1900 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO primitive shelter, but it formed a home for the pioneers, and they managed to get along well and to be satisfied with conditions. One of the features of the first dwelling was its open fireplace, which served to cook the family's corn cake and other articles of food, and which ended in a huge chimney, built of sticks and mud. At first the crops were not to be depended upon; there was too much to do before the land could be made to satisfactorily produce the grain and vegetables in sufficient quantity and quality to support the family. The timber had to be cut down, the stumps rooted out, the stones taken from the soil and the land placed under ,the plow. Then it was found that the rainy season swelled the small streams and swamps to such an extent that the water covered the roots of the grain and rotted it, and it was thus necessary that the corn be planted upon little hills where the overflow could not reach it. This is but an item in the long list of discourage-: meats and hardships which the early settlers were called upon to face and overcome. The game, which was plentiful, they secured for their table and sold the skins and furs, and this went a long way toward paying their living expenses.. In time, as the land came more and more under cultivation; the parents secured greater comforts, and when they died, in advanced years, both were living in comparative ease. They were faithful members of the German Methodist Church after coming to this country. Henry Dirr, although born in Germany, soon became familiar with American customs and accustomed himself to the stern life of the wilderness. He had the peculiar gift of making friends with the Indians, who always remained loyal to him, his parents and his family, and who frequently stayed all night at his cabin, in the morning leaving half a bear or deer to pay for their accommodation. When still a young man Henry Dirr secured work on the canal as a mule driver along the towpath, but eventually turned his attention to the pursuits of the soil, and, being thrifty, industrious and enterprising, died as the owner of one of the best farms in the township. In his community his reputation was that of an honest and reliable man, credited with a more than ordinary amount Of shrewdness, judgment and foresight. Originally a whig, with the formation of the republican party he transferred his allegiance to that organization and continued to act with it during the remainder of his life. Mr. Dirr married Miss Katharina Gardner, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, and came as a young woman to America, settling in Henry County, Ohio, in the same neighborhood as the Dirrs. Her father was Adam Gardner, who followed farming all his life in Pleasant Township and died here full of years, his wife being also in advanced age. Mrs. Dirr died in either 1862 or 1863, when she was in middle life, as a member of the Methodist Church, to which her husband also belonged. After her death, .Mr. Dirr was again married and had three children : George; Jacob and Katherine. By his first marriage Mr. Dirr was the father of the following children : Mrs. Mary Des-granges, who is a widow and makes her home at Pleasant Bend, Ohio ; Henry, a farmer of Williams County, Ohio, who died in 1911, leaving three sons: Peter, of this review, Andrew, who resides on a farm in Pleasant Township, is married and has a family, and Frederick, who died after his marriage and left a family ; Charles, a farmer of Pleasant township, who is married and has children; Eva, who is the wife of Philip Birrill, lives at Pleasant Bend, and has a family; and J. Wesley, who is a resident of Pleasant Township and the father of several children. Peter Dirr was born on the old home farm in Pleasant Township, Henry County, Ohio, July 8, 1845, and was given the usual educational advantages granted to youths in a pioneer community where teachers are hard to secure and where the work of the lads is needed in the. development of the home farm. However, he managed to gain a fairly good training in the little log schoolhouse, with its puncheon floor and seats, and when he had mastered the "three R's" proceeded to give his entire attention to the duties of farming. About the time he became of age Mr. Dirr purchased 160 acres located where he now lives, in section 29, Pleasant Township, a tract of land which is now all improved. When he first took up his residence here, he found primitive conditions still existing, the farm buildings consisting of a log barn and a log cabin home, but as the years have passed and he has become more and more successful he has gradually added improvements of a mod, ern character, and he now has a commodious barn, substantially built and well equipped, 36 by 60 feet, and a modern residence, attractive and up to date in all its appointments, with eight rooms and a basement. Mr. Dirr has always been considered an energetic and industrious farmer, well capable of taking full HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1901 advantage of his possibilities. But in doing so he has always acted in an honorable manner, has built him up an enviable reputation, and in business circles his word is sufficient proof of his fair intentions. Mr. Dirr married Miss Fannie Bolley, a neighbor, who was born September 15, 1846, in Pleasant Township, and for more 'than forty-six years she has proved herself a most devoted helpmate, faithful wife and loving mother. She is a daughter of Theobold and Dorothy (Bender) Bolley, the former born in Bavaria and the latter in another province of Germany. Mr. Bolley immigrated to the United States in 1840, with four children, all of whom are deceased. These children were by his first wife, and after coming to America he married Miss Bender, and here they rounded out their lives in Pleasant Township, improving a farm of large dimensions. Mr. Bolley died when eighty-nine years of age and Mrs. Bolley when seventy-seven or seventy-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Bolley were the parents of four children : Elizabeth and Theobold, who both died before their mother ; Mrs. Dirr; and Henry, who is married and resides at Napoleon, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Dirr are the parents of the following children : Elizabeth, who is the wife of William Beck and lives in Defiance County, Ohio, having one son, Clyde, and two daughters, Della and Jessie; Andrew, who is engaged in farming in Michigan, married Carrie Reed, of that state, and has three children, Forest, Wilma and Madea ; Peter J., a resident of Pleasant Bend, where he is a director of the Farmers Elevator, married Mrs. Rose (Groll) Smith, who has three' childrenby her former husband, George Groll, deceased : Dilla, who is the wife of George Harmon, ex-county commissioner of Putnam County, Ohio; Charles, a farmer. of. Urich, who married Rosa Buff, of Henry County, had' one child, Arthur, who met an accidental death when seven years of age ; and Nellie, who is the wife of George King and resides in Defiance County, where he is engaged in farming, and is the mother of one son, Cloyd. Mr. and Mrs. Dirr are consistent members of the Reformed Church, in which both are active, and are supporters of all the movements of that denomination. A republican in politics, Mr. Dirr has frequently been elected to office, and his official record is an excellent one. He belongs to E,. Gleason Post, Grand Army. of the Republic, of Holgate, being entitled to membership in that body as a veteran of the Union army during the Civil war, in which he fought for about one year at the close of the struggle, as a member of Company B, One Hundredth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted when a youth of eighteen years, and fought in numerous ,engagements, among which were the bloody battles of Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee. He has presented half of his farm to his children, but still retains eighty acres, where he has a comfortable home. MILO D. WILSON continues the oldest general insurance agency at Bowling Green. He entered that business with his father when he was a very young man, and since his father's death has kept the business up to the