HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1825 developed. Here he and his good wife set about to make a home and he had gone far toward a realization of his hopes and plans before he died in 1855, at the age of forty-nine years. He was known as a thrifty and upright citizen and commanded universal esteem. Amos Smith married Mary J. Baker. They were married in Pennsylvania, and after, his death she married Charles McCandless, both of whom are now deceased. She died about ten years ago, when nearly seventy years of age. David Smith was one of five children born to his father and mother. Three are still living. His brother Albert Smith is unmarried and lives in Oklahoma. Amanda, his only living sister, is the wife of Henry Fehl, of Medford, Oregon. Mr. Smith's store occupies the original location of the first store ever started at Westhope. The original merchant here was David Flowers, who engaged in the mercantile business forty years ago and conducted his store for ten or a dozen years. The next store was built by a Mr. Warner, and the building and site is now owned by David Smith. The third store was built by Harry Andrix, and this store is now owned and conducted by Bryant & Rowland, general merchants. In his native Township Mr. David Smith was married in 1883, to Miss Henrietta Andrix. She was born in Liberty Township of Henry County forty-nine years ago. She received her early education partly in Liberty and partly in Richfield townships. Her father, Henry Andrix, is now seventy-six years of age and is living in Adrian, Michigan. He made a valiant record as a soldier of the Civil war, having been a private in the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In the battle of Chickamauga he was wounded in the right elbow, and later received an honorable discharge. He became a well known man in Henry County and was an expert timber inspector. Henry Andrix. married Fidelia Taylor, April 18, 1865, a daughter of Lorenzo and Iris Taylor. Six children were born to them, namely, Fred, Henrietta, Henry, Delbert and Della, both deceased, and Carrie. Mr.. and Mrs. David Smith have two children living, Nellie, who is twenty-four years of age and is now the wife of Charles Wade, a farmer in Richfield Township. They have a daughter, Helen M., born October 19, 1915. Cloyce was born January 16, 1908, and is now in the third grade of the public schools. Henry A. died in infancy and Della died at the age of eleven years. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the United Brethren Church, in which he has served as trustee. He is a republican and is affiliated with Tapoca Lodge No. 715 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Hamler. JOHN C. MEYER. It will not be denied that some of the most prosperous farmers of Northwest Ohio live 'in Henry County. Some of them are experts in their business and they deserve their prosperity because what they have they won by the hardest kind of work and systematic effort. This section of Ohio was originally and not so long ago a continuous stretch of heavy forest and swamp. Its reclamation and improvement is one of the greatest achievements agriculturally of which the state can boast. One of the men who did a share in the reclamation work and is still active in managing his high class improved farm is John C. Meyer, who was, born in Adams Township of Defiance County February 1, 1860. Mr. Meyer is of substantial German stock. His parents were J. Christ and Sophia (Kuster) Meyer, both of whom were natives of Hanover and of Lutheran families. They grew up in Hanover, were of the farming class, and after their marriage two daughters were born to them in the old country. The oldest Anna died at the age of ten years in Defiance County. The second Mary died after her marriage to Casper Miller and left three sons and three daughters. In 1853 the little Meyer family took passage on a sailing vessel at Bremen and were just three months in crossing the ocean to New York City and arriving at Forida, Henry County, Ohio. From there they came to Defiance County. Christ Meyer brought with him to this country $400 in capital. The greater part of this he used to purchase eighty acres of land in Adams Township. What was `left he used to purchase a couple of cows. The only improvement on the land when he bought it was a log cabin. That was the first habitation of the Meyer family in America. The parents began at once to make a home, and in the course of time the land was improved and cleared and represented a very substantial property. The original hewed log house was remodeled and extended until it was a very comfortable and commodious home. Christ Meyer also put up barns and other buildings and was enjoying financial 1826 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO independence long before he died. His wife died at the old home in 1907 at the age of seventy-eight. He died three years later in 1910 at the home of his son Henry in the same township and was at the time eighty-nine years of age. Both were active in the Lutheran Church. The children born in this country were five in number. Herman died at the age of forty-eight leaving a family of children. Henry died in Defiance County in Adams Township in January, 1914, at the age of fifty-six and by his marriage to. Dora Bremer, who is still living, has four sons and a daughter. The next in age is John C. Meyer. Fred lives on a farm in Ridgeville Township of Henry County, has been twice married, and has two sons and two daughters by his first wife. Christ is now manager of the Fair Store in Deshler, and by his marriage to Dora Imbrock has two sons and one daughter. John C. Meyer grew up on his father's old home in Defiance County. He remained there until he reached his majority and having become practiced in industry and in farm work he made a valuable hand on neighboring Aims for several years. For five years he rented and farmed the old home. In the meantime in 1887 he bought eighty acres of completely wild and swampy land in section 4 of Bartlow Township, Henry County. In thirty years many changes have been made. The timber and brush have been cut away. Some years ago a large ditch for the benefit of an entire district was dredged through the Meyer farm and Mr. Meyer has ditched and drained all his fields into that main ditch. Thus practically every foot of his soil is tillable and the crops testify to the splendid fertility of the land. The building improvements are also numerous. Mr. Meyer built a barn 40 by 70 feet with twenty-one-foot posts, with a lean-to 16 by 36 feet for cattle and also a storm shed 12 by 30 feet. He has other buildings for the storage of grain, one of them 22 by 36 feet with a capacity of 2,500 bushels. , His home is a good seven-room house, and he was the architect and .carpenter in the building of all these structures. In Adams Township, Defiance County, Mr. Meyer married Miss Mary Meineke, who was also born in that township and is now forty-seven years of age. Her parents were substantial German people who came from Prussia when quite young and were married. in this country. They improved 120 acres of land in Defiance County and made that their home the rest of their days. They were also Lutherans. While Mr. and Mrs. Meyer were industriously working to provide a home children have grown up under their rooftree and of these there are seven. Mary is now the wife of Herman Schroder, a farmer in Liberty Township, and they have two children, Esther and Adala, the only grandchildren of. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer. The daughter Ida married Fred Behrmann. John is unmarried. Dora and Fred are twins, nineteen years old, both at home. Caroline died aged one year and two days. Clara is the youngest of the family and is nine years old. The family are all active members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Mr. Meyer served as trustee of this church at the time it was built. ALBERT ALTHAUSEN. Former president of the St. Mary's Woolen Manufacturing Company at St. Marys, the late Albert Althausen is properly regarded as one of the men chiefly instrumental in building up the industries and business life of that city. He was born in Wickrath, Germany, Januuary 13, 1835. He received most of his education in the old country and was about thirteen years of age when he came to America with his parents. His parents first located in Mercer County. His father established a flouring mill there and the boy grew up in the atmosphere of that mill. Later the parents removed to Piqua, Ohio, where the father died. Albert Althausen remained in Piqua, and until about 1858 was employed by the Holtzerman Company. On coming to St. Marys he and 'associates established a distillery, which was conducted for some years until he sold his interests to the late A. Pauck. Mr. Althausen took a prominent part in organizing the first banking institution of St. Marys known as the Bank of St. Marys, his associates in that being Mr. Fred Decker and E. M. Piper. Mr. Althausen acted as cashier until he sold his interest in the institution. He was also actively associated as president of the St. Marys Woolen Manufacturing Company, in which he had formerly been interested as a stockholder and as secretary. After he acquired an interest in the old woolen mills his energy soon vitalized the business into a big success. In .1890 Mr. Althausen organized the Home Banking Company and became its president, an office he continued to fill until his, death in 1912. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1827 In 1859 he married Louisa. Herzing, oldest daughter of the late Philip Herzing. They became the parents of four daughters : Minnie, Mrs. E. M. Veenfliet; Emma, widow of the late Willis Kishler ; Theresa, wife of C. W. Timmermaster of Wapakoneta, Ohio ; and Julia, wife of J. F. Stout of St. Marys. The late Mr. Althausen was. a Lutheran and an active democrat. He was the recipient of several positions of trust and honor and for many years was a member of St. Marys School Board. E. M. VEENFLIET. One of the industrial distinctions of the town of St. Marys is the St. Marys Woolen Manufacturing Company. It has been a center of woolen manufacture for a great many years. A prominent factor in the upbuilding and success of this institution was the late Albert Althausen, whose sketch precedes this. At the present time the secretary and treasurer of the St. Marys Woolen Manufacturing Company, and vice president of the Home Bank Company is Mr. E. M. Veenfliet, who 'married a daughter of the late Albert Althausen. Mr. Veenfliet is a civil engineer by profession, but for the past thirty years has lived at St. Marys and throughout that time has been actively identified with the woolen mills. It may be said that he takes to the woolen business almost naturally,, since his grandfather was a woolen manufacturer. in Germany, where he spent all his life. Mr. E. M. Veenfliet was born in Saginaw Caunty, Michigan, August 17, 1855, a son of George F. and Caroline (Kramer) Veenfliet. Both parents were natives of Wesel, Germany, and the maternal grandfather Kramer was a merchant and died in Germany. George F. Veenfliet was born in 1813 and died in 1896, while his wife was born in 1814 and died in 1902. After they married they came to Michigan in 1848 where he followed farming in the northern part of the state. He was quite a factor in politics, became a republican upon the organization of that party and was a delegate to the National Republican Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. He afterwards filled the office of county treasurer and was also a member of the state legislature, and for several years was immigration commissioner of Michigan. He was a man of thorough education, his family having been well-to-do people in Germany and in addition to the common schools he had the advantages of a university course at Bonn, Germany. He was a member of the Masonic Order and of the Lutheran Church. He and his wife had eight children, and one son, Fred, became a. Union soldier, was serving with the rank of lieutenant in the battle of Nashville, where he was killed. The four living children are : Richard, who was also a soldier in the Civil war, and is now an artist, living at East Orange, New Jersey ; Augusta, a widow living at Freeland, Michigan; Alma, unmarried and living at Saginaw ; and E. M. Veenfliet. E. M. Veenfliet had a thorough literary and technical education. He attended the schools of the City of Saginaw and in 1876 was graduated in the civil engineering course from Union College at Schenectady, New York. The following seven or eight years he devoted entirely to his profession as a civil engineer, but in 1886 he entered the woolen mills at St. Marys. In March, 1880, he had married Miss Minnie Althausen, daughter of the founder of the St. Marys Woolen Manufacturing Company. Mrs. Veenfliet was born in St. Marys. They were the parents of three children, two of whom are living: Lula, at home ; Albert F., who was a very promising young man and died at the age of twenty-five years", after having graduated in the law department of Harvard University; and he also spent one year in Dresden, Germany; and Erma, who married Arthur Sayer Brodhead of Denver, Colorado, February 3, 1917. The family are members of St. Paul's German Church. Fraternally he is closely identified with Masonry, being a member of the Lodge, past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, thrice illustrious master of the Council, and a member of the Consistory and the Shrine. In politics he is a republican. SAMUEL LEWIS SNYDER. Members of the Snyder family, have been prominently identified with the milling activities of Henry County for a long period of years. Mrs. J. C. Snyder with E. F.. Snyder are now proprietors of the Snyder Flouring Mills at Holgate. This is, an industry which has been in existence almost since the village was established, and for forty years its wheels have been turning manufacturing products vitally necessary. to the sustenance of the people of that community. The flour mills at Holgate were built in 1876. The first owner was a Mr. Albright. 