1800 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Though Mr. Long represents families identified with Ohio in early times and has himself spent most of his life in this state, he was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, fifty-three years ago. His father, Daniel M. Long, was an early stage driver from Council Bluffs to Denver, before the days of transcontinental railways. He drove a stage coach over this long and dangerous route before and during the Civil war, and had many adventures that would bear recalling. In 1865 he left the West and moved to Sandusky County, Ohio, and for some years was a teacher. In 1872 he moved to Prospect, now Bradner, in Wood County, and entered the insurance business. From 1875 he lived at Weston in Wood County until his death on December 15, 1889, at the age of fifty-four years. It was in these localities that Mr. Luke Long spent his youth and early manhood. Daniel Long was born in Seneca County, Ohio, a son of Samuel Long. Samuel was a native of Pennsylvania and of German stock. His wife Sarah was of Irish lineage. They came to Ohio and Samuel Long was a pioneer minister of the United Brethren Church and carried on his work when it involved long rides over the country from one church to another. He and his wife lived many years in Seneca County, where they died. Rev. Samuel Long was born in 1800 and died in 1885 and his wife died seven years before him. Daniel Long spent his early life in Seneca County and was married there to Elizabeth Hopkins. She died at the old home near Weston January 17, 1879, when in middle life. In her family were three sons and five daughters still living, Mr. Luke Long being the fourth in age. Luke Long is active and well known in fraternal circles. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and has passed the chairs of the Blue Lodge and is now an official in the local chapter. His membership is with Sycamore Lodge at Deshler, Deshler Chapter Royal Arch Masons, Ottawa Council Royak and Select Masons, Findlay Commandery Knights Templars, and Maumee Valley Consistory at Toledo. He is also a member of Findlay Lodge of Elks and of Alma Lodge No. 349 Knights of Pythias at Deshler. He has twice served as grand chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. M. GRANT STAFFORD is one of the oldest business men at Deshler, having located there in 1889. He is a brother of the late Charles R. Stafford, who was one of the first merchants in Deshler beginning business in that community in 1883. Mr. Stafford is senior member of the firm Stafford & Lee, general elevator operators and grain dealers at Deshler. Mr. Stafford built the present elevator along the Baltimore & Ohio Railway tracks in 1895, and for a number of years he and his brother Charles conducted it under the name of Stafford Brothers. Charles R. Stafford died in California February 11, 1915. He had been a general merchant at Deshler since 1883.. The elevator at Deshler has a business record which indicates some of the agricultural history of Henry County. For the past twenty years it has handled on an average 300 carloads of grain annually. Most of this grain is corn and oats, and the proportions in bushels are about three of corn to two of oats. Mr. Stafford has bought and sold grain both at the lowest and at the highest prices. His records show that corn is now ten times higher in price than the lowest price he ever paid, while oats is four times the lowest price. His brother Charles R. Stafford bought and sold in cars on the track the first grain handled at Deshler. Theirs was the first elevator built in the town. Mr. Stafford was a farmer by training and youthful experiences and. came to Deshler in 1889 from Wood County. He was born in Hancock County, Ohio, April 12, 1864, and was eighteen months of age when his parents moved to Liberty Township of Wood County. He does not recall the journey himself but often heard his parents describe it. It was made with wagons and teams. Nearly all the way they traveled over corduroy roads and it was a hard trip both on the horses and the people. The family located in the heavy timber section of Liberty Township and there had their log cabin home and all the familiar experiences of pioneer existence. Grant Stafford grew up on that farm, attended public schools in the locality, and his first gainful occupation was as a teacher, a vocation he followed six years before coming to Deshler. His father, Nathan W. Stafford, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, in 1836. His parents had come out from Pennsylvania and located in Ashland County in pioneer times, where his father died when in the prime of years, and his widow later passed away in Wood County. Nathan Stafford was seventeen or eighteen years of age when his father HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1801 died. His mother and some of the older children kept up the old homestead in Ashland County while Nathan removed to Hancock County to join his brother and sister at McComb. He finally went out to Iowa, and in Lee County of =that state he met and married Marinda McCracken. She was born in Franklin County, near Columbus, Ohio, in 1839 and was a small child when her parents removed to the vicinity of Vandalia, Illinois. When she was nine years of age both her parents died within a few days of each other. She was then taken by a paternal uncle to Iowa, and lived there until her marriage in 1859. In 1861 Nathan Stafford and wife located in Hancock County, Ohio, and in 1865 they made their last removal to Wood County. Nathan's brother James killed the last wolf ever seen in that section of Wood County. The Staffords developed a first class farm in Liberty Township of Wood County and surrounded with plenty and comforts Nathan Stafford died there in 1903 and his widow in 1908. They are buried side by side in the Sargent Cemetery. The United Brethren Church was on their farm and they attended its worship regularly. Nathan Stafford once served as county commissioner and also as trustee of his township, and in politics was a republican, though with strong independent leanings. Mr. Grant Stafford was the fourth in a family of eleven children, all of whom grew up, all married, and all had children but two. Three are now deceased. Twenty-six years ago at Weston in Wood County Grant Stafford married Julia Long. She was born on the line between Wood and Seneca County October 14, 1868, and spent her early youth at Weston, where she taught school before her marriage. She is a sister of Mr. Luke Edward Long, the well known lawyer of Deshler. While Mr. and Mrs. Stafford have no children of their own, they have adopted and reared since she was four years of age a foster daughter Ellen Laney. She is now sixteen years of age and is a student in the Deshler High School. Mr. Stafford, wife and daughter attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mrs. Stafford and her daughter are active members. Mr. Stafford has served on the school board and the city council, and politically is an independent democrat. M. HART DARBY is now serving as postmaster of Deshler, Henry County, having been appointed by President Wilson July 1, 1914. This is a third class postoffice and it supplies the mail for four rural routes, and besides the postmaster there is an assistant postmaster and a clerk. Mr. Darby has shown complete competence in the administration of his official duties and has done a good deal to improve and give greater satisfaction to the patronage of the office. For eight years Mr. Darby operated the Rims House at Deshler. This is one of the well known hotels of Northwest Ohio, and contains thirty-one rooms. Mr. Darby has been a resident of Deshler since 1882. It was a very small village when he came, and he has witnessed its growth and been a factor therein for thirty-five years. For a long time he was engaged in the wine and liquor trade. No one has played a more active part in local affairs than Mr. Darby. For twenty-two years he was fire chief of the volunteer fire department of thirty-six members. He became actively identified with the Northwest Ohio Volunteer Fire Association which he served as treasurer and was formerly president of the Volunteer Fire Chiefs Association, now known as the State Volunteer Fire Department Association. Mr. Darby represents an old and prominent family of American ancestors and his people have lived in Southern Ohio and have been prominent for more than a century. It was in Vinton County near Allanville that M. Hart Darby was born January 30, 1860. His lineage goes back to William Darby, who was born in England in 1760 and came to America about 1773. He served as a drummer and soldier in the Revolutionary war between 1777 and 1783 in Captain Carberry 's Company and Col. Patton Hubley's Regiment. He was at the battles of Germantown, Princeton, Monmouth and Brandywine. About 1809 he came to Southern Ohio in Vinton County and took up his residence among the few adventurous souls whose courage and fortitude made possible the settlement of that region. He died there April 30, 1836, and the remains of this old Revolutionary hero and pioneer now rest in a cemetery at Richmondale, Ohio. His son Samuel Darby, grandfather of the Deshler postmaster, was born in Pennsylvania in 1782 and as a young man went to the State of North Carolina, where he married Charity Redyard. The father had at first been a Tory in .the Revolutionary days, but subsequently espoused the cause of the colonists. Samuel Darby soon after his marriage moved to Vinton County, Ohio, and located there 1802 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST 'OHIO about the time his father did. He lived as a farmer and died January 23, 1856, his widow surviving until August 5, 1875, being over eighty-eight years of age at the time of her death. Samuel Darby fought during the War of 1812. He became widely known as a hunter in Southern Ohio. He was one of the pioneer members of what is now known as the Church of Christ or Disciples. For many years his home was the meeting place of the local congregation. He was himself a preacher. He had six sons and five daughters who grew to maturity, married and had children. Among them was Stephen Darby, father of M. Hart Darby. Stephen was born on the old farm near Allansville, Ohio, November 1, 1818, grew up as a farmer, and followed the pursuits of the soil all his life. He died December 20, 1893. He became widely known in Jackson Township of Vinton County and acquired a large and valuable property.. A lifelong democrat, he was frequently elected to office, serving one term as county commissioner and many years as trustee of his township. He was an elder in the Christian Church and a great student of the Bible. Stephen Darby was married to Margaret Graves, who was born in Vinton County and died on the old farm December 12, 1878. She was a devout member of the Christian Church. To their marriage were born five sons and three daughters : Dr. Franklin H. of Columbus, Ohio ; Louisa who married John Clay ; Samuel G., a resident of Columbus ; Bathsheba D., who was twice married, her second husband being M.. P. Robinette, who is now deceased; Charity J., wife of John W. Turner of Columbus ; James W., a prominent lawyer in Vinton County ; Mathew Hart ; and Sanford S., a farmer in Vinton County. Mathew Hart Darby is .the seventh in this family, the oldest being now seventy-one and the youngest fifty-two. years of age. He was reared and educated in Vinton County and was quite a young man when he removed to Deshler. He has been in active business on his own account in that town since 1891. Mr. Darby was married at Deshler to Miss Molly R. Buck, who died June 27; 1915. She was born at Custer in Wood County, Ohio, October 9, 1865, and about 1873 her parents removed to Hamler in Henry County. Her people were among the early settlers in that village, which had just been laid out. She was a daughter of Levi and Nancy (Campbell) Buck. Her father spent many years as a woodsman and both parents are buried in Deshler, her father dying at the age of seventy-eight and her mother at the age of sixty-three. The Buck family were all members of the Christian Church and Mrs. Darby's father was an active democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Darby had six children. Goldie is the wife of Mr. Mat Otto, superintendent of a business at Cary, Ohio, and they have two children, Vivian and Ruth. Iva is the wife of William F. Dietler, of Lima, Ohio, and has two sons Paul and Earl V. Earl E. is now twenty years of age, has completed his education in the high school and is clerk for his father in the postoffice. Electa is still at home and housekeeper for her father. The two younger children are Howard, now in the eighth grade of the public schools, and Ruth V., who died at the age of eighteen months. FRED GERKEN represents one of the stanch Hanover German families that have been identified with Henry County more than half a century. He has himself played a notable part in local affairs of that county, and is one of the leading farmers there. His interests also extend to business, and he conducts the grain elevator at Gerald. His grandparents spent all their lives in Hanover. His father Herman grew up in Hanover, and was the first of two brothers to come to America. His brother Henry subsequently followed him and was a shoemaker by trade. Herman Gerken on leaving Germany took passage on a boat at Bremerhaven and seven weeks later landed at New York. He was born in Germany in 1828. Within a month of the same date there was born in the same neighborhood Maria Mahnke. Both of them came to America in the year 1857 and they married after reaching Henry County. The journey from New York was made up the river by railroad as far as Albany, thence by boat on the Erie Canal to Buffalo, by lake boat to Toledo and by canal boat again down the Maumee Canal to Napoleon. Herman Gerken from Napoleon penetrated the wilds of Freedom Township and leased an eighty acre farm for nine years and then secured eighty acres of unbroken woodland. At the end of the first year he sold that and bought 120 acres in section 29, where he lived for twenty-six years. The first home was a log house, and beginning improvements he gradually increased his holdings until he owned 280 acres in Freedom Township. About five years after he came to America his wife's parents, Herman and Maria Mahnke, came HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1803 over and spent the rest of their years with their children in Henry County. All the members of these families were German Lutherans. Herman Gerken died in 1894, and his widow passed away ten years. later. They took. an active part in organizing and building St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Napoleon in 1868, but in 1844 withdrew their membership and became identified with St. John's Lutheran Church in Freedom Township. Their bodies now rest in the churchyard of that organization. Herman Gerken as a democrat did his