same high plane on which it has been. operated for nearly half a century. His office is at 102 South Main Street. The business was established in 1868 by W. A. Benschoter. It was the first insurance office in Wood County. After the death of Mr. Benschoter the business was taken over by C. E. Benschoter, Joseph Martin and a Mr. Baker, though still known as the W. A. Benschoter Insurance Agency. Later another change was made and the firm Martin & Baker succeeded. In 1903 John B. Wilson bought a half interest in the company owned by Mr. Martin. John B. Wilson entered the business in January and in May of the same year Milo D. Wilson, his son, took an active part and in the fall of that year they bought the interest of Mr. Baker and organized the firm of J. B. Wilson & Son. The firm handles general insurance, but for some years has specialized in fire, bonding and casualty lines. It represents some of the strongest companies, including the oldest insurance organization of the world, The Sun of England, and also the North American of Philadelphia. The senior member of the firm, the' late John B. Wilson, was one of Wood County's fore—most citizens for many years and until his death on May 2, 1912. His death came after a long illness, but an infirmity of health had not served to break down his valiant spirit. through nearly ten years of suffering. John Blythe Wilson was born at Grand Rapids, Ohio, November 30, 1853, a son of Mathew and Elizabeth (Blythe) Wilson, who were early settlers in Wayne County, Ohio. They subsequently moved to Wood County and located and improved raw land near Grand Rapids. John B. Wilson lived on the home farm until he was seventeen, then went 1902 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO with his parents to Wayne County, near Marshallville, where his father and mother spent their last years, both dying when past seventy.. John B. Wilson attended the local schools and also the Smithville College at Marshallville, and began his life as a teacher, and for a time was principal of the North Baltimore schools. He became a resident of Bowling Green in December, 1881, when he accepted the position of deputy auditor under the late E. W. Poe. He was in that service until Mr. Poe was elected auditor of the state and then filled the office of chief for ten months. His long and commendable record as deputy was followed by his election as county auditor in 1885 and he filled it two terms. He also served as deputy county treasurer, and subsequently became interested in various enterprises until he entered the insurance business in 1903. The appreciation in which this good citizen was held in the community is well told in an article that appeared in the Daily Sentinel-Tribune of Bowling Green at the time of his death : "Mr. Wilson has been identified with the most active business life of the city. He was tireless in boosting for Bowling Green. He did much to get the Board of Trade started and was its able secretary-. He was responsible in a large measure for the Pitkin and Brooks factory coming to Bowling Green, for B. A. Gramm starting a motor truck company, and for the organization of the Bowling Green Motor Car Company to take its place when the Gramm firm removed to Lima. He was president of the local truck company at the time of his death. He also was president of the Grand Rapids Bank and was chairman and active secretary after the death of Mr. Fry of the Fort Meigs Commission, which bought the ground, erected the monument and preserved Fort Meigs' historical features. "He was very friendly in disposition and enjoyed a wide circle of acquaintances in business, political and fraternal circles over the state. He was a charter member of Kenneth Lodge No. 158, Knights of Pythias, and took a keen interest in that order until his death, being one of its trustees. He served as representative of the Grand Lodge, had a part in the team work of the third degree, and was a trustee of the Knights of Pythias Children's Home. He was closely identified with the work of the Valley Pioneer and Historical Association." On December 31, 1878, he married at North Baltimore, Miss Catherine Simon, who was born in Wood County, daughter of Israel and Susan (Nesbaum) Simon, both natives of Ohio and early settlers of Wood County. Her parents were farming people and were active members of the Christian Church. Her father died when ninety years of age, having survived his Wife many years. He was a republican, and the republican party has always been accorded strict allegiance by members of the Wilson family. The late. John B. Wilson was a delegate to the national convention which nominated William McKinley for president. Mrs. John B. Wilson is still living with her daughter at 342 North Main Street. She is prominent socially and is a member of the Christian Science Church. She was the mother of five children, one son dying in early youth. The others are : Milo D. ; Charles S., of Bowling Green ; Gladys, of Bowling Green ; and Dr. Cecil B. Wilson, who died August 10, 1913. Milo D. Wilson was born at North Baltimore, October 31, 1880, and was brought when an infant to Bowling Green, in which city he grew up and received his education in the grammar and high schools. He also spent two years in the pharmacy department of the State University and was a registered pharmacist before entering the insurance business with his father. Mr. Wilson married Margaret L. Adams, who was born and reared in Wood. County. She had long been prominent socially in the community where her life from early girlhood had been spent. Mr. Wilson is a Blue Lodge and Chapter Mason in Bowling Green and also a member of the Knights Templar and the Scottish Rite bodies in Toledo, and a member of Zenobia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Bowling Green Lodge No. 818, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a republican and has worked for the good of the local party and more particularly for everything pertaining to the advancement and welfare of his home city. JONATHAN E. LAnD, former prosecuting attorney of Wood County, has been in active practice as a lawyer since 1900. Ability and integrity of character have commended him to the confidence of .the people generally in Wood County, where he is a local leader and possesses large influence. Mr. Ladd was a student in the 'Ohio State University at Columbus. He had begun his HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1903 law studies under P. C. Beard, a well known Toledo attorney. He was admitted to the bar in 1900. For a number of years Mr. Ladd taught school, and from that profession turned his attention to the law. He attended when a young man Fostoria Academy and was for a number of years engaged in teaching in Sandusky County and for ten years was connected with the schools of Bradner in Wood County. Mr. Ladd was elected prosecuting attorney of Wood County in 1904, and for four years gave an administration characterized.by vigorous enforcement of the law. It was an invaluable experience to him in his profession and since the close of his term of office .he has enjoyed a large private practice. He has also been connected with the board of education at Bowling Green. Mr. Ladd practices as a member of the firm of Ladd & James, his partner being William B. James. They have been associated for eight years. Mr. Ladd was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, September 21, 1863. He was reared on a farm and his first advantages were those of the country schools. He comes of an old Virginia branch of the Ladd family, but his people have been in Ohio for a century. His great-grandfather, James Ladd, brought the family to Ohio and located in Columbiana 'County in the eastern part of the state about 1812. He cleared up a farm and he and his wife died there when quite old. Cornelius Ladd, grandfather of the Bowling Green lawyer, was born in Virginia in 1806 and was six years of age when brought to Ohio. His early surroundings were those of a frontier community. He was married in Columbiana County to Sarah Hoiles, a native of Ohio. She died when in the prime of life and at the birth of her second child, Sarah A. Her first child was Amos T. Ladd. Cornelius Ladd married for his second wife