HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 525 In November, 1888, he married Phoebe Ketring, who was born in Henry county, Ohio, daughter of Philip and Alida (North) Ketring, the former born in Henry county, Ohio, and her mother in Lucas county, Ohio.. Mr. andMr's. J. M. Chamberlin have had eleven children born to them, all of whom, however, are not now living. The children, in the order of their coming, were: Mary, who married Joseph Cogan, of Swanton,, Ohio; John, now deceased; Grace, who married Frank Elton, of Swanton, Ohio; Thomas, deceased ; Andrew, who married Mildred Dailey, of Delta, Ohio ; Arthur N., who married Ethel Ywberg, of Lucas county, Ohio; George; Gertrude, deceased; Eva, deceased; Pansy; and Martha. ROBERT H. BARNES, of Royalton, is a graduate from the Tri-State College at Angola, Indiana, in 1911, having spent four years there. For six years he taught school, being a teacher both before and after his course in college. In politics he is a republican, and his religious affiliation is with the Christian Church, in which he is an elder. Mr. Barnes was born December 31, 1882, in Coshocton county, Ohio. He is a son of Isaac and Louise (Chase) Barnes. His parents now reside in Holmes county. In April, 1915, Mr. Barnes located in Fulton county. In May, 1912', he had married Miss Babel Holt, of Lyons, a daughter of Charles C. Holt. The children are Gladys, Chester and Genevieve. He owns 100 acres of im proved land, except about fifteen acres in timber and pasture. Mr. Barnes has all modern improvements and he has a herd .of registered Holstein dairy cattle. FRANK RICHARD HARPER, a native of Wauseon, and one of the most aggressive and enterprising of its younger men of business, is the owner of a substantial business in automobile repairs and supplies, and has shown much ingenuity and all-around ability during his last fifteen years or so of business effort. He is well-regarded generally in the city, is a member of the Wauseon Water Board, and assistant engineer of that plant, and has .taken an active interest in many affairs of public character and of community bearing. He was born in Wauseon in 1875, the son of W. J. and Martha (Linfoot) Harper. The family is of English origin, and later of Canadian connection. His father, W. J. Harper, was born in Canada, but for the greater part of his life was in independent business in Wauseon as a plumber and steamfitter. He married in Wauseon, and there his. only child, Frank Richard, was born and reared. Frank. R. Harper attended the public schools of Wauseon, after passing through which he proceeded to Fayette College, from which. he graduated in due course. Entering upon a business career, he associated with his father and learned the plumbing and heating trade. For two years he was. foreman of plumbers and steamfitters for his father, after which, having resolved to enter separately into business, he opened for himself on Fulton street, Wauseon, building his own shop. As a plumbing and steamfitting contractor he continued in business in Wauseon for five years, with good success. But he was of enterprising and optimistic spirit, and saw better opportunities of success in the rapidly developing automobile industry. He had much mechanical ability, and soon was in good business in auto repairs and sales. He converted his old shop into a garage and repair shop in 1906, and it served his purpose until 1909, when the success that had come to him, and the indications of the future, influenced him in building the place he has since occupied, a build- 626 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY ing 50 by 150 feet. He drew the plans and superintended the building, doing much of it himself. His present business embraces the sale and repair of automobiles, the sale of accessories, including Firestone tires, oil, gasoline, et cetera. He has an up-to-date gasoline and iol service station, his trade being sufficient to warrant him to buy oil in tank-car lots. Altogether he has had a very satisfactory return upon his investment. He has for some years shown an active interest in public affairs. Politically he is a republican in national politics. In local affairs he is independent, giving his support to the men he considers most capable. He is a member of the Wauseon Water Board, and also assistant engineer for that undertaking. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of Wauseon Blue Lodge, and of the local Council and Chapter of that order. He also is affiliated with the Maccabees organization. In March, 1899, he married Ada, daughter of W. T. S. and Ella (Dixon) Wilcox. of Wauseon. They have three children: Lowell, Clarence and Martella. CHARLES NATHAN TURPENING. After several different business adventures Charles Nathan Turpening, of "Felus Creek Farm" in Swan Creek has returned to his first love and he is a farmer again. Mr. Turpening is the first born child in the family of Elmer and Mary Delilah (Warren) Turpening, and he was born February 7, 1885, in Swan Creek. His brothers and sisters are: Lois, wife of Henry Menser, of Swan Creek : Beulah, wife of Watson Lewis, of Swan Creek ; Florence, wife of 0. D. McKinley, of Cleveland; Jay, of Swan Creek ; Maud, wife of Ford Enterman, Of Toledo; Ruth and Cecil. The parents have lived on a. farm in Swan Creek since their marriage, and the grandparents on both sides were all pioneer residents of Fulton county. On September 15, 1914, Charles Nathan Turpening married Opal Elton. She is a daughter of William and Minerva (Robbins) Elton. While she was born in Swan Creek, her father is from England. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Turpening settled on a farm he already owned in Swan Creek, but one year later they removed to the Elton farm owned by William Elton. Mr. Turpening was a tenant here one year, when he removed to Delta and conducted a meat market, later engaging in the teaming business employed by the Turnbull-Wayne Company. At this time the call to the farm was uppermost again, and for two years Mr. Turpening rented and then he bought the seventyseven-acre tract in Swan Creek known as "Felus Creek Farm," which is his home, today. The residence property in Delta was part of the consideration in this deal, and Mr. Turpening has remodeled the house and added the necessary farm buildings there. The land is all under cultivation but about five acres reserved for pasture. "Felus Creek Farm" is a well improved place, and general farming, with some attention given to thoroughbred livestock, is the order of the day there. Mr. Turpening has Holstein dairy cows and he has White Leghorn poultry. Mr. Turpening holds membership in the Church of God. He is a republican and member of the County Republican Central Committee. He is trustee of Swan Creek. There are two children: Etta Vadys and Fern Louise. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 527 BARNEY OLDFIELD. Despite the weird limitations of fame, so that no single celebrity in history is known to all the people all the time, it is safe to say that the name Barney Oldfield is and has been for years inevitably linked with the word automobile, constituting a degree of fame upon which even the vaulting ambition of a Caesar could hardly aspire. As a driver and pilot in speed racing Barney Oldfield has been before the public for over twenty years. His life covers something more than forty years, and it is appropriate to note some of the early milestones in his career. He was born on a farm three miles from Wauseon, Ohio, January 29, 1878, and just eleven years later the family moved to Toledo; where during 1890-91 he sold newspapers on the streets. During 1892 he worked as waterboy with +a railroad section gang, and from his savings of sixty-five dollars bought his first "Advance". bicycle. During the next year he was employed as bell boy in the Boody House, and was diligently practicing on his "wheel" and on Decoration Day of 1894 won second place in an eighteen-mile road race. During 1895 he was appearing in a number of events as a bicycle racer, otherwise doing duty as an elevator boy. In that year he won two medals and a gold watch in Ohio state championships at Canton, and soon afterward began selling bicycles. By 1896 he was recognized as the bicycle race champion of Ohio, and then turned professional, and covered Ohio and Michigan as travel- in g sales representative of bicycle manufacturers. The two years following he campaigned as a racing man in season, and during the winter was employed as salesman and factory worker. It was in 1899 that Barney Oldfield had his first experience with a machine driven by motor power. This was a gasoline motorcycle, and as a pilot he was soon ranked as an expert. During 1900, 1901 and 1902 he was a participant in nearly all the national events as a rider of bicycles and motorcycles. Probably the most significant event in his entire career came in 1902, when he became associated with Tom Cooper, a former national bicycle champion with Henry Ford, an obscure engineer, Oldfield being the mechanic and later driver of two racing automobiles built from Ford’s designs and financed by Cooper,s money. Oldfield was a driver in a historic race, over a five-mile course, with the Ford "999." The place and date was September 21, 1902, on the. Grosse Pionte track at Detroit, and the time 5:20 set a world record. The next year, 1903, Barney Oldfield drove the "999" at Indianapolis in 0:59 3-5, the first time the minute mark was ever broken on a one-mile circular course. Since then on virtually every race course in the country Barney Oldfield has broken records and thrilled throngs, and with seventeen years of race driving to his credit he well deserves the title of "Master Driver," being the dean of all racers. As one critic has written : "He has seen three generations of drivers come out, race, and either retire or come to grief by the +accident of the terribly dangerous sport. Barney Oldfield was more than a daredevil. He was a thinker—a student." He has cut record after record, including the world,s non-stop race record of 301 miles at Corona, California, with an average of 861/0 miles an hour.' In 1917 he set a record, still unbroken, on a. mile tract at St. Louis, and with a series of distances ranging from one to fifty miles. Barney Oldfield recently retired from racing. He has always 528 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY been a successful business man, and was financially independent long before he retired from racing. In 1919 he became president of the Oldfield Tire Company at Cleveland. The history of automobile racing proves that the great majority of accidents have been due not to faulty mechanism but to tire troubles, and for years Barney Oldfield has been a student of the tire problem', and in order to get his exacting specifications and experience translated into concrete results, he is now head of a tire company making a tire according to his. personal standards, under his personal supervision, and bearing his name as a personal guarantee. "The unusual progress of the Oldfield Tire Company has been one of the miracles of the tire industry. The company has been in actual operation a little more than a year, and in this short time has passed more than eighty-five per cent of its competitors in volume of business. To cap the climax, on May 21, 1920, Oldfield tires equipped the cars finishing 1, 2; 3, 6 and 8 in the Indianapolis 500-mile speedway race. The winner of the race finished 'Without a single tire change, the first time in history that any tire has been able to accomplish this wonderful feat. Mr. Oldfield considers this victory of his tire as even more significant than any of the record-breaking performances in which he participated as a driver." While he spends a great deal of time in Cleveland, he has made his residence in Los Angeles for ten years. He is a member of the Elks, and politically a republican. He married in Chicago, Illinois, in November, 1904, Bessy Gooby, a native of Alameda, Cali, fornia. They have no children. OTTO E. FUNKHOUSER, partner and manager of the Wauseon firm of Harrison and Funkhouser Brothers, clothiers, haberdashers and shoe dealers, the fine store of which company is probably the largest of its kind in Wauseon, has, because of the death of his partners, become solely responsible for the continuance of the business. That he has shown himself to be a good business man is evident by the place the firm has among the more responsible of the retail merchants of Wauseon. He is quite a young man, with the best part of his business career still before him, and as he is conducting an extensive business with marked ability, it is reasonable to assume that he will for many years hold a high place among the business people of *Wauseon and Fulton county. He was born in German Township, Fulton county, Ohio, in 1888, the son. of J. U. a.nd Anna (Weber) Rinkhouser. The family is of Swiss origin, his father having come to America from Berne Canton, Switzerland, when only thirteen years old. He must have been a boy of strong purpose and courageous spirit, for he came alone, and he applied himself resolutely to farm work in. German Township, Fulton county, finally saving sufficient money to acquire a property for himself in that township. His farm was 115 acres in extent, and it yielded hill). and his family a comfortable living. He was well-known to many Wauseon and Fulton county families, and has a worthy reputation in his own township. He died on January 29, 1919, mourned by a. large family and a host Of friends. His wife, Anna (Weber) Funkhouser, is still living. She and her husband were the parents of fourteen children, ten sons and four daughters, and eleven of the children are living. Otto E. was the thirteenth born of their fourteen children. He was reared under wholesome conditions and rugged environment. While still a young boy his summers were spent in farming occupa- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 529 tions, and in the winters he attended the country school. Having in his twentieth year resolved to give up farming and enter commercial life, where he thought better opportunities for advancement lay, young Funkhouser obtained a position in a dry goods store in Archbold. He was only a short while in that store, but as a clerk in Vanderbrock's clothing store in Napoleon, Ohio, he remained for four years, coming to Wauseon in 1912. He had been of steady habits, and had saved some money by his service of the previous four years, and was able in 1912 to purchase ,a one-third interest in the clothing and gent,s furnishings business of E. H. Harrison of Wauseon. His brother, Fred Funkhouser, also acquired a like interest in the