1600 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO plantation engine to the largest freight and passenger locomotives. It also manufactures the Lima steam-storage locomotive, adapted for use around industrial plants and mills where absolute safety as to fire is desired, and also the special Shay geared locomotive which long ago demonstrated its adaptability as a mountain climber and for steep grades and sharp curves. The company has the distinction of having brought out the first practical American design of the fireless engine, known as the steam-storage locomotive, which has no firebox,. but has its tank charged with steam from a central generating station, operating. under low pressure, and capable of working one charge from two to ten hours. William Tell Agerter was one of the oldest officials connected with this conspicuous industrial organization of Northern Ohio, but disposed of his interest in the company in December, 1915. He was born October 16, 1859, in Wyandotte County, Ohio, a son of John and Dorothy E. (Hottle) Agerter. His father was a civil engineer and the son probably inherited some of his mechanical talent. He acquired a public school education at Upper Sandusky and from a business college and in January, 1881, came to Lima and became a bookkeeper with the Lima Machine Works, a corporation which at that time was building the original type of logging locomotives. In 1884 he became secretary and treasurer of the Lima Locomotive Works, as then reorganized, and was made secretary and treasurer when the company's name was changed to the Lima Locomotive Corporation. Mr. Agerter is also a director of the old National Bank, is president of the Woodland Cemetery, is a director in the Citizens Loan & Building Association, and is president of the A-C-W Realty Company. For a number of years he served as a member of the Lima Board of Education, and was one of the original members of the old Lima Progressive Association, now the Chamber of Commerce. He also belongs to the Lima and Shawnee clubs, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Agerter married Carlotta Disman. Her father, George W. Disman, was one of Lima's pioneers, in the iron and machinery industry, and was prominently identified with the original Lima Machine Works. To their marriage have been born two children : Rose E. and William Tell, Jr. JOHN WILBUR ROBY is not only a man of high social standing and literary attainments but a lawyer of sound judgment and. breadth of view. Since 1895 he has practiced at the Lima bar with much success and honor to himself and his profession and his high standing in the estimation of his fellow-practitioners is indicated by the fact that for the past ten years he has been president of the Allen County Bar Association. Mr. Roby was born at Delphos, Allen County, Ohio, January 8, 1868, and is a son of John and Martha M. (Searing) Roby. His father, also a native of this state, was for many years engaged in the hotel business and conducted a hostelry for some years at Delphos. In the public schools of that city John W. Roby laid the foundation for his education, and subsequently entered Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was graduated in 1890. He next became a student in the law department of Yale University, and when graduated, in 1894, had earned the reputation of being what students are pleased to admiringly call a typical "all-around university man." In 1895 Mr. Roby established himself in practice at Lima, and here has become known as an attorney of pronounced character, whether considered from the standpoint of his professional attainments or from the viewpoint of progressive citizenship. Having won the confidence and esteem of his professional brethren, in 1905 he was elected president of the Allen County Bar Association, an office in which he has since continued to serve to the great good of that organization. He has always been ready to give full measure of his strength to public and charitable movements which his good judgment approves. Since its organization, in 1902, he has been chairman of the board of trustees of the Lima Public Library. A thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner, he is past eminent commander of Shawnee Commandery, Knights Templar, and is widely and favorably known in Masonic circles, while his connection with club life is extensive and includes membership in Shawnee Country Club and the Lima Club, of which, latter he is a member of the board of trustees. He is also senior warden of Christ Episcopal Church at Lima. Mr. Roby has always been a close student and lover of literature and is the possessor of a large and valuable library. On June 2, 1896, Mr. Roby was married at Delaware, Ohio, to Miss Evelyn Curran, of that city, daughter of Capt. J. F. and Mary HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1601 (Gavitt) Curran, Captain Curran being widely known in insurance circles. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roby : Mary Katherine, who is attending Ohio Wesleyan College ; Martha Curran, who is a student at the Lima High School ; and Annette Elizabeth. WARREN JOHN MCLAUGHLIN. During his ten or twelve years membership in the Allen County Bar, Warren J. McLaughlin has been known not only for his solid ability as an attorney, but also for his active participation in important business affairs and in public life. He is also a prominent athlete, and is well known particularly for being the holder of the Ohio. State tennis championship for five years. He was born at Oil City, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1879, a son of Thomas A. and Ellen (Gray) McLaughlin. His father has been a prominent oil man and had the distinction of being the first president of the first Oil Exchange in the United States. He came to Lima in 1886 as representative of the Standard Oil interests in that city. Mr. McLaughlin was liberally educated. His alma mater is Hamilton College in New York, from which he received the !degrees A. B. and A. M., and in 1904 he graduated in law from Columbia University. Since then he has been in active practice at Lima and is a member of the Allen County Bar Association. He is also secretary and treasurer of the R. L. Graham Company. A democrat in polities, he has taken much part and is ex-chief deputy of the Democratic Party County Board. During 1909-1911 he served as city solicitor, is now chairman of the Democratic Central Committee, and in January, 1917, was appointed special council and attorney general with offices at Lima; Ohio. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, with the Masonic Lodge, Council and Chapter, with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Tribe of Ben Hur, is a member of the Lima Club, the Shawnee Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, is a director in the Young Men 's Christian Association, and is a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church. On November 12, 1507, he married Miss Edith King, of Buffalo, New York. They have one daughter, Nancy. CLOYD JACOBS BROTHERTON. Among the professions there is none perhaps which requires a greater volume of study along frequently monotonous lines than that of the law. The physician has the opportunity to become absorbed in scientific discovery and research at the very outset of his reading; the minister starts his work with mind illuminated and heart fired with zeal ; but the stern facts of the law that have to be learned by themselves and so assimilated that the understanding is quickened into the comprehension that may later be drawn upon, have very often discouraged the student even before he is well settled in his work, and resulted in turning to some easier calling. This, however, has not been the experience . of Hon. Cloyd Jacobs Brotherton, a member of the Lima Bar for twenty-two years. Possessed of zeal and devotion, every phase and department of his profession has interested him, and his strong, clear intellect has enabled him to readily grasp the principles, precedents and complexities of litigation and jurisprudence. His eminent place in the confidence of his fellow-citizens was recently demonstrated by his election to the Ohio Legislature. Mr. Brotherton was born at Lima, Ohio, May 22, 1869, and is a son of John Finley and Clara (Jacobs) Brotherton, his father having been for many years a well known attorney of this city. Cloyd J. Brotherton received his early education in the public schools, following which he attended Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, and was graduated in 1891, and was then sent to Harvard, where he pursued a classical course for one year, and in 1892 received the A. B. degree at Harvard. In 1892 he was enrolled as a student at the Cincinnati College of Law, being given his degree of Bachelor of Laws from that institution in 1893, and at once opened an office at Lima, where he has carried on a general practice. This has been of a very important character, for large litigated interests are never placed in unskilled hands. His marked ability is recognized by the public and the profession, and is the outcome of close study, thorough preparation of his cases, keen analysis of the facts and a logical application of the law that bears upon them. He is a member of the Allen County Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association and the Allen County Law Library Association and in the last-named holds a life membership. Fraternally he is identified with the Lima lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. In 1914 Mr. Brotherton was elected to the Eighty-First General Assembly of Ohio, in which body he 1602 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO has become known as an energetic and working member. Mr. Brotherton was married to Miss Bertha G. Paden, of Lima, and both are well and favorably known in social circles of the city. Mr. Brotherton is also a member of the Harvard Club, bf Toledo. DAVIS J. CABLE, born August 11, 1859, in Wiltshire Township, Van Wert County, Ohio. Graduated from Van Wert High School in 1878. Taught school and prepared for college. Entered the University of Michigan Law Department in the fall of 1879, and from which he received his degree as Bachelor of Law. Was admitted to the bar of Ohio October 4, 1881, and began the practice of law in the City of Lima, Ohio, where he has continued ever since. He is considered a successful lawyer and has not allowed other matters in which he became interested to interfere with the activities in this profession. He resides upon a farm about three miles from the courthouse and has been interested in the improvement of agriculture and live stock in his community. Mr. Cable's father, John I. Cable, and his mother, Angie R. (Johnson) Cable, are still living. His father is a Civil war veteran, and was formerly a newspaper man and the son of Joseph Cable, who was born in Ohio prior to its admission to the Union and was prominent in his day as lawyer, judge and member of Congress, and while there introduced the first homestead bill. He was editor of the first newspaper published at New Lisbon, Columbiana County. On the maternal side, Mr. Cable's grandfather, Davis Johnson, was one of the first pioneers of Van Wert County, who, as a young civil engineer, settled in the county when it was a wilderness and made original survey of most of the land in that county, also held offices, such as county surveyor, auditor and treasurer. Davis J. Cable was, soon after his admission to the bar, elected city solicitor of Lima. His practice has covered a wide range, both in the state and federal courts in Ohio and in other states and has taken him to Europe and a number of times to the City of Mexico. He has an excellent record as a trial lawyer. Outside of his practice he has engaged in the development of the local telephone plant at Lima, of which he was one of the organizers and of which he is president. The telephone company_ has grown from a small beginning into a large company and in 1912 purchased the plant of the Bell Company. It is considered the last word in telephone development, the company having adopted auto-manual equipment and has in operation more than 8,500 telephones, fireproof building, conduit system and capital between $900,000 and $1,000,000. He was one of the organizers of The Lima Trust Company and the first president of the company and this is now one of the largest banking institutions in Northwestern Ohio. Mr. Cable entered actively into the plan of making Lima a center for interurban railroads and started the building of the lines between Lima and Fort Wayne and Lima and Toledo, which were afterwards constructed, leased or sold to the present company operating the same, The Ohio Electric Railway Company, and Mr. Cable has continued of counsel for said company. Mr. Cable was one of the organizers of the Masonic Hall Company and its president for four years, during which time the company erected the beautiful Masonic Building at the southwest corner of High and Elizabeth streets. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, Shriner, belongs to the Lima Club, the Rotary Club, Lima Chamber of Commerce, the Athletic Club of Columbus and The Toledo Club, also is a member of The Allen County Bar Association, Ohio State Bar Association and The American Bar Association. He is a republican in politics, but has never held any office except that of city solicitor, soon after his admission to the bar. In 1882 he married Miss Mary A. Harnly. To their marriage were born six children, John L., of whom mention is found on another page of this work, is an attorney. He is associated with his father in the practice of law and in 1916 was elected prosecuting attorney of Allen County. Davis A. Cable, a mechanical engineer, is a graduate of the Case Polytechnic School at Cleveland, from which he received also, three years after his graduation, the master's degree. He is general superintendent of The United States Tile Company, with plants located at East Sparta, Ohio, and Parkersburg, West Virginia. Chester Morse Cable, an attorney, is junior member of the firm of Cable & Cable. Jo Harnly Cable is a student at Cornell University, Miss Ethel R. is engaged in Young Women's Christian Association work in New York and Miss Marion Ruth is still at home attending the Lima High School. