1850 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO that he was appointed a foreman. During his residence in Tuscarawas County he married and three of their children were born there, Emanuel, William and Jacob. In the fall of 1842, when Jacob Clady was only a few weeks old his parents removed to Crawford County, Ohio. Jacob, Sr., there bought a tract of eighty acres of wild land. The first home of the family was a log cabin. He lived there employed in clearing up and cultivating his land, being assisted in this by his older sons, and had the satisfaction of those comforts and conveniences which reward a life of constant toil. He died in the substantial frame house which he had built about 1881. His wife, though somewhat younger in years than himself, died about nine years before her husband. They were members of the Lutheran Church and he was a democrat. In their family were ten sons and two daughters, all but two of whom grew up and married, and five sons are still living and have families of their own. It was on the old homestead in Crawford County, Ohio, that Jacob Clady spent his youth and early manhood. The public schools afforded him a literary groundwork, and there was no lack of opportunity to learn farming in every practical detail. In Crawford County on February 16, 1871, Mr. Clady married Miss Susan A. Zolar. She was born in Chatfield Township of Crawford County January 1, 1851, and grew up in that district and remained with her parents until her marriage. Her parents were Frederick and Mary (Freed) Zolar. Her father, a native of Ger- many, came in young manhood with his parents to Chatfield Township of Crawford County, was married there, his wife being a. native of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and also going with her parents to Crawford County. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Zolar lived on a farm, clearing it up from the condition of a wilderness, and Mrs. Clady's father died there at the age of eighty-seven and her mother when not yet sixty years of age. They were Lutherans and he was a democrat. After his marriage Mr. Clady continued to live and farm in Crawford Comity until 1879. In the meantime six children were born, one of whom died in infancy, and in 1879 bringing his wife and five children he located on forty acres in section 28 of Flatrock Township in Henry County. This forty acres had practically no improvements, and it was with the task of clearing and development that Mr. Clady concerned himself for a number of years. With increasing prosperity he added another forty acres in the same section; this also he improved, and since then has bought fifty acres in section 29. These 130 acres comprise a very fine and valuable farm. It has some wood land, but the rest of it is devoted to the regular rotation of the staple crops best adapted to the soil and climate. Its improve-' ments stand as evidence of Mr. Clady's management and supervision. He has a good eight-room house on his home place and his farm of fifty acres in section 29 also has a complete set of buildings. Mrs. Clady is a member of the Lutheran Church and has given much of her time outside of the rearing and training of her children at home to church interests. Mr. Clady is a democrat, and while his life has been an extremely busy one he has found time to serve the interests of his community as township trustee for three years and as township supervisor. He and his good wife deserve much credit for the bringing up of a large family of children. Fred, the oldest, is a farmer in Flat-rock Township and by his marriage to Leora Shoemaker has a daughter named Vera. Ida is the wife of John Ingle, a merchant at Stanley, and they have three sons and three daughters. Henry, who is employed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railway at Deshler, married Ebbie Ise and has a son and daughter. Mary E. died in 1877 when two weeks old. Savilla died at the age of six years in 1884. Tilla is the wife of William Engle and they live in Flatrock Township and have a son and two daughters. Charles is a farmer in Henry County and by his marriage to Susie Renaker is the father of two daughters. Clara E. died in childhood. Susan Z. is the wife of Albert Skiver, a farmer in Flatrock Township. Irena is the wife of Winfield Huffman of Florida Village, and they are the parents of two daughters. Cleveland C. lives on his father's farm and has a son Lawrence by his wife, Maggie Bower. Elsie 0. married Henry Memer of Flatrock Township and has three sons living. Alma, the youngest child, is still at home with her parents. ADAM B. RETTIG. The thrift and industry of his early years enabled Adam B. Rettig a few years before his death to retire from the active business of farming, and he afterward had the leisure and the means to allow him to follow such pursuits and interests as he desired. His home was in section 12 of Monroe Township in Henry County, and his HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1851 death occurred on the 23d of December, 1916. Until he retired he owned 160 acres there. The land that he cleared up by his hard work when he was a young man was in section 19 of Monroe Township, and he put it in splendid condition as a farm and made his living from it and provided for his family. The farm which he bought about 1902 lies not far from Malinta and Grelton. One of the most recent improvements placed upon it by Mr.. Rettig was a fine barn 40 by 60 feet, with cement floors and with all modern equipment. When he retired Mr. Rettig sold forty acres of his farm, and turned over the rest of it to the capable management of his son-in-law, C. L. Detmer. Adam B. Rettig was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, February 15, 1838, and was nearly eighty years of age at the time of his death. He had worked until he was past seventy. He was a boy of eight years when he accompanied other members of the family to the United States. The voyage was made on a sailing vessel from Bre- men, and it was weeks and weeks at sea. Mr. Rettig himself made the voyage without special incident or illness. But his mother, grandmother and two sisters were seriously ill, and his grandmother and one of his sisters died at sea and were buried in the ocean. The remainder of the little family finally arrived almost at the point of exhaustion, and from New York came on west by way: of the Hudson River and Erie Canal to Buffalo, and from there on a lake boat to Sandusky. They crossed overland to Crawford County, Ohio, and after three years there came on to Henry County, making the journey with teams. Adam and his cousin George walked and drove a herd of cattle. Arriving in Henry County Mr. Rettig's father bought forty acres of state lands and later 160 acres of canal lands. He located in what Was still a wilderness, and gradually built up a good home. On the forty-acre farm the parents, Adam and Elizabeth Rettig, spent the rest of their days. This is one of the old and substantial German families of Henry County, and further reference to the older members will be found on other pages. The Rettigs were among the organizers and always Were vigorous supporters of the German Reformed Church, and their children were reared in the faith. Adam B. Rettig was the oldest son in a family of six sons and four daughters, two sons and three daughters still living and all married. In Henry County Adam B. Rettig married Miss Sarah Nyswander. She was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, November 26, 1840, was reared and educated in Wood County, and for several years taught school in Flatrock Township of Henry County. While thus engaged she met Mr. Rettig and they were married not long afterwards. She died at Van Buren in Wood County January 24, 1900. Mrs. Rettig was an active member of the Reform Church. Her parents were Christian and Elizabeth (Salladay) Nyswander, both natives of Canton Berne, Switzerland, and after coming to the United States were married in Fairfield County, Ohio. From there they removed to Wood County, where Mr. Nyswander improved 160 acres of land. He died at Florida Village in Henry County at the age of eighty-two and his wife at North Baltimore, Ohio, when past sixty years of age. Mr. Rettig and wife had a large family of children, most of whom have grown up to useful men and women. Charles H., the first, died when four years of age. Reuben E. lives on a farm in Monroe Township and by his marriage to Nettie Shirarla of that township has three children, Ardella, Carolina and Nora E., the last two being twins. Edwin Lee, who died in 1908, married Eva Brumaker, and their children were Mary, now deceased, Edwin C., Marion and Lyle. Jennie Lillian died when four years of age. John L. is now postmaster of Elk River in the State of Idaho; he married Mary. E. Detmer, who died in Idaho in 1911, leaving a daughter, Marie, now sixteen years of age. Elizabeth E., the youngest child of Mr. Rettig, was born November 24, 1880, and was educated in the public schools. She married Charles Ludwig Detmer, who was born in Monroe Township of Henry County September 10, 1878, was reared and educated here, and for several years has been the active manager of Mr. Rettig's farm, and also directs the operations of forty acres adjoining the homestead. He is a first class farmer, and he and his wife have had four children : Lloyd E., who was born August 21, 1902, and is now in the seventh grade of the public schools ; William B., who was born August 28, 1904, and died when two months old ; Esther Leona, born January 14, 1906, and now in the sixth grade of the public schools; and- Cloyce Herbert, born October 11, 1909. All the family are members of the German Reform Church. E. J. O'CONNELL, now prosperously established in business at Lima, began life with 1852 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO the limitations of opportunity imposed upon the poor boy of poor parents. He had a very limited education in the national schools of Ireland, came to. Lima with his parents during the '80s, worked hard in those positions which were 'open to him, and finally studied embalming and is now proprietor of one of the leading undertaking establishments of the city. He was born in County Limerick, Ireland, September 24, 1865, a son of John C. and Mary (Daly) O'Connell. Roth parents were also natives of County Limerick. His father first came to Ohio in November, 1869. He 'lived in Lima, working there for several years, finally went back to Ireland and then brought his family over. He and his wife were members of the Catholic Church, and he became a democrat in politics. There were thirteen children in the family, E. J. being the oldest, and eight are still living. On coming to Lima E. J. O'Connell found his first employment in the paper mills, where he spent four years. He then secured a clerkship in a furniture store, and remained with that institution for twelve years. He gained his first knowledge of the undertaking business while there, and after a course of study at Cleveland he returned to Lima and engaged in business for himself in 1906. His business has been on the steady increase for the past ten years, and he now has all the facilities for expert and thorough service in his line. On August 18, 1898, Mr. O'Connell married Miss Jennie Hickey. She was born in Columbus Grove, Ohio, daughter of Michael Hickey. Mi. and Mrs. O'Connell are members of St. Rose Catholic Church at Lima, and he is identified with the Holy Name Society, the Catholic Knights of Ohio, the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. NELSON R. WEBSTER is one of the veterans in the field of journalism and printing, learned his trade when a boy and has pursued it almost uninterruptedly since his apprenticeship at Port Clinton, Ohio. He is now proprietor and editor of the Paulding Democrat at Paulding, a property he has owned and successfully conducted since July 11, 1904. Mr. Webster was born June 25, 1862, in Portland Township of Chautauqua County, New York. His parents, James Harvey and Mary Webster, were substantial people, of good intellectual attainments and high ideals, both having taught district school during their youth and they were constantly diligent and ambitious both for themselves and their chil dren. They never acquired wealth but their names are spoken with affection by all their descendants. James H. Webster was a bricklayer and plasterer, but he reared his family on a farm in Chautauqua County, New York. He died there and was buried in Chautauqua County. The parents reared a family of seven children, and their lives counted for a great deal although they left limited property. As a boy in Western New York Nelson R. Webster had the advantages of the district schools only. When he was fourteen he began learning the newspaper and printing business at Port Clinton, Ohio, and there has been only one important exception to a complete career in that line of work, lasting for about eighteen months. He was employed as a journeyman printer and subsequently owned and conducted the Ottawa County News at Port Clinton for about six years, the Muskogee Times at Muskogee, Oklahoma, a little over a year, and for about six years owned an interest in and was employed on the Defiance Crescent-News and Democrat at Defiance, Ohio. Another year was spent at Riverside, California, where he edited the Riverside Daily Enterprise. Mr. Webster has exercised his influence upon the community largely through his newspapers and the only public office he ever held was one term* as mayor of Paulding. He has always been a consistent democrat and has been very ardent in his support and admiration of President Wilson and his policies. Mr. Webster is a Knight Templar Mason, is a past grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and at one time was a member of the Knights of Labor. Air. Webster is well satisfied to classify as a laboring man, and his interests and sympathies are with that great bulk of men and women who have to live upon the results of honest toil. Mr. Webster is a member of the Methodist Church, and has been actively identified with the church choir for many years and in different communities. At Port Clinton, Ohio, November 17, 1881, he married Miss Sadie E. Bell, daughter of Richard Bell. Richard Bell was a prominent citizen of Northern Ohio, and for many years was engaged in the wholesale fish catching and selling business. He finally retired and moved out to California in 1895, and has since resided at Pasadena. Mr. and Mrs. Webster have one son, C. R. Webster, who is now employed in the newspaper and printing business with his father. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1853 JOHN HARDY DOYLE. It is doubtful if any name has a more dignified distinction in the bar of Northwest Ohio than that of John Hardy Doyle. Many able lawyers recall as the pleasant distinction of their own careers some association with Judge Doyle, either as a student, a partner, or as a friend and adviser. At this writing Judge Doyle has just rounded out a half century's membership in the bar of Northwest Ohio.. It is especially noteworthy that no interests have called him from the strict lines of his profession, though twice he served the public on the bench, once as common pleas judge and again as a justice of the Supreme Court. He was born in Monday Creek Township, Perry County, Ohio, April 23, 1844, a son of Michael F. and Joanna (Brophy) Doyle, and is of Irish stock, his paternal grandfather having come in the early part of the nineteenth century from Ireland. Michael F. Doyle, a native of Pennsylvania, was a youth when he came to Providence in what is now Lucas County, Ohio, and was a sub-contractor in building a portion of the Miami Canal. He was married in 1834 and from 1843 to 1849 lived with his family in Perry County, still pursuing his business of contractor. Afterward he was a resident of Toledo until his death in 1852 at the early age of thirty-six. Judge Doyle's mother died in 1894 at the age of eighty-four. Though deprived of a father's guidance at an early age, Judge Doyle's industry and talents enabled him to secure a liberal education. He attended the Toledo public schools and the Dennison University at Granville, Ohio, and in the winter of 1862-63 left school to enter the ranks of the Union army. He was appointed second lieutenant of Company A of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Infantry upon condition that he secure twenty recruits. While still engaged in this task he was stricken with typhoid fever, and that proved a permanent bar to his ambition to- serve his country in the capacity of soldier. On recovering his health he began the study of law under Edward Bissell, then one of the prominent lawyers of Toledo, and on his twenty-first birthday was admitted to practice. He then accepted from Mr. Bissell the offer to become a partner in the law firm of Bissell & Gorrill, and in the abstracting firm of Bissell, Gleason & Company. In a short time he had earned his place among the rising young lawyers of Lucas County. He was thirty-five years of age when in 1879 the republican members of the Lucas County Bar gave him their unanimous endorsement for the office of judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Sixth Judicial District. With a unanimous nomination at the judicial convention he was elected by a large majority, and brought to the discharge of his duties the able qualifications of thorough knowledge and absolute integrity. Of his work on the Common Pleas Bench Harvey Scribner in a former publication wrote : "Judge Doyle was an ideal Common Pleas judge ; he followed and comprehended the bearings and competency, of evidence at all stages of the trial. His rulings were prompt and almost always correct." He was nominated for judge of the Ohio Supreme Court at the Republican State Convention of 1882, but he shared the defeat common to the entire ticket that year. Later in the same year when a vacancy occurred on the supreme bench Governor Foster appointed him for the unexpired term, and he was a member of the Supreme Court until February 9, 1884. In the meantime he had again been nominated for the office but his party was still in the minority in the state. Some years later a rare distinction was accorded him when he was twice offered, by Presidents McKinley and Taft the position of Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, but he declined both honors. Few men so well fitted for public responsibility have so strictly adhered to the private profession and have so uniformly refused both nominations and appointments to office. On retiring from the Supreme Court Judge Doyle .became senior member of the firm of Doyle & Scott, his partner being Alexander W. Scott. In 1885 Charles T. Lewis was admitted to the firm, which continued as Doyle, Scott & Lewis until the death of Mr. Scott in 1895. The firm of Doyle & Lewis has subsequently, by the admission of Frank L. Lewis and Howard Lewis, sons of Charles T. Lewis, and Judge Ralph Emery, become known as Doyle, Lewis, Lewis & Emery. Thus at the age of seventy-two Judge Doyle is still active in his profession, is head of one of the largest law firms within the state, and has a reputation as one of the ablest, most accomplished and scholarly lawyers in the Middle West. His standing in the Toledo bar is well indicated by the fact that the lawyers of the city gave almost a unanimous endorsement to the petition that he accept the post of United States District Judge. For fifty years a loyal member of the republican party, and sometimes taking part 1854 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO as a campaign speaker, he has best served that party as a private in the ranks, and could never be induced to accept a nomination except for the office of judge. Those who have been associated with him and who have followed his career as a lawyer and judge are familiar with his professional characteristics. The reasons for his success have been described as industry, rapidity as as worker, and promptitude in mastering' the essentials of a case. It is said that when he was a young lawyer he accustomed himself by long and careful practice to quick analysis on the collocation and citation of the really pertinent authorities with as little waste of time as possible upon irrelevant or minor aspects and materials. Thus his processes in preparation were immediate and direct, and he either excluded preliminaries altogether or reduced them to a minimum. This prompt functioning of his mind is as characteristic today as ever. As a judge it is said that it was his practice to prepare for his own information very thorough briefs of the law and authorities governing cases as they developed before him, and it was largely this policy and method which enabled him to serve so well the conflicting interests in any litigation brought before him. His avocations have been more in the field of literature and historical research than in politics or more material activities. In many quarters Judge Doyle is acknowledged as a foremost authority on the early history of Toledo and Northwestern Ohio. This is partly due to his residence of sixty-five years in the city, and also to the instinct and scholarship of the true historian. He is the author of some forty monographs and papers on miscellaneous topics, historical, literary, legal, and on other titles, and these he has given to the public as voluntary and entirely unrecompensed lectures on special occasions. Some of his more notable contributions to local history have been under the following titles : "The City of Toledo for Fifty Years since its Organization ;" "History of the Maumee Valley;" and "History of the First Congregational Church of Toledo." The most complete and adequate county history of Lucas County ever published was the Wagoner history of 1888. Judge Doyle prepared and wrote the History of the Local Judiciary for that publication, and it is a matter of interest to know that the greatest part of that splendid work was prepared in Judge Doyle's law office which was then located at the corner of Erie and Walnut streets in Toledo. He was also selected by the Toledo Commerce Club to write a monograph of the history of Toledo to be distributed to each scholar in the Toledo schools. A student of history in its broadest aspect, Judge Doyle has brought this breadth of knowledge and interest to his local writing, and is one of the comparatively few men who have a philosophy of life modified and fortified by the best resources of individual experience and broad culture. In recent years Judge Doyle has devoted some of his time to the instruction of students in St. John's Law School on the subject of Constitutional Law. At various times he has been president of the Toledo and Ohio State Bar associations and of the National Bar Association, before that organization became absorbed by the American Bar Association, and is a member of the Toledo Club, Toledo Commerce Club, Country Club of Toledo, Toledo Yacht Club, Lawyers Club of New York, Ohio Society of New York, Union Club of Cleveland, and Columbus Club of Columbus. October 6, 1868, Judge Doyle married Alice Fuller Skinner. Mrs. Doyle, who is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames and the Daughters of Colonial Governors, is descended from Governor Roger Wolcott of Connecticut, and from Oliver Wolcott, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Judge and Mrs. Doyle have three children. Mrs. Elizabeth D. Bently is the wife of James Bently, and has a daughter, Grace Isabel Scott. Mrs. Grace D. Graves is the wife of Charles L. Graves, and their children are John Doyle Graves, Angeline Graves and Charles L. Graves. Helen Genevieve, now deceased, married Judge John S. Pratt, and her one surviving child is Alice Pratt. RT. REV. JOSEPH SCHREMBS, D. D. First bishop of the diocese of Toledo, Rt. Rev. Joseph Schrembs has been a resident of the cathedral city for the past five years, and hence his career is properly a part of the history of Northwest Ohio. He was born in Wuzelhofen, a small village near Ratisbon, Bavaria, March 12, 1866, a son of George and Mary (Petz) Schrembs. His father, a master blacksmith, spent his last years as an invalid, due to an injury received while hunting in a neighboring forest, and died August 19, 1888. The mother of Bishop Schrembs was a woman of great force of character and of deep piety, and experienced a peculiar satisfaction in hav- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1855 ing two of her sons become priests. She followed them to America and spent the last seventeen years of her life in the home of her son Joseph in Michigan, where she died August 19, 1905. One of a large family of sixteen children, Bishop Schrembs attended the excellent Catholic schools of Ratisbon, Bavaria. At the age of eleven he attracted the favorable notice of Bishop Seidenbush, the Benedictine bishop of St. Cloud, Minnesota, who was visiting there. Bishop Seidenbush made arrange-!milts for bringing the youth to the United States, where on his arrival he was placed in school at St. Vincent's Arch-Abbey in Pennsylvania. There at the age of sixteen he completed the classical course, having shown exceptional ability in mastering languages, and during his later career has 'been equally at home in the English, German or French. The following two years were spent as a teacher in St. Martin's parochial school at Louisville, and later Bishop Richter of Grand Rapids, Michigan, sent him to the Fathers of St. Sulpice in Montreal, Canada, where he completed the philosophical course. In 1888 he was ordained sub-deacon at Trinity, was promoted to the deaconage in the same year, and in March, 1889, returned to Grand Rapids, where on June 29, 1889, he was ordained to the priesthood. He served as an assistant to Father Nevin during the latter's pastorate at St. Mary's in Saginaw, and then as assistant to Father Sanson at St. Mary's, West Bay City. There he preached in both French and English every Sunday. In 1896 he was made pastor of St. Mary's, West Bay City, and while there distinguished himself for his eloquence and for his influence both in and out of the parish. October 5, 1900, he was transferred to St. Mary's, Grand Rapids, where for years the only language he spoke in the pulpit was German. His civic work in that city was especially noteworthy, and he was largely instrumental in bringing about flood protection, pure water, the attainment of the city beautiful idea, and the extension of the park system. His arguments before a committee of the State Senate twice prevented the passage of a free text-book bill through the Legislature. His pastorate resulted in much constructive work in his home parish, and among other accomplishments he brought about the establishment of two Catholic central high schools in Grand Rapids and was influential in forming St. Joseph's Preparatory Semi- nary. From Grand Rapids he several times represented the diocese in national conventions. In 1903 Bishop Richter appointed him vicar-general of the diocese and he was created a domestic prelate January 25, 1906. January 5, 1911, the appointment of auxiliary bishop was conferred upon him and he was consecrated February 22d. About that time the Toledo Diocese was erected, and on August 11, 1911, he was named as the first bishop and was consecrated October 4, 1911. Thus for the past five years Bishop Schrembs has resided in Toledo and has been hardly less distinguished as a citizen than as a churchman. Something more than the qualities of a brilliant intellect is required to explain the position and influence exerted by Bishop Schrembs. His is a positive character. He never compromises right or conscience, and has held decided opinions on questions of public policy, and has given them expression with great clearness and force. Without the compromise of a principle or an issue he has nevertheless dealt with such questions with peculiar tact. Flawless logic and clear argument, together with his great eloquence, have been the means by which he has carried his point. He has exhibited profound convictions and sympathies upon such great issues as those relating to labor, public order and decency, and for the general uplifting of humanity, and as much of his work has been done in great manufacturing centers its results have been correspondingly effective. HON. SILAS S. RICHARDS. For thirty-five years an active member of the Sandusky County bar, Judge Richards is widely known over Northwestern Ohio as a just and fearless judge, having presided with great ability for six years over the Common Pleas Court in what was then the third subdivision of the Fourth Judicial District. His home was at that time and still is at Clyde. In November, 1910, Judge Richards was elected a judge of the Court of Appeals, and began his six year term in that office in February, 1911. He was reelected in November, 1916, for a similar term. He now holds court at Toledo and in seven other counties comprising the district of Northwestern "Ohio. A native of Northwest Ohio, where his people were pioneer settlers, Judge Richards was born August 8, 1857, in Townsend Township of Sandusky County. His parents were 1856 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Archibald and Mary (George) Richards, his father being a substantial farmer in Townsend Township. Archibald Richards died at his home in Clyde in 1884, while the mother passed away there in 1901. Archibald Richards was born at New London, Connecticut, in 1812, a son of Silas and Mary (Rogers) Richards. Silas Richards was born April 23, 1779, and died December 5, 1862; while his wife, who was born August 1, 1779, and died September 3, 1866, traced her ancestry back to the time of the Mayflower. Judge Richards' mother was born in Ohio in 1819, a daughter of Joseph George, who was a soldier in the War of 1812 and at a very early date established his home in Sandusky County. Thus the members of the Richards and George families were closely identified with the early life and affairs of Sandusky County. Judge Richards takes pleasure in looking back