HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1675 member of the State Legislature, and has made his professional and civic activities count for a large measure of public benefit in Northwest Ohio. Born at Spencerville, October 12, 1875, educated in the public schools, he took his law course in the Ohio Northern University, where he was graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1899. Since then he has been in active practice and has brought his ability to bear in promoting and directing several business organizations in Allen County. He is secretary and attorney for the Spencerville Home and Savings Association and is .a director of the Spencerville Telephone Company. The Spencerville Home and Savings Association was organized in 1887, and its authorized capital is $1,000,000, with resources of $100,000. The first secretary was S. L. Ashton, the first president J. M. Bond, the first vice president R. H. Harbison, and the first attorney J. N. Bailey. The officers in 1916 are : D. M. Conner, president; J. M. Beard, vice president ; and R. R. Kennedy, who has been secretary and attorney since 1900. It is noteworthy that this company has not made a foreclosure during the past seventeen years. It pays 5 per cent interest on deposits, and has a. large amount of money loaned on good security. The company has its own building, 20 by 60 feet, and it was newly equipped in 1916 with vaults and other furniture necessary to the ready conduct of business. The Biederman Manufacturing Company of Spencerville, in which Mr. Kennedy is attorney and a member of the executive committee, was organized in 1909 with a capital of $10,000 and has built up a large business in the manufacture of kitchen cabinets and interior woodwork. The first officers were : L. Y. Cochran, president ; A. C. Henry, secretary ; and S. F. Biederman, manager. In 1911 the capital was increased to $25,000 and in 1913 to $50,000. In 1909 the company employed only six persons, while thirty-five are now on the payroll. A large plant has grown up in Spencerville, and in 1914 the company erected a 60 by 180 foot factory building, and there are two other buildings, one 60 by 60 and the other 18 by 64. The executive officers for 1916 are : J. H. Wright, president ; G. L. Haas, secretary and treasurer ; and C. Louth, vice president. Mr. Kennedy held an appointive position in the State Senate in 1898, and was elected and served two terms in the House of Representatives, from 1911 to 1914 inclusive. While a member of the Legislature he was author of the first private bank law under the new constitutional amendment. This law was passed in 1913. Mr. Kennedy is a son of Claude M. and Handia J. (Washburn) Kennedy. His father, who followed farming as his regular vocation, came to Auglaize County, Ohio; in 1852 from Pennsylvania. At one time he served as trustee of Spencer Township in Allen County. While in the Legislature Mr. Kennedy secured the passage of the Fort Amanda Historical Association Bill providing for a monument and park, and has since, been a trustee of the association. He is himself a direct descendant of Anne Russell, the first child born at Fort Amanda, and who married Charles C. Marshall, and later she married Samuel Washburn. Mr. Kennedy's mother was the daughter of Thomas A. Washburn, and is thus a direct descendant of that historic personage of old Fort Amanda. For a number of years Mr. Kennedy has been active in the Ohio state military, served as private in Company F of the Second Regi ment, Ohio National Guard, was promoted to lieutenant of Company F, and resigned that position to become captain in the quartermaster's department. For three years, 190102-03, he served as clerk of the school board at Spencerville. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife is active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Kennedy married Susan K. Dunnathan, who was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, in 1877, a daughter of John H. and Mary A. Dunnathan. Her father was at one time a county commissioner in Auglaize County, and for several terms was mayor of Spencerville, and also filled the office of justice of the peace. REV. MARCELLUS BUNYAN FULLER." With a record of twenty-five years' service in the Cincinnati Central and West Ohio 'Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Marcellus B. Fuller, now of Lima, is regarded as one of the ablest ministers of his denomination in the state. He has been an indefatigable worker, and has the breadth of mind, the judgment and experience, as well as spiritual devotion, required for real leadership in any movement. He was born at Troy, Miami County, Ohio, June 12, 1868. a son of Robert and Eliza (Robinson) Fuller. His father was an Ohio 1676 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO farmer. Doctor Fuller was liberally educated. He finished the grammar school course at the, age of fourteen and the high school course at .Troy at eighteen. For the following three years he was a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, where he graduated in 1890, and then entered the. Boston Theological Seminary. His successive posts as a minister have been at : Manchester, Adams County, Ohio, two years ; Georgetown, Brown County, three years ; First Methodist Episcopal Church of Urbana, five years; Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church at Cincinnati, five years ; Grace Methodist Episcopal Church of Dayton five years. On October 1, 1912, he came to Lima and has since been pastor of Trinity Church. He opened the fine Trinity Church and dedicated it, and raised $50,000 to pay its indebtedness. In the seventeen years of his ministry he has not missed a single Sunday in receiving members, and his pastorates in the different places in Ohio have all been fruitful of large results, both in membership and in material growth. On Palm Sunday during the past five years he has received into his church a hundred or more members each year. He has the degree of Doctor of Divinity, given him both by Moore's Hill College in Indiana and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. In 1915 he was elected a delegate to the general conference of the church, which was held in Saratoga, New York, in May, 1916. He is a trustee of the Ohio Northern University and a member of the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity. On September 9, 1891, Doctor Fuller married Gertrude McKnight of Troy, Ohio, daughter of John K. and Medora (Clark) McKnight. Her father was a merchant at Troy. To their union have been born three sons, but the first born died in infancy ; Glenn Vincent, who was born March 8, 1894, graduated from the Ohio State University with the class of 1916 ; Mark A., born February 22, 1897, is now in the sophomore class of the Ohio State University. CHARLES HERMAN CLARK, M. D. Now superintendent and physician in charge of the Lima State Hospital for the Insane, Doctor Clark is regarded as one of the foremost authorities on mental and nervous diseases and administrative detail of management of the hospitals for the insane in the state. He has had a long and thorough experience, and for over twenty years has been associated in one capacity or another with hospitals for the insane in this state and elsewhere. His father Chambers K. Clark was also a prominent physician and during the Civil war served as assistant surgeon of the Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The mother was Mary E. Hendrix. Both father and son were born in Champaign County, Ohio. Dr. Charles Herman Clark was born July 30, 1866, and was liberally educated in preparation for his professional career. After the public schools he attended the Ohio Northern University at Ada, studied medicine under a preceptor, and on March 9, 1893, graduated M. D. from the Starling Medical College of Columbus. Almost immediately he became associated with the work which has kept him busily engaged all subsequent years and has brought him numerous distinctions associated with his name. For one year he was house physician in St. Francis Hospital at Columbus. He then was first assistant in the opening of the Ohio Hospital. for Epileptics at Gallipolis. He remained there four years, following which for one year he was assistant in the Columbus State Hospital. For eighteen months he was assistant physician in the Massillon State Hospital, and then went to Washington, D. C., where for seven years he was connected with the Government Hospital for the Insane, as assistant six years and for one year as clinical director. Returning to Ohio, Doctor Clark became superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Cleveland, and filled that post seven years. On September 15, 1914, he was transferred to the Lima State Hospital for the Insane as superintendent and physician in charge. Doctor Clark is a member of the American Medico-Psychological Society, and belongs to the Allen County and Ohio State Medical societies. In 1915 he was chairman of the section on nervous and mental diseases of the Ohio State Society. Doctor Clark is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite and Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Lima Club, the Shawnee Country Club and the Rotary Club. On October 19, 1901, at Massillon, Ohio, he married Cora E. Taggart. Her father Isaac M. Taggart is a prominent banker of that city. Doctor and Mrs. Clark have one child, Elizabeth. WILLIAM ROUSH, M. D. of Lima began his professional career twenty-five years ago, was HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1677 a general practitioner in the early part of his experience, but has more and more devoted his time and attention to surgery, and is now recognized as one of the foremost in that profession in Northwest Ohio. Doctor Roush is a native of Allen County, having been born on a farm nine miles west of Lima, December 6, 1864. His parents were Jacob M. and Elizabeth (Holtzapple) Roush. Both were natives of Pennsylvania and both are now deceased. They were married in Pennsylvania, but in March, 1848, moved to Allen County, Ohio. Jacob. Roush was a poor man when he came to this section of Ohio and it was as a result of many years of hard work and constant exercise of thrift that he prospered and liberally provided for his home and his own wants in his later years. On coming to Allen County he took up a homestead of eighty acres and also bought forty acres, giving him a farm 120 acres in extent. He was .a democrat in politics and he and his wife were members of the Christian Union Church. They were the parents of ten children. The four now living are : Nettie, wife of James Cremean of Muncie, Indiana; Charles, who is in the concrete business in Alabama ; Doctor William ; Ida, wife of E. C. Hopkins a farmer in Trumbull County, Ohio. With the environment of the country during his youth, William Roush was impelled by an ambition to make the best of his talents and opportunities, and besides the advantages which his father could give him he also sought by his own earnings and efforts a liberal education. He attended the district schools near the old farm, also the Elida public schools, and had some courses in the Normal College at Ada. For four years he was a teacher, and with the earnings from that work he entered the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, where he was graduated M. D. March 6, 1891. Two and a half years he spent in practice at Elida, and then 13 ½ years at Spencerville. In 1908 Doctor Roush removed to Lima, and from that city as headquarters his name and reputation as a surgeon have become widespread. He confines his attention entirely to surgery. At different times he has served as a member of the hospital staff. He is now president of the Allen County Medical Society, belongs to the State and Northwestern Medical societies and the American Medical Association, and through his achievements in the field of surgery is a member of the American College of. Surgeons, membership in which organization is limited to men who have definite achievements and special qualifications in the surgical branch of the profession. Doctor Roush has taken several special courses in Baltimore, Cincinnati and Chicago, and for the past thirteen years has spent some time every year visiting the clinics and otherwise enjoying the superb advantages offered by the great Mayo institution at Rochester, Minnesota. In June, 1894, he married Miss Nevada Wright, a native of Highland County, Ohio. They have four children : Gerald, who is employed by the Gramm Bernstine Company at Lima ; Richard, who died when eighteen years of age ; Lucile and Mary, both in school. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Doctor Roush has passed all the chairs of the subordinate lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. A democrat in politics, he served as a member of the pension examining board during Cleveland's second administration. FRANK A. JENNINGS. The Jennings family came to Henry County about 1850. They were among the true pioneers, since they found the land on which they settled absolutely uncleared and never touched by the plow.. They cleared the woods, drained the swamps, built homes, suffered the 'privations and hardships of early life, and for more than sixty-five years it has been a family name of unblemished honor and integrity. Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Jennings are now living retired in the Village of McClure, both have spent nearly all their lives in this county, and are kindly people with a record for honesty, temperance and good citizenship. Mr. Jennings' grandparents came from Pennsylvania about the time they were married and settled as pioneers near Tiffin in Seneca County, Ohio. The grandfather died there when about seventy years of age, a sufferer from cancer. His widow outlived him many years and died at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Laura Miley at Wauseon, Ohio, and was then in very advanced years. She was a member of the United Brethren Church and the grandfather was a Whig in politics. They had six sons and six daughters. Two are still living : Mrs. Susan Monson of Tiffin, Ohio, and Mrs. Sarah Harmon of Harrison Township, Henry County, both of whom are now in advanced years. Justin Jennings, father 1678 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO of Frank A., was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1822, and grew up as a farmer boy. He was married in his native county to Catherine Powell, who was born there and was a few years younger than her husband. Her parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Powell, were natives of Pennsylvania and were also early settlers in Seneca County. Later they removed to Grand Rapids in Wood County and there died when quite old. The Powells were also United Brethren Church people and Mr. Powell was an active class leader and local preacher and his son Andrew became a prominent minister of the church. After his marriage Justin Jennings and wife lived for several years in Seneca County. Their son Henry was born there and died in infancy, and also a daughter Melissa, who was a small child when the family came to Henry County. This tweaking up of home ties in Seneca County and the transfer of their possessions to Henry County, was accomplished in the dead of winter over rough and icy roads, and with wagons drawn by ox teams. Justin Jennings secured 160 acres of wild land in section 16 of Damascus Township. The conditions he had to face would have discouraged a less determined and capable pioneer. Much of, the land was swampy. He and his wife , lived in a log cabin for several years. He not only had to clear the timbers, but also drain the land, fenced it and most of this heavy labor he did unaided. Some years later he erected a substantial brick and frame house, and it was in that house that Frank A. Jen- nings was born. Other improvements came with passing years, and Justin Jennings lived to see himself surrounded by much prosperity. He finally retired to Grand Rapids in Wood . County, but planned to return to the old homestead. His wife died at Grand Rapids of apoplexy at the age of sixty-five. Justin Jennings then returned dome and died June 2, 1900, at the age of. seventy-two. He and his wife were active members of the United Brethren Church, his wife having been reared in that faith, and joining the church in mature years. They helped organize the first church :in their locality. He was also active in polities, a republican, and served as township treasurer for many years. Emma E., the first of Justin Jennings' children born in Henry County, is the wife of D. L. Warner of Liberty Center, and all their children are now married. John S., a farmer in Saginaw County, Michigan, is married and has a son Clyde, also married. The next in age is Mr. Frank A. Jennings. Andrew B., who lives on a farm in Damascus Township married Toy Cromwell and has three sons and five daughters. Elizabeth is the wife of R. C. Sabin, lives on a farm near Ludington, Michigan, and has two sons. Thomas is a farmer in Wood County, Ohio, has been twice married and has children by both wives. George W., who lives in Grand Rapids, Ohio, has two sons. Perry H., a tenant farmer in Henry County in Napoleon Township, has two living sons. Frank A. Jennings was born in Damascus Township at the old homestead and in the then new brick house on April 11, 1858. He grew up on the farm, received his education in the local schools and has given the best years of his life to the cultivation of the soil. In his native township he married Mary Reid. She was born on Turkey Foot Creek in that township August -8, 1856, a daughter of Thomas and Elmira (Crockett), Reid. Her father was 'born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1823 and married his first wife in his native land. She died in Scotland, and of her three children, James and Jessie are both deceased, while Thomas came with his father to the United States. Thomas Reid after coming to America located in Seneca County where he met and married Miss Crockett, who was a native of the State of Maine. They located on a wild farm in Damascus Township, and Mr.. Reid lived to clear it up and add another good farm to Henry County. He was a hard worker, and continued to improve and purchase more land until his large farm comprised 320 acres, improved with excellent buildings. He died there in 1877, and his second wife survived him about twenty years. He had been reared in the Presbyterian faith while his wife was a Universalist. In politics he was a republican. Besides Mrs. Jennings the children of the Reid family are given brief record as follows : Knott and Mattie were twins, the latter dying at the age of three years: Knott lives on the old homestead and by his marriage to Emma Pratt has four sons, Guy, Mathew, Maurice and Arthur. William Reid, who owns part of the old farm, married Jennie Fast and has three living children, Ethel, John M. and Alice, and Thomas and Ruth now deceased. Charles, who also has part of the old Reid Farm, married Myrtie Meyers and has children named Glen, Eva and Grace. Edwin Reid, a farmer in Damascus Township, first married Bertha Shepard, who left him one child, Bruce, and his second wife was Ada Tussing, who died without children: Agnes HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1679 married .Irvin Meyers, a farmer of Damascus Township, and their children are Nellie, Jessie, Warren, Corrinne and Martha. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings after their marriage started out to farm rented land, and he subsequently bought forty acres, then traded it for sixty acres, added twenty acres by purchase, and after some years sold that place and bought a farm of ninety-nine acres in Harrison Township. That was the home of, his prosperous years until January, 1915, when Mr. Jennings sold out and retired to a comfortable home situated on a tract of 31/2 acres along North Street in the Village of McClure. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings have been active members for thirty years of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically he is a republican. They have reared three children, and all are now well established in homes of their own. James, who was educated at Angola, Indiana, and in the college at Ada, Ohio, spent some years as a teacher, but is now in business at Litchfield, Michigan ; he married Lucile Curtis, who was a native of Michigan and was a student in the college at Angola, Indiana ; they have a daughter Constance L. Catherine Jennings, who also secured a good education, was a teacher until her marriage to Robert Notestine, a dairy farmer now located near Petoskey, Michigan ; they have one son, Robert Stanley. Frances, who graduated with the highest honors from the Liberty Center High School, married Homer E. Welson; who is also a graduate of Liberty Center High School and afterwards taught, and they live on a dairy farm in Liberty Township of Henry County, and have a daughter Roberta A. W. L. NEVILLE, M. D. Continuously since pioneer times the name Neville has been associated with the practice of medicine in Northwest Ohio. Dr. W. L. Neville has been a leader in the profession for over twenty-five years, and his father before him practiced fully half a century. Dr. W. L. Neville has been a resident of Lima since 1906, and has his offices in the Holland Block. He was born at St. John in Auglaize County, Ohio, September 14, 1867, a son of John S. and Mary J. (Dinehart) Neville, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio, and both now deceased. The paternal grandfather Samuel Neville was born in Virginia, brought his family to Ohio in 1837, and followed the trade of sadler. The maternal grandfather Conrad Dinehart arrived in Ohio when a young .man and spent the rest of his days in this state. John S. Neville came to Logan County, Ohio, in 1837, afterwards studied medicine and did the greater part of his practice at St. John and Roundhead. He was a pioneer doctor, and in the early days carried most of his medicines in his saddle bags as he rode about the country taking his professional skill to his patients who lived in widely separated homes and many miles from his own home. He practically wore himself out in service of his patients, but kept up the practice for more than fifty years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a radical prohibitionist. He and his wife had two children. The daughter M. Belle, who died at the age of forty-nine, was the wife of the late Capt. Henry J. May, of the Regular United States Army. Dr. W. L. Neville spent most of his boyhood at Roundhead in Hardin County. He attended school there and also the Ohio Normal University at Ada. His first means of making himself useful and serviceable in the world were as a school teacher. He taught two years and then entered the Starling Medical College at Columbus, where he was graduated M. D. in 1891. Doctor Neville practiced at Roundhead, Ohio, for fifteen years, and built up a large patronage in that village and over an extensive surrounding territory. In 1906 he. removed to a still larger field at Lima and has enjoyed. a successful business from the start. He was a partner of Dr. Charles Collins until the latter's death a year later, and since then has looked after an individual practice. Doctor Neville was a member of the commission for building the Lima State Hospital, having been appointed by Governor James M. Cox. He is a member in good standing of the County, State, Northwest Ohio and Tri-State Medical societies and the American Medical Association. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Order in the Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Knight Templar Commandery, Consistory and Mystic Shrine, and also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an active member of the Lima Club, is a democrat in politics, and he and his family are members of the Presby- terian Church. Doctor Neville was married in 1892 to Dora North. Mrs. Neville was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, daughter of Orin North, a farmer. Two children have been born to their marriage : Carl H. now a student in Cincinnati University ; and Wesley Jr., who is in a public school at Lima. 1680 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO THOMAS KNOX, D. D. One of the strongest organizations in Northwest Ohio is the Market Street Presbyterian Church of Lima, which has over 1,000 members, and has both the resources and efficiency of a great organization working for the welfare of the community. The pastor of this church since 1912 has been Dr. Thomas Knox, whose active services in the Presbyterian ministry cover a period of twenty-five years. During that time he has been connected with various prominent churches in metropolitan centers. His people were the solid Scotch Irish Presbyterians of North Ireland. Doctor Knox was born near Belfast, Ireland, a son of Thomas and Mary (Wallace) Knox. His grandfather was also Thomas Knox and spent his life as a farmer in Northern Ireland. The maternal grandfather Robert Wallace was born in Ireland, lived there all his life, and was a man of exceptionally strong character and of keen intelligence. Thomas and Mary Knox came to the United States late in life, settled at Jersey City, New Jersey, and died there. The father was a man of good education, became a republican after taking his American citizenship, and he and his wife were active in the Presbyterian Church. He was a farmer by occupation. There were nine children. Dr. Thomas Knox was educated in the schools of Ireland, and after coming to the United States filled the position of cashier in a manufacturing establishment in New York City for five years. He educated himself along the broader lines, and in 1892 graduated from the Union Theological Seminary of New York City. He spent altogether about fifteen years at different places in Illinois and some of his first work was done in the Union Mission Church of Chicago. In 1902 he became pastor of the Seventh Presbyterian Church at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, and remained in that pastorate for ten years. Then in October, 1912, he came to Lima to the Market Street Presbyterian Church. Doctor Knox married Elizabeth Marshall, of Chicago. She was born in Scotland fifteen miles from Glasgow, was educated in her native country and later graduated from the Englewood High School of Chicago. Her parents Robert and Susan Marshall settled in Chicago after coming to America and her father for many years was foreman in the building department and is now retired on a pension. Mrs. Knox was a woman of fine ability and culture and was in many ways a co-operating factor .with Doctor Knox in his work. She taught in Sunday schools and was also a worker in the Young Women's Christian Association and other organizations. Mrs. Knox died February 23, 1916. There were two children. Mary Wallace Knox has recently entered Northwestern University at Chicago. John Marshall Knox is a student in Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio. Doctor, Knox is affiliated with the Lima Lodge No. 205 F. and A. M., has also taken the Scottish Rite degrees at Cincinnati, and throughout his ministry 'has proved a vigorous factor in the moral and social movements of the various cities in which he has lived. He has sought 'for the best interests of Lima since becoming pastor and has neglected none- of those duties which are a part of good citizenship. In politics he is a republican. GEORGE R. MELL, D. D. of Lima, has had a a long and active career as an educator, minister of the Christian Church, farmer and business man. He has been a worker all his life, and has sought to the limit of his strength and opportunity to give a worthy service as he passed through the world. He has done a great deal of good and is one of the most widely known men in Northwest Ohio. He belongs to the pioneer element in Allen County. He was born on a farm 7 ½ miles north of Lima September 17, 1853, and grew up in a country district. He largely educated himself, since his father did not give him a dollar after he was fifteen years of age. He has been in .church work either as a layman or a minister since early youth. Though he is now practically retired, he preaches at a church at Brock in Darke County, and also has charge of the property at Lima belonging to Defiance College. He still owns the old home farm of eighty acres. That farm has an interesting record. It has never been out of the Mell name or ownership since it came direct from the Government, and only three deeds have been recorded on it. No mortgage has ever been laid against the land. Mr. Mell is a son of John C. and Catherine (Jones) Mell. His grandfather George Mell was a native of Virginia, came to Ohio as a boy, lived in Warren County until 1833, and then took his three sons to Allen County. The first marriage license issued in Putnam County, Ohio, was to permit George Mell to marry his second wife. He located in that section of Putnam County that is now Allen County, and he operated the first saw and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1681 grist mill in Sugar Tree Township of Allen County. He was a soldier of the War of 1812. George Mell was of English and Welsh descent. Mr. Mell's maternal grandfather was Rowland Jones, a native. of Wales, who came to Ohio in 1827, locating in Butler County, and in 1835 in Allen County, where he took up land from the Government. He spent his life as a farmer and was a man of strong religious inclinations and the first Sunday school in Sugar Tree Township was organized in his house. John C. Mell, father of 'Rev. Mr. Mell, was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1823, and died February 13, 1901. His wife was born in Wales in 1825 and died March 18, 1892. They were married in Allen County Novem ber 6, 1852. Their six children were George R.; Margaret. M., who married C. H. Parish, both now deceased; Sarah J. Mell, who lives with her brother George ; Ann Eliza, who died in infancy ; John E., who was born April 25, 1863, and