Therza Meyers, and soon afterward, in 1850, removed with his family to Ladd Ridge in Wood County, where his second wife died a few years later, leaving several children. For his third wife he married Eliza People. There were no children by that union. Cornelius Ladd and his third wife continued to live on the old farm at Ladd Ridge and he died there at the age of ninety-one. He was a whig in his early political views and afterwards affiliated with the republican party. He and his wife were Baptists. Amos T. Ladd, father of Jonathan E. Ladd, was born in Ohio in 1834. He was sixteen years of age when his father removed to Wood County, and he grew up on a farm there and married Sarah Barr. She was the mother of William, Sylva M. and Melvin 0., the last two being twins, at whose birth she died. For his second wife Amos Ladd married Rose McCreary, and she was the \mother of Jon- athan E. Ladd. She was born in Morrow County, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. • One of her ancestors served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Her grandfather, George McCreary, was born in 1812, was a California forty-niner and made two trips out to the gold coast. He afterwards lived for many years in Wood County, where he died. He was a prominent democrat and a man of considerable local reputation. He followed the trade of cabinet maker and was also a talented musician. Rose McCreary was one of the early teachers of Wood County, and taught for a number of years before her marriage. She became the mother of eleven children and died at the birth of the last child on December 16, 1882. She was then forty-five years of age. Amos T. Ladd, who died at Bradner, Wood County, September 15, 1906, was a successful farmer, stock raiser, drover and shipper. Through his varied bUsiness relations he became well known all over this part of Ohio. Politically he was a republican. Jonathan E. Ladd was married in .Sandusky County to Miss Addie Jennings. Her father, Capt. Joseph H. Jennings, was also a California forty-niner. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ladd, all living but one, Luella, who died in childhood. The oldest is Jesse A., who was born September 21, 1887, and is an officer in the regular United States army. He was appointed when a youth to West Point Military Academy, where he graduated. in June, 1911, with the rank of second lieutenant. Since then he has been in active military service, having been first stationed at Vancouver in the State of Washington, later spent two years in Honolulu, and is now stationed along the Mexican border. He was married in Bowling Green to Florence Von Cannel, formerly a teacher. Dale, the second child, is a graduate of Bowling Green High School. He married Miss Margaret Ray and they have a daughter, Jane. Raymond E., who was liberally educated, in the high school and Dennison University and in the Ohio State University, was graduated from the law course in 1916, having passed the bar examination the previous December and is now in active practice with his father at Bowling Green. Donald McK. completed the course 1904 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO of the high school and is a graduate of Dennison University with the class of 1916. While in university he was prominent in athletics and captain of a football team. He is now secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Honolulu. Paul is a graduate of the Bowling Green High School and is now a student in the State Normal School at Bowling Green. Florence and Rena are both students in the high school and the two youngest children, Jonathan B. and Joseph J. are in the grammar schools. Mr. Ladd is affiliated with Pemberville Lodge of Masons, with the Royal Arch Chapter at Bowling Green, with the Knights Templar Commandery at Fostoria and belongs to Zenobia Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Toledo. He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias at Bowling Green, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of that city, is a republican, and he and his family are all members of the Methodist Church. DANIEL FRICK was one of the pioneer business men and farmers of Hancock County, and for many years. was identified with the locality known as Van Buren. His life was purposeful and regulated according to the strictest principles of honor and integrity and he left above his ample material possessions the priceless legacy of an honest name. He was born on a farm near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1829, a son of Daniel Frick, who was of Pennsylvania German ancestry. Daniel Frick was married in Pennsylvania to Esther Dinsmore, of Irish ancestry, and a daughter of John and Susan Dinsmore of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Daniel Frick is still living at Van Buren and at the age of eighty years is still active and thoroughly capable of managing her business affairs. In 1856 the late Daniel. Frick came to Hancock County and located at Van Buren, where he opened a general store on Main Street. He continued in business as a merchant and also operated a farm of 160 acres near the village and these enterprises claimed his time and attention until 1870. He then retired and two years later, in 1872, his death occurred. Mr. Frick was a republican in politics and was the recipient of numerous official honors in his home township. He and his wife were the parents of two children : Lodema, who was born in 1856 and died at the age of eleven years, and John, who was born in 1852 and died at the age of four years. Mr. and Mrs. Frick reared a nephew, Daniel Frick, who is living near his foster mother. The late Mr. Frick was active in the United Brethren Church and that is the religious faith of Mrs. Frick. JUDGE JOHN KAULL ROHN, who gained a high position in the Seneca County bar and as a member of the bench, had many achievements and accomplishments to his credit, though his life was comparatively brief. He died June 15, 1901, at the age of forty-two. He was born at the old Rohn homestead two and a half miles east of Tiffin April 5, 1859, a son of Asia and Eliza (Kaull) Rohn. His grandparents were Daniel and Catherine. (Heiman) Rohn, the former of French and the latter of German stock. The maternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Swartz) Kaull, the former a son of John and Maria (Steininger) Kaull, and the latter a daughter of Samuel and Mollie (Gregory) Swartz. The family were identified with Pennsylvania for a number of generations. Judge Rohn's father was born in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1814, the youngest in a family of eleven children. The mother of Judge Rohn was born also in Lehigh County, October 14, 1817. They were married in Pennsylvania and in the spring of 1849 arrived in Seneca County, making the entire journey overland by wagon. For twenty-six years they lived on the farm east of Tiffin and in 1875 bought another place near the Greenlawn Cemetery. Judge Rohn, who was the sixth in a family of seven children, spent his early life on the farm, attended public schools, and in the fall of 1875 entered Heidelberg College at Tiffin, from which he was graduated in the scientific course on June 19, 1879. He then taught a country school for one winter and began the study of law in the firm of Noble & Adams at Tiffin. His admission to the bar before the Supreme Court of Ohio occurred October 2, 1882, and from the spring of 1883 he was identified with a growing and successful practice at Tiffin. He made a specialty of corporation law, and among other clients represented the Pennsylvania Railway Company and also the Lake Erie and Western Railway Company. He was a man of force and power in everything he undertook. It was because of his prominence in legal circles and as one of Ohio 's most representative lawyers that Gov- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1905 ernor Bushnell appointed him in 1896 as a judge of the Circuit Court to fill the vacancy caused by Judge Seney's resignation. He was as resourceful in business affairs as he was in the law, and was one of the organizers of the National Machinery Company of Tiffin, an industry which he served as secretary and member of the Board of Managers. This