to an early boyhood spent on a farm. At the same time he was granted liberal opportunities in the way of schooling, attended the Clyde High School until graduating with the class of 1875, and then, at the age of eighteen, he started for California. His home was on the Pacific Coast until 1876, when he took up the study of law in the office of Basil Meek, who was then a prominent lawyer at Clyde, but is now located at Fremont, Ohio. Admitted to the bar at Columbus before the Supreme Court in January, 1879, Judge Richards soon afterwards opened an office at Clyde. In June, 1879, he became associated in practice with D. A. Heffner, and for many years the firm of Richards & Heffner was regarded as representing some of the finest ability in the profession at Clyde and enjoyed a very large and extensive practice. During the past twelve years Judge Richards has been continuously on the bench. In 1905, he was called by appointment to the Common Pleas Bench to fill a vacancy in his home district. On the expiration of the term he was renominated by acclamation and a popular election gave him a tenure of the office for a regular term. He was again elected to the same office, but resigned from the Common Pleas Bench on January 18, 1911, consequent upon his previous election in November, 1910, as judge of the Court of Appeals. Judge Richards is a member of the Sandusky County and the Ohio State Bar associations. In politics he is a republican. He is a non-resident member of the Toledo Commerce Club, and was president of the Toledo Shakespeare Association during the club year 1915-16. He is also a member of the Masonic Order, being affiliated with Monticello Lodge 244 of Clyde and with the Royal Arch Chapter at the same place. He and his wife are regular attendants of the Presbyterian Church. Judge Richards finds his chief recreation in travel and fishing and is fond of reading, and when at home is devoted to the law both as a science and profession. On June 7, 1882, he married Miss Jennie Harding, daughter of John and Mary (Smith) Harding, both of whom died at Clyde, Ohio, where they were old settlers. After nearly twenty-eight years of companionship Judge Richards lost his first wife at Clyde on January 8, 1910. She was the mother of three children. Robert G., the oldest, who now resides at Clyde, is a graduate of the high school there and was a student at Oberlin College. Rena, the only daughter, is a graduate of the Clyde High School, attended the Ohio Wesleyan at Delaware, and finished the course in the Library School of the Western Reserve University at Cleveland. She is now the wife of Dr. Walter M. Bucher of Cleveland. William M., who graduated from the Clyde High School from the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and the Western Reserve University law department, is now engaged in the practice of the law at Toledo, being associated with the firm of Kohn, Northup, Ritter & McMahon. All the children were born in Clyde. On November 18, 1914, Judge Richards married for his present wife Miss Elizabeth Strain of Columbus Grove, Putnam County, Ohio. Her father was for many years a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Putnam County, but both he and his wife are now deceased. Mrs. Richards was born in Pennsylvania, but completed her education in the high school at Columbus Grove. COLEMAN KEELER. In the pioneer annals of Lucas County one of the first names to be encountered is that of Keeler. One of the family was the late Coleman Keeler, who was prominently known as a business man both in Toledo and at Maumee, who served as mayor of the latter city for two years and whose death occurred in 1895. He was born in Onondaga County, New York, in February, 1827, the youngest of the eight children of Samuel Isaac and Lucy (Hall) Keeler. Samuel I. Keeler was born, reared and educated in Vermont, studied law, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1857 was admitted to the bar in 1817, moved soon after to New York and served as sheriff of Onondaga County. He was one of the leading attorneys practicing in Onondaga County, but in 1829 gave up his profession there and moved out to the frontier, settling in Lucas County, Ohio. He bought a farm near Toledo, paying for it twenty shillings an acre. During the next six years he devoted his time to clearing up his land, and then sold out and moved to Amboy in Fulton county, where he acquired 1,000 acres direct from the Government. Any account of pioneer activities in Fulton County should mention this sterling citizen, since he was among the earliest residents, and while doing much to improve the community he endured all the vicissitudes and privations of pioneer life. After improving part of his large landed estate he sold the greater part and moved to Cass County, Michigan, where he lived retired until his death in 1867 at the age of eighty-five. He had served as an officer in the War of 1812, while his father was a major in the Revolutionary war. The mother of Coleman Keeler was a native of Georgia and died at Amboy, Ohio, at the age of fifty-six. Two of her brothers, Salmon and George Hall, were soldiers in the War of 1812. The Keeler family is of Jewish and English extraction, but has been identified with America by several generations of residence. Coleman Keeler was about three years of age when his parents moved to Toledo. The family journeyed by boat from Buffalo to Toledo, which was then only a village surrounded by swamps and with Indians still almost as numerous as the white inhabitants. With only a meager equipment of education, on account of the scarcity of school facilities at the time, he rapidly matured his powers as a worker in the woods and on the farm, and when only twelve years of age began buying furs for the Northwestern Fur Company, of which his elder brother was a partner or factor with headquarters at Niles, Michigan. For five successive winter seasons Coleman Keeler made journeys alone on horseback, leading two pack horses, and in that time became acquainted with many of the pioneer trappers and Indian hunters of Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio. The summer months of that period he spent as second mate and wheel-man on a lake boat. He then became mate on a boat on Lake Superior, and followed the inland seas for five years. Giving up his life as a sailor, he next became traveling salesman for a wholesale house at Toledo, and this again brought him a full share of pioneer experiences. There were few railroads, and the traveling salesman of that time had a hard life as compared with the modern knight of the grip. He made most of his trips on horseback, and not infrequently had to pass a night by the roadside under the stars. After three years with the first firm he represented Landman & Heinshammer for about a year. From the lot of a traveling salesman he turned his attention to farming, buying 300 acres near Porter, Michigan, and paying $5.00 an acre. He farmed there for ten years, and left the place in a state of high improvement and cultivation. On selling his land he returned to Toledo and engaged in the wholesale grocery business. Then followed two years of mingled prosperity and adversity, but with the burning of his establishment he lost practically his entire fortune. Though he was then well along in years, he was not discouraged, and he soon faced to the Southwest and engaged in mining in New Mexico. That proved a most profitable enterprise, and in fifteen years he had built up a fortune larger than the one he had lost. Selling out his mining interests, he soon returned to Maumee and spent the rest of his life practically retired, though he dealt considerably in local real estate. It was after his return to Maumee that he took an active part in local politics as a democrat, and besides the office of mayor which he held two years was honored with nearly all the other municipal offices. In July, 1849, Coleman Keeler married Adeline Pratt of Michigan. She died in July, 1880. There were two children : Elliott P., who is now a prominent business man at Painesville, Ohio ; and Edith, the deceased wife of Henry N. Perrin of Matinee. In 1884 Coleman Keeler married Edith Clark of Detroit. She died in 1891, leaving a son, Coleman, Jr. ISAAC N. KELLER. Out on the Bay Shore Road from Toledo is located the second oldest greenhouse and floral industry of that city. Its owner and proprietor is Isaac N. Keller, a man of long and varied experiences in the seventy-four years of his lifetime. He is a surviving veteran of the great war between the states, in which he lost a leg, and for more than forty years has been pursuing the business of market gardening and the growing of fine flowers for Toledo people. His   1858 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO home and place of business are in Oregon Township. He was born near Findlay, Ohio, July 11, 1842, son of Frederick and Catherine (Court) Keller, both of whom spent their lives in that locality. Mr. Keller had a common school education. He wisely improved such advantages as came to him, and at the age of nineteen was presiding over a schoolroom as teacher. In 1861, when a little past nineteen, he left the schoolhouse for the purpose of enlisting in the army. At Findlay he joined Company B of the Twenty-First Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Then followed nearly three years of active military service involving hardships too numerous to mention and all the experiences incident to the lot of a brave and faithful soldier. One point that should be recalled is that the Twenty-first Ohio was equipped with Colt's revolving rifles, a distinct novelty in firearms at that time, and though the gun was very crude as compared with the highly efficient army rifle of today, it marked a great advance over the guns used by the great bulk of the Union forces. Mr. Keller was with his regiment in its many campaigns and marches back and forth through Kentucky, Tennessee and North Georgia, and in the battle of Chickamauga was wounded and captured. Eight days later an exchange of prisoners took place on the battlefield, and he was thus released and rejoined his command. Then followed the campaign through Atlanta. At Jonesboro, Georgia, on September 2, 1864, he was severely wounded, causing the loss of a leg. He remained in hospital recuperating and six 'months later was given an honorable discharge. Mr. Keller is a man who has always lived a wholesome and temperate life. He inherited a splendid constitution and has never abused it. In all the seventy-four years of his life he has never called a doctor to attend him owing to illness, though of .course his wounds in the army necessitated attendance by the surgeons. Somewhat handicapped in the choice of a career because of the loss of a leg in the army, Mr. Keller after his return from the army engaged in the jewelry business for twelve years at Huntington, Indiana. This work proved too confining, and in 1874 he moved to Toledo, looking for a location for a greenhouse. At that time he located on the Bay Shore about two miles east of the mouth of the Maumee River and has been there ever since, for a period of fully forty years. Except one his was the first greenhouse in Toledo. At the beginning his business was market gardening and the growing of vegetables under glass. About twenty years ago he introduced a department for the culture of flowers, and for the past six years has dropped gardening altogether. There are about thirty acres in his farm. Two of his sons, Cleo and Stanley, are well known among the successful onion growers of Lucas County, and conduct business under the firm name of Keller Brothers. At Carey, Ohio, in 1870, Mr. Keller married Althea Houck. Their children are : Cleo D„ who married Bessie Prickett of Alabama; Gail, who lives at home ; Stanley, who is associated with his brother Cleo in the onion growing business. Grace, wife of Leonard Seiss, a novelty manufacturer at Toledo ; and Paul, who was a student- in the State University at Columbus, and is now at El Paso, Texas, doing military duty. Mr. Keller has always been a republican. A few weeks after receiving a wound in the leg at Jonesboro, Georgia, and while still recuperating he registered his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. For many years he gave service to his community as a member of the school board. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the National Union. HENRY W. BELL. One of the prominent farmers of Lucas County, Henry W. Bell has for the past thirty-eight years given his time and attention to the development of a fine place two miles west of Silica in Sylvania Township. Mr. Bell has had a long and active career, and having recently passed the age of threescore and ten is able to view the past with complacency and look forward to the future without fear. He was born March 27, 1845, at Gallipolis, Ohio, a son of Henry and Caroline (Striblin) Bell. He grew up in Southern Ohio, had a common school education, as a boy learned the trade of mason. Coming to Northern Ohio, Mr. Bell followed his trade at Oberlin fifteen years, was in Cleveland five years and in Toledo four years. While working at Toledo he married Miss Emma Thomas, whose father, William Thomas, was one of the pioneers of Lucas County and is mentioned on other pages. Mr. Bell and Miss Thomas were married in 1878. Soon after their marriage they located on one of the farms owned by William Thomas, and have made their home there con- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1859 stantly for nearly forty years. For about two years Mr. Bell continued to follow his trade, and employed men to work the farm. Since then he has conducted it under his own supervision, and now follows general farming on 120 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Bell have one daughter, Cornelia, who lives at home. The family attend the Methodist Church, and Mr. Bell is a republican and was given his first degrees in Masonry at Oberlin, and is now a member of Sylvania Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. GEORGE W. BAMSEY. While Lucas County has its great factories and business houses, industrial centers and cities, its agricultural enterprises also aggregate resources that are highly important and worthy of consideration. Out in the farming districts are a number of men who are prosperous and progressive and who believe that the happiest life as well as the most independent one is to be lived on the farm. An example of success in this field is George W. Bamsey, who is one of the leading farmers in the western part of Sylvania Township. He was born in Springfield Township of Lucas County October 16, 1855, a son of John and Rosetta (Ackland) Bamsey. His parents were married in Springfield Township. His father was born in Devonshire, England, and came about 1850 to Lucas County. The mother was born in one of the eastern states, but her parents were also Devonshire people. The Acklands settled in Springfield Township some years before John Bamsey arrived. After his marriage John