died in 1904; Peter T., a contractor at Lima. John C. Mell was a member of the Christian Church and his wife belonged to the Welsh Congregational Church. She united with that church at Gomer, Ohio, when ten years of age. John C. Mell also took an active part in local affairs as a democrat. For twenty-one years he served as a justice of the peace and for fifteen years township clerk.. In early life he followed school teaching and later became a successful farmer. George R. Mell after the advantages of country schools secured the rest of his education in the intervals of hard work for his support. He attended, nearly one school year, the Ohio Northern University at Ada, spent .a year at Antioch College, and took three years selected work .at the National Normal University of Lebanon. Altogether he was a school teacher and a student in these various institutions for nearly eleven years, and he also took correspondence courses in the East. He had the degree of Doctor of Divinity conferred on him in year 1914 by the Milton University of Baltimore, Maryland. He began his ministerial .labors with the Northwest Ohio Conference as a licensed exhorter on November 5, 1880. He was ordained after passing the requisites of the Conference on October 9, 1881. The ordaining committee were G. B. Garner, Michael Marts, and E. H. Umphress. His first church was Bethlehem Church in Allen County and he preached there while' a student. For three years he was in charge of the church at Arthur in Paulding County, and at three different times had pastorates in Montgomery County covering a period of fourteen years. He also held various churches in Allen and adjoining county. His individual .church membership has been with the West Cairo Christian Church for forty-nine years. For twenty-five years .he was a member of the board of examinations and was assistant secretary of the Conference for ten years and secretary fifteen years. He has been a member of the Conference Committee since he was ordained and has been a member of the publication committee on the Conference. On March 23, 1882, Mr. Mell married Alice A. Ford. She was born in Allen County and died January 27, 1889. On November 5, 1891, he married Mrs. Ida Thompson. She was born, in Covington, Ohio, and died January 28, 1913. Mr. Mell was married February 24, 1915 to Josephine R. Richeson. Mrs. Mell was born in Bellefontaine, Ohio, a daughter. of John T. and Sarah Lieuellen Richeson. Both her parents were born near Wilmington, Ohio, and her 'father was reared in Auglaize County. In the Richeson family were six children and the four now living are : Dr. Carrie A. Richeson, who for more than twenty-five years practiced' medicine and surgery at Bellefontaine, Ohio ; Mrs. Mell ; Martha R., wife of E. C. Couch, a machinist at Defiance ; and John Lloyd, who is connected with the Big Four Railway Company at Indianapolis. Mrs. Mell's father was a Methodist and by trade a brickmaker. Mr. Mell is affiliated with the Lodge and Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled the various chairs in the Encampment and at four different times was high priest. Politically he is a prohibitionist and has been actively identified with that cause all his life. V. H. HAY, M. D. Though. Doctor Hay has been in practice at Lima only a short time, his work has given him a high degree of favor and standing in the community, and on November 7, 1916, the choice of the people of the county fell upon him for the office of coroner. Doctor Hay was born at Monroeville, Indiana, September 24, 1889, a son of W. H. and Lucinda (Krick) Hay. His father was born in Mercer County, Ohio, in 1864 and died in 1910, and his mother was a native of Allen County, Indiana, where she was born in 1869. She is still living and she and her husband were married in Allen County, Indiana. W. 1682 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO H. Hay was a farmer and also did considerable business in the buying of horses. He was an active democrat, filled the various chairs in the lodge of Odd Fellows, and was also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife were Lutherans. Doctor Hay, the only child of his parents, was reared in Monroeville, Indiana, graduated from the high school there in 1907, and soon fixed his ambition upon the medical profession. In 1908 he entered Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, where he was graduated -M. D. in 1912. He also had one year of opportunity and experience as an interne in St. Francis Hospital. With this preparation he came to Lima and has already built up a good general practice as a physician and surgeon. Doctor Hay is unmarried. He is a member of the Allen County, the Ohio State Medical societies and the. American Medical Association, and in politics is a democrat. He is also affiliated with Lima Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. SCOTT WILKINS. To know Scott Wilkins of Lima is to know one of the most interesting young men of Northwest Ohio. Measured by the "goods standard" which is so frequently applied to success in life, he is now to be rated among the successful men, though he has risen to that position from the humblest of day labor. He knows 'all sorts and conditions of men. He is familiar with the worker and the toiler, and what he has seen and experienced has made him an ardent socialist, and he is one of the recognized leaders of that party in the. State of Ohio. In 1914 he Was his party's nominee for the office of governor. In spite of the length and breadth of experience Scott Wilkins is still young. He has barely passed his thirty-fifth birthday. He was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, June 17, 1881, a son of James R. and Sarah (Longwith) Wilkins. His grandfather Reuben Wilkins was a native of Virginia and an early settler of Auglaize County. The maternal grandfather Cyrus Longwith was of Virginia parentage and had five brothers who fought as Union soldiers in the Civil war, one of whom,. James, died in Libby Prison. Both James R. and his wife Sarah Wilkins were natives of Auglaize County. He was born in 1848 and died in February, 1915, and his wife was born in 1852 and is still living. James Wilkins was a farmer. In younger years he suffered much from ill health, but finally 'accumulated a place of sixty acres and lived his last years in prosperous circumstances. He was a democrat in politics. His wife was a devout member of the United Brethren Church, and he furnished the ground and helped build one of the churches of that denomination in their neighborhood. There were three children : Charles, who occupies the old home farm ; Scott ; and Ferd, who lives with his brother on the homestead. Scott Wilkins had only a district school education. At the age of fourteen he began working in the woolen mills at St. Mary's, and afterwards was employed in a machine shop during the summer months while he attended school in winter. At the age of sixteen he went out to Kansas, found work as porter in a hotel, and afterwards was advanced to the responsibilities of night clerk. In the fall of the same . year he returned home and entered the high school, but after two months illness compelled him to leave. The next season was spent working among• the farmers, and he again went West and made a hand in the wheat harvest. From the harvest fields. he went to St. Louis and became a laborer in a car foundry. One of the early experiences which made a strong impression upon his mind came at the age of eighteen, when he was arrested at Springfield, Ohio. At the time he was expecting a job as a ditcher at $1.25 a day. However, he was penniless, and was spending the night sleeping on the Fair Grounds as a common vagabond. After his arrest he was released through his acquaintance with a local hotel man. In early years as well as later Mr. Wilkins has shown a prompt willingness to take any work which would earn him an honest dollar and he has a thorough sympathy and fellowship with the toiling masses. He also knows what army life is like. He enlisted in the Second United States Regulars at Springfield, Illinois, and' spent two years eight months in the service. For one year eight months of the time he was stationed at Fort Thomas, and another year was spent in the Philippines. After leaving the army he came home by way of San Francisco, and was next engaged with a gang of men doing railroad construction work on the famous cut-off through the Salt Lake. From there he returned to St. Marys, Ohio, and after a correspondence course for the civil service he was appointed city letter carrier in St. Marys. He held that post for a number of years. Out of his wages he not only supported his family but paid for a home in that city. In the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1683 meantime, as a result of his studies and observations of political problems, he became allied with the socialist movement. He was nominated for the office of mayor on that ticket, and was elected-and served one term, giving a most creditable administration of the municipal government of St. Marys. At the end of his term he refused a renomination. Using his home property which he had paid for, Mr. Wilkins then engaged in the real estate business, and in that has more than made good and is regarded as one of the keenest judges of real estate values in Northwest Ohio. He has handled an extensive business in both Auglaize and Allen counties and now has important business connections in Toledo. At the present rime he is putting up a three-story business block at Lima to cost $18,000. In 1905 Mr. Wilkins married Anna May Garner, whose 'maiden name was Stevely. She was born in Auglaize County. Mrs. Wilkins is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow.' Until he took up socialism Mr. Wilkins was a republican. Besides the honor paid him by his party in nominating him for governor in 1914, he has served almost continuously on the state executive committee and on the national committee for a number of years. Mr. Wilkins spends most of his time in Lima, and he also holds a residence at Wapakoneta. WILLIAM H. BATTLES. When a man as he progresses through life gains a competence of material goods, provides well for his family, lives honorably and uprightly, before his fellow men, his career is properly accounted a success. All that William. H. Battles has done and those who know him and appreciate his hearty fellowship, his good nature and love of wholesome merriment, know that he has accepted even the hard and bitter experiences of life with a light heart and with a courageous outlook upon the future. Mr. Battles was born in Erie County, Ohio, August 31, 1859. His grandparents Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Crane) Battles were natives of Pennsylvania, where they spent their lives. Nathaniel was a merchant. They died when quite old, and were the parents of three sons and three daughters, 'all of whom grew up and married. Two are now living, John P. Battles and his sister Anna, wife of George Smith, who live in Huron County, Ohio, on a farm and have a son and daughter. John P. Battles, father of William H., was born in Pennsylvania, grew up on the farm there, and when a young man moved to Oxford Township in Erie County. There he married Miss Catherine McCann. She was born in New York State of Scotch parentage. When she was a child her parents came to Erie County and they lived out their lives in that section. After his marriage John P. Battles continued to live in Erie County for some years, but when William. was twelve years of age the family went to Plain Township of Wood County, There John P. Battles played the part of the real pioneer, clearing up a farm from the wilderness. His first home there was a house of plain boards, but in time he surrounded himself with all the comforts and added to his prosperity came also the esteem of the community. Mrs. John Battles died there twenty-one years ago at the age of seventy-two years. Since then Mr. John Battles has lived with his children, and for several years has made his home with William H.' Battles. He is now ninety-three years of age. In spite of the weight of years he is active and vigorous, gets out and works every day, rises before breakfast and feeds the stock, and reads his newspaper without the aid of glasses and eats three meals every day. Truly he has mastered the art of attaining a green and smiling old age. It is a token of admiration as well as esteem when he is called on every hand "Daddy Battles." He has voted the republican ticket through so many campaigns that he can hardly recall them, and still keeps up with current events. His wife was an active member of the Congregational Church. There were four children. George died at the age of ten years. Edward, who lives in Toledo, has been twice married and has a son by his first wife. The third child is William H. Bert died after his marriage, leaving a daughter Kate, who has been twice married and has one son. William H. Battles came to manhood on the -old farm in Plain Township in Wood County. He lived in Grand Rapids, Ohio, for some time, was a farmer there for twelve years, and then came to Henry County and bought forty acres near Grelton in Damascus Township. Still later he bought forty-six acres more in section 4 and then thirty-nine acres in section 6: All of this land is highly improved. On his forty-six acres he has good farm buildings, and his own home is on section 31 in Damascus Township. His improvements at once classify him as one of the most progressive farmer citizens of Henry County. His barn is 40 by 60 feet with 20-foot posts 1684 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and a shed 15 by 45 feet. All the buildings are painted white with green trimmings. His home is a modern twelve-room house. Mr. Battles takes the greater pride in this farm on account of the fact that he cleared up the fields from the forest. In 1884 he married Mrs. Clara E. (Shidler) Croninger. Mrs. Battles was born in Seneca County, Ohio, October 5, 1859, and was reared there and in Wood County. Her first husband was Willis Croninger of Henry County, a son of Leonard Croninger. Willis died when about twenty-two years of age, leaving one son, Willis, Jr., who was born in 1881. Willis Croninger, Jr., is now a thrifty farmer in Richfield Township, and by his marriage to Martha Zook of Harrison Township has three children, Reba, Clara and Raymond. Mr. and Mrs.. Battles have three children. Harley F., who now lives in Paradise, Oregon, married Blanche Croninger, and their three children are named Ila, William, Jr., and Harold. The daughter Nellie finished the course of the public schools and is still at home. The third child, Alverda, died October 26, 1916, aged thirteen years. ISAAC SNIVELY MOTTER. In the death of Isaac S. Motter on March 21, 1907, Lima and Allen County lost one of its foremost attorneys and citizens. He was a man of thorough attainments in his profession, had the industry and the other qualifications which make for success, and earned a reputation that was not confined to his