 100 trees, and he was always an active man until 1909, since which time he has rented the farm. A man who always has worked always will find something to do as long as he remains in the country. The children are: Bertha, a graduate of the Toledo Conservatory; Frank J.. of Richfield, who married Verna Gillette, and they have one son, Harold; Burton A., of Lyons, married- Helen L. Stebbins, and they have one son. George Frederick : Arthur Lee Twiss, married October 29, 1919, Vena Hackett, and lives on a sixty acre farm adjoining his father. The family are Methodists. Mr. Twiss is a republican and for twelve years he has served as a school director. He is a member of the F. and A. M., No. 555, of Swanton. The family has social and business interests in both Fulton and Lucas counties. NORMAN P. TRIPP has been closely identified with agricultural interests in, Amboy township for a number of years. In young in hood he had an interesting experience and service as a soldier n the Spanish-American war, and he comes of military stock. His great-grandfather, Cyrus Tripp, was a soldier in the War of 1812, while Mr.Tripp's grandfather earned a patriotic record as a Union man during the Civil war. Norman P. Tripp was born in Pike township of Fulton county, HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 65 September 18, 1878, son of Henry D. and Alice M. (Forrester) Tripp. His parents were also born in Fulton county, his father in Amboy and his mother in Pike township. The paternal grandparents were Norman M. and Julia Ann (Bartlett) Tripp, the former a native of New York and the latter of Toledo. The maternal grandfather was Patrick Forrester, a native of Ireland, who came to this country at an early day, and was one of the workmen who built the canal across the state to Cincinnati. Later he acquired extensive tracts of land in Pike township of Fulton county. The paternal grandparents were likewise early settlers and developed a farm from the woods in Amboy township. Henry D. Tripp after his marriage settled in Amboy township, but later moved to Holgate, Ohio, but he died in Amboy in March, 1916, and his wife on January 29, 1919. They had three children : Frank, of Holgate; Norman P., and Muriel, who is a principal in the public schools at Holgate. Norman P. Tripp was twenty years of age when in April, 1898, he was an enthusiastic volunteer for the service of his country during the Spanish-American war. He was with the Sixth Ohio Infantry and served with that command in Cuba with the Army of Occupation, receiving his honorable discharge May 26, 1899, and for several years thereafter was a member of the Ohio National Guard. For three years after his army service Mr. Tripp lived at Toledo, where .he worked at his trade as painter and also as conductor on a street car. He then returned to Amboy township and took charge of the home farm of eighty acres. He has lived there ever since and in 1913 bought the farm. He has all of it in cultivation except about ten acres of timber pasture. Mr. Tripp is a member of the Spanish War Veterans at Toledo, is a democrat, a Catholic and a member of the Catholic Knights of Ohio. May 5, 1903, he married Miss Catherine Rondy, who was horn at Crestline, Ohio, a aughter of Jacob and Catherine (Sutter) Rondy. Her father was a native of Germany and her mother of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Tripp have five children : Alton, Alice, Paul, John and Norman. DANIEL FORD. While he owns farm land in Amboy, Daniel Ford now lives on a small tract of land at Caraghar. He is a Catholic and a member of the Catholic church there that is attended by so many families in the northeastern part of Fulton county. Mr. Ford was born November 3, 1856, in Toledo. He is a son of William and Elizabeth (Lineham) Ford, the mother a Toledo woman, but the father came from Ireland. When William Ford came to Toledo he worked for thirty years at the Wabash Grain Elevator. For ten years he was foreman there. His wife died in 1864, leaving the following children: Daniel, who enrolls the family; Alice, deceased; Catherine, wife of John Dowling, of Toledo, and Elizabeth, wife of Robert Savage, of Swanton. Mr. Ford later married Anna McKinley, and their children are: Patrick, William and Mamie, deceased, leaving one son, Michael, of Toledo. After his mother died, Daniel Ford lived with her parents, who reared him on a farm in Lucas county. He remained with them until September 11, 1878, when he married Mary A. Savage, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Hugh and Bridget (Gallagher) Savage. They came from Ireland to Canada. Mr. Ford and his wife lived one year with his grandparents, where he had lived, and then rented 66 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY a farm for two years in Lucas county. The next move was to Amboy in Fulton county. Mr. Ford bought twenty acres in the timber and with an ax and spade set about making a home on it. For seventeen years he lived there, when he sold the place and bought 120 acres of land, where he lived until 1910, when he bought a five-acre tract at Caraghar, Amboy, township, where he lives and rents the farm. Industry anvil economy explain the changed conditions in the life of Daniel Ford. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ford are : Frank, on the home farm in Amboy; John, of Amboy; Alice, wife of Gamaliel Marvin, of Amboy ; William, of Toledo, and Ella, wife of Louis Simons, of Amboy. Mr. Ford is a democrat. All the family' are members of St. Mary's Catholic Church at Caraghar. His fellow citizens appreciate the many substantial qualities of the character of Daniel Ford. The example he set when with no capital and with few implements he began making a home for himself in the timber should prove an encouragement to those who complain of the hardships of the present post-war period. He earned his prosperity by the hardest kind of work, and before persistent industry all the obstacles of life give way. EDWIN J. SMITH. It was in 1842 that John Smith, founder of the American branch of the Smith family represented by Edwin J. Smith of "The Walnut Grove Farm" in Royalton, came from Scotland directly to the community since developed into Royalton. Walter, the 'father of Edwin J. Smith, came with his father, John Smith, 'to the United States. However, they were not the only Smiths in Royalton. He married Eleanor Smith, who was already living there. Her parents, Charles a and Jane B. (Helms) Smith, had come in an early day from New York to Ohio. They entered 180 acres of timber and developed it into one of the best farms in Fulton county. Charles D. Smith, the maternal grandfather of Edwin J. Smith, was the second sheriff of Fulton county. He held the office two terms, and died when he was forty-eight years of age. Walter Smith, after his marriage with Eleanor Smith, settled on an eighty acre tract which he secured from the government. It was all in timber and he cleared a space for the cabin, and cleared and added to the land until he had a farm of 200. acres in Royalton. He died in July, 1910, while his wife died in October, two years later. Edwin J. Smith of "The Walnut Grove Farm," was the' oldest, and he relates the family story. His brothers are Charles, William and Scott, William having met with an accidental death in 1888. On February 28, 1891, Edwin J. Smith married Mrs. Rachael Cole,, widow of Lemuel Cole. She had two children : Addie, wife of Ezra Burkey, of Fulton, and Donna, who lives at the Smith homestead. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of Reuben S. and Katie -Ann (Watkins) Woodring, and she was born in Fulton township, Fulton county, May 22, 1863. For eleven years after his marriage Mr: Smith lived at the old family homestead, when he bought a farm of eighty acres with few improvements, and now it has everything modern and convenient upon it. He also owns a small farm in Seneca township, Lenawee county, Michigan, which is all under cultivation, and he rents it to others. He lives on the farm in Royalton, where he operates a Holstein dairy along with other farm activities. The children are: Ruth, wife of Floyd Ryder, of Lyons; Fern HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 67 D., who died at the age of sixteen, and Reuben E., who lives at the homestead. Mr. Smith is active in local politics, and is a member of the township democratic committee. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and has served the order as its treasurer for several years. Edwin J. Smith was born in Royalton township, September 13, 1857, and has therefore had an active career of nearly half a century. He is one of the honored members of a real pioneer family of Fulton county, and what he has done in developing the Walnut Grove Farm is of itself an important contribution to the life and welfare of the county. Only a few families can claim a continuous residence of nearly eighty years in this section of Ohio, and the fortunes of a family are in safe keeping when the present generation is so well represented as in the person of the proprietor of The Walnut Grove Farm. VAN EMMONS. Since he was thirteen years old Van Emmons has been the farmer at the old homestead of his father in Royalton. He was born there September 26, 1881, and has always lived there. His father, Stephen Emmons, came from New Jersey. His mother, Ellen (Deyo) Emmons, has always lived in Royalton. Stephen Emmons was a Union soldier in the. Civil war, having enlisted from New Jersey, but after the war he located in Fulton county. He married and settled in Royalton. He died in 1891, and Mrs. Emmons and her son Van continue their residence at the family homestead. There are 110 acres in the farmstead. The Emmons children are: William, of Royalton; Hattie, wife of W. R. Wyant, of Royalton, and Van, who enrolls the family. Since the death of his father he has assumed the responsibilities of the farm, and has a home there with his mother. JOHN ROBERTS. The late John Roberts of Royalton lived in Cincinnati