Bamsey conducted a halfway house in Springfield Township along the stage road. His death occurred in 1871 at the age of forty-four, while his widow passed away in 1911 at the age of seventy-three. Their children were: Adelaide, wife of George Hovey, a farmer in Springfield Township ; Jennie, wife, of John Blackburn, who lives in Jennings, Northern Michigan ; Robert, who died in 1881 at the age of twenty-two ; and George W. George W. Bamsey was reared in Lucas County and after his school days were over he took up farming as his regular vocation. In 1882 he married Sarah E. Hoadley. They are the parents of two children, Beatrice and Enid. The daughter Beatrice is a graduate of Oberlin College and is now teaching English at Rockyford, Colorado. Mr. Bamsey is a republican and is now filling with credit his third term as justice of the peace. WILLIAM S. DALY. The accumulation of wealth by the exercise of energy and sound business sense is such a usual thing in America that it often passes practically unnoticed. More important than the gaining of wealth is its wise use and distribution. And apparently more of character and ability are required for the latter than the former. It was in the liberal and general use of his means and the fundamental sympathy that went with every one of his acts of charity that especially distinguished the late William S. Daly of Toledo. Measured in years his life was comparatively brief. He was born in Buffalo, New York, February 13, 1849, and died at Gratiot Beach, Michigan, September 11, 1902, at the age of fifty-three. But in that time he accomplished man's work, and so closely were his life and character interwoven with the best activities and the lives of hundreds of Toledo's best known people, that his loss was regarded as nothing less than a calamity. To family, friends, church and the masses of humanity he represented the best elements of the successful American character. He was educated in the public schools of Buffalo, his native city. When seventeen years of age his family removed to Cleveland, Ohio, and there he found. a position with the Novelty Iron Works. At the age of twenty he was made manager of this plant and served it with characteristic efficiency for five years. He then came to Toledo, and was made secretary of Smith Bridge Works. A. little later he was elected president and for a number of years was the principal stockholder of what was then one of the largest manufacturing concerns in Toledo. In 1893 the business was sold to the American Bridge Company, and the plant thereafter was operated as The Toledo Bridge Works. After leaving the Bridge Company Mr. Daly occupied himself chiefly in the real. estate business. He became owner of some very valuable property in Toledo, including the fine Daly residence on Collingwood Avenue, where the family has lived since 1891. On coming to Toledo Mr. Daly identified himself with the Trinity Episcopal Church and was its junior warden some years. He was one of the organizers of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and was its junior warden until May, 1902, when he declined re-election on account of failing health. A few weeks before his death he went to Gratiot Beach in the hopes of regaining his health and death came 1860 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO to him while he was there. His funeral was held at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and it was conducted under the auspices of the Toledo Commandery No. 7 of Knight Templar. He was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery and besides the large concourse of sorrowing friends the pallbearers were some of his intimate former associates, including C. H. Strong, F. K. Hogue, J. M. Spencer, Graff M. Acklin, Jerome Smith and G. W. Tonsin. Mr. Daly was prominent in Masonic circles, being affiliated with Rubicon Lodge Free and Accepted Masons, Fort Meigs Chapter No. 29, Royal Arch Masons, Toledo Council No. 33, Royal and Select Masters, Toledo Commandery No. 7 Knight Templars, also the various Scottish Rite bodies of Toledo and Lake Erie Consistory. In 1871 Mr. Daly married Miss Elizabeth Perry of Cleveland. Mrs. Daly survives her husband, and of their six children four are living : Frances, Bertha, Albert and Lawrence. The son William died in 1888 and Edward died at Camp Meade with the Tenth Ohio Regiment. The broad minded ability with which he prosecuted his business affairs was matched in every particular by the quiet and unostentatious liberality and charity which made him so greatly beloved and so much missed in Toledo. On. Thanksgiving and Christmas there were scores of poor families in Toledo who acknowledged his generous helpfulness in making life brighter and more cheerful for them, and if he ever turned a case of deserving charity away empty handed, no one knows of it. He was not the type of a man who trumpets his philanthropy to the world, and the record of many of the good deeds he did in life died with him. Those who knew him best, whether in the family circle or as business associates, had particular reason to admire the sterling qualities and steadfastness of his character and his entire life was an example for good and an inspiration. WILLIAM E. IRWIN is widely known in business circles in this part of the state and represents the best type of the American citizen. William E. Irwin was born at Peru, Indiana, and is a son of Clarence R. Irwin. His grandfather, Christopher P. Irwin, was one of the early settlers of Fairfield Township, Huron County, Ohio, where he settled on a farm 1and engaged in agricultural pursuits, being engaged in these activities up to the time of his death. Clarence R. Irwin removed from Huron County, where he had been reared and educated, to Chicago and after a short stay had gone on to Peru, Indiana, where he was located for some years. When his father 's health failed he was called back to the homestead farm and remained thereon until 1892. He is still the owner of this valuable and well-cultivated property. In the year last mentioned Mr. Irwin left the farm and established the North Fairfield Savings Bank, of which he has been cashier to the present time. He is also the proprietor of a general merchandise business which he founded on locating at North Fairfield, and is generally conceded to be one of the town's most progressive business men and influential citizens. William E. Irwin received his education in the public schools, and had his first banking experience at North Fairfield when he started to work after his graduation from the North Fairfield High School. In 1899 he removed to the City of Toledo, where he entered the Auburndale Savings Bank, and when that institution established a downtown office he was transferred thereto and remained with the house during a series of consolidations that resulted in the forming of the Continental Trust and Savings Bank. On August 1, 1909, Mr. Irwin came to Sylvania to become cashier of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, a position which he retained until August 1, 1916. He is an example of the type of man who particularly deserves success because he persistently uses his position of power for the safeguarding of the interests of the community. That Mr. Irwin was highly thought of by his banking associates is shown in the fact that he occupied the position of secretary and treasurer of Group Three, Ohio Bankers Association, which comprises nine counties in Northwestern Ohio, including the City of Toledo. He resigned his position as cashier of the Sylvania bank August 1, 1916, and is now treasurer of the H. M. & R. Shore Company of Toledo, Ohio. On June 15, 1904, Mr. Irwin was married at Toledo to Miss Edna A. Hoskin. They are members of the Congregational Church, and Mr. Irwin serves as superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a. democrat in national issues, but in local affairs gives his support to the men and measures which he believes will best benefit the community and its people. MAURICE MARSH. A well earned success has been that of Maurice Marsh, who is one of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1861   the leading fruit growers in Lucas County, having a place near Silica in Sylvania Township. A number of years ago he was working at good wages in Toledo but country life and its activities made a strong appeal to him, and he went out into the farming districts and until he accumulated enough to start on his own account worked at from 75 cents to $1 a day.   He was born in Sussex, England, February 1,1847. He had only six weeks of regular schooling, in all his career, and began working and supporting himself when only seven years old. His grandfather, John Matthews, had been compelled to leave England because of his poaching, and consequently went to America and lived for some years at Sandusky. Maurice Marsh was about seven years of age when his grandfather returned to England. The boy listened to many tales told by his grandfather of the New World, and was particularly interested in the fact that American boys had a very easy time of attending school and did as much hunting as they liked. From that date Maurice Marsh, as he says, became a rebel to England, and his one ambition was to get money enough to come to the New World. While a boy he learned ship carpentry and caulking, and in 1868, having married, came to this country and located at Toledo. He worked there a few years and also in Michigan, and then moved to Wood County, Ohio, where his older brother, John Marsh, was living, and where another brother, Luke Marsh, had lived for twenty years.   From Wood County Mr. Marsh moved to Sylvania Township, where another one of his brothers lived. After working at small wages here he bought a part of his present farm, which was then completely covered by woods, and he now owns a place of thirty-five acres and rents about sixty acres in addition. Nearly all of his land is in fruit and fruit growing is a specialty upon which he has con. centrated his efforts and which has brought him his richly earned prosperity. Mr. Marsh has a peach orchard of about 1,000 trees, a fine apple orchard, some cherries and pears, and in 1916 had seven acres in strawberries. In 1913 he erected his fine new home, and though still active for a man of his years is able to look the future in the face calmly and enjoy such prosperity as he has earned.   In 1869 before leaving England he married Emma Still, who died a few months after they came to America. By his second marriage Mr. Marsh had six children : William,   Vol. III-34   who married Melvina Halleck ; John, who married Nellie Case and lives at Ypsilanti, Michigan ; Frederick, who has a home near his father but is a contractor, and he married Lettie Read; Moses, who died in Missouri in 1902 at the age of eighteen, and Emma and Harry, who died in childhood. The mother of these children died in 1892. For his present wife Mr. Marsh married Catherine Schlicher, who was born in Germany. Their children are: Thomas ; Ashley ; Tressie, wife of Nelson Pemberton of Sylvania; Mary, wife of Michael Pepon ; Nelson ; Mark ; Lucy ; and Frances.   Mr. Marsh is a republican, and has served as a school director. He is a member of the Protected Home Circle in Sylvania Lodge and belongs to the Evangelical Church.   VALENTINE HICKS KETCHAM, SR. When Valentine Hicks Ketcham, Sr. died in Toledo July 30, 1887, he left behind him a record of singular success in the fields of merchandising, banking and business affairs, and represented not merely by the accumulation of great wealth but also by its wise use and by the influence which he constantly exerted as a constructive factor in the upbuilding and progress from the time it was a small village until it began to assume the great proportions of modern times.   It can be properly said that Mr. Ketcham and his varied activities constituted one of the real cornerstones of Toledo's modern prosperity. He came to Toledo eighty years ago. He possessed not only the judgment and industry which made him a successful merchant, but also the wise faith and foresight that enabled him to embark with enthusiasm upon enterprises whose fruits could only be appreciated after years of growth. Much that is good and permanent in the city today reflects the enterprise of an individual whose earthly career terminated upwards of thirty years ago. To single out one institution, there is the First National Bank of Toledo. In resources and general stability it is one of the largest financial institutions of Ohio. It is a bank with traditions as well as magnificent material assets. Some of those traditions, still governing today, were supplied by the late Valentine H. Ketcham, who for many years was its president.   Though the success of his lifetime could be traced largely through his own initiative and self reliance, it is also true that he came of fine family stock. His parents were Samuel   1862 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   and Rachel (Sands) Ketcham, and his father was both a farmer and miller at Cornwall in Orange County, New York. At the old home there Valentine Hicks Ketcham was born November 12, 1815, the beginning of his life coinciding with the close of the War of 1812 and with the beginning of the great movement toward the West which had already proceeded as far as the Mississippi River when he himself entered actively into the pioneer concerns of Toledo.   His first experience came from his father's farm and from his father's mill. The winter months were spent in the district schools. In 1827, when he was twelve years of age his parents removed to New York City, where his father was in business for some years. During the next three years Valentine attended school part of the time but for the most part was learning the trade of carpenter and joiner. At the end of three years he was sent back to the farm at Cornwall, and employed his energies there for two years. Upon the return of his father to take the management of the farm, young Valentine again went to the city to complete his apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade.   Then came a critical time in his affairs. Through the influence of a merchant whom he knew he secured a position as clerk in the mercantile house of J. F. Cropsey. He never completed his apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. Merchandising was his real vocation, and remaining with Mr. Cropsey until July, 1836, he steadily progressed and made himself master of all the fundamental details.   In the summer of 1836 Mr. Ketcham, then not quite twenty-one years of age, started for the West with a Mr. Lane. At that time not a single mile of railroad had been constructed west of the Allegheny Mountains. Accordingly they came West by canal boat and the lakes as far as Detroit, and thence journeyed into the interior of Michigan. Mr. Ketcham purchased eighty acres of Government land in Oakland County of that state. He spent a brief time in Toledo, but soon returned to New York. The possibilities of the then rapidly growing and developing West left a permanent impression upon his mind, and soon led him to join the great army of pioneers who were redeeming the country from the domain of the wilderness.   