1828 -HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Subsequently they were operated under the ownership of Reiser & Finzel, and subsequently under the firm name of Reiser & Gillette. Later Mr. Jacob Reiser became sole proprietor and in March, 1894, sold the property to Mr. Samuel L. Snyder, J. A. Snyder and T. C. Snyder. Mr. J. Jacklin has been the miller of this plant for about ten years, but has worked off and on for thirty years. For eleven years S. L. and E. F. Snyder were associated in the management and ownership of the mills, but two years ago E. F. Snyder took over Samuel L.'s interest. For some years Samuel L. had his brothers John and Julius' as partners. The mill manufactures fine grades of flour and meal, and the special product is the Silver Star brand of flour, which is the flour used by a large number of families in this section of Northwest Ohio. The mill has a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day. Samuel L. Snyder before becoming a flour miller was associated with .his brother John in the lumber business in and near Holgate for about six or seven years. They succeeded their father in that industry, and Samuel L. Snyder was employed in his father's saw mill from the time he was seventeen years of age until he was twenty-three. Mr. Snyder was born in a log house in Flat-rock Township of Henry County December, 6, 1868, grew up on a farm, had farming experience as a boy, but from the age of seventeen has been chiefly identified with lumbering and flour milling. His parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Lifer) Snyder. Both were natives of Ohio, his father born in Columbiana County November 6, 1835, and the mother in Richland County November 3, 1835. They were married in Henry County, where their respective families had settled about 1844. Grandfather George Snyder was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, was married there, and on coming to America settled in Ohio. On coming to Henry .he located on a tract of wild land in Flatrock Township, developed a farm, and he and his wife spent their last years in Napoleon, Ohio. They were about eighty years of age when they died. The Snyder and Lifer families were all communicants of the Lutheran Church. Jacob Snyder after his marriage located in Flatrock Township and became well known as a dealer and shipper of livestock. He also conducted a farm, had a lumber mill, and for a time was a stave inspector. He had first class mechanical ability and also possessed good business judgment and altogether his life was one of prosperity and of useful service. He died in Flatrock Township in 1900, and his widow passed away in 1904. He was active as a democrat but was never a seeker for public office. Jacob Snyder and wife had nine children; all of whom grew up and eight are now living. Mary, the oldest of those living, is the wife of Fred Franz and has a family of children. John is married and lives in Arkansas and has two daughters and four sons. Catherine lives at McClure, Ohio, the widow of G. A. Farison and has sons and daughters. The next in. age is Samuel L. Julius a business partner for some years, died leaving a widow and five children. William is a resident on the old homestead in Flatrock Township and has two sons and two daughters. Daniel also lives on part of the old farm and has a family of children. Callie is the wife of William Rettig and has four children. Elbert S., junior partner in the Snyder flouring mills at Holgate, married Estella Rodey and has three sons. Samuel L. Snyder was married in Flatrock Township January 1, 1899, to Miss Nettie Farison. She was reared and educated in that township, and since her marriage has been devoted to the obligations and responsibilities of her home and family. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have two children. Lincoln L., named for Abraham Lincoln, was born on the great president's birthday February 12, 1906. Franklin F., the youngest son, was born November 11, 1912. Mr. Snyder and family are members of the Presbyterian Church. He and his brothers are republicans, and .he is a Chapter Mason and his brother is secretary of the Masonic Lodge at Holgate. JOHN ROSS. This is a brief outline of the family and career of a man who has distinctively made good in the agricultural operations of Henry County. Mr. Ross lives in the little City of Deshler, has a fine home in town, and from it he supervises the operations of his high-class farms of 268 acres about 1 1/2 miles north of Deshler. His work speaks for itself. He has acquired most of his prosperity through his own efforts, was a strenuous worker in earlier years, and has relaxed that practice only to the extent of letting his intelligence and experience direct his enterprises more than mere manual toil. He is of an old Pennsylvania family of Scotch-Irish stock. His grandfather was born in Ireland of Scotch ancestors and from the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1829 information that is at hand he came to America a young man and was married in Pennsylvania. He spent his years' in Pennsylvania as a farmer, though part of the time he was engaged in the coal mining industry. William Ross, father of John Ross, was born in Pennsylvania in 1832 and his brothers and sisters were born in the same state. Later, after William was grown and married, the family came out to Union County, Ohio, and established themselves as farmers near Richwood. Here the parents of William Ross spent their last years. Grandfather Ross died when about sixty and his wife somewhat older. Before leaving Pennsylvania William Ross married Jemima Shawver, who was of Pennsylvania birth and of German ancestry. She was born and reared in Pennsylvania. After they came to Union County, Ohio, William Ross took up farming and was thus actively engaged when the. Civil war broke out. On June 25; 1862, he enlisted in the Eighty-second Ohio Infantry, went to the front with his regiment, and saw an active service, of three years and three months. Nearly all his experience as a soldier was under General Sherman. He was with that great leader through the Vicksburg campaign, through that magnificent drive across Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia, and then in the culminating events of the war in the Carolinas. He fought in many battles of those campaigns but always came out uninjured and apparently suffered little from the experience. When the war was over he returned to his home and family in Ohio and not long afterward he moved to Paulding County. That was the family home for fifteen years, and they next went to Providence Township of Lucas County. William Ross farmed there for a time and died when about forty-five years of age. His widow reared the children, and she came with them to Henry County and died at Deshler, Ohio, in March, 1900, at the age of sixty-seven. Both parents were active members of the United Brethren Church and William Ross was an active republican. The children .were seven in number : Sarah J., who died unmarried at the age of thirty-five ; Mrs. Ann Langdon, a widow, living in Michigan, the mother of two sons and one daughter ; Nettie, who died at the age of twenty-four unmarried ; John ; U. Grant, who lives on a farm near North Baltimore, Ohio, and has a family of ten children ; David, who is connected with a transfer company in Toledo and Vol. III-32 is married but has no children ; and Hattie, who died at the age of three years. John Ross was educated chiefly in Paulding County and he reached manhood while the family were living in Lucas County and in November, 1883, he came with his widowed mother and two brothers to Henry County. They located in -Richfield Township where John Ross bought forty acres of woodland. He cleared up this and put it under cultivation before he sold out. His next purchase was 160 acres in section 22 of Bartlow Township. This is one of the fine farms which he still owns. It is improved throughout, the soil is thoroughly drained and the fences are stout and permanent. Mr. Ross has for many years grown some of the best crops of corn, oats and hay in this section. His buildings are all first class. His barn, 40 by 60 feet, has a cement foundation eight feet high with 16-foot posts above, and the structure is painted a pleasing French Gray color. The farm house on this place is a modern nine-room structure. Mr. Ross also owns 180 acres of the same kind of land and with similar improvements in section 1 of Bartlow Township. The barn on this farm is very similar in con-' struction to the one just mentioned, except that it is two feet less in height. He also has a first class house on that farm. On the average Mr. Ross raises sixty bushels of oats to the acre. His fields have some times yielded as high as ninety bushels of corn and the average is about sixty bushels. In 1900 Mr. Ross removed from his farm to Deshler and bought an acre of land at the corner of Maple Street and Park Avenue with a substantial nine-room house. He also has equipment for the care of poultry and other conveniences of a model town home. Mr. Ross was married in Bartlow Township to Mrs. Nannie Hickle Jackson. She was born in Illinois, was reared and educated in Champaign County and for a number of years was a dressmaker and seamstress. She came to Henry County in February, 1912. By her first husband she has two children : Willard and Opal Jackson. Willard graduated from the Deshler High School in 1917 and Opal is a member of the class of 1918. Mr. Ross is an active republican and it politics or in civic affairs is one of the live wires of his community. He formerly served as a member of the city council, holding that office seven years. He is a director of the Farmers Elevator at Deshler. 1830 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO NEWTON SILAS COLE. Bearing a name that has many intimate relations with the early settlement of Henry County more than, eighty years ago, Newton Silas Cole is himself one of the oldest living native sons of the county, is an honored veteran of the Civil war, and was a pioneer merchant at the Town of Holgate, where he was in business and civic affairs for twenty-five years, a leader, and where he still resides. His many friends over that section of Ohio unite in commending him as a thoroughly capable citizen, one honest and true and steadfast in any position to which duty has called him, and the type of man who makes any community the better for his presence. The genealogy of the Cole name has been traced back by pedigree writers to the third century in England ; and from some Christian names which appear attached to the Cole name away back and which have appeared frequently along down the line almost to the present time—for instance the names, Lucius, Marcus and Albert—almost leads one to believe that the family ancestry of the subject of this sketch can claim this lineage. They seem to have been located in the shires of Hampshire and Essex. The family there enjoyed the distinction of a coat of arms and apparently this honor was granted them about 1640. It seems apparent that the early emigrants to 'Connecticut including the Coles came from those shires, as the names of many of the towns and cities in Connecticut are identical with those in that part pf England. Samuel Core the pilgrim came to America with Winthrop and settled first in Boston, James Cole his brother came from Essex adjoining Hereford in 1635 and settled in Hartford, Connecticut. His lot in Hartford adjoined the lot on which stood the Charter Oak. Silas Cole was born at Hartford, Connecticut, September 10, 1758. On January 1, 1777, at the age of nineteen years he enlisted in Col. Moses Hasen's regiment of the Continental army and served one year. On October 12, 1779, he re-enlisted in Col. Levy Well's regiment as third sergeant, was afterwards promoted to first sergeant. His commission as such is now held—also his powder horn he carried through the war—by his grandson, Newton Silas Cole, of Holgate, Ohio. His service was during the most critical period of the Revolution, and he fought in some of the battles which have made early American history a page of glorious deeds and patriotic sacrifice, as he suffered during the winter at Valley Forge. Amos Cole, a son of the Revolutionary soldier, was born January 25, 1803, in Connecticut. When he was a child the family removed to Chenango County, New York, and in 1812 came to Ohio locating in Scioto County. Silas Cole and wife both died in Southern Ohio. Amos Cole grew to manhood in the district bordering on the Ohio River, and was one of the solid pioneer citizens of his day and generation. He was married. in Scioto County to Nancy Watts. She was about the age of her husband, and was a native of Ohio. They commenced their married life as farmers on the banks of the Ohio River. Their first child, Mary Louisa Cole, was born there in 1832. In the same year Amos Cole and Reuben Wait, his brother-in-law, started on a tour of explration through Northwestern Ohio. They inspected the land along the Maumee River and finally bought a tract of land on the south bank, of that stream opposite the historic Girty 's Island which is now in Henry 'County. The next year they left their old home and started for their newly acquired possessions in the wilderness. They made the trip .with two teams of horses and wagons each and one yoke of oxen and wagon, and spent many days in following the rough trails or breaking out roads through the woods and across the swamps. Their route lay through what was then known as the Black Swamp on which it took them several days' to go a few ,miles. They crossed the Maumee River at Perrysburg and came up the north side of the river to the John Patrick Indian trading house which 'was four miles east of where Napoleon now stands,- at that time but a primeval wilderness. From the Patrick farm they made their progress to their lands up the river on pirogues as there were no farther roads and no way of crossing the river. They landed and camped on their land until they built a two family log cabin with no floor and no roof over the center so the smoke could escape from a two family union camp fire. There they lived until they built for each family a large two story hewed log house. Their lands were an unbroken wilderness. The timber had to be cut away to make room for crops, and such timber ! Had we today the timber that was on those farms we would have a gold mine, hardmaple, black walnut, poplar, red and white oak, hickory, red elm and cherry. This all had to be cut down and burned up, as there were no mills to cut it into lumber, and no sale for lumber. Maple sugar and molasses was a great harvest for them for years. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1831 The woods were full of game of all kinds, but these sturdy farmers had no time to hunt. The deer, wild turkey and the squirrel were familiar objects daily on the farm, while the bear and wolves made- nightly raids on their hogs. The Indians of the Wyandot tribe were still there, but were removed to the Western Reservation in 1842. Amos Cole in 1850 built a large two story frame house, which was one of the largest and best built houses of that day. It was built on a road back from the river on high ground overlooking his home farm which at that time comprised 228 acres. Amos Cole was not only a hard working pioneer himself but also exercised good business judgment in his private affairs, and those of the public, and eventually amassed a large amount of property, chiefly represented in lands, of which he owned 538 acres. Much of it was improved and put in cultivation under his direct supervision. He lived in Henry County until his death, in December, 1863. The early annals of Henry County contain rather frequent reference of the name of Amos Cole. He was one of the 'commissioners selected to organize Henry County, and served on the board of county commissioners for a number of years.. For a number of years he was a justice of the peace, and subsequently became an associate judge of the county court, an office he filled almost to the time of his death. Thus his work and his influence in many ways entered into the upbuilding of Henry County as a pioneer community. In matters of politics he supported the whig party as long as it existed, and when the republican organization took its place he cast his vote for the first presidential standard bearer, General Fremont, and his last presidential ballot was given to Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He was a Protestant in his religious belief and always fed the local and traveling preachers on their rounds and gave his support liberally to various religious causes. For all his public and business activities he is perhaps most deserving of the gratitude of later generations because of his practical charities and kindness. His generosity was wisely bestowed upon the poor and unfortunate,. and he was especially helpful to the many German families when the people from that country began settling in Henry County. He not only furnished counsel to many of these German families, but aided .them even more substantially in establishing themselves and in tiding over the critical and unproductive period of their early settlement. Throughout all this section of Ohio he was known as Judge Cole, and his name was a title of respect and of the warmest appreciation for what he was and for what he did. Judge Cole's widow survived until 1876. She was an active member of the Methodist Church and a woman of strong character, and was closely associated with her husband in his charitable work. Newton Silas Cole was the fourth of their children and the third of the family born in Henry County. Only two are now living, his sister being Mrs. Sophronia May, who lives in Defiance and is the wife of a Civil war veteran. Newton Silas Cole was born on the old farm in Flat Rock Township, along the Maumee River, February 9, 1838. He had the background of a good home and excellent influences and environment for his youth, and he was well educated for the time. He used his qualifications in teaching school both before and after the war. The war had not been in progress many weeks before he volunteered his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in 1861, becoming a member of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. Geo. E. Wells. He was in active service for three years. He held a noncommissioned office, and during the last two years was in the signal service attached to the Seventeenth Army Corps. He was with General Grant, and was signal man on the boat which carried that great leader down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg. He participated in all the marches and battles of Grant's army in connection with the taking of Vicksburg, was in the advance at the battle of Raymond and received the first fire, and his duties as a signal man placed him in peril during the whole battle. At the battle in the taking of Jackson, the capitol of Mississippi, he was with the advance squad that entered the city through the breastworks and he received the surrender of two Confederate soldiers. He also did duty at the battles of Champion Hills, Black River, and during the siege of Vicksburg. From there he was sent on a scout to Little Rock and Benton, Arkansas. From the latter place he was put on a hike to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to take part in the Atlanta campaign of 1864. He was mixed up more or less in all the fighting about Kennesaw Mountain and the big battles about Atlanta. At the battle of July 22nd his signal detach. ment rode with General McPherson down that woody road that led through the gap in our lines to that of the enemy when the general 1832 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO fell. Again at Ezra's Church on July 28th, when Hood made his last sortie against his besiegers, his signal company was shelled out of observation trees and forced to hug the ground for an hour under a rain of shell and shrapnell. They were then ordered to mount their horses and dash in front of the batteries along the firing line to a hill overlooking the field. At Jonesborough, during Hood's retreat from Atlanta his signal squad dashed across the bridge over Flint Creek and rode into an ambush but escaped uninjured. Mr. Cole had the qualities of a good soldier, was brave, attentive to duty and willing to obey orders under all and every circumstance. With the close of his service he returned home, having escaped wounds, and resumed his work as a teacher and also did farming. In 1876 he was attracted to the newly established Village of Holgate, which had come into existence about two years before when the Baltimore & Ohio Railway was built through that section of Henry County. He became one of the first merchants of the village and was the first hardware dealer of the little community, and for twenty-seven years carried the leading stock of hardware and implements in the town. He prospered as a business man, and throughout his residence at Holgate, covering a period of forty years, he has always been willing to bear his full share of community responsibilities as village councilman. He served two years as mayor, and has also been a justice of the peace of Flat Rock Township. Mr. Cole is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge, and in matters of politics is a progressive republican. Mr. Cole married Miss Julia Parker, his first wife, in January, 1866, at Attica, Indiana. They met first in Ohio teaching school. They had three sons as follows : Dr. C. B. Cole the oldest, who attended the State University of Columbus, Ohio, and two years at the Columbus Medical, graduating at the Brooklyn College Hospital, New York. Afterward taking a post graduate course at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and also a course at a hospital college at Chicago.. .He is now a medical practitioner in Toledo, Ohio, is married and his one daughter, Helen, is attending college at Oberlin, Ohio. Dr. A. E. Cole, their second son after a two-year course at Ada, Ohio, graduated in dentistry at the Ohio Medical, Columbus, Ohio, and is now following his profession in Toledo, Ohio. He married and lives on Woodruff. Avenue in that city. Dr. G. O. Cole, the third son, also attended school at Ada, Ohio, then graduated in dentistry at the Ohio Medical at Columbus, is now practicing dentistry at Holgate, Ohio; he is married and has one daughter, Gladys, who will graduate this year at their home school and attend college next year. In 1893 Newton S. Cole married for his second wife, Miss Nora E. Fisher, a daughter of George W. Fisher, who was a very prominent citizen of this county and for many years a justice of the peace. George W. Fisher married Caroline Howry, also a native of Ohio. They were married in Hardin County and subsequently removed to Holgate, where Mr. Fisher died in 1907, at the age of seventy-two. His widow still survives him. The Fisher family were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. FRED ROHRS. One of the splendid old time citizens of Henry County is Fred Rohrs. He has lived in that county half a century, and has had a varied and successful career as a merchant, farmer, and property owner. His success can be traced to his individual efforts, and his material prosperity is not greater than the esteem in which he is held as a citizen and man. He was born in Hanover, Germany, August 15, 1836. All his people were German Lutherans of the old stock. When he was a small child his mother died and his father, Henry Rohrs, married a second time and died when past eighty. Reared on a farm in Hanover, well educated in the German schools, Fred Rohrs came to manhood strong, vigorous, and with a strong intellect and keen judgment. He was thirty years of age when in 1866 he set sail from Bremen on one of the early steamships crossing the Atlantic, and fifteen days later landed in New York City. From there he came on to Napoleon, and Henry County has ever since been the principal scene of his activities. He brought with him his only sister, Katie. She afterwards married Herman Norden, who died leaving two sons and three daughters, all of whom reside in Freedom. Township. About six years later Fred Rohrs sent for his half-brother, George Rohrs, and educated that young man and they engaged in the dry goods business together at Napoleon. This was a prosperous establishment under their management, but eventually George sold his interests and with his brother's assistance moved to Muncie, Indiana, and has since become well known and wealthy in that city, being now retired. George Rohrs had a family of one HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1833 son and three daughters, and the daughters are still living. After getting his brother established in Muncie, Fred Rohrs withdrew from the mercantile business and has since given his attention primarily to the improvement of local real estate. His first purchase of land was forty acres in Napoleon Township. He sold that at a profit, and then bought eighty acres in section 15 of Freedom Township, this being a well improved farm and with a complete set of buildings. He afterwards bought eighty acres near Evansport in Defiance County, and that also is a fine farm now. Fifteen years ago Mr. Rohrs bought 120 acres in section 23 of ,Freedom Township, and he has made that one of the. first class farms of the county. Altogether Mr. Rohrs owns 300 acres in Defiance and Henry counties, and all of it is worth at least $200 an acre. His investments have also extended into other states, and he has 245 acres of timber, principally pine and spruce, in Wayne County, Georgia. His friends and associates have always given Mr. Rohrs the reputation of being a man of wonderful push, energy and successful business activity. At the same time he has been generous in supporting all community endeavors, and is one of the leading members of the Lutheran Church. He and Fred Gerken were the principal builders of St. John's Lutheran Church and he also helped build St. Paul's Church in Napoleon Township. He is a member of the latter church and politically is a democrat. Mr. Rohrs has never married. EDWARD BROWN. Students of efficiency in farming methods find a great deal to encourage them after an examination of the place owned and occupied by 'Edward Brown in section 36 of Damascus Township, Henry County. Mr. Brown not only believes in system and efficiency, but has put his ideas into practice. However, it is not to be understood that he is a theoretical farmer. The methods in use on his place are the result of thorough experience, and have been introduced from time to time as his judgment has approved them. The Brown farm comprises 240 acres, and he also owns an eighty-acre tract in the same township. All his home farm is under tillage except a small tract of timber. He has all the machinery necessary for farming without the heavy drudgery required of the agriculturists of earlier years, and while he works his land to the maximum he is very careful of con- serving its fertility. Anyone acquainted with good farming methods is impressed by Mr. Brown's arrangement of the buildings composing his homestead. They are not only commodious in size, but the arrangement has been carefully studied out, and every facility has been introduced with a view to increasing the systematic handling of the work involved on the farm. The main barn is 36 by 50 feet, with an attached stable 30 by 30 feet, and still another shed 16 by 40 feet, 'all with twenty-foot posts. These buildings are well cared for and are rendered attractive by a thorough coating of white paint. The house, also painted white, contains eleven rooms, and is modern in all its appointments. These constitute the principal building's in the home group. On another part of the same farm is a complete set of farm buildings, including a house 28 by 30 feet with an attached kitchen 16 by 20 feet, all over a basement, and furnishing eleven rooms. Close connecting with this house is another big barn, 40 by 60 feet. Mr. Edward Brown has lived in Henry County since early childhood. He was born in Grand Rapids Township of Wood County, Ohio, January 7, 1868, but received his early education and training as a farmer in Damascus Township. He attended the public schools. He was the, only son of his parents, and for the past twenty years has owned and occupied his present farm. He is a son of Mathew and Martha J. (Dull) Brown. His father was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1838, and came when a young man to Damascus Township of Henry County. Mathew Brown was a. son of James and Sarah (Wilson) Brown, who were early settlers in this section of Northwest Ohio and cleared up eighty acres on section 24 of Damascus Township. Sarah Brown died there when not yet sixty years of age, while James spent his last years with his son Mathew and was nearly fourscore when he died. He was an active republican. Mathew Brown was the oldest of his parents' children. The only two now living are David, who lives at McClure, Ohio, a retired farmer, and the father of a family ; and a daughter, Martha, who is unmarried and lives in Toledo. Mathew Brown married Miss Martha J. Dull, of the prominent family of that name who were identified with the earliest settlement of Wood County. Mrs. Martha Brown was born in that county in 1845, and was quite young when her parents located on the old Dull homestead in section 36 of Da- 1834 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO mascus Township, where she lived until her marriage. Her brother is the well known Taylor Dull of Henry County, whose successful operations as a farmer have been described on other. pages. Mrs. Martha Brown was a teacher before her marriage, and she died at her home in Damascus Township at the age of sixty. She was active in the Methodist 'Episcopal Church. Mr. Edward Brown was married in Damascus Township April 22, 1894, to Miss Stella Hockman. She was born in Henry County in 1874 and was reared and received her education here. Her parents Jacob and Mary (Shepherd) Hockman were born in Ohio, were married in Henry County, and spent many years on a farm in Damascus Township, where Jacob died at the age of eighty and his wife at seventy-five. They were members of the United Brethren Church, and Jacob Hockman served two terms as township trustee and was a loyal democrat. In politics Edward Brown is a republican. He is past noble grand of McClure Lodge No. 738 of the Independent 'Order of Odd. Fellows. He and his wife have four children : Clem, the oldest, now twenty-one, has completed his education and is a very serviceable factor in carrying on the work of his father's farm. Earl, aged nineteen, has also completed the course of the grade schools and is living at home. Esther, after attending the common schools, entered McClure High School, where she is still a student. Brice is still in the grammar schools. JACOB BUFF. While Jacob Buff is not one of the oldest residents of Henry County, he yields place to none in point of progressiveness and thrift as a farmer, and in the possession of all those good qualities which make up the public spirited citizenship of Pleasant Township. He has a fine farm which represents his diligence and good business judgment, has provided liberally for home and family and has gained the esteem of all citizens in that locality for his uprightness and the practice of high ideals of manhood. Mr. Buff was born August 28,. 