in his early years, although his native place was New York. He was born November 9, 1831, a son of Thomas and Polly Roberts. When he was a young man the family moved from Cincinnati to Allen county, Ohio. Mr. Roberts married twice, the first wife being Mary 'Chloe Clevenger, of Allen county, Ohio. For some years they lived in Allen county, then he removed to Adrian, Michigan, where he conducted a livery barn for some years. Mr. Roberts later became a cheese-maker. He was one of the first cheese-makers in Fulton county. When Mr. Roberts engaged in farming he rented a place in Chesterfield, then later he bought an eighty acre tract in Royalton. It was swampy land, but he drained and improved it. He built a fourteen-room brick house on the farm in Royalton. While he engaged in farming, he gave special attention to dairying, and he had a cheese factory on the farm. Mrs. Roberts died in 1879. The children of the first marriage are: Anna, deceased, was the wife of Charles Stutesman ; Thomas, deceased; Benjamin, of California; Henry, deceased; Ida, wife of Chase Ragan, of California, and Nora Belle, widow of Marshall Munn, of Sycamore, Illinois. On December 14, 1881, Mr. Roberts married Mathilda Grimm, who survives him. Her home was at Whitehouse, Lucas county. She is a daughter of Frederick and Harriet (Brainer) Grimm. Her parents came from Germany. The children of this marriage are: Carrie, wife of Richard Cook, of Royalton ; Frances, wife of Eu- 68 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY gene Blaine, of Royalton ; Mary, widow of Bert Thrydouble, lives with her mother at the family homestead, and Belva, wife of Harvey Disbrow, of Toledo. Mr. Roberts was a democrat and served the community many years as justice of the peace. He died July 7, 1918, and. Mrs. Roberts remains on the farm, although she rents the land to others. They are members of. the Universalist Church and of the Grange. Death came to him in the eighty-seventh year of his life. He had lived long and usefully, and there are many who can testify not only to his industry, but also to his high character and the good influence he steadily radiated in his community. CYRUS DOWNER, who died March 18, 1919, at the family home in Lyons, was barn April 11, 1833, in Branch county, Michigan. He was a son of Ormil and Amanda Downer, of Branch county. At the age of eighty-seven years, Mrs. Downer resides in Lyons. Cyrus Downer married Martha A. Green on August 21, 1857, and soon afterward he located in Royalton. He was a farmer there until 1903, when on account of the infirmities of age he was forced to relinquish it. He was a man who always had a smile and a pleasant greeting for every one. He owned a good deal, of land and always loaned considerable money. As a creditor he was always. lenient with persons unable to promptly meet their obligations. Of the Downer children, Minnie A. died in infancy. F. O., of Indianapolis, owns burial casket factories in Indianapolis and Albion, Michigan. He married Harriett Stowe, and has one son, Paul. Mary, who lives at the home of- her mother, is the wife of Emery. Elsworth Johnson. He is a stationary engineer and has always resided with the Downers. He came from Williams county. The Johnson children are: Burt Leo, of Wauseon, and Tony, who operates the farm in Royalton. Burt L. married Goldie Sharp, and they have one daughter, Laone Margaret. The Downer family belong to the Radical United Bretheren, and Cyrus Downer always held some official capacity in it. He' was a democrat and frequently served the township in different offices. When he was a boy of ten years Mr. Downer moved with his parents from Michigan to Dover township, Fulton county, Ohio. They settled on a timber claim and only managed to clear and' plant one acre to corn that year, and they had to get up early in the morning to keep the birds from taking the corn before it could sprout and come through the ground in the field. In those days there were Indians in Fulton county, and Cyrus Downer's companions were the young Indians roaming about the forests. Because the country was undrained the, family had to cut wild grass and stack it on the higher points of ground in order to have feed for their livestock. Young Downer never had shoes or boots in winter until he was fourteen years old. He wore his father's old ones or wrapped rags about his feet to keep them from freezing in the cold weather. He knew all of the hardships of the pioneers. Mrs. Downer was the widow of Josiah Green when. Cyrus Downer married her. Her first husband died soon after their marriage. She was a daughter of James T. and Almira Shaw, and her home was in Allegheny county, New York. In her time she was school teacher, milliner and dressmaker. In the wilderness days her home was a social and business center in the frontier community. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 69 ELMER EDGAR. Ireland has given another family to the history of Fulton county. While Elmer Edgar, of Royalton, was born December 9, 1866, in Clinton township, his father came from the Emerald Isle. William Samuel Edgar was an Irish immigrant, while his wife, Susannah (Pontious) Edgar, was a native of Ohio, born in Pickaway county. When William Samuel Edgar was but eighteen years. old he came with an older brother to Henry county. They were six weeks on the Atlantic, and when he reached Buffalo, N. Y., he only had twenty-five cents in money. He reached Toledo by working his way and he was fortunate in securing work immediately in a saw mill at Durain, Ohio, which is on the Maumee river, and he worked there three years, saving his money for something better. The young man had never been quite out of money, and he had the habit of economy. At the end of three years the Edgar brothers rented a farm—the Stebbins farm, and before long they bought land And farmed for themselves. His parents joined them while living there, and in 1865 William Samuel Edgar bought a place in Clinton, and here is where Elmer Edgar's life story. had its beginning. The family lived in Clinton until 1869, when the farm was sold and they bought another in Royalton. It was 200 acres of prairie and timber, and they added to and improved it, until in 1902, when the parents moved to Delta, they had a farm of 480 acres in Royalton. The father died in Delta in 1913, and the mother died six years later. The children in this Irish immigrant family are: William R., who died in 1907; James, who died at the age of two years; Alca, of Royalton ; Elmer, who enrolls the family in the Fulton County History ; Albert, of Delta, and George D., of Defiance, Ohio. When the father and mother left the farm and moved to Delta, Elmer Edgar remained on his portion of the home farm in Royalton. In all he had acquired 200 acres of good land, and while the homestead part had been well improved, he added to the buildings and now has everything modern and up-to-date in the way of farm improvements. Farming and dairying have always been the source of income there. On December 25, 1901, Elmer Edgar married Emma Smellie. She is a daughter of Gavin and Julia (Whittaker) Smellie. While the father is a native of Fulton the mother was born in Cuyahoga county. Their children are Doyle S., Donald G., and Doris, who died in infancy. The wife and mother died November 26, 1907, and on April 10, 1912, Mr. Edgar married Mabelle Quick, of Lenawee county, Michigan. Her father, Frank Quick, was born there, while her mother, Carrie E. (Mead) Quick, was born in Chesterfield. Three children were born of this marriage : Harold F., Laurence E., and Helen Elizabeth. Mr. Edgar had a common school education, and he has served Royalton township as a trustee and member of the board of education. In politics he is a republican. The family are members of the Ancient Order of Gleaners and of the Lyons Christian Church. Since 1909 Mr. Edgar has served as one of the board of deacons in the Christian Church of Lyons. A native of Fulton county and for over half a century a resident of Royalton, Elmer Edgar is still a very busy man, and his years of successful experience as a farmer and dairyman make him one of the exceedingly useful men of Fulton county in this era of high pressure agriculture. His chief work has been done on the land, but 70 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY some of the esteem he enjoys is the product of his public spirited relationship with the community. WILLARD MARION DRISKELL. Both the Driskell and Blaine ancestry of Willard Marion Driskell of Royalton were early settlers in the community. He was born October 5, 1866, and has always lived in _Royalton. His father, William Driskell, was born February 1, 1841, in Medina county, and on March 29, 1842, his mother, Almina Blaine, was born in what is now known as Royalton. She lived, there before Fulton was an organized county. The Driskells came from York State to Medina and then to Fulton county. Charles and Rachel (Betholt) Blaine were natives of Ohio, and they were also pioneers in Royalton. William Driskell and Almina Blaine grew up in the same community. They married and always lived in Royalton. He died April 22, 1918, and she now lives in Toledo. The children in the family of William Driskell axe: Clara, deceased wife of Fletus Johnson; Willard Marion, who enrolls the family; Wallace, of Toledo ; and Luella, wife of Myron Dernier, of Sylvania. On July 23, 1890, W. M. Driskell married Julia Higley. She was born June 25, 1869, in Amboy. She is a daughter of Darius and Sabina (Johnson) Higley. The father was born April 3, 1845, at New London, Ohio, and the mother, December 21, 1847, in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of Robert and Mary Johnson. Mrs. Mary Johnson died January 11, 1896, while Mr. Johnson survived until December 11, 1916, one month short of twenty years later. The children in the Higley family are: Maria, wife of William Baldwin, of Amboy ; Harvey, of York ; Albert, of Amboy ; Lula Ada, deceased; Ella, wife of Charles Webber, of