full part in the way of public service, serving as trustee and for nine years as township treasurer. It is doubtful if any other man in Henry County deserves more credit for securing the settlement of so many thrifty, hard working and substantial German citizens, particularly Hanoverians, in Henry. County. He seemed to be a magnet for attracting his fellow countrymen to this section of Ohio. The children of Herman Gerken and wife were : Henry, who is now living retired in Napoleon and has three children all married; Maria, is the wife of Fred Huner of Ridgeville; Fred Herman, who is a farmer in Freedom Township and is married and has a family; William, a farmer in Freedom Township and has children ; George, who died in 1915 leaving a widow and three daughters ; and John H., a farmer in Freedom with a family of two sons and one daughter. Fred Gerken was born in the old log house which his parents built after coming to Henry County on April 8, 1861. He grew up at the old home, gained his education in the local schools, and came to manhood on the farm in section 29 where his father lived for so many years. With what he inherited and with what he has made through his own industry and business ability Mr. Gerken now had 175 acres of farm lands, divided into three separate farms, each with an individual group of farm buildings. He is one of the leading crop growers of his vicinity, and keeps live-stock of the best grades, horses, hogs, sheep and cattle. In 1887 he married Ida Hogrefe, a sister of Detrick Hogrefe, reference to whom is made on other pages. Mrs. Gerken was born on her father's farm in Adams Township of Defiance County October 7, 1863, and was well educated. Six children have been born to their union. Fred died in childhood. Reverend August graduated from the Fort Wayne Seminary, spent three years in St. Louis College and is now a pastor and missionary worker of the Lutheran Church in the Province of Alberta, Canada; by his marriage to Alma Kramer he has three children, Walter, Theodore and Ruth. Paulina is the wife of Fred Behrman, and they have a son Victor. Hulda is the wife of Fred Glanz of Freedom Township and their one child is named Elmer. Carl is assisting his father in running the home farm. Ida is still at home and like her brothers and sisters had an education in the public schools and all the children are members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Mr. Fred Gerken is secretary and treasurer of the Gerald Grain and Stock Company, and has held that office since the company was incorporated in 1913, with a capital of $10,000. He is also a director and was one of the organizers of the Napoleon State Bank. Much of his time has been taken up with public affairs for many years. For fifteen years he served as township clerk, was for two terms a state appraiser, and has been a member of the school board. FRED BASSET MANN is one of the intelligent and progressive German farmers of Bartlow Township in Henry County. His fine farm home is located on rural route number three out of Deshler. Success has come to him as a reward of long continued and intelligently directed effort. He did not begin life with a fortune, and was content with his inheritance of honesty and the qualities of thrift and industry which are characteristics of the German people. He now owns a first class farm of eighty acres in section 11 of Bartlow Township. This farm is improved with everything that a progressive farmer might desire. His barn is 38 by 60 feet and he has a comfortable nine-room house. The fields have been thoroughly drained and under his direction they are capable of growing the finest of crops of corn, oats and clover. Mr. Basselmann bought and located on this farm in April, 1896. He cleared the land, took out all the stumps and brush, and even when that was done much remained as a handicap to thorough cultivation, since the problem of drainage had still to be solved. He had to tile or ditch the land for drainage, and after that was accomplished he found himself in possession of one of the most productive farms in the county. Mr. Basselmann came to Bartlow Township from Ridgeville Township, where he had lived 1804 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO since boyhood and from the year 1886. He was born in Hanover, Germany, June 21, 1869, and was seventeen when he came to America with his parents. The Basselmanns are of very old Lutheran stock in Hanover. His grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Henry H. Basselmann spent all their lives on a Hanover farm. They died when still comparatively young people. Fred Basselmann is a son of Henry and Catherine (Schlimbohn) Basselmann, both of whom were born and reared in Hanover. They were married there and had three children before they set out for America.. They journeyed on to Henry County and developed a farm and home in Ridgeville Township. Their three children are : Fred; Henry, Jr., who married Mary. Badenhop by whom he has three sons and two daughters and they live in Bartlow Township ; and Anna, now Mrs. Schelee, a widow, her husband having died in February, 1916, leaving three children. Henry Basselmann, the father of Fred, died at the home of his son in- Bartlow Township May 30, 1896; at the age of sixty-one. His widow is still living, making her home in Richfield Township and though seventy-five years of age is still hale and hearty. Both she and her husband were active Lutherans and for a number of years worshiped in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in the Hanover settlement. Fred Basselmann was married at Hamler to Miss Sophia Seemann, who was born in Hanover, Germany, February 9, 1873. When she was seventeen years of age she came with her parents Henry D. and Meta (Behrman) Seemann, and like the Basselmanns the Seemanns landed at Baltimore, Maryland. From there they came on to Freedom Township, Henry County, where Mr. Seemann two years later bought a farm of sixty acres in Richfield Township. He and his wife lived there and he died when past sixty years of age. Mrs., Basselmann's parents were both active members of the Lutheran Church. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Basselmann : Herman, born September 5, 1900; Meta, born December 9, 1906 ; and Fred, born August 15, 1912. Mr. Basselmann and family are active members of St. John's Lutheran Church in which he is serving as an elder, and in politics his preferences are expressed in the democratic party. HENRY J. MEYER. It is not the size of a farm but the manner in which an acreage is handled and cultivated that constitutes a real success in agriculture. This fact is being more and more realized and appreciated, and the man who handles a small farm profitably is entitled to more credit than one whose efforts are loosely and unsystematically spread out over an acreage beyond his real capacity. One of the best instances in Henry County of this intensive agriculture is found in the place of Henry J. Meyer of section 1 Bartlow Township. Mr. Meyer calculates his annual prosperity not in terms of quantity so much as quality, and everything around his place has an air of thrift and thoroughness which is gratifying not only to him but to everyone who is interested in agricultural problems. Mr. Meyer was born in Napoleon Township of Henry County March 4, 1870, and is of German stock and has the thriftiness and industry of that people. His parents were Herman and Mary (Fundelen) Meyer, both of whom were natives of Hanover, where their respective parents spent all their lives. The family in all the generations have been Lutherans. Herman Meyer after his marriage set sail for the United States, coming across the ocean in a sailing vessel and from New York journeyed west to Henry County. Here he acquired forty acres of wild land southwest of Napoleon and he proved his value as a citizen of the community by his industry and upright character, and lived there until his death in April, 1916. He was then. past seventy-six years of age. In politics he went with the democratic party. His widow is now living, nearly eighty years old, with her son Herman, Jr. The children consisted of Henry J. and Herman, Jr., twins, and a daughter,. Mrs. Minnie Plossman, wife of William Plossman, a farmer of Napoleon Township. Mr.. and Mrs. Plossman have several children.. Herman,. Jr., married Eliza Smidt and they have sons and daughters. Henry J. Meyer grew up on the old home. farm, attended the common schools and the parochial school, and at the age of fourteen was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. He early learned the advantage of industry and thoroughness in everything he did. While still unmarried he bought a small place near the old home, and that was the stage of his endeavors as a farmer until he was thirty-three years old. He then sold and removed to Bartlow Township and bought forty acres in section 1, 2 ½ miles north of Deshler. For a small farm this is almost perfect in every requirement. Every foot is well drained, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1805 fences are strong and sturdy, and hardly a thing that could be enumerated in an ideal farm is lacking on this place. The land grows all the staple crops in an abundant measure, and Mr. Meyer usually raises a crop of sugar beets. In 1913 he built a fine barn 36 by 48 feet. The walls for eight feet above the foundation are of cement blocks. Set on that is a frame structure 12 feet higher and it makes a most substantial' building and has every convenience of arrangement and equipment. He also has a granary 32 by 30 feet with nine-foot posts. His home is a comfortable cottage of six rooms. Mr. Meyer was married in Bartlow Township to Miss Mary Hoops. She was born in Freedom Township of Henry County October 14, 1880, was reared and educated in Richfield Township, and is a daughter of J. August Hoops, of a well known Henry County family elsewhere referred to. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have three children : Bernhart, born August 19, 1904; Hannah; born April 5, 1907; and Edwin, born June 9, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are taking special pains with the education and early training of these children and they are all in school. Mr. Meyer and wife are active members of St. John's Lutheran Church. In politics he is a democrat. WILLIAM H. BEAM, whose home place is in Bartlow Township of Henry County, has a long retrospect and one filled with interesting experiences and achievements worthy of a man of ambition and of upright character. He is a veteran soldier of the Civil war and his work has been chiefly in the line of agriculture. He came to Henry County a number of years ago and has one of the best improved farms in the vicinity of Deshler. He is of old Pennsylvania family and stock. His grandfather, Christian Beam, was a native of that state, was a practical farmer there, and spent all his life in Franklin County. He died at the age of seventy-five. His wife, whose maiden name was Hoover was also of Pennsylvania parentage and died when nearly eighty years of age. Christian Beam was a preacher in the Mennonite Church. Of his family of seven or eight children most of them grew up and married and had children of their own. One of them, John Beam, father of William H., was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in 1797. His early life was spent on a farm and he had the limited advantages of most young people of that time and age. He was married in Franklin County to Miss Anna C. Woolfort. She was born in Franklin County about 1802 and also of Pennsylvania lineage. After their marriage they started out to make a living as farmers .and John Beam, possessing industry and considerable business ability, not only had ample returns for his labors but also lived so as to enjoy the esteem of his community. He died when about seventy 'years of age, and his widow survived until past eighty. He was a member of the Reformed Church and she was a Lutheran. In politics John Beam was an old line whig and later became a republican. In the family were three sons : John, Jr., who died at the age of thirty-one ; Samuel, who is now a retired farmer living with his family. at Beatrice, Nebraska ; and William H. The daughters were named Maria, Catherine, Malinda, Rebecca and Charlotte, all of whom grew up and married and had children of their own, and all are now deceased except Rebecca, widow of William Woolfort and living at Fort Wayne, Indiana. William H. ,Beam was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, December 4, 1839. His early life was spent on his father's farm in St. Thomas TownShip. He came to his majority about the time the clouds of war were hanging over the country, and he soon afterward enlisted in response to Lincoln's call and went forth to battle for the flag of the Union. After his service was over he returned home and at the age of. twenty-four came to Franklin County, Ohio, and located near Mansfield. There he met Miss Sarah Snyder, and about fifty years ago they were married and began the life of joint effort and companionship which has extended to the present time. Mrs. Beam was born in Richland County, Ohio, March 19, 1844. She grew up in that vicinity and was one of the first native children of Franklin Township in Richland County. Her parents died when she was an infant and she was reared by her maternal grandparents, Chapin and Susan (Snyder) Snyder. These worthy people were born and married in Pennsylvania and were pioneer settlers in Richland County. They went into the woods of that district and by their labor and courage cleared a farm from the wilderness. Their first home was a log cabin. The forest abounded in wild game, including numerous wolves, and it was frequently the custom to light fires and keep them burning all night to scare away these troublesome and sometimes dangerous ani- 1806 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO mals. Mrs. Beam's grandparents lived there through their industrious lives and her grandfather died when past eighty and her grandmother when about seventy-five. They were good Christian people, her grandfather a member of the Reformed Church and her grandmother of the United Brethren faith. After his marriage William H. Beam located on a farm in Richland County, all but the two youngest of their children were born there. Mr. Beam went to work earnestly, and in time had a good deal to show for his efforts. In the spring of 1880 he and his family removed to Lucas County, locating at .Swanton. The two youngest children were born there. In 1899 Mr. Beam came to Henry County and bought an almost new and brush covered tract of land consisting of eighty acres in section 1 of Bartlow Township. This land he has since transformed by his efforts and those of his family into a comfortable and prosperous farm. He erected a fine barn 40 by 60 feet with twenty-one-foot posts, and that is only one of the improvements to show for his labor. He and his family have a very comfortable