In August, 1836, Mr. Ketcham left New York City with a small stock of general merchandise. Arriving in Toledo he opened a store on St. Clair Street at the location where the Merchants Hotel now stands. He rented his storeroom from Coleman I. Keeler, Sr. The next summer his store was removed to Summit Street near Perry, and in 1838 to the corner of Summit and LaGrange streets. As one of the prominent pioneer business houses of Toledo it is well to follow the different changes of the establishment. In 1841 the location ;vas moved to 32-34 Summit Street, and while there Mr. Ketcham extended his trade to wholesale, beginning in a very modest way. The opening of the Miami Canal in 1843, connecting Toledo with Cincinnati,' proved a great impetus to his business. In 1846 Joseph K. Secor became a partner, under the name Ketcham and Secor. In 1851 Mr. Ketcham withdrew from the mercantile house to devote all his attention to his banking affairs.   In the meantime, in 1850, Mr. Ketcham had formed a partnership with John Poag, and they opened one of the private banks that furnished financial connections to many of the Toledo business men of that time. In 1854 John Berdan and S. S. Hubbard became associated with the older partners in the bank, and this change gave rise to the old firm name of Ketcham, Berdan & Company. When the National Bank Act of 1863 was passed a charter was taken out, and the First National Bank of Toledo organized. This bank took over the old business of the firm of Ketcham, Berdan & Company, and Mr. Ketcham became first president of the institution under its national charter. He continued to hold that office until his death nearly twenty-five years later. Both while he was alive and since much of the prestige of the First National Bank can be traced to the conservative policy established by Mr. Ketcham.   Another important field to which his activities extended was real estate. He showed his faith in the growing town by making investments in realty soon after coming to Toledo. At times he lost money, but as a rule his judgment was sound, and his profits were correspondingly large. His wisdom in real estate is reflected by one or two instances that may be noted, and those instances also have a historic value in showing how Toledo property has increased in value during the last seventy years. In 1843 Mr. Ketcham cleared the ground where the Produce Exchange Building now stands at the corner of Madison Avenue and St. Clair Street. He erected a brick dwelling house on the site. Toledo had not yet built up to that point and it was prob-   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1863   lematical whether the corner would ever be included in a valuable district. The nearest house at the time was the residence of Charles G. Keeler on the southeast corner of Madison and St. Clair Street, at the place where the Government Building now stands. Mr. Ketcham paid $1,000 for his lot, and a few years later sold it to John Poag for $4,700, while years later it was sold to the Produce Exchange for $55,000. Another instance : In 1852 Mr. Ketcham purchased sixty feet on the west side of the present site of the Government Building, paying $1,200. Twelve years later he sold it for $4,500 and in 1880 the United States Government purchased the ground at a price of $27,000.   By his various business ventures, and his activities as a wholesale merchant, banker and real estate operator, Mr. Ketcham became recognized as one of the wealthiest men in Northern Ohio. His means were almost constantly employed in investments that made for a greater and better Toledo. He erected many dwellings and business blocks. One of these was the four-story building at 28-36 Summit Street, another was the stores at 6365 Summit Street, a building at the corner of Summit and Jefferson streets, and in association with the late Mars Nearing he built the four-story block at Summit and Adams streets. This last named block was occupied by the late J. L. Hudson, the Detroit clothier, until it was destroyed by fire in 1909. Mrs. Nearing, a daughter of Mr. Ketcham, at once began the work of rebuilding and the site is now occupied by a fine modern structure the home of The Thompson-Hudson Company department store. Mr. Ketcham also put up the four-story block on the corner of Oak and Summit streets and at the time of his death had a. similar structure under way at another location on Oak Street.   Mr. Ketcham passed away at his residence on the corner of Cherry and Bancroft streets. It is said that his funeral was one of the largest ever held in Toledo, and among citizens of all classes who followed his remains to their last resting place was a delegation from the Produce Exchange and all the bankers of Toledo. Politically Mr. Ketcham was a republican, and while always interested in party success was not an aspirant for any public honors.   On December 30, 1841, he married Miss Rachel Ann Berdan, daughter of John and Pamelia Berdan. John Berdan was for many years actively associated with Mr. Ketcham in banking. To their marriage were born four children, three of whom are now living. The oldest is Mrs. Mary Ketcham Nearing, widow of the late Mars Nearing. Mars Nearing served as president of The First National Bank, succeeding Mr. Ketcham. Mrs. Nearing whose home is at the corner of 17th Street and Madison Avenue, is one of Toledo's best known women and most active benefactors. Many movements of a social or charitable purpose have received her support and encouragement, but she has perhaps given her greatest interest and work to the First Congregational Church. Only recently that church was made the beneficiary of a gift aggregating nearly $25,000, in the form of a magnificent organ, known as the Mary Ketcham Nearing Memorial organ. This instrument was dedicated in May, 1916. It is said to be the finest pipe organ in Ohio and in many points is superior to the most famous organs in the country. It contains 2,355 pipes, is a four-manual organ, with more than 60 stops. Valentine H. Ketcham, Jr., the second of the living children, is referred to on other pages. The youngest child is George H. Ketcham, who resides in Toledo, and who completed his education in Swarthmore College, an old and noted Quaker institution at Swarthmore, a suburb of Philadelphia.   VALENTINE HICKS KETCHAM, JR., a son of the late Valentine Hicks Ketcham, Sr., inherited much of the business ablity of his honored father, whose career is sketched on other pages, and at different times has been a decided factor in commercial affairs at Toledo and wields a powerful influence still through the control and direction of the extensive properties owned by him.   Born in Toledo January 14, 1855, he received his early education in the Toledo public schools. As a boy, though the son of a wealthy father, he started to learn business from the bottom, and was for about six months clerk in the retail grocery store of E. Bateman on Summit Street. He left that position to enter the First National Bank, where he remained for fourteen years, and on severing his connections was assistant cashier. For several years Mr. Ketcham was actively identified with the Ketcham Furniture Company in the manufacture of furniture, but in later years has devoted all his business energies to his extensive property interests.   Mr. Ketcham owns Guard Island in Maumee Bay nine miles from Toledo at the mouth   1864 - HISTORY OF. NORTHWEST OHIO   of the Maumee River. He has a beautiful summer home there, and has made that location the center for his favorite recreation of boating. During the summer months of the year he spends most of his time boating and owns three fine boats. He pursues this entirely for recreation and has no inclination for the so called sporting side of the amusement.   He is a member of the Ottawa River Yacht Club, and belongs to Toledo Lodge No. 53, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and to the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He maintains an office in the Valentine Building.   The Valentine Building, it should be noted, was erected by his brother George H. Ketcham and stands as a memorial to the late Valentine H. Ketcham, Sr. In this building is the Valentine Theater, the finest theater in North Toledo. Mr. Ketcham was married in January, 1915, to Ann G. Courson, of Newton, New Jersey.   ROWLAND C: OVERMIER. A lifetime that had its practical benefit and that exemplified the virtues .of good citizenship, upright and honorable conduct, was that of the late Rowland C. Overmier, who died at his farm home in Washington Township of Henry County March 11, 1910.   He spent most of his life in Ohio, having been horn in Jackson Township of Sandusky County in 1846. The genealogy of his family goes back to colonial days in old Pennsylvania, and the• family originally came from Germany. The emigrant ancestor was John George Overmier, who came to the United States in 1751 and located in that part of Northumberland County which is now Union County, Pennsylvania. That was one of the newer sections of the Province of Pennsylvania. It will be recalled that four years passed. before the outbreak of the French and Indian war and the great defeat of Brad-dock's troops in Western Pennsylvania. John George Overmier probably married after coming to Pennsylvania, and as a result of his labors a large estate was improved and built up. He died in that locality. The first generations, of the family were probably members of the Lutheran Church. All of them exemplified the rugged characteristics of their ancestry and became prosperous farmers.   The net generation is represented by Peter Overmier; who was born on the old homestead in Pennsylvania in 1761, grew up there, and married Catherine Hoffman. They were thrifty farmers, . spent their lives in Union County, and died when quite old. As was the custom in that day they reared a large family. One of their children was John George Overmier, grandfather of Rowland C. He was born in September, 1784, not long after the close of the Revolutionary •war but before the establishment of our present Federal Union. He grew lip in Union County, and gave the best years of his long life to the business of farming. After his marriage he moved to Perry County, Ohio, and was one of the pioneers who made the first breaks in the wilderness of that section. He lived there until his death.   Joel Overmier, also one of a large family of children, was born in Perry County, Ohio, in February, 1822. When a young man he moved to Sandusky County, and married there Julia M. Geesman, who was a native of Pennsylvania. They were married in 1845 in Jackson Township of 'Sandusky County, and several of their children were born there, including Rowland. Later they moved to St. Joseph County, Indiana, and while living there Rowland C: Overmier secured the most of his educational advantages. In 1863 the family returned to Ohio and went into a portion of Washington Township, Henry County, which as yet had been left almost untouched by the civilizing hand of man. Buying land, Joel Overmier cleared it up and made a farm, and he died there at the age of eighty-one, while his wife passed away at the age of seventy-five. They were much respected people, good Christians, early members of the Lutheran Church, paid their debts, helped their neighbors and -set a good example in the community. Joel was a democrat.   It was after the family came to Washington Township that Rowland C. Overmier reached his majority. From early years he had been trained in the habits of industry, and was always a hard worker and mixed his industry with good judgment. In that township he married Marie E. Emmel. Mrs. Overmier was horn in the Province of Hesse Nassau, Germany, November 12, 1846; When she was five years of age she came to the United States with her parents, Henry A. and Mary S. (Walralenstein) Emmel, who located in Sandusky County, Ohio. Her parents were also natives of Hesse Nassau and both were of excellent ancestry: Her father was born in 1821 and her mother on September 7, 1818, and they were well reared and given the best   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1865   of advantages in the schools. They were married in 1841, and 'ten years later came to America with their Toni. children. They made the voyage from Antwerp to New York in a sailing vessel, being seven weeks on the ocean. Near Fremont in Sandusky County they bought a new farm, lived there until 1866, and in that county their three youngest children were born. Coming to Washington Township of Henry County, Mr. Emmel bought eighty acres of wild land and lived to see it improved as a comfortable home. He died there in 1891, and his wife in 1901. They were Lutherans and he was a democrat and filled places of trust and responsibility, serving for years as township trustee. Four of the Emmel children are now living, all married and all have children of their own except Mrs. Overmier.   After their marriage Mr. and. Mrs. Overmier started out as farmers,_ and by 'being thrifty and economical, and not sparing in toil, they had a good farm home on which to spend their declining years. It was on that farm that Mr. Overmier passed away.   Besides farming he always took an active interest in local affairs as a democrat. He served as township trustee for several terms, and was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Liberty Center.   In 1911 Mrs. Overmier removed to Liberty Center and bought a comfortable home •on East Maple Avenue.. Here she spends her time quietly, is a regular attendant at the Reformed Church, and being a woman of education she enjoys that respect paid to one who is well informed and a fluent talker, and has the best qualities of social leadership.   GEORGE P. KNEIP. Through the ups and downs of an average business career George P. Kneip' has worked steadily, undiscouraged by misfortune, with eyes fixed resolutely on success, and is now one of the leading business men of Gibsonburg, and has a large and prosperous general insurance business and also handles many of the better class of securities.   Mr. Kneip Was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, August 28, 1865. He is a son of Jacob and Eva (Ney) Kneip. His father was born in Germany in 1828 and died in. June, 1911. He came to Ohio when a young man, locating at Fremont, where he was a laborer during the construction of the Lake Shore Railway. He afterwards worked for some years for General Buckland, and finally invested his limited capital in a farm and was well to do before he died. That farm is still in the family. He became a democrat in polities, served as a member of the school board, and he and his family were active members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Fremont. Jacob Kneip married Eva Ney at Fremont. She was born in France in 1833 and died in February, 1903. Her father, Henry Ney, came to America by way of .New Orleans. It required fifty-two days to make the voyage from the old country to that southern city, and from there he brought his family on a river boat north and first arrived at Norwalk, from which. point they took a stage to Fremont. Mr. Ney had only a dollar when he 'came to Fremont, but by industry acquired a good home and provided well for his children. George P. Kneip was one of three children, only two now living. His sister Anna is the wife of Mr. Irvin Batesole and they live on the old home farm in Sandusky County.   