business, the firm under the. reorganization taking the trading name of Harrison and Funkhouser Brothers, by which it has since been known. The three partners worked in the store for a while, but .in December, 1912, Mr. Harrison died, and the business was thereafter conducted by the two brothers Funkhouser, the Harrison family, however, holding their interest. So the business went on until January, 1918, when Fred Funkhouser also died, leaving Otto E. in control of and responsible- for the business. But matters were much complicated by the fact that Otto was at that time in military service, having been drafted in the United States Army in the previous September, the first year of the war. His military record is briefly stated as follows: Drafted September 6, 1917; was sent to Camp Sherman, Ohio, where he remained for almost a year; thence to Camp Humphrey,s, near Washington, District of Columbia, where he served until discharged on February 6, 1919. Returning to Wauseon soon after being honorably discharged from the army, he immediately took up the direction of the store business, and has since conducted it with marked success. Today the store draws a good portion of the city trade, and has an extensive country trade. JOHN W. SHETLER. One of the men who has won the respect. and approval of his fellow citizens for his uprightness and Christian courage under affliction is John W. Shetler, one of the farmers of German Township, well known throughout Fulton county as a local preacher of the Brethren Church. He was born in Richland. county, Ohio, in 1843. His father, a native of Germany, came from that country when he was seventeen years old to the United States, and after some time spent at Chicago, Illinios, he located in Richland county, Ohio, where he worked at blacksmithing. Still later he moved to Franklin Township, Fulton county, where he spent the remainder of his useful life. He and his wife had nine children. John W. Shetler attended the McLaughlin School during the winter months until he was twenty-two years of age. During the summer months he helped his father cultivate his farm of 100 acres. From the time he was twenty-two until he was twenty-five he hired. out to farmers, and then, deciding to found a home of his own, he was married to Sarah Jane Bigbee, of German Township, the ceremony taking place in 1869. They became the parents of four children, three of whom survive, namely: Elva, who married Arthur Gunsalus, of Franklin Township, Fulton county, has two children; Frank, who married Emma Geesey, has three children, and lives in Fulton county; and Ora, who married Ernest Stine. The child who died, at the age of seventeen years, was Ida May. After his marriage Mr. Shetler bought his present farm of fifty-seven acres and here he has carried on general farming ever since. 530 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Mr. Shetler has been a great sufferer and lost his right arm as a result of an operation, but he has endured his affliction with a pa- tience and fortitude which have proven that he has been supported by his religion, and this is a convincing argument in favor of Christianity, that he oftentimes uses in his sermons with telling force. For many years he has been a member of the Brethren Church, which he is now serving as trustee, and his work in its behalf as a local preacher cannot be over-estimated. In simple words and real eloquence he addresses his congregations, and his sincerity and deep conviction of the truth of his message bring many to a realization of their duty to their Maker and themselves, when, perhaps, a college-bred man who did not know them or their needs would receive scant attention. WILLIAM A. LEININGER, who is one of the representative and well-to-do agriculturists of Fulton county, is the owner of one of the largest fanning properties in the vicinity of German Township. Furthermore, the Leininger family is placed among the pioneer families of that township. Mr. Leininger is a native of the township, has lived practically sixty years therein and is of the third generation of the family to have had residence within the borders of Fulton county. The family record through three generations of residence in German Township is an estimable one, and the personal record of William A. Leininger is all that could be desired of a scion of one of the pioneer families of the county. He has followed manly occupations and useful production since early manhood,. has shown much skill and forethought as a farmer, and his farming has been extensive and consequential. Throughout his life he has maintained a helpful public spirit, has undertaken the duties of several of the local offices, and has been a consistent and earnest church worker. He owns 325 acres of good agricultural land, the result of commendable enterprise and of persistent well-directed industry. William A. Leininger was born in German Township, Fulton. county, Ohio, on April 5, 1861, the son of Frederick and Eva (Lenhardt) Leininger. Frederick Leininger, father of William A., was born in the canton of Monchhofen unter Elsass, although he was only six years old when he came with his parents to America. His father soon after landing came into Fulton county and bought government land in German Township. It was wild timber land. Grandfather Leininger, the pioneer and progenitor of the Leininger family in America, gave most of his life to the hard, rigorous pioneering work necessary to bring that timber land into good cultivation. And as his son Fredrick grew, so his work became more effec- tive, for the son ably aided his father in the bringing. of the land into good tillage. Frederick Leininger married Eva Lenhardt, from Munnichberg, Bairen. Their son William A. in his boyhood was afforded the customary education then possible in the sparsely settled parts of the county. The instruction was necessarily limited, and as he passed through life he supplemented his early instruction in academics considerably. However, a comprehensive education was not in those days considered of such vital importance as it is deemed nowadays, and William entered upon the serious occupations of life. moderately satisfied with what schooling he had been able to obtain and confident that he could succeed in life. From the time he left school until he was twenty-two years old he assisted his father in the work HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 531 of the home farm, and ;then, having married and wishing to become established in .a home of his own, he rented the farm of 120 acres, the property he now owns in German Township. Three years later he removed to Ridgeville Township, Henry county, where he bought a farm of forty acres, which he still owns. After three years of somewhat successful farming at Ridgeville Township he returned. to Fulton county, taking up the farm he had formerly. Then followed another move into Henry county, and another return to German Township, in each ease to the same farm that he had formerly occupied. Then he bought the Leininger family homestead and also the farm he had been renting, thus becoming the owner of quite an extensive farm holding in these days of highly paid labor. He has been ably assisted by his sons, four of whom have now passed their twenty-first year. Still Mr. Leininger has always been known to be a hard worker, and his success in life has been mainly due to his indefatigable application to whatever task has come to him for execution. Latterly he has taken life less strenuously, his sons taking over the burden of the farm management. Mr. Leininger is an independent democrat in politics, and he has followed local affairs quite closely. He was township trustee in Henry county for more than seven years, until he resigned the office and for eight years he has held like capacity in German Township in Fulton county. Religiously he is a Lutheran, member of the local German Lutheran Church and a good supporter thereof. In 1883 William A. Leininger married Katherine Broadbeck, daughter of John and Barbry Broadbeck, who owned a farm adjioning that of his father in German Township. They have had six children, all of whom they have reared to manhood and womanhood. Five of their children are sons, the six children in order of birth being: Emile J. F., who is now thirty-four years old; Edward A., now thirty-two years old; Joseph G., thirty years of age; Gustave Franklin, twenty-two years of age, who is now a veteran of the World war, having remained in active service for eight months. He was not destined to see service overseas, but rendered loyal service under the less attractive home conditions. From Wauseon. he was, sent to Camp Sherman, where for eight months he remained as a member of the Thirtieth Company, Eighth Training Battalion; One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Depot Brigade, subsequently being transferred, in the grade of corporal, to the Motor Transport Corps, which branch of the service was kept constantly at work after the demobilization of the greater part of the troops in home camps. However, on May 5, 1919, Corp. Gustave Franklin Leininger received honorable discharge from service. William A., Jr., is the youngest son of Mr. Leininger. The daughter, Clara, twenty, married Clarence Rice, of Ridgeville Township, Henry county, Ohio. JACOB C. LEU. Although now living retired at Elmira, Jacob C. Leu has been very prominently identified with agricultural activities in Fulton county, and still retains valuable farm lands in this region. He was born on a farm three miles east of Elmira on April 29, 1867, a son. of Bernhardt and Anna (Wanner) Leu. While still a young man Bernhardt Leu left Switzerland, where he was born and reared, and came to the United States, arriving here in 1854 and locating in German Township, Fulton county,. Ohio, found employment working at his trade of a carpenter. Marrying in 1865, he decided to found a permanent home and bought eighty acres of land in German Township, on which he spent 532 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY the remainder of his life, which was terminated by death in 1900. He returned to Switzerland twice for the purpose of visiting his parents, but both times came back to his American interests. His Widow survived him until 1910, when she too passed away. They had two children, namely : Jacob C. and George A., the latter of whom lives at Archbold, Ohio. Until he was sixteen years old Jacob C. Leu attended King School, District No. 1, although only a few months each year during the winter season, for he had to work on the farm the rest of the time. Farming was different in those days from what it is now, when machinery does so much of the work that then had to be carried on by hand, and the farmer boys could not be spared during the months when the crops had to be planted, cultivated and harvested, and So the majority of them received but scant educational training, but they made the most of their opportunities. Mr. Leu was united in marriage with Katy Baumgardner, a daughter of Samuel and Barbara Baumgardner, and she died in 1898, leaving two daughters and one son. After her death in 1900, Mr. lieu was married to Rebecca Leininger, a daughter of John J. and Katie (Krauss) Leininger, of A.rchbold, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Leu have three children, namely: Ruth Leuetta and Lillian Irene, who are living, and Cora Edith, who died in May, 1905, when twenty months old. After his first marriage Mr. Leu conducted the home farm for two years, and then spent five years on the Baumgardner farm. In 1898 Mr. Leu returned to his family homestead and farmed it for two years, when he went back to the Baumgardner farm and conducted it for eleven years. He then retired from farm life, but still owns 125 acres of valuable land. Moving to Elmira, he conducted a grocery in that village for a year, when he decided to give up all business interests and enjoy the fruits of his labors. His handsome residence at Elmira is owned by him and is one of the best in the place. Strong in his support of the democratic party, he was elected on its ticket a trustee of German Township and was re-elected twice, serving in all for 'nine years. He was also on the School Board of that same township for 'four years and for the same length of time was chairman of the Farmers' Institute of German Township. During the late war he was a member of the War 'Chest Committee of German Township; of the Fourth and' Victory Loan Committees and also the War Saving Committee, and rendered his government valuable service through his patriotic, endeavors. Mr. Leu, in addi¬tion, to his farm, owns stock in the Mutual Telephone Company, and has served on some of its committees. A man of unusual ability, he has directed his efforts toward securing for his community the benefits of new ideas in civic reform and government, and is proud of the progress already made, and hopeful of still further advancement. JAMES O'NEAL. While James O'Neal, of Metamora, seems to be one generation ahead of William O'Neal, whose early family story dates back to the same beginning?, the William O'Neal story happened to be copied first, and thus it is a "Twice Told Tale" in the end. The name O'Neal at once suggests Ireland, and while James O'Neal was born in Toledo in 1856, he is a son of Thomas and Mary (Brady) O'Neal, while the story is also told by William O'Neal, who is their grandson. HISTORY OE FULTON COUNTY - 533 In the way of resume, Thomas O'Neal, the immigrant, was married in Buffalo to a young woman from the Emerald Isle, the same as himself, and 'in 1851 he came as a laborer to Delta. Fulton county was organized in 1850, and thus the O'Neals were pioneers in the community. This young settler helped to build the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroads, finally investing in a farm in Amboy. Here they ended their days. Thomas O'Neal, who relates the story, was their oldest son. his brothers are : John, deceased ; Michael and William of Amboy ; and Martin, of Royalton. It was on St. Valentine's Day, 1882, that Lucy M. Houghton became the bride of James O'Neal. She was born in Amboy, a daughter of Daniel and Minerva (Gale) Houghton. The parents were from New York State. Mr. O'Neal began farm activities on a quarter section of land in Amboy. It was all in timber and he cleared and improved it. He erected a modern brick farm house with other buildings in keeping with it. He added to the farm from time to time until he had 240 acres under cultivation. Later he sold an eighty from it. Mr. O'Neal continued in active farm management until 1917, when his mantle descended to the shoulders of a son, and he now lives in retirement in Metamora. After