1857, his birthplace being four hours distant from the old university city of Heidelberg, Germany. His people were old and respected residents of that locality, farmers, and members of the German Reformed Church. His parents were Henry and Catherine (Muldinger) Buff, and they spent all their lives in that section of Germany. The paternal grandparents Buff erected the old family homestead there more than 100 years ago and they lived in it until they died, the grandfather when past eighty and the grandmother at the age of ninety-four. The same old Stone house in which Jacob Buff was born also sheltered the latter's parents for a great many years. Henry Buff died there in 1873 at the age of forty-three and his wife in 1877, aged sixty. They were the parents of two sons, Jacob and Henry, Jr. Henry, Jr., came to the United States a single man in 1884, went west to Topeka, Kansas, and for a great many years has been a foreman in the Santa Fe Railway yards. He has a good standing with that company, and is one of the veterans in point of service. He was married in Topeka to Rosa Stuck, who came from the same part of Germany as he did. They are the parents of two sons and two daughters, Otto, Harry, Elsie and Helena. Jacob Buff spent his early life in one of the most beautiful sections of Germany, and part of his home training was a discipline in those virtues of thrift and responsibility which have been of so much value to him in his mature years. He received the education supplied by the 'German common schools. In 1877, at the age of twenty, he was married near the old home to a neighbor girl, Margaret Schafer. Mrs. Buff was born in that part of Germany October 24, 1852, a daughter of Valentine and Susanna (Otts) Schafer. All the members of the Schafer and Otts families spent most of their lives in that 'Dart of Germany. They were reformed church people and belong to the farming class. Mrs. Buff's grandparents died when past seventy years of age. Her father was born in 1809 and died in 1884, and her mother was born in 1815 and died in 1899. The children of the Schafer family were Elizabeth, who died in Germany after her marriage, leaving a family of six children ; Peter, who died in Germany when past• sixty, leaving no children; Catherine, who married Philip Pleister, and they spent their lives in Germany and had five children ; Philip, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-six ; Mrs. Buff; and Valentine, who is a brewer still living in Germany and is married but has no children. After his marriage. Mr. Buff settled down as a farmer in Germany, and while living in the old country the following children came into their household : Jacob, born in 1880; Margaret, born in 1881; and Rosa, born in 1884. The parents and these three children finally HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1835 left the old home and went to the City of Bremen, and there on February 8, 1890, took passage on the steamship Varro, from which they were landed in New York Harbor on the 18th of February. From there they came on west to Hancock - County, Ohio, where Mr. Buff spent four years as a farmer in Sanborn Township. His next removal was to Palmer Township in Putnam County, where he spent four years as a renter. On April 5, 1898, Mr. Buff bought nearly eighty acres of land in section 31 of Pleasant Township, Henry County. Thus his home and farm are in the extreme southwest corner of the county. Eighteen years have sufficed to bring his land into a notable state of cultivation and improvement. He now has seventy acres under the plow, .all of it well drained and fenced, and he has taken pains to conserve the great natural fertility of the soil. He grows the best and largest of crops; and has excellent live stock. One prominent feature of his farm is a large barn, 38 by 60 feet, with twenty-foot posts. This building serves to shelter most of his stock and grain, but he also has cribs and other farm buildings., His home is a six-room house. After Mr. and Mrs. Buff came to America one other daughter was born, Elsie. She is now the wife of Andrew Yetta, of Pleasant Township. Mr. and Mrs. Yetta are farming people, and have one son Wilbur. Jacob, the oldest of Mr. and Mrs. Buff's children, is a successful farmer in Putnam County, and by his marriage to Minnie Schultz has a daughter Edna. The second of the children, Margaret, is still living at home with her parents. Rosa is the wife of Charles Dirr, and they live on a farm in Michigan. Their only child, a son, Arthur, lost his life by accident. Mr. and Mrs. Buff and their family are all confirmed Reformed Church people, and in politics Mr. Buff supports the republican candidates and principles. F. HENRY MEYER has proved himself one of the hustling and energetic citizens of Henry County, and starting out on his own account with little capital and only such experience as he had acquired on his father's farm, he has developed one of the splendid country places in the old black swamp, of Henry County, and is also prosperously identified with business affairs in the Town of Deshler. Mr. Meyer has lived in Henry County since boyhood. His birth occurred near Rutenburg in Hanover, Germany, December 29, 1865. His family had lived in Hanover for many generations. His grandfather, Johannes Meyer, and wife lived and died on a farm in that country, were strict Lutherans in religion, and they reared a number of children. Henry J. Meyer, father of F. Henry, was born in Hanover in 1843. He learned the trade of carpenter, but combined that with farming. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Castins, who was about 'seven years older than her husband and also a native of Hanover. All the children of these worthy parents were born in Germany. They were five in number including Henry, August, Herman, Catherine and Fred. In 1880 the parents and the children emigrated to the United States. They made the voyage from Bremerhaven on the ship Donau, and after landing in New York City went to Philadelphia to join Mrs. Meyer's brother, Henry Castins. They remained there only a short time, and then came westward and for a time lived in Napoleon Township of Henry County, and a little later moved to Ridgeville Township. In 1882 the parents moved into Bartlow Township, where the father bought a tract of wild land in section 9. He proved equal to the demands made upon the pioneer farmer of that time, improved his land, and had his eighty acres under thorough cultivation in a few years. The first home of the family in Henry County was a log cabin. It yielded later to a substantial frame house and around about were barns and many other facilities to attest thrift and prosperity. The father died there at the 'age of seventy-eight and his wife at seventy-six. They became very active and supporting members of the Freedom Lutheran Church. The father was a democrat. The children are all still living, all of them are married, and all 'have children. Mr. F. Henry Meyer adopted two children when they were small, Albert now twenty-one and Freda, aged sixteen. Mr. Meyer was about fifteen years of age when he came to America, and he grew up on his father's homestead in Bartlow Township. He was educated partly in German and partly in English schools, and he early developed his strength and resourcefulness by the work at home. Since reaching manhood he has bought a farm of his own consisting of 160 acres in section 32 of Richfield Township. The land had never produced anything except woods and wild grasses from the time nature created it, and it was his task to clear away the forest wildness, to break the virgin soil with the, plow, and gradually redeem it to the 1836 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO uses of mankind. In that work he has succeeded admirably. As already noted the land was originally part of the great swamp district which covered so much of Henry County, and drainage and thorough cultivation have accomplished wonders on his farm. When he went there he was almost an isolated settler, but has seen the community grow and prosper and many of the most substantial families of the county now live in the same neighborhood. All but ten acres of his place are now thoroughly improved. The land is capable of growing as fine crops as any in this section of Northwest Ohio. Mr. Meyer keeps good grades of stock and has a large amount of money invested in building improvements. His chief barn is 40 by 70 feet and he has a substantial twelve-room house. He was married in Marion Township of Henry County to Mary Meyer, who though of the same name has no other relationship with her husband. She was also born in Hanover, Germany, October 29, 1867, and when six years of age was brought to the United States by her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Christian Meyer, who located at Port Clinton, Ohio. The Meyer family at that time also consisted of two sons. In 1881 they removed to the vicinity of Ridgeville in Henry County, where Christian Meyer rented land and from there went to Monroe Township where he bought a farm and was engaged in its cultivation and management the rest of his days. He died there when past sixty years of age. He and his wife were active Lutherans and all their children are now married except Fred. One of them, Herman, is a practical farmer in Monroe Township and is married and has a family. In 1914 Mr. Meyer built on Main Street in Deshler a large garage, on a lot 50 by 150 feet. It is a two-story brick building, and the lower floor is fitted up for garage, salesroom and workshop and is conducted by Mr. M. A. Brown. The upper floor has been fitted up as living apartments. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have always taken 'much part and interest in the Freedom Lutheran Church, which is not far from their home. He is a democrat and all the family in Ohio have had the same political affiliations. WILLIAM C. EISAMAN. Combining unusual skill as a farmer with keen business judgment, William C. Eisaman has favorably impressed his influence upon the community of Bartlow Township and in the Town of Deshler. Mr. Eisaman was one of the organizers, in 1916 of the Farmers Elevator Company at Deshler, and has since been its president. He served two years as president of the Farmers Institute, and has been very active in the committee work of that organization. He is also a member of the Board of Control of the Deshler Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, and in other ways has been a valuable factor in his community growth and progress. Mr. Eisaman is a man' of liberal education, largely self acquired, and to a remarkable degree has utilized the opportunities of life. As a farmer Mr. Eisaman owns 100 acres in Bartlow Township in sections 17 and 16, three miles west of Deshler. He also operates his brother's farm of eighty acres in section 20 of the same township. His own farm bears every mark of improvement and thoroughness of management. As a grain raiser he specializes in corn and oats and he keeps the better grades of live stock. He has a large barn 60 by 60 feet, twenty-one-foot posts, used both for grain and stock. His home is an eight-room modern dwelling built in 1914. Mr. Eisaman has occupied this farm about four years. He was born in Harrison Township of Henry County March 24, 1876. He grew up there, and at the age of fifteen became self supporting. Most of his education was acquired after that date. When he started out for himself he found work in different lines and at the age of eighteen went to Michigan and spent nearly two years in the lumber camps, an experience which has been valuable to him in his subsequent career. Later he made up for his early deficiencies in the way of schooling and attended the Liberty High School and for ten years was a successful teacher. In the meantime he became identified with farming and associated with his brother Henry he bought sixty acres in section 20 of Bartlow Township. Later twenty acres were added to this farm, and some years ago Mr. Eisaman bought his present place of 100 acres in sections 16 and 17. He has done much to improve his land and his work and achievements stamp him as a progressive agriculturist. He is a son of Abraham and Mary (Shook) Eisaman. His father was born in Pennsylvania of German parentage, and when a young man went to Franklin County, Ohio, where he married Miss Shook, a native of Franklin County and also of Pennsylvania parents. After their marriage Abraham Eisaman and wife lived for several years in Franklin HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1837 County on a farm. While there three children were born, Lenora, Francis and Melvin. Lenora died at the age of thirty-seven, leaving children by her marriage to Frank Altman. The other two children are now married. Melvin lives in Piqua County, and Francis lives in Harrison Township, Henry County, and has children. In June, 1872, the Eisaman family located in Harrison Township of Henry County. They moved to a comparatively new farm in section 34. It contained sixty acres, and in course of time it was developed into a first class condition. While the parents lived there two more children were born, Henry and William C. The mother died on the old homestead in Harrison Township August 14, 1891. She was born in September, 1842, and was in her forty-ninth year at the time of her death. Four years later her husband passed away on October 12, 1895. He died while visiting his old Pennsylvania home. He was born August 29, 1827. Both parents were active members of the Christian Union Church, and Abraham Eisaman was a democrat and filled office in the school board of Harrison Township. The son Henry now lives at Deshler and is bookkeeper for the Farmers Elevator Company. He married Ellen Brown, daughter of Jacob Brown, a very well known citizen of Henry County. The youngest of the faMily, William C. Eisaman has spent practically all his life in Henry County. He was married in Bartlow Township to Miss Ella Dayringer. She was born in that township August 18, 1880, was reared and educated there, and is a daughter of Levi and. Elizabeth (Linthicum) Day-ringer. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania but were married in Hancock County, Ohio, and were quite early settlers .in Bartlow Township of Henry County where Mr. Day-ringer acquired a farm in the midst of the woods and lived for a number of years under most primitive conditions, when the wild game flourished in the adjoining forest and when it was extremely difficult to cultivate crops among the stumps and on the marshy lands. He lived a long and useful life and died when nearly eighty-seven years of age. He was born in 1830. His Wife passed away in 1900. Mr. Dayringer had two sisters, Jane and. Hannah, who are still living in Hancock County, both past ninety years of age and have large families. Mrs. Eisaman was one of nine children, two of whom are deceased, while three sons and four daughters are Living. Mr. and Mrs. Eisaman have five children : W. Raymond, Mary Elizabeth, Woodrow W., J. Ruth, and Waldo G. The two older children are in school. Mr. and Mrs. Eisaman are active members of the United. Brethren Church. Mr. Eisaman is a member of the local school board. In politics he is a demo-brat. He is now affiliated with Deshler Lodge No. 617 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and while a member of the same lodge at Hamler he filled all the chairs. MATHIAS J. DIETRICK. It was in pioneer times that the Dietrick family established its home within the wilds of the present County of Henry. They were of the finest class of people, came from Germany, had thrifty virtues of that people, and were also God-fearing, industrious, independent and well fitted for the trials and privations of frontiering. Mathias J. Dietrick has spent more than half a century in Henry County, made his success as a farmer, and still has a share in the landed possessions of the county. He was born in a town in Prussia, March 8, 1841, a son of Joseph and Mary M. (Thomas) Dietrick. His parents were Prussians and of the Catholic religion. Of the four children born to them Mathias J. Dietrick is the' only living survivor and the only one who grew up. One daughter, Mary, died in Germany. In June, 1846, the little family, consisting of the father and mother and three children, Mathias, Barbara and Emma, embarked on a vessel at Bremen and after forty-six days the boat anchored in New York harbor. During the voyage the youngest daughter, Emma, sickened and died, and found her last resting place beneath the waves of the Atlantic. Some years later the other daughter, Barbara, when eleven years of age, met a tragic death. Her clothing was set on fire as she stood by the open fireplace, and in her terror she ran out of doors, the wind fanned the flames, and she died soon after-Ward on account of the horrible burns. After coming to America the Dietrick family lived for sixteen years on a farm in Lorain County. Then, in 1862, they changed their location to Henry County. Their settlement here was in the midst of the woods in section 29 of Marion Township. Not only was their land heavily wooded, but comparatively little of the surrounding territory had been cleared and developed. Their first home 1838 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO here was a log cabin, and it had a minimum of comforts and furnishings. In this home which first sheltered them in Henry County both Joseph and Mary Dietrick spent their last days. He died September 3, 1883, at the age of seventy-three, and she passed away January 28, 1881. For many years they were faithful members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and were buried in the cemetery of the parish. They were fine people in every respect, and were very devoted to each other and had a happy married life of forty-four years. Mathias J. Dietrick had just turned his majority when he arrived in Henry County. He had grown up and gained his education in Lorain County, and when he married he had as a start in life forty acres of land given him by his father. After his father died he inherited the remaining forty acres of the old homestead, and this farm in turn has been his own home for forty years or more. In point of development and improvement it measures up to the standard of the high class farms which are found scattered over Marion Township. Recently Mathias Dietrick retired from the active responsibilities of managing his property and turned it over to his son William and his daughter. The farm has a notable group of building improvements. The main barn is 36 by 60 feet, with an addition, 40 by 15, and also a lean-to used as a horse shed, 19 by 36 feet. Another building, 22 by 28 feet, is chiefly used for a .granary. The home is a substantial nine-room house, which in its comforts and conveniences represents a long advance beyond the log •cabin days when the family first settled here. William N. Dietrick, son of Mathias, is not only a practical general farmer, but has ma de a particular success as a poultryman. He breeds and raises the finest strain of Plymouth Rocks, and is deriving a great deal of pleasure and profit from this branch of his farm husbandry. He believes from experience that one of the chief factors in making a success of the poultry business is constant care and the provision of good buildings for the shelter of the birds. He has one of the best constructed poultry houses to be found in Henry County. Mathias J. Dietrick was married in Pleasant Township of Henry County to Miss Catherine Schwabla. She represented one of the earliest German families in the vicinity of New Bavaria, where she was born on what is now the Toma farm June 6, 1842. She grew up there, and for forty-four years she looked diligently after her household and performed faithfully all the duties of wife and mother. Her death occurred January 12, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Mathias J. Dietrick reared some very capable children, and most of them are now established in homes of their own. Reference will be found on other pages of the two oldest, Joseph and Mathias. William N., who was born in the old log cabin where his grandparents first had their abode in Henry County, and which was also the birthplace of his brothers and sisters, first saw the light of day July 7, 1869, and has spent his entire career on the old farm. He and his sister Christina J. now have the active management of the farm and the home, and are also faithfully caring for their father.. The sister Christina was born November 19, 1871. The next in age was Mary M., who was born February 22, 1877, and is the wife of Albert Swary, a farmer in Marion Township ; their children are Cleda, Hugo, Paul, Albert and Joseph. Elizabeth C., born May 3, 1878, is the next in age. Peter P., born February 10, 1881, is a farmer in Marion Township, and by his marriage to Anna Kiebler of Michigan, has three children, named Angela, Bernadette and Catherine. John A. was born March 22, 1883, is still single and is a dealer in automobiles at New Bavaria. The family are all members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Mr. Mathias Dietrick has served as trustee of the church and also as trustee of the township. He and his sons are loyak supporters of the democratic party in local and national politics. JOHN M. CAIN is manager of the Deshler Farmers Elevator Company, whose two elevators and extensive dealings in the buying and selling of grain have contributed greatly to the reputation and standing of Deshler as "the corn city of Northwest Ohio." This company was organized in January, 1916, but Mr. Cain is the oldest grain dealer in point of continuous service in the town. The two elevators operated by the company have been in existence for a number of years. Their combined capacity is 100,000 bushels. The company handles grain produced in this locality, but it is marketed and distributed to the most diverse portions of the globe, some of it without doubt being consumed on the battlefields of Europe. Thousands and thousands of bushels of grain are handled by this company and every year they load and ship 250 carloads of corn. Deshler has well HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1839 earned its place and reputation for shipping more grain than any other town in Henry County. It was twenty-two years ago that Mr. Cain began handling grain at Deshler. He has bought grain at the highest prices as well as at the lowest ever known to the market. In 1896 he was selling corn at prices as low as 12 or 14 cents a bushel. The market price of corn on March 10, 1917, was $1.50 per 100 pounds and on April 9, 1917, $1.85 per 100 pounds. Mr. Cain began buying grain at Deshler before the town had an elevator and it was loaded from the farmers' wagons into the cars on the track. He has been in business as manager of elevators for twenty-three years, and his experience is more extensive than that of any other dealer in the town. He has been connected with different administrations of owners, but for sixteen years was with the elevator on the Baltimore & Ohio Railway track owned by the Corn . City Bank of Deshler: That was before the Farmers Company bought the two elevators above mentioned. Mr. Cain is a thoroughly thrifty and successful business man, is a stockholder in the company, and has long been one of the moving spirits in the prosperity and development of Deshler. Mr. Cain is a native of Pennsylvania, in which state he was born December 17, 1865. When he was seven years of age his parents came to the Black Swamp region of Liberty Township, Putnam County, Ohio. He is a son of William W. and Mary (McConnell) Cain, both natives of Pennsylvania, and combining in: their ancestry the blood of Dutch, Irish and. English. William W. Cain was the son of James Cain, a native of Pennsylvania, who died in Putnam County, Ohio, when past eighty-eight years of age!. Mary McConnell was the daughter of John and Jane (Easley) McConnell, the former dying in Pennsylvania and the latter at Deshler, Ohio, when nearly ninety years of age. After coming to Liberty Township of Putnam County the Cains located on a tract of almost new land and William Cain developed it as a first class farm. He began with forty acres and increased his acreage until he had a large estate. He subsequently lived on a farm in Bartlow Township of Henry County and finally moved to Deshler, where he spent five years. He then bought a small farm in Van Buren Township of Putnam County, and is still living there and though seventy-eight years of age is able to look after his own affairs. His wife died in Liberty Township in 1903 at the age of sixty-two. They were members of the old United Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania and Ohio and were devoted and constant in their religious exercises; Mr. John M. Cain is the oldest in a family of six sons and four daughters, six of whom grew up . and married. He himself was married in Bartlow Township of Henry County,- to Alice M. Bridenbaugh. She was born in Marion Township of Henry County forty-two years ago, was reared and educated there and is a daughter of Frank G. and Mary (Morris'. Bridenbaugh, both natives of Ohio. Her parents were married in Defiance County and her father was one of the pioneer dealers in ship timber in the Maumee Valley. He got out and manufactured large quanties of timber for boat building on the lakes and elsewhere, and in his time he furnished some of the largest and finest timbers used in the shipwright trade. His death occurred at Toledo in the spring of 1914 while his wife died there in the fall of 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Cain have four living children : Alva L., twenty years of age, is now clerk in a wholesale grocery house at Findlay, Ohio; William Victor finished his education in Heidelberg College at Tiffin and is now a clerical worker in Detroit. Charles E. is in the second year of high school, while Mary H. is in the grammar school at Deshler. Mr. and Mrs. Cain take an active part in the Presbyterian Church. Much of Deshler's civic progress can properly be credited to Mr. Cain. He has been active in local affairs, and has done much to make the Booster Club at Deshler a live and effective organization. He served as mayor of the town four years, as city clerk five years, and is still a member of the city council. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Lodge and Chapter at Deshler and in the Council at Ottawa. He also belongs to the subordinate Lodge No. 617 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand and deputy grand and has been a representative to the encampment. Politically Mr. Cain is a republican. COL. JOSEPH M. RIEGER. The broad shouldered manhood of Col. Joseph M. Rieger, now common pleas judge of Henry County, suggests that he would be capable of undertaking almost anything in the human lot, and that he would carry it off creditably and worthily. 1840 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO While Colonel Rieger is a man of importance not only in his. home county but in the state at large, he has in fact come up through adversities and from humble circumstances. Good common sense and energy have enabled him to overcome every obstacle and to render service that has brought him unusual honors and esteem. On November 9, 1909, Governor Harmon appointed him assistant adjutant general of Ohio. At that time he was serving as captain of Company F of the Sixth Regiment Ohio National Guard. He was at.atis time also appointed and served four years as a member of Governor Harmon's staff with the rank of colonel. He held both offices two terms or four years. In 1913 Colonel Rieger entered upon his duties after election as probate judge of Henry County, and in 1916 was elected common pleas judge, and is now giving all his time to the administration of that difficult and important office. His term is for six years. Colonel Rieger has long been active in local political affairs. He has served as a member of the County Executive Committee and chairman for several times and is one of the prominent democrats in his section of the state. In 1903 he was elected mayor of Napoleon, and held that office continuously for seven years. In that time Napoleon made great progress in the way of public improvements. A sewerage system was installed and much street paving done. The fire department was also reorganized, and the old hand pulled engines were abandoned in favor of horse drawn machinery. Colonel Rieger has lived in Henry County all his life. In early boyhood he found employment that would enable him to support himself and for a time he was in a hoop and stave factory, and later learned the trade of blacksmith. He followed that four years and in the meantime applied himself assiduously. to the study of law. He began the study of law with Prosecuting Attorney Dittmer but gave up the law at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war to enlist in Company F of the Sixth Ohio National Guard. This service lasted thirteen months, five months of said time having been served in Cuba with his regiment. He resumed the study of law after the return home of his regiment and was admitted to the bar a few years later. It was in a little log cabin home about a mile north of the Maumee River in Liberty Township, Henry County, Ohio, that Colonel Rieger was born, and he is still a comparatively young man for all his accomplishments, being about forty years of age. When he was eight years old his parents removed to Napoleon and he acquired part of his education in the public schools. His father Erhart Rieger was born in Baden, Germany, and after coming to America married Mrs. Margaret Galvin, who was a native of Ireland and had, come with brothers and sisters to the United States and located in the City of Napoleon when still a young girl. Both her parents had died in Ireland. Erhart Rieger was a