Metamora; and Bessie, wife of Lyman Pfaff, of Fulton. When W. M. Driskell married he resided for a time with the Driskell grandparents in Royalton. A house was then built on forty acres that he inherited from them, and later he bought seventy acres and he now has a well developed farmstead. The buildings are modern and he has electric lights in the farmhouse. In 1920 he secured the old homestead of eighty acres, making a total of 190 acres. Sherman, the oldest son in the Driskell family, served in the Army of Occupation in Germany. On December 22, 1917, he married Lela Clark. She is a daughter of Lewis and Anna (Zuber) Clark, and came from Paulding county. The others are: Olan and Donald. W. M. Driskell votes the republican ticket. He and his wife are members of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. The family has been represented in two wars—a son, Sherman, in the World war, and the grandfather, William Driskell, in the Civil war.. He enlisted May 2, 1864, in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and received his discharge September 22 of the same year. Sherman. Driskell entered the service on the 24th of July, 1918, and was discharged June 6, 1919. WILLIAM BURGESS AND HARRY L. BURGESS. William Burgess, of Royalton, was born May 23, 1843, in County Carlow, Ireland. He is a son of William and Mary (Scanlon) Burgess. They lived and died in Ireland. On October 12, 1865, William Burgess married Mary Earl. She is a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Swain) HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 71 Earl, who came in 1849 to Cuyahoga county, Ohio. Eighteen years later her parents moved to Lenawee county, Michigan. Her father died there, while the mother died in Delta at the advanced age of 101 years. In 1866 William Burgess came to Huron county, Ohio. He was only there six weeks when he went to Lenawee county, Michigan. Two years later he came to Royalton, and bought a forty acre farm. with a frame house on it, and thirty acres had. 'been chopped over," and he finished, clearing it. Thirty-five years later he moved again, buying more land and today he has 221 acres of good farm land in one body in Royalton. There are two sets of farm buildings, one occupied by a son and the other the family homestead. Mr. Burgess has the distinction of having bought and owned the first Ford tractor in the State of Ohio. Until recently he was an active farmer, and he still has an oversight of affairs. His children are: Thomas Earl, and M. D. of Toledo; William A., of Trumbull county; Lyman Henry Carrie Belle, wife of C. J. Prentiss of Napoleon; Mary Jane, wife of George Nevitt, of Amboy, had two sons: William, deceased, and Clyde, accidentally killed at the age of twelve years. Mr. Burgess is republican in his political faith, and for two years he has been a member of the town council of Lyons. He is a Mason, both chapter and council in Wauseon, and a Sir Knight of Toledo. Harry L. Burgess, of Royalton, was born October 17, 1871, and has always lived near Lyons. His lineage dates back to Ireland, being a son of William and Mary (Earl) Burgess, but since 1867 their activities have been in .Royalton. When Harry L. Burgess was nineteen years old he began working in a general store at Seward, and remained 41/2 years as a salesman there. Later he spent one year at Fayette College, and then engaged in farming on land owned by his father, William Burgess, near Seward. There are 142 acres in the place, and aside from grain farming Mr. Burgess specializes in Shropshire sheep and O. I. C. hogs. In April, 1904, Harry L. Burgess married Allie Belle Brown, of Seward. She is a daughter of G. D. and Sylvia (Holmes) Brown. The father is a native of Fulton while the mother was born in Monroe county. Mr. Burgess does not adhere to any particular political party. He is a Mason, a member of Lodge No. 434 of Lyons. The distinctive achievements to be credited to the Burgess .family during a residence of more than half a century in Fulton county are a part in developing the lands of the wilderness, the creation of a valuable and modern, farm, the upbuilding of homes, progressive leadership of agriculture and public affairs, and in view of these facts and what has been related above it is not strange that the name Burgess has always been linked with the best citizenship of Fulton county. CHARLES W. COX. It was in 1902 that Charles W. Cox of Royalton became a. resident of Fulton county. He was born March 18, 1855, in Wood county, Ohio. His father, Joseph Cox, was a Virginian, while his mother, Jane R. (Underwood) Cox, was an Ohio woman. They always lived in Wood county. Their children are: Noah, Wesley, Benjamin,. Joseph and Thomas—all soldiers in the Civil war; Esther, Deborah Ann and Samantha, deceased; John of 72 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Wood county, Charles VT., who relates the family history, Manson of Wood county; and Elizabeth, deceased. When Charles W. Cox was twenty-one years old he began