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1603 JOHN L. CABLE, member of the law firm of Cable & Cable, was born April 15, 1884, a son of Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Cable. He is a graduate of Kenyon College and the George Washington University Law School and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1908. He was elected prosecuting attorney of Allen County on November 7, 1916. Mr. Cable is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On December 9, 1910, John L. Cable married Miss Rhea Watson. Their two children are Alice Mary and Davis Watson. JOHN G. NEUBAUER. One of the oldest industrial institutions, the direct outgrowth of the discovery of oil in the Lima district, is the Solar Refining Company of Lima. Eighteen months after the first wells were brought in the Lima district, the company was incorporated, in December, 1886, with a capitalization of $500,000. If all the details were covered, a long history might be written of this establishment. At first it covered only a few acres of ground, while now fully 278 acres are used for the great refineries, storage facilities and the yards and buildings required by the intricate process of refining petroleum. There are now from 600 to 650 men employed in the business, and the business has a capacity for refining 6,000 barrels a day. In the meantime the capital has grown to $2,000,000. The company has storage capacity for 500,000 barrels, and its principal products of manufacture are illuminating oil, gasoline, lubricating oil, and fuel and gas oil. The principal officers of the Solar Refining Company, which is easily one of the foremost industries of Northwestern Ohio, are J. G. Neubauer, president ; F. T. Cuthbert, first vice president ; F. G. Borges, second vice president and treasurer ; and N. D. Keys, secretary. From the very first, since September, 1886, John G. Neubauer has been identified with this monumental concern, having gone into the company as cashier. From that he was made auditor, then assistant manager, was promoted to general manager, and on December 21, 1911, was made president of the company. He was born in Schenectady, New York, had a grammar and high school education, and for four years was an art student in New York City. He then became connected with the Standard Oil Company as mechanical engineer, served four years in the clerical department, and soon after the discovery of oil at Lima he came to the new district and assisted in erecting the plant, the nucleus of the present Solar Refining Company 's operations at Lima. Mr. Neubauer married Miss Elizabeth A. Woodill of New York. He is an 'active member of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, and belongs to the Lima Club and the Shawnee Country Club. He is a republican and both he and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church. WILLIAM EDGAR HOVER, M. D. One of the oldest physicians in continuous practice at Lima is Doctor Hover, who is a native of that 'city. His father was a farmer. For more than thirty years Doctor Hover has devoted himself unremittingly and unselfishly to the interests of a large private practice, and is a man highly esteemed by his professional brethren. He was born in Lima September 15, 1857, a son of Dr. William U. and Mary Jane Hover, and grew up in his native town and acquired an education in the grammar and high schools. He then entered Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, where he was graduated in 1884, and he took his M. D. degree at the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati in 1888. He at once returned to Lima and has been engaged in general practice ever since. Doctor Hover is a member of the Allen County and Ohio State Medical societies, the Northwest Ohio Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In 1900 he married Miss Evelyn Myers of Cincinnati, Ohio. WALTER RAYMOND TOY, county highway superintendent and surveyor of Allen County, has had a long and varied experience in engineering and construction work, for several years he was in the service of the City of Lima, as draftsman, assistant and city engineer, and has been connected with a number of large corporations and industrial organizations both in Ohio and elsewhere. He educated himself for the profession, and his success has largely been due to the energy with which he has prosecuted every undertaking. He was born near Groveport, in Franklin County, Ohio, August 18, 1874, a son of Nathan P. and Rosa M. (Champe) Toy. Both parents were natives of Franklin County, Ohio, and his father was a farmer. Reared on a farm, Mr. Toy attended the public schools, and afterwards completed a course in engineering through the International Correspondence School. He has been a 1604 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO resident of Allen County since 1877, and moved with his parents from the Allen County Children's Home to Lima in 1888, and worked during the, summer vacations for the Lima Paper Mills, Hefner Box Factory, Banta's Candy Factory, Metropolitan Block elevator boy, Republican Gazette, Dr. A. Jones and Dr. J. M. Chase, Dentists. In 1892 through the friendship of E. L. Andrews and Wm. DeWeese, he was selected from a number of applicants for the position of tracer and blue printer. for J. A. Chapin, architect, who was located on the third floor of the Thompson Building, in the northwest corner of the public square. Having taken up the study of music he became a member of the Lima City Band, under the direction of H. E. Snow. He was active at this time in organizing the Second Regiment Bugle and Drum Corps, also with the help of Dr. S. A. Baxter and others he organized the Kid Band of Lima, Ohio. In 1893 he secured a position as draftsman with the Solar Refining Company, and in 1894-95 with J. A. Chapin again ; in 1895-96 with the Lima Locomotive and Machine Company; in 1897 he started as draftsman and material tester for the city engineer, L. F. Prevost ; in 1899 he was appointed assistant engineer under R. H. Gamble ; in 1902 he was appointed city engineer by the council to fill the unexpired term of L. F. Prevost deceased. In 1903 Mr Toy was elected city engineer and served until the new municipal code went into effect and made the office of city engineer appointive. In 1904 Mr. Toy had charge of a party that surveyed the Licking Reservoir (Buckeye Lake) for the State of Ohio. In 1905 he was employed by J. D. S. Neely to survey and plat the Sugar Grove Gas Field and Pipe Line, from Union Station to Lima, a distance of 120 miles. In 1905-06 he was engaged in contract work under Clinton Cowen at Cheviot and Wyoming near Cincinnati and Melrose, Ohio. In 1907-08 Mr. Toy was employed as field and constructing engineer for the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railway Company at Birmingham, Alabama, erecting open hearth furnaces, gas producers, building foundations, stacks, tunnel and sewer construction. In 1909 he prepared a large detail tax map in book form of Lima and vicinity, on a large scale for Allen County and the City of Lima. In 1910-11 was appointed assistant city engineer by .Mayor George Dyer and service director by J. W. Rowlands. In 1912-13 was associated with Geo. Champe, consulting engineer of Toledo, on street improvements in Maumee and Perrysburg, Ohio. In 1913 associated with Walter S. Sherman, consulting engineer of Toledo, Ohio, on the Ottawa River Flood Improvement Survey for Lima. In 1913-14 was selected by the town council of Spencerville, Ohio, to prepare plans and specifications and superintend the construction of one mile of brick paving through the village on Broadway. In 1914-15 engaged on street improvement contract work in Lima. Elected county surveyor on the republican ticket in November, 1914, and assumed the duties of the office September 6, 1915, being, the first Allen County highway superintendent under the Cass Highway Act for the State of Ohio. Mr. Toy while actively engaged in engineering and construction work, has given much time and attention to Oil and Gas Field Map Publishing Business. He was instrumental in organizing the Lima Merchants Band. in 1904-, 05, under the direction of 0. R. Farrar, and the Lima Philharmonic Orchestra. In 190506 under the direction of 0. F. Shultz, these organizations were too large and not properly financed to live long, but contributed to putting Lima on the map. Mr. Toy was a member of the Faurot Opera House Orchestra for several years and played cornet under the leadership of Frank Griffin and E. H. Frey. Mr. Toy is a member of the Ohio Engineering Society, Northwestern Ohio Surveyor's Association, Ohio Good Roads Federation, Local No. 320 American Federation of Musicians, which was organized through his efforts in 1910, Lima Lodge No. 91 of the Knights of Pythias, also Lima Lodge No. 54 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Young Men's Christian Association, and the First Presbyterian Church of Lima. In 1894 he was married at Lima to Miss Amelia L. Mack. They have two children, Miles Nathan and Juanita Wilhelmina. JOHN BEECHER SAWMILLER. Representing one of the oldest and most substantial families of German Township of Allen County, John B. Sawmiller has for a number of years been a factor in business affairs at Elida. In partnership with Dr. G. L. Brunk Mr. Sawmiller is now proprietor of the Elida Elevator Company. This business was established in 1910, and under the present organization it is supplying a splendid service to the village and surrounding community. The company HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1605 is a partnership affair. It operates a feed mill with large capacity and the company also handles and deals in flour, feed, tile, wire and cement. John Beecher Sawmiller was born in Amanda Township of Allen County, Ohio, March 8, 1873, a son of Isaac and Margaret (Herring) Sawmiller. Grandfather Jacob Sawmiller established his home in Allen County when it was practically a wilderness and bore his share in the heavy work of pioneering. The Herrings were also early settlers. Isaac Sawmiller was born in Allen County and spent his active career as a farmer. Mr. J. B. Sawmiller received a public school education and took up farming as his active pursuit. During 1895-96 he was in the oil fields, and for three years he was engaged in the dairy business at Lima. Following that he resumed farming, and in 1910 with others he bought the Elida Elevator Company and is now giving most of his time to the management and operation of that business institution. Mr. Sawmiller also operates a farm of sixty-two acres near Elida. For two terms he served as a member of the Council of Elida, and for four years filled the office of township trustee. He is a democrat, and is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On February 14, 1893, he married Miss Emma Davidson of Amanda Township, Allen County. They have two children, Frederick Jennings and Margaret Adaline. JUDGE WILLIS W. BOWERS. A resident of Hardin County for more than twenty-two years, Judge Bowers made a business record which commended him to the confidence of the public, and in 1908 he had the distinction of being elected to the office of probate judge, and was the youngest man at the time ever to hold the office. He has been continued in the office by subsequent re-election, and has given a very careful and conscientious administration of the many delicate and important duties involved in his jurisdiction. While not a lawyer by profession he has the judicial temperament, and that, with a broad knowledge of humanity and a thorough business experience, is the essential qualifications for such an office as probate judge. He was appointed juvenile judge by the Common Pleas Judges of the district, and opened this court for the young juveniles. He tried to assist the young offenders in making good, Vol. III—18 and gave them every opportunity possible to grow up in good home surroundings under the supervision of the probation officers, rather than commit them to some institution. In this he was very successful, and received the approval of several clubs and citizens interested in children's welfare. He was elected probate judge in 1908 as the democratic nominee, and overcame a normal republican majority. He took his seat on the probate bench February 9, 1909, and in 1912 had the honor of being re-elected, on a non-partisan ballot, receiving the highest number of votes received by any of the candidates in the county, and began his second term, on February 9, 1913, which terminated February 8, 1917. Judge Bowers was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1874, a son of George D. and Caroline (Hertzog) Bowers. His maternal grandparents were Andrew and Susan Hertzog of Pennsylvania. George D. Bowers for a number of years has been a resident of Missouri. Willis W. Bowers was fourteen years of age when his mother died in 1887 and he grew up on the home of his paternal grandparents Joseph and Julia Bowers. Besides the advantages of the public schools he attended the State Normal School at California, Pennsylvania, and that noted Ohio institution, Hiram College in Portage County. He was twenty-one years of age when he came to Hardin County, and his first enterprise here was as an onion grower. He gradually developed that business and became an extensive buyer and shipper. His shipments of onions out of Hardin County have aggregated as high as 300 carloads in a single year. Judge Bowers is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter, the Council and the Knight Templar Commandery, and belongs to the Toledo Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is vice president and a director of the Hardin County Athletic Association, is an elder in the Church of Christ, and is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the United Commercial Travelers. On July 8, 1896, Judge Bowers married Miss B. Hazel Hogan, a daughter of John and Sarah (Clark) Hogan former residents of Hardin County. To their union have been born four children. John Furman, Oliver 1606 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Clark, George Joseph and Willis W., Jr. The youngest son was born December 3, 1913. EMMETT W. MUMAUGH. As a building contractor probably no individual in Allen County has a better reputation nor a longer list of important achievements in construction work than Emmett W. Mumaugh of Lima. He is a practical carpenter and mechanic and has been identified with one line of constructive enterprise or another for more than thirty years. To a man who is proud of his work and aims to do the highest type of building service, there are few lines of Material efforts more satisfying than that of the building trade, since the accomplishments stand out for years in evidence of the thoroughness and care taken in performing the contract. Some of the monuments to Mr. Mumaugh's constructive enterprise may be mentioned in the Majestic Block and the Rhody Building, the Smith and Kyle Block, and many private residences and other structures in Lima. Emmett W. Mumaugh was born in Bath Township of Allen County, Ohio, February 18, 1863, a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Chenoweth) Mumaugh. His father was born in Fairfield County, and his mother in Allen County, and his father was a substantial farmer in the vicinity of Lima. The son acquired a public school education, and after reaching manhood he learned the carpenter's trade, and developed that eventually into