stone mason by trade, having learned and followed that vocation in the old country. After his marriage to Mrs. Galvin he settled in the log cabin home which had been erected by her first husband. By a previous marriage Mr. Rieger had six children, while Mrs. Galvin had five, and their marriage produced four other children. Of these three families fourteen grew to maturity and all but three are still living. Erhart Rieger died at Napoleon in 1890 at the age of sixty-three, and his widow survived until 1912, when she was seventy-eight. .Both were members of the Catholic Church and the father was a democrat Colonel Rieger is the second child of his parents and a bachelor. He is active in Lodge No. 929 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and has served as Esquire and Esteemed Loyal Knight. He takes an intelligent and public spirited interest in all matters concerning the general welfare of his locality and state, and among other acts with which be should be credited was his influence in securing a state armory for Napoleon. This handsome institution and building was re cently established and completed. In 1900 Colonel Rieger was appointed by Governor Harmon as member of the State Armory Board, and is still 'filling that office. Colonel Rieger also organized a boy scout troop in Napoleon in 1913 and is .still acting as scout master of said organization. CHRIST MEYER. For half a century a resident of Henry County, Christ Meyer's career has been characterized by that steady industry and quiet efficiency which have enabled him to discharge important responsibilities and bear his part of the burdens of the world's activities. He has a very fine farm in section 19 of Liberty Township, owning forty acres in that place and also twenty-seven acres in section 25 of Freedom Township. This land is under HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1841 cultivation with the exception of seventeen acres of native timber. He has shown much enterprise in promoting its improvement. Has a fine barn 40 by 60 feet and a number of other buildings. His residence is a substantial structure and he has provided all facilities and conveniences for work both in the house and in the field. The farm is appropriately known as the Maple Shade Homestead. A fine grove of maple trees surround the house, and most of these trees were set out by Mr. Meyer's own hands. He also has an orchard of a hundred trees, and raises all kinds of fruit and vegetables in addition to the staple crops of the fields. As a farmer he is one of the most progressive and thrifty in his section of the county. Though living out in the country he has at least one important city convenience, and is connected with the pipe lines of the Artificial Gag Company at Napoleon City and his house is lighted with that fuel. Mr. Meyer has lived on his present farm since 1902 and has largely made the land what it is, having many acres. He has been a resident of Henry County since the close of the war. He was born in Wisselheveden, Hanover, Germany, October 24, 1855, a son of Die-trick and Dorothea Meyer. This branch of the Meyer family is well known in Henry County, and reference to it will be found on other pages. When Christ was four years of age he lost his father, and in 1865 the widowed mother brought him and other children to the United States. They sailed from Bremerhaven, and were seven weeks on the ocean. They came on from New York City to Henry County, where four of the older children had already located, including Sophia, wife of Herman Schwake, Henry, William and Die-trick. With the mother came Fred, Catherine, wife of Henry Mahnke; Anna, wife of Henry Oelfke ; Dora, wife of William Gottschalk of Michigan ; Christ ; and George, who is married and is connected with the Sun Oil Company in East Toledo and has one son. Christ Meyer grew up in Henry County, and had to work hard in order .-to secure ordinary educational advantages. He has always been a student and his well trained• mind has been an important factor in his success. Hard work has proved the keynote of his career from boyhood up to the present time. On November 2. 1879, in Liberty Township he married Miss Cecelia Yarnell, who was born in Napoleon Township May 17, 1862. She was reared and educated in Liberty Township, being a daugh ter of Daniel and Barbara (Funk) Yarnell. Her father was born in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, and her mother was born in Wayne County and of Pennsylvania parentage. Her parents were married in Wooster, Ohio, and not long afterwards moved to Napoleon, where her father was a merchant. Mr. Yarnell was a very popular citizen in the early days, was elected sheriff of the county, and in 1863 removed to a farm in Liberty Township. There he set up a sawmill and he manufactured much of the lumber used in the building of early houses and barns in this county, clearing up and converting the forest on two eighty acre tracts and another forty acre tract into lumber. Most of that land is still owned by his family. Mrs. Myer's mother died in 1872 in the prime of life. Her father married for his second wife Catherine Garrett, and they moved to Wauseon, where he died in 1888, at sixty-eight years of age, and his widow subsequently married again and died in Weston, Ohio. Mrs. Meyer's father was a very popular man, and the best evidence of this fact is found in his holding county offices for a number of years as a republican in a strongly democratic community. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have four children, and those still living have already given a good account of themselves as world's workers. The oldest, Elmer D., is a carpenter and mechanic at Wauseon, and married Lillian Gorsuch. Walter is a first class farmer in Fulton County ; by his marriage to Anna Barnes of Defiance County he has a daughter Leona Lucile now seven years of age. Gertrude Sophia is the wife of Roy Carpenter, and they live on the Yarnell homestead in Liberty Township, and their one son Randall Milton was born December 1, 1914. Carl, the youngest of the boys, died at the age of one year and nine months. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer attend the St. John's Lutheran Church, of which he is an active member. Mr. Meyer has been popular in his home county, is a democrat, served six years as township trustee, four years as constable and for one term filled the office of justice of the peace. HENRY MEYER. Much that is worthy and estimable in human life has been the lot of Henry Meyer of Freedom Township. He is in fact considered the grand old man of the great German community of that county. As a youth he came to America, and spent several of the years of his early manhood in the Union 1842 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO army battling for the cause of Freedom. The close of the war marked the beginning of a career of industry and independence and for the past half century he has been closely identified with all the more important interests of Freedom Township. He is an honored old time citizen and has performed his obligations faithfully to his country, home and community. He comes of old Hanover family of Lutheran ancestry. His grandparents spent all their lives in Hanover near Otting. His father was Dietrick Meyer, a butcher by trade, and a confirmed Lutheran. Dietrick Meyer married Dorothea Ottens, a native of Hanover. Her parents spent all their lives on a farm in Hanover. Dietrick Meyer died in Germany and most of his children and his widow came to the United States. Henry, William, Sophia, and Dietrick all came to this country before their mother, who followed them with their other children, Fred, Christ, George, Catherine, Anna, and Dora. All these children are living except Sophia, who married Herman Schwake. Henry Meyer came to America in the spring of 1859, taking passage on a vessel that was thirty days in crossing from Bremerhaven to New York City. He landed on Whitsunday, and thence journeyed by railroad and lake to Napoleon. He found employment in Henry County and in 1861 went to Kelleys Island and a little later to Sandusky. There he enlisted in a three months regiment which was never called out, and in June of 1861 he enlisted in Company C of the Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry for three years. He was first sent with his command to West Virginia. He became a corporal and was in continuous service until 1864 when at the expiration of his term he veteranized and was assigned to a reorganization of three regiments under the title Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He became second lieutenant of Company F and 'remained in the army until October, 1865, when he was mustered out at Augusta, Georgia, and discharged at Columbus. Henry Meyer was with his regiment in its every duty and battle. He was faithful as a 'soldier, brave and daring, and enjoyed the respect and admiration of his comrades. He was with his regiment in fourteen big battles, including Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattanooga, Nashville and Franklin, and in fact throughout the campaign beginning with the reduction of the forts on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, through Mississippi, Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia. In spite of this arduous. service he went through without a wound and was never in a hospital, in fact answered every roll call. After the war Mr. Meyer returned to Henry County and began his successful business career as a farmer in Freedom Township. He cleared up a large amount of land, and his fine farm of 160 acres stands as the visible result of his energies and enterprise. This farm, comprising two eighty-acre tracts, is divided in half by the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad, and after this road was built Mr. Meyer platted a part of his land as the townsite of Gerald. Many years ago he drained the low part of his land, and has converted it all into productive and beautiful fields. Many substantial farm buildings have been erected, and his home is one that indicates success. He has borne an equally prominent part in the local affairs of his township. For twenty years he served as township trustee, for twelve years as a member of the school board, also acted as supervisor of roads, and has been willing to put his hand to every movement for local benefit. Although a democrat for many years, he voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 while in the army. He has been an active member of the Grand Army Post. Mr. Meyer is a prominent member of St. John's Lutheran Church, and he had much to do with its building and maintenance. He was one of the five to organize the church, and the organization has much to thank his public spirit for. In Henry County .he married Elizabeth Meyer, who was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to America at the age of twelve years. She died in 1895, leaving the following children : Wilhelmina, Emma, Herman, Charles, Henry D., Christ, Otto, Anna, Caroline and Mary. All of these children married, and Mary became the wife of Herman Gerken. At her death she left one child Martha, who was born November 28, 1898, and since the death of her mother when she was four months old has lived with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Meyer. WILLIAM FRANZ was one of the pioneers of Henry County, a man who shared the painstaking industry and the many privations of pioneering and in course of time acquired both the substance of prosperity and of community esteem. He came to Henry County when about nineteen years of age in 1852, and lived there continuously the rest of his life. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1843 He accumulated a fine property in Flatrock Township, developed his land and put up substantial farm buildings, and after operating it through a number of seasons he was content to retire and spend his last years in a comfortable home at Holgate. He died at Holgate, and Mrs. Franz is still living there. Mrs. Franz is one of the remarkable women of Henry County. She has attained nearly fourscore years of age but is still keenly alert in the management of her affairs, possesses a wonderful memory, and is an object of great esteem and admiration both among her own family and her many friends. Both Mr. and Mrs. Franz were born in Germany. William Franz was born in Hesse Nassau December 22, 1833. Ire died at his home in Holgate June 24, 1912. When he was six years of age in 1839 his parents John and Christina (Badens) Franz left Germany on a sailing vessel. It was a slow going voyage but they finally arrived in New York City. Procceding westward they located in Crawford County, Ohio, where William Franz spent his boyhood and youth and there acquired his education in the common schools. In 1852 the Franz family came to Flatrock Township of Henry County. There were few families living in that township at the time, very limited clearings had been made in the forest, and the Franz family began life there in a log cabin. John Franz first bought forty acres which he improved, subsequently sold and bought eighty acres three miles north of where the City .of Holgate now stands. He and his wife spent their last years on that old homestead and he died when about seventy-two years of age and she when nearly sixty-three. They were members of the Reformed Church. William Franz was the oldest in a family of six sons and three daughters. Those now living are : Jacob, Fred, Peter, Christina wife of Fred Wahl of Holgate, and another married daughter that lives in the State of Florida. The only bachelor among those living is Peter. In Flatrock Township on May 7, 1858, nearly sixty years ago, William Franz married Miss Elizabeth Ricker. Mrs. Franz was born in Prussia, Germany, May 4, 1839, and her ancestry for generations back have lived in Prussia. Her parents were John and Catherine (Shipp) Ricker, both of whom were born in the same village. Besides Mrs. Franz a son George and a daughter Mary were born while the Ricker family lived in Germany. On May 5, 1848, they all set out from Bremen and after a voyage of ten weeks landed in New York City. Mrs. Franz was then nine years of age, and has a perfect recollection of many of the incidents of the voyage and the trip westward into Ohio. The family traveled by canal and railroad to Mansfield, Ohio, and thence a wagon conveyed them into the western part of Crawford County. They lived on a wild forest farm there for three years, but in 1851 moved to Henry County. In making this journey also they depended upon wagons and team. Mrs. Franz father entered eighty acres of government land in Henry Township. The land office was at Defiance and he paid $200 as his entry fee. Mrs. Franz remembers a great deal of log cabin days in the county. There was always plenty to eat and people generally lived in comfort, but there were no luxuries and from the modern point of view the people of that time were denied many of the privileges and opportunities which are now considered essential to happiness. Mrs. Franz parents spent all the rest of their