home. city. Mr. Motter was born at Williamsport, Washington County, Maryland, January 19, 1852, and was just in the prime of life and his powers when death took him away. His parents were Isaac and Mary (Snively) Motter, the former a native of Emmetsburg, Maryland, and the latter born near Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Isaac Motter Sr. was a tanner, but subsequently sold that business and moved to the farm where he spent the rest of ̊his years and which has been the family homestead for several generations. Isaac S. Motter grew up in a good home, had a private tutor to look after his early training, and finally entered Roanoke College at Salem, Virginia, from which he was graduated with the degree Master of Arts. His law studies were directed by Colonel Schley, an uncle of the great American admiral at the Battle of Santiago Bay. Colonel Schley had his offices at Hagerstown, Maryland. Mr. Motter himself practiced for several years in Hagerstown, but on May 1, 1881, identified himself with the City of Lima and practiced there continuously for a quarter of a century. He was senior member of the firm of Motter, McKinzie & Wedock, and not only built up a splendid private clientage but was also active in local affairs. He served six years as prosecuting attorney of Allen County. He was a democrat and he and his wife were members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Lima, while in fraternal matters he was a Mason and Odd Fellow. He was the first president of the library here, and held the office until his death. On November 18, 1886, Mr. Motter married Harriet Amelia Meiley. Mrs. Motter is the daughter of John H. and Catherine (Fisher) Meiley, her father born at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and her mother on a farm near Quincy, Pennsylvania. They were married at Mansfield, Ohio, and on. October 7, 1844, John Meiley located at Lima. For a time he was in the foundry business with Senator John Sherman at Mansfield, and afterward had a weaving establishment, and in later years followed the same line at Lima. His brother Samuel Meiley was the originator of a machine for weaving carpets, and the two brothers were associated in business manufacturing carpets and coverlets. John .Meiley retired from the firm about 1850 and some years later he was elected to the office of clerk of county court. He made a splendid success in business, though he started life as a poor man. He was a democrat, a member of the Masonic Order, and he and his wife were Lutherans, his wife being a charter member of Zion's Church. Mr. and Mrs. Meiley had nine children, the only survivor being Mrs. Motter. George Meiley, her brother, was a prominent and well known attorney of Lima, and died about 1894. Mrs. Motter has one son, Benjamin Snively Motter, who is now a student in the law department of the University of Michigan. Mrs. Motter grew up in Lima, attended some of the early 'public schools, and for years has been actively identified with the cause of the Lutheran Church in that city. C. L. STEER, M. D. A physician and surgeon whose work has brought him very favorable consideration in Lima during the past seven years is Dr. C. L. Steer, a graduate of Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, and who came to Lima with a very broad and thorough training. He is a man of the highest standing in his profession and is also a popular citizen in the community. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1685 Doctor Steer is a native of Ohio, born in Belmont County October 11, 1877. His parents were L. B. and Hannah (Penrose) Steer. The paternal grandfather was Israel Steer, who moved from Pennsylvania to Belmont County, Ohio, in early days. The maternal grandfather Richard Penrose was a pioneer settler in *Morgan County, Ohio, and was a devout Quaker. L. B. Steer was born in Belmont County, Ohio, in September, 1844, and is still living. He was married in Morgan County to Miss Penrose who was born at Pennsville in that county in 1842. She died in October, 1907. L. B. Steer followed farming until quite recently and is now retired. He and his family are all active members of the Friends Church and in politics he has favored the republican party. L. H. Steer and wife were parents of ten children, nine of whom are still living : W. J., a farmer in North Dakota ; R. A., a farmer, living in Belmont County, Ohio ; Dr. C. L. Steer ; Emma R., who lives with her brother on the farm; Mary, whose .home is in California, the widow of Roan Bodenhamer ; Phoebe E., wife of Mr. Gaskill, their home being in New Jersey; Horace W., on a farm in Belmont County ; Jason P., who lives in California and. is now taking a course in the Bible Institute in that state ; and Grace Alma, wife of Mr. Smith, a -farmer in Harrison County, Ohio. Doctor Steer spent his early life on a farm, and his literary education was largely under the direction of schools maintained by the Friends Church. For a time he attended the Friends Boarding School at Barnsville, and then spent a year in Oberlin College. Doctor Steer was graduated from the -medical department of Northwestern. University at Chicago on June 4, 1908, and as a further preparation before taking up active practice was for a year connected with Hackley Hospital at Muskegon, Michigan. On July 30, 1909, he established his home in Lima and bought out the practice of an older physician. With that as his start, he has acquired by his own skillful service a large business, and has prospered from the beginning. Dr. Steer was married in 1912 to Miss Mary Vandeven, a native of Lima, daughter of William Vandeven, a railroad man of that city. They have one child, Evelyn Marie, now two years of age. Doctor Steer is a member of the Allen County and State Medical societies, the American Medical Association and the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association. He is also Vol. III-23 affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees, belongs to the Lima Club, and in politics is a republican. In 1916 he was a candidate on the republican ticket for the office Of coroner, but was defeated in the general democratic landslide in Ohio.. WALTER B. RICHIE. For more than forty years a member of the Allen County bar, and also prominent as a banker, Walter B. Richie is a native of Northwest Ohio and was born in Van Wert County January 24, 1851, a son of John and Sarah (Eaton) Richie, who were farming people. Reared on a farm, with an education in the district schools, he was soon led away from the country to prepare himself for a professional career. Admitted to the bar April 2, 1875, Mr. Richie has now for more than forty years practiced steadily, though his ability has also enabled him to acquire substantial business interests. For many years he was senior of the firm of Richie & Richie which controlled a large and representative practice and he has also been president of the First National Bank of Lima. He takes much interest in fraternal affairs, being affiliated with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. In politics he is .a democrat. Mrs. Richie before her marriage was Catherine Eaton, a daughter of Reason B. Eaton of Bucyrus, Ohio. Mr. and. Mrs. Richie are members of the Presbyterian Church. EMMET E. FISHER. Now giving all his time to his duties as county recorder of Allen County, with home at Lima, Mr. Fisher has had a long and successful career in that city, and while always prominent in local politics has for the greater length of time been identified with business affairs. His family has lived in Northwest Ohio since pioneer days, and three generations have done their part and contributed their lives and influence to the improvement of material and social conditions .in this section of the state. Mr. Fisher was born at Lima August 27, 1866, a son of James M. and Rachel (Nash) Fisher. His grandfather Emanuel Fisher was born in Perry County, Ohio, early in the last century, and was a pioneer settler in Allen County, where he served as one of the first county treasurers. He was always active in politics, and a citizen of more than ordinary 1686 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO prominence. The 'maternal grandfather of Mr. Fisher was John Nash, also a pioneer of Allen County. James M. Fisher was born in Perry County, Ohio, but removed to Allen County with his parents when he was quite young. He acquired his education partly in Perry and partly in Allen County, and after attaining his majority he engaged in a manufacturing business at Lafayette, Ohio. Financial troubles overwhelmed him, but after 1872 he made a fresh start and succeeded in recouping himself before his death which occurred in 1915. For nearly thirty years he was associated in business with John Wheeler. He excelled as a penman, and was often employed for special work in the courthouse. He always took an active part in democratic circles, and was one of the trusted citizens of the county. He and his family were members of the Lutheran Church.. His wife was .born in Allen: County, Ohio, in 1846 and is still living. They were married at Lafayette, Ohio, in 1865. Their three children were : Emmet E., J. E., a lather and builder at Lima ; and W. C., a merchant at St. Marys, Ohio. After getting his education in the public schools of Lima, Emmet E. Fisher started out as' a grocery clerk. Having manifested much interest from youth in politics, he also spent four years as money order clerk in the post-office.. For over twenty-four years Mr. Fisher was bookkeeper and office man for William Tigner & Company, and had many of the responsibilities of that large and well known cigar manufacturers at Lima. From his work there he was again called into practical politics, and in November, 191.4, was elected county recorder. He was installed in office in September, 1915, and in November, 1916, was again elected, the people of the county showing their marked approval of his administration and the care and efficiency with which he handled all the records and matters entrusted to his official care. In 1895 Mr. Fisher married Minta Roberts. She was born in Allen County, a daughter of F. M. Roberts; a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are the parents of three children Harold who completed his education in the high school and also took a commercial college course, is now stenographer in his father's office in the courthouse. Margaret is a graduate of the Lima High School with the class of 1915, and has specialized in music. Grace is still a student. in high school. The family are members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and Mr. Fisher is affiliated With the Protective Home Circle. HON. CALVIN S. BRICE. Of those citizens of Northwest Ohio whose names came to have great significance in national affairs, one of the most prominent was the late Calvin Stewart Brice, who died at New York December 15, 1898. However, he had maintained his home and legal residence at Lima until his death, although his interests were widely diversified, and he was a lawyer, railroad manager and political leader of national reputation. He was born at Denmark, Ohio, September 17, 1845. His father, William Kirkpatrick Brice, was a Presbyterian minister and his mother was a woman of much intellectual force and charm of character. In 1848 the family removed to Columbus Grove in Putnam County, where Calvin Brice lived to the age of thirteen under the home care of his mother and the scholarly instruction of his father. He then entered the preparatory academy of Miami. University at Oxford, but his studies were interrupted in 1861 by the Civil war. He enlisted in Captain Dodd's University Company, and was stationed at Camp Jackson at the state capital. In .the fall he returned to college, but in the next year enlisted in what became Company A of the Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry. His captain was Prof. R. W. McFarland, one of the most noted mathematicians in the United States. The summer of 1862 was spent in the Campaign of West Virginia, and returning to Miami University he was graduated in June, 1863. About that time he identified himself with Lima, where he was first known as a teacher and also as an employe in the auditor's office. He again returned to the war in July, 1864, at the head of a company which he had recruited, and he served as captain of Company E, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during some of the notable campaigns in Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas until the end of the war. He received promotion to lieutenant colonel but was never mustered in with that rank. In the fall of 1865, after the war, Mr. Brice entered the law school of the University of Michigan, and in the following year was admitted to practice. His first partnership was with James Irvine at Lima, and for a dozen years he was a local lawyer of marked ability and prominence. STORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1687 However, his energy soon became absorbed in the promotion of railways, and he was let into that field as a member of the legal department of the old Lake Erie & Louisville Rail. road. He became a stockholder in that road, subsequently known as the Lake Erie & Western, and was active in its development. He also carried through successfully the great Nickel Plate enterprise, and that brought him wealth and a station of prominence more than statewide. For years he was prominently connected with numerous other railroads and his name is of special significance in connection with the railroad development of the South. At Lima he organized and managed the Gas Light Company ; reorganized and assumed the controlling interest in the First National Bank of Lima, and was also identified with the Chase National Bank of New York and a leading spirit and director of the Southern Trust Company. No doubt he accomplished his greatest work as a business man, though to many people his name has a more familiar association with the title of Senator Brice. He was an active democrat, conspicuous in the party for many years, and was very prominent in the National Convention of 1888 and in the following year became chairman of the democratic national committee. When his party came into power in Ohio he was elected as the logical choice for United States senator and took his seat in the Senate in 1891, serving until 1897, and he lived only about a year after he left the Senate. He. was a member of the steering committee of his party in the Senate, and bore a very active part in national affairs during the decade of the '90s, when the democrats were in power in the National Legislature. On the campus of his alma mater, Miami University, one of the buildings is known as Brice Hall, which was named in his honor as an alumnus and trustee and as a generous donor to that school. He was vice president of the Ohio Society in New. York, and of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity was a member until his death. He was also a member of the Manhattan, Lotus, Athletic and other clubs of New York