leaving common school as a young man Mr. O'Neal attended Wauseon High School one year, and he has given two terms to the service of Amboy Township as a school trustee. Since 1899 he has filled the office of justice of the peace, elected by .the democratic party. Mr. O'Neal was a teacher in public school from the time he was twenty until he was forty—twenty year. s of continuous service, "Teaching the young idea how to shoot." The children born to Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal are:. Minerva, wife of Eugene Miller, Jasper, Michigan; William, who operates the farm; and Nina Belle, wife of Samuel Ottgen. The family belongs to the Catholic Church in Carrigan, Ohio. His comfortable surroundings at Metamora today are an appropriate environment for a man whose life has been one of so much activity as Mr. O'Neal. Clearing up the timber, cultivating the fields, extending his possessions and his work as a farmer, and in the intervals of this busy employment teaching school, Mr. O'Neal has indeed discharged well his debt to the world and has earned the honors that accompany him into old age. CLAYTON HENRY HUFFMAN, a saddler by trade, and possessing a good business in harness in the City of Wauseon, Ohio, is also conducting an up-to-date and profitable business in auto supplies, accessories and tires, having acquired the business formerly conducted at the J. R. Blizzard Harness Shop, 224 South Fulton Street, Wauseon. Clayton H. Huffman was born in Evansport, Defiance county, Ohio, February 15, 1882, the son of Henry E. and Mary E. (Gromiller) Huffman. The family is of German origin, but has been resident in America for three generations. Henry Huffman, grandfather of Clayton H., was born in Germany, and came to America, and to Seneca county, Ohio, in early manhood. He was one of the pioneers of the section, and passed his life in agricultural pursuits, married, and became the father of nine children, seven sons and two daughters. He moved eventually to Williams county, Ohio, having purchased in that county a farm of 260 acres, upon which he lived for the remainder of his life, which was a long one, he 534 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY being ninety-seven years old in the year of his death. His son. Henry E. father of Clayton H., i was the fifth born of his eight children, and although he farmed n his early years, he was for many years a hardware merchant, in business at Sherwood, Ohio. He died in 1902, aged fifty-four years. To Henry E. and Mary E. (Gromiller) Huffman were born five children, of whom Clayton Henry was fourth. He was given a high school education, attending the Stryker, Ohio, school, and also that of Sherwood, Ohio. When seventeen years old he went to Albion, Michigan, to learn the trade of has- nessmaking. Next he lived in Hudson, Michigan, for two years, working there at his trade. Then for a short time he was in South Bend as a journeyman. In following his trade for the next few years he traveled extensively. For a year he was in Stryker, Ohio, then followed eight months at Davenport, Iowa, then a short time at Texarkana, Texas, thence to St. Louis, Missouri, then to Orville, Ohio, then to Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, where he remained for three years, then to Bath, New York, then to Watertown of the same state, from there to Scranton, Pennsylvania, back again to New York State, to Bath, then to Bryan, Ohio, after two years at which place he came to Wauseon. That was in 1906, when he entered the employ of C. F. Stotzer, for whom he worked for three years, following which he returned to Bryan, Ohio, for eighteen months, after which he again came to Wauseon, and spent another two years with Mr. Stotzer, after which he entered independently into business, having acquired the harness and saddlery business of J. R. Blizzard at 224 South Fulton street. As before stated, the scope of the business done by Mr. Huffman is extensive and is bringing him good return. His wife is of a Wauseon family, he has a comfortable home and a good business, so that there is every reason to suppose that although in the past his business has drawn him to many widely separated parts of the United States, he will probably spend many years in Wauseon, probably the remainder of his business life. He has many friends in Wauseon, is well-regarded generally, and has manifested sound, responsible citizenship and an interest in the community. Politically Mr. Huffman is a republican. He is a Congregationalist by religious conviction, being a member of the local Congregational Church, and a generous supporter thereof, and he is identified with local lodges of the Masonic order, holding membership in the Wauseon Blue Lodge. In 1911 he married Belle, daughter of Willard and Margaret (Powell) Pugh, of Wauseon. They have three children : Willard Henry, who was born in 1913 Richard Earl, born 1916; and George William, who was born in 1917. HERBERT FERDINAND DIMKE, one of the substantial business met' of Wauseon, sole owner of "The Fair," which is one of the leading dry good; and general merchandise houses of the city, and which has an extensive trade throughout the county, is a man whose i record in business and public life is a commendable one. He has been actively and successfully in independent business in Wauseon for twenty years, and has been a member of the City Council for two terms. He was born in Archbold, Ohio, in 1875, the son of John F. and Mary (Probeck) Dimke. The Dimke family is of German origin, but for three generations has been resident in the United States. Karl Dimke, grandfather of Herbert F., lived in his early manhood HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 535 in Obernick, near Posen, and at one time was the burgomaster of that place.. He was a man of the people, a farmer and smith by trade, and as he was in public life and eventually came to America, it is more than possible that it was political exigency that influenced him in immigrating. Karl Dimke landed in Point Levis, having crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel. He had a large family, eight boys and two girls, and although at the outset he settled in Toledo, he eventually removed to Archbold, where he set up a smithy and lived for the remainder of his life. He died in 1891. John F. Dimke, the eighth child born to Karl Dimke, was also born in Germany but has lived practically his whole life in America, he being quite young when his parents came to America. He married in Toledo, and is still living in Wauseon. To John F. and Mary (Probeck) Dimke were born five children, of whom three still live. Herbert F. is their eldest living child, having been born in Archbold in 1875. He was educated at the public schools of Archbold and Wauseon, later taking the business course at Ada University. Prior to taking the business course at the University, however, he had worked for six years. He graduated with the class of 1897, and for two years thereafter 'was in the employ of Eager Green and Cornpany at Wauseon. In 1900 he ventured into independent business. He had been of thrifty habits, showed commendable steadiness and much aptitude for commercial affairs. It was therefore not altogether a venture when he embarked in business for himself. He opened the notion store called "The Fair," on the corner of Fulton and Elm streets, Wauseon, and at the outset had one room only. Steadily he expanded his business, and always solidly, until it grew to its present dimensions, requiring three spacious sales rooms, one block deep, with a stock room 68 by 120 feet above. He has of late years found constant employment for ten people, and enjoys an extensive trade, having a large country as well as city trade. Mr. Dimke has also other business interests, and has proved himself to be a man of good moral as well as business integrity. That he has a good reputation, generally, in Wauseon is evident by his election and re-election to the Wauseon City Council. He has also been prominently identified with the functioning of the local branch of the Knights of Pythias order, of which he holds the grade of past chancellor. He has often represented the local body at the meetings of the Grand Lodge of the order. Religiously he is a member of the Congregational Church, .showing a commendable interest in the maintenance of the church. Politically he is a republican. Mr. Herbert F. Dimke, in 1900, married Ophelia Lucille, daughter of Dr. F. L. S. and Minnie (Waid) Derby, of Wauseon, Ohio. They have three children : Florence Margaret, who is now a junior in the high school Frank Herbert, who was born in 1907 and Charles Robert, who was born in 1916. The family home is a bright one, and they have many friends, Mr. and Mrs. Dimke taking good part in community affairs. NELLE BIDDLE PETTEYS. While her married life has been largely spent in Florida, Nelle Biddle Petteys represents several families widely known in Fulton county, and both she and her husband are deeply interested in Fulton county people and also have property interests here. Nelle M. Biddle was born March 15, 1876, at Delta, being a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Watkins) Biddle, and granddaughter of George and Nancy (Lawrence) Biddle and John and Margaret 536 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY (South) Watkins. The Biddle and Watkins families came out of Wayne county, Ohio; and were pioneers of Fulton county. Jacob Biddle, who for many years owned a farm in Swan Creek Township and took high rank among the successful farmers of Fulton county, died at Delta February 7, 1885. The old homestead is still in the possession of the family. Mr. Biddle was also for several years in the hardware business at Delta. He was survived nearly thirty years by his good wife, who passed away May 22, 1914, at the family home on Providence street in Delta. She was well known socially and for her interested part in the many community affairs of town and county. A graduate of the :Delta High School Nelle M. Biddle also continued her education at Oberlin College. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and still retains her membership in the Criterion Club of Delta. All the family were Methodists. After her mother's death she went to Florida and on February 9, 1915, became the wife of Daniel H. Petteys of McIntosh, Florida. However, Mr. Petteys was born at Tontogany, Ohio, May 28, 1873, son of John and Emma (Kuder) Petteys and grandson of Daniel H. Petteys, one of the early settlers at Delta. John Petteys for many years was in the milling business. Giong to Florida in 1883, he continued in the same line as a manufacturer of orange shipping boxes. He lived in Florida until his death in 1905, and his widow is still a resident of McIntosh. Daniel H. Petteys was reared and educated in Florida and assisted his father in the orange box business. The "freeze of 1895" practically ruined the orange business for a number of years and incidentally the orange box industry. From a manufacturer he became an employe of the Southern Express Company, and after the death of his father returned to McIntosh and became manager of the McIntosh Telephone Company. Since 1910 he has been postmaster of McIntosh. Mr. and Mrs. Petteys have two daughters, Mrs. May Petteys Waters and Cora E. Petteys. Every summer. Mrs. Nelle Petteys returns north to Delta, where she gives her personal attention to family property interests, and her return to the social life of the community is also welcomed. JOHN T. WILLIAMS, who for almost twenty years has been one of the responsible residents of Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, having since 1901 lived in comfortable circumstances in the town, is characteristically a man of abundant energy, and during his long period of agricultural labors has lived in many states. Although now near-mg octogenarian age, and independently placed financially he still is comparatively active, day by day, to which commendable trait he may probably attribute his continuance in good health. He was born in December, 1843, in Rushville, Indiana, the son of George and Rebecca Williams. The Williams family is originally Welsh, in which principality its family record goes back clearly to the time of the Roman occupation of Britain. The branch to which John T. Williams of Delta, Ohio, belongs appears to have been well established in Virginia in colonial times, and in that state George Williams, father of John T. was born. George Williams and his wife were, however, early settlers in Indiana, where he followed the occupation of most pioneers. In 1857 the family moved to Edgar county, Illinios, and there George Williams died. Their son John T., who was thirteen years old when they removed from Indiana, HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 537 had grown to manhood before the time of his father,s death, soon after which sad bereavement the family moved to Otoe county, Nebraska, where John T. homesteaded eighty acres of prairie land, which during the succeeding years he appreciably improved. His mother died in Lincoln, Nebraska, but he continued to live on his homestead. In 1875 he went to Washington territory, where for about a year he lived a hardy life, herding sheep. He was a man of self-reliant, independent. spirit., inured to hardships, and, withal, a good farmer. In 1876 he went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the centennial celebrations, after viewing which he returned to Nebraska and took over the management. of 380 acres of land near Lincoln of that state. Three years later he went into Kansas, where he herded sheep near Lacon, and for one year worked as a section hand on the railroad. Next he spent two years farming near Marysville, Kansas, after which he came into Ohio. That was in 1881, since which time he has lived in the state, and for the greater part of the time has followed agricultural pursuits. For many years he had the management of a good farming property situated at Napoleon, Henry county, and belonging to Dexter Woods of that place, and after the death of the latter he readily found employment on the John Lutton farm south of Delta.. He lived a steady life, was provident, and during the many years of steady work accumulated a competence, so that in 1901, when h.e came to live in Delta and purchased a fine residence situated in a plot of three acres, he to all intents and purposes retired from strenuous labors, although as a matter of fact he has since that time found himself undertaking even arduous. tasks upon his property and in helping neighbors. Having always lived an active life, he found retirement irksome, and as the years have passed he has generally been able to find a way of keeping himself sufficiently employed, and generally those tasks have been useful and practical. Politically Mr. Williams is a democrat, although he has not interested himself actively in political movements. He has taken a closer interest in local affairs than in national, but has never been much drawn by politics. In voting for local offices he has generally considered the individual more than he has the party. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias order, and religiously he is a Methodist, member of the local Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1894 he married Rachel Quick, who was born near Wooster, Ohio. They have one child. a daughter, Cora, who married Archie Miller, but latterly has lived with her parents. JOHN H. LIPPY. While now retired and enjoying the comforts of a fine modern home in Fayette, John H. Lippy spent many active and strenuous years cutting timber and brush, clearing up and subduing some tracts and parcels of land he owned partly in Williams and partly in Fulton county, and it was only a year or so ago that he gave up the personal supervision of his farming interests and satisfied himself with the comforts of his town home. Mr. Lippy was born in Mill Creek Township of 'Williams county June 14, 1858, a son of Jacob and Lydia Ann (Lyon) Lippy. His parents were Pennsylvanians and were married after they came to Williams county, Ohio, where they spent the rest of their days. His father died in 1909, at the age of eighty-four, and his mother in 1903, aged seventy. When John H. Lippy was a boy he attended the common schools, 538 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY and from early manhood it was his ambition to make a home and express his service to the world as a farmer. He has always borne the reputation of being hard working and industrious, and a man who has attended strictly to his own affairs, though keenly .alive to community interests. While in the country he served as school director and as. road supervisor. On January 8, 1881, he married Mary Gamber, a native of Williams county and daughter of George W. and Mary Ann (Miller) Gamber. Her father was a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, and her mother of New York State. Mr. Lippy after his marriage moved to forty acres he owned in Mill Creek Township of Williams county. He farmed that place thoroughly, and from time to time bought other land until he had 120 acres, with forty acres in Gorham Township of Fulton county. For over thirty-five years the farm was the scene of his enterprise, and during that time he cleared much of the land, put up modern buildings, and became known as an extensive cattle feeder and breeder of draft horses. In the spring of 1918 Mr. Lippy sold the eighty acres he owned in Williams county and still retains his forty acres in Fulton county. Mr. Libby is a democrat in politics. He and his family attend the Methodist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Lippy have one daughter, Grace, now Mrs. Dorson Ford, living at Fayette. DAVID MORNINGSTAR, owner of the Ford Sales Company, of Wauseon, Ohio, dealers in and agents for the Ford cars,. authorized sales agents, and having a good business in repairs, accessories, tires, etc., has been coming to the fore in the city during the last few years. He is a man of confident bearing and of good understanding of the world, having traveled widely during his years of business activity, and has proved himself to be a good business man. He was born in Hamburg, Province of Ontario, Canada, the family having lived in Canada for some generations, although originally the American progenitor of this branch of the German family came from Hanover, Germany, to the United States, settling near Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania. This pioneer, Benjamin Morningstar, was of mature age when he immigrated from Germany, but for many years farmed in Pennsylvania, where he raised a family. His son, Benjamin, grandfather of David Morningstar of Wauseon, farmed with his father in Pennsylvania, but eventually went into Canada, settling in Ontario province, where he farmed for the remainder of his life, and raised a family of eleven children, Jesse, father of David, being the tenth-born. Jesse Morningstar. was educated in Canadian schools, but was not in Canada for long afterwards. He came into the United States, and to Franklin county, Pennsylvania. In Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, he married, and there for some years he, was in business. He was a machinist of marked ability, an inventor, and in partnership with Daniel Geyser, founded some machine shops well-known in Pennsylvania before the Civil war, under the name of his partner. Eventually Jesse Morningstar sold his interest in the Geyser shops to his partner, and again went into Canada, settling in Hamburg, a German settlement, in the Province of Ontario. There he built a machine shop for the manufacture of biolers and engines, and threshing machinery. He developed a substantial business, but his plant was gutted by fire, the catastrophe being a total loss to him, as he carried no insurance. However, he was a man of strong purpose, and some substance, and notwithstand- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 539 ing his heavy loss, here built the plant quickly, although he incurred heavy financial liability in diong so. He made a valiant effort to re-establish his business again, but the incubus of debt was too .great, and eventually he was compelled to sell the business. He brought his family into the United States, and settled in Ohio, three miles south of Archbold, Fulton county, where he purchased a farm of 120 acres. Later, he came to Wauseon, and commenced the building of a threshing machine factory, at Napoleon, Henry county, Ohio. Three years later, he sold that plant, and retired altogether from business activities. He died in July, 1913. David Morningstar, son of Jesse and Martha (Spangler) Morningstar, was only two years old when his parents brought him from his native place, Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, to Archbold, Ohio, near which place his father had bought a farm. There he grew to manhood, attending the district school nearest to the parental farm during the winter, and during the summer assisting his father in the working of the property. When he had reached the age of thirteen years he went to work in the stove factory at Archbold, and in that work passed the next five years. For two years thereafter, he gave all his time to his father, in operating the home farm, after which he spent a short time in Canada, visiting his old home, and later for about eighteen months was in Waynesboro Pennsylvania, where he worked in the machine shops formerly owned by his father. There he learned the machinist's trade. Returning to Ohio, he spent the next two years in association with his father who at that time was in Napoleon, busy with the affairs of his threshing machine enterprise: After his father sold that business and retired from business, David returned to Pennsylvania, and for eight months was foreman in the Heading Factory, at Cross Forks, Allen county, of that state. Eventually he returned to Ohio, and came to Wauseon to live. That was in 1901, the next five years being spent in satisfactory employment as foreman of the Barrel Heading Factory in Wauseon. In 1906 he entered the employ of the Van Camp Packing Company, as boxmaker at their Wauseon plant. A year later he had a change of employment, working for a while in a Wauseon machine shop. Then followed his first essay into independent business, for eight months handling automobile repairs, although at that time he had no shop of his own. Although he took salaried employment thereafter, it was always connected with the automobile business, and eventually led to his being comfortably established in his own business. For four years he worked as foreman for John A. Crow, who owned an automobile machine shop in Wauseon ; and for two years he remained in like capacity with Elmer Upp, successor to John A. Crow. At the end of that period he himself purchased the business, and conducted it very successfully, for five years, at 123 Commercial street, Wauseon, under the name of the Wauseon Garage and Machine Shop. At the end of that time, having gained the means wherewith to do so, he extended his business activities considerably, establishing the Ford Sales Company, with salesrooms at 138 Chestnut street, Wauseon, where he has since 1918 maintained a modern sales centre, one that has been stated to be the most modern and one of the largest in northwestern Ohio. His building has ground floor space of 207 by 64 feet, and his trading embraces the local sales of Ford cars, as well as an efficient repairs and gas service station, and he had a large business in auto accessories and tires, handling the Goodyear,.. Goodrich, and Lee products. His Chestnut 540 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY street business was such that, in January, 1919, he sold his original business situated on Commercial street, so that he might be free to give his whole time to the rapidly growing Ford Sales Company he had established in the previous year. He has every prospect of doing very well in that business, and has this in his favor, that he gives prompt and good service at the lowest price possible. Politically he is an independent, but has not given indication of a desire to actively interest himself in politics. By religious 'conviction he is a Baptist and is a member of the local church of that denomination. His enterprise, industry, and personal steadiness, have brought him good repute and many friends since he has lived in Wauseon, and he has always been a good neighbor and responsible loyal citizen. He married, in 1906, Elizabeth, daughter of William and Minnie Ludeman, of Napoleon, Ohio. They have one child, a daughter, Eileen Elizabeth. HOMER OTHA WAGNER. Deeds are thoughts crystallized, and according to their brilliancy do we judge the worth of a man to the country which produced him, and in his work we expect to find the true index to his character. The study of the life of the representative American never fails to offer much of pleasing interest and valuable instruction. The subject of this review is a worthy representative of that type of American character and of that progressive spirit which promotes public good in advancing individual prosperity and conserving popular interests. He has earnestly done his part as a farmer and as an intelligent citizen of his community and is deservedly held in high esteem in his locality. Homer Otha Wagner was born in Clinton Township, Fulton county, on December 23, 1892, and is the son of James Calvin and Lilly (Serrick) Wagner. His paternal grandfather, John Wagner, was a native of Germany, where he was reared to manhood, when he came to the United States and settled in Fulton county on a tract of government land, and there he devoted himself to the strenuous task of clearing the land and creating a home. He devoted his entire life here to agricultural pursuits and reared a family of ten children. His son, James C., has lived in this section practically all his life and followed farming during his active years, but is now retired from active labor. Homer O. Wagner was reared at home and secured his education in the Olive Branch School in Clinton Township, followed by attendance at the Wauseon High School. Then for about a year he was employed as a farm hand by a. neighbor, at the end of which time he rented eighty acres of land and for a year conducted farming operations on his own account. His father’s advancing age and desire to relinquish the active management. of the home farm, necessitated the subject’s return home and since then he has had the entire management and operation of his mother’s home place. He carries on general farming operations and has been very successful. He is thoroughly practical in his work, exercising sound judgment and excellent discrimination and is well known as an .enterprising and progressive agriculturist. In 1916 Mr. Wagner was married to Edna Snyder, the daughter of Valentine and Eura (Fouty) Snyder, of Clinton Township. Politically, Mr.. Wagner is an earnest supporter of the democratic party, but takes no very active part in political affairs. He is a member of the State Grange. He possesses a strong social nature and by HISTORY OF FULTON .COUNTY - 541 his genial and kindly attitude to those with whom he comes in contact he has won the confidence and respect of everyone. WILLIAM GODFREY THEOBALD, general manager and stockholder of the American Woodworking Company, successors to the Archbold Veneered Sash and Door Company, is one of the consequential men of affairs of Archbold. He is an able executive, an able organizer, and an enterprising yet conservative and stable man of business. Besides his official connection with the American Woodworking Company, he is identified with the Buckeye State Manufacturing Company of Archbold. Although his part in the development of the town has been mainly in the indirect, yet important way of giving close attention to the expansion of industrial concerns with which he is interested, he has nevertheless given clear indication in the past that he is of public-spirited inclination. He has furthered by generous support many local projects of civic, church or social consequence to the community, and has given some time to the civic administration, having served one term as councilman. Generally he is a man of good repute in his home town. He was born in the family homestead near Archbold, the son of Valentine and Barbara (Miller) Theobald, in both paternal and maternal lines coming of families of long residence in Fulton county. He was reared in the wholesome environment of country life, and as a boy attended the local public school. He remained in school until he had passed the eighth grade when he resolved to qualify properly fora commercial career. His early business experience was in the capacity of travel ing salesman. In 1907, however, he returned to Archbold, and took executive capacity in the office of the Archbold Grain Separator Company, continuing as bookkeeper for that corporation for about twelve months. For the next year he was bookkeeper for the Vernier and McLaughlin Company of Archbold, and head clerk of that company for four years. Then he formed partnership with Mr. R. Bernheisel, and the two acquired the plant and business of the Archbold Sash and Door Company. Mr. Theobald holds the responsibility of the general management of its affairs: It would not be a misstatement to state that the present standing of the company is in great measure due to the executive and general business ability of its manager, Mr. Theobald, who devotes his time and thought almost exclusively to its affairs. He is careful, painstaking and thorough in most things, and following his general characteristics he probably insists upon an equal thoroughness in the product of the' plant. He is also officially connected with another Archbold industrial concern, the Buckeye State Manufacturing Company, of which he is secretary. And as a business man he is now placed among the representative business men of Fulton county. His interest in Archbold, his native place has always been manifest in his views and statements. And his general actions have been that of a public-spirited man. He has in many ways contributed to the welfare of the community, and would in all probability take even more active part in public affairs were it not for the business duties and responsibilities he has in connection with the rapidly expanding affairs of the corporations with which he is officially connected. He did, however, serve one term as councilman, and he has in other ways done much for the betterment of the town. Politically he is a republican. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, member of the Archbold encampment, and also to a Cleveland encampment, 542 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY and by religious conviction he is a member of the Reformed Church. During the recent World war he was active and earnest in co-operating with the local efforts to secure the proper subscription of the various national funds raised for the purposes of the nation in the war, and during that trying time proved himself to be a worthy patriotic citizen. In 1909 he married Alice Britsch, daughter of H. G. and Anna (Kutzli) Britsch, of Archbold. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Theo-bald was a school teacher in the Archbold public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Theobald have one child, a daughter, Clarice Rosa, who was born in 1912. Roth Mr. and Mrs. Theobald have very many friends in Archbold, and in the years that have passed have taken good part in social and church activities in the borough. CONRAD REICHHARDT. The Reichhardt family story was transferred from Germany to the United States in 1883 when Mrs. Catharine Reichhardt and two sons came from Germany. Conrad Reichhardt of Amboy was one of the sons. He was born November 20, 1875, at Hestine, Germany. His father was Paul Reichhardt and he died in Germany. Two sisters of Conrad Reichhardt had married and come to America in advance of their mother and she and the sons joined them in Wauseon. The mother and boys soon moved on to a timber tract in German Township and with the son-in-law, Adam Effeln, they cleared it. In a short time the mother married Michael Felters, and Conrad lived one year with her when he went to Henry county and worked two years by the month. He then returned to German Township and worked two years for John Zimmerman and he continued working ouf by the month until he was twenty-one years old, saving his money. On October 21, 1900, Conrad Reichhardt married Lula Grove, a native of Fulton Township. She is a daughter of Joel and Anna (Sharp) Grove, the father born in Pennsylvania and the mother in England. For a time they rented a farm in Fulton and then bought thirty acres where they lived twelve years. When they sold the place they bought forty acres, and five years later they sold and bought 120 acres in Amboy. It is a well improved place with five acres of timber on it. He later bought eighty acres in Royalton as an investment and sold it again. Mr. Reichhardt has one son, Clarence LeRoy. CHARLES M. MCLAUGHLIN. Improvement and progress may well be said to form the keynote of the character of Charles M. McLaughlin, a well known merchant of Archbold and one of Fulton county's representative citizens, and he has not only been interested in the work of advancement of individual affairs, but his influence is felt in the upbuilding of the community which has so long been honored by his citizenship. The prosperity which he enjoys is the result of energy rightly applied, and has been won by commendable qualities. Charles M. McLaughlin is a native son of Fulton county, Ohio, having been born in German Township on the 13th day of May, 1863, and he is the son of Daniel and Eva (Geesey) McLaughlin. Through the paternal line he inherits sterling Scotch blood and characteristics, his grandfather, John McLaughlin, having been a native of the land of hills and heather. Charles M. McLaughlin received his educational training in the common school of German HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 543 Township, Fulton county, Ohio and the high school of West Unity, Williams county, Ohio, completing his studies when about eighteen years of age. He then entered the employ of Jacob Vernier in the latters hardware store, a business with which he has been connected ever since, a period of almost forty years. His first engagement was to work for Mr. Vernier as a clerk for one year, but he remained with him for six years. At the end of that time Mr. McLaughlin with two partners, purchased Mr. Vernier's interest in the business and conducted it under the name of Vernier, Dimke & Company, for about four years. At the end of that time, Mr. Dimke withdrew from the firm, which thereafter for five years was known as Vernier & McLaughlin. With the addition some time afterward of George H. Probeck to the firm, the style was changed to Vernier, McLaughlin & Company, and in 1918 the name was finally changed to the Vernier-McLaughlin-Probeck Company, of which Mr McLaughlin is now president. They carry a large and complete stock of shelf and heavy hardware implements and allied lines and occupy a fine concrete and brick store building, 250 by 135 feet in size, one of the conveniences of which is a railroad spur, thus facilitating the unloading and shipping of goods. In addition to the business referred to, Mr. McLaughlin is a director and vice president of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Archbold and is a director of the Archbold Telephone Company, and also owns considerable real estate, including 120 acres of land. in Lucas county, Ohio, houses and lots in Toledo and telephone interests in other cities in Ohio. He has exercised sound judgment in all his business deals and is held in high regard among his business associates. In 1889 Mr. McLaughlin was married to Helen K. Probeck, the daughter of Henry and Margaret Probeck, of Toledo, Ohio. Of this marriage was born one son, Ralph Charles on May 22, 1893. Their child after completing his public school studies entered St. John's Military Academy at Delafield, Wisconsin, where he was graduated with the highest honors ever won by any student in the history of that school, namely, "Most Worthy Cadet" and "Most Soldierly Cadet." He then entered the law department of the University of of Michigan, where he was graduated and immediately thereafter was admitted to the bar in the states of Michigan and Ohio, being but twenty-one years of age at that time. He then engaged in the real estate business with Moor Brothers of Toledo, Ohio, and was so occupied until April, 1917, when he was called into the service of his country, being made commandant of cadets at St. John's Military Academy, his previous record at that school having influenced his appiontment. He had been sent for this purpose by Major Farrand, commandant of the school and Gen. Charles A. King, also officially connected with the school. Captain McLaughlin had charge of the military department of the school and his services were greatly appreciated by those in authority. During the war and up to the hour of his untimely death, he labored incessantly in the interest of the school and of the graduates preparing to enter the training camps. His death which occurred on December 15, 1918, was sincerely mourned by a host of friends, for he was a popular member of the social circles in which he moved. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he had attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and was also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. 544 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY Charles M. McLaughlin is an earnest supporter of the republican party and is a member of the Christian Church of Wauseon. He has for many years been deeply interested in everything pertaining to the commercial welfare of the community, and at one time was part owner of the Hotel Vernier and had an interest in the Archbold Grist Mill and Elevator Company for about five years. He has carried great energy and rare judgment into all the affairs in which he has been interested and enjoys an enviable standing in the community. GEORGE BRATTON is a native of Fulton county and has spent many years as a farmer in the county and is now enjoying a well earned retirement at his home in Swanton. He was born in Swan Creek Township in April, 1852, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Dull) Bratton. His father was a native of Ireland and his mother of Pennsylvania. George Bratton was educated in the district schools of his borne locality and was sixteen years of age when his father died in 1868. After that he lived with his mother, and helped work the home farm. May 13, 1877, he married Hattie H. Hufftile. She was born in Spencer Township of Lucas county, Ohio, a daughter of Enoch and. Sarah (Wicks) Hufftile. After his marriage Mr. Bratton rented farms in the home community ten year and then bought the home in Swanton where he has since lived. His first wife died in 1902, the mother of two children, the older Harry having died in infancy. The son Enoch _Alfred, now living with Mr. George Bratton, married Catherine Hatfield, a native of Lucas county, Ohio, and a daughter of Emery. and Catherine (Riley) Hatfield. In 1904 Mr. George Bratton married Sarah (Harris) Palmer, widow of Harry Palmer. By her first union she had three children : James who died at the age of seven years; William, a resident of Ray, Indiana; and Artie, now deceased. Mr. Bratton was again called upon to mourn the loss of his companion when his wife died January 8, 1919. Mr. Bratton is a member of the Methodist Church, is a republican voter, and has been active in Odd Fellowship, being -affiliated with Lodge No. 528 at Swanton and has been through the chairs of that lodge and is a member of the encampment at Delta. HARRY RANDOLPH TREDWAY. There is Michigan and New York ancestry in the Tredway family of which Harry Randolph Tredway of Metamora is a representative. While he was born April 4, 1892, in Metamora, his father, Horace Tredway, is a native of Lenawee county, Michigan, and his mother, Anna (Collins) Tredway, is a native of New York. When they were married they settled. in Metamora. While Mr. Tredway had been a farmer he became a merchant and engaged in various lines, but now he lives in Lucas county. Their children are: Frank R., of Lucas county ; Hartwin H., of Metamora; Horace Greeley, who died in infancy; Stuart W., of Metamora; Georgia, wife of Denton Crawl, of Metamora; and Harry Randolph, the youngest in the family. After receiving a common and high school education H. R. Tredway attended Ohio Northern University at Ada. When he was twenty-one years old he became .assistant cashier in the Home Savings Bank of Metamora, remaining here until February 1, 1916, when he 'became cashier of the Lyons Commercial Bank of Lyons. Two years later he became assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Wauseon. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 545 On May 28, 1918, Mr. Tredway enlisted in the Ninth Company, Third Battalion of Depot Brigade, and was stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky. On September 1 he was transferred to Camp Hancock, Georgia, to the Machine Gun Officers, Training School, where he had training for an army officer, but along came the Armistice and on December 18 he received his military discharge and returned to his former position at Lyons. The Commercial Bank of Lyons was organized in 1911, with R. C. Rothfuss, president; A. F. Mitchell, vice president; and F. H. Carpenter, cashier. Under the banks present organization H. H. Tredway is president E. S. Davoll, vice president, and H. R. Tredway is cashier. Miss Louise Meehle is assistant cashier. On June 11, 1919, Mr. Tredway married Beulah Fetterman. She is a daughter of Jerome and Elizabeth (Foster) Fetterman, of Metamora. The family belong to the Methodist Church. Mr. Tredway votes the republican ticket, and fraternally belongs to the Masons in Lyons, a member of Royalton Union Chapter, Defiance Commandery, the Council of Wauseon, and has served as junior warden of the Blue Lodge. JOHN MILLER, of Fulton Township, was born in Switzerland in 1878, and came with his mother, Mrs. Clara Notzinger who was a widow, to the United States. They came in 1881, and located in German Township, Fulton county. The mother married Leonard Miller and moved to Fulton Township, where John Miller, who assumed her name, grew into manhood and where on August 21, 1915, he married Mary Bejoski. She was a widow with one daughter, Elward. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller: Edward, born June 15, 1916, and John F., born July 14, 1918, and with Elward, there are three children in the family. When Mr. Miller first came to Fulton Township he worked on the railroad, saving his earnings and from time to time he bought land until he now owns forty acres. It is well improved and mostly under cultivation. He had limited educational advantages when he was young, and means to make up for it by educating his children as well as it is possible for him to do it. Mr. Miller votes with the republican party. FREDERICK FANKHAUSER. While he is now living practically retired at Archbold, Frederick Fankhauser owns a fine farm in German Township, and for over forty years has been actively identified with the agricultural, business and civic interests of that section of Fulton county. He was born August 14, 1854, on the homestead farm of his parents, John and Anna (Burkholder) Fankhauser. His parents were natives of Canton Berne, Switzerland, and were prominent among the early Swiss settlers of Fulton county. They came to this country accompanied by four daughters and one son, and located in German Township. They acquired 240 acres, part of which is still owned by Frederick Fankhauser. The family have been noted for their industry, and thrift, and their labors brought into productiveness some of the first class land of Fulton county. On that old homestead Frederick Fankhauser lived for many years. To the age of seventeen he attended school, chiefly in the winter terms, and at other seasons of the year was busy in the fields. For a quarter of a century after his marriage he continued farm- 546 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY ing, his place comprising 115 acres. In 1900 he retired from the farm, turning it over to his son J. F. Fankhauser, and his chief interest is on developing and selling the materials from a gravel pit, used for building and road making purposes. In 1876, at the age of twenty-two, Mr. Fankhauser married Adelle Leninger, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Kutzli) Leninger, of German Township. They have three children. John F., the oldest, is forty-two years of age, married in 1901 Margaret Rice, of German Township, and they have five living children. Emma is the wife of Emanuel Rupp, of Archbold, and has two children. Clarence B., aged thirty, lives at Archbold and is married and has one child. Mr. Fankhauser has frequently been honored with places of trust in his community, and is thoroughly deserving of general esteem. He served two terms as township trustee. He is a democratic voter and a member of the Lutheran Church. SOLOMON C. NOFZINGER has spent practically his entire life within the borders of Fulton county, and his persistent and commendable efforts have benefited alike himself and the community, for he has always had deeply at heart the well-being and improvement of the county, using his influence whenever possible for the promotion of enterprises calculated to be of lasting benefit to the community, besides giving his support to all movements for the advancement of the people along civic, intellectual and moral lines. Solomon C. Nofzinger, who owns and operates the Nofzinger Auto Company at Archbold, was born on his father,s farm near this place in 1871, and is the son of Jahn J. and Annie (Richer) Nofzinger. The father was born in Germany, where he was reared until about Fourteen years of age, when he accompanied his parents on their immigration to the United States. They immediately came to Fulton county, Ohio, and settled on a tract of land near Archbold, where they spent the rest of their days engaged in farming pursuits. There John J. was reared and secured his education in the schools of the neighborhood, and there he has continued to reside, being numbered among the industrious, successful and highly respected citizens of that locality. Solomon Nofzinger secured an elementary education in the common schools of Henry county, Ohio, and then attended the Horological and Optometrist School at LaPorte, Indiana, where he was graduated and received a diploma. He then returned to Archbold and during the following twenty-five years gave his attention to the jewelry and optical business, in both of which he was very successful and in the latter of which he is still interested, being a partner in the Nofzinger Jewelry Company at Swanton, Fulton county. In 1912, with shrewd foresight into the possibilities of the automobile business, Mr. Nofzinger erected a modern salesroom and garage, and under the name of the Nofzinger Auto Company he is handling Ford cars and Fordson tractors and accessories, besides doing a regular garage service. He has a splendid field and has been splendidly successful in this line, being accounted one of the most enterprising and progressive men in his line in this community. Mr. Nofzinger is also a stockholder and director in the Peoples State Bank of Archbold, and has extensive real estate interests. In 1897 Mr. Nofzinger was married to Mary L. Lenow, the daughter of William Lenow, and they are the parents of three chil- HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 547 dren namely : Irene, who is the wife of Otto Kleupfel, of Archbold, and the mother of one child, Jane; Ruth Anna, and Earl Edwin. Mr. Nofzinger's chief characteristics seem to be keenness of perception, tireless energy, honesty of purpose and every-day common sense. Successful in business and popular in social life, he enjoys an enviable standing in the community with which his interests are identified. ELMER MILTON BIERY, a native of York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, and for the greater part of his life an enterprising and successful farmer, owning an extensive estate in the township, has the distinction of belonging to a family which is placed among the pioneer residents of the township. The Biery family is of Swiss origin and the American progenitor, Nicholas Biery, was the pioneer resident in York Township. He, Nicholas Biery, grandfather of Elmer M., was born in Switzerland, and immigrated when a young man. He settled in Pennsylvania, and there married Mary Hummel, who was born in Pennsylvania. Soon afterwards they came into Ohio, and to York Township, Fulton county at a time when the surrounding country was practically wilderness. Nicholas Biery and his wife lived in York Township for the remainder of their lives, their farm which eventually was cleared being in section 4. There their son Christian, father of Elmer M., was born. As a boy Christian Biery attended the local school, and when he had grown to manhood married Lottie Schlegle, daughter of Gottlieb and Mary (Bailey) Schlegle, also pioneer residents of York Township. The former was born near Berlin, Germany, and his wife, Mary Bailey, in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandparents of Elmer M. Biery were also buried in York Township. Christian Biery soon after he had married Lottie Schlegle settled on a ten-acre tract in York Township, and there lived for two years, when he sold the place, and soon afterwards acquired the extensive Meirs farm, a partly improved property of 160 acres. There he lived for many years, and had much success by his farming. He considerably improved the property, and all the buildings now on the farm were built by him, with the exception of a straw barn, which is still standing and had been built by the original owner. He bought another eighty acres, which he tilled for a while, but eventually traded for forty acres on the border line of Fulton and Henry counties. On his properties he built, altogether four residences, and his energetic useful life ended on December 7, 1909, he being then in his sixty-fourth year. His widow still resides in the old homestead, and has many friends of long standing among the older residents of York Township. The children of Christian and Lottie (Schlegle) Biery were : Elmer Milton, of whom more is written hereinafter; Ella, who married William A. Biddle, of York Township; Sophrona May, who married Harley J. Miller of York Township. Elmer Milton Biery, oldest child of Christian and Lottie (Schlegle) Biery, was born in the family homestead, section 4 of York Township, Fulton county, on March 8, 1872. He attended the district schools, and eventually took to farming occupations on the home property. He married in 1893, but remained with his wife on the parental farm until March of the following year, when he moved to another house, still however helping his father in the management of the latter's extensive acreage. Thus employed, another seven years passed, at the end of which time Elmer M. Biery pur- 548 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY chased the farm he still owns in York Township, a property of 200 acres, 140 acres of which he has brought into cultivation, the remaining sixty acres being pasture and timber land. He lived an energetic life, and showed much enterprise, gaining substantial success in the raising of Belgian horses, Holstein cattle and Jersey hogs. For many years he conducted a large dairy, but now being desirous of taking life less strenuously, and being possessed of more than sufficient material wealth for his personal needs, especially since the death of his wife, he will probably move from the farm into Delta. During his years of substantial production in York Township, = he found time to enter interestedly into local affairs, and showed a commendable spirit of helpfulness in public responsibilities, supporting local movements generously. He is a democrat in national politics, but he has not followed national politics with the interest he has evinced in local affairs ; and he has never sought public office, although had he so wished he might have been elected to more than one of the offices in the local administration. He is a consistent Christian, by conviction a Lutheran, and has been a stalwart supporter of the local church of that denomination. He has entered personally into church work, and since 1913 has been treasurer of his church. He also is a member of the Ohio- State order of Gleaners. On September 17, 1893, Elmer Milton Biery married Della May, daughter of John and Rachel (Powell) Lake. Mrs. Biery was born in Henry county, Ohio, and died in York Township, Fulton county, on August 30, 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Biery were the parents of seven children. In order of birth the children were: Fleda Ellen, who married Homer Sworden, and died in February, 1916; Gertrude Lavern; Fred Arthur; Ira Carlton; Jay Christian ; Wilma Irene; Gordon Roy, who, however, died in infancy. CHARLES P. GRISIER. It seems a well established principle that any person can make a modest success who works faithfully and sticks at one business or trade or occupation long enough. It is a far different and complicated problem for a man to be successful in diverse and manifold affairs. Hardly any man in Fulton county has, more really important interests under his immediate supervision than Charles P. Grisier, banker, insurance man, dairy farmer, and all around good citizen of Wauseon. He was born at Fayette in Fulton county in April, 1868, and is of French ancestry, a son of James and Catherine (Miller) Grisier. Frederick Grisier, came from France and settled at. Archbold, Ohio, where he became a farmer. James Grisier grew up on a farm and still lives on a 120-acre place 1/2 mile south of Fayette. Charles P. Grisier grew up on the farm, attended country schools and took a business course in the Fayette Normal College. For two years he clerked in a general store at Fayette and for one year bought produce, driving a wagon through the country, an experience that gave him much knowledge of men and was altogether valuable. Since 1890 he has been with his father in the fire insurance business. His father has conducted a fire insurance agency at Fayette for many years. The father and son are still associated, the former being now eighty-three years of age. In January, 1891, Charles Grisier opened the Wauseon office., handling both fire and life insurance. His principal business is representative of the Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, and he has all of Fulton county as his territory. HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 549 He is a man of special achievement in the field of banking. In 1906 he organized the Farmers State Savings Bank at Delta, and is its president. This institution has a capital and surplus of $50,000 and resources of $500,000. In 1911 he duplicated his success with the Delta Bank in the organization of the Farmers State Bank of Fayette, of which he is also president. Its capital and surplus is $45,000 and it has resources aggregating $500,000. In 1917 Mr. Grisier organized the Farmers State Bank of McClure, of which T. U. McClure is president and Mr. Grisier, a director. He is also a director of the Peoples State Bank at Wauseon. With all these interests Mr. Grisier finds time to give his personal supervision to a fine dairy farm of 220 acres two miles east of Wauseon, handling a herd of pure blooded Holsteins. In 1893 he married Alice Charpiot, daughter of Peter and Louise Catherine Charpiot of Stryker, Ohio. They have five children: Donald Kenneth, born in 1902 ; Charles Leon, born in 1904 and died at the age of six months ; Louise Catherine, Catherine Louise and Alice Leah, being the three younger children. Mr. Grisier is a republican in politics. CHARLES HENRY NICHOLAS HEFFRON, M. D. Through a quarter of a century Doctor Heffron was busy with his engagements and responsibilities as a physician and surgeon at Metamora„ and when he removed from that locality to Adrian, Michigan, he left his practice in the capable hands of his son so that Fulton county still has Heffron as one of its most honored names in the medical profession. Doctor Heffron was born in Royalton Township of Fulton county in 1871. His father Henry Heffron was born in County Carlow, Ireland, and was brought by his parents to the United States at the age of seven. The mother of Doctor Heffron was Mary Rynd, also a native of Ireland, and came to the United States with her parents at the age of fifteen. They were married in Lenawee county, Michigan, in 1868, and were the parents of four children : Jessie May, Anna, Minnie and Charles Henry Nicholas. Charles Henry Nicholas Heffron grew up on a farm in Royalton township, attended country schools there, took his high school work at Adrian, Michigan, and was graduated in medicine in the medical department of Wooster University at Cleveland in 1893. Since then he has taken post graduate work at the University of Michigan and the New York Post Graduate School, and in 1894 began his career as a practicing physician at Metamora. He remained there meeting all the demands of a heavy town and country practice until 1919, when he turned his work over to his son Dr. Harold Heffron and is now well established in practice at Adrian, Michigan. During the World War he served as a member of the Fulton County Draft Board. Doctor Heffron has always voted as a republican and fraternally is affiliated with Royalton Union Lodge Free and Accepted Masons at Lyons, Lyons Chapter No. 175 Royal Arch Masons, Wauseon Council No. 68 Royal and Selected Masters, and Adrian Commandry No. 4 Knights Templar, and also Independent Order of Odd Fellows No. 875, Metamora, Ohio. Doctor Heffron married Gertrude Cagwin, daughter of Hamden and Delight Cagwin of Rome, New York. They are the parents of two sons, Harold and Howard Heffron, both of whom have chosen their father's vocation. As already noted Harold is now practicing at Metamora; while Howard is a medical student in the University of Michigan.. 