business continues as one of the largest industries of Tiffin and Mrs. Rohn, his widow, is a director of the company. Judge Rohn was a republican in politics. He is remembered by his old associates as a true gentleman, a scholar and a lawyer, and a man whose character measured up to the highest ideals of his profession and social life. On June 16, 1886, he married Miss Augusta Schlitt, of Springfield, Illinois, daughter of Frederick and Helen (Kessberger) Schlitt. Her parents were both born in Weisbaden, Germany, and came to the United States on their wedding trip, locating in Springfield, Illinois. Her father became an extensive land holder, a sheep raiser and the owner of considerable coal properties. Mrs. Rohn was the seventh in a large family of nine children. She is an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, and since her husband's death has proved a diligent and judicious business woman, carefully looking after the property at Tiffin and elsewhere and giving close personal attention to the education and training of her two daughters. These daughters are Helen Elizabeth and Margaret Louise. The elder daughter is a graduate of Vassar College and was married June 16, 1917, to Valentine Brunner Holman; of Washington, D. C. The younger is still pursuing her studies in Vassar College. FRANK P. MOHLER was the type of sturdy and intelligent farmer citizen such as any community can ill afford to lose. He spent his years industriously, and acquired prosperity in Washington Township of Henry County, where his death occurred January 2, 1914, in his sixty-first year. He was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, November 23, 1853, of Pennsylvania ancestry. His parents, David and Maria (Schriver) Mohler, came in the early days and located on new land in Ohio, cleared up and improved eighty acres, and made it their home for many years. David Mohler died at the age of sixty, and his wife aged seventy-four. They were very fine people, good neighbors, devout Christians, members of the Reformed Church, and David Mohler was a democrat who was elected to several local offices. In their family were six sons, all of whom. grew up, all married, and all are still living except Frank P. Mohler. Frank P. Mohler was reared on the old home farm, and his education came from the common schools. He had an ambition to become a farmer and land holder, and after his first marriage he bought forty acres in section 18 of Washington Township in Henry County. Then followed years of unceasing toil until the land was thoroughly cleared, after which he bought an adjacent forty acres in the same section, and he lived to see that not only cleared and well improved, but equipped with excellent buildings. During his lifetime he erected the substantial barn, 36 by 56 feet, and he was one of the progressive farmers who had covered barn yards. This yard was 56 by 52 feet, and furnished shelter for a large number of stock while feeding. He also built a corn crib, a separate granary and had arranged everything so as to simplify and make his farming operations more efficient. His home was a ten-room house, situated in the midst of the large grove and surrounded with an ample lawn. This feature gives the name to the farm by which it is known far and wide, Maple Grove Farm. Some years later Mr. Mohler bought eighty acres of highly improved land in section 19 of Washington Township. Thus at the time of his death he was proprietor and owner of 160 acres of some of the most productive and best improved farm lands of Henry County. Mr. Mohler was first married. in Washington Township to Caroline Kesler. She was born in Sandusky, and was brought to Henry County by her parents. She died at her home in Washington ToWnship when in the prime of her years. One child survives her, Earl, who is a farmer near Delta in Fulton County, Ohio. Re married Bertha Kigar, and they have a daughter, Irene, now sixteen years of age and attending the Delta public schools. On December 11, 1888, in Henry County, Mr. Mohler married Laura Rearick. Mrs. Mohler, who survives her honored husband and has shown much capability as a manager of the estate, with the assistance of her children, was born in Washington Township January 20, 1870, and was reared and educated there. She is a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Skinner) Rearick, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Sandusky, 1906 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Ohio, where they were married. At once after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rearick came to Henry County and secured a tract of land in Washington Township, which they cleared up and developed as a farm, and later were able to live retired in Liberty Center, where both of them died, the father at the age of seventy-five and the mother still older. They were members of the Reformed Church, and Mr. Rearick was a republican. Mrs. Mohler became the mother of the following children : A: Zerba and Bessie J., twins, who were born in 1889 and both are still at home. A. Zerba married Etheline Weirick and they have the active management of the Mohler farm and are the parents of the. following children, grandchildren of Mrs. Mohler : Grace L., Carrie A., Ruth M., Charles C. and Lawrence H. Grace 'E., the third child of Mrs. Mohler, is the wife of Dennis Letherman, a farmer in Washington Township, and their three children are Vernon, Lowell and Josephine. May M. is a member of the class of 1917 in the Liberty High School. Laura E. has completed her education in the Liberty High School and is still at home. Jessie Mary also lives at home. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. JACOB ANTHONY KIMMELL, M. D., who in point of continuous service is one of the oldest medical men in Northwest Ohio, has spent practically all his life in this state, was a boy soldier of the Union during the Civil war, and graduated in medicine and began practice half a century ago. Doctor Kimmell has always been interested in local history and in its preservation, is editor of a recently published history of Hancock County, and is advisory and contributing editor for that county to this publication. He was born in Carroll County, Ohio, Sep, tember 17, 1844, a son of David and Christina Kimmell, who moved to Hancock County in 1851. His father was a farmer and Doctor Kimmell grew up in a country environment. He attended common and high schools at Findlay, and was not yet seventeen years of age when the war broke out. He served three years as a volunteer in Company A of the Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After the war he entered the Western Reserve University Medical School at Cleveland, was graduated M. .D. in 1869, and in 1875 was graduated Ad Eunclem at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City. Doctor Kimmell early became recognized as a physician of exceptional attainments, and during his more active years had a splendid practice throughout Hancock County. Through his profession he earned a competency necessary for a comfortable old age. Other honors than professional have come to him from time to time. He was a member of the Seventy-second General Assembly and while in the House secured the passage of the House Bill No. 76 creating the Board of Registration and Examination for physicians in Ohio. His first public honor was appointment as postmaster at Cannonsburg, Ohio, during Grant's administration in 1869. Doctor. Kimmell was elected a member of the city council of Findlay in 1892, a member of the Findlay Gas Board in 1894, and his service in the Legislature from Hancock County was during 1895-97. From 1905 to 1917 he has been secretary-treasurer of the Majestic Building Company of Findlay. Politically Doctor Kimmell is a republican. He was made a Master Mason in 1865 in Lodge No. 227, Free and Accepted Masons, at Findlay, joined the Findlay Lodge of Elks No. 75 in 1888 as a charter member, and has long been an active member of Post No. 54 of the Grand Army of the Republic. Doctor Kimmell was married at Findlay June 4, 1869, to-Eliza Ellen Bonham, daughter of Robert Bonham, deceased, of Findlay. On January 12, 1875, at Findlay, he married Rose Evaline Graber, daughter of Ambrose