City. In 1869 Mr. Brice married Catherine Olivia Meiley. At the time of his death he was survived by five children, three sons and two daughters. In a former History of Allen County Dr. Charles C. Miller, the editor, presented an interesting biography of Mr. Brice, and from his article are taken several paragraphs that will afford a better estimate as to his character and an appropriate conclusion for this sketch. "During Li Hung Chang's visit to the United States he spent his time asking questions—all kinds of questions. He found in Calvin S. Brice a man who could answer a larger percentage of his questions than anybody else. In fact, Senator Brice was probably the best informed man, not only in a general way, but as to particular localities, of any man in the country. Even places that he had never visited he had, informed himself about. Li Hung Chang took a great fancy to Senator Brice and sought his company on every possible occasion. Being impressed with the railroad development of this country, he sought to interest Senator Brice and did so, the result being that the senator started out to organize a syndicate to be composed of fifty Persons, each of whom should subscribe $5,000 for the purpose of a preliminary survey for a railroad in China. The senator did not crowd the subscription question nor did he allot places in the syndicate until after many times the number of men to form the syndicate had indicated a desire to join. It probably represented the most wealth of any syndicate that was ever organized in this or any other country, embracing a number of London and Paris bankers as well .as the leading financial interests of this country. In a word, it was a syn dicate exactly to his liking and choosing. Its formation gave him as great pleasure as any one thing of the later years of his life and its prompt carrying into completion was pre vented first by the death of Senator Brice and later by the death of Li Hung Chang. In the proposition he had Li Hung Chang's endorsement and hearty support and had both lived there would have been no halting in the early completion of this great enterprise in China. At the time of his death he had quite fully matured plans for a seaboard outlet for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, diverging at Bluffton over the Northern Ohio, via Akron and Youngstown to the East. "Mr. Brice commenced life a poor boy, with only a sound constitution, an active, incisive mind, ' and genuine brand of American grit. He knew the value of an education, and he obtained it. He was not an orator, but no man ever put more common sense or business energy in a five-minute talk ; and in thirty minutes at a meeting of railroad directors he would transact business involving the expenditure of millions. He never failed to answer a letter and to answer it promptly—punctual- 1688 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO ity and directness were rules of his life. When the writer of this sketch once asked him to aid a young man in the South who was struggling to a legal competency, but one question was asked,. 'Is he honest ?' Upon receiving a strong affirmative answer, Mr. Brice turned to his stenographer, and in one sentence directed work for the young man which gave him a legal prominence which he enjoys today. "Mr. Brice never forgot a friend, and in this may be seen the main element of his success. He had no time or desire to punish an enemy, if he had one. When urged not to recognize a man' who had vigorously opposed him in a political convention, Mr. Brice replied, 'Life is too short,' and the gentleman was accorded the same courtesy as any other man in the convention. He had the power of self-control to a remarkable degree, and when he turned from his office to his home, or his friends, business care was put aside, and there environed by the love of family in his palatial home, he was delighted by the grace of culture, and the beauty of art, and there his friends were also welcome." AARON A. BALLMER. Since the beginning of settlement in Henry County many worthy families have expended their best energies in producing the results now seen on every hand —the making of farms out of the wilderness, the building of roads, the founding of schools and churches, and the development of towns and cities, commerce and transportation, and all the other factors that enter into a populous and highly civilized community. Of the older families who are still represented in the county hardly any antedate in point of settlement the Ballmers, who are of substantial Swiss stock and have been here fully seventy years. It was in 1845 that a family party, comprising ten or twelve, set out, from. Switzerland, crossing the ocean in sailing vessels, and after forty days landed in New York City. From there they came on to Fairfield County, Ohio, but in 1846 they arrived as a family in Richfield Township of Henry County. Their first home was on section 1. The land! was covered with brush and timber, much of it swampy and undrained. There were no roads except trails, and there were few houses in the county at the time that boasted of more conveniences than the typical log cabins of the pioneer days. The head of the family when it came to America was John Jacob Ballmer, Sr. He and his good wife spent their last years in Henry County, and died before they reached the age of sixty. The last of their children to die was Margaret, wife of Jacob Haas, residing on a farm in Wood County. She died March 26, 1917, aged seventy-five years. Most of the other children lived to grow up and marry, and two of the sons, August and Aaron, were soldiers in the Civil war. August fell before a hostile bullet; while Aaron sustained physical injuries by his service from which he died not long after his return from the war, leaving a widow and two children. John Jacob Ballmer, Jr., was born in Switzerland September 11, 1827, and was eighteen years of age when he came to America. He was the eldest child in the family. He was able to do a man's part in the clearing up of the old homestead in Henry County, and in 1853 he married and set up a home for himself. His wife was Barbara C. Maier, who was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, in 1834. When she was four years of age she came with her parents. Gottlieb and Barbara (Goodyear) Maier, to the United States and to Henry County. However, the Maier family lived for a time in Fairfield County and then settled in Damascus Township of Henry County, where they cleared up a substantial farm and. improved it with good buildings. Gottlieb Maier died in 1885, just six days short of his eighty-fifth birthday. His widow died five years later, when eighty-seven. They were members of the Reformed Church. Mrs: John: J. Ballmer is still living, at the age of eighty-. .two, and makes her home with her youngest! daughter, Mrs. Nelson McClure. She is a member of the Lutheran Church. John J. Ballmer, Jr., was an active and successful farmer, and followed his vocation until he retired in 1892 to McClure, where .he died in 1900. He was a good citizen, always ready to join with his neighbors in carrying out any local improvements, such as the building of a church, the maintenance of a school or the improving of a road. He was a democrat, and filled for years such offices as township clerk and justice of the peace. His religion was that of the Lutheran Church. Aaron A. Ballmer, who was born in Richfield Township, Henry County, November 11, 1860, was one of eight children. The oldest. Mary A., is the wife of Martin Miller, and lives in Damascus Township on a farm, and is the mother of eight children. Charles lives in Toledo. Doctor Emil, who died December 20, 1916, was a physician of .high standing at Columbus Grove. He was married and left HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1689 two sons. August, who has a garage at Loma, Colorado, is married and has two sons. Jacob is a gifted student and educator, was for fifteen years connected with the Detroit High School and is now at Oak Harbor, Ohio, near Toledo, and is -happily married and has two sons and one daughter. Frank, who lives in Detroit, has two sons and a daughter still. living. Bertha married William Nelson, who is a pharmacist and general merchant at McClure, Ohio, and they have seven sons. While a boy growing up on the old homestead in Richfield Township, Aaron A. Ballmer made the best use of his opportunities to get an education in the local schools, and he also applied himself vigorously to such tasks as were assigned him on the home farm. Thus when he arrived at manhood he was well equipped for the career which he had marked out for himself in the world., and for the past thirty-five years, since 1881, has been one of the practical and progressive farmers of the county. His homestead comprises 100 acres of some of the best land in Henry County, and he has shown a great deal of thrift and ability in managing the resources of the soil and in keeping his improvements up to date and in line with the most advanced progress in farming methods. He raises not only good crops but some stock. Among the improvements on his farm is a substantial barn. 34 by 40 feet, and a modern home with such conveniences as bath and hot and cold water and lighted by acetelyne. Mr. Ballmer was married in Putnam County, Ohio, to Miss Barbara Sutter, who was born there April 21, 1863. Her parents were Henry and Margaret (Wahl) Sutter. Her. father, a native of Switzerland, came to the United States in 1844 and was married in Putnam CoUnty, Ohio. He lived for a number of years in Fairfield County, and died at the age of fifty-seven. His widow, still active at the age of seventy-four, resides at Leipsic, Ohio. Mr. Ballmer is a democratic voter, and he and his family are members of the Lutheran Church. He and his wife have worked hard not only to gain a home for themselves, but also to furnish a proper environment and advantages for their growing children. Their oldest child, Maude, is the wife of George Fister, a farmer in Richfield Township. Anthon, aged twenty-eight. was educated in the public schools, and married Gladys Nulton. of Richfield Township, who died 'at the age of twenty-three, leaving one daughter, Evelyn G., who was born April 9, 1914. Elmer, Ruby and Claribel Mae are all at home, the youngest still pursuing her studies. LILLIAN MINERVA BAILEY COLT, the youngest daughter of the late John Noble_ Bailey, pioneer banker and business man of Spencerville, was born in Spencerville and has spent her life in that fine old community. On April 11, 1900, she married Burt Henry Colt,, who was born near Waterford, Pennsylvania, and who died March 15, 1916, when forty-four years of age. He was reared on a farm, was educated in Waterford Academy, and came in 1899 to Spencerville and engaged with the Supply Company. Mr. Colt was a leading oil operator in the Ohio fields and was manager of the National Supply Company' at Spencerville. For two years he served as chairman of the board of public improvements of Spencerville. lie was a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Colt have three children : Andrew Bailey, John Mack and Bert Howard. Mrs. Colt is a member of the Methodist Church. HERMAN D. REHBERG. Through the enterprise of certain individuals, industries were founded many years since on the fertile islands lying in Lake Erie, on 'the coast of Ohio, which have become vastly important and from which large revenues are realized by the landowners. Perhaps no one man deserves more credit for much of the prosperity now existing on Middle Bass Island, than the late, William Rehberg, who not only was one of the first permanent settlers but is distinguished as the pioneer grape grower, setting out the first vines on Middle Bass. This was not only .the foundation stone of his own for- tune but of an industry that now profitably engages, during the season, the .activities of the majority of the permanent residents. His only son, Herman D. Rehberg, is one of the substantial and representative men of Middle Bass at the present time. William Rehberg, locally known as "Count" Rehberg, and quite possibly deserving the title, was born in Mecklenburg, Germany. The name of his father was John. Rehberg. Prior. to coming to the "United States, in 1854, William Rehberg had become a skilled gun and locksmith and for some time he continued work at his trade at McCutchinville, Ohio, where he lived for a period, and at Cedar Point, but it is probable that this kind of work was done as- a recreation, in those 1690 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO days, because it was of such superior mechanism and such fine finish that considerable time must have been consumed in completing, such artistic work as shown by the samples that are carefully preserved by his son. One of these is a particularly heavy rifle, beautifully inlaid with silver, originally completed with a flint lock but later changed to more modern form. It was ordered by an Indian chief but the latter never appeared with sufficient money to pay for it and fortunately it never left Mr. Rehberg's possession. That he did not give constant attention to his trade is inferred because he so soon became identified with other undertakings in the new land in which he had decided to make his home. First, Mr. Rehberg made trips among the islands and ere long went into the fishing business at Cedar Point. At that time Middle Bass Island was owned by Mr. Rivera and it was from this capitalist that William Rehberg purchased fifty acres an the western part of Middle Bass, known as Sugar Point, on account of the groves of sugar maples growing there. This tract of fifty acres was the first purchase of land made by any settler on Middle Bass. Mr. Rehberg brought his family with him and their residence was established on January 19, 1858. Later, in partnership with Andrew Wehrle, George Cowell and. John Lutes, he purchased the whole of the island comprising about 850 acres, but he retained his original purchase of fifty acres as his homestead. One object in locating here was because of the fine fishing facilities and as soon as well established he started a fishery of his own, continuing the industry as a private enterprise for many years and giving employment to a number of men. The purchase of the island proved an excellent business investment for the discovery had been made that the soil and climate of these islands was extremely suitable for fruit growing, particularly for grape culture, and in a comparatively short time the owners of the Middle Bass were able to dispose of the land profitably in small tracts of ten, fifteen and twenty acres, for vineyard purposes. On his own tract Mr: Rehberg made the first experiment on the island, bearing abundantly, some from the very roots that Mr. Rehberg planted with such hope some fifty years ago. His success gave great encouragement to others and soon the grape growing industry was well founded. In 1869 he erected the first wine cellar on the island and started pressing his own grapes, producing a product that