doing for himself, and worked by the month for two years, when he began farming, ditching and teaming—always working for himself. On December 24, 1882, he married Anna E. Harriman, a daughter of Jonathan A. and Anna (Wickham) Harriman, of Wood county. The father was from Maine and the mother from Finley, Ohio. They first lived in Webster township, Wood county, on a farm. In 1896 they sold it and moved to Paulding county. Six years later they located in Royalton. When Mr. Cox came to Fulton county he bought an improved farm of eighty acres and later he added twenty acres, and aside from sixteen acres of timber and pasture land it is all under cultivation. The children are : Charles Perry; Floyd, of Lenawee county, Michigan ; Ross, of Lansing, Michigan; Edith; Beulah, wife of Ray Cook, of Westover, Maryland; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Huldah ; Esther, wife of Herman Woodring, of Amboy; Bernice; and Joseph, who died at the age of one year. Mr. Cox casts his ballot with the republicans. He is a member of Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 622 of Lyons, and has filled all of the chairs. While he came to Fulton county in the modern era of the twentieth century, Charles W. Cox has made his industry count in the program of good farms, progressive agriculture and all the things that lend attractiveness to country life in this rich section of Ohio. Here and elsewhere he has done his work well, and as a man of industry and thorough integrity of character deserves all the good things said of him by his friends and neighbors. ORLANDO BIXLER. For two or three generations the Bixler family represented by Orlando Bixler of Royalton had lived in Stark county Ohio. He is the son of Baltzer and Sarah (Deck) Bixler, and was born April 6, 1857, in Stark county. Samuel and Susan (Mott) Bixler, of an earlier generation, also lived there. Samuel was a son of Jacob Bixler, who had settled in Pennsylvania as early as 1780, in the time of the Revolutionary struggle in establishing American independence. The maternal grandparents, Abraham and Sarah (Snyder) Deck, had come from Pennsylvania, and they were also among the early residents of Stark county. After his marriage Baltzer Bixler remained in Stark county until 1861, when he removed to Fulton county. He located at Swan Creek, and remained there until his death, October 16, 1894, and the widow lived there until her death, which occurred February 12, 1920. She was born October 6, 1839, and was among the older residents of Fulton county. Orlando Bixler, who enrolls the family, was the oldest child, and the others are: S. H., of Swan Creek; Sarah, wife of J. W. Snyder, of Delta; Florence, wife of J. F. Whitmer, of Swan Creek; Thomas A., of Swan Creek ; Iva., wife of W. F. Miller, of Swan Creek ; and Lyman of Swanton. On March 22, 1885, Orlando Bixler married Ida E. Keifer, of Wayne county. She is a daughter of Daniel and Christine (Layman) Keifer. For a time they lived on a rented place at Swan Creek. Mr. Bixler was a saw mill man and a brick maker by trade, and in 1888 he went to Wellston, Jackson county, where he operated a brick yard and became interested in coal production. He lived for HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 73 a while in Athens county, but in 1894 he returned to Fulton county. When Mr. Bixler returned to his native heath—Fulton county, he worked his father,s farm one year, then lived on another rented place until 1907, when he bought an eighty acre farm in Royalton, remodeled the buildings and built fences and: tiled the land, and it is all under cultivation. He does general farming and operates a farm dairy, selling the milk instead of making butter. The children in. this generation of the Bixler family are: Ethel, wife of P. D. Lee, of Clinton ; Walter W., who served in light artillery in France; Eva, wife of S. L. Standish, of Royalton; Corbie B., of Royalton; Maggie, wife of Howard Sohn, of Wauseon; Myrtle and Carrie. Mr. Bixler had a common school education and he casts his ballot with the republican party. The family belongs to the United Brethren Church, and they are active in affairs of the community EDWIN S. FRANTZ. The Frantz family of which Edwin S. Frantz of Royalton is a representative, was resident of Lenawee county, Michigan, in an early day. E. S. Frantz was born January 1, 1868, in Lenawee county. He is a son of Philip and Charity (Upton) Frantz. The father came from New York while the mother had always lived in Michigan. The grandparents, Daniel and Havila (Tunison) Frantz, were early settlers in Lenawee county. William and Charity (McConnell) Upton, who came from Belfast, Ireland, were very early settlers in Lenawee .county. While E. S. Frantz now lives in Ohio, he certainly is identified with the early history of Lenawee county, Michigan. His ancestry located there when it was a wild country. Philip and Charity Frantz married and lived many years on a farm in Lenawee county, and for a time they lived in Hillsdale, but