Graber, deceased, of Findlay. For his third wife Doctor Kimmell was married at Detroit, Michigan, September 30, 1909, to Effie Afton Gibson, daughter of George Johnson of Detroit. Doctor Kimmell's only child is Alfred G. Kimmell, who married Helen Sutphen, of Cincinnati, now deceased. SHADRACH W. BOWMAN. Honors have accumulated rapidly about the professional career of Shadrach W. Bowman, who is today recognized as one of the most prominent lawyers of the Wood County Bar. Mr. Bowman is now serving his home city of Bowling Green as mayor. For a number of years he practiced as a member of the firm of McClelland & Bowman, until Mr. McClelland was elected in 1915 judge of the Common Pleas Court. Mr. Bowman was born in Liberty Township of Putnam County, Ohio, February 20, 1876. When he was twelve gears of age his parents removed to the vicinity of Weston in Wood County and he continued his common school HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1907 education there. In 1893, at the age of seventeen, he began teaching, and subsequently continued his education in the normal school at Angola, Indiana. During his work as a teacher he was superintendent of two schools, Milton Center and Haskins. Mr. Bowman was elected county recorder of Wood County in 1900, and was at the time the youngest official who had ever served the county. He was re-elected in 1903 and' gave a most creditable administration of the affairs of his office. In 1906, after leaving the county office, he entered the law department of the State University at Columbus, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1909. In the same year he was admitted to the bar, subsequently was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, of the state and in 1913 of the Federal Court. Mr. Bowman is chairman of the Wood County Central Committee of the republican party and has proved a vigorous exponent of republican principles in this section of Ohio. He is of old Pennsylvania German ancestry. The name was originally spelled Bauman. His great-grandfather, John, and his grandfather, Jacob Bowman, were pioneers in Northern Ohio, locating in Medina County in the early part of the .last century. From there they moved to Seneca County, where the wife of John J. Bowman died. He also died in that community and had been a. prosperous farmer for years. In the early '70s Jacob Bowman and wife and family removed to Putnam County and located in the midst of the forest in a district that had not yet been cleared up for the uses of civilized man. He made a farm by cutting down .the woods and rooting out the stumps, and a great deal of material prosperity followed his efforts. A strong bent to mechanics has run through the Bowman family and all of them were capable of performing the work required for the construction of homes and the many mechanical arts required for successful farm husbandry. Jacob Bowman died at the age of seventy-five and his wife at eighty-nine. Her maiden name was Snyder, and she was also of Pennsylvania German stock. The Bow-mans in the early generations were all democrats. The Bowling Green lawyer is the son of John Bowman, who for many years followed farming in both Putnam and Wood counties. He and his brothers Jacob, Hiram and Walter were all Union soldiers. Hiram and Walter both died in the service, one killed in battle and the other dying from illness. The other two returned from the war, and Jacob was married and lives at Fostoria. All four brothers had enlisted from Fostoria and were all members of Company I of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In 1888 the Bowman family removed from Liberty Township of Putnam County to Milton Township of Wood County, and here John Bowman died on his farm March 25, 1892, at the age of fifty-one. While in the war he was captured and made prisoner at the battle of Winchester and for a long time was confined in the notorious prison stockade at Andersonville, Georgia. He suffered all manner of hardships and privations and there became a victim to the stomach trouble which subsequently took him off. In early days he had voted with the democrats but became converted to the republican doctrine under the influence of Governor Foraker and was long prominent in that party in a local way. He held various township offices. John Bowman married Eliza Wolfe. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Virginia. In the maternal line her grandfather had been a Virginia slaveholder. Mrs. Eliza Bowman is still living, her home being at Weston, and she is a woman of remarkable vitality and of great intellectual interests. She is sixty-six years of age and still does her part as a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, in the Missionary Society and other activities of the Methodist Episcopal Church and keeps perfectly informed on all local and current events. Shadrach W. Bowman is affiliated with the Lodge of Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a past exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge and a member of the Grand Lodge. Mayor Bowman was married in Wood County to Blanche Wood, who was born in Milton Township and reared and educated there. She was a successful teacher before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs: Bowman have three children : K. Bert, who graduated from the Bowling Green High School in 1917 ; Mildred G., aged fourteen and a student in high school ; and John, aged twelve, in the grammar schools. JOHN SCHIRMER. That quality of enterprise which enables a man to start at the bottom and climb steadily to influence and success in business affairs has been exemplified to a high degree by John Schirmer of Arlington. Mr. Schirmer only a few years ago was a hard 1908 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO working farm hand, but is now at the head of .a growing and flourishing business at Arlington as a contractor and merchant and is proprietor of the Arlington Grain Company. He was born on his father's farm two miles south of Van Lue in Hancock County, March 30, 1873. His parents are Albert and Julia (Beck) Schirmer. His mother was of Pennsylvania German ancestry. His father was born in Germany and at the age of twenty-two landed in New York City. For six months he found employment in a lumber yard in the East and then came West to the vicinity of Van Lue, Ohio, where he worked on a farm for a relative for two years. Having the German quality of thrift he saved nearly` all his earnings and then started out for himself as a renter. He has been identified with the farming community near Van Lue for many years. Mr. John Schirmer was the only son in a. family of seven children. The family were poor and it devolved upon him to become self-supporting at as early an age as possible. Consequently he had but two winter terms in school. As a small boy he began working out for neighboring farmers, and continued as a hired man until twenty-one. He then worked for his father on the farm for a year and for two years did county work on public ditches as a sub-contractor. This experience opened the way for a permanent business career. His father having bought some property at Arlington, Mr. Schirmer moved to that village to take care of it and also set up as a public paving contractor, while at the same time he helped farm. This work he continued until 1904 and then started business as a coal merchant. He had only a small frame building to start with, and that is still standing as a landmark in his business career. Mr. Schirmer bought the first carload of coal shipped to Arlington on March 17, 1904. Since then he has been regularly dealing in fuel, buys and sells grain, and also handles all kinds of seeds and wool. He is practically the only contractor for public work at Arlington. His business success is one that he can well be proud of. In 1908 Mr. Schirmer married Mary Herndon, daughter of Jonas and Ellen (Knoll) Herndon. Her parents have lived for many years at Arlington. Mr. Schirmer is an independent republican in politics. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, both of Arlington. A. L. TATE is a native son of Putnam County, has been a factor in business affairs at Columbus Grove for many years, and over the county at large his name is most familiar through his connection with the office of sheriff. Mr. Tate has been sheriff of Putnam County for the past two terms and is not only one of the most popular officers of the courthouse in Ottawa but has displayed the efficiency that is the highest requisite of any public official. Mr. Tate was born on a farm. in Putnam County October 1, 1858. He is a son of Francis and Elizabeth Tate, and in the paternal line he is of Scotch ancestry. 'His father was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, and his mother in Licking County. Francis Tate followed farming during all his active career, and in 1878 he removed to the Town of Columbus Grove. He was one of the influential members of the democratic party in the county. His widow is now living at the old home in Columbus Grove. Sheriff Tate was the oldest in a family of five children, all sons. His early experiences were those of the country and he grew up on a farm and attended the public schools of Columbus Grove. When he began making his own living it was as a farm hand at monthly wages of thirteen dollars. He earned every cent that was paid him and in all his career he has never been afraid of hard work. By study at home and in leisure intervals he mastered the trade. of stationary engineer and for fourteen years he was employed in that business in the planing mills, stave factories and flour mills in this section of Ohio. About sixteen years ago Mr. Tate worked in an axe handle factory at Columbus Grove, one of the first important industries of that community. In 1913 Mr. Tate was elected sheriff and has held that office continuously to the present time. He has been a leader in local democracy for many years, has supported the candidates of the party since Tilden was first nominated, and he loyally voted for Mr. Wilson in 1916. From 1902 to 1915 he was a member of the Putnam County Democratic Central Committee. Mr. Tate is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Maccabees and several other fraternities. He and his family worship in the Christian Church. On Janary 1, 1880, at Pandora, Ohio, he married Miss Amarillous Blakesley, daughter of James. Blakesley. They have four children: Zelma, May, Myrtle Ethel, Flossie and Francis James. ROBERT PLACE. An exceptional judgment in estimating values and in handling business HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1909 transactions on a large scale has given Robert Place a position among the most noteworthy business men of Northwest Ohio. He is a native of Wood County and for many years his home has been in Bowling Green. He is president of the Home Telephone Company, former vice president of the Commercial Bank of Bowling Green, is vice president of the Royce & Coon Grain Company, having been officially Connected with that organization. for ten years, and was president of the Lake Erie, Bowling Green & Napoleon street car lines for eight years, until those public utilities went into receivership three years ago. He was also for some years proprietor of the Place hardware store. This business he traded to the present owner, Fred H. Prieur, for a 400-acre farm in Michigan. Mr. Place grew up on a farm and has always kept in close touch with agricultural activities. He owns 200 acres of land at Rudolph in Wood County, and this is one of the model farms and is also a central section of activity in the oil district, comprising twenty-seven active wells. Mr. Place owns 1,243 acres in Ashtabula County, Ohio. This large estate is personally looked after by his only son. His son has a half interest in all his father's farming and other business interests. Mr. Robert Place was one of the men who reorganized the Universal Machine Company, which is among the leading enterprises of Bowling Green and of Northwest Ohio. As noted elsewhere, . Mr. B. J. Urshel is president of this company and Mr. Place is vice president. Mr. Place also has 400 acres of rich and well improved farm lands in Wyandot County. His home is a large and attractive residence at 227 Buttonwood Avenue in .Bowling Green. Mr. Place was born at Scotch Ridge in Wood County, August 21, 1851. He grew up in that community and acquired a good education, finishing in the academy at Maumee. At the age of seventeen he taught his first school at Prairie Depot. Teaching was his principal work for nine years. He was not the inheritor of wealth, and in fact began life on a plane with thousands of others of hard working and earnest young Americans. His personal ability has counted largely in his success. While teaching he entered merchandising and at twenty-two he had saved up over $1,000 as the foundation of his financial success. He built and opened a store at what was then called Bobtown, now Rudolph, Ohio. His was the first store in a large section of country Vol. III-3 7 and he made it the medium of a, large business and an extensive acquaintance. In 1874 he married Miss Almira Mercer, who for over forty years has been his close companion and business counselor as well as a capable home maker. Mrs. Place was born in Portage Township of Wood County and grew up and received her education in that locality. Her father, Daniel Mercer, now deceased, was a successful farmer and man of more than ordinary prominence in his community. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Place worked hand in hand to establish a home, and they were farmers until twenty years ago, when they removed .to Bowling Green, Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Place. Flora A. died in infancy. Alta M. died ten months after her marriage to John Clayton. The only living child is Alfred W., whose life has been One of unusual achievement and experience. Alfred W. Place was born in Liberty town:. ship of Wood County, May 8, 1876. He was reared and liberally educated in this county. At the end of ten years he joined the Christian Church and much of his time, has been given to the extension and upbuilding of religious affairs. He afterward entered and graduated from Bethany College in West Virginia, an institution founded by Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Christian Church in America. He subsequently pursued post-graduate work in Butler University at Indianapolis and at the University of Chicago. While he was a student of the University of Chicago he joined other members of his class and under the leadership of a university professor made a tour of the Holy Land. On returning from abroad he married at Indianapolis Miss Mary C. Graham. She was born in Indianapolis and her father was at one time a minister to Canada but is now deceased. Mary C. Place graduated from Butler University and from the University of Chicago, having been in that institution several years before her husband. After his marriage Alfred W. Place became a minister at Akron for two years and then for three years had charge of one of the large churches. at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He and his wife then went as missionaries to Tokio, Japan, where in addition to the routine missionary work he taught in Drake University in that city. His wife was also instrumental in. establishing a kindergarten, to the support of which Mrs. Robert Place gave $500. Mrs. 1910 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Mary Place was active in supervising the building and management of this school for these young Japanese children. For six years Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Place labored in that field. It was owing to the failing health of Mr. Robert Place that they returned home and since then he has given his time and energies to the supervision of his father's extensive interests. Alfred Place and wife have three children : Graham, aged fourteen ; Robert, aged eleven ; and Alta, aged five. Alta Was born in Japan. Mr. Place and his son are members of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mr. Place, Jr., his wife and mother all belong to the Eastern Star. Mr. Robert Place has for some years served as a member of the City Council at Bowling Green, and was president of the board two terms. He and his son are active republicans. All the family have for years been leading members of the Christian Church. Mr. Place for over twenty years was an