carried his name favorably all over this section, making at that time from 10,000 to 20,000 gallons annually. He continued in the business until within a few years of his death when he and son practically discontinued the pressing of grapes. When Mr. Rehberg built his wine cellar he erected a public hall above it, but soon found it inadequate and enlarged it in 1875 and put up the present commodious building with modern facilities in 1874. When the Toledo & Lake Erie Fishing & Boating Association was organized, he gave them land on Sugar Point for their clubhouse site, and later, when it became a popular resort for the families of the club members, he divided several acres there and sold lolots forottages to individuals, thus making the present Middle Bass Club location the exclusive territory it now is. He was deeply interested in everything that advanced the good name and prosperity of these islands. A democrat in politics, he took part in all local matters because of his public spirit, and he served on the school board and was the first trustee of Middle Bass. In family life William Rehberg measured up to every standard and happiness ever prevailed in the domestic circle. Three children of the five born reached maturity, they being: Mary, who is the widow of John Runkel, of Middle Bass ; Herman D. ; and Ida, who is the widow of August Schmidt, of Sandusky, Ohio. When the Rehbergs came first to the island it was so thickly wooded that no space was large enough on which to erect a cottage and Mr. Rehberg was obliged to cut down twenty-two trees before he could get a spot large. enough on which to build his cabin. On this place his wife died in 1897 and his death followed in 1899 and they were laid to rest on the home grounds on Middle Bass in his family vault. He was a member of the Order of Druids, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belonged to the advanced branches of Masonry, was already honored with the thirty-second degree and had he lived one year longer, would have received the unusual thirty-third degree. Herman D. Rehberg was born in Sandusky, Ohio, June 2, 1857. During his father's life he was closely associated with him and at the age of seventeen years was sppracticallyn charge of the hall his father had erected. Since his father's death he has continued the vineyard but has done comparatively little wine pressing, disposing of the grapes from HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1691 his eighteen-acre *vineyard as they are picked. In 1893 he bought the homestead and grows other fruit than grapes and raises general farm crops on a part of the land. In 1882 Mr. Rehberg was married to Miss Pauline Hoover, of Port Clinton, Ohio. In 1884 he purchased a 10-acre orange grove on Drayton Island, situated in the St. John's River, Florida, but has reduced hiS acreage in this fruit to six acres, having lost considerably in the venture when the unprecedented "freeze" killed so many of the orange-growers' trees. Politically he is a democrat and has served on the board of education and in other public offices. He is a man of wide business experience and keeps thoroughly ;informed not only of outside markets but of doings and conditions all over the United States, having visited almost every interesting section at one time or another during the winter seasons. He visited California in 1882, before he married. An echo of Civil war days may be found in the family history. The father of Mr. Rehberg and his sister Mary were passengers of the Philo Parsons at the time the vessel was captured, when the plot formed to liberate the Confederate prisoners held on Johnson's Island, came so near success. No injury was incurred by either Mr. Rehberg or his daughter. CHARLES E. GORDON, part proprietor and manager of " Gordon's," one of the oldest ladies' wear and cloak and suit houses of Hancock County, has inherited much of the business genius of his father, the late Israel Gordon. The capacity of the late Israel Gordon for commercial enterprise amounted practically to genius. His was not a spectacular career so much as it was a success won by early self denial and unremitting energies, ands steady climb, often against adversities and over obstacles, to the pinnacle of merchandising prosperity. He was a native of Russia, emigrated to America at the age of fourteen, and though a stranger in a strange land he at once began selling goods as a pack peddler. His first location was near Bolivar, New York. He worked hard and long, was thrifty of his earnings, and finally accumulated a modest capital. That together with such credit . as he could obtain from the wholesale merchants, he used to open a store at Bolivar. Hardly had the stock of goods been displayed before the building caught fire and burned down, and as there was no insurance he found his savings swept away and owing a 'debt of $1,300. Undispirited by this heavy calamity, Israel Gordon came to Findlay, Ohio, thirty-one years ago. He opened a stock of general dry goods in the Kimmel Building. From the start he was successful. After five years in the first location he had advanced so far as to purchase the block now called Gordon's Block, across the street from the present location of the business which bears his name. There he continued actively as a merchant until his death in 1912. In the meantime his enterprise had also been extended by the establishment of a branch store at Upper Sandusky, but after a short time he discontinued it. Israel Gordon married Etta Weiner, who is now living in New York City. The children were : Nathan B., an attorney at Cleveland ; William H., a physician at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan ; Charles E. a merchant ; Richard E., a student in Columbia University at New York City ; and Lillian R. and Blanch E'., who are students in the Benjamin Dean School-at New York City. Mr. Charles E. Gordon, though only twenty-four years of age, has made a splendid record as administrator of the store and business established by his father,' and his future is a bright outlook. The Gordon business now has branch stores at Lima and Piqua, Ohio, and Mr. Gordon plans a gradual extension of the business to include many such stores. In fact he regards as his trade territory the entire northwestern section of Ohio. He was reared and educated in Findlay, attending the grammar and high schools. He is unmarried, is independent in politics, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. MINER ALBERT ATMUR. As an active member of the Allen County bar for nearly a quarter of a century, Miner Albert Atmur wields an influence at Lima that only .men of strength and character can exercise in a community. He comes of Revolutionary stock on both sides of the family, and is a direct de scendant of the English Marshall family of which Chief Justice John Marshall was the illustrious head, and is connected with the old and honored Berkley, Marshall and Newman families of Virginia, and descends from Capt. John Marshall, who came to America in 1650. The Berkley family once owned the property on which is now situated Arlington Cemetery, at Washington, D. C. 1692 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO The original English spelling of the Atmur name was Atmore, but succeeding generations have adopted its present form. Marshall Atmur; the father of Miner A., was born near Bridgeport, Harrison County, Virginia, November 29, 1828, of English, Irish and Highland Scotch ancestors. He came from Virginia to Ohio, settling first in Champaign County in 1834 and in Allen County in 1848, where he passed the rest of his active life in agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Atmur, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Hoffman, was born in York County, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1833, a daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Gotwald) Hoffman. Miner Albert Atmur received his early education in the public schools, this being supplemented by special courses, and after reading law in the office of James 0. Ohler, was admitted to the Ohio bar, March 6, 1890. For 2 ½ years thereafter he was engaged in representing the holders of leases on oil and gas properties in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, as an attorney, and in 1892 returned to Lima, and formed a partnership with James O. Ohler in the practice of law. This association continued until 1895, when Mr. Atmur became justice of the peace, for the City of Lima, a position which he held for six years, and during that time acted also as United States commissioner for the Northern District of Ohio. Mr. Atmur is a progressive republican, holds membership in the Allen County Bar Association, the Allen County Historical Society and the Sons of the American Revolution, and is a thirty-second degree and Knight Templar Mason. He was born on a farm in Allen County, November 23, 1865, and was married at Lima, August 17, 1893, to Miss Henrietta Mary Hageman, daughter of Joseph and Henrietta A. C. Hageman, formerly of Putnam County, Ohio. They have one son, Loren Miner, born December 14, 1900, who is attending the Lima High School. EDWARD WARREN MISAMORE, M. D. His work as a physician has made Edward Warren Misamore well known in several parts of Northwest Ohio. He is now enjoying a successful practice at Findlay. He is a man of high ideals in the profession, and not only has the experience but the native accomplishments and the thorough training which are the .prerequisites of large success in this branch of. professional service. He was born in Delaware Township of Hancock County May 28, 1877, a son of Michael and Harriet (Greer) Misamore. His father was a farmer in Hancock County. As a boy Doctor Misamore attended the Mount Bla,nchard common and high schools and spent four years of his early career as a teacher in the public schools of Hancock, Henry and Wyandot counties. In 1902 he entered the Ohio Medical College at Columbus and remained there until he graduated M. D. with the class of 1906. For the following eight years he was in successful practice at Cygnet, in Wood County, Ohio, and while there was appointed and served two years as coroner. In 1914 Doctor Misamore gave up his profitable business in Wood County and spent a year in post-graduate studies. Six months of this time were spent in the Ohio State University at Columbus, with special attention to surgery and diagnosis, and the balance of the time at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. On October 23, 1915, he located at Findlay, and in this larger city his talents have already gained wide appreciation. He is now physician to the board of health of Findlay. Politically he is an independent republican, and fraternally is identified with the Masonic Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Loyal Order of Moose. In October, 1906, he married Alta Jackson, daughter of Daniel Jackson. Mrs. Misamore died in May, 1907. In 1912 he married Mary Myers, daughter of Samuel and Laura Myers of Cygnet, Ohio. Her father was a successful merchant of Cygnet. Doctor and Mrs. Misamore have one son, Darwin, born in May, 1914. OLIVER HENRY SAUNDERS, M. D., began the practice of medicine twenty-five years ago, and since 1900 has been in the enjoyment of a large practice and much prestige as a physician and surgeon at Findlay. In ancestry he represents the English Puritan and the Pennsylvania German stock. He was born at Benton Ridge, Ohio, March 22, 1864, a son of Thomas J. and Hannah Lucretia (Ballard) Saunders. He made the best of his early advantages, and at the age of sixteen was qualified to teach in a country school. For nine years he was one of the ablest teachers in Hancock County. He was not content to follow in the beaten track of that profession, but instituted many' reforms and methods to stimulate the interest and co-operation of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1693 his pupils, and thus did a great work among the shools where he was employed. He seldom resorted to punishment, and his almost invariable rule was kindness and courtesy in the treatment of his pupils, all of whom became his fast and loyal friends. In 1871 the Saunders family moved to Findlay, and Doctor Saunders there began the study of medicine under Doctor Galloway,- whose pupil he remained three years. In 1888 he entered the Ohio Medical College, and in 1891 was graduated M. D. from the University at Cincinnati. After two years of practice with hiS former preceptor Doctor Galloway he went to West Independence, Ohio, and remained there eight years. Since 1900 he has lived in Findlay. Doctor Saunders is thoroughly, devoted to his profession, but is equally so to his family, friends and the pleasures of outdoor life. He is a great lover of flowers, and is also an ardent fisherman. He has a cottage at Green Lake, Michigan, and spends a part of every year there. In 1892 he married Anna E. Winbigler, whose father was a minister in Maryland. Dr. and Mrs. Saunders have a son Ralph, who was born in 1893 and is now a senior in the medical department of the Ohio State University. They also have a. daughter Marie Lucretia. born in 1899,, and now a student in the Findlay High School, Doctor Saunders served as. a member of the Findlay Board of Education from 1901 to December, 1911, and for four years of that time was secretary of the board. He is affiliated with the Tribe of Ben Hur and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. JOSEPH H. BISHOP has been for many years and still is one of the high pressure farmers of Northwest Ohio, a. man whose success in life is based upon substantial and unusual achievements in his fields and in the prompt and efficient handling of the multitude of duties which are part of a farmer's life. Mr. Bishop is a champion grower of the great native American crop which the Indians introduced to the knowledge of Europeans--"the golden corn within whose yellow heart there is of health. and strength for all the nations." What Mr. Bishop has done in this line is in a fair way of duplication and enlargement by his industrious and sturdy sons, three of whom have been successively prize winners in the boys' corn ‘Crop contest and have had a chance to see the capital of the United States and enlarge their vision of the true value and meaning of agriculture by trips granted them as prizes to Washington, District of Columbia, where they attended as delegates the King Corn Convention. One .of his sons obtained the phenomenal yield of 119 bushels to a single acre. These boy 'corn growers when they attend the convention at Washington are objects of special interest in the national city and have many favors shown them, usually being received by the President. One of Mr. Bishop 's sons was a successful contestant in the year 1913, another came along with the prize exhibit in 1914, while the third son was a prize winner for 1916. The homestead and 'the center of the Bishop family activities is on section . 