the contracting business. For two years he was connected with the Lima Construction Works and for three years was a worker in the oil fields. He then became connected with the Lima Planing Mill and remained with that business for seventeen years, most of the time as superintendent. In 1912, Mr. Mumaugh set up as a general contractor, and has had all the business he could well attend to and one that has made it necessary for him to maintain a large equipment and force of workmen and involving a considerable capital. He is a director of the Lima Builders Exchange. At the age of eighteen Mr. Mumaugh married Dora Reese of Allen County. Mrs Mumaugh is a director in the Effinger Electric Company. They are the parents of nine children : Flora, now Mrs. `Otto McClain of Chicago ; Zoe, Mrs. Frank Parker of Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Minnie, Mrs. Ralph Heffner of Lima ; and Grace, Mrs. Rollie Blaine of Alliance, Ohio; Hobart, an architect at Lima ; Mildred, Mable, Evan and Donald. Mr. Mumaugh is a past noble grand and chief patriarch in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and served as representative to the Grand Lodge three terms. He has been a loyal and public spirited citizen and for three years he served as a member of the board of trustees for the sinking fund of the city. HIRAM A. HOLDRIDGE. Lima has long been one of the important industrial centers of Northwestern Ohio. During the past fifteen or sixteen years an important factor in this growing reputation of the city has been the Model Flouring Mills, operated by the Hiram A. Holdridge Company. In equipment and quality of output these mills rank with the best to be found anywhere in the state. They are located on Central Avenue at the east end of Spring Street, with ample railroad connections from the Lake Erie & Western and the C. H. & D. roads. The flour manufactured by the Model Mills under several well known brands has become a standard household supply, not only in Lima but all over Northwestern Ohio. The original capacity of the mills was 200 barrels per day and it has since been increased to 250 barrels. The business took its beginning on November 7, 1899, with the organization of the Hall & Woods Company at a capitalization of $30,000. The incorporators were J. H. Woods, J. B. Kerr, William Roberts, F. W. Holmes, I. W. Sattherwaite, J. 0. Hover, Thomas Duffield, H. A. Holdridge. H. A. Holdridge was the first president and S. B. Douglas the first secretary and treasurer, while the first board of directors comprised J. B. Kerr, J. 0. Hover, William Roberts, Thomas Duffield, H. A. Hoidridge, I. W. Sattherwaite and F. W. Holmes. On April 1, 1901, the capital was increased to $60,000, at which figure it has remained. On July 19, 1907, W. E. Euller, formerly manager of the Bluffton Milling Company, was elected to succeed S. B. Douglas as secretary and treasurer. On January 25, 1909, the name was changed to the Hiram A. Holdridge Company. The next important change was on January 20, 1911, when W. H. Euller resigned as secretary and treasurer and was succeeded by W. R. Holdridge, who is also manager of the mills. The present board of directors are J. B. Kerr, F. W. Holmes, J. 0. Hover, T. H. Duffield, Mrs. K. L. Hall of Wapakoneta, H. A. Holdridge as president and W. R. Holdridge secretary and treasurer. Hiram A. Hoidridge was born July 24, 1840, at Martinsburg in Knox County, Ohio, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1607 and spent most of his youth in his father's home at Sandusky Plains. At the age of eighteen he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and was a student there when the war broke out. He left school to enlist and became a member of the Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was afterwards appointed to a place in the provost marshal's office of the Fifth Congressional District located at Lima, but after one year re-enlisted, becoming first lieutenant of Company I, One Hundred and Ninety-second Regiment of Ohio Infantry. He was on detached duty, serving as aide de camp to the general commanding the brigade, and afterwards as inspector-general and still later as adjutant-general of the brigade. When he was mustered out at Winchester, Virginia, it was with the rank of acting assistant adjutant-general of his brigade. After the war he became associated with his father in the mercantile business, then removed to Pittsburg where for two years he was a livestock commission merchant, and still later conducted a commission business and also a hotel in Philadelphia, having been in the hotel business there during the Centennial Exposition of 1876. Mr. Holdridge came to Lima in 1880, and for three years was a wholesale merchant. He was one of the local capitalists who became identified with the oil industry in this section of the state, but for many years has been identified with milling and varied business affairs. He is a former president of the Northwest Ohio Millers Association, and a. director of the Old National Rank. He is also a member of the Rotary Club, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and belongs to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. In September, 1869, he married Lenore Roberts. Four children were born to their marriage, Mary Alice, W. R., Margaret and. Louise. W. Robert Holdridge, one of these four children, was born at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, but has lived in Lima since 1880. He acquired a public school education and for a time had some interesting experience in the mining industry at Johannesburg in South Africa. Since 1908 he has been identified with the Model Mills and since 1911 as secretary, treasurer and manager. He hs a great traveler and has made extensive tours in various parts of the world, particularly in South Africa and Australia. On September 25, 1915, W. R. Holdridge married Helen Beckman of Allen County. CARL FRED KELLERMAN. Since 1907 Mr. Kellerman has been building up a business at Lima which has come more and more to the favorable attention of the public, and is one of the progressive young commercial leaders of that city. His business is chiefly in the selling of farm land and the negotiating of farm loans, and the annual increase of the volume of business done through his office is a substantial evidence of his individual character and energy in business affairs. Born near St. Mary's in Auglaize County, Ohio, April 17, 1880, Carl Fred Kellerman is a son of Henry W. and Elizabeth (Boyd) Kellerman. His father has for a number of years been a contractor in the drilling of oil wells. The son received an education in the public schools, and spent his early life as a farmer. In 1905 he engaged in the insurance business, which he followed for two years, and then branched out into his larger field in the farm land and farm loan business. Mr. Kellerman is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Lodge No. 1170 at Wapakoneta, Ohio, is a member of the Lima Club and of the Lima Chamber of Commerce. REV. E. A. TRABERT. One of the largest and most prosperous congregations at Lima is St. Paul's English Lutheran Church, of which Rev. Mr. Trabert has been pastor since 1915. Mr. Trabert comes of a long line of Lutheran ministers, his father was distinguished as an organizer of the English Lutheran churches all over the West, and his own experience has covered a wide field both East and West. He was born at Ephrata in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1872, a son of Rev. George H. and Elizabeth M. (Minnich) Trabert. The paternal grandfather Christian F. Trabert was a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1820, and followed the trade of shoemaker. Mr. Trabert 's maternal grandfather Henry M. Minnich was a native of Pennsylvania and lived in Adams County that state. Through his maternal great-grandmother Mr. Trabert is lineally connected with the Hartman family, which furnished gallant soldiers to the Revolution.. ary struggle. The Hartmans came to the United States during the seventeenth century. Rev. George H. Trabert was born in Lancaster County, and Elizabeth Trabert in Adams County, Pennsylvania, in the same 1608 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO year, 1843. They now reside in Minneapolis. They were married in Pennsylvania, and he was ordained to the ministry in 1870. In 1882 ne was assigned to organization and missionary work in the West, and instituted many of the largest English Lutheran churches in the country west of Chicago. His' work as an organizer was done in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. He is now the active pastor of the Salem English Lutheran Church at Minneapolis, the largest English Church of that denomination in the state. Rev. George H. Trabert has also been quite successful in a financial way. He is a republican in politics. He and his wife have four children ; Charles L., who is secretary of the Coos Bay Lumber Company, with home at Berkeley, California ; Rev. E. A. Trabert ; and Ruth E., wife .of R. A. Smith, who is assistant auditor for the Northwest Telephone Company at Minneapolis. E. A. Trabert was liberally educated. He attended Thiel College at Greenville, Pennsylvania, and also Bethany College at Lindsborg, Kansas, where he was graduated in 1895. Prior to taking up the work of the ministry he was employed in the C. A. Smith Lumber Company of Minneapolis, Minn. He completed his professional preparation in the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, where he was graduated in 1898. His first charge was at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where he remained two years and where he organized the First English Lutheran Church. He then went East to the 'Pittsburg District, and held pastorates at Braddock and Uniontown, Pennsylvania. For seven years Mr. Trabert was pastor of Christ Church in the City of Pittsburgh. There his powers as an organizer and administrator had full scope. He secured property and left the parish in possession of a handsome church edifice built at the cost of $80,000. Following that he spent three years at Brooklyn, New York, and in 1915 came to Lima and became pastor of St. Paul's English Lutheran Church. In 1902 Rev. Mr. Trabert married Bertha Weaver. Mrs. Trabert was born in Pittsburgh. They have one child, George William, now attending school. Mr. Trabert is a republican in politics. Besides his work as a minister he has made a specialty of music. -While living at Minneapolis he led the choir and was also in charge of the choir of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Chicago. BERNARD EDMUND O'CONNOR is one of Lima's leading attorneys, has been in active practice for the past ten years, and in that time has won the respect of his fellow lawyers in Allen County, gained experience and rendered valuable service as an assistant prosecutor of the county, and is now in the enjoyment of a promising and profitable practice. His offices are in the Holland Building at Lima. He was born at Lima April 27, 1879, a son of John and Sarah (O'Connell) O'Connor, of whom a complete record is found on other pages of this work. The son received his early education in St. Rose Catholic Parochial School, in Assumption College in Canada, spent five years in St. Gregory College, near Cincinnati, Ohio, and two years in St. Mary's Seminary at Cleveland, and finished his studies in preparation for his profession by a three years' course in the law department of Western Reserve University of Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated in 1906, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1906, and has since been employing his time and talent as a Lima lawyer. His service as assistant prosecuting attorney of Allen County was rendered during the years from 1907 to 1911. He is a member of' the Allen County Bar Association and of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, and of the St. Rose Catholic Church. He is a democrat in politics. On May 12, 1908, Mr. O'Connor married Lois M. Murphy of Toledo, Ohio. They have one son, Edmund Bernard, born April 22 1915. HERMAN H. KUHLMAN besides being president of the Peoples Savings Bank of New Knoxville has by many other activities and interests become recognized as the leading citizen of that town. This is a position that has been earned by many years of hard work and upright character. When he was a young man he was working at wages hardly more than $60 a year. His career is an illustration of American opportunities and of what persistent industry will accomplish in the long run. Mr. Kuhlman came to the United States a boy of sixteen. He was born near Osnabrueck in Germany December 1, 1857, a son of William and Elizabeth (Ruesse) Kuhlman, both also natives of Osnabrueck. His father was born there in 1820 and died in 1893 and the mother died at the old home in 1866, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1609 before the family came to America. William Kuhlman was a brick and stone mason, and followed that trade practically all his life. He and his wife were active members of the Evangelical Church. Though for many years he was a poor and humble laborer, he did well, especially after coming to the United States with his children in 1873 and locating at New Knoxville, Ohio. There were seven children : Henry J., of New Knoxville ; Elizabeth, a widow living at New Knoxville ; Louisa, wife of George E. Wellman, a fruit farmer near New Knoxville ; William and Christ, retired brick layers living at Evansville, Indiana ; George, a brick layer at St. Marys. The sixth in this family was Herman H. Kuhlman, who had gained his education in the German schools before coming to America and had also had one year of experience in a railroad station there. When the family came to Ohio he found employment on a farm for five years, and then gained the preliminary experience which fitted him for merchandising. In 1871 he engaged in the mercantile business and for a number of years conducted a general store at New Knoxville. He knew how to handle business affairs, understood the art of attracting trade and holding it, and by a constant study of new methods and by upholding the best standards of merchandising he made a splendid success. In recent years he has given his attention largely to the management of the bank and other important interests. In 1910 Mr.