elder and has also been a leader and large contributor to the missionary work of the church. JOHN EDWARD HOPLEY, advisory editor for Crawford County, to this history of Northwest. Ohio, has been first and last a news- paper man, is a veteran of the printing trade which he began to learn fifty years ago, and for a great many years has been editor of the paper at Bucyrus which was founded by his father. Mr. Hopley was born at. Elkton in Todd County, Kentucky, August 25, 1850. His parents were John and Georgianna (Rochester) Hopley. The ancestry of the family introduces some notable characters. His grandfather, Edward Hopley, was a surgeon in the Royal Navy of England and served with Admiral Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar. Edward Hopley's wife, Catherine Cooper Prat, descended from a long line of English divines. Her great-grandfather, Samuel Prat, was dean of Rochester Cathedral in 1697, canon of Windsor, chaplain to Queen Anne, and was buried at Windsor. For six generations, commencing with Daniel Prat in 1574, all her ancestors were high in the Church of England. Daniel Prat wrote an English grammar years before the celebrated work of Lindlay Murray, the standard textbook with which most Americans were familiar during the early half of the last century. Through his mother Mr. Hopley is a grandson of John and Marian (Gladdel) Rochester. Marian Gladdel was descended from a long line of French ancestry. The Gladdels were driven out of France at the time of the massacre of the Huguenots and fled to England.. Her father was a captain in the British army and died fighting against Napoleon in the Spanish campaign. His daughter married John Rochester in London in 1816 and came to America in 1820. John Hopley, youngest child of Edward and Catherine (Prat) Hopley, was born at Whitstable, England, May 21, 1821, and was educated in the Royal Naval Academy at Greenwich. He came to America in 1842, and clerked in the store of his. uncle, John R. Prat, at Zanesville, Ohio. In 1848 he began teaching at Logan, Ohio, where he was married April 19, 1848, to Georgianna Rochester. He afterwards taught in Tennessee and Kentucky and at Granger's College at Columbus. On April 1, 1856, John Hopley came to Bucyrus as superintendent of the Union schools. . He introduced the first graded school system there. He was admitted to the bar, and when Salmon P. Chase was made secretary of war under President Lincoln he went to Washington and became Chase's confidential secretary. After the war for two years he was national bank examiner for the southern states. In September, 1867, he bought the Bucyrus Journal, which he edited up to the time of his death. In 1870 he was appointed postmaster at Bucyrus by President Grant,. was reappointed in 1874 and in 1890 was appointed postmaster by President Harrison. For years he was president of the Ohio Republican Editorial Association and was in that office at the time of his death. On April 19', 1898, John Hopley and wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. He joined the Masonic Order when he was eighty years of age. The death of this venerable Ohio editor and citizen occurred June 3, 1904. His wife, who was born at Englishtown in Athens County, Ohio, February 22, 1826, died at Bucyrus October 21, 1904. John Edward Hopley was brought to Bucyrus when a child and was educated in the Bucyrus Union schools. In 1867 at the age of seventeen he began learning the printing trade in the office of the Bucyrus Journal under his father, and while working at the trade read law and was admitted to the bar in 1876. However, he has never prac- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1911 ticed, though his knowledge he has found valuable in his newspaper work. For a number of years he was actively associated with his father in the newspaper business, and on October 17, 1887, he. started and published the Evening Telegraph, the daily edition of the Bucyrus Journal, which is a weekly publication. Mr. Hopley still continues editor of the Evening Telegraph, and the Bucyrus Journal, and is president of the Hopley Printing Company, publishers of these two papers and also maintaining a plant and organization for general printing and supplies. Joseph W. Hopley is vice president, and Frank L. Hopley treasurer of the company, with James R. Hopley secretary and business manager. The only important interruption to his work as editor at Bucyrus was from 1898 to 1905, when he was abroad as a United States consul. He served as United States consul to Southampton, England, from July, 1898, to March, 1903, and from April, 1903, to April, 1905, was consul in Montevideo, South America. Mr. Hopley was member of a local military company from 1873 to 1876, helping to start the company but refusing any, office. As a republican he has done much for the benefit of the Crawford County organization and was for a number of years active in state politics, especially from 1885 to 1898, several years of which time he was a member of the State Central Committee. In 1912 he was elector at large on the republican ticket. For some years Mr. Hopley has taken a keen interest in permanent roads. In 1914 he became identified with the Lincoln Highway, which passes through Bucyrus and was appointed state consul for. Ohio. In 1915 at a meeting of all the consuls in the state he was elected president of the Lincoln Highway Association in Ohio. Mr. Hopley has done his share toward the preservation of local history and is author of a history of Crawford County published in 1912. On his twenty-first birthday in 1871 he sent in his petition to become a Mason, and has attained prominence in, that order. He became a Royal Arch Mason in 1872, a Knight Templar in 1875, a member of the council in 1895, of Lake Erie Consistory of the Scottish Rite at Cleveland in 1894, of the Eastern Star in 1899, and the White Shrine of Jerusalem in 1914. He is a past officer in the chapter and council, was for six years an officer in the Eastern Star and for two years in the White Shrine. He served as the first exalted ruler of Bucyrus Lodge of Elks when it was re-organized in 1894. Mr. Hopley belongs to the Masonic Club of Bucyrus and Elks Club of the same city, and attends the Presbyterian Church. He is unmarried. HENRY FAYRAM, now living retired at Deshler, is one of the best known former hotel men of Northwest Ohio. He conducted the leading hotel at Deshler from the time it was completed by Mr. Giauque until 1913, and made a great success of the house. The hotel was the favorite stopping place for hundreds of the commercial men traveling over Northwest Ohio. Mr. Fayram has been a resident of Deshler since 1887. On coming, to the town he con-. ducted the Ross House until the new hotel was built, and he took over its management and conducted it as the Fayram Hotel. It is now the Hotel Samuel. Mr. Fayram continued in active business until .1913, when he sold his interests as a landlord and is now living retired, looking after his investments as a farmer. A number of years ago he bought some valuable lands in this section of Ohio, including a farm in Bartlow Township of Henry County and another in Jackson Township of Wood County. Both places are thoroughly improved and represent 'a large amount of capital invested. One of the farms has a complete set of high grade buildings. Mr. Fayram made friends on all sides when he was in the hotel business, and there are many of his ardent admirers who inquire after his welfare every time they come, through Deshler. He is now enjoying retired life in a comfortable nine-room house at the, corner of Maple and Lind streets. Mr. Fayram came to Deshler from Detroit, Michigan, but was born in Sheffield, England, March 16, 1860. He is of an old English family and a son of Amos and Martha (Black-more) Fayram, both natives of England. His father was well educated in the English schools and became a private and public accountant. Five of the children were born in England, Henry being the youngest. About that time the family left the old country and landed at Quebec, Canada. Amos Fayram established a home at Hamilton, Ontario, and for a number of years represented the Canadian Life Insurance Company. In 1869 he moved to Detroit, Michigan. Largely