36 of Marion Township in Henry County. Mr. Bishop is the owner of 320 acres of some of the finest land to be found in Northwest Ohio. It is nearly all improved and drained, and the 320 acres is divided into two complete farms, each with a set of buildings including modern and substantial houses and barns. He also has eighty acres in Bartlow Township of the same county, and that is a completely equipped farm by itself.. Mr. Bishop not only grows the finest corn in Henry County but produces all the other cereals. As 'a general farmer he has likewise kept improving his stock, and while the chief factor in his success has undoubtedly been experience he has always shown a willingness to learn from others and is a scientific farmer in the best sense of that term. His fame as a corn grower has spread over several states. His corn has taken local prizes in state and county fairs, and his exhibit was awarded a gold prize at the Omaha Exhibition in 1899. Mr. Bishop has lived in Marion Township since before the close of the Civil war and grew to maturity on the farm he now owns. He was born in Crawford County, Ohio, September 14, 1859, and was a child when his parents removed to Henry County and secured their farm on the Ridge Road, one of the most noted thoroughfares in Northwest Ohio. His parents, Joseph and Eliza (Cole) Bishop, were born in Ohio, and were married' in Crawford County 'where eight of their nine chldren were born. Joseph Bishop had about eighteen acres of land in Crawford County and in order to provide more generous opportunities and privileges for his children he traded that land, with some additional cash, for 160 acres in Henry County. He was a man of sturdy mold and after the conflict with 1694 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO pineer conditions which took his energies for a number of years he lived in the enjoyment of a substantial success and prosperity, and attained long life. He. was eighty-seven when he died March 18, 1911, having been born January 1, 1823, in Ashland County. He went with his parents to Crawford County when he was thirteen years of age. His wife died in Henry County March 31, 1901. She was reared a member of the Methodist Church, while he was a Lutheran, and at the time of their death they were members of the Evangelical Church. Joseph Bishop was a democrat and had served as town trustee. Joseph H. Bishop was the second in a family of three sons and six daughters. Two of the daughters died after they married, leaving children, while the other seven are still alive, all of them farming people, and all but one have children. Joseph H. Bishop was married in Putnam County, Ohio, twenty-seven years ago to Miss Nancy Casteel. She was born in that county June 22, 1868, and was reared and educated there and was a teacher before her marriage. Her, parents were Andrew and Margaret (Sterrett) Casteel, both natives of Licking County where. they were married, but soon afterwards moved to Putnam County and acquired a tract of land in a wild part of Liberty Township. Her father Andrew Casteel is still living on his old farm in Putnam County, past eighty-three years of age, and is up and doing in spite of his years. His wife died there in November, 1906. Andrew Casteel was a loyal soldier in an Ohio regiment, enlisting from Licking County, and though in the army for four years and a participant in many hard fought battles came out without a scratch. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are not yet old people, have the promise of many useful years before them, and are now in a position to enjoy their well earned success and share their experience with their children. Their oldest child, Minnie, was graduated from the Deshler High School, taught school for five years, and is now the wife of Harry H. Townsend, who is president of an oil and gas company at Leipsic, Orlo E., who is twenty-four years of age, has had a grade school education, and is now living on his father's farm in Bartlow Township. He married Sheila Hoskins, of Putnam County. Orlo was the winner of the 1913 corn contest, and was the first of the sons to enjoy the pleasure of a trip to Washington as a delegate to corn convention. Ina E., the next of the children, was educated in the high school and married Alfred S. Warren of Putnam County. They now live cu. her grandfather's old homestead and are the parents of three children, Serge, Evelyn Elizabeth nd Joseph. Amos C., not past twenty years of age, is still at home with his father and was the winner of the corn contest in 1914. Wyly G., aged eighteen, was the prize winner for 1916. Homer M., the youngest, is fifteen years of age, is still in school, and is also looking forward to the distinctions which his brothers have won as sturdy and able young agriculturists. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Bishop is a democrat. GEORGE EMERSON HARPER, D. D. S., now one of the leading dentists of Findlay, has been actively identified with his profession for more than fifteen years and is also well known,. in Northwest Ohio as a newspaper publisher. He was born in Jackson County, Ohio, in what is known as the Hanging Rock Iron Region, October 12, 1870. His parents were J. Charles and Mary Jane Harper. His father. of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a school teacher by profession and served long and faithfully as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war. He was corporal for a time, and was finally appointed captain of a company in a negro regiment. His death occurred at Colton, Ohio, December 21; 1893, and the widowed mother is now living at Wellston. One of a family of eight children, and born in a log cabin, Doctor Harper . received his early training in the public schools of Liberty and then entered the Colton Normal School at Colton, training himself for educational work. Receiving his teacher's certificate in 1892, he ,taught two years in Pike County and also had charge of the ninth grade of the Central Public School at Wellston. He began the study of dentistry under Doctor Fitzpatrick, with whom he remained five months, and in 1896 entered the Cincinnati College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated in 1899. For eleven years Doctor Harper had his, office and enjoyed a large clientage' at Forest in Hardin County, Ohio. From there he came to Findlay in August, 1910, and his prestige as an able dentist followed him to the larger city where he now has a large practice. For many years Doctor Harper has been actively identified with newspaper work. In 1900 he bought the Advertiser at Forest. and in 1914 bought the Review and consolidated HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1695 the two papers under the present name Forest Review and Advertiser, of which he is now sole proprietor. Doctor Harper is known among his associates as a very hard worker. He is independent in politics, a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Findlay, and is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. AUGUST FREDERICK WILLIAM GOHLKE is a successful young business man of Findlay, and has marched through difficulties and handicaps to his present position. He is now member of the firm of Evans & Gohlke, genera] grocers, at 315 North Main Street. Though his life since early childhood has been spent in America, Mr. Gohlke was born in Stettin, Prussia, in 1888, a son of William and Mary (Wilke) Gohlke. His father was a wagon maker in Germany and made many vehicles of that kind almost entirely by hand. When the son August F. was four years of age the family came to America, locating at once in Findlay. Here the father assisted in building the Toledo & Ohio Central Railway. Mr. Gohlke grew up in Findlay and was in public school until fourteen years of age. He was then stricken with a severe illness which left him practically an invalid for four years. As soon as he was able to work he became clerk in the grocery house of Karst, Wise & Company. He spent three years with that firm and then continued clerking until he had gone the rounds of nearly all the better known grocers of the city. He remained from a year to three years in each place, and all the time he was thriftily saving his money and improving his experience with a view to engaging in business for himself. His opportunity came when he and Carl Smith opened a grocery store under the name Smith & Gohlke. This firm enjoyed a prosperous business from the start and in April, 1916, Mr. E. W. Evans bought the interests of Smith and the firm has since been Evans & Gohlke. Mr. Gohlke is an independent republican, and is a member of the German Lutheran Church, in which his father served as deacon for twelve years. He is a member of Findlay Lodge, No. 227, Free and Accepted Masons. HENRY ANDREW KILMER. The Gordon Lumber Company of Oak Harbor is one of the largest and most vigorous enterprises of the kind in Northwest Ohio outside of Toledo. It is the outgrowth of the early enterprise of Washington Gordon, who many years ago established the first sawmill in Oak Harbor. Subsequently the business was conducted a4 W. Gordon & Company, while in 1903 it was incorporated as The Gordon Lumber Company, and this in turn in 1907 was succeeded by The Gordon Lumber, Basket & Manufacturing Company. In 1916 the company sold the manufacturing end of the business and resumed its former name of The Gordon Lumber Company. When Mr. Gorgon first established the sawmills he employed them for sawing up the enormous quantities of hardwood timber which came off the lands of Northwest Ohio as they were being cleared up for agricultural purposes. Only a comparatively small area of such timber still remains in this section of the state. Much of the products of the old mills were shipped to eastern markets and to points along the Great Lakes, and the business was chiefly of a wholesale character. Today The Gordon Lumber Company is exclusively retail and supplies lumber and builders' material in its various forms to a large and increasing trade. The company also handles both anthracite and bituminous coal, and that is now a valuable adjunct to the other interests. The company maintains yards at Oak Harbor, Limestone, Swanton, and Fremont the main offices being at Oak Harbor. It has a capital stock of $150,000, and officers are : William Gordon, president ; Charles Roose, vice president ; F. A. Kilmer, secretary and treasurer ; H. A. Kilmer, general manager. For a number of years Henry Andrew Kilmer supplied much of the practical sense and skill and business enthusiasm to the growth and development of this prominent industry, and at the same time he has fitted himself into much of the civic life of Oak Harbor. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, March 1, 1862, he is a son of Henry and Kunigunde (Schuchhart) Kilmer. His father .was a painter and decorator by trade. Henry A. Kilmer was educated in the public and parochial schools. For a time he operated a drug store at Williston, Ohio. In 1887 he established his home in Oak Harbor, and for three years was in the drug business: In 1890 he entered the employ of W. Gordon as manager of the sawmills. These mills were then sawing up great quantities of timber used in railwayconstruction work. The Gordon mills sawed the white pine used by the Nickel Plate Railway along its route as far west as Chicago.: and also the 1696 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO timbers for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and the Wheeling & Lake Erie road. For two terms Mr. Kilmer served as town and township clerk and has served for a number of years as member of the city council. i He is an active democrat in politics and in 1904 was a delegate to the national convention of that party. On November 17, 1887, at Oak Harbor he married Miss Nora Gordon, a daughter of Washington Gordon and a sister of Congressman Gordon of Cleveland. They are the parents of three children. William Frederick is a traveling lumber salesman. Lawrence Otto is with the lumber company at Oak Harbor. Evangeline Florence is now a student in the Thomas Normal Training School of Detroit. Mr. Kilmer is a trustee of St. John's Lutheran Church, of which his family are members. He was elected treasurer of the Ohio Association of Retail Lumber Dealers at the convention held at Cedar Point in June, 1916. Frederick August Kilmer, brother of Henry A. and secretary and treasurer of the Gordon Lumber Company, has likewise had an extensive business experience. Born in Cleveland, March 31, 1866, he was educated in the public and parochial schools, and for ten years was a clerk and bookkeeper with the Standard Oil Company. He then became assistant cashier of the Lorain Street Savings Bank of Cleveland, remained' with that institution nine years, and in 1898 became identified with W. Gordon & Company at Oak Harbor, and on the reorganization of that concern under its present title became secretary and treasurer. His name is likewise familiar in public affairs at Oak Harbor, and since its organization he has been president of the Oak Harbor Public Library. On September 5, 1894, he married Florence May Towson of Cleveland. She died April 19, 1916. They. had one son, Franklin Towson, now in school. Otto Henry Kilmer, the youngest of the three brothers,- is manager of the Oak Harbor Basket Company. He was born in Cleveland, January 3, 1869. He secured an education from the same sources as his brothers, and then learned the machinist trade. For twenty-three years he was one of the skilled employees of the Union Steel Screw Company of Cleveland, but in 1907, on the organization of the Gordon Lumber, Basket & Manufacturing Company he came to Oak Harbor as superintendent of its mill department. In 1916 when the basket factory was sold to the Oak Harbor Basket Company, he became manager of that business. On October 8, 1906, he married Miss Christine Horn of Amherst, Ohio. They have four children : Catherine Horn, Florence Gertrude, Ruth Christine and Robert Jason. GEORGE W. SKELDING is commissioner of inspection of the City of Toledo. It is a position of the heaviest responsibility and is one that is vitally related to the welfare and well being of every citizen. Mr. Skelding has unusual qualifications for the post, since he is a builder by trade, and for a number of years was associated with his father in the contracting and building business. Mr. Skelding was born in Toledo, April 2, 1879, a son of T. W. Skelding, who is now retired at the age of sixty-eight years, but spent the greater part of his active life as a contractor and builder. He was the father of' two sons and one daughter. George W. Skelding was educated in the public schools of Toledo, and after leaving high school he learned the trade of carpenter. From that time forward he was associated with his father in the contracting and building business until June 12, 1914, when he accepted his present post of responsibility as chief building inspector for the city government. He is active as a republican, is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but gives all the energy and skill at his disposition to the duties of his office. Mr. Skelding