- Kuhlman established the People's Savings Bank at New Knoxville. This is a private bank with a capital of $6,000, surplus of $4,000, and the average deposits are about $170,000. Mr. Kuhlman is also a stockholder in the St. Marys Home Bank, and has a large amount of property in Auglaize County. Active in local affairs, he served as treasurer of New Knoxville and is treasurer of Washington Township, and is also treasurer of his church, and has filled that position since 1892. In 1879, the year he engaged in merchandising at New Knoxville, he married Miss Emma Lutterbein. She was born at New Knoxville, and her father Henry Lutterbein was a tailor and dry goods merchant. Mrs. Kuhlman, who died in 1907, was the mother of nine children : Henry, who is cashier of the People's Savings Bank at New Knoxville, married Miss Olga Finke ; Alvina, wife of Herman Hall, clerk in a store at Knoxville, and they have two children, Ruth and Marie ; Ida, .living at home and a clerk ; Mata, who is studying to be a professional nurse at Fort Wayne, Indiana; Reinhardt, who was graduated in the spring of 1916 from the University of Ohio at Columbus and is now at home ; Selma, formerly a school teacher, married Julius Eversman, a general merchant of New Knoxville, Ohio; Clara, who lives at home and since graduating from St. Marys High School in 1916 has been clerking; Arminta, still in school ; and LeRoy also a student. In June, 1910, Mr. Kuhlman married Emma Fenneman, widow of the late H. Cook. There are three children of this union : Mildred, who has already taken up her studies in the public schools; Lawrence and Norman. The family are members of the German Reformed Church and both Mr. and Mrs. Kuhlman take a very active part in church affairs. In politics he is a republican. BENJAMIN ADOLPH GRAMM. It was fully fifteen years ago, when the motor age was just being inaugurated, that Benjamin A. Gramm, who had up to that time interested himself chiefly in the banking business, turned his attention to the manufacture of automobile trucks. He has since become one of the leading manufacturers of this line in the State of Ohio and not only possesses the executive and financial abilities required for success in that line of industry, but also the inventive genius and the technical inclinations which make him a master of the manifold detail of automobile construction. For several years he has given his time and energies to making Lima an important center of the automobile business. He was born July 30, 1872, at Chillicothe, Ohio, and after a public school education began as messenger in the First National Bank of Chillicothe. He continued with that institution for a number of years but resigned in 1900 in order to manufacture what was known as the Logan Motor Truck. This was built after his own pattern and on patents issued to him. With the services of twelve men during the first year he turned out one truck. It was an experimental time in the motor industry and after several years he resigned from the original company and in 1908 went to Bowling Green, Ohio, and organized the Gramm Motor Company. It built the well known Gramm motor truck, and during the first year the company employed 100 men and subsequently built up an industry employing about 300. While at Bowling Green Mr. Gramm had 1610 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO interested considerable Lima capital in his enterprise, and in 1912 he moved to Lima and built a large factory 75 by 450 feet, two stories, but sold his interest in it in March, 1912, and in July of the same year organized his present company, The Gramm-Bernstein Motor Truck Company. This is one of the largest concerns of the kind in Northwestern Ohio, employs a capital of $4,000,000, has about 450 men on its payroll, and occupies 75,000 square feet of floor space in the plant. The company now turns out about 1,200 motor trucks of all kinds each year and expect to make 1,800 in 1917. Mr. M. Bernstein is president of the company and Mr. Gramm is vice president and general manager. Mr. Gramm is also vice president of the Morgan-Wood Company and director in The Lima Steel Castings Co. He is well known in the State of Ohio, is a member of the Ohio Club of New York, belongs to the Lima and Shawnee Club, the Lima Chamber of Commerce, is a thirty-second degree Mason, and also is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a director and for two years was president of the Lima Young Men's Christian Association, and is a director and trustee of the Lima Auto Club. He is also an active churchman and trustee of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. In April, 1895, at Ypsilanti, Michigan, Mr. Gramm married Miss Minnie Young. Their two children are Willard Joseph and Mary Catherine. ORTHA ORRIS BARB.. r h the dozen years that have passed since Mr. Barr entered upon practice as a lawyer at Lima he has gained a secure position in the Allen County bar, and has also been frequently honored with public responsibilities. He is now serving his first term as prosecuting attorney of the county. He has been known to the people of this county since early boyhood. He was born in Clark County, Ohio, February 24, 1879, a son of Dr. Eugene J. and Sarah C. (Michael) Barr. His parents removed to Allen County in 1885, and Mr. Barr acquired his literary education in the public schools and in the old Lima. College. In 1904 he was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, and soon afterwards began a general practice at Lima. While his father was serving as sheriff of Allen County he was its deputy, and that was his first experience in public affairs. From 1911 to 1915 Mr. Barr served as assistant prosecuting attorney and in the fall of 1914 was elected prosecuting attorney, beginning his official term in January, 1915. August 30, 1916, a riot occurred here, when a mob tried to overcome the sheriff of Allen County because he would not give up a prisoner. Mr. Barr has prosecuted and convicted several of the mob. He has also convicted two county commissioners and a county surveyor since assuming his duties of this office. In 1916 Mr. Barr and his father built the seven-story fireproof brick Barr Hotel Building here, which was opened to the public October 15, 1916. This is now the leading hotel in the city. Mr. Barr is an active member of the Allen County Bar Association, and takes much interest in fraternal affairs. He is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a past master chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, is esteemed lecturing knight of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically he has been very active as a democrat, and is a former member of the Central Committee. On September 4, 1907, at Lima, Mr. Barr married Miss Bertha A. Woerner. Four children have been born to their marriage, and one child, Catherina A., died at the age of three. Those now living are : Robert Ortha, Margaret and Edna Elizabeth. EUGENE JACOB BARR, M. D. A physician, county official and business man of prominence in Allen County, Doctor Barr has been a resesident for more than thirty years. He was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, September 21, 1857, a son of Doctor Tobias and Margaret (Weaver) Barr. His father was also a pioneer physician in Ohio, and died in 1857, the same year his son was born. The latter attended his first school in Clark County, Ohio, and after the age of twelve gained his education in Lebanon. For several years of his earlier career he taught school in Clark and Champaign counties, and on March 2, 1880, was graduated M. D. from the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati. After some preliminary practice he located in Allen County in 1885, and was active in the work of his profession until 1895. In that year he turned most of his attention to the oil and timber business, and became an official of the Ohio Hardwood Lumber Company.. He also acquired some interest in the lumber industry in southern states. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1611 In 1901 Doctor Barr was elected sheriff of Allen County, an office in which his efficiency was highly commended, and in 1903 he was reelected for a second term. After retiring from office he gave most of his time to the management of the Consolidated Bottling Company of Lima. He is a democrat, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his family worship in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1877 Doctor Barr married Miss Sadie C. Michael, of Tremont City. They became the parents of one child, Ortha 0. Barr, now a prominent member of the Allen County Bar. Doctor Barr married for his second wife in 1883 Mattie A. Miller, and to their marriage was born a daughter named Mabel. Doctor Barr subsequently married Miss Lillie Butler, of Fremont City, Ohio. BAILIS HENRY SIMPSON. For more than a quarter of a century Bailis H. Simpson has been a prominent figure in Lima's business and public affairs. He is now the honored mayor of that city, has been active in municipal service for the past five years, and was for many years connected wth the Erie Railway Company. Born on a farm in Franklin County, Ohio, September 30, 1859, he is a son of Washington and Martha (Sudlow) Simpson. Mr. Simpson acquired a public school education, and remained on the farm and did farming as his regular business until the age of twenty-three. His home has been in Lima since 1887. Entering the clerical department of the Erie Railway, he rose to chief clerk at Lima, and filled that office for many years up to January, 1910. He then left the railroad to become secretary of the waterworks department, and two years later was elected city auditor, an office he filled for two terms. In November, 1915, Mr. Simpson was elected mayor of Lima, and his first term began in January, 1916. He has also served as trustee of the sinking fund of the city, and is secretary and treasurer of the Lima Hospital Society. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. He married Miss Minnie East, daughter of Abraham and Mary East. Her father was a farmer for many years, and later became a merchant. To their marriage have been born five children : Gladys, Merle, Robert, Ruth and Charles Emerson. JOHN H. KLATTE has been a practicing member of the Lima bar for the past twenty years. He has the prestige of the industrious and hard working lawyer who has been unusually successful in handling litigation entrusted to him, and has also taken an active part in political affairs in this section of the state. He in one of the leading members of the Allen County Bar Association. Born at New Bremen, Ohio, in 1886, he has lived in Lima since 1892. His father was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, in 1843, and was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil war. Mr. Klatte acquired his early education in the parochial schools, spent four years in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, where he graduated, and after a thorough course in law was admitted to the bar in 1895. Mr. Klatte as a lawyer has been chiefly busied with a large criminal practice, and is recognized as one of the foremost criminal lawyers in his part of the state. In politics he has been aligned with the democratic party. He has done much active campaigning, but largely in the interests of his friends and his party. In 1901 he was a candidate for city solicitor, and though he had a strong republican majority to contend with he was defeated by only thirty-nine votes. In 1909 he was appointed state supervisor of elections. For the past fifteen years he has been a member of the county and central committees and has attended many state and congressional conventions. FRED H. VOIGT. Every successful business institution, however much the facts may be hidden behind a corporate or business title, expresses the service, the integrity and the ability of those chiefly responsible for its founding and management. A 'better illustration of this truth could not be found than in the close relations which exist between the Holgate Commercial Bank in Henry County and the individual career of its founder and since organization its cashier and manager, Fred H. Voigt. Mr. Voigt is one of the pioneers, if not the pioneer business man of Holgate, having located there more than forty years ago, about the time the Baltimore & Ohio Railway built through Henry County and afforded an opportunity for a business center in that section of Pleasant Township. Mr. Voigt for many years was a merchant, had a drug store, and for the convenience of his patrons and the accommo- 1612 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO dation of the community he established in 1890 a small private bank. The bank's headquarters were in the rear of his drug store. The bank filled a long felt want, and Mr. Voigt soon associated with him Nicholas and John A. Brayer. In 1898 they built a banking house beside the drug store building for the special accommodation of the bank. These parties continued the management of the bank as a private institution, and on April 1, 1908, there was a reorganization, when a number of their personal friends and other leading citizens took stock in the bank. At the time of the reorganization the officers elected were : J. C. Groll, president; George A. Ricker, vice president, who two years later became president ; and William H. Peper, also vice president. As has been stated, through all the years Fred H. Voigt has been cashier and the official upon whom have devolved the chief responsibilities of the bank's management. The growth of this institution and its hold upon the confidence of a large community are due to Mr. Voigt's skillful management, good financial judgment and thorough honesty more than to any other one individual factor. After the reorganization of the bank a new building was erected in the center of the town, specially designed for the uses of the business. It is 22 by 60 feet, and is furnished as a modern banking room, with all the safety appliances and other equipment required for the transaction of banking business. For the past three years the Commercial Bank has been under state inspection. Throughout its existence its capital has stood at $20,000, and it has always maintained a large surplus, its deposits now averaging about $250,000. Fred H. Voigt is a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was born July 9, 1850. He is of old German stock, and his father was a farmer and sheep raiser. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Bremer) Voigt, both natives of Hanover. They spent all their lives there, were quite old when they died and were faithful members of the Lutheran Church. Having acquired his education in the German schools, Fred H. Voigt left home, and alone, in 1868, crossed the Atlantic to America. He sailed on the first steamship, named the Baltimore, which left Bremen for the City of Baltimore. There was nothing about the landing of this poor immigrant boy on the shore of a strange land that would excite comment in the beholders. He was like many others who came from Germany, was poor in pocket but exceedingly ambitious, and had physical strength and willingness to adapt himself to the conditions of a new country. His first location was at Okolona in Henry County, Ohio. He had only $5 in his pocket when he arrived. While working on a farm he managed to secure the benefit of some terms of instruction in the local schools, and thus perfected his use of the English language. From Henry County he went to Logansport, Indiana, and put in three years there earning his living as a clerk, and at the same time studying pharmacy. His next location was at Toledo, where he was employed as a clerk far two years. In 1874 Mr. Voigt went back to his native land, and when he returned to America in the same year he brought with him his brother Henry. Henry established himself in the butcher business at Holgate, and spent the rest of his life in that town. He left a family of children. Fred Voigt on coming to Holgate in 1874 used his modest capital and his experience in starting up the first mercantile establishment. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway had just been completed in that year, and he saw an opportunity for a business future in the small station called Holgate. The first goods shipped over the railroad to Holgate were to stock Mr. Voigt's store. At first he had a stock of drugs and also general merchandise, but later he gave all his .attention to the drug business. He continued that, and, as already stated, branched out into banking, and finally sold his drug store and has since devoted his exclusive time and energies to the success of the Commercial Bank. Mr. Voigt was married at Holgate in 1876 to Miss Mary Vogel. She was born near Toledo, Ohio, in 1861, grew up and was educated there, and is of German parents, John and Mary (Hoffman) Vogel. Her parents were born in one of the Rhine provinces of Germany, came to America when young, and were married near Toledo. Later they moved to Holgate, and Mr. Vogel followed the business of an undertaker. Both he and his wife died there. His death was accidental and was the result of an injury received on the railway at Holgate. The widow died some years. later. The Vogel family were Catholics in religion. Mr. and Mrs. Voigt and family are among the leading members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church of Holgate. He has long been active as a Lutheran layman, has had much to do HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1613 with church affairs, and more than forty years ago he brought about' the organization of the present church at Holgate and has ever since been one of its leading officials and supporters. In politics he was formerly a democrat, but has been a republican sinceMcKinley 's time. Among local . responsibilities he has been treasurer of both the village and township for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Voigt have a fine family of nine children. Fred J., the oldest, is a lumber dealer at Bringhurst, Indiana, and is the father of two children, Fred and Naomi. Winnie married William Zachrich, of Marion Township, and he is now a meat dealer at Holgate ; their children are Madaline, Genevieve and Dorothy. Gus H., is married and is in the real estate business in Arkansas. He is a graduate in the business course of the college at Ada. Anna is the wife of William Mann, assistant cashier in the Commercial Bank at Holgate ; their children are Howard, Raymond and Eugene. Eugene Voigt graduated from the Normal College at Athens, Ohio, and is a successful manual training teacher at Anoka, Minnesota ; he married Beatrice Backus. Emma was educated in the local high school and in the Toledo Business College, and is now clerking in her father's bank. Tillie is the wife of Clarence Richold, who is in Holgate,and brick business at Holgate, and they are the parents of two children, named William and Mary J. Madaline is unmarried and is also a bookkeeper in the bank.. Dorothy is a graduate of the high school and is now a student in the Normal College at Athens, Ohio. All the children received the advantages of the local schools and some of them had further training in other institutions. CHARLES HENRY CORY. Because of its varied industries Lima, has always attracted many of the most skillful workers and executives in manufacturing and constructive enterprise. One of these is Charles Henry Cory, a veteran business man and financier, who for years fulfilled some of the heaviest responsibilities of railway service, and for the past thirty years has been a leader in banking and industrial affairs at Lima. Born at Hanover Neck, New Jersey, December 26, 1839 a son of James and Susan (Mulford) Cory; his father haVing been a contractor and builder, Charles H. Cory gained only a public school education, having attended for a time the schools at Paterson, New Jersey. When only sixteen years of age he began an apprenticeship . in the locomotive works at Paterson, and was paid $1.50 a week while learning his trade, which he finished at the age of twenty-one. His first regular position was with the Illinois Central Railway in their shops at Centralia, Illinois. He was a machinist in the shops and soon afterwards was promoted to foreman. In the meantime he was called to the service of the Government during the Civil war and was made foreman of erecting shops in the military railroad department of the Cumberland, being stationed at Nashville, Tennessee. He was a valuable aid to the Government in that work, and after the close of the war returned to Centralia and resumed hIllinoison as foreman for the Illinois Central. He remained with that company fourteen years, and then for two years was master mechanic of the Cairo & Vincennes Railway, was master mechanic for two years of the Iowa Central, and for two years was stationed at Portsmouth, Ohio, with the Scioto Valley Railway. After that he became superintendent of construction for the middle division, Cleveland to Fort Wayne, with the New York Central and St. Louis Railway at Fostoria, Ohio, where he remained two years. For four years he was superintendent and master mechanic at Mechanicsville, New York, of the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel and Western Railway. It was in 1886 that Mr. Cory came to Lima and accepted the responsibilities as superintendent of motive power for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway. He continued actively in the service of that corporation until 1907. In the meantime he had taken an active part in local business and civic affairs. In 1887 he was made director of the Lima Home and Savings Association, of which he became vice president in 1900 and in 1913 president, an office he still holds. He is vice president of the Metropolitan Bank, of which he was one of the organizers, a director of the Lima Telephone and Telegraph Company, a director of the Crystal Ice and Coal Company, is vice president and one of the trustees of the Lima Hospital Association, a trustee of the Woodlawn Cemetery Association and is a member and formerly a trustee of the First Presbyteaffiliated. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order. Few men have been in the harness so long as a worker and executive, and Mr. Cory is rightly regarded as one of the builders and leaders in Lima's prosperity. On March 17, 1869, he married Miss Mary 1614 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Louisa Young. Their four living children are : Charles Henry, Jr., who is an electrician at Dayton, Ohio ; Fred, a machinist with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway at Lima ; Caroline M., wife of M. C. Partscher, who is connected with the Metropolitan Bank of Lima; James Mulford, who is connected with the Standard Oil interests at Lima; and there was another son, Louis H., who died at the age of forty years. SAN FORD S. COON. The importance of Mr. Coon's business record in Allen County has been chiefly as a manufacturer of hardwood 'umber and lumber specialties, and for many years he has been one of the leaders in this line and also has operated an extensive lumber and building supply business at Lima. He represents some of the old family stock of Allen County, and his father Isaac Coon was a settler in that county in 1832. Sanford S. Coon was born in Manley Township of Allen County July 23, 1862, a son of Isaac and Sarah Coon. His father was a well known farmer and stock raiser. Educated in public schools, he lived at. home on his father's farm until about twenty-five years of age, and then engaged in the manufacture of tile. He also early became identified with the manufacture of hardwood lumber, and has turned out at his plant about 1,200,000 feet per year. He has also manufactured on an extensive scale spokes and handles, with output of hundreds of thousands annually. In 1906 Mr. Coon established his lumber yard and builders' supply business at Lima, and has a large plant and yard 200 by 200 feet, on High Street and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad track. Mr. Coon has had his home in Lima since 1892. He is an active republican, a member and trustee of the Church of Christ and is past noble grand and a member of the Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On May 29, 1888, he married Miss Matilda Fairchild of Indiana. They have one son, Isaac Nathan Coon, who is now actively associated with his father in the lumber business. The son was married November 9, 1910, to Miss Gale B. Bowdle of Lima, where she was born. She is a daughter of Rev. Elisha Bowdle. To this marriage has been born one child, Greta, on December 7, 1913. PAUL T. GAYNOR, attorney at law, with offices in the Nicholas Building at Toledo, has in a few short years justified the expectations and confidence of his friends and well wishers at the time of his admission to the bar. Mr. Gaynor was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1912 with the degree LL. B. In June of the same year he was admitted to the Ohio bar after examination at Columbus. In the class of 270 applicants he took the highest honors. His average grade in the various branches on which he was examiner was 94.6 per cent., and that is the highest average ever received by any applicant for admission to the Ohio bar. Since beginning practice at Toledo Mr. Gaynor has specialized in corporation law and has already built up a very promising clientage. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, June 3, 1887, a son of John J. and Josephine L. (Connor) Gaynor. His father was born at Dryden Springs, New York, and his mother at Ithaca, New York. John J. Gaynor for a number of years was associated in business with the C. F. Adams and Company of Toledo, afterwards removed to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was in business, and in 1901 returned to Toledo and became a tobacconist in the old St. Paul Building. He died July 22, 1915, at Toledo, Ohio. He was a very successful business man. He was a devout Catholic, a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Foresters and a democrat in politics. Paul T. Gaynor was 'the only son of his parents. He was educated in the public schools of Toledo and of Lowell, Massachusetts, and then entered the University of Michigan, where he pursued his law studies until graduating. He is a member of the Catholic Church, belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Commercial Club, and in politics is a democrat. On August 16, 1916, he married Miss Helen Blinn. THE COCHRUN FAMILY of Allen County was established eighty-five years ago in Northwest Ohio, and while the earlier generations bore a full share of responsibility in reclaiming the wilderness, all the members of the family have been industrious factors in community life and valued citizens. Rev. Simon Cochrun, the ancestor of all the Cochruns in Allen County, was born August 3, 1755, and died June 9, 1845, at the age of eighty-nine years, eleven months, six days. He participated in the war for independence on the American side. His son, Wesley Cochrun, who died in Allen County, Ohio, when upwards of eighty years HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1615 age, came to this section in 1831, and spent active years as a farmer in Sugar Creek ownship. He was an active" factor in establishing and upholding the influence of the Methodist Church in his community. Simon Cochrun, son of Wesley and a grandson of the Revolutionary soldier and pioneer Methodist preacher, was born in 1821, and was ten years of age when he arrived in Allen County. He died in 1897. Simon Cochrun married Lucinda Miller. Three of their children are still living in Allen County : James G. of Spencerville ; Lambert Y. of Spencer-vale and Jasper Lee, who are successively noted in following paragraphs. James G. Cochrun was born in Sugar Creek Township of Allen County March 27, 1847, had a public school education, and for about fifteen years devoted all his time and energies to farming and livestock raising. Since 1886 his home has been in Spencerville, where he has been engaged in the meat, coal and ice business. He now conducts a coal and ice business, and also looks after the management of his fine farm of 300 acres. He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. James G. Cochrun was married October 15, 1886, to Minnie Hover, of Amanda Township, a daughter of Cyrus and Martha (Post) Hover. James G. Cochrun served two terms as mayor of Spencerville, was for four years a justice of the peace and is a republican in politics. Lambert Y. Cochrun, who was born in Sugar Creek Township of Allen County August 1, 1849, grew up on a farm and after completing his course in the public schools attended Lebanon College, and for five years taught public school and was also a music teacher. Since 1879 he has been a dry goods merchant at Spencerville. He served fourteen years as a member of the local school board, for two terms was township clerk and for two terms township treasurer, and has also been treasurer of the Village of Spencerville. He was married March 31, 1872, to Margaret Berryman of Auglaize County. Their four children are : Bert C., a merchant tailor at Spencerville who married Delphine Stump and bias a son Basil G. ; Caroline, who lives at home with her parents ; Janet, the wife of I. N. Hapner of Gainesville, Florida ; and Frank W., who lives at Hammond, Indiana, and married Ora Stump of Rockford, Ohio. Lambert Cochrun is a Mason and is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. Jasper Lee Cochran, the youngest of the living sons of Simon Cochrun, was born in Allen County February 1, 1859. After his training in the country schools he attended the Normal College at Ada, and for five years taught school. Most of his active career has been devoted to farming and live stock raising, and he now resides in Spencerville. For twenty odd years he was a member of the school board in Amanda Township, and has always given his influence to the upbuilding of local institutions and has played a helpful part in his community. He is now vice president of the Citizens Bank of Spencerville. Politically he is a republican, and is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. Jasper L. Cochrun married June 5, 1881, Catherine Carmean. Their son Paul Wesley is editor