nine-room house, and the farm responds to his intelligent cultivation and is more than an ample guarantee for all his future needs. Mr. and Mrs. Beam have reared a large family of children : William G. is a farmer in Jackson Township of Wood County, Ohio. He married Elizabeth Brown, and their children consists of one son and three daughters. U. Grant, a farmer in Bartlow Township of Henry County, married Kate Finney, and in the absence of children of their own they have an adopted son George. Laura is the wife of Clifford Heller, employed in the shops of the Wabash Railway Company at Toledo, where they reside. Cora A. married Lewis A. Bush, an expert photographer of Toledo, and they have a son Clifford. F. Kirk is a farmer in Bartlow Township, and by his marriage to Grace Sawyer of Deshler has a daughter Mariam. Florence M. married Edward Hanna, and they live on a farm in Jackson Township of Wood County. Their one daughter is named Virgie. Viola May is the wife of Elwood LeVeck. Mr. LeVeck is now manager of the Beam farm and he and his wife reside with Mr. Beam. All these children were well educated in the public schools and as homemakers and workers in the world they reflect credit upon their rearing and early training. Mr. Beam is a republican. He cast his first vote for the great Abraham Lincoln, and subsequently responded to the call of that President for troops to put down the rebellion. His children attend religious services at different churches. WILLIAM W. ELLSWORTH. There is hardly a man in Northwest Ohio whose memory includes more experiences and incidents reflecting the true pioneer conditions than the venerable William- W. Ellsworth of Richfield Township, Henry County. Everyone knows him affectionately as Colonel Ellsworth. Hc bears with sprightly nature the weight of more than fourscore years. He was born and reared in Northwest Ohio and his personal recollections cover fully three-quarters of a century. He was born February 14, 1834, in Scott Township of Sandusky County, Ohio. When he was six years old his parents removed to Liberty Township in Wood County and since then he has lived chiefly in Wood or Henry counties. His parents were Freeman and Jane (Smith) Ellsworth. His father was a native of New England and of New England ancestry and was a relative of that noted Colonel Ellsworth who fell in one of the first battles of the Civil war while leading his troops in the capture of the City of Alexandria, just across the Potomac River from Washington. Colonel Ellsworth's mother was born in Scotland. Her parents had visited America prior to that time, but had returned to Scotland, where her father died soon after Mrs. Ellsworth was born. She afterwards came to the United States with her widowed mother. Her mother died in Missouri. Miss Smith finally removed to Sandusky County, Ohio, where she married Freeman Ellsworth. In 1840 they removed from Sandusky County to Liberty Township of Wood County. They established their home in the district where the only settlers up to that time were Louis Dubbs and W. C. Lathrop. Liberty Township was then a howling wilderness and the Ellsworth family had no neighbors except the Dubbs and Lathrop families nearer than fifteen miles. Theirs was a typical log cabin home. Around them was the great forest, and for several years they saw more of the friendly Indians living in that section than of white people. Practically none of their provisions came from distant markets or dis- tant parts of the world as is the case in modern times. Their meat was supplied by the wild game of the forest. It was so plentiful that a half hour sufficed to hunt and kill HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1807 a wild deer or a wild turkey just as choice preferred. In 1844- Freeman Ellsworth sold his pioneer farm which he had secured from the Government, and bought another place, also in its primitive condition, near Portage in Wood County. Again a log cabin was raised among the trees and there the family lived until 1855. Then came another sale, and the household removed to Grand Rapids on the Maumee River. In the spring of 1856, they returned to Milton Township of Wood County and secured a farm at McMasters Corners. Freeman Ellsworth was a doughty patriot, and though sixty-four years of age he could not be prevented from enlisting and giving his services to the Union during the Civil war. He went into Company C of the Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He marched and campaigned and endured the hardships of army life as faithfully as the young vigorous men who were his comrades, and was in the service until the close of the' battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The night following that victorious encounter of the Union forces with the Confederates he was suddenly taken ill and died twenty-four hours later. He was buried at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and fills a soldier's grave. He left his widow with a family of nine daughters and one son. The widowed mother kept her family together and survived him many years, passing away December 8, 1883, at the 'age of seventy-six. All her nine daughters grew up, married, had families of their own and three are still living. These are : Mrs. Mary Etta Smith, a' widow with children and living in Michigan; Mrs. Julia Keiffer, widow of Benjamin Keiffer, who suffered a, tragic end in the fire which destroyed the Delphos Stave Mill, where he was burned to death and only his charred corpse was found; Merilla, wife. of 0. A. Richmond now living at North Baltimore, Ohio. Mrs. Richmond was' the youngest of the family and is the mother of two sons. William W. Ellsworth, the only son, and the second child, grew up in the surroundings which have been briefly indicated chiefly in Wood County. He came to his majority while the family were making their temporary home at Grand Rapids on the Maumee River. Judged by modern standards his education was not liberal. Even in his old age he impresses one for his remarkable physical vigor and his equally remarkable keenness of intellect, and that is more a result of inheritance than of active contact with men and affairs rather than through acquaintance with books. Such schools as he did attend were the old time schools conducted in log cabins. These schoolhouses had puncheon floors. The seats and desks were made of white ash boards supported on pins. He walked five miles every day to attend such a school. Colonel Ellsworth for years had a great reputation as a hunter and kept up the sport until the woods of Ohio were practically denuded of all interesting game. He has killed as many as nine deer in a single day. In the locality where now appear only the prosperous and improved farms of Henry and Wood counties he has seen droves of deer consisting of as many as thirty. He was a boy of ten years and ten months when he killed his first deer. The scene of this exploit was in Liberty Township of Wood County. It was the largest buck he ever killed. An interesting souvenir of this exploit he still has and one that will be cherished by all his descendants. It consists of a part of one of the six prongs of the antlers. This is attached as the head of a solid hickory stick, which makes a cane and a very serviceable one at that. The hickory stick was cut in the same township where he killed the deer. This stick is still covered with some of its bark, and the cane is not only an effective instrument but has artistic qualities and is still solid as a bone. Colonel Ellsworth recalls that for five consecutive years his family used a rude stone pestle to hammer out their corn into a sort of meal. This was used to make up the favorite corn pone and that was the only quality of bread the family had during this time. Colonel Ellsworth's mother was a noble pioneer woman. She did more than a mother's duty by her ten children. The family grew flax every year and after it was flailed and hackled, this housemother spun and wove it into cloth and thus had material for dressing the children. The clothes which she made for her son William were just the natural color, but those used for dressing the daughters were usually dyed with native dye stuff into checks and stripes. The home which Colonel Ellsworth recalls to memory as the one in which he spent the happy years of his boyhood was a log cabin with a puncheon floor, and the roof was held down with broad weight poles tied instead of nailed. The door was hung on wooden hinges. Such are some of the reminiscences of the past as they fall from the lips of this venerable citizen to be preserved and read by the coming generation. 1808 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Twenty-three years ago Colonel Ellsworth moved from Wood County to Richfield Township of Henry County and bought an almost new farm in the woods of section 36. In the transformation of this land to a thoroughly kept and cultivated farm, Mr. Ellsworth has gone through his fifth consecutive experience in taming a portion of the wilderness. Here he has surrounded himself with every comfort, has a substantial house and barn and other fine buildings erected under his supervision and partly by his own labors. The barn is 34 by 70 feet. Colonel Ellsworth married Miss Leah Daniels, who was born in Perry County, Ohio, near Fairfield, of Pennsylvania parents. She was still a small child when both her parents died, and she grew up almost in the home of strangers. Colonel Ellsworth and wife have been married now nearly sixty years. They have seen their own children go from their home into homes of their own, and both grandchildren and great-grandchildren have occasionally returned to brighten the lives of these aged people. The oldest child was Eliza J., who died after her marriage to John Ben. She left a son Harry who is now married and has two children, and a daughter Maude, living in Chicago, the widow of William Engle and the mother of one daughter. John F., the oldest son, is a bachelor farmer in Wood County, and his home is shared and made comfortable by his mother, who spends most of her time with him. Ida, who now lives in Lafayette, Indiana, is the widow of George Scofield, who died in Denver, Colorado, in 1914, leaving no children. Henry H. owns and operates a part of his father's farm and is a very successful and enterprising stock raiser and feeder. He married for his first wife Mary Myburger. The children of that marriage were William H., twenty-three years of age, and John, who died at the age of twelve. Henry H. Ellsworth married for his second wife Mrs. Samantha (Knisely) Frankfather, who was born in Wyandot County, Ohio, grew up and was educated in Wood County: By her first marriage she has six children : Elva, who married George Ottley and has two children, Maude and Joyce ; Willis, died in infancy; Lillie, wife of Marion Seeley living in New York State, and they have four children ; H. Grover, who is an oil well driller in Oklahoma and married Donnie Higgins ; Orvilla, who died at the age of twenty years; and Daisy who also died at the age of twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ellsworth have a foster daughter Hazel, a bright young girl of fourteen, now a student in the public schools. Colonel Ellsworth and his sons are democrats in their political affiliations. OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY. The fame of the little City of Ada, Ohio, has been spread abroad because it is the seat of Ohio Northern ,University. Thousands of successful men and women not only in Ohio but probably in every state of the Union gratefully acknowledge their indebtedness to the institution at Ada, in some phase and period of its growth from a "select" school to its present equipment and proportions of a real university. The analogy of the acorn and the oak could hardly find a better illustration than in the growth and expansion of Ohio Northern University from a persistent idea and ambition that found lodgment in the mind of a young soldier-educator half a century ago. The interesting story of how Ohio Northern University was founded and developed through a period of thirty or forty years is told in the life history of Henry S. Lehr, now president emeritus of the university, on other pages of this publication. A succinct historical sketch of the university is found in a recent university bulletin and that will be drawn upon for the facts of this brief sketch, leaving the elaboration of the story of growth to the sketch of Mr. Lehr. In the later '60s Henry S. Lehr, a young pedagogue from Eastern Ohio, found his way westward into the Village of Ada, then known as Johnstown. He obtained employment as a teacher in the Union schools and subsequently taught a series of terms of "select" school. His spirit, 'enthusiasm and helpfulness, together with a keen appreciation of the practical in subjects and methods, attracted many "foreign" students and. would-be-teachers to his school. . The dream of founding a great normal school in which plainness, practicalness, and inexpensiveness were to be the main characteristics, became a master passion directing his thought, shaping his plans, and at last taking definite and actual form. In the year 1870-71 the first building, a three-story brick, was erected, and on August 14, 1871, the Northwestern Ohio Normal School was formally opened "for the instruction and training of teachers in the science of education, the art of teaching and the best methods of governing schools." In the fall of 1875 the Northwestern Normal School located at Fostoria, Ohio, was HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1809 consolidated and incorporated with the Northwestern Ohio Normal School at Ada. From the very start a limited number of special subjects were offered in the courses of instruction, but from time to time, as patronage demanded, department schools were organized as follows : Music, commercial, telegraphic, fine arts, stenography, engineering, military, law, pharmacy. In 1885 the name was changed from the Northwestern Ohio Normal School to Ohio Normal University, the plan and management remaining the same and normal principles and methods marking the administration. From its inception the school was under private management and control until in September, 1898, the owners sold to the Central Ohio (now the West Ohio) Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church; the real estate and personal property belonging to the university. Under the new administration, as fast as existing contracts permitted, came a change in the relations of the several departmental schools with the main school. These, heretofore semi-independent, were now reorganized under one management and control, and the respective deans placed on salary instead of commission. At the same time instruction in the main school was made departmental, with the head teacher in each department director thereof. In 1904-05 the institution was rechartered under the name Ohio Northern University, thus retaining the old and familiar initials "0. N. U.," which had become cherished by a generation of older students. At the present time Ohio Northern University has the following departments : The preparatory school, the college of liberal arts, the college of education, the college of engineering, the college of commerce, the college of law, the college of pharmacy, the college of music, the school of expression, the school of fine arts, the college of agriculture, the department of military instruction. It has a faculty of upwards of fifty members, nearly all of whom are university graduates and specialists in their particular line. In part of material equipment also the university ranks with the best schools of the Middle West. Besides the large campus in the southern half of the City of Ada, the university owns a ninety-acre tract of land nearby, utilized by the agricultural department. There is also a large athletic field. The principal buildings on the campus are the Dukes Memorial, with rooms and laboratories devoted to science, mathematics and engineering; the Lehr Memorial, for the executive officers ; the library, quarters for the College of Law and College of Commerce, an auditorium seating 1,600 people, and Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association rooms; the Hill Memorial, containing the mechanical and electrical laboratories, halls for literary societies, and class rooms for language, history, philosophy and education ; the Brown Memorial, which has been converted to gymnasium purposes ; Pharmacy Hall; Music Hall. Ohio Northern has always been an extremely democratic school, and a leading aim has been to furnish thorough practical instruction in all departments at a minimum expense to the student. A feature of the scholastic work is that the school year is divided into four terms, aggregating forty-eight weeks of instruction, so that by continuous work students may complete the regular college course leading up to a bachelor's degree in three years of forty-eight weeks each. For the past twenty years the aggregate annual enrollment of the Ohio Northern University has been over 3,000, and that in itself indicates the popularity and growth of this institution during the past forty Tears. The enrollment for the scholastic year 1876-77 was less than 500. The present officers, are : Albert Edwin Smith, D. D., Ph. D., president ; John Davidson, Pd. D., vice president ; Charles B. Wright, executive secretary. There are forty members in the faculty. ALBERT EDWIN SMITH, president of the Ohio Northern University at Ada, is a distinguished scholar and educator and for many years before taking his present post was identified with the pastoral work of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio. Doctor Smith was born December 16, 1860, a son of Hugo Edwin and Mary Ann Smith. In the maternal line he is descended from an old and prominent American family. His great-great-grandfather on the mother's side fought as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his maternal great-grandfather was in the War of 1812 and his maternal grandfather was a loyal Union soldier in the struggle between the states from 1861 to 1865. Doctor Smith's father, Hugo Edwin Smith, was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1835, and as was the case with so many of the German settlers in the United States he loyally aided the cause 1810 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO of the Union and fought as a soldier during the Civil war. Albert E. Smith was liberally educated. He graduated from the Parker's Academy in 1883 and then entered Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, where he was granted his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1887. By his work in school and his prominence in Methodist affairs Doctor Smith has since acquired the degree Master of Arts from his alma mater in 1890, the degree Doctor of Philosophy in 1898, while in. 1907 he was given the honorary degree Doctor of Divinity. He received the degree Doctor of Divinity from the Ohio Northern University in 1905. Doctor Smith was for eighteen years an active minister in the Central Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1912 and in 1916 he served as a member of the General Conference of that church. In 1905 he accepted the post of president of the Ohio Northern University and since then his home has been at Ada. Doctor Smith in politics is a republican. He was married at Delaware, Ohio, October 26, 1887, a few months after he was graduated from the University of that city to Miss Harriet Vergon. She is a daughter of F. P. Vergon, and the Vergons,.an old French family, came to America in 1834. Mrs. Smith graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University in the same class as her husband. She is now secretary of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the West Ohio Conference. Doctor and Mrs. Smith have five children : Rachel V., Edwin V., Paul V., Harriet V. and Benjamin V. Smith. JOHN DAVISON, whose home is at Lima, has been a factor in educational affairs in Northwest Ohio for a great many years. He is now vice president and dean of the Ohio Northern University at Ada, though his influence and work have not been confined to one institution. He is a man of broad and progressive ideas, and is one of the leaders in the modern movement for educational unlift and improvement. His family were pioneers in Allen County. He was born in the Village of West Newton, Allen County, July 22, 1858, a son of Amaziah and Eliza (Nye) Davison, the former a native of Harrison County, Virginia, and the latter of Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather, John Davison, was a prominent man in old Virginia, but in his business affairs finally became financially involved and after set tling up he brought the small surplus from his estate to Ohio in 1834, and in that year took up 320 acres of Government land in Allen County. He did not live long, dying in the following winter, and the improvement of the land was left to younger men. In old Virginia he had exercised an influential part in politics, and served about thirty years in the Legislature and Senate. The maternal grandfather of Professor Davison was George Nye. He came out of Pennsylvania and settled at Circleville, Ohio. Eliza Nye became a successful teacher and followed that occupation for a number of years. While teaching she met Amaziah Davison, and they were married soon afterward. Amaziah Davison grew up in the woods on the old homestead taken up by his father in Allen County and cleared a farm on which he lived from 1834 until his death in 1895. He did his work well and prospered and also had time to serve the public welfare. For thirty years he was trustee of Auglaize Township in Allen County. He was a member of the Masonic order and a republican in politics, and was a Baptist, while his wife was a Presbyterian. They were the parents of four children : Monroe Davison, who died in 1907, had a useful career as a physician and surgeon at West Newton, where he practiced many years; John Davison, the second in the family ; Albert Davison, who is in the flour and feed business at McKeesport, Pennsylvania; and Belle, wife of J. A. McCartney, a retired farmer living at Lima. Though John Davison grew up in the atmosphere of the farm, his work since early youth has been chiefly in the field of education. He attended the village schools at West Newton and completed several courses in the Ohio Normal University at Ada. He also taught in that school, and for thirteen years was connected with the public schools at Elida, and from there removed to Lima, where he was dean of the normal department of Lima College from 1895 to 1899. From 1899 to 1905 he was professor of literature in the university at Ada, and then returned to Lima to become superintendent of the public schools. He filled that office until 1915. He resigned to become vice president of the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and in addition he also fills the office of dean. Mr. Davison has filled various positions in organized movements for educational progress. For the past ten years he has been a member of the legislative committee of the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1811 Ohio State Teachers' Association. He has been heard in many communities as a lecturer on schools and school work and has also written a number of articles, largely of a historical character, which have been published in newspapers. He wrote a history of Lima and also a brief history of Ohio, both of which received very favorable comment. Thus his influence and inspiration as an educational leader have not been restricted to individual schools or groups of people. In the last thirty years he has delivered over 1,000 commencement addresses and more than 1,200 lectures at institutes and before other gatherings. His work as a lecturer has been dignified by fine moral purpose and that instruction comes before entertainment. Besides the subjects of his popular lectures he has a well balanced program or series of addresses for institutes covering various topics under the groups of, school management and methods, public school administration, education and country life. and literature. In 1916 he attended and delivered the addresses at thirty-two high school commencement exercises in Ohio and at six large institutes in Pennsylvania. Though a teacher is proverbially poor Mr. Davison has always managed to save some money, and besides his comfortable home at 734 West Market Street in Lima he is the owner of six other pieces of property in the city which return rent, and has a good farm in Allen. County. On March 24. 1886, he married Miss Clara E. Hay, daughter of James Hay, who was an early settler in Allen County, and both a farmer and business man. Mr. and Mrs. Davison have four children : Evelyn, who graduated from the high school at Lima and from the Oxford College for Women at Oxford, Ohio, is a high school instructor and has taught both at Lima and Bellefontaine. Walter, who graduated from the Lima High School and the law department of the Ohio State University, is now in successful practice at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Joseph is a graduate of the Lima High School and is now a student in the Ohio State University. John, Jr., is still attending high school. Mr. and Mrs. Davison are very active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He formerly served as superintendent of the Sunday school and has been teaching in Sunday schools at different places for fully forty years. In politics he is a republican. CHARLES A. TUCKER. The farm on which he was reared as a boy is now the home of Charles A. Tucker, who has long been one of the successful and influential residents of Richfield Township. His home is near Berkey. Though reared in Lucas County from the age of five, he was born in Lorain County, Ohio, September 16, 1848. His father, Charles H. Tucker, was born on the shores of Lake Canandaigua in New York State. He came out to Ohio in the early days and in 1853 brought his family from Lorain County to Lucas County, and located on the land where his son Charles now resides. He was kicked by a horse and died from the injuries in 1860. Charles H. Tucker was the son of Joshua Tucker, who came to this country from Alsace-Lorraine, France. The grandmother of Charles A. Tucker was of German origin. Charles H. Tucker was a man of considerable prominence in Lorain County during the days when the underground railway was in active operation. Besides farming he was also a sailor, and he performed a very valuable part in the operation of the underground road. He accepted the runaway slaves and would hide them under his barn until opportunity came to take them across the lake to Canada. He was a republican after the organization of that party. After the death of his father Charles A. Tucker became dependent upon his own resources, and spent four or five years working in various lines of employment. He finally bought the interests of the other heirs in the home farm, and has since lived there. Mr. Tucker has a sister Alice, now Mrs. Henry Ray of Berkey, and a brother Joseph of Richfield Township. There were three children in the family. Mr. Tucker has not only been a farmer but is one of the veteran threshermen of this community, and has threshed grain for forty-six years. In that time he has handled all the various types of machinery used for that purpose, beginning with some of the old horse power outfits and later some of the most approved types of grain separators. If there is one feature more than another which he has exemplified on his farm it is first class work horses. He always keeps a number of high grade animals on his farm. Politically he is a republican, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Tucker married. Ella Hines, of Richfield Township, and has two children. Glenn is an engineer on the Chicago, St. Paul and Milwaukee Railway living at Montevideo, Minnesota ; he married Minnie Cosgrave of Montevideo. 