married Miss Tula Vosburgh, daughter of Martin Yos-burgh of Toledo. They have five children: Martin, Chester, Robert, Clara and Paul. FRED RICKENBERG. During his lifetime of more than fifty years spent in Henry County, Fred Rickenberg has found success in the truest sense of that term. He has a. splendid farm, enjoys the esteem of his fellow men, and has taken a public spirited share in the social and civic life of his community. He was born on the farm where he now resides in section 5 .of Napoleon Township in 1865. He grew up there, attended the local schools, and is now the prosperous owner of a place of 166 acres in one tract. He first bought the old homestead of forty acres which his father had cleared up from the wilderness, and subsequently he purchased the 126 acres adjoining. Mr. Rickenburg also has a farm of 77 acres in Defiance County, located HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1697 in section 1 of Richland Township. This farm is run by his son, and is also equipped with a good set of farm buildings. By trade Mr. Rickenberg might be called a blacksmith. He has a shop on his farm which is now employed for the repair of his own implements and machinery. For twenty-three years he conducted a smithy as a convenience to the entire neighborhood, and made that shop a center to which all the farmers for miles around brought their tools and implements for repairing and dressing. As a farmer Mr. Rickenberg has made a success in growing all kinds of cereals and keeps excellent livestock. His parents were Henry and Elizabeth (Mordits) Rickenberg. Both were born in Hanover, Germany, and six months after their marriage they set out on a sailing vessel from Hamburg and after a voyage of eight weeks arrived in Baltimore. From there they came on to Henry County where so many of their fellow countrymen had already located, and began life in a log cabin in the woods of Napoleon Township. Henry Rickenberg had to borrow $25 in order to get to America. He was a carpenter by trade, but spent most of his career as a farmer, and in the course of many years worked out a commendable success. His death occurred in 1909 when past eighty-one years of age, and his widow passed away in 1913 aged seventy-six. Both were active members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and politically he was a democrat. In their family were four children : Henry, who is a farmer in Monroe Township of Henry County and is married and has a family; George, who died after his marriage leaving children ; one that died in infancy ; and Fred. Mr. Fred Rickenberg was married in 1888 to Miss Ida Barnes. She died and was buried on her tenth wedding anniversary. The children that survive her are Emma, Carl, Wil- liam, Albert and Fred. In his home township Mr. Rickenberg married for his second wife Dora Helberge, who was born and reared in Henry County, and she died at the birth of her first child, Edward, who is now five years of age and is a very promising youth.. The mother of this child died at the age of thirty-six. For his present wife Mr. Rickenberg married Mrs. Emma Dachenhause, widow of Fred Dachenhouse. Mrs. Rickenberg is a daughter of Louis Bockelman. She has no children by either of her marriages. Mr. Rickenberg and family are active. mein- bers of St. Paul's Lutheran Church and he formerly served it as an official. For two years he .was township trustee, and his business interests also extend to the Napoleon Stock and Grain Company, which was organized July 15, 1913, and of which he is secretary and treasurer. For some years he was also a director of the Henry County Agricultural Association. HARRY W. BUCKLEY is not one of the old residents of Deshler, having been in that city only thirteen years, but in those qualities which are often described by the phrase "live wire" and in aggressive business enterprise and public spirit he has become a most decisive factor in local welfare. Mr. Buckley is president and general manager of the Buckley Cigar Box Company, manufacturers of cigar boxes and packing cases. This company has a large plant on Vine street and the business is one of the most important in the thriving little industrial center of Deshler. The company was incorporated October 9, 1912, with a capital stock of $10,000. Mr. Buckley is president and general manager, his brother, C. S. Buckley, is vice president, and A. A. Buller is secretary and treasurer. In 1917 they also incorporated another company with headquarters at Columbus, Ohio, Charles S. Buckley being its president and general manager, while Harry W. Buckley is vice president. This company is incorporated for $15,000. In the two plants are employed over fifty workmen. The business has had a rapid increase and at the present -Hine the output averages 4,000 cigar boxes and packing cases in a single day.. The boxes are used by some of the largest cigar manufacturers in the Middle West. The Deisel-Weimer Company at Lima uses the Buckley cigar boxes for two of their large plants, and sometimes three. The raw material for the manufacture of the boxes and cases comes chiefly from the states of Missouri and Alabama. The enterprise has a history of only a few years, but its growth has been almost phenomenal in that time. Mr. Harry W. Buckley is also president of the Rentschler Company of Deshler. This company was incorporated eight years ago with a capital stock of $16,000.. Edward H. Rentschler is general manager, and Mr. Andred A. Buller secretary and treasurer. Mr. Buller is a resident of Toledo. The Buckley brothers are both registered 1698 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO pharmacists and both received their technical training in this line in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. Harry Buckley took his degree in 1901 while Charles S. is a registered pharmacist of twenty-seven years standing. Charles S. Buckley was a druggist in three different localities, Leipsic, McComb and at Findlay, Ohio. Harry W. Buckley was for eight years engaged in the drug business at Deshler. Mr. Buckley was born at Leipsic, Ohio, May 11, 1880, and has had a very strenuous career for so young a man. He was educated in the local public schools and the high school, and subsequently went to Findlay, Ohio. While there he enlisted in the regular United States army and saw three years of service as acting hospital steward. One year he spent in Alaska in the Skagway district. At the end of his three years he was discharged in the State of Washington. He next removed to- Toledo, where he was connected with the large drug house of Newcomers of that city. For a time he was in the Medical department of the Ohio National Guard under Dr. D. W. Eiford. In April, 1904, he came to Deshler and entered the drug business. He subsequently became connected with the furniture company, and besides the business activities already enumerated was a stockholder of the Deshler State Bank, where he was active for four years. He is a Knight Templar Mason, affiliated with the commandery at Findlay, and with the Chapter and Blue Lodge at Deshler. He also belongs to the Consistory of Scottish ,Rite at Toledo and Zenobia Temple of the Mystic Shrine in that city. He is an official member of Deshler Lodge No. 617, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Buckley is now serving as president and treasurer of the city corporation of Deshler and is in his second term. He was married in Toledo to Miss Lena Croner. Mrs. Buckley was born and reared in Pennsylvania of an. old Pennsylvania family. She is a graduate of the high school at Pemberville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Buckley have one son, Harry William Jr., now five years old. Both in active members of the Rebekah Lodge, in which Mrs. Buckley is past noble grand. Mr. Buckley, as is fitting, is a leader in the Booster Club of Deshler, and that club is honored by the membership of such a live and enterprising man. WILLIAM T. DAVIES, whose place of business is at 604 Main Street on the east side of Toledo, has been handling groceries at that stand for upwards of thirty years. He is one of the oldest business men of that locality of the city and has one of the finest stores of its kind in Toledo. Mr. Davies is a native of Ohio, having been born at Mineral Ridge in Trumbull County, July 19, 1865. His parents D. T. and Martha Davies were born and reared and married in Wales, and in 1862 came to America with their one daughter. They had a family altogether of twelve children, ten of whom are still living. The father located in Trumbull County, was a merchant there, and afterwards for twenty-five years was superintendent and manager of the rolling mills at Youngstown. In 1888 he removed to Toledo and took charge of the shipping department in a rolling mill in this city: He then devoted some of his time assisting his son in the grocery business, and his death occurred at Toledo in 1908. A thorough business man, he was a worker almost until the time of his death. He was a faithful and devout member of the Congregational Church, in which he always took an active interest. He was affiliated with Lodge No. 572 of the Masonic Order. William T. Davies was the first. child born to his parents after they came to America. Most of his early youth was spent in Youngstown, where he attended the grammar and high schools. At the age of sixteen he left school to begin work in the rolling mills and had experience in different departments until he was twenty-one years of age. He learned the grocery trade by clerking in a store at Youngstown for three years. On coming to Toledo in' 1888 Mr. Davies embarked in the retail grocery business at 604 Main Street, where he has remained steadily ever since. His place of business is a. landmark in that section of the city and the people there associate the store with reliable merchandise and a complete service. Mr. Davies is a republican in politics. In many ways he has used his influence to promote the public welfare and has always shown an intelligent interest in public affairs. He was a member of the city waterworks board one term. Fraternally he is affiliated with Lodge No. 572 and also with the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knight Templar Commandery and has filled various chairs in these orders. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Royal Arcanum. He married Miss Louisa M. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1699 McCrea, and they have two children, Martha and Ruth. ERNEST IRVING ANTRIM, of Van Wert, is one of Northwest Ohio's notable literary men, and literary work and literary interests have shared his time jointly with the management of important financial affairs at Van Wert. Though he himself has no military record, he has always been interested in military affairs, and this is perhaps due in a measure at least to the fact that each of his ancestors for the preceding three generations saw service in the first three great wars in which our nation was engaged. His great-grandfather John Antrim was a soldier in the American Revolution from 1777 until the close of that struggle. His grandfather Jacob Antrim was engaged in the War of 1812. Jacob Antrim was a minister in the United Brethren Church, and married a daughter of Bishop Zeller of the same church. Jacob Antrim was author of the early hymn book of the church. Ernest Irving Antrim was born at Germantown, Ohio, February 21, 1869, a son of Francis Titus and Mary Ann Antrim. His father saw active service as a. Union soldier during the Civil war. There are few men in Northwest Ohio who have had such superior scholastic advantages as Mr. Antrim. He is entitled to write three degrees after his name, Bachelor of Arts, which he received from DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, in 1889 ; Master of Arts, awarded him by Boston University at Boston, Massachusetts in 1890 ; and Doctor of Philosophy, which. he acquired in 1897, at Goettingen University at Goettingen, Germany. For about five years he was actively engaged in educational work as a teacher and taught in the Wyoming University at Laramie and in Belmont College, College Hill, Cincinnati. For the past seventeen years his time has been divided between his financial activities in bank and investments and his literary work. Mr. Antrim is co-author of "The County Library," published in 1914, and author of "Fifty Million Strong,” published in 1916, besides a number of articles on various themes of current and historical interest. Some years ago Mr. Antrim organized the Farmers and Citizens Savings Bank at Germantown, Ohio, and is now vice president and director of the Van Wert National Bank at Yan Wert and also does an extensive business in land investment. He is a trustee of both the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association of Van Wert County. In politics he is a republican and in 1912 was delegate from Van Wert County to the Fourth Ohio Constitutional Convention. He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, and the Trewnaw Club of Van Wert. He has long been prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church and in May, 1916, was a delegate to the General Conference of the church, being one of the ten laymen selected from the West Ohio Conference. On October 17, 1899, at Van Wert he married Saida May Brumback, daughter of John Sanford and Ellen (Purmort) Brumback. John. S. Brumback was one of the most distinguished citizens of Van Wert County, was president of the Van Wert National Bank, was .founder and president of the Central Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company at Van Wert, and gave to his home city and county the Brumback Library at Van Wert. JOHN SANFORD BRUMBACK was one of the finest figures who adorned the commercial life of Northwestern Ohio during the last century. He was a merchant and banker and a highly influential and successful physician of Van Wert, and an entire community mourned his death on December 11, 1897. In the splendid Brumback Library, which was erected by his children, according to the wishes expressed in his will, the city has an important monument to his honorable career, and through that institution his ability to render service, which was so highly developed in his life, is made effective to generations yet unborn. He was born on a farm in Licking. County, Ohio, March 4, 1829, a son of Davis and Frutilda (Beams) Brumback. His paternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Rothgeb) Brumback, while the maternal grandparents were George and Catherine Beams. The first American Brumback emigrated from Switzerland and settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1760. Members of the Beams' family came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in the very early days. Frutilda Beams was a remarkable type of the early pioneer woman, and from her John S. Brumback inherited many of his sterling qualities of mind and heart. When he was four years old his father died, leaving the widowed mother a legacy of six young children and forty acres of undevel-