and proprietor of the Journal-News at Spencerville, and is referred to on another page. The second son, James Lee, is now field agent for the United States Department of Agriculture at Columbus, Ohio. He served seven years in the Constabulary service in the Philippine Islands, being given a medal for "valor" by the United States Government. He married July 13, 1914, Lela Purdy of Spencerville, and they have two children : a daughter, Betty Ann, and -a son, James Lee, Jr. James L. Cochrun is a member of the Army and Navy Club at Manila, Philippine Islands, and is affiliated with the Phi Kappa college fraternity and the Masonic order. PAUL WESLEY COCHRUN who iS now owner and editor of the Spencerville Journal-News, represents one of the very old families of Northwest Ohio, and has had an active and interesting personal career, not only as a newspaper man, but in educational work. He was born in Amanda Township of Allen County June 6, 1884, a member of the well known Cochrun family described on preceding pages. His parents are Jasper Lee and Catherine (Carmean) Cochrun, while his grandparents were Simon and Lucinda (Miller) Cochrun. His grandparents came to Ohio in the very early days. Mr. Cochrun grew up on a farm, had a public school education and afterwards completed his education in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. For nine years he was identified with school work, and during that time he made a complete tour of the world. For a year and a half he was superintendent of the District of Cotabata in the Island of Mindanao in the Philippine Islands. In November, 1913, having returned to the United States, he bought the Journal-News at 1616 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Spencerville, and has since given all his time to his work as editor and publisher. Mr. Cochrun is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, of the Masonic order, and in Odd Fellowship is a member of the subordinate lodge, Encampment and the Rebekahs. His church home is with the Methodist denomination. The Spencerville Journal was established May 9, 1879, by John Summerset. In politics it maintained a neutral attitude. For several years the Journal was published at Delphos and the papers were brought by train to Spencerville for distribution. In 1896 another paper was established, known as the News, but in 1899 the two were consolidated as the Journal-News. This is one of the influential weeklies of Allen County, and is democratic in sentiment. It has a circulation of 2,200, has a well equipped shop, and four people are employed. EDWARD A. HETTEL, whose home has been within the limits of Henry County for the past thirty years, is most widely known as the president of the Farmers Grain and Stock Company, of Elery, Monroe Township in that county. His has been a career of advancement since he did his first independent farming, and some years ago he graduated or retired from the farm to a home in Napoleon, from which city he manages as chief executive this important business enterprise of Henry County. Elery is located on the Cloverleaf Railway, and its chief importance is due to the business contracted through the Farmers Grain and Stock Company. This company was organized in 1912 and has been in active operation since July of that year. Its first president was Mr. Edward Detmer, who in February, 1916, took the office of vice president and was succeeded by Mr. Edward A. Hettel as president. The secretary and treasurer is Tobias Liefer. The active manager of the business at Elery is Mr. Frank Foster, an old and representative citizen of Henry County. This company has prospered and grown constantly since it was founded, and carries on a large business the entire year through. The company handles about fifteen car loads of grain every month, and their market is found not only in this section of Ohio but in other states and cities. In the management of this company, as well as in all other interests that have come within his scope Mr. Hettel has proved himself a forceful and vigorous business man. The farm on which he resided for twenty. two years before removing to Napoleon is situated in Flatrock Township, section 14, and he still owns that place of 160 acres. While he lived there he improved it in many ways, and the substantial part of his prosperity was acquired from the work he did while there. About eight years ago when he retired from the farm Mr. Hettel bought a comfortable and substantial eight-room house on West Washington Street and Sheffield Avenue. Since moving to Napoleon he has given most of his time to the grain and stock business. He is a native of Huron County, Ohio, born south of Monroeville in Peru Township, December 20, 1860. He grew up and received his early education there, trained himself as a practical farmer, and on moving to Henry County in 1886 bought the farm already mentioned and which remained his home for twenty-two years. Mr. Hettel is a son of Frank A. and Maggie (Horn) Hettel, both of whom are natives of Germany. His father was born in 1816, and his mother a year or two later. About 1831 they set out for the New. World, and were married not long after reaching this country. They were of the class of thrifty Germans who have converted so much of the Ohio wilderness into fertile and attractive farms. They began life in this state in a log cabin, and it was in a home of simple comforts and surroundings.that the children were born and reared. Four of their children are still living and are married. Mr. Hettel's father died in 1908 and his mother in 1899. They were lifelong Catholics, and reared their children in the same faith. The only member of this family to come to Henry County, his brothers being residents of Huron County, Edward A. Hettel has been well satisfied with the choice he made for a permanent home. In Flatrock Township he married Miss Mary B. Thompson. She was also born in Huron County, on September 24, 1864, and when a child came to Henry County with her parents, William and Rosa (Fell) Thompson. The Thompson family located on section 13 of Flatrock Township, and improved a good farm there. Mrs. Thompson died in July, 1888, and Mr. Thompson has since retired to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he is still living and enjoying life at a good old age. He is a democrat, and the Thompsons were also Catholics. Mr. and Mrs. Hettel have two children. Clara is the wife of Urban Flory, a farmer in HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1617 Napoleon Township. Florence J. has finished her education in the public schools and in the Toledo Business College, and is now employed in the office of Jndge James Donavan at Napoleon. Al r. and Mrs. Hettel lost two children in childhood, Alfred and Bertha. The family are regular communicants of Saint Augustine Catholic Church at Napoleon, and politically Mr. Hettel gives his support to the republican party. JACOB CARL HOCH. For a man who has only recently passed his thirtieth birthday, Jacob C. Hoch has been very prominent and has gained many honors in politics in his home County of Allen. Mr. Hoch is now serving as postmaster of Spencerville. He was born in Van Wert County, Ohio, November 12, 1884, a son of Charles H. and Ida (Blochberger) Hoch. His father, who is now retired and spent many years as a farmer, was born in Marion County, Ohio, and has lived in Allen County since 1885. He has served as trustee of Spencer Township. Educated in the public schools and graduating in 1904 from the Lima Business College, Jacob C. Hoch spent several years as superintendent of one of his father's farms. From the first he took an active part in democratic politics, and has served three terms as central committeeman from Spencer Township, having been elected without opposition the last time. He was assessor for two years of Spencer Township, and in 1909 was elected for one term as laid appraiser. In 1911 he was appointed deputy county recorder of Allen County, a post he filled with distinction for three years. Then on December 31, 1914, he was appointed postmaster of Spencerville, and has had full charge of the office and has administered it with characteristic energy and capability since January, 1915. Mr. Hoch is a member of the Progressive Association and is affiliated with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the German Reform Church. E. W. EVANS is a member of the firm of Evans & Gohlke, general grocers, at 315 North Main Street, Findlay. While he is generally recognized as one of the independent business men of Findlay, Mr. Evans attained that position at an age when most men are going through the ordeal of business apprenticeship. He is only twenty-three years old, having been born at Fostoria, Ohio, in 1894, a son of W. G. and Cora (Ludwig) Evans. He has both Welsh and German ancestry, his paternal grandfather Meredith R. Evans having been a native of Wales. A year after his birth the family removed to Findlay, where he grew up and had the advantages of the local schools. He was graduated from high school with the class of 1912, having taken the English-Latin and the bookkeeping and commercial courses. His first business experience was three years as bookkeeper and stenographer for the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company. He then spent six months with Isbell Bean Company of Detroit, and returning to Findlay sought a business opening of his own, with such capital as he had been able to save from his earnings. In April, 1916, he bought the interest of Carl Smith in the grocery firm of Smith & Gohlke, and the name then became Evans & Gohlke. The firm maintains a well stocked store, and the business is proving a money maker. Mr. Evans is independent in politics, and is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and of Findlay Lodge, No. 227. Free and Accepted Masons. WILLIAM EDWARD ELLIS is an expert when it comes to anything connected with the handling or repairs of automobiles, and has built up a tremendous business at Findlay known as the Ellis Garage, 319 North Main Street. Mr. Ellis has won a position as an independent business man after years of hard work in mechanical lines. He was born at Findlay in 1879, is of English and German stock, and a son of I. F. and Lucinda (Crouse) Ellis. His father was a contractor. Until he was fourteen years of age the public schools of Findlay furnished him the instruction with which he began life for himself. As a boy apprentice he entered the plant of Salem Wire Nail Company, and spent six years with that concern, finally being made a machine operator. He next was connected for a time with the American Steel & Wire Company, and then removed to Kokomo, Indiana, where he put in nine years as a machine operator for the Kokomo Nail and Brad Company. While in Kokomo he became interested in the automobile business, and for a year was an automobile salesman. He not only acquired a knowledge of automobiles as a business proposition, but also on the mechanical side, and with his experience and with the 1618 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO savings from his many years as a worker he returned to Findlay in 1914 and opened his first garage and repair shop at 325 Main 'Street. He became well known in his native town, and having all the qualifications to render perfect service, his business prospered and he was soon obliged to obtain larger quarters. He then removed to 319 North Main Street, his present location, where he has the entire three floors of the building occupying ground space 125x50 feet. Mr. Ellis is also sole agent for Hancock County of the Allen automobile, and shares with another man the county agency of the Hupmobile car. In 1914 he married Elizabeth Ruth Sayers, daughter of Robert and Annie Sayers of Salem, Ohio. Mr. Ellis is an independent in politics and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. EDWARD H. MITCHELL, contractor and builder with offices in the Spitzer Building at Toledo, began his business career in the field of banking and milling in which his father, the late Reuben Mitchell, made such a conspicuous success in Lucas County. Reuben Mitchell was one of the early settlers of Maumee, organized the first bank in Lucas County, and continued to be identified with banking and other enterprises for a long period of years. Reuben Mitchell was a native of Maine. Edward H. Mitchell was born in Maumee, Lucas County, June 30, 1876, the youngest in a family of seven children. He attended the common and high schools of Maumee and completed his education in St. Johnsbury 's Academy in Vermont. He learned milling and banking under his father at Maumee, and from a clerk was promoted to the office of cashier when only nineteen years of age. Several years later he went on the road as a traveling salesman for a large milling concern, and in 1906 he engaged in business under the firm name Mitchell Milling Company. After three years Mr. Mitchell retired from the milling business and became a contractor and builder at Toledo. He has done an extensive business in the construction of residences and flats, and has made a specialty of subdividing acres for improvement with residences and other forms of home architecture. In that way he has done much to build up some of the vacant districts in and around Toledo. Mr. Mitchell takes a deep interest in public affairs affecting his home city, is a member of the Toledo Commerce Club, and in politics is a republican voter. His home is at 1132 Walbridge Drive. Mr. Mitchell was married October 6, 1906, to Miss Laura A. Spring, daughter of A. L. and Adeline (Cram) Spring. Three children have blessed this union : Alva M., Josephine' E. and Adaline E. JOHN HENRY MAGEE. The residence of John Henry Magee in Ottawa County antedated the corporate existence of the City of Elmore, he having taken up his abode here as a boy in 1841. From the year 1861 to the time of his death he was engaged in a variety of pursuits, all connected with the rising business and financial interests of the city, with whose growth he was intimately related, and with whose prosperity he himself prospered. Manufacturing, agriculture and finance, all shared his labor, and his hands laid hold of incipient institutions and helped to bring them to strength and maturity. At the time of his death he was president of the Bank of Elmore, one of the strong financial institutions of Ottawa County, which has been in existence for a period of forty-seven years. John H. Magee was born in New York State, September 25, 1833, and was eight years old when brought by his parents to Ottawa County. Educated in the public schools, he was engaged in various lines of business until 1873, when he embarked in the manufacture of staves and heading and has since conducted a large and important-sawmill. He also began at an early date to invest his means in farming property, adding to his holdings until he had 3,500 acres