lives on their Henry County homestead. Her father was born August 11, 1810, and died October, 1882, and her mother was born May 18, 1815, and died January 10, 1902. They were reared and were always members of the Reformed Church, and her father after coming to America became a democratic voter. Mrs. Franz sister Mary died in Crawford County when a small child. One daughter Catherine was born in Crawford County and a son John was born in Henry County, but is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Franz became the parents of eleven children. One died in infancy, and Mary died after her marriage to William Austermiller, leaving five children. Mrs. Franz not only has the solace of her numerous children, but is also head of a large family circle including more than forty grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren. Of her living children the oldest is Henry, a farmer in the State of. Kansas, and the father of three sons and three daughters. Katie married Milton Fruit, a farmer in Flatrock Township, and they have two sons and one daughter. George lost his wife and with his son William Edward lives in Holgate with his mother. Conrad is a retired farmer at Holgate and has three sons and three daughters. Thomas is a well known citizen of Malinta in Henry County. Amelia married Henry Eberly, a farmer of Napoleon Township, and they have three sons and three slaughters. Ernest is a farmer in Napoleon Township and his family consists of four sons 1844 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and two daughters. Rosa married George May, a farmer of Richfield Township, and is the mother of two daughters and one son. Albert occupies the old homestead in Flatrock Township, and by his marriage to Miss -Knipp has four daughters. Mrs. Franz has been a lifelong member of the German Reformed Church and her husband was an official in that church for many years. JAMES K. CARLIN, one of the advisory editors of the History of Northwest Ohio, is still a young man but a veteran in .the newspaper and editorial service. His home is at Celina. Mr. Carlin was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 18, 1884. He was educated in Erlanger, Kentucky, and in the grammar and high schools of Celina, Ohio, graduating from the high school in 1903. Even as a small boy he entered his father's printing and newspaper plant and has had active experience in that line for fully twenty years. His father is Mr. C. C. Carlin. In 1912 James K. Carlin bought a part interest from his father in the Celina Democrat, the leading weekly newspaper of Celina and Mercer County. The Democrat is now conducted under the firm name Carlin & Carlin. Mr. Carlin was elected village clerk in 1911, and is now a member of the village council. lie is serving as chairman of the Democratic County Executive Committee and since early manhood has taken more or less part in political affairs. He was married in 1909 to Miss Rhoa E. Maehlman. Mr. and Mrs. Carlin have two sons and two daughters. JACKSON RAYLE. The second family to locate in the wilds of Marion Township of Henry County were the Rayles, and the venerable Jackson Rayle was a child at the time. He is the oldest resident of that section and knows the pioneer life perhaps as well as any man still living. His has been a. straightf or-ward and interesting career, one filled with substantial work and the achievements of the ambitious man, and his name deserves the memory and gratitude of later generations. Mr. Rayle was born in Richland County July 28, 1835. When he was four years of age he went with his parents William and Nancy (Daringer) Rayle to Wood County, Ohio. His parents originally lived in Ashland County, Ohio. In Ashland County were born three children, Mary, Margaret and John. In Richland County were born three other children, Jackson and two daughters, both of whom died young and were named Martha. In 1846 the family removed to Wood County, locating in the wilderness country around Ten Mile Point. They had a log cabin. home and the father developed a good farm of forty acres. A few years later, the family sought another home, this time in Henry County. As already stated they were the second family to locate in Marion TownshiP. The first family was that of Samuel Hashbarger. The Rayles located on. section 23, not far from the Ridge Road. Their home was completely surrounded by forests and swamps. Neighbors were few and far ,between, the nearest settlement on the east being twelve miles away, on the south seventeen miles, while it was two miles from the Hashbargar farm. In those early days and conditions all the marketing was done either at Defiance or Findlay, many miles distant. The first home of the Rayles in Marion Township was a log cabin without doors, and with mere openings as windows. Wolves were numerous in the woods, and caused much fright among the children by their howling at night. Game was exceedingly plentiful. There were deer, wild turkeys, bear and many other animals. Such a thing as domestic beef or pork was almost unknown on the table, the meat being almost entirely venison, squirrel, turkey and the like. When only twelve years of age Jackson Rayle proved his prowess as a hunter. At that age he killed his first large buck. During the winter that followed thirty-six deer fell before his trusty rifle. Because of his skill as a hunter and his remarkable knowledge of all that pertains to woodcraft he became known as the local Daniel Boone. His record as a hunter was when he killed five deer with two shots. He was hunting one day and drew aim on one fine deer and after the shot was fired he found that he had killed two others which he did not know were in the range. His record as a, hunter in the early days would include hundreds of deer and he also killed a couple of bear. He inherited his love of the woods and the wild game sport from his father, who was one of the noted nimrods of his day. This part of Henry County was famous for its coons. Mr. Rayle bagged as many as nine coons in a single day, and he also set traps for these animals. He also killed many of the wild cats which were a dangerous pest. On the old farm in. Marion Township Mr. Rayle's parents spent all their active years. The mother died in 1905 when in her ninety- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1845 eighth year. The father passed away at the age of sixty-seven. They were members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a faith which still continues in the family. The father was a whig and later a republican. Jackson Rayle had two brothers, Henry and Samuel, who were born in Henry County, Henry being now deceased. He also has three living brothers, William, Samuel and James, who were born in Wood County. Jackson Rayle acquired an unsurpassed knowledge of all the great book of nature as it was spread out before him as a boy, was daring and energetic, and was thoughtful and efficient and always equal to the emergencies of life. After reaching manhood he bought land in sections 23 and 26 of Marion. Township, paying a very low price for it, and as a result of many years of continuous residence has developed it as a splendid farm. He has a large and substantial home which he built and in which he has lived with his family for thirty-seven years, and he also has good barns and everything required for successful farming and comfortable rural living. So far as his strength permits he still takes an active interest and part in the management of the farm. Mr. Rayle was married in Putnam County, Ohio, to Miss Rachel Fleming. She was born in that county August 3, 1839, and was reared and 'educated there. Her parents John P. and Isabel McClure Fleming were natives of Muskingum County, Ohio, and were early settlers in Putnam County, where they married. They were the first to build a log cabin and begin the clearing up of the land in Riley Township. They lived in a hewed log house for many years. Mrs. Rayle was not yet six years of age when her mother died. Her father passed away at the old homestead when about sixty-five years of age. The Flemings were also members of the Adventist Church. Mrs. Rayle's father served for many years as a. justice of the peace and was a man well liked and highly esteemed in his community. The oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Rayle John F. Rayle, who now has the active management of the home farm. He was born in Putnam County April 12, 1863, but was reared in Marion. Township on his father's place and is a very capable and intelligent farmer citizen. He married Mary E. Punches, who was born in Defiance County but was reared in Marion Township, where both her parents died when old people. Her father was at one time postmaster at Ridgeland, Ohio, Vol. III-33 and for many years justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. John F. Rayle have four children : Mabel, who died after her marriage ; George, a farmer at Leipsic, Ohio, who married Florence White ; Fred J: and M. Essie, both of whom are still at home. William, the child next younger to John, is now deceased, and by his marriage to Maggie Porter left children named Maude, Cecil J. and Ida. N. Jane, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Corydon Robbins of Leipsic, Ohio, and has three daughters, Florence, Edna and Mae. Samuel married' Orpha Pacey, their home is in Leipsic, and they have a son named Glee. Ellis is a farmer in Benzie County, Michigan, and by his marriage to Mary Edwards has three sons and four daughters, Nora, Guy, Bessie, Bert, Ethel, Erma and Lynn. Thomas J. is an active young farmer in Marion Township of Henry County, and has two sons and two daughters, Hazel, Naomi, Otto, and Donals. Silas, the youngest of the family married Blanche Spangler. He has not followed any settled vocation nor has he been content to remain long in one place and is now in the West. They have three children, Goldie, Edith and Helen. All the family were brought up members of the Adventist Church, and Mr. Rayle was for eighteen years a deacon. Politically he is affiliated with the republican party. NICHOLAS HUSS is proprietor of the Meyerhof Hotel of Toledo, one of the most popular and best patronized establishments of the city. He is a veteran in hotel work, having gained his first experience in that line when a boy, and the success of his house is due to his long experience and thorough qualifications for the responsibilities of landlord. Mr. Huss was born in 1867 in Tiffin, Ohio. His father, John Huss, a son of John P. Huss, was born in Luxemburg, Germany, and at the age of eight years was brought to America by his parents, who located in Seneca County, Ohio. John Huss grew up in Ohio and followed the business of farmer and blacksmith. He died in 1880. Of his seven children, Nicholas was the oldest. Nicholas Huss had few opportunities to gain an education since he began work when only eleven years of age. In that time he found employment in such varied capacities as experience and strength qualified him for in a restaurant and hotel at Tiffin. His employer was Mr. Peters. He remained in that one place for five 'years, and afterwards spent 1846 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO four years in the Jefferson Hotel in Toledo, 0. For years he was connected with the Sloan House in Sandusky and spent six years in the Oliver House in Toledo, Ohio. Having learned every, phase of the business and having shown an ability in management which in this business is more necessary than capital, Mr. Huss then acquired the Meyerhof Hotel at Toledo. During the fourteen years he has managed it he has made it a place of entertainment and comfort for many Toledo people and for thousands of the travel- ing public. The Meyerhof is only a short S distance from the Union depot and it offers a service equal to its situation. Mr. Huss married Ellen Feehely and they are the parents of four children, John, Mabel, Cora and Estella. All are married and live in Toledo. E. L. THORNBERRY is one of Toledo's most successful merchants. He has been in business in that city either for himself or as an employe of several large mercantile firms •for forty years. He is widely known as proprietor of " The Young Men's Shop," supplying men's and boy's clothing, located at 418 Adams Street. Mr. Thornberry was born in Monroe County, Ohio, April 9, 1859, a son of Johnson Franklin and Rebecca Jane (Evans) Thorn-berry. His father came to Toledo in 1874 and with two sons engaged in the grocery business and the manufacture of soap. He was a business man of the city until his death. While successful in commercial affairs he was very devoted to his family and church, and was long an active worker in the Toledo Christian Church. The only one of his father's children living today E. L. Thornberry had the advantages of the grammar and high schools of Zanesville, Ohio, came to Toledo at the age of fifteen, and at seventeen he was working as a clerk in the clothing store of William Mabley. He spent seven years with that well known old merchant at Toledo, and there laid the foundation of the experience which he has used so effectively both for himself and others. After leaving Mr. Mabley he became general manager for the clothing house of James Mel-den, and for twenty-six years was connected with that establishment, part of the time as member of the firm of James Melvin Co. After selling his interest there he was for two years general manager of the boys' clothing department in the store of J. N. Mockett Co. On retiring from that business .Mr. Thornberry established his present shop at 418 Adams Street. He has developed a very high class trade, and has especially catered to people desiring reliable as well as fashionable clothing. While his best years have been spent in the clothing business Mr. Thornberry might also be classed as a practical farmer.. For a number of years he has operated a large place of 200 acres in Wood County near Weston, Ohio. He bought the land at $50 an acre and now it is worth not less than $200 an acre. It is operated as a high class farm and has all the equipment and facilities for successful farming. Mr. Thornberry is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of Zenobia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles Mystic Shrine of Toledo, Ohio. Politically he is a republican and is a member of the Toledo Commerce Club and the Toledo Exchange Club. On October 13, 1881, at Weston, Ohio, he married Miss Mary Ellen Starr Of that place. They have two children : Samuel Starr, born January 18, 1883 ; and Sarah Jenetta, born March 30, 1885. EMERY D. POTTER. One of the oldest active members of the Toledo Bar is Emery D. Potter, Jr., who fifty-three years ago was working on his first cases and earning his first fees. The profession has known him as one of its diligent and successful members and the public at large recognizes his ability in the profession and his leadership in civic and business affairs. Mr. Potter studied law in the office of Morrison R. Waite, who was afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Potter is at present the senior member of the law