1812 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO The daughter Alice is Mrs. Nelson Woodward of Richfield Township. WELLINGTON T. HUNTSMAN. It iS hardly necessary to speak of Wellington T. Huntsman by way of introduction, since he has long been identified with public office and with business affairs in Toledo and elsewhere. He was born at Darlington, Richland County, Ohio, February 22, 1864, or as he states the fact himself, "my birthday is a national holiday and the banks close on that day." His parents are A. C. and Mary C. (Gulp) Huntsman, the mother a native of Lexington, Ohio, and the father born on the same farm where his son Wellington first saw the light of day. It is an interesting item of the family record that this farm has had only two owners, the United States Government and the Huntsman family. The grandfather Jonathan Huntsman, a native of Pennsylvania and a very early settler in Richmond County, took up land from Government in 1800, securing a full section. When he died his son A. C. Huntsman bought the interest of the other heirs in what remained of the old tract, 160 acres, and a part of this Wellington T. Huntsman inherited and he bought some of his brother's interest and now has 120 acres of the old original farm. A. C. Huntsman and wife were married in Lexington, Ohio, in 1858. The father died on the old farm October 8, 1902, at the age of seventy-two and his wife passed away in 1879 at the age of forty-five. A. C. Huntsman spent two years in the Union army as a private in Company B of the One Hundred and Sixty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under the command of Colonel Moody of Mansfield, Ohio. Three of his brothers, James, Josiah and Noah were also soldiers in the war, and Columbus D. Culp, a brother of Mary C. Huntsman, was also a soldier. A. C. Huntsman was one of six brothers, and was the only one who did not live to be more than fourscore, though his two sisters died at a younger age. A. C. Huntsman was a member of Justice Paxton Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Shaucks, Ohio. He also served almost continually for a great many years as one of the school directors of his district, and took much part in politics, as he and his wife also did in the Methodist Episcopal Church in their locality. Of their two sons, Cassius C. is now a farmer and resides on forty acres of the old home farm in Perry Township, Richland County, Ohio. Wellington T. Huntsman grew up on that old homestead and made the best of the advantages of the public schools in Richland County. He also attended Holbrook University at Lebanon, Ohio, and began his real career as a teacher in his home county, spending about seven years in the public schools there. In September, 1888, he interrupted his school work and took a business course and graduated from the Tri-State Business College at Toledo. He then returned to Richland County and continued teaching that winter when he returned to Toledo and became an instructor in the Tri State College until November, 1891. At that date he became connected with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway as a clerk in the civil engineering department. Leaving the railroad he became chief deputy in the city auditor's office, at that time under the administration of Major George V. Roulet. He remained in the auditor's office until June 1, 1901, and then resigned to become connected with the S. M. Jones Company of which the late Samuel M. Jones, Toledo's famous Golden Rule Mayor was the head. He continued with former Mayor Jones until January 1, 1903, resigning to take the position of state examiner of municipal accounts under the state auditor. That was his position from January 1, 1903, to August 1, 1906, and his headquarters at that time were in Columbus. Leaving the state auditor's office and returning to Toledo, Mr. Huntsman became chief deputy under Ed L. Kimes, then county clerk of Lucas County, and held that position until August, 1911. From that date until August, 1913, he served by election as clerk of the courts of Lucas County, finally leaving that office because at that time the democrats and progressives together had more power than the republican party in this county. After a month's vacation, Mr. Huntsman in September, 1913, identified himself with the Continental Trust and Savings Bank Company as secretary-treasurer, and was with that institution until March 1, 1915. He then became county manager for the R. L. Dollings Company, dealers in bonds and securities, and left that concern on February 26, 1916, since which time he has been connected with C. C. Truax and Company, Investment Brokers, Second National Bank Building, Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Huntsman is also a director of The Interstate Stock Yards Company of Toledo. In politics he is a republican, is affiliated HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1813 with Rubicon Lodge No. 237, Free and Accepted Masons at Toledo, Fort Meigs Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; Lucas Lodge No. 148 of the Knights of Pythias; Toledo Lodge No. 402, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and with Lodge No. 101, Loyal Order of Lions which he helped to organize. Outside of his official life and his business affairs, Mr. Huntsman has for years been a devotee of music. He is himself a popular singer, knows music thoroughly, and has been a factor in musical work in Toledo and elsewhere. He takes a justifiable pride in the fact that he was made an honorary member of two Grand Army of Republic Posts at Toledo, Volunteer Post and Forsyth Post. This honor was bestowed because of his kindness and helpfulness in behalf of the old soldiers of the community. He assisted many of them to secure their pensions, has sung for them at their entertainments, and has given them every aid he could possibly render and always without any remuneration whatever. He is a member and vice president of the Orpheus Club, a male chorus organization of Toledo. In St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church he has had charge of the church choir for years, has been superintendent of the Sunday school since 1908, and his enthusiastic devotion to church and musical affairs has been one of the strong influences in his life. Mr. Huntsman is also a member of the Toledo Commerce Club and the Kiwanis Club, and a member of the board of directors of Flower Hospital. His city home is at 2033 Summit Avenue and he has an attractive summer cottage on Toledo Beach, north of Toledo, where he spends much of the time during the summer. Mr. Huntsman is president of the Protestant Chapel Association, organized in the spring of 1916, for the purpose of constructing the present chapel at a cost of about $3,000 on Toledo Beach, and thus providing a place for worship to the many cottagers who spend their week ends in that vicinity during the summer months. Previously the nearest Protestant church had been at Erie, Michigan. Mr. Huntsman is superintendent of the Chapel Sunday school. On November 10, 1896, Mr. Huntsman married Miss Marian B. Bankson, who was born in Detroit, received her education in the public schools of Marshall, Michigan, and is a daughter of William and Margaret (Joy) Bankson. Her mother died many years ago and her father was retired on a pension in the Vol. III-31 fall of 1915 after having been in the employ of the Michigan Central Railway for more than half a century. He now lives at Detroit. Mrs. Huntsman is a member of the Lower Town Study Club, and takes much part in church and Sunday school affairs. JOHN F. ANDRESKY, a representative of The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company,. is a business man who has won well deserved advancement to the enviable position he now occupies. For many years he was in the railway train service, going through the various grades until he became a conductor. In all the relations of his active career, which has been comparatively brief, since he is now little past thirty-five years of age, he has shown a faithfulness to duty, a responsibility, and an efficiency which constitutes solid reasons why he should be ranked among the leaders in business affairs. He was born in Poland, Europe, June 4, 1880, a son of Mathew and Frances Andresky. His mother is living in Toledo, while his father died at Berea, Ohio, in 1903. Both parents were born in Poland, Europe, were married there, and came to the United States in 1880, landing in New York and going direct to Grafton, Ohio. From there they moved to Bay City, Michigan, but soon returned to Grafton, and not long afterward went to Berea, where the father spent his last years. Of the children now living there are two sons and two daughters. Three sons and a daughter died in infancy, while Martin was killed while in the yard service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway at Lorain at the age of twenty-one. John F. Andresky is the oldest of the living children. Marguerite is the wife of Joseph Zachman of Toledo ; while Bertha and Joseph are still at home with their mother. All were born in Ohio except John F. Mr. Andresky completed his education in the public and parochial schools at Berea, Ohio. He was little more than a boy when he was taken into the railway service of the Big Four Railway at Berea. For one year he was a fireman and then became connected with the freight service of the Toledo Division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, now a part of the New York Central lines. For ten years he was a brakeman and then was promoted to freight conductor in 1910, a position he held until he resigned from the road in 1913. In the fall of 1906 Mr. Andresky moved his 1814 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO family to Toledo. On returning from railroading in 1913 he engaged in the life insurance business as representative of the Metropolitan Life of New York, which has offices in the Ohio Building at Toledo. Since then Mr. Andresky has been one of the very capable agents of this company. While a railroad man Mr. Andresky was a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, but is no longer connected with that order. He is a member of the Polish Commerce Club in Toledo in the Nebraska Avenue District, and is a member of the Polish Catholic Church, St. Anthony's parish. It was in St. Anthony's Church on February 22, 1905, that Mr. Andresky married Miss Agnes Harmacinski of Toledo. Her mother is now deceased and her father Peter Harmacinski still lives in Toledo. Mrs. Andresky was born and received her education in Toledo, being a graduate of St. Anthony's parochial school. To their union have been born three daughters : Cecilia, Sealoma and Martha, the oldest born in Berea and the two youngest in Toledo. WESLEY O. CASTEEL has given many years of an industrious and honorable career to the business of farming in Bartlow Township, where he is one of the most esteemed residents. Not only his work as a farmer but his attitude on questions of public concern and his citizenship has commended him to the favor of all the people in that community. Mr. Casteel's farm is in section 29 of Bartlow Township. There he followed general farming and stock raising and has developed a splendid property. His land is well fenced and it is of that fertile soil which was originally reclaimed from the swamps. It is tile drained, ditched at intervals of 3 ½ rods. He has substantial farm buildings, including a barn 36 by 50 feet and a good eight-room house. His chief crops are corn, wheat and oats. Mr. Casteel moved to his present farm from another place in section 31 of the same township, where he had lived since 1892. Mr. Casteel was born in Putnam County, Ohio', March 22, 1871, and grew up in that locality. He was well educated in public schools and he has always followed the occupation to which he was trained as a boy. He lived at home until 1892. Mr. Casteel is a son of Andrew and Margaret (Starrett) Casteel. His father was a native of Ohio, and as a young man he volunteered for service in the Union army. After three years of danger and hardship in following the flag he veteranized in the First Ohio Cavalry, and continued until the close of hostilities. He was with his regiment in its almost constant campaigning with only a brief interruption caused by illness. He was exposed to the enemy's bullets and to the dangers of camp and marching for nearly four years, but escaped without a wound. After the war he married, and soon removed to Liberty Township of Putnam County, where he established a log cabin in the midst of the woods. He has also acquired extensive tracts of land in Henry County and has 176 acres thoroughly cultivated and with large and substantial buildings. He also owns 160 acres in Henry County. He still lives on his old home farm and is now eighty-three years of age, hale and hearty for all the hardships he endured as a young man. He is thoroughly capable of looking after his farm and other business affairs. Politically he is a democrat. His wife died at the old home farm in 1910 when about sixty-five years of age. She was a member of the Christian Church. Wesley 0. Casteel is one of a family of three sons and five daughters, six of whom are still living and all married except the daughter Della, who is housekeeper for her aged father. Mr. Wesley Casteel was married October 4, 1894, in his native township and county to Miss Anna Belle Leary. Mrs. Casteel was born in Putnam County April 30, 1875, and was educated in the community where she spent her young girlhood. She is a daughter of David C. Leary, who was born in West Virginia in August, 1842. Against his will and his personal inclinations he was drawn into the Confederate army at the beginning of the Civil war, but he deserted and made his escape to Ohio. He was married in Allen County to Miss Lucinda McCray. His widow is now living in Leipsic at the age of about seventy-three. Mr. Leary died October 1, 1898, on his farm in Marion Township of Henry County. He was then about fifty-three years of age. There were four sons and three daughters in the Leary family, one of the daughters dying in childhood, while the others except one son are all married. Mr. and Mrs. Casteel have four childrcn. Bertha M. was educated in the public schools and is now the wife of Harry J. Zeisloft, farmer in Van Buren Township of Putnam County. They have a daughter Beulah P. Ora C. is a young man who has completed his education in the Leipsic High School and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1815 is now a practical assistant to his father on the farm. Nora A. was born May 28, 1900, and is attending the eighth grade of the public schools at Deshler. Harold R. was born June 3, 1916. The family are members of the Christian Church at West Bellmore. Mr. Casteel is a member of Bellmore Lodge No. 635, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Bartlow Encampment No. 289 at Deshler. Politically he is an independent democrat. FRANK M. WAHLER, though he started life with no family to aid him,- and had to put his youthful strength to exertion for the support of the household, has won out and made good and ranks as one of the most successful and prosperous citizens of Deshler. He is of old German ancestry. His grandparents. came to this country in the early '40s, locating in Shelby County, Ohio, where they became farmers and where they spent the rest of their days. They died when a little past middle life. They were of the high German stock and probably natives of Bavaria. They were active Catholics, and that was the. religion of the family for generations back. Among their children were John, Catherine, Joseph and Lucy, all of whom grew up and married and had children. Catherine became the wife of L. Ailes, a former sheriff of Shelby County; Joseph was a stock buyer and is still living in Shelby County. John Wahler, father of Frank M., grew up in Shelby County, Ohio, and he was first a farmer and later was a railway man with the Panhandle Railroad Company until disabled by an accident. He now lives in Columbus, Ohio. By his" marriage to Mary Rike three children were born. The mother of Prank M. Wahler was Mary Rike. She was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, of English ancestry, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Rike. Her father at one time was toll gate keeper on one of the fine old Pike roads leading out of Dayton, Ohio. From there he removed to Shelby County to a farm within 3 ½ miles of Port Jefferson and lived there until his death at the age of eighty-two. His wife passed away when about the same age. He was a republican and he and his wife members of the Reformed Church. Mr. Wahler's mother was one of .a family of seven children. Her brother William Rike is a widower living at Port Jefferson and has three children. Her sister Sarah is now Mrs. Frederick, living in Auglaize County and the mother of two sons and one daughter; her sister Josephine is