in Paulding County, the greater part of which land has since been sold, and 1,000 acres in Ottawa County, where he owned several of the largest and most valuable properties devoted to agriculture. In 1868 Mr. Magee entered the field of finance when he became the founder of a private. bank which was operated under his name. This institution prospered and flourished, having at all times the confidence and patronage of the people of Elmore and the surrounding countryside. In 1907, it was decided that the bank be reorganized, when Mr. Magee had determined to retire, but subsequent events made him feel that his hand was needed to guide its affairs, and when the Bank of Elmore began operations, July 1, 1907, he was found in the president's office, with John N. Magee as vice president and Edward P. Carsten as cashier. The bank has continued to enjoy the patronage and confidence of the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1619 people, its present deposits being $410,000, the concern paying four per cent on savings. The capital is $25,000, the surplus a like amount and the undivided profits $5,000, and the institution owns its own banking house, a two story brick building, 18x72 feet, with offices in the second story. In addition to discharging the duties as chief executive of this concern Mr. Magee was vice president of the First National Bank of Oak Harbor, Ohio. A democrat in his political views, Mr. Magee was the incumbent of many official positions. In his younger years he was frequently elected to township offices, later served as treasurer of Ottawa County for two terms, and was finally sent by his fellow-citizens as representative of his county in the Ohio Legislature, in which body he served two terms, being known as a working member and serving on the finance and other important committees. Although he reached an age when most men are willing to retire from the active affairs of life, he still continued in the management of his multitudinous and important interests, displaying the same sagacity, keen judgment and foresight that characterized his younger years. Mr. Magee was married three times, the present Mrs. Magee having been a member of the well known Fairchild family of this county. Mr. Magee has two sons : John Nicholas, of Toledo, Ohio, who is engaged in the real estate business ; and Ralph Lawrence, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, a contractor and builder, banker, and publisher of the City and Suburban Magazine. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN CHRONINGER. Every home is an expression of the tastes and character of its owner. In the ease of a farm, the home also shows the business enterprise of the man who has developed and occupied it. Therefore it is not necessary to dig deeply into the records to find out what sort of man Benjamin Franklin Chroninger is. His fine place in section 16 in Liberty Township is a standing illustration of many qualities of thoroughness, industry, enterprise, careful and studious management. This, one of the most beautiful farms in Henry County, is properly called "The Queen of Acres." Everything there is modern, and it is not only a home of comfort but one of scientific arrangement so far as efficiency is concerned in handling the work conducted there. The quality of the soil on The Queen of Acres Farm may be called black loam clay subsoil, and the farm' is level and cultivated so thoroughly that there is hardly a square foot of waste anywhere. Mr. Chroninger believes in good stock, and keeps his live stock only of the best grades. Years of effort have been required to surround him with these varied comforts and conveniences, and in fact he has been a hard worker ever since he was a boy of tender years. Early in life he was a teacher, and the girl he married was at one time his pupil. It was Mr. Chroninger's early ambition to become a lawyer. Had he carried out his ambition he would have reached a position in the profession perhaps even greater than the position he holds as a farmer and agriculturist. He is naturally a leader, and while he has been very modest and has never sought an office, he has nevertheless exercised a great influence in his community. A man strong of mind and body, he has a keen and eager intelligence, and his mind works rapidly and shows itself in a flow of language such as few members of the learned profession could equal. Mr. Chroninger is also one of the foremost workers in the Christian Union Church, and has contributed a great many able articles from his pen to church papers. He is of old Pennsylvania stock and family. His grandfather, Henry Chroninger, was born in Western Pennsylvania, and his wife Elizabeth was a native of the same state. Henry Chroninger was a son of a Revolutionary soldier, who spent all his life in Pennsylvania. Farming has been the dominant occupation in all the generations. Not long after his marriage Henry Chroninger moved across the Pennsylvania line into Stark County, Ohio, and established his home there early in the last century. For some years they lived among the wildest of conditions. Their home was near Wolf Creek. All their children were born in Stark County including George' Chroninger, who was born September 12, 1816. Others were Henry, Margaret, Susan, Libby and Martha. George Chroninger grew up in Stark County and on June 26, 1841, was married in Tuscarawas County to Elizabeth Ann Hinckle. After their marriage they continued to reside in Eastern Ohio, and while living there Benjamin Franklin Chroninger was born October 14, 1840. Another son, Cicero, was also born there but died in infancy. In 1843, when Benjamin F. Chroninger was three years of age, his parents set out in a wagon drawn by an ox team for Henry County. It required some days to make the journey. Arriving in this county George Chroninger 1620 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO entered eighty acres in the. southeast corner of section 28 in Liberty Township and later purchased eighty acres adjoining. For three weeks the family continued to make their home in the wagon until the father could cut away the heavy timber and erect a primitive log cabin, which constituted their first home in Henry County. During the first winter a quilt was hung up over the opening in lieu of a door. Outside the wolves howled around, bears were not infrequent, and had the occupants of the home not been of true pioneer courage it would have been a very dreary beginning. The little home was of logs, covered with clapboards, and at one end rose a chimney built of sticks and mud. Inside was a broad fireplace, where the wood burned was cut in four-foot lengths. The mother cooked all the meals at that fireplace, and in the early days these meals were of the very simplest, comprising corn cakes and meat obtained from the wild game which could be found in abundance in the surrounding timber, Every acre put into cultivation meant many days of labor in clearing away the woods and undergrowth. That was a swampy section, and in some instances it was necessary to build embankments in order to keep out the water. George Chroninger was a hard worker, and in time his work showed itself in extensivc clearings around his home and in well cultivated fields. He also built a fine barn, and in time erected a substantial frame house. After they came to Henry County other children were born, including : Henry, who has a daughter Nettie by his first wife whose maiden name was Lydia Gensel ; Arminda, who first married Albert Knapp and later August Brandes, and had four daughters and three sons ; Samuel, who died a child ; Lydia, who died at the age of ten years ; George, who married Nora Sworden, and at his death left one son Otha ; Monroe, who died at the age of nineteen ; Elsie, who is the wife of Henry Bade, and they live on the old Chroninger homestead in section 28 ; and Rush, who died young. Mildred A. Grose, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1905, was orphaned at the age, of five years, and is now being carefully reared and trained in the home of her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Chroninger, and she is a student in the Liberty Center High School. It should be mentioned that the old Chroninger residence, built to take the place of the first log cabin, was constructed entirely of yellow poplar timber, while the barn was built of white poplar. In that home the father died April 28, 1908, and the mother on October 29, 1899. These worthy people were .among the first members of the Christian Union Church, and assisted in organizing it in Ohio in 1863 at Columbus. George Chroninger did his part in building the first church in Liberty Township in 1864 and was thenceforward a leader and one of the most liberal supporters of his home institution. His leadership also extended to community affairs, and his fellow citizens in the township called upon him for public service in every capacity. He was a democrat. Benjamin F. Chroninger from the age of three years grew to adult life on the old homestead. As soon as his strength permitted he took his place in the fields and in the woods, and did considerable of the clearing out and the breaking of the land. When he was thirteen years of age he plowed and put in fifteen acres of wheat, and since then has been a hard working man all his life. His present place comprises 160 acres in Liberty Township, and of that 110 acres are thoroughly tiled and under intensive cultivation. Forty-eight thousand tiles were laid to completely drain the place, and the farm bears no resemblance to the swampy condition in which the first settlers found it. Mr. Chroninger has a barn on a foundation 40 by 80 feet with 20-foot posts, and with slate roof. One notable feature indicating the efficiency of the arrangement and management is the abundant supply of water drawn from deep wells and piped to all places where required about the farm. The Chroninger home is a large nine-room house with basement, furnished with hot and cold water, and there is an acetylene gas lighting plant for both the house and barn. In fact this is one of the show places of Liberty Township, and is highly creditable to the man of enterprise who has owned it for so many years. In Liberty Township July 17, 1870, Mr. Chroninger married Miss Asenath Babcock. She was born in that township August 8, 1851, and was reared and educated there, and as already stated the girl he married was for a time a pupil under Mr. Chroninger. Her parents were Lorenzo and Sarah Ann (Patrick) Babcock, both natives .of New York State, and of Jefferson County. Her father was born there February 25, 1825, and her mother January 1, 1833. They were married in 1847 and soon afterwards came to Henry County, Ohio, locating on a new farm which HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1621 they developed from a condition of utmost wildness. There they spent the rest of their days, and her father died in 1905 at the age of eighty and her mother on January 29, 1915, aged eighty-three. They were also early and active members of the Christian Union Church. Mr. and Mrs. Chroninger have two children, Rollie R., born April 2, 1871, is now active manager of his father's home farm. He married Catherine Price of Liberty Township, and both were educated in the local grade schools. The two children born of their union both died in early infancy. Lillie B., born November 8, 1872, was educated in the public schools and is the wife of George Stewart, who owns one of the large farms in Liberty Township. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have the following children : Vernice, who married Leonard Shoemaker and lives on a farm in Liberty Township, and are the parents of a daughter Jessie I. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are Elmer, Alta aged eleven, and Ruby. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chroninger are active members and supporters of the Christian Union Church, known as the Hebron Church. Ile is a member of the district council and of the state church board. Politically he is a democrat and for six years held the office of township assessor. C. D. HAYWARD is a veteran business man of Findlay, his experience covering fully thirty years, and is secretary and treasurer of the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company, the largest industry of its kind in the world. This is a business which more than anything else has made the name Findlay familiar to the people of remote states and countries. The products of the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company have a world wide distribution and Mr. Hayward personally has been one of the important factors in its growing success. He was born at Kelloggsville, Ohio, in 1859, a son of Samuel and Edna (Deane) Hayward. His parents were of English stock. His father was formerly a tanner at Kelloggsville and later removed to Conneaut, Ohio, where he organized the Conneaut Banking Company. Mr. Hayward spent most of his childhood and early youth in Conneaut, where he attended the public schools and the academy. His first business experience was in Chicago, where he spent two years, in the wholesale department of .Marshall Field & Company, and in 1886 came to Findlay. Here he Vol. III-19 opened a lumber yard, and was one of the leading local lumber merchants until 1910. Mr. Hayward became identified with the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company in 1906, is one of its large stockholders, and as secretary and treasurer has exercised a firm hand in guiding the destiny of the business. The machines manufactured by his company have become recognized as second to none in point of efficiency. and service, and the company manufacture ditching machines of various types, oil machinery, and tractors. Mr. Hayward was married in 1906 to Miss Clara May Colburn, daughter of John M. and Rachel (Waterman) Colburn. Mrs. Hayward is also of English ancestry. They have one child, Rachel Deane, now eight years old. Mr. Hayward is a republican, a member of the Christian Science Church, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. JOHN CUMMINS. One of the old established names on the Bass Islands in Lake Erie is that of Cummins. The people of that name have been closely identified with the varied industries of the Great Lakes and the surrounding region, including activities as sailors, lighthouse keepers, grape growers and farmers, and it is as a grape grower and fisherman that Mr. John Cummins of Isle St. George is chiefly known. Mr. John Cummins was born on North Bass Island, a son of Peter and Margaret (Fox) Cummins. His maternal grandfather was John Fox, and reference to the Fox family will be found on other pages of this publication. Peter Cummins was born in Ireland, and all his people were salt water sailors. His brother James came to the Great Lakes and was for a number of years lighthouse keeper on Pelee