firm of Potter and Carroll, with offices in the Nicholas Building. He was born at Willoughby, Lake County, Ohio, on November 27, 1844. He was the son of Judge Emery D. Potter. Judge Potter, Sr., was a pioneer lawyer in Northwestern Ohio, and through his services and those of his son the name has been identified with the bench and bar of Northwestern Ohio for upwards of eighty years. Judge Potter was born , in Providence, Rhode Island, October 7, 1804. He studied law at Cooperstown, New York, with John A. Dix afterwards Governor of New York. Judge Potter came to Toledo in the winter of 1834-5. He was the first lawyer to hang out HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1847 his shingle in Toledo.. He was contemporary with a number of men prominent in the law and in public life, and he himself was honored with appointment to the bench of the then Circuit Court under the old Constitution, in which he served for a number of years. Judge Potter died February, 1896. Emery D. Potter, was educated in the schools of Toledo. In May, 1862, he volunteered as a high private in Company "A" of the Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served three months and twenty-two ,days, being under the second three months' call by President Lincoln. In the fall of 1862 he entered the University of Michigan, took the law course at that institution and was graduated in the class of 1864. He immediately entered the law office of M. R. and R. Waite, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1866, at Columbus, Ohio. He began practice immediately and for many years remained alone. He afterwards formed a partnership with the late Hon. George R. Haynes which lasted for ten years, subsequently with Thomas . Emery of Williams County, Ohio, and at present is associated in the law business with Mr. Charles P. Carroll. Among other things, Mr. Potter may be remembered as one who took the leading part in building the Toledo & State Line Railroad. For a good many years he was a member of the Park Board of the City of Toledo and for twenty years one of the trustees of the public library. His name is associated with a number of other public enterprises. In politics he, is a democrat, but has never sought nor held a political office. THOMAS R. WICKENDEN. In point of diversity of experience Thomas R. Wickenden is one of the best known civil engineers of Northwestern Ohio. He came to Toledo, when a boy, had his first experience as a rodman with a surveying party employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad. He is a native of England and was born in the venerable City of Rochester, County Kent, February 7, 1853. He came to America in 1870. He made the journey alone, and arrived in Toledo practically friendless and with neither money nor. influential friends. After two years as clerk in a store, he found the opening with the engineering party for work with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1872, and this being congenial work he advanced rapidly in ability and was promoted to increasing responsibilities. For several years he was assistant engineer for the Smith Bridge Company and in 1886 he became city engineer of Toledo. He held that position until 1892. After that he was engaged in engineering and contract work for the city until 1900, then served three years as engineer for the Park Board of Toledo, and following that accepted the place of chief engineer of the Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railroad. In 1907 Mr. Wickenden was employed by the State of Ohio as engineer in charge of the improvements along the Miami and Erie Canal. That work kept him for two years and in 1911 he became president of the A.uglaize Power Company. He continued as president of this industry until 1916, and is now its receiver, having been appointed to settle up the affairs of the company. His offices are in the Spitzer Building at Toledo. Mr. Wickenden is a republican in politics and has served as a member of the county central committee. He served as president of the Toledo Engineering Society and has high rank among the engineers of the country. Much of his professional service and his public spirited citizenship has gone to the welfare of Toledo and he is one of that city's most accomplished citizens. While Mr. Wickenden may well take proper satisfaction in his personal career, he has special reason to be proud of the family who have grown up in his home. He was married December 17, 1879, to Ida Consaul of Toledo, daughter of William Consaul. Mrs. Wickenden was born on a farm. in Oregon Township of this county and was educated in the local schools and the Toledo High School. The eight children born to them are all living. Lottie L., born October 26, 1880, was educated in the public schools and the Battle Creek School of Home Economics and is now the wife of James Stephen Ogden of Ashland, Kentucky ; William E., born December' 24, 1882, was educated in the Toledo schools, Dennison University at Granville, Ohio, where most of the children received part of their training, and in the University of Wisconsin. He is now associate professor of electrical engineering in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston. Ida E., born in 1884, was educated at Toledo and in Dennison University, spent six years in the service of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society at Hanchow, China, and is now living at Rochester, New York, where her husband, Justin W. Nixon, is Professor of Hebrew and Biblical Literature in the Rochester Theologi- 1848 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO cal Seminary. Thomas H., born in 1886, was educated at Toledo and in Dennison University, graduated, Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and is now in charge of the engineering department of the great Studebaker Corporation at South Bend, Indiana. Homer E., born in 1889, graduated. Bachelor of Philosophy from Dennison University and is engaged in welfare work for the Cleveland Associated Charities. Arthur C., born in 1892, attended school in Toledo, has the degree Bachelor of Philosophy from Dennison University, and is now secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association of Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. Ruth was born in 1895 and is now pursuing her higher education in Dennison University. Dorothy M., the youngest, born in 1898, has completed the public school work at Toledo and is also in Dennison University. Mr. Wickenden is a member of the Commerce Club. The family are members of the Baptist Church. WILBER OWEN AND CHARLES W. OWEN. In the department of patent law one of the leading firms of Ohio is Owen, Owen & Crampton, patent attorneys and solicitors in the Nicholas Building. The members of this firm are Wilber Owen, Charles W. Owen, and Faust F. Crampton. The Owen Brothers have been associated in the practice of patent law at Toledo for the past sixteen years, and their experience and influential connections have brought them a. large share of this class of legal business. Wilber Owen wa.s born at Detroit, Michigan, June 30, 1873. His father has long been prominent in Michigan journalism. He is now proprietor and editor of the Herald at Quincy, Michigan. The second of four children, Wilber Owen attended the public schools at Lansing, Michigan, and took his law course in the George Washington University at Washington, D. C. He came under the influence of a very able body of law professors and also had the exceptional advantages of residence in the capital city. He was graduated Doctor of Laws in 1896, and for advanced work received- the Master of Laws degree from the same institution in 1897. In that year Mr. Owen came to Toledo, and has since been in practice in this city. He has membership in the bars of Ohio, Michigan and the District of Columbia. Mr. Owen is also a member of the executive committee and a director of The Fifty Asso ciates Company of Toledo. He is a Mason, a republican, a member of the Toledo Club, the Inverness Golf Club and the Toledo Commerce Club. Charles W.. Owen, the second of the firm, was born in Lansing, Michigan, June 29, 1877. Part of his early education was acquired in the public schools of Coldwater, Michigan. He followed his brother to George Washington University, where he took his degree Bachelor of Laws in 1899. He has two other degrees from the same institution, awarded in 1900 and 1901. In 1901 he joined his brother in practice at Toledo under the firm name of Owen & Owen, and from the first they have specialized as patent lawyers. In 1913 Mr. F. F. Crampton was admitted to the partnership. Charles W. Owen is a member of the Toledo Commerce Club, the Toledo Club, the Inverness Club and the Toledo Yacht Club, and is a republican. On April 28, 1900, he married Miss Anna V. Steinmetz at Quincy, Michigan. They have two children : Virginia and Allen. BERT THOMPSON. Until a few years ago the direction of movement for people seeking new homes has been steadily westward. This movement began even before the Revolutionary war, and continued with growing force until every state and territory was occupied westward to the Pacific. Thus the majority of the families in. Ohio came originally from some state east of the Alleghanies, and thc movement out of Ohio to western states began a great many years ago and has continued to the present time. However, there has been an important reversal of this current of immigration. An excellent example of this is the case of Mr. Bert Thompson of Richfield Township, Henry County. His grandparents were substantial Ohio people in the early years of thc last century. Members of the family moved out of Ohio to Eastern Illinois, and there did their part in making a wilderness blossom as the rose. It was in Eastern Illinois that Bert Thompson was born and came to manhood. In the meantime Illinois lands had been developed to a point where their value made them almost Out of reach of the average investor, and while many Illinois farmers were selling out and going still further west, a number of others had been attracted by the lower priced rands of Western Ohio. That was what brought Bert Thompson to Henry County in March, 1908. He bought eighty acres of land in section 16 of Richfield HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1849 Township. He was able to buy a first Class farm with all the modern improvements. His farm. had a nine room house nearly new, and also a new barn, 40 by 60 feet with 24-foot post. In the fall of 1909 Mr. Thompson bought an adjoining eighty acres but just across the road in section 9. This likewise had some good improvements, including a barn 40 by 60 feet, with an addition 15 by 70 feet. Mr. Thompson at once moved the barn bodily to his home farm, and with that change and with other improvements introduced in the past eight years he has developed one of the finest farms in Henry County. His 160 acres are perfectly drained, well fenced, and they have been made to grow as fine crops as can be grown in the county. With such enterprise has Mr. Thompson directed his business affairs that he is now well enough off to retire from the heavier responsibilities of farming, and it is his intention to do so and take up his residence at Weston in Wood County in the spring of 1917. During his years in Henry County he has been constantly a worker for advanced and progressive ideas, and though he is too modest to claim any recognition for it he has really served as an exemplar of modern methods in rural life. He was born in Champaign County, Illinois, August 3, 1870, and was reared and educated there, gained a knowledge of Illinois farming, and finally brought his capital to invest in Henry County. His grandfather David Thompson was born in Fayette County, Ohio. Remarried there a member of the Clevery family, long prominent in that section of Ohio as cattle and hog growers and prominent citizens. While David Thompson and wife were living in Fayette County their oldest child, James, father of Bert, was born in 1840. He was still an infant when his parents removed to the vicinity of Sidney in Champaign County, Illinois. They became pioneers in that section, and David Thompson lived to clear up and develop a good farm of 100 acres. He finally retired and spent his last years at Sidney, where he died when quite old. He and his wife were the parents of three sons and two daughters. James Thompson grew up on the old farm near Sidney, Illinois, and was married there to Anna Bucey. She was born in Champaign County about seventy years ago. Her parents were among the earliest settlers of Champaign County, being there when the Indians were still numerous. The Bucey family has long been prominent in Eastern Illinois, and the various members of the family have acquired interests in a number of banks and various other business affairs. One representative of the family is Colonel Bucey, who became prominent in politics and had the distinction of being the only man who ever succeeded in defeating Joe Cannon in a political campaign. Mr. James Thompson and his wife still reside on their old farm in Champaign County. They were the parents of ten children, nine of whom are living, six married and three single. Mr. Bert Thompson was married in his native county to Miss Florence Cayley. She was born in Champaign County November 20, 1876, a daughter of John L. Cayley, who now makes his home with Mrs. Thompson and is seventy-five years of age. He was born in Fayette County, Ohio. He married for his first wife Mary Patters, who was born and reared in Champaign County, Illinois, where she died when Mrs. Thompson, the youngest of her three children, was five years of age. Mr. Cayley married for his second wife Mrs. Martha J. (Current) Harmon. She was born in Jay County, Indiana, was reared there, and married Mr. Joseph Harmon, who died leaving her three children. By her marriage to Mr. Cayley she had a son that died in infancy. Mrs. Cayley died September 8, 1897. The Cayleys were members of the Christian Church. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have no children. In politics he is a democrat. JACOB CLADY, of Flatrock Township, Henry County, has rounded out his period of three score and ten years in the comfortable employment of his energies as a farmer, and has a pleasing and grateful retrospect over many years of well directed effort, influential associations with his community and the material reward and personal esteem which are the best tokens of a well spent career. He has been a resident of Henry County for over thirty-five years. Mr. Clady was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, September 11, 1842, a son of Jacob and Mary M. (Scheth) Clady. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania, a daughter of Peter Scheth, a native of the same state. Jacob Clady was born in Alsace, France, about the year 1805. When still a boy he came with an uncle to the United States, and his first regular employment was on the canal which was then being built in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He gave such a good account of himself there