the wife of John Dowden and they live near St. Mary's, Ohio, and are the parents of five children. Mr: Wahler's mother now makes her home with her son William, a bachelor and the proprietor of a café at North Baltimore, Ohio. She is a very intelligent old lady and is now about .sixty-seven years of age. She did a noble part by her children after she became dependent upon her own exertions. Her daughter Dora is the widow of George Cox and is living at Toledo, where her daughter Alma is married and has a son. The second of her children is Frank M. The third and youngest of the family, William, has already been mentioned as a resident of North Baltimore. Frank M. Wahler came with his mother and his brother and sister to the Village of Deshler on an April morning following the spring primaries of 1890. The mother had hired a man with a team to bring the household goods, and Frank, then fifteen years of age, drove a couple of cows. Deshler was then nothing more than a mud 'hole and the mother and children located here and began providing for their wants and necessities by each one taking a hand in such work as could be found and helping each other. The mother lived at Deshler until 1915 when she went to North Baltimore. Frank M. Wahler's first employment after coming to Deshler was as a workman in the Stave factory of A. W. Lee. He followed that employment for several years. He had limited schooling when 'a boy and early learned to be dependent upon his own exertions. From the stave factory he became clerk in a grocery store and subsequently engaged in the wine and liquor business. For eight years he was in the Gillchrist Building and on January 1, 1911, he purchased and took over the Ross House Café. He has conducted that as a. model establishment of its kind and he now finds himself in comfortable circumstances.. Mr. Wahler is the owner of two fine farms. One of them is in Washtenaw County, Michigan; and consists of eighty-two acres of land, well cultivated and improved. He has another farm of eighty acres in Van Buren Township of Putnam County. These farms produce. for him fine crops of corn, oats, potatoes and other staples. The Putnam County farm has a barn 36 by 76 feet, a five-room house, and the buildings on both farms are high class 1816 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and represent a good investment. Mr. Wahler owns one of the fine homes in Deshler. He was married in Henry County to Miss Coonie Heubner. Mrs: Wahler was born in Germany in 1872 and was brought in infancy to this country by her parents Frederick and Elizabeth Heubner. The Heubner family first settled in Ottawa County, Ohio, later removed to Paulding County, and her father conducted there for a number of years a greenhouse and florist business. From there he removed to Deshler and is still proprietor of the leading greenhouse in this section of Henry County. Mr. Heubner is now seventy-nine years of age and his wife is about the same age. They are active Lutherans and he is a democrat in his political affiliations. Mrs. Wahler has a brother John M., who is a stave joiner at Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Wahler have one daughter, Norma, who was born February 24, 1904, and is now attending the seventh grade of the Deshler schools. In matters of politics Mr. Wahler has always been stanchly aligned with the democratic party. ALBERT E. ROYSE. The fine crops of oats, corn, clover and the excellent live stock are not the only features that distinguish the farm of Albert E. Royse in section 22 of Bartlow Township. It is a farm with an atmosphere of general prosperity and cleanliness and thoroughness of upkeep. Efficiency is everywhere in evidence. The farm is attractive to the eye, as well as a place where profits are made. The character of the farm is but a reflection of the enterprise and ability of the owner. The farm consists of 160 acres near the corporation limits of Deshler. Every foot is under cultivation, the land is thoroughly tiled, there are strong and stout fences, and around the main barn 38 by 50 feet are granaries, cribs and sheds. The family reside in a substantial nine-room house. Mr. Royse .came to this place eight years ago from Bartholomew County, Indiana, where he had lived for ten years. He was a practical and progressive farmer there, having the management of the old Drybread estate and operating 176 acres. By his work on that farm he made the money which enabled him to buy his present place in Northwest Ohio. Mr. Royse was born in Indiana, May 15, 1867. The family then moved to Illinois and he was reared and educated there. From Illinois he went to Indiana and then came to Ohio. He is a. son of Hiram and Ellen (Long) Royse. His father was born in Indiana and his mother in Ohio. Hiram Royse was a son of Aaron and Elizabeth (McGuire) Royse, early settlers in Bartholomew County, Indiana, where they spent their lives as prosperous and successful farmers. Hiram Royse after his marriage continued to live in Bartholomew County, and two daughters and one son were born there, Emily, Amanda and Albert. The other children are Alice, Ella, Josephine, Clara, John and Harvey. About the close of the Civil war the family moved out to Illinois and located on the raw prairie in Piatt County. Hiram Royse made a success as a farmer in Illinois, and after many years of successful effort died there in May, 1900, at the age of fifty-nine. His widow is still living at the old home in Piatt County. and is now seventy-seven years of age. She is an active Methodist, a church with which her husband was affiliated, and he was also a democrat. Mr. Albert E. Royse's sister Mary is the wife of John Stillabower, and they live in Iowa and have a family of sons and daughters. Ella died in childhood. Clara died after her marriage to William Odaffer of Piatt County. Josie is the wife of Oscar Olson,* a farmer near the old Royse homestead in Illinois. John lives on a farm adjoining the old home and is the father of one son and two daughters. Harvey is still living with his mother. Albert Royse was reared and educated in Goose Creek Township of Piatt County. He was married in Dewitt County, Illinois, to Florence Winger. She was born December 9, 1873, a daughter of Fred Winger, a native of Germany who came to this country when a young man and located in Dewitt County, Illinois. He married a native of this county and they became successful and, prosperous farmers. He died there while Mrs. Royse was an infant. Her mother married two other husbands, and was three times a widow and she died in February, 1913, at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Royse had a sister who died young and she is now the only survivor of her father's children. Mr. and Mrs. Royse became the parents of eight children. Sylvia is the wife of Fred Freed, a farmer of Bartlow Township, and their children are Harold and Raymond. The second daughter Edith is still at home. Roscoe A. born April 22, 1900, is still carrying on his HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1817 studies in school and also assisting on the farm. The others are Edna, aged fifteen, Ray thirteen, Floyd deceased, Earl and Catherine. The family are members of the United Brethren Church. In matters of politics Mr. Royse is independent and gives his vote where he thinks it will do the most good. J. AUGUST HOOPS has long been a recognized leader among the German community of Richfield Township, and this leadership is due to his many sterling qualities as a 'business man, farmer, gentleman and earnest worker in behalf of schools, churches and everything that betters the community life. In his efforts he' has prospered as a farmer and has a splendid place in Richfield Township in section 33. He is a director of the German Fire Insurance Company of Defiance and Henry counties, and has had a place on The board of this splendid corporation for twenty-one years. The company has a successful record of forty years of growth and business, and now carries $7,000,000 insurance in the two counties. Mr. Hoops like many residents of Henry County was born in Hanover, Germany, November 21, 1844, a son of Henry Hoops was a cabinet maker, was married in Hanover, and during the '50s he and his wife came to the United States, though the son J. August remained behind. Henry lived for a time in Wisconsin, working in a carpenter shop and also operating a furniture store. His first wife died there in the prime of life, and he married again and moved to Detroit, where both of them died when quite old. They were strict members of the Lutheran Church. When J. August Hoops was a small boy he went to the home of his uncle William Hoops• and came to manhood under that roof. He was given the substantial training of the. German schools and fitted himself for a life of usefulness before he came to America. It was in February, 1866, when he was about twenty-one years of age that he started with a colony of twenty-one other- young men and crossed the ocean on the steamship Herman to New York. From there he came on west to Toledo and a little later to Oklahoma in Henry County. His first stay in Henry County was not long. Going to Chicago, he followed the painting trade until after the Chicago fire of 1871, subsequently spent some months in the South at New Orleans, then returned to Chicago and was in that city until the fall of 1873. Since that date Mr. Hoops has been a continuous resident of Henry County. He bought land in Freedom Township and was a resident farmer in that locality for fifteen years. He then removed to Richfield Township and bought the place of 110 acres and a fraction on which he has since lived. The land when he bought it had very few improvements, but it has since been drained, fenced, built up and developed as a farm second in productivity and value to none in that locality. The 'soil is exceptionally rich and fertile and Mr. Hoops knows how to get the maximum yield out of a given acreage. The farm is particularly noted for its heavy crops of hay and clover. Since buying and developing this farm Mr. Hoops has also acquired two other good places in Bartlow Township not far from the homestead, and these farms are likewise improved. Mr. Hoops was married in Toledo in 1871 to Wilhelmina Springhorn. She was born in the same village of Germany' as her husband, and in 1868, she came to America, alone so far as her immediate family was concerned, but in company with a party of Hanover people. Later she was joined by her brother Henry and two sisters who are now married and live in Toledo. Mr. and Mrs. Hoops have been married forty-five years. Children have been born, have grown up, have been educated and have found places of usefulness in the world, and they now have not only children but grandchildren around their home. Two, William and Lena, died after growing up and marrying. William left three children, Alma, Helena and Wilhelmina. Lena married Fred Behrmann and she died at the birth of her only child, also deceased. Carrie, the Oldest of those living, is the wife of Henry Cordes, a farmer in section 34 of Richfield Township, their children being Minnie, Emma, Ernest and Rudolph. Kathrina is the wife of Henry Gobrogge of Marion Township, and she has children named Freda, Sophia, Ernest, Minnie, Martin, Walter and Garrett. Henry lives on his father's farm and by his marriage to Minnie' Helemke has three children, Clara, Paul and Edna. Mary is the wife of Henry Meyer, a resident on section 1 of Bartlow Township, and has also three children, Bernhard, Hannah and Edwin. Fred is an active farmer in Bartlow Township, married Erma Brandt and has children named Esther, Martin and Hilda. Amelia married Otto Panning, a Bartlow Township farmer and has three children, 1818 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Louisa, Martha, and Alma. All the family are members of the local St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. Hoops was one of the first members of this church and for many years has been officially identified with its work. Politically he is a democrat and while living in Freedom Township served nine years as justice of the peace and finally refused to accept the office any longer. HENRY H. ROHRS. It is only a man of exceptional force of character, determination, and unlimited energy who could accomplish so much, in the face of so many adversities as Henry H. Rohrs has accomplished during his career in Henry County. People in that section know him as one of the prominent and successful farmers of Bartlow Township, but a number of years ago he was only a poor German youth, with little education, and with nothing to depend upon except the labor of his hands and an active mind. Though most of his life has been spent in Henry County, Mr. Rohrs is a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was born May 30, 1867. His people have been in Hanover for an untold number of generations, and had. been Protestants and Lutherans from the time of Martin Luther himself. He is a son of Henry and Mary A. (Veddinger) Rohrs, who were honest but poor and thrifty people of the farming class in Hanover. Their four children were born in Hanover, namely : Catherine, now the wife of William Schwacke, 'a garage man at Toledo; William, who died at the age of seven years and seven months after the family came to this country ; Henry H.; and Fred, who is head janitor of the Nicholas Building at Toledo and is married but has no children. The parents with these children sought to better their circumstances in the New World and left Bremen on a steamship for New York City. From New York they kept on westward until they arrived in Napoleon, Ohio, and soon afterward located in Freedom Township. The father leased a tract of new land and began farming with a cash capital of $30. But the real calamity was not in the slender resources and heavy work that confronted him, but the heavy blow which befell the family seven months later, when as a result of typhoid fever the beloved mother and one of the sons were carried away. During the long sickness all the available resources had been expended and there were bills for medical attendance amounting to $500. Good and kind neighbors came to the assistance of the stricken family, and their assistance proved help in time of need. The father after his seven years' lease had expired rented the land four years longer and then moved to Monroe Township of Henry County, buying 119 acres which he cleared up and on which he still makes his home. His .later years have brought him a reasonable degree of prosperity, and he now has a fine farm and improved with excellent buildings. For all the hardships he has been through he is still hale and hearty and is thoroughly competent to look after his business affairs, though the heavy work he has transferred to younger shoulders and is now leading a rather quiet and leisurely life. He is a democrat. After the death of his first wife he was married in Freedom Township to Miss Mary Elling, a native of Germany. She came to this