On that old farm George P. Kneip spent his early years. He attended the district schools, for one year was a student in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and also took a course in the Columbus Commercial College. On returning home he taught two terms of country school and then found employment in a clothing store at Fremont. He remained with his employers eleven years and with such capital as he had been able to save then entered the restaurant business in Fremont and later in Gibsonburg. That last venture proved unsuccessful, since at the end of two years he was burned out, when the whole south side of Gibsonburg was destroyed by fire. Somewhat reduced in circumstances, he resumed clerking for the firm of Dreyfus & Bach at Fremont. Two years later he was back in Gibsonburg, and took charge of the clothing and shoe department of one of the large local stores. He was with that store five years, and in 1906 opened his office as an insurance man. He has built up a large clientage in general insurance, and in the handling of securities. To this business he gives all his time.   Mr. Kneip was married in 1889 to Caroline Groff, who was born in Sandusky County. They have three children : Irene, at home ; George Dewey, a student in the Ohio State University ; and Frederick, still in high school. The family are members of the Catholic , Church. Mr. Kneip is a democrat, and has held practically all the offices within the gift of his fellow citizens at Gibsonburg. He has   1866 - HISTORY OF. NORTHWEST OHIO   been a member of the school board, on the .council, president- of the council, and mayor of the. city.   ALLEN E. AVERY, of Bowling Green, represents one of the fine old families of this section of Ohio. His mother was a Hughes, and four generations of the Avery and Hughes families have been represented in this section, from pioneer times to date.   Mr. Avery has built up a fine business at Bowling Green in coal, building supplies, tile, brick and other commodities. His headquarters are at 525 West Wooster Street near the station of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and. Dayton Railway. He has 800 feet of side track to furnish ample service and connection with-the railroad. His office is a stucco on tile building. He also has a modern ten-room cement block house at 126 Gorrill Avenue. Besides handling general building supplies he operates a concrete block factory and also builds and manufactures concrete burial vaults. Mr. Avery has been very successful since engaging in business at Bowling Green.   He was born in Plain Township of Wood County September 29, 1882. He grew up on his father's farm, graduated from the Bowling Green High School in 1902, and subsequently took a course in the Metropolitan Business College at Toledo. For a year or two he was a ,bookkeeper and then entered business on his own account.   His grandfather, Washington Avery, came to Wood County when a young man with his parents. He married Narcissus Meeker, also of an early family in this part of Ohio. Washington Avery and wife were married in Plain Township and spent their careers as farmers in that and in Center Township. They died when quite old and had a number of children.   Alfred Avery, father of Allen, was the first son and second child. He was born in Center Township in 1852, grew up there and, married Rosetta Hughes. She was born in England in 1854 and was an infant when her parents, James and Jane Ann (Cornwall) Hughes, and also her grandfather, James Hughes, Sr., came to America. They made the journey in a slow going sailing vessel, and arriving in Northern Ohio settled on a tract of wild land in Wood County. They did their share toward clearing up the wilderness, and the older generations of the Hughes family spent, the rest, of ,their days in this section. In earlier times the Averys were worshipers in the Seventh Day Adventist Church. In politics the Averys were democrats, while the men of the Hughes house were republicans. Washington Avery once served as county infirmary director, but as a family they have not been .seekers for political honors. Alfred Avery and wife after their marriage located on a farm and followed farming actively until 1902, when they retired to Bowling Green and have since lived in a comfortable home at 427 West Wooster Street. Alfred Avery is a democrat and his wife is .a member of the United Brethren Church.   Allen E. Avery is the youngest of three sons. His older brother, Harley, is a farmer west of Bowling Green and by his marriage to Lotta Kaylor of Genoa, Ohio, has five children, one son and four daughters. The son Homer is a drainage contractor living on South Grove Street in Bowling Green. He married Emma Carr and has two daughters and one son.   Mr. Allen E. Avery was married at Bowling Green to Loretta Castner. 'She was born in Southern Indiana in 1885, and when five years of age removed with her parents to Findlay, Ohio, later to Rudolph, and at the age of twelve she came to Bowling Green. She finished her education in the local high school. Mr. and Mrs. Avery have one son, Gerald Elwood, who was born March 29, 1910. Mrs. Avery is a member- of the Methodist Episcopal Church and while he belongs to the United Brethren Church he usually attends the Methodist services. Politically he is 'independent and is a member of the Knights of Pythias.   WINFIELD SCOTT RAYDURE, of Bowling Green, is one of the veteran oil producers of the United States. He began his active connection with that industry back in Pennsylvania over fifty years ago. He has outlived many of his early contemporaries in the business and it is said that as an individual he has probably sunk more drills into the oil sands than any 'other man now living.   He gained his first experience in the business as an employe of the old United States Oil Company in Pennsylvania in 1866. Later in the same year he started operations on his own account. At first he was in the district of Pleasantville and Titusville, and then became a partner of Jonathan Watson. They were associated in this business for fourteen years, chiefly in Warren, Venango and Butler counties. They put down many wells in the Western Pennsylvania fields and also extended   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1867   their operations to McKean County, Pennsylvania, for four years.   On dissolving this partnership Mr. Raydure became identified with the Duke & Norton Oil Company. For nine years they were successful operators in Allegany County, New York, and also extended their operations into Tennessee for a short time, and from there to the South Lima field in 'Ohio. This company put down the second well in that field on the Rightner far T, where the paper mill people had sunk the first well. Both proved prod-. ducers and around them soon grew up a forest of derricks, and one of the biggest fields of the country developed there. This company subsequently turned their property over to the Ohio Oil Company, which was organized about 1889 or 1890.   At that time Mr. Raydure and his family moved back to Crawford County, Pennsylvania. He had his home there until 1899, when, with several friends from Bowling Green, he bought the Palmer oil property, conducting it four years as the Exchange Oil Company. They sold this and Mr. Raydure then went West and leased some extensive oil lands in Kansas and also in Oklahoma. His Kansas operations were in the vicinity of Independence and for about a year he was in Washington County, Oklahoma. There he became a large holder of leases and sunk about 200 wells. Mr. Raydure still owns oil property in Oklahoma and it is under the management of his son. In October, 1915, Mr. 'Raydure went into the Kentucky field and began operating in the Irvine oil pool in Estill County.   In the course of his fifty years of experience Mr. Raydure has put down wells to the number of many hundreds, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma. This extended activity would justify almost any claim made for him as one of the, best known veteran oil producers of the United States.   Mr. Raydure was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, in 1846, and grew up and received his education there. He was fifteen years of age when the war broke out and he made two unsuccessful attempts to convince his father that his services were needed by the country. In the third attempt he was permitted to join Company F of the Eighty-third Pennsylvania Infantry. This regiment became a part of the Fifth Army Corps, Third Division, under General Warren. With that great commander Mr. Raydure fought twenty-seven engagements, including thirty days in the trenches in almost continuous fighting at Richmond and Petersburg. He was in the first and second battles of Bull Run, at Pittsburg Landing, the Battle of the Wilderness and at Gettysburg. At Gettysburg his regiment was one that opposed the gallant charge .of Pickett's Brigade and though in the midst of the hail of shot on that day he escaped unhurt. He was never wounded and never captured. He was at Appomattox when Lee surrendered. Mr. Raydure made a record as a gallant soldier that his descendants will always cherish.   Mr. Raydure is a republican, and has attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry, being affiliated with the Consistory at Rochester and with the Lodge at Bowling Green. He and his son are both members of Lodge No. 818 the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Bowling Green.   JAY DOLSON EWING. Among the Scotch-Irish families which were established in Maryland and Virginia prior to the Revolutionary war, took part in the same and later came to Ohio, was that of Ewing, one that has given men of great and substantial achievement to the United States in different generations since. At present the name is worthily borne at Carey, Ohio, by a prominent business man of this place, Jay Dolson- Ewing, who is sole owner of the drug store which is conducted under his own name. He has been identified with this drug house, in its various changes, since 1892, when he purchased his first half interest.   Jay Dolson Ewing was born at Bluffton, Ohio, and is a son of Silas and Elizabeth (Shiveley) Ewing. His father was a physician and also a farmer and cleared up his land in Hancock County, not far from Bluffton,. from the virgin wilderness and was one of the pioneer physicians of that section. He was a man of education and energy but, like many other pioneers 'of his profession, left little estate to his descendants except an honorable name.   In the district schools of Orange Township, Hancock County, Jay Dolson Ewing was - started on his educational path which led through the Bluffton High School, from which he was graduated in 1884. His first business venture was as a book canvasser, and with the money he secured by selling Bibles for one   1868 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   year through Allen and Hancock counties he took an advanced course' in the Ohio State Normal School at Ada; following which he returned to Bluffton and spent a summer on his father's farm. Having no particular leaning toward an agricultural life, but rather an inherited tendency toward the medical profession, perhaps it was quite natural for him to leave the farm and seek a position in the drug trade, accepting a clerkship in the drug store of A. Hauenstein, at Bluffton, where he remained for five years and during that time learned to speak the German language. He also was a diligent and interested student of pharmacy and in the meanwhile took a correspondence school course in the Chicago National Institute of Pharmacy.   In 1892 came the opportunity for which Mr. Ewing had been waiting and saving his money, and he purchased- a half interest in the drug business of E. F. Schneider at Carey, and the firm style became J. D. Ewing & Company. For Et ve years Mr. Ewing continued the partnership but in. 1897 he purchased the other half interest in the business and since then the firm name has been J. D. Ewing. In addition to carrying a full line of pure drugs he handles. many specialties, including the popular "Rexall" remedies, paints and oils and the commodities that are usually to be found in a modern drug store. He has a substantial trade that covers a wide territory.   In 1888 Mr. Ewing was married to Miss Elizabeth Flick, who is a daughter of Daniel and Phoebe (Rugh) Flick, old Dutch families of this section, the father being a retired. farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing have three children : Clare Olan, Ruth Elizabeth and Robert Flick. Clare Olan Ewing was born August 17, 1889, and was graduated in 1913 from the Ohio State University with his degrees of B. S. and M. S., and is a chemist employed' by the Government at Washington, District of Columbia. In 1914 he was married at Columbus, Ohio, to Miss Marie Murphey and they have two children, Robert, born in 1915, and Clare, born in 1916. The only daughter, Ruth Elizabeth, attended the municipal schools at Carey- and displaying unusual- musical talent, was given a musical education, taking a course of -four years in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and being graduated in piano and pipe organ. ,She then established a conservatory of music, at Spencer, Iowa, where she was married in 1915 to Randall M. Tuttle and they have one son, Frank Ewing, who was born. in 1917.   The youngest member of Mr. Ewing's family, Robert Flick Ewing, was born at Carey, Ohio, in 1894, attended the public schools and after being graduated from the high school spent four years in the engineering department of the Ohio State University, being graduated in 1917. He resides at Wellsville, Ohio, where he is connected with the McLain Fire Brick Company.   Mr. Ewing has always been a decided public-spirited citizen. He helped to organize the National Electric. Porcelain Company of Carey, of which he is a stockholder and the secretary and a director, and also was one of the organizers of the Carey Mill and Elevator Company, of which he is secretary and a di- rector, and has additional personal interests and has ever been ready to give encouragement to enterprises which have promised to he generally beneficial.   In his political views Mr. Ewing has always been staunch in his adherence to the . republican party, but his personal following was great enough to elect and re-elect him treasurer of Crawford Township on the independent ticket. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity at Carey and the Eastern Star and belongs also to the Knights of Pythias and the Pythian Sisters. He is a member of the Carnegie Library Board. He and family are very active members of the English Lutheran Church.   HENRY C. PRIGGE. To take a tract of raw land, much as nature left it, and develop it as a modern farm homestead, is a task worthy of the best that a man has of ambition, industry, and intelligence. Such has been the measure of the achievement of Henry C. Prigge of Henry County.   Twenty-seven years ago Mr. Prigge came to his present farm of 120 acres in section 25 of Monroe Township. The land was rough, much of it covered with timber and brush, was unacquainted with the plow, and the houses, fences and other improvements were largely conspicuous by their absence. In the years that have since elapsed Mr. Prigge has found time- and energy to bring about a notable transformation. All his land except thirty-five acres is now under cultivation. It grows splendid crops of corn, wheat and oats. The soil is black loam and will .compare favorably with any of the land found in this fertile section of Northwest Ohio. The building improvements are on a par with the fields. There is a large barn 40 by 80 feet. A granary   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1869   24 by 36 feet, a hog house 20 by 32 feet, and a number of other sheds constitute, the business end of the farm. For the home of himself and family Mr. Prigge has a modern constructed ten-room house, with slate roof, painted a cream color, and with interior arrangement and furnishings all devised to make country life attractive.   This substantial farmer of Henry County was born in Adams Township of Defiance County March 22, 1864. He grew up and received his education there and twenty-seven years ago came to the farm which he now occupies.   His parents were Henry and Catherine (Driscahorse) Prigge, both natives of Hanover and of old Lutheran stock. Henry Prigge was reared in Germany and was married there for his first wife to Miss Rhors. Soon after their marriage they came to America, locating in Defiance County and he was one of the early settlers there. They arrived after a six weeks' voyage by sailing vessel. Locating in the woods of Defiance County, he improved and cleared up 120 acres of land. On that farm three children were born, Henry, Mary and Sophia. Their mother died in the prime of life. Henry Prigge then married for his second wife Miss Catherine Driscahorse, who became the mother 'ofthe following children : Catherine, now deceased, married Detrich Drewes, who is also deceased, and there were nine children of their union ; Minnie, living in Napoleon, the widow of John Liest, and the mother of a son William ; Dora, wife of John Drewes, a farmer in section 26 of Monroe Township and the mother of a family of two sons, Arnold and Fred ; Henry C. ; Fred, who died on the old homestead in Defiance County, and is survived by his widow and five sons and four daughters who are still living there.   Henry C. Prigge was fourteen years old when his father died, and after that he had to shift largely for himself. In Napoleon Township of Henry County he married Miss Mary Heiberg. Mrs. Prigge was born on the old Heiberg farm in Napoleon Township March 4, 1871, a daughter of Christopher and Anna (Drewes) Heiberg. Her parents were natives of Hanover and were members of a prominent colony of Hanoverians who did so much for the early development of Henry County. They are still living on their old farm in Napoleon Township. Mr. and Mrs. Prigge have three children : Albert, the oldest, was born November 14, 1886, looks after a farm in Marion Township of Henry County, and by his marriage to Artena Schwiebert of that township has a daughter Laura who was born February 1, 1916. Otto, born July 4, 1893, lives at home and is assisting his father in the management of the splendid estate above described. Emilia, born January 1, 1897, is also at home. All the children were well educated in the local public schools. The family are active members of the Lutheran Church and Mr. Prigge has cast a democratic vote in many elections.   WILLIAM W. WILDER is one of the leading business men of Clyde, and is now president and treasurer of the Clyde Kraut Company, an industry of large importance not only locally but throughput the section of the Middle West, and a business that was established by his father over twenty-five years ago. The company was at first a partnership concern, but was incorporated in 1900 with a. capital stock of $10,000, which has since been increased to $50,000. The products of this company are they famous "Silver Fleece" of kraut, cherries and other commodities, and the output has had an increasing consumption and is now shipped all over the United States.   Mr. Wilder was born at Clyde, Ohio, August 28, 1872, and is a son of Alonzo J. and Mary A. (Hough) Wilder. The late Alonzo J. Wilder, who died in 1912, was born January 14, 1841, on his father's farm in Granger Township of Medina County, Ohio. The grandfather William Wilder was born in Barkhamstead, Connecticut, in 1789. As a young man he started westward to make a home in what was then the Western Reserve of Ohio. He carried an axe on his shoulder and a few apple seeds in his pocket, and walked the entire distance from Connecticut to the heart of the new Connecticut in Ohio: In 1818 he located in Medina County, and in 1819 married Elsie T. Hatch, who had come to Medina County in 1817, also walking part of the way from Onondaga County, New York, where her father had been at one time owner of the entire North Bristol Township. William Wilder and wife established a home in the forests of Medina County and reared a large family. They lived undisturbed by their Indian neighbors and in time .they had a valuable property. The apple seeds which William Wilder had carried with him from the east were planted and in time made a pro-   1870 -HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   ductive orchard. The children of William Wilder and wife were : Lucy A., William H., a California forty-niner who died in the West in 1858, Calvin H., Annie, Charlotte E., Martin J., Sophronia A., Alonzo James, Nathan Thomas and Jeanette. The mother of these children lived to be ninety-two years of age and passed away at Clyde in 1892.   Alonzo J. Wilder spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Medina County, was educated in country schools and the Granger Academy, and like other members of the family had pronounced musical talent and taste. He taught music for a time in his young manhood. In 1868 he removed to Clyde and bought the Metcalf grocery store. Though without previous experience as a merchant, he had the energy and the persistency which in time brought him success. In 1870 C. A. Miner became a partner in the firm Wilder and Miner, but six years later Mr. Wilder bought his partner's interest. In 1882 he was joined by his brother Nathan T. and the firm then became Wilder Brothers. In 1889 they sold a third interest to W. G. Estell, a former clerk, and the new title of the business was Wilder Brothers & Estell. As general merchants they had extensive dealings with the surrounding farming communities, and to provide better facilities for the storage of farm products they built a warehouse and a cold storage plant, the latter particularly for keeping butter, eggs and apples.   It was in 1890 that Alonzo J. Wilder engaged in. the kraut business. His factory more than anything else stimulated an important feature of agricultural enterprise in that section of Ohio and the farmers found cabbages a profitable crop. The business was founded under the name Clyde Kraut Company, and it had a rapid growth almost from the first. In a few years the burdens of its management were such as to cause Mr. Wilder to sell his interests in the grocery business, and the brothers sold out to W. G. Estell and to W. W. Wilder. The two Wilder brothers continued the management of the kraut business until 1900, when they incorporated, taking into the company W. W-. Wilder, C. N. Wilder, the latter a son of Nathan Wilder, and B. E. Babcock, a son-in-law of Nathan Wilder. The officers of the Company were : A. J. Wilder, president ; Nathan T. Wilder, vice president ; W. W. Wilder, secretary and treasurer. About that time the company established a branch house for the manu facture of kraut and pickles at Jackson, Michigan.   Alonzo J. Wilder was married November 27, 1866, to Miss Mary A. Hough, a daughter of John Hough of Wayne County, Ohio. She died in 1874, leaving two children : William W. and Helen M., who subsequently married Carl S. Breckinridge, of Chicago. Alonzo J. Wilder married for his second wife Mrs. Nealie Watterson, daughter of Rev. George R. Brown. His second wife died in January, 1895, and in March,. 1898, A. J. Wilder married Mrs. Rosaline Bemiss, daughter of Daniel White.   William W. Wilder grew, up in Clyde, was educated in the local schools, including the high school, and even as a boy gained considerable knowledge of business in the store of his father and uncle. At the age of eighteen he went West to Portland, Oregon, and while employed in a wholesale hardware company in that city he took a course in a business college, completing it in 1891. In 1895 he returned to Clyde and soon afterward entered the firm. of Wilder, Estell & Company, successors of Wilder Brothers & Estell. Mr. Wilder was an active factor in this old and reliable mercantile house until 1900, when he joined in the incorporation of the Clyde Kraut Company and accepted the -office of secretary and treasurer. He held that office and was active in the management until after his father's death, when he became president and treasurer. The plant of the Clyde Kraut Company covers over an acre of ground, and is situated by the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad tracks in Clyde. A large number of persons find employment during the seasons and it is a business which has proved decidedly beneficial to the commercial prosperity of this section of Northwest Ohio.   Mr. Wilder is an active citizen, was a member of the Board of Education of Clyde from 1911 to 1913, is a director of the. Home Building and Loan Company, and in politics is a republican. He was married September 25, 1895, to Miss Hallie McCleary daughter of Capt. Charles H. and Corlissia (Brown) McCleary. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder have one son, H. Tristan, who was born in 1901 and is now a student in the Clyde High School. Mr. Wilder is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of. Clyde.   CHARLES A. PATTERSON. Since September, 1915, county treasurer of Wood County, Mr.   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1871   Patterson has by a career of sustained effort and ability to advance himself demonstrated his thorough fitness for official responsibility and the splendid esteem in which his name is held in this community.   Mr. Patterson has for many years been connected with the county treasurer's office at Bowling Green. His fellow citizens recognizing his unusual qualifications re-elected him . for a second term in 1916, and that term begins in September, 1917. Mr. Patterson has been a resident of Bowling Green and of Wood County since 1884.   He was born at McConnelsville in Morgan County, Ohio, November 8, 1865, and when eleven years of age went with his parents to Seneca County, and from there came to Wood County in 1884. He completed his public school course in Seneca County and after coming to Bowling Green he attended local schools for a time and subsequently the college at Fostoria.   Mr. Patterson is of old Scotch and Scotch-Irish ancestry. The Pattersons of this branch came to America and settled in Pennsylvania prior to the Revolutionary war. His great-grandparents were James Patterson and wife, who left Pennsylvania in very early times and made their way through the wilderness to Morgan County, Ohio, locating near McConnelsville. Through their efforts a home was established in the woods, and there they reared their children. Mr. Patterson's grandfather was Leander Patterson, who was born in Pennsylvania and was reared in Morgan County, Ohio. He married a neighbor girl, Miss McMurray, of noted Scotch ancestry. Her parents had come to America and had lived in Pennsylvania and from there went to Morgan County, Ohio. The Pattersons and McMurrays were among the founders of the Methodist Church in that section of Morgan County. James Patterson lived to be past ninety years of age. Leander Patterson and wife after their marriage spent their lives usefully and with a widening esteem on their farm at McConnelsville, and were always active in the work of the Methodist Church. They had a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters.   Henry M. Patterson, father of the county treasurer of Wood County, was the oldest of this family and was born in Morgan County about 1840. As he grew up and attended the local schools he also acquired knowledge and skill as a carpenter mechanic. At the first call for troops on the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in Company M of the Sixty-second Ohio Infantry and was in serv-. ice three years. He went out as a drummer boy, but subsequently his mechanical skill caused him to be assigned to special work at Norfolk, Virginia. Afterwards he was connected with the Seventh New York Battery as an artillery man and was finally discharged after he had completed three years of service. He went through the war without injuries. He was granted his discharge early in 1864 and on November 24th of the same year he married Arelia E. Andrews. She was born in Seneca County, Ohio, November 24, 1841, and was reared and educated there. Her parents came from Pennsylvania, first locating in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and then moved to Seneca County about the same time as the General Gibson family located there. The Andrews were an old Scotch stock family and furnished many members to the Presbyterian Church. After his marriage Henry M. Patterson took his wife back to McConnelsville in Morgan County, but in 1876 they located at Bloomville in Seneca County, and on June 4, 1884, they came to Bowling Green. Henry M. Patterson was a very skilled carpenter and in Bowling Green he followed the business of making boat oars and finishing up boats. Later he and his wife returned to Bloomville in Seneca County, where his death occurred as the result of an accident in 1894. His widow is still living there at the age of seventy-six and is well preserved for a woman of her years. She is active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was her husband, though she was reared a Presbyterian. Politically Henry M. Patterson was a republican.   Mr. Charles A. Patterson was the oldest of a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. His sister. Mrs. J. M. Jennings lives in the oil district of Oklahoma and has several children. Another sister is Mrs. Frank Siple of Bloomville, and she has four children. Mr. Patterson's brother J. L: Patterson is a contractor at Tiffin, Ohio, and is married and has one daughter.   