since the spring of 1917 they have lived in Adrian. Edwin S. Frantz is their oldest son, and he has one brother, Arthur Frantz, Who lives in Youngstown, Ohio. On December 24, 1891, Edwin S. Frantz married Margaret Smith, of Royalton. She was born December 13, 1870, and is a daughter of William S. and Elizabeth (Renwick) Smith, her father from Scotland. The grandparents, John and Margaret (Scott) Smith, had come early to Royalton. William and Elizabeth had married and settled in Royalton. They retired to Wauseon, where he died in 1900, and she died twelve years later. When Edwin S. Frantz was married he moved on the farm of William S. Smith, father, of Mrs. Frantz, and this farm was willed to Mrs. Frantz at his death. Her father lived on this place fifty years, having cleared the entire farm himself. E. S. Frantz 'lived there sixteen years and spent one year in Adrian, where he clerked in a store before buying this 100-acre farm in the eastern part of Royalton. He made extensive improvements on this farm and lived there ten years. He rents the farm today and he lives in Lyons. One son, William S., born August 29, 1892, lives on the Frantz farm. He Married Hazel !Dixon. Kenneth B., born September 5, 1895, is an official milk inspector for the state. He was a World war soldier, serving in the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Infantry, Thirty-second Division, and he was among the first soldiers in the Army of Occupation in Germany. He was discharged from the service May 23,4919, and returned to Lyons. 74 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Mr. and Mrs. Frantz both received common school educations, and she had one year in the Wauseon Normal Training School. He is a republican, and has served as assessor several terms, and for five years he has been a member of the school board. The family are members of the Christian Church in Lyons. Mr. Frantz has been through all of the chairs in • the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 622 of Lyons, and with his wife he is a member of the Rebekahs. They are also members of the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Mr. Frantz is a stockholder and director in the Lyons Mutual Telephone Company. Farmer and farm developer, business man and home maker, an earnest Christian citizen, doing his duty as he sees it, Mr. Frantz is justly esteemed both in Fulton county and over the line in his boyhood community of Michigan. Life has brought him many substantial satisfactions, not least of which is the patriotic record of his son during the World war. OLIVER PERRY BARNES. The late Oliver Perry Barnes, who is survived by his wife, Mrs. Oliver P. Barnes of Lyons, was born June 12, 1840, in Holmes county. He died May 25, 1911, in Royalton, after an active life both as a private citizen and as a Union soldier. He was a son of Leonard and Mary Ann Barnes. Mr. Barnes enlisted in 1861 in Company H, One Hundredth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served all through the Civil war, receiving his discharge May 24, 1865, when he returned to Fulton county. He had married a Miss Scott, who died while he was in the service. While he lived Mr. Barnes was an active member of Baxter Post, No. 238, Grand Army of the Republic, and his army record was his pride. On February 9, 1868, Mr. Barnes married Rebecca Andrews. She is a daughter of Mathew and Ann (Shopp) Andrews, and she was born at Akron, Ohio. For several years they lived in Wauseon, where Mr. Barnes was a teamster. When he moved to Gallatin, Missouri, he worked in a sawmill and on a farm. After seven years in Missouri they returned to Wauseon, where he teamed and worked as a carpenter. In 1888 they bought a farm of ninety-three acres in Royalton. They lived on this farm until 1902, when they located in Lyons. He had bought a lot, and being a carpenter he built his own house there. Mrs. Lyons lives there today. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Barnes are: Edwin, who died at the age of five years; Winfield, of Detroit; Fred, who lives at the family homestead in Royalton; William, of Lenawee county, Michigan ; and Lula, wife of G. F. Evers, of Lyons. While Mr. Barnes was a Methodist, Mrs. Barnes is a member of the Disciples Church. She is a Rebekah. ROBERT S. BLAIR. The agriculturists of Fulton county are not content with ordinary progress, but are constantly adding to their improvements, thus increasing the value of their property and the efficiency of their working plant and giving their support to those measures looking toward a betterment of conditions in the county, notably that connected with the good roads movements, The farmer of today is a business man and understands thoroughly the value of systematic management and good equipment and a wise expenditure of public funds. One of the men belonging to this class is Robert S. Blair, owner of eighty acres of fertile land in Clinton Township, which he. is devoting to general farming, as he believes that best suited to his land.