country when a young woman and joined an uncle in Henry County. She became the mother of three children : William, who is married and occupies the old homestead and has two daughters and two sons ; George, who died at the age of eight years ; and Ida, who died in infancy. Henry H. Rohrs was only a child when his mother died and he came to know life. in its most serious aspects through the troubles of that period. As soon as his strength .permitted he took his place beside his father in 'the fields and in the woods and did much of the heavy work in clearing and improving. Naturally his educational opportunities were neglected and he has had to depend upon his own observation and study to make up for early deficiencies. Before he was twenty years. of age he set out on his own account, ' and put in many days of hard labor for others before he was ready to go on his own hook. He leased and rented lands in Monroe Township for a number of years, and finally leased and cleared up forty acres in Bartlow Township. He left that to rent another place, and finally he was in a position, through careful savings, to buy. the 119 acres in section 6 which now comprises his fine farm. He has through his own labors cleared up a large part of this land, has all the low lands under ditch, and has fenced and carried on improvements through practically every year. In 1911 he built a large modern barn 38 by 72 feet, with a shed across the entire width. This furnishes ample quarters for stock and grain and he also has a granary with -a capacity of over 2,000 bushels. Under his man- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1819 agement his farm produces some bumper crops and farm system and management at its best can be witnessed on the Rohrs' place. He has also provided a modern eight-room dwelling for his family. Mr. Rohrs was married at Holgate to Miss Anna Martines. She was born in Pomerania, Prussia, November 24, 1871, and her people for many generations had been Prussians. Her parents were Carl and Johanna (Went) Martines, both natives of Prussia and farmers. They both died in their native country in 1887. The year after their death Mrs. Rohrs set out for the United States, traveling all alone from Bremen on the ship Elizabeth to Baltimore. She came to this country to join her sister Mrs. Bertha Schrader and her unmarried sister Augusta who had come across in 1887 and had located in Monroe Township of Henry County, Ohio. Mrs. Rohrs soon found an opportunity to make her own Eving, was employed at Napoleon -and Holgate, and worked for others until she married and entered upon her duties as mother and housewife. Her sister Augusta subsequently married Dick Sandman, and she died in the prime of life leaving four children. A large family of twelve children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rohrs, and these children are much more liberally provided for than were their parents during their youth. Fred, the oldest, was born May 16, 1891, is a resident of Deshler and by his marriage to Elizabeth Helmke has a daughter Hilda. Henry, born September 7, 1892, is still at home. The next two children John and Paul died when young. George is now working at the harness trade in Napoleon. William and Ernest, next in age, also died as children. Anna is attending school, and the other children, all at home, are named Otto, Ida, Martha and Edna. The family and all their ancestors have been Lutherans, and Mr. and Mrs. Rohrs are active members of the Freedom Lutheran Church. He has served as trustee of that congregation. When national questions are at stake he is a democrat, but in matters of local improvement and government he votes for the man and the policy. JOHN W. CONRAD has made his mark as a progressive farmer in Henry County since locating there about six years ago. Mr. Conrad had his earlier experiences and successes as an agriculturist in that particularly rich and prosperous District of Illinois known as Champaign County, one of the banner agricultural counties of the prairie state. His Henry County farm is in section 15 of Bartlow Township. His home place consists of 160 acres. It is all under cultivation and is a part of a large area which formerly was practically valueless for farming purposes, since it was covered with heavy woods and swamps. Mr. Conrad's land is completely drained and is fit for cultivation at practically all times in the year. A large amount of money has been expended in tile draining. Four inch tile is used, and the lines of tile are four rods apart over the entire area. Another characteristic of the farm is its substantial buildings. Mr. Conrad and family live in a modern home of seven rooms. For several years Mr. Conrad gave most of his attention to growing both grain and livestock and feeding several carloads a year. Now he sells his crops of grain in the local markets. It has been his experience that the shipper and packer have creamed the profits of livestock at the expense of the producer, and for that reason he has found it more satisfactory to get his profits direct from the crops of the soil. It was in March, 1911, that Mr. Conrad bought his Henry County land. At that time he obtained 360 acres in a single body, partly in section 10 and partly in section 15. On one farm he has two sets of building equipment. Prior to coming to Ohio Mr. Conrad had for a number Hof years been engaged in farming in Champaign County, Illinois, and had acquired the prosperity which he invested on removing to Ohio. He was born in Greene County, Iowa, in 1862, and was reared and educated partly in that state and partly in Illinois. His father, John Conrad, was a farmer and went into the Civil war as a member of Company E Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry. John W. Conrad never had any conscious recollections of his soldier father. The latter served faithfully in the ranks and while he escaped wound he was taken ill toward the close of the war and died leaving his widow with four small children. John W. was the youngest and was an infant toddling about on the floor of the home and without any realization of what the death of his father meant to .the family. Some years later. the widowed mother married again and she also had children by her second husband. She died in middle life. John W. Conrad has a brother J. Harvey, who is married and 1820 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO has a family and lives in the State of California. Since he was twelve years of age John W. Conrad has been making his own way in the world. It was a long and hard struggle but he persisted and with industry and courage finally won out. He owned his first land in Champaign County, Illinois, and he eventually became convinced that the high priced land of that section of the state was less profitable for general agriculture than the land equally good if not better and cheaper in price in Western Ohio. Mr. Conrad was married in Champaign County, Illinois, to Miss Minnie Parsley. She was born at Urbana, Illinois, May 5, 1867, and was reared and educated there. Her parents James and Margaret (Orinton) Parsley were natives respectively of Virginia and North Carolina. They met and married in Greene County, Indiana, lived on a farm there until about the breaking out of the Civil war, when they moved to Urbana Township of Champaign County, Illinois. Three sans were born in Indiana, Edward, Daniel and Lee, and three daughters in Champaign County, Flora B., Lillie F. and Mrs. Conrad. Both the other daughters died when small children. Mrs. Conrad has three living brothers, Lee, Daniel and Edward. Mrs. Conrad's parents spent the rest of their lives on their fine farm of 150 acres in Urbana Township, where her father died at the age of sixty-one and her mother at seventy-four. She was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Parsley was a democrat. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Conrad. Alta is the wife of Roy Walter, whose home is at Deshler in Henry County and whose duties take him away from home as an express messenger on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. Mr. and Mrs. Walter have two daughters, Frances and Ruth. Charles, the oldest son, is a practical farmer and is helping his father in the management of the Henry County estate. He married Vina Redd, a young lady of Wood County, Ohio, and they live on the Conrad farm. Dora is the wife of Gus Broka, a farmer in Jackson Township of Wood County. Mr. and Mrs. Broka have a daughter Helen. Grace and Bertha P., the two youngest children are still at home,' both in school, Grace being in the sixth grade. Mr. Conrad and family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a republican politically and in fraternal matters takes a part in Deshler Lodge No. 617 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. DICKINSON L. DURBIN is the banker at McClure in Henry County. For thirty-five years or more he has been closely identified with that community, and he and his brother and father established the first place of business in the village, when the site was little more than wild land. Along with the material success that has been accumulated in these many years, there have also grown up around the name of Mr. 'Durbin associations of the strictest integrity, commercial candor, a sturdy wisdom in the management of business affairs, and withall a lively sociability which is a strong characteristic. While of a good family, early represented in this section of Northwest Ohio, Mr. Durbin in early life had limited opportunities, but more important was an unlimited determination to make a success. He and his brother, Clark T. Durbin, are now proprietors of the Durbin Bank of McClure. This bank was started in 1894. In 1911 the handsome banking home was erected, a structure in the Colonial style of architecture, 25 by 50 feet, and one of the best equipped and finest banking houses in Henry County. All the facilities are modern, and the strong vaults are secured by time locks both on the outer and inner doors. This bank has a capital of $20,000, $5,000 surplus, and the deposits average about $200,000. It has had an unbroken record of solidity and prosperity ever since it was established. Like many banks this originated through the custom of the many patrons of the Durbin Brothers, then merchants, entrusting their surplus funds to the keepers of the store. The Durbin Brothers had accounts with both Toledo and the eastern banks, and thus their customers found it convenient to transact their banking business as well as buy their merchandise through the store. Gradually the banking department was separately organized, and for many years Dickinson L. Durbin has given his time and attention to that business. It was in June, 1880, that Thomas W. Durbin and his two sons, Dickinson L. and Clark T., opened their stock of general merchandise at McClure. That was before the rails had been laid on the Cloverleaf Railroad and McClure was then more a promise than an actuality. Dickinson Durbin took charge as manager of this store, and continued in that capacity until he assumed the management of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1821 the bank, while his brother Clark took over the store and conducted it until December, 1916, when, owing to ill health, he closed out and the old store is now no more. Mr. Dickinson L. Durbin was born within three miles of the Village of McClure, a little more than fifty years ago. He grew up on the home farm, attended public schools and had one year in college, but has acquired his knowledge of men and business affairs chiefly by experience. As a boy he took his place behind the counter in his father's general store, and his knowledge of merchandising is the product of most thorough experience. The Durbins are Scotch-Irish, and they settled in Maryland before the Revolutionary war. Mr. Durbin's grandfather, Thomas W. Durbin, Sr., spent all his life in Maryland, and of his family of children Thomas W., Jr., and James both came to Ohio. James Durbin was a lawyer, but after coming to Ohio during the '30s he became a contractor on a canal and also an engineer. He married Sarah Fisk, of Henry County, and they had the following children : John, who was drowned when fourteen years of age ; Rodney C., who became a railway mail clerk, lived for many years at Napoleon and is now a resident of Toledo; Eva, who for thirty years taught school in Chicago, and is now married; Edward, who became a prominent young lawyer in Toledo, but died before marriage. After these children were grown James Durbin and wife separated, the former spending his last days in Kansas and the latter in Chicago. Thomas W. Durbin, Jr., was born in Frederickstown, Maryland, in. 1822, and was still unmarried when he came to Ohio. At that time he was a blacksmith, and he had some experience at that trade in the Village of Texas in Henry County. Later he taught school, also did contract work on the Miami Canal for some years, and then engaged in business as a merchant at Texas. His surplus capital he invested land until he owned some very extensive tracts. In 1908 he retired from business and moved to Chicago, where he is now living in his ninety-fourth year, though still quite hale and hearty. He was one of the stanch leaders of the democratic party in the early days of Henry County, and it is said that he never aspired for any office which he did not get. He served as county clerk, county recorder and county commissioner. His wife, who died in Chicago in 1915, at the age of eighty-four, was before her marriage Lucinda King. She was born in Perry County, Ohio, was educated there and in Seneca County, and was a daughter of Jacob King, who was both a farmer and a local minister of the German Reformed Church. Jacob King was an early settler both in Perry and Seneca counties, and died during the '40s. Thomas W. Durbin and wife later in life became members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. George, the oldest of the children of Thomas W. Durbin and wife, died in infancy. Charles has never married and spent most of his time at Youngstown, Ohio. The daughter Gayette has gained unusual distinction as a woman physician. She was born in Washington Township of Henry County, attended the public schools there, and was one of the early graduates of the Women's College of Medicine in New York City. For over thirty 'years she has ranked as one of the foremost women practitioners in the City. of Chicago. She is the wife of Dr. Emil Ries, who for years has ranked as one of the most prominent surgeons not only of Chicago. but of the United States. Doctor Ries was born in Germany, graduated in medicine at Stuttgart and Berlin, and for many years has practiced surgery in Chicago. Doctor and Mrs. Ries have one son, Emil, Jr., now sixteen years of age and a student in the University of Chicago. Clark T. Durbin, business partner of Dickinson L., and who only recently retired from merchandising at McClure, married Hattie Light, of Damascus