550 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY R. A. DEVENPORT. This representative and honored citizen of Archbold, Fulton county, has been distinctly the architect of his own fortunes, has been true and loyal in all the relations of life and stands as a type of that sterling manhood which ever commands respect and honor. He is a man who would have won his way in any locality where fate might have placed him, for he has sound judgment, coupled with great energy and business tact, together with upright principles, all of which invariably make for success, and because of which he has won and retained a host of friends. R. A. Devenport, proprietor of the Archbold Salesroom and Garage, at Archbold, Fulton county, was born in Franklin county, Ohio, on. January 9, 1866, and is the son of Ezra and Sarah A. (Giles) Devenport. Through his progenitors he inherits English and Irish blood, though the family has lived in America through several generations. The subject received his educational training in the schools of Putnam county, Ohio, but at the age of fourteen years he went to work, receiving for a man's work only four dollars a month. He made splendid progress in his studies and had successfully passed an examination for teacher, but was not permitted to teach on account of his youth. He was employed at farm labor on two different farms until he attained his majority, at which time he was married. He then engaged in farming a forty-acre tract, remaining there for twelve years, at the end of which time he engaged in the manufacture of tile at Townwood. Twelve years later he sold the tile factory and bought forty acres of land near Town-wood, where he resided for two years. Selling out, he then went to Michigan, locating in Calhoun county, where for a year he was engaged in the cultivation of 160 acres of rented land. He then bought 120 acres of land in Hillsdale. county, Michigan, which he successfully operated for five years, and in connection with which he also kept a store until 1915, when he moved onto 160 acres of land which he had bought near Seward, Ohio. At the end of a year he sold that tract and for about three years he lived at Metamora, Ohio. On April 15, 1919, Mr. Devenport came to Archbold, Ohio, and engaged in his present business, under the name of the Archbold Salesroom and Garage, having obtained the Fulton county agency for the Scripps-Booth cars. He also handles a full line of automobile accessories and iols, and enjoys a large and increasing patronage. He has made many changes in location and business since attaining manhood, but has been successful and has exercised good judgment in all his ventures. In addition to his automobile business, he owns some real estate, including the 120-acre farm in Michigan. In 1887 Mr. Devenport was married to Lios L. Lope, the daughter of William and Mary K (Lymangrover) Lope, of Shawton, Ohio, and to them have been born three children, namely: William A., of Archbold, who is married and has one child, Richard; Delmar, and Flossie A., who is principal of the Metamora high school. Mr. Devenport has given his lifelong support to the democratic party and has at various times taken an active part in local and public affairs. While living in Putnam county, Ohio, he served as trustee of Van Buren Township for seven years, or until he moved from that locality, and he served as postmaster of Shawton, Ohio, under the administration of President Cleveland, a period of four years. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The qualities of persevering industry, keen discrimination, and sound judgment have entered very largely into his HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 551 make-up and have been contributing elements to the material success which has come to him. Because of his success and his sterling qualities of character he is deservedly popular throughout this community. CHARLES M. DALRYMPLE, director department manager, and one of the principal stockholders of the well-known Wauseon firm of Brieham, Guilford and Company, department store owners, has had a worth-while career in commercial life, and has been actively in business in Wauseon since 1906. He is a man of pleasing personality, gentlemanly and courteous, and has made many good friends since he has lived in Wauseon. He has shown an increasing interest in the advancement of .the city, and has been ready to further any worthy public project that had bearing upon the community.. He is the son of Charles W. and Anna (George) Dalrymple and was born in Maysville, Missouri, September 20, 1870. In 1890 his parents removed to Greenville, Darke county, Ohio. The Dalrymple family is one of the oldest of the titled Scottish houses and appears notably in Scottish history, and the Ohio family evidently is of the Scottish house, for the progenitor of the American branch to which Charles M. Dalrymple, of Wauseon, belongs, came from Scotland and settled in Knox county, Ohio, there taking land and pursuing agriculture. Charles M. received the whole of his education in Greenville, Darke county, attending the public schools of that place until he was sixteen years old. Then he entered the employ of A. A. Bunger, a grocer of that place, and for him he worked for eight years, for two of which he was delivery man, and finally salesman. He must have been a man of good business ability, for he was offered, and accepted, the management of the Mozart Department Store, at Greenville. He remained in that store, as manager, for twelve years, during which the volume of business transacted was such as to need the services of thirty sales people ; and the trading covered the full range of groceries hardware and house furnishings. It will therefore be recognized that when Mr. Dalrymple came to Wauseon in 1906. to take up a similar business connection in that place he came with good credentials as to the business experience. He became the manager of the grocery department of the Wauseon department store owned by W. L. Milner and conducted under the trading name of C. E. Rosman and Company and was thus brought into association with Mr. Frank Guilford, who was accountant for the company. In 1909, both left .the employ of Mr. Milner so that they might organize a company and enter independently into a department store business in Wauseon. Mr. Dalrymple in association with Messrs. Guilford, Scott and Brigham, all of Wauseon incorporated the Brigham, Guilford and Company firm, the capital of which was $60,000, and they took over the Rossman Company establishment. Of the company Mr. Dalrymple became vice president and eventually secretary, which executive office he now holds, as well as the responsibility of manager of the grocery .and house furnishings departments. The business has been very well conducted and the partners have had notable success. In many ways Mr. Dalrymple has shown himself to be an efficient man of affairs, and of unselfish public spirit. He is one of the aggressive business men of the place, and is diong his best to aid in the progress and prosperity of the city. Politically he is a republican, and although he has taken close interest in political movements, he has not evinced a desire for political office. He is 552 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY first and foremost a business man, a man of material and moral integrity, in whom people have confidence. Religiously. he is a Baptist, a member of the local church, and a liberal supporter of church work. He married, in 1905, Myrtle G., daughter of Calvin and Lottie (Warvel) Garver, of Greenville, Ohio. They have one child, Charlene. DORR SANTEE KNIGHT, one of the advisory editors of the History of Fulton County, whose services are at this piont specially acknowledged, has spent all his life in the county, is well known as a former county treasurer, and also as a business man and banker. Mr. Knight, whose home is at Wauseon, was born in Royalton township February 1, 1874. His father, George Tyler Knight, was born in Vermont, January 22, 1833, and for many years was an active farmer of Fulton county. He was a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The mother, Almira Matilda Santee, was born September 22, 1840. Dorr Santee Knight grew up on a farm, attended the district schools and also the normal schools of Fayette and Wauseon. In early youth he took up the vocation of a tiller of the siol, and followed that occupation on the old homestead in Royalton township to the age of thirty-seven. In the meantime he became well known over the county, and entered politics as a candidate for the office of county treasurer, was elected, and discharged the duties of office until ,September, 1915, in the meantime removing to Wauseon. In the spring of 1915 Mr. Knight formed a partnership with C. J. Ives and purchased the furniture store of E. L. Burgoon. Later he sold his interest, for about two years was engaged in the coal business, and during the period of the World War was cashier of the Lyons Commercial Bank. Since leaving this bank he has resumed his residence in Wauseon. Mr. Knight has always been an. active supporter and a leader in the republican party in Fulton county, is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Eastern Star. June 18, 1895, in Richfield Township, Lucas county, he married Miss Etta Sanderson, a daughter of M. P. and Sarah Sanderson. She was educated in the public schools of Lucas county and in the Wauseon Normal. After the death of his first wife Mr. Knight married Florence Mary Meeker at Lyons on October 18, 1899.. She is the daughter of Walter S. and Rebecca L. Meeker. Mr. Knight has two children, Alice, born May 23, 1896, in Royalton Township ; and George Myron, born September 16, 1897. The son is now a student in the Ohio State University at Columbus. The daughter, Alice, is a graduate of the Wauseon High School, spent three years in Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and is now the wife of Ralph A. Howard, a Pike Township farmer. MARY AGNES HOWARD MCCLARREN, of Winameg, one of the associates and advisory editors of the History of Fulton County, belongs to one of the oldest and most prominent families in northwestern Ohio. Her father was the late Dresden Howard, who was descended from Thomas Howard of Scotch and English ancestry. He had an ordinary education in the schools of his' time, was a farmer in Yates county, New York, and during the war for independence served with the American colonists. Late. in life, in 1821, be came to the Maumee Valley of Ohio with his five sons, and died HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 553 in 1825. Thomas Howard married Elizabeth Armstrong, who was of Irish descent. She was born January 16, 1761, and was married in Mifflin, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1783. She died at Benton, Yates county, New York, September 17, 1810. One of their five sons was Edward Howard, who was born in Yates county, New York, November 10, 1787. In Yates county on December 31, 1816, he married Nancy Height, of Scotch-Irish stock. Edward Howard served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and grew up with only the ordinary education of his generation. He accompanied other members of the Howard family to northwestern Ohio in 1821 and settled at Grand Rapids in Wood county. He developed some land, was a practical farmer, and for many years as a hotel keeper had the only house of public entertainment between Toledo and Fort Wayne. He died in February, 1841. The late Dresden Winfield Huston Howard, son of Edward and Nancy (Haight) Howard and father of Mrs. McClarren, was born in Yates county, New York, November 3, 1817, and was three years of age when brought to northern Ohio, where for years he figured conspicuously in the development of that section from wilderness conditions. He knew the country when its principal inhabitants were Indians. He became adept in all the variations of a frontier existence, skilled in woodcraft, and inured to hardships and dangers. Many of the interesting incidents of his career are to be found in Howe's History of Ohio in Vol. I. He grew up with his father on the farm, and in boyhood the Indians were his associates and playmates. He had a great influence with the red men, and one of the first important missions he ever filled was in 1833, when at the age of sixteen he was appionted to assist the government forces in removing the Indians from northwestern Ohio. Subsequently he spent a number of years on the Upper Missouri River in the service of the government at Indian posts. On the death of his father in 1841 he returned to Ohio and the following year, December 2, 1842, at Monroe, Michigan, he married Mary Blackwood Copeland, a woman of strong character and unusual intelligence, of Scotch-Irish descent, who had all the courage and bravery required of the pioneer women of those days. She was born in Seneca county, New York, May 4, 1824, being the second daughter of William Copeland and Hannah Sterrett. In 1852 Dresden Howard and wife moved out to Allamakee county, Iowa, where as pioneers they established a new home. The inheritance in Ohio brought them back in 1852 and Dresden Howard was engaged in farming and wool growing and subsequently for many years filled a position of influence and leadership in his community. He held many offices and trusts and gave his assistance to numerous enterprises of a. business nature. During the Civil War he was appionted by Governor Dennison a member of the State Military Board, and was retained on that Board through the administrations of Governors Tod and Brough. He was one of the original republicans and long prominent in the party. He was elector from the Tenth Ohio District in 1860, and in that capacity helped choose Lincoln for the first term. Four years later he was a delegate at the Baltimore Convention which nominate Lincoln for a second term. 1878 he was elected a member of the State Board of Equalization and in the fall of 1871 was chosen to the State Senate, where he represented his constituents with a high degree of usefulness. He was president of the Toledo and Grand Rapids Railroad, an ambitious railway project which he hoped to 554 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY see built into the capital of Mexico. Altogether the late Dresden Howard was a man of strong character, broad-minded and benevolent toward all men. He sleeps with his beloved wife by his side beneath the great trees his hands planted. The rustling of the leaves, the song of the birds he loved are his requiem. Dresden Howard and wife had two children. The son, Oseola E. M., is now a resident of San Diego, California. The only daughter is Mary Agnes. Mary Agnes Howard was born February 17, 1861, graduated from the County High School, and has given her best years to the duties and responsibilities of a farmer,s wife. She and her husband live on the beautiful inherited Howard farm in Fulton county at Winameg. She was married in Winameg, April 27, 1893, to William Byron McClarren, second son of William and Rebecca Alwood McClarren, pioneers of Fulton