Island, where he died March 8, 1891. He gave an uninterrupted service for many years, and on one occasion his heroism prompted the Government to award him a gold watch. This timepiece is now the cherished possession of his nephew, Mr. John Cummins. When James Cummins came to Pelee Peter Cummins was still in Ireland. A little later he followed his brother and soon found plenty to do on the islands of Lake Erie. He was married on Pelee Island, and later moved to North Bass Island. There he bought land and took up the culture of grapes, making a success of his vineyard. About 1878, in order to give his children better school advantages, he rented his vine- 1622 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO yard and removed to Toronto. During the two years he spent there his daughter Rosa died, and the family then returned to North Bass, Island. He subsequently bought some property in Sandwich, Ontario, but did not improve it and subsequently sold out. He continued his residence on North Bass Island until his death on December 29, 1891, at the age of sixty-one. After becoming an American citizen he was a democratic voter and was very active in local affairs, holding the office of trustee at the time of his death. His widow, who was born March 4, 1833, is still living, making her home with her son John and is quite hale and hearty for the great weight of years she bears. All the other children, James, Mary and Rosa, are now deceased. As soon as John Cummins was old enough he began working in the fisheries and also became a Great Lakes sailor. Practically every season for eight or nine years he was on some lake boat and he knew every harbor and port and inlet around Lake Erie. Shortly after the death of his father he gave up the active management of the old farm and vineyard and purchased a property which he operated in connection with his fishing equipment. He now owns a well improved place of twenty acres, fourteen acres of which are planted to vineyard. His fishing industry has likewise been developed to large proportions, and during the season he sets about forty nets and keeps two men steadily employed. Mr. Cummins married Miss Mary Render-lie, of Sandusky, and they have one son, Stewart. Politically Mr. Cummins is a republican. JOHN MELVILLE GUISE, M. D. With nearly thirty years of successful experience behind him Doctor Guise is one of the oldest and most widely known medical practitioners in Hancock County. He represents an old and hon- ored family of this section of Northwest Ohio. He was born in Hancock County September 21, 1854, a son of Jesse and Catherine (Cherry) Guise, who were pioneers of Hancock County. His father was a successful contractor in Findlay for many years. Doctor Guise's brother Philander Nettleton Guise spent twenty-seven years in the United States navy as a pharmacist and is now retired with the rank of captain. Doctor Guise received his early education in the public schools of Findlay, and lacking the means to immediately enter a professional life he spent about eight and a half years clerking in different establishments, and finally entered the office of the old and prominent Findlay physician, Doctor Firmin, where he continued the study of medicine for two years. In 1885 he entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, where he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1887. Returning to Findlay he began the general practice which he has carried on with so much success ever since. Though he has done some minor surgery with success, Doctor Guise is primarily a general physician and as such he is most widely known. He is an active member of the different medical societies, and in 1889-90 was physician to the Hancock County Infirmary. On September 12, 1882, he married Miss Louise L. Gubbins of Philadelphia. Their son Warren Jesse is a resident of Philadelphia, and their daughter Mary Eugenia is teaching school at Findlay. Doctor Guise is an independent republican. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, and he and his family move in the best social circles of Findlay. CLYDE T. ADDISON. One of the best known mercantile firms of Findlay is Ulsh & Addison. They are merchants dealing in groceries, and by strict attention to business, by keeping a fresh and well selected stock of goods, have built up a trade second to none among the firms of that class in Hancock County. The junior member of this firm, Mr. Addison, has found success as a result of hard work and by a varied experience largely in mercantile lines. He was born at Middleport, Ohio, May 8, 1877, a son of John E. and Rachel M. (Hier) Addison. His mother was a daughter of Jeremiah her of Butler, Pennsylvania. Jeremiah Hier, on coming to Ohio located three miles northeast of Middle-point, where he was the pioneer shoemaker. He made the first pair of shoes in that section of the state. Until he came shoes were always shipped in to supply the needs of the locality. From the time of his settlement until his death he lived in that one community and was reasonably prospered in his business enterprises and was always a man of high repute. He became the father of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. Jeremiah her was of Scotch ancestry, while his wife was of Pennsylvania German ancestry. John E. Addison settled in Middlepoint, Ohio, and was first engaged in the mercantile business, later HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1623 in the manufacturing of staves and still later engaged in the oil fields of Hancock County. He and his wife had three children : Pearl, Myrtle and Clyde T. The daughters are both married and Van Wert, Ohio. Clyde T. Addison grew up near his birthplace, attended the country schools until the age of ten, and spent the next four years learning the trade of baker in Van Wert. Thus from early years he has been making his own way in the world, and when still a boy he found a position with the Columbus Bakery, who employed him at Findlay. At the age of eighteen he went to Columbus and was in the baking business there for several years, but then gave up his trade to take a rather different line of occupation as tool dresser in the oil fields. Altogether he spent eleven years in the oil industry. On leaving the oil business he became clerk in 1905 with W. B. Ulsh in the grocery business at Findlay. After three years he was employed by the firm of Ulsh & Norris, and in 1912, associated with Mr. Ulsh, he bought the J. L. Metzler grocery at the location where the firm of Ulsh & Addison have since carried on their trade. Every one in Findlay knows the firm of Ulsh & Addison, and the extent of its business can be indicated best by the fact that the volume of trade in 1916 was about $50,000. On October 17, 1905, Mr. Addison married Edith Brickman. Mrs. Addison's father is Frank Brickman, long connected with the police department of Findlay. Mr. and Mrs. Addison are- members of the Second Presbyterian Church and in matters of politics he is independent. MILTON SAMUEL WILLIAMSON, M. D. One of the oldest physicians still in active practice in Northwest Ohio, Dr. Milton Samuel Williamson secured his M. D. degree forty years ago, and for over a quarter of a century has been an honored member of the medical fraternity in Findlay. He was born in Seneca County, Ohio, December 19, 1852, a son of John Wesley and Elizabeth (Wiseman) Williamson. His father was a farmer of Seneca County, and the Williamson ancestry goes back to English stock of Puritan antecedents, and has been American since the time of the Mayflower. As a boy Doctor Williamson attended country schools. For one year he was a student in the Findlay High School, and for three years pursued his studies in the Heidelberg College at Tiffin. Like many men who have gained success in professional ranks, he began his career as a school teacher. He taught at Big Spring in Seneca County and in other towns. His ambition even at that date was to become a physician, and he carefully conserved his resources in order that he might complete a thorough medical education. For four years he studied medicine under the direction of Doctor Cake at West Independence, Ohio. In 1873 he entered the medical department of Wooster University, that medical department being now the medical school of Western Reserve University. Graduated M. D. in 1876, he spent the next eight years in a successful practice at West Independence. Selling his practice, he had his office for six years at Arcadia in Hancock County and also four years of that time at Alvada in Seneca County. Since 1890 Doctor Williamson has had his home in Findlay, and besides a general practice does considerable surgery. In 1884 he took post-graduate work in the Rush Medical College at Chicago, and has also attended the Chicago Policlinic. For eight years he was United States Pension Examiner, served as city physician of Findlay from 1908 to 1911, as county physician of Hancock County from 1911 to 1914 and for the past twenty years has been a member of the Board of Visitors of the State and National Board of Charities. Professionally he is identified with the Hancock County and Ohio State Medical Societies and the Northwest Ohio Medical Association and the American Medical Association. In politics he is a democrat and fraternally is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1876 at Findlay Doctor Williamson married Ella Watson, daughter of Henry Watson. Their one living daughter is Florence Nightingale, who was born in 1879 and is now Mrs. H. C. Struble of Findlay. Mrs. Struble has two children: E. Williamson, born in 1907, and Sarah Ellen, born in 1911. Doctor Williamson had a daughter Lina, who was born in 1882 and died in 1906. She married Fred Ludwig, of Alvada, Ohio, now in the United States Revenue Department at Toledo, Ohio. ANTHONY MILLER. If any one citizen of Henry County deserves to be pointed out as an example of successful achievement it is Anthony Miller, whose fine country home is on section 27 of Ridgeville Township. Both he and his wife evidently possess those qualities which make for success. They started out 1624 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO with a capital consisting only of industry, thrift, sound judgment and common sense, and with these have made a notable showing. Their fine home betrays the hard and intelligent work of their career. For twenty-nine years they have owned the eighty acres comprising their homestead, and Mr. Miller is considered one of the ablest farmers on one of the best farms in the county. Season after season he has produced some of the largest crops of all kinds of cereals, and his land is thoroughly and adequately drained by an extensive system of tiling. He engaged in mixed farming, and has the best grades of stock of all kinds. Few farmers in Ohio are better equipped both by experience and by material facilities for high class work. The financial success of his farm has largely come from the stock raising end of the business. In December, 1885, Mr." Miller married Miss Emma C. Meyers. That may be considered the start of his career. For about two years after his marriage he and his wife lived on farms in Henry County, working and economizing, and they then rented .the old Doctor Emery Farm near Ridgeville Corners. They kept that for eight years and made considerable money, saving $1,100 and also having some stock and implements when they moved to their own place. The $1,100 was the first payment on the homestead farm. Since then they have made a comfortable fortune, and with Mr. Miller looking after the farm and fields and Mrs. Miller managing the domestic quarters they have presented a combination capable of unlocking the door to a generous prosperity. Their farm has excellent buildings and one is a barn 44 by 84 feet with 20-foot posts. It is equipped for the storage of grain and the housing of large numbers of stock. One special feature of the farm is poultry raising, in which Mrs. Miller is particularly interested. They have well built poultry houses, and keep from 500 to 700 head of chickens. Their annual revenue from the sale of poultry and eggs amounts to about $700. For the comforts of living they have one of the most modern country homes in Henry County. It comprises ten rooms with basement, has facilities for the supplying of hot and cold water, a bathroom, and all other conveniences. A wide thirty-foot veranda is another feature of the home. This farm is well known in Henry County as "the Miller Ranch." Anthony Miller was born in Ridgeville Township June 10, 1861, and has always made his home in this county. His parents were Ambrose and Theresa (Snyder) Miller. Both were natives of Bavaria, Germany, and of Catholic ancestry. They grew up in their native country, and came from Bremen to New York. Ambrose Miller spent ninety-six days in crossing the ocean. After their arrival in Ridgeville Township of Henry County they married, and started out as housekeepers in a log cabin. Ambrose Miller undertook the development of a tract of wild land, and in the course of time had a better home, barns and a well cultivated farm. He died May 5, 1904, and his widow celebrated her eightieth birthday on July 4, 1916, and is still vigorous and hearty. She has been a life-long Catholic and Ambrose Miller was a democratic voter. Of their five sons and five daughters nine are still living, and all married and have their homes in either Henry or Fulton County. On December 17, 1885, Anthony Miller took the partner which has been such a conspicuous helpmate in all his subsequent career. She was a neighbor girl, Emma, C. Meyers, and was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, September 18, 1866, having been brought to Henry County when quite young. Her parents were John and Magdalene (Rich) Meyers. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of France. John Meyers was a shoemaker and tanner by trade, followed his occupation in Bucyrus for some years with his brother Jacob, and later moved to Henry County and improved a farm of 104 acres in Ridgeville Township. After he had cleared up and cultivated this farm for a number of years he retired to Wauseon, where his death occurred in 191.1 at the age of eighty-one. Mrs. Miller's mother died in November, 1908, aged sixty-four. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have one daughter, Grace, who graduated from the Ridgeville Corners High School in 1916 and is still at home. WILLIS B. ULSH. One of Findlay's very successful merchants is Willis B. Ulsh, member of the grocery house of Ulsh & Addison. Mr. Ulsh is a native of Hancock County, but his earlier years were spent in various western states, and he knows by experience all the vicissitudes of farming and home making in the early days of the West. His real prosperity has been gained since he returned to Hancock County and took up a business career in Findlay. He was born in Big Lick Township of