Township. A brief record of their children is as follows : Frances, who finished her education in a high school in Chicago and is now the wife of Leo Pilliod and lives in Grand Rapids, Ohio ; Zoe, a high school graduate of Chicago, is clerk and assistant cashier in her uncle's bank ; Dorothy is a graduate with the class of 1917 of the McClure High School ; Thomas is in the medical department of the University of Michigan. Mr. Dickinson L. Durbin was married at Napoleon to Miss Anna M. McIntosh, daughter of Thomas and Ola (McWilliams) McIntosh and a maternal granddaughter of Charles McWilliams, one of the prominent pioneers of Henry County. Both the McIntosh and McWilliams families were actively identified with the early life and affairs of Henry County. Mrs. McIntosh is still living; making her home at Napoleon, and is quite active at the age of sixty-five. These families were all Presbyterians. Mr. Durbin is a democrat, and his wife is a Presbyterian. He is a 1822 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Durbin have the following children : Lillian G., who graduated from the McClure High School in 1913, attended Oberlin College in 1914-15, later graduated from Dr. Mary Laws Kindergarten School at Toledo and is now assistant to the principal of the Lincoln High School at Toledo, Mildred A. is a member of the class of 1918 in the McClure High School. Melba is four years of age. ADELBERT E. COUCH. Through more than sixty years of residence members of the Couch family have accomplished a great deal for the development and improvement of Henry County. Mr. Adelbert E. Couch represents the second generation of the family residence in this county, and though he had little to start with he has built up a splendid, country home. and farm in Richfield Township, where he is among the most honored residents. He was born in Liberty Township, Henry County, May 5, 1865. His early years were spent on the old home, and by personal recollection he recalls many things which belong to the pioneer period of the county. He at-, tended the schools of Damascus Township. There have been three generations of the Couch family in Ohio. His grandparents were Barnabas and Clarissa (Baird) Couch, who spent most of their lives at Jeromeville in Ashland County, Ohio. Barnabas Couch was a harness maker and worked at that trade in Jeromeville until, his death in 1841. His widow survived him about ten years. Curtis Couch, father of Adelbert E., was born in Granville, Licking County, Ohio, in 1823. He was married at Oberlin to Miss Amanda Hemenway. She was born in New York State of Yankee stock. When she was nine years of age her mother died in Jefferson County, New York. Ten years later she and her father came to the Western Reserve of Ohio, where he died and where she grew to womanhood. Curtis Couch and wife lived for some time after their marriage at Wooster and in Ashland County, and while there their oldest child, Luther A. Couch, was born in 1855. In 1857 the family sought a new home in Henry County. They spent 11/2 years in Napoleon, and then went into the woods of Liberty Township and started life as real pioneers. After coming to Henry County four other children were born : Rufus, at Napoleon in 1858 ; Kindle in 1859 ; Alva in 1862 ; Adelbert E. in 1865 ; and Mary, in 1868. Mary is the wife of C. L. Boulton of Trumbull County and the mother of one daughter. Alva is a farmer in Guthrie County, Iowa, and has a daughter Lena. Kindle is a merchant in Portland, Oregon, and has two daughters, Hazel and Louisa. The oldest child, Luther A., lives in Bismarck, North Dakota, and has five sons and one daughter living. Rufus lives at Casey, Iowa, and has three sons and two daughters. The parents of these children are now deceased. Curtis Couch died in Ashtabula County, Ohio, November 28,. 1910, and his remains were brought back to Napoleon and laid beside his wife, who had died October 11, 1909. She was an active Methodist, and he was a republican. In Damascus Township of Henry County March 6, 1892, Adelbert E. Couch married Miss Rebecca Latta. She was born in Monroe Township of Henry County December 13, 1861, a daughter of ,David H. and Sarah (Fickel) Latta. Both her parents are now deceased. They were among the early settlers of Monroe Township. Her -mother died there at the age of forty-nine, while Mr. Latta passed away October' 4, 1904. They were active in the United Brethren Church and he was a republican. When Mr. and Mrs.. Couch were married they had very little money, but faced life with determination and energy sufficient to bring them all they desired. For the first twelve years they were tenant farmers in Damascus Township. In the meantime Mr. Couch, by the thrifty accumulations of himself and his wife, was able to purchase in 1895 a forty-acre tract of wild land in section 18 of Richfield Township. He began the work of clearing and improving that land, but did not occupy it until 1904. Since then this forty acres has become the nucleus of a very fine farm. The rise in land value in this section of Ohio is well illustrated by Mr. Couch's various purchases of land. For his first forty acres he paid $35 an acre. Some years later when he was prepared to increase his holdings by another forty acre purchase he had to pay $60 an acre. A few years ago an addition of fifty acres to his farm cost him $100 an acre. All his land is the best of soil and is improved up to the very best standards of Ohio agriculture. He has a fine concrete house of thirteen rooms, fitted up in the best style. His barn is 36 by 80 feet, surrounded HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1823 with various cribs, granaries and other buildings. Mr. Couch enjoyed a very happy married life of over twenty years. His wife died January 15, 1916. She was a devout member of the United Brethren Church. There is only one child living, David C., who was born October 1, 1894, was reared and educated in Henry County, and is now the practical manager of his father's fine farm. David married Maude Johnson, who was born in Damascus Township, September 23, 1893, and before her marriage was a popular and successful music teacher. They were married December 26, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Couch also had an adopted child, Grace Stickley, who grew up in their home, married George Weasel, and they now occupy the large Thompson estate in Richfield Township. Mr. Couch and his son are vigorously aligned with the republican party. JOHN DONOVAN is member of a prominent family of that name long identified with Henry County, and for many years has been active in the community life of Deshler. Mr. Donovan was born on the old Donovan homestead in a log cabin in Washington Township, Henry County, about sixty years ago. At the time of his birth the entire country was new and wild and the log cabin home in which he first saw the light of day was situated two miles north of the Maumee River. He is a son of John and Catherine (Hannan) Donovan. His father was born in Ireland, of Irish Catholic parents, and after reaching manhood he emigrated to America, being six weeks on the voyage. The vessel's destination was New York, but it was driven out of its course by adverse winds and landed the passengers at Halifax, Nova Scotia. He soon afterwards found his way to Ohio and in this state met and married his wife. She was a native of Canada and of Irish parents, having come to Ohio when she was a young woman. John Donovan, Sr., worked for a time on the old Maumee Canal. Later he bought land a mile or two north of the canal in section 34 of Washington Township. The labor of his hands constructed the log cabin and he and his wife were in the midst of real pioneer circumstances for many years. His first purchase of land was eighty acres. He cleared it off and made a farm of it, and his prosperity enabled him to acquire eventually a place of 220 acres, constituting a valuable farm. At that home all the seven children were born. John Donovan is the oldest of the family. The next younger is Judge James Donovan, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. Margaret and Mary are twins, the former having never married and living at Deshler. Mary is the wife of E. J. O'Hearn, a fruit raiser living, at Calexico, California, on the line between Mexico and the United States. Hon. Dennis D. Donovan of Napoleon comes next in age. Cornelius is a commercial traveling man with headquarters at Keokuk, Iowa. About 1890 John Donovan, Sr., and wife removed to Deshler and spent their last years retired. He died at the age of about eighty, having been born in 1820. His widow followed him to the Great Beyond exactly ten years later. Both were devout Catholics and he was a democrat. John Donovan, Jr., grew up on the home farm in his native township and was a successful teacher for several years. In 1883 he removed to Deshler when that was still a hamlet and has been actively identified with community affairs for many years. He carried on merchandising, served as post master and has filled the offices of justice of the peace and mayor. Mr. Donovan lives in a fine home at the corner of Maple and Lind streets. In politics he is a democrat, and for a number of years was local democratic committeeman. He was married at Custer in Wood County, Ohio, to Miss Agnes Newton, a native of Perrysburg, Ohio. Her father George Newton was born in England and spent his active life as a farmer in Wood County, where he died when about seventy years of age. He was twice married, Mrs. Donovan being the child of his first wife, who died when she was a small child. The Newton family were all adherents of the Episcopal Church. John A., the only son. of Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, was graduated as a pharmacist from the Ohio Northern University at Ada, clerked three years at Lima, and has since been a successful druggist at Deshler. Beatrice, the only daughter, was educated in the public schools of Deshler, took advanced studies at the university at Ada and graduated from the high school of that city. She is the wife of Rollin C. Gordon, a clothing merchant at Midland, Michigan. They pave two children : Robert and Rollin. Mr. Donovan and family are members of the Immaculate Conception. Catholic Church at Deshler. 1824 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO FRED GRIBBELL is one of the talented young lawyers of Henry County, and has made a splendid record during the six years since his admission to the bar and the establishment of his office in his old home Town of Deshler. Mr. Gribbell was graduated in law from the Ohio Northern University with the class of 1911. Governor Frank Willis was actively connected with the law department of that school while Mr. Gribbell was a student. He was admitted to the bar in the same year and has since been looking after a growing and profitable general practice at Deshler. He has been continuously retained as city solicitor since his admission to the bar and for six years has served as township clerk. Though Mr. Gribbell was born at Belmore, Ohio, in 1882 he was brought to Henry County in infancy and has spent practically all his life at Deshler. He is 'a son of John and Cytharia (Ensminger) Gribbell. His father was born in Pennsylvania of German parentage, but when young was taken to Ohio and grew up in Hancock County. His wife was born in Hancock County of English parentage. About 1873 John Gribbell came to Deshler in the employ of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway Company, and in 1882 moved his family to that point. Thirty-five years ago the site of Deshler was in the swamp, the land covered with water and heavy timber, and it was a natural game preserve. John Gribbell came to Deshler as agent for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and for years he not only handled all the business connected with the railway at this point but was very active in other constructive affairs in the village. He sawed wood to keep up the fire in the' station and during the time that wood was used as fuel in the locomotives throughout this country. It was also cut at the pump house. He rustled trucks, sold passenger tickets, and looked after the bills of lading for all the freight. He subsequently was appointed the first postmaster of the village and served on the village council. The Town of Deshler for a number of years was a mere collection of log cabins and board shacks. Subsequently John Gribbell opened a tin shop and hardware store and continued one of the active merchants until his death in 1898 at the age of sixty-eight. He was a democrat in politics. His widow died in 1912 at the age of seventy-two. Both were wholesome, substantial people, and did much for the good of their community. In this village Mr. Fred Gribbell grew to manhood, was educated in the local schools and for a time studied law with his brother the late J. Bruce Gribbell. Fred Gribbell was married at Deshler to Miss Edna House, who was born near Fremont, Ohio,. but was educated in Deshler and prior to her marriage was a teacher in the -local schools. They have two children : Marsden, born September 10, 1914; and Justin J., born April 15, 1916. Mr. Gribbell is affiliated with the Lodge of Masons at Deshler and is past chancellor commander of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias. He was the first secretary and one of the organizers of the Boosters Club of the town. DAVID SMITH is the oldest merchant of the Village of Westhope in point of continuous experience and service, and has sold goods steadily to the people of that community for over nineteen years. He has realized the best success of the careful and conscientious merchant and business man, and has at all times proved himself a loyal and public spirited citizen in a locality where his best years have been spent. His .father's farm was the site of most of the Village of Westhope, and David Smith still owns a large part of the village and the old place. He engaged in the hardware business at Westhope in 1898. In the course of all these years he has developed and expanded his business, and now has a large store and warehouses and handles a general stock of hardware, farm implements, wagons, buggies and other merchandise. David Smith was born at what is now Westhope in Richfield Township of Henry County, December 12, 1864, and he has known that community and has been known in it since childhood. He grew up on a farm. learned his lessons in district schools, and pre,- liminary to his career as a merchant he sold agricultural implements on the road for a time. For the past nine years he has .had as a partner August Springhorn, who has also spent most of his life in Henry County and is married and has a family of wife and daughter. David Smith is a son of Amos Smith, who was born in Pennsylvania. Some time before the Civil war he came to Henry County, Ohio, and entered forty acres of land in section 16 of Richfield Township. It is on that section that the present Village of Westhope has been