county. Mrs. McClarren is a member of the Congregational Church, belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution, and in politics is a republican and through the privilege of woman's suffrage will give her vote to Warren G. Harding in November, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. McClarren are the parents of five children : Dresden William Howard, the oldest, was born May 5, 1895, graduated from high school, is a farmer by occupation, and was a soldier in the World War. December 25, 1919, he married Norma Whiteman. The second in the family, Mary Rebecca, was born May 7, 1897, after leaving high school finished her education in Wooster College, Ohio, and on December 5, 1917, became the wife of William F. Bruce, an agricultural teacher at Columbus. Robert Lowell McClarren, born February 7, 1899, graduated from high school, attended the Ohio State University, and was a member of the Students Army Training Corps, though much to his disappointment was never privileged to go to the front. Richard Monroe, the third son, was born December 3, 1900, and is now a student in the Ohio State University. Bruce Kenneth, the youngest, was born September 30, 1904, and is a pupil in the Wauseon High School. All the children were born on the old homestead at Winameg. WILLIAM O'NEIL. The name O'Neil at once suggests Ireland. While William O'Neil of Amboy was born May 11, 1872, in Royalton, his parents, Thomas and Mary (Brady) O,Neil, were Irish emigrants, they met and were married in Buffalo. Later they located on a farm in Royalton. She died there August 11, 1896, while he died in November, seven years later. Their children are: James, of Metamora; John, deceased; Thomas and Michael, of Amboy; Martin, of Royalton; William, who relates the family story ; and Maggie and Ella, who died in infancy. On February 9, 1893, William O,Neil was united in the holy, bonds of matrimony with Catherine Mossing. She was born November 20, 1873, in Germany. She is a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Gillan) Mossing, who emigrated to the United States when she was a babe and they located on a farm in Amboy. After their marriage William O,Neil purchased land in Royalton, but in April, 1903, he sold it and bought a farm. in Amboy. He has 120 acres of well improved land, although part of it was in the brush when he bought it. Mr. O'Neil built a house and added other improvements from time to time. He tiled and fenced the land and it is now practically HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY - 555 all under cultivation. He is the man to make two blades of grass grow where there was one. He is a democrat and a member of the Catholic Church in Caraghar, Ohio. The children are: Martin, of Royalton; John, of Royalton; Edward, Lawrence and Anna, at home. GEORGE REIGHARD, father of Mr. Frank Reighard, supervising editor of the Fulton County History, is a native son of Fulton county, born here nearly seventy-five years ago, and is still diong a day’s work in season on his farm in Swan Creek Township. He was born November 24, 1846, in York Township, son of Jacob and Rebecca (Crile) Reighard. His parents were Pennsylvanians and pioneer settlers of Fulton county. George Reighard attended the district schools and made good use of such advantages of learning as were available to a boy in Fulton county sixty years ago. He married when he was about twenty years of age and thereafter lived for some years with his parents. The first land he owned was forty acres, fifteen acres cleared and improved. Eventually he bought other land until his old homestead, known as the Maple Drive Farm, contains ninety-six acres, all under cultivation. .Mr. George Reighard lived there until the spring of 1909, when he turned the farm over to his daughter, Mrs: Roscoe Dunbar, and then moved to an adjoining place of twenty-five acres where he and his wife enjoy the comforts of a good home and the friendship and neighbors of 'their old community. April 9, 1866, Mr. Reighard married Elizabeth Elton, who was born in England, September 1, 1848. Her parents, Thomas and Jane (Young) Elton, came to this country in 1857, and for seven years lived on a. farm in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and then moved to Swan Creek Township in Fulton county. Her father first bought forty acres and later another forty acres, and died on the home farm in 1889. Mr. Reighard’s mother died in 1862. The oldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. George Reighard is Frank Reighard, of Wauseon. Adelbert, who died in the fall of 1909, left a wife and one daughter, Grace, of Delta. Sophia is Mrs. Delmore Gill of Swan Creek Township and has two daughters, Gertrude and Georgia. Royal, of Swan Creek Township, married Sophia de LaMar, and their family consists of Alfred and Orlyss. Bert, a resident of Swan Creek, married Maud Gill, and has three children, Clairmond, Mary and Marguerite. Florence is the wife of Roscoe Dunbar, now living on the old Reighard homestead, and their children are Adelbert, Dale, Glenn and Amy. George Reighard is a member of the Church to Come and Church of Abrahamic Faith. He is now health officer in his township and in former years held positions of trustee and school director. He is a republican voter. He has lived his whole life within a mile and a half of his birthplace. FRANK H. REIGHARD, editor of the Wauseon "Republican," and of this historical work, was born near Delta, in .Swan Creek Township, October 8, 1867. In his youth, he attended the country schools of Swan Creek Township, and when sixteen years old entered the Fayette Normal University, at Fayette, Gorham Township. He was only seventeen year old when he entered professional life, in 1885, becoming a 556 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY teacher in one of the district schools of Swan Creek. The next ten years were busy ones for him, but, withal, happily passed. Notwithstanding that that decade of his life was probably the most strenuous, in mental strain, and contained little of what are generally looked upon as the pleasures of life, Mr. Reighard looks back upon that period as among his happiest. The years were filled with accomplishment; were passed in the development of a definite purpose, pursued to consummation. When, at seventeen, he began to teach, he had resolved to properly fit himself for his profession by taking a college course, and had resolved to do so upon his own resources. He could count upon only one financial resource—his slender earnings as a school teacher; but the fact that he graduated seven years later, from the Ohio Northern University, at Ada., .Ohio, and, later, spent two years at the University of Wooster, Ohio, gives some indication of his strength of purpose. His plan, indeed his necessity, during these years was to keep "digging in" at teaching (and incidentally when at home, to give his father what help he could in the working of the home farm), and with the proceeds of his term of teaching cover the cost of a period at college. When funds were exhausted, he would return home ; would resume teaching again for a while; and then, with replenished exchequer, would again take up the college course. So, the years passed, something being accomplished each year. Mr. Reighard feels that to his good right-thinking and simple-living mother he owes his ability to pursue the right purpose through, despite discouragements and temptations, to the end he and she had planned. Her love and care, in moulding his thoughts through the period when a boy is most susceptible to good or evil, developed in him the strength he needed to successfully adhere to the, at times uninviting, purpose during the ten years from 1885. The possession of a good mother is the greatest blessing a spirited boy could have. In 1894, Mr. Reighard married Florence W. Tischer, of Wauseon. Two children have been born to them: Helen, in 1898, she, however, dying in infancy; and Frank, Jr., who was born in 1907. Mrs. Reighard was born in Medina county, Ohio, in 1867. She came to Wauseon in 1876, with her parents, William and Helen (Holb) Tischer, who were quiet, careful, hard-working people, of German antecedents, and at their decease, Mrs. Reighard inherited some property they had acquired in Wauseon during their residence in it. Mrs. Reighard received the greater part of her education in Wauseon schools, eventually graduating from the High School. She takes good part in many of the public activities of Wauseon, and belongs to several women,s organizations, including the Eastern Star, of the Masonic Order, and the Women,s and Shakespeare Clubs, of Wauseon. She is also secretary of the Women's Republican Association of Wauseon. In 1895 Mr. Reighard was prevailed upon to stand for election to county office. He became county surveyor in that year, and was re-elected, serving until August, 1902. On January 1, 1903, he entered the newspaper field, becoming editor and publisher of the Fulton County "Tribune." His service to the people of the county, in this capacity, brought him election to the State Legislature, in 1912. He was State Representative for Fulton county for three successive terms, which by the way is noteworthy, for no other Fulton county man has had three successive terms, as representative. HISTORY OF FULTON. COUNTY - 557 His legislative record, also, has creditable place in state annals. Especially as chairman of the House. Finance Committee; were his services of value to the state. In addition, while a legislator, he was a member of the State Emergency and Controlling Boards, in 1915 and 1917 ; and in the later year Was selected as Republican Floor Leader of the House of Representatives, a clear indication of his standing and popularity among his fellow legislators. In 1917 he purchased the Wauseon "Republican," to the building up of which he has since applied himself, with marked success. Asa circulation builder he seems particularly gifted, that result coming mainly from his instinctive, almost sub-conscious. realization that the newspaper belongs to the people, and that it is his duty to convey to the people all the news that assiduous attention to its gathering and preparation will enable. him to provide. His writings have also carried the impression that he is sincerely one of the people, and that he has, in particular, a .lasting respect for all those of the early residents who have had part in the pioneer work within Fulton 'county. During the World War, the pages of his newspaper were ever at the disposal of all workers in the great national effort; he endeavored to do justly by the boys who went away. and, in their absence, to further all helpful war purposes; he. gave much of his time to executive work in connection with the various war activities; was secretary of the Y. M. C. A. Campaign Fund, in 1918 was member of the county executive of the Liberty Loan Committee,. and member of the executive committees of the County War Chest and Red Cross bodies. He is affiliated with several fraternal orders. including the Masonic, York and Scottish rites, the Knights of Pythias, and Odd-' fellows. Mr. Reighard has a host of friends, Which possession testi- fies to his general character. Friendship is short-lived if it is not reciprocal; a selfish man, even though brilliant, will be able to count few his genuine friends. The writer has hot known Mr. Reighard long, but believes he has rightly read his character. In any case, Mr. Reighard's public record is, in itself, ample to indicate that he has served his home county well. No laudatory remarks are necessary. As before stated, his happiest recollection is of his ten years as teacher; he is gratified to realize how successful in life many Fulton county men, who once were his pupils, have been-. And he hopes, as the .years pass, to be able to look back upon this present county labor of his—the editing of this historical work—as not the least worthy of his efforts for the people of the county. He has given close attention and care to the editing, and knows that he is placing into permanent county record, in a medium. readily accessible to the people, much valuable and hitherto unrecorded data of historical import 'to. the present generation. and to the posterity of Fulton county. JACOB BECHSTEIN. Having spent all of his mature years in general farming and stock raising industries, Jacob Bechstein of Sway, Creek Township is an authority on agricultural matters. He .was born in his 'present township in October, 1872, a son of Jacob and Anna (Goodloch.) Bechstein. natives of Germany, who came at different times, to the United States and located in Erie county, Ohio, where they became acquainted and were married. In 1.856 they came to Fulton county and bought eighty acres of unimproved 558 - HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY timberland in Swan Creek Township, which they developed into a valuable farm, and also became the owners of another eighty-acre farm. Their children were as follows: Henry, who is a farmer of Swan Creek Township; 'Ida, who is Mrs. John Reiber of Wood county, Ohio; Mary, who is Mrs. John Evans of Swan Creek Township; John, who is a resident of Delta, Ohio; Anna, who is Mrs. Henry Wenig of Wood county, Ohio; Lucy, who is Mrs. Edward Smith of Wood county. Ohio; Jacob. whose name heads this review; and Altha, who is Mrs. Martin Andrews. of Swan Creek Township. Growing up in his native township, Jacob Bechstein learned to be a practical farmer while he was attending the district schools and in them securing a knowledge of the fundamentals of an education. In October, 1897, he was married to Clara Havens, born in Pike Township, a daughter of George and Amelia (Steadman) Havens, natives of New York and Amboy Township, Fulton county. Her grandparents, Alva and Thankful (Rogers). Steadman, were early settlers of Amboy Township. For thirteen years after his marriage Mr. Bechstein conducted .his father's farm, and then 'bought 110 acres of section 5, Swan Creek Township, of which sixty acres are under cultivation, the balance being in pasture and woodland: Here he is carrying on a general farming and stockraising business and is making a success of his undertaking. Mr. and Mrs. Bechstein have had the following children born to them: Marion J., who is a resident of Fulton county; and Henry, George Herbert, Earl V., Gertrude Margaret and Neola Fern, all of whom are at home. In politics Mr. Bechstein is a strong democrat. He is an attendant on the services of the Christian Union church, of his neighborhood, but is not a member of any religious body. A hard working man, he has steadily advanced through his own efforts and deserves his present measure of prosperity.