After he had finished his education Charles A. Patterson found employment for four years as a bookkeeper with the firm of J. D. Wilsey.& Sons, a firm with which his father was then employed. He afterwards did clerical work in a general store at Bowling Green until 1904, when he was appointed a deputy in the county treasurer's office. He served through the terms of two county treasurers, and subsequently   1872 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   was appointed to fill out the vacancy in the office caused .by the death of County Treasurer Fowler. He was county treasurer by virtue of the vacancy for fifteen months.   The work of this department Mr. Patterson performed through the aid of two very capable assistants, R. F. Gordon and Miss Julia Cramer. Miss Cramer has been identified with the county treasurer's office since 1901 and knows every detail of its organization and system.   In Jerry City, Wood County, Mr. Patterson married Miss Cora Doering who was born at Lancaster. in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1868. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have two children, Miner A. and Arthur M. Miner was born at Jerry City twenty-five years ago, was educated in the Bowling Green schools, and is now following the business of painter and decorator. He married Florence G. Richard, and they have two children, Janet and Veva, aged four and two years respectively. Arthur M. is a graduate of the Prowling Green High School with the class of 1913 and is now connected with the Wood County Savings Pank. All the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with Mr. Patterson on the official board. He has filled all the chairs and is now past noble grand of Centennial Lodge No. 626, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he also belongs to Ideal Court No. 44 of the Tribe of Pen Hur. In politics his associations have always been with the republican party and he has done much to strengthen the party organization and is a faithful worker for his friends.   W. K. WHITE of Bowling Green is one of the prominent oil men of the country today. In that business he is fortified by years of practical experience. Experience has sharpened his judgment and has strengthened his natural spirit of courage and enterprise so that he has long been looked upon as one of the most resourceful and progressive men in the business.   The field of his operations is widespread. He was a pioneer in developing the oil fields of Wood County, and in recent years has extended his work to Kentucky,. Oklahoma, West Virginia, Indiana, Southern Ohio, Montana and Wyoming. In Kentucky, particularly, much of the recent oil development that has attracted the attention of all oil men to that state is due to Mr. White and his associates. When he went into the Irving field in the State of Kentucky there were only four producing wells in that field. Mr. White has an interest with the Ohio Oil Company in a number of the most productive wells of Kentucky. He is also jointly interested with Newton and Moore in the. Irving Pool in Estill and other counties. This field extends twenty-seven miles from Irving to Campton. The oil belt is from a mile to three miles wide. Mr. White and associates lave sixty producing wells in this district.   Around Station Camp the wells are producing about 300 barrels a day and are especially remarkable for their shallowness, the oil sands being found at a depth of from 83 to 135 feet. In still another Kentucky pool they have found oil at from 500, to 800 feet and the production ranges from 100 to 300 or 400 barrels a day. These Kentucky wells were the first profitable ones in the state. Winchester, Kentucky, is the headquarters now of one of the world's biggest oil districts. The oil operations conducted by Mr. White and associates have made many millionaires from poor men and a vast field has been developed within a few years, much of it within the last eighteen months.   Mr. White also has extensive Oklahoma interests. About six years ago he began development work in Morgan County, Ohio, around Pennsville and drilled the first producing wells in this field. After determining to his own satisfaction the value of the field he associated with him Mr. Newton and Mr. Moore, and they sunk 145 wells, developing many profitable producers.   As early as 1888 Mr. White began operating- in the Wood County field and has since put down many wells in this county and is now owner of a number of wells. Like every successful 'oil man he has had his set backs and vicissitudes. In fact the first hole he sunk was a dry one.   There is nothing of doubt or hesitation about Mr. White. He goes ahead, dauntless in spirit,- and many times has proved his willingness to sink his last cent in a field where others have considered the effort foolhardy. There have been scores of instances in which his output has operated at a loss, but in other cases there have been almost phenomenal strikes, and altogether his career has been unusually fortunate. In 1892 Mr. White, Mr. I. M. Taylor of Powling Green and James Hardy of North Paltimore, Ohio, drilled the well on the Emanuel Constable farm that opened up a very large field. At that time this well was seven miles north of the nearest producing well on the Mercer farm. One not-   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1873   able well Mr. White sunk in Wood County was on the Fleetwood Ward Lease at Portage. It produced 400 barrels a day. Through his work some very wealthy men have been made and a number of farmers made by his enterprise not only a substantial fortune but also the saving of their farms, which were previously burdened with debt. It is conservatively estimated that the wealth of this county through its oil resources has been multiplied forty times.   Mr. White has been a resident of Bowling Green for many years and has long been esteemed as one of its most active and public spirited citizens. He was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, and is of old Virginia stock. His ancestors lived for several generations around Culpeper. His grandfather, John Jackson White, was a well known Virginian and for a number of years held court as a squire or justice of the peace in that place. He was married tp Polly Simms, who was one of the F. F. V.'s of the Old Dominion. Some years after their marriage they removed to Muskingum County, Ohio, and settled near Zanesville on the old National Pike near Uniontown. They both died there when quite old. Squire White was an active democrat and a leader in the local party of his section of Ohio. Their children were five sons and • four daughters, and all are now deceased except Colonel White, who for many years was superintendent of public schools at Dayton and in recent years has been governor of the National Soldiers' Home at Dayton. Colonel White won his laurels as a soldier under Grant at Vicksburg. After the war he graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University. at Delaware and has long been one of the noted men of Ohio.   George Jackson White, father of W. K. White, was born near Uniontown, Ohio, in 1835. In the early '70s he located at Zanesville and was a merchant tailor during his active career. He also lived for several years in New Albany, Indiana, and finally came to Bowling Green, where he died in 1912. He married Mary A. Hewitt, who was born in Muskingum County and died in Bowling Green in 1911. George J. White was a republican and was a leader in the party in Muskingum County for some years after the war. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Church.   Mr. W. K. White married at Bowling Green, in 1892, Mary Stuart. Mrs. White was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and she died at Bowling Green March 16, 1912. She was a most faithful wife and companion and home maker. Her parents were Philip and Jane Stuart. Her father was identified with the oil fields of Pennsylvania and afterwards transferred his interests to Wood County, where he was well known as an oil operator. He died in Wood County when about seventy years of age. Mrs. White received most of her education in Pennsylvania. Mr. White has three living children. Norine S. is a graduate of the Bowling Green High .School and of Wooster College for Women at Wooster, Ohio, and is still at home. Dorothy M. graduated from the local high school and is now a student in Downer College at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Keith J., the only son, was born in 1900 and is now pursuing his studies in the junior class of the Bowling Green High School. In politics Mr. White is a Republican.   JOHN PIXEL. The success of John Pixel has been that of the typical American in enterprise and energy. He was reared on a farm, gained a liberal education rather than been given one, taught school, clerked in a store, and having shown ability and having gained the confidence of people in his integrity, he became a factor in banking affairs at Bluffton a number of years ago, and from its organization has been one of the chief officials in the First National Bank in that city.   Mr. Pixel was born near Bluffton, June 9, 1869, son of Peter and Fannie (Sutter) Pixel. His grandfather, Peter Pixel, was born in Switzerland, and was one of the early pioneer farmers of Holmes County, Ohio, where he lived out the rest of his life. The maternal grandfather, Christian Sutter, was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, and on coming to America lived for a time in Virginia, and came West and settled in Allen County, Ohio, when it was still out on the frontier and when the Indians still coveted it as their happy hunting ground. Peter Pixel, father of the Bluffton banker, was born at Millersburg, Holmes County, while his wife wAs a native of Allen County. They were married in Allen County and both are now deceased. Peter Pixel followed farming all his life' and after securing a tract of wild Government land developed it as a farm and lived for a number of years in a log cabin and after much hard work and the enduring of many privations enjoyed prosperity both for himself and his   1874 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   children. He and his family were Mennonites in religion and he was a democrat who was entrusted with various township offices.   John Pixel was the seventh in a family of ten children, eight of whom are still living. He was graduated from the Pluffton High School in 1889, after which he attended the Ohio Northern University at Ada and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. His college training was paid for by his efforts as a .farm laborer and as a school teacher. For seven years he taught school and following that came an experience in the clothing and shoe business. In 1900 Mr. Pixel became one of the organizers of the First National Pank of Pluffton. He has steadily occupied the post of cashier since its organization and has done much to promote the security and success of the bank. This bank has a capital of $50,000, undivided profits and surplus of $11,000, and its average deposits of $400,000 reflect the prospers y of the community and of the bank itself.   Mr. Pixel was married in 1889 to Halla Russell. Mrs. Pixel is a native of Pluffton, where her father, Orlo Russell, was a grain dealer for a number of years. Her grandfather, Daniel Russell, was one of the ,early settlers at Pluffton and the first banker of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Pixel have one son, Russell, now attending high school. The family are communicants of the Mennonite Church. Mr. Pixel, while he allows no outside interests to interfere with his work as a banker, has taken much interest in the democratic party and in local affairs, and is now a member of the county school board and the board of public affairs. For a number of years he served as president of the school board.   HARRY S. CORE began the practice of law in Putnam County fifteen years ago and long since passed that period of struggle which every young lawyer must face and has reached a secure professional prestige. He is now serving capably as prosecuting attorney of Putnam County.   Mr. Core is a native of Putnam County, where he was born on a farm September 1, 1873, a son of David and Rebecca (Layton) Core. His parents were both natives of West Virginia. David Core came to Putnam County about the close of the Civil war and established a home on a farm near Columbus Grove. He has long been one of the leading farmers in that section and is still living at the age of seventy-seven. He has had his home in Putnam County for fully half a century and his material prosperity is represented by the ownership of 200 acres of land. He is a republican in politics, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church at Columbus Grove.   Harry S. Core was the sixth in a family of nine children, eight of whom are still living. He grew up on the farm, was educated in the district schools, and prior to his admission to the bar worked on farms and taught school. He also attended Crawfis College of Putnam County and in 1890 became a student in the State Normal School at Angola, Indiana. Subsequently he studied law in the Ohio Northern University at Ada and in the Ohio State University at Columbus. Mr. Core was admitted to practice at Columbus in 1902, and at once located in Columbus Grove, a town where he had practically grown up and where the people had known him since childhood. He still retains his residence in Columbus Grove, and for many years did a large practice as a lawyer. In 1916 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Putnam County, in which office he is officially serving.   Mr. Core has always taken much interest in educational affairs and served on the board of education of Columbus Grove from January 1, 1916, until he entered his present office. He is a stanch democrat and has done much to develop the party strength in his county. , Fraternally Mr. Core is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Modern Woodmen of America.   At Columbus Grove November 14, 1906, he married Miss Anna Paxter, daughter of C. B. Paxter of Columbus Grove. Mrs. Core was educated in the public, schools of Putnam County. They are the parents of six children : William Henry, Ulala Imogene, James Lewis, Harriet Marcile, George Richard and David Baxter.   PETER SCHALL. The fact that the late Peter Schall was born in Pleasant Township of Henry County June 20, 1844, is of itself evidence that the Schall family were numbered among the pioneers of that district of Northwest Ohio. Henry County seventy or eighty years ago was little more than a wilderness. Almost the only homes were log cabins, and it was a slow process, measured by years rather than months, as a result of which the clearings around these cabins gradually expanded and the area of cultivation enlarged. Peter Schall was a vigorous youth, himself working in the