through his influence the Michigan Legislature passed a bill permitting the organization of building 1912 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and loan associations. Under this measure Mr. Fayram organized an association in Detroit, the first of its kind, and he was a pioneer in this popular means of promoting thrift and savings. At the same time he continued to practice his profession as an expert accountant and was frequently called in for consultation on complicated cases. He is now living re- , tired at Detroit at the age of eighty-nine. His wife died in that city in 1892, at the age of sixty-two. Both were active Methodists and when he became an American citizen he aligned himself with the republican party. Henry Fayram was one of a family of ten children, seven of whom, are still living, now in different states of the Union and all are married. His oldest brother, Fred, has long been prominent as an editor. For twenty years he was manager of the Detroit Free Press; subsequently' was editor of the Housekeeper Magazine, published at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is now editor of Uncle Remus, a southern magazine. Henry Fayram spent his early life from the age of nine years in Detroit, and acquired his education in that city. He then served an apprenticeship at the cabinet maker's trade and was a worker in this mechanical line in Detroit until he removed to Deshler, where he found himself in his true and most congenial sphere, that of a landlord. He was married in Detroit to Miss Maud Winter. Mrs. Fayram was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, fifty-two years ago of Scotch and English ancestry. Her father, George Winter, was born in Canada of Pennsylvania .parents. He married Christiana McNeill, who was born in Prince Ethvard Island of Scotch stock. Her parents were Charles and Christiana (Johnston) McNeill, natives of Scotland. They were married in Prince Edward Island, and died there, Charles McNeill when past sixty and his wife when about eighty. Christiana Johnston's father died when past a hundred years of age. Two of her brothers were soldiers at the battle of Waterloo. Mrs. Fayram's uncle, William McNeill, was at one time speaker of the House of Commons in Prince Edward Island. Mrs. Fayram's parents were married in Chatham, Ontario, and some few years later moved to Bay City, Michigan, where her father was a foreman in a, lumber mill, where he died. Mrs. Fayram's mother is still living, at the age of seventy-six, residing with a daughter in Toledo. These families were all strict Presbyterians. Mrs. Fayram has two sisters : Ada, Mrs. John Wickenheiser, and the mother of a son Fred; and Oral, wife of Harry Smith, living in Detroit, and they have a son Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Fayram are active members of the Presbyterian Church at Deshler. RALPH S. GILLESPIE. Among the officials of Wood County there is none more popular and on every hand given more credit for thorough competence and ability in handling his particular office than Ralph S. Gillespie, now county auditor. Mr. Gillespie entered upon the duties of his present office in the fall of 1915, and was re-elected in 1916, the second term beginning in October, 1917. For ten years prior to his first election he had served as deputy auditor and was thus thoroughly qualified by detailed experience for the duties of, his present position. In April, 1915, he was also appointed by Governor Willis as district tax assessor. He held that office from April 1, 1915, to January 1, 1916, at which time the office under the law was abolished. In the meantime he had taken up his work as county auditor, and by his individual motion Governor Willis vacated the office of district tax assessor since all its functions had been carefully performed by Mr. Gillespie. He first became deputy county auditor under F. W. Toan in 1906. Mr. Gillespie has been one of the wheel horses in the republican party in Wood County for a number of years. At first his efforts and activities were entirely for the good of the party and to help his friends, and it was through the urgings of his large following that he entered politics for himself and not due to his personal inclination. In 1898 Mr. Gillespie served as township assessor of his native township, Plain. He was born in Plain Township, near Tontogany, August 15, 1874. He was reared on his father's farm, was educated in country schools until sixteen, and after that attended the public schools at Tontogany. For eight years Mr. Gillespie was a successful teacher, and many of his former pupils are glad to claim his friendship. His school work was done in his native township and in Washington Township. Mr. Gillespie 's family have lived in Wood County since 1869, when they came from Crawford County, Ohio. The family lived at Portage until 1871, when his father bought forty acres of land in Plain Township and there spent the rest of his days as an active and prosperous farmer. Ralph S. Gillespie is HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1913 a son of William T. .Gillespie, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, and is a grandson of William A. Gillespie, also a native of Ohio. The earlier generations of the family had come out of Scotland and for many years lived in Washington County in Southwestern Pennsylvania. After his marriage to Miss Smith, a Pennsylvania girl, grandfather William Gillespie moved to Montgomery County, Ohio, and in the early days operated a canal boat from Toledo to Cincinnati, along the old Miami Canal. He was well known among the canal men of that period, and it is said that at times as his boat was proceeding along the canal the towpath would be disturbed by the incursion of wild Indians and savage beasts. Grandfather William Gillespie died in old age. As a young man William T. Gillespie learned the trade of carriage maker, serving his apprenticeship with a veteran in that industry at Dayton, Mr. Bookwalter. Subsequently he removed to Sulphur Springs in Crawford County, and after his marriage started a carriage shop of his own. This he conducted until he removed to Wood County in 1869, and from that date until his death was a farmer. He died in February, 1911, when eighty years. of age. William T. Gillespie was married in Sulphur Springs, Ohio, to Sarah Rice, daughter of Isaac Rice, a native of Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Simmons. Isaac Rice took his bride to a pioneer home in Crawford County, Ohio, and developed a farm from the forest. To get supplies of food and the family milling it was necessary to make the trip to Maumee and Waterville. Isaac Rice soon tired of this, and built a little mill of his own on his own farm. There he did grinding not only for himself but for all the people in that district, and the mill was kept turning night and day. Every phase of pioneer experience characterized the life- of this worthy pioneer couple. Their home was surrounded by forests and swamps, there was wild game in all plenty, they lived in the rough log cabin home, and with all the privations and lack of familiar modern comforts, they were happy, sturdy developers of a new land. They lived long and died after age had stooped their shoulders. Both were members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. Gillespie's mother died in March, 1914, at the age of eighty-two. She and her husband were active members of the Presbyterian Church and he was a republican. William T. Gillespie was the youngest in a family of ten children, and Ralph S. Gillespie was the youngest of seven sons and daughters, six of whom are still living. An unmarried brother and sister still occupy the old homestead. Mr. Gillespie was first married in Washington Township to Viola Potter, a native of Wood County, where she was reared and educated. She died at their home in Washington Township a year' after their marriage, when in the prime of vigorous womanhood. For his second wife Mr. Gillespie married Cora Smith, who was born, reared and educated at Weston in Wood County. Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie have three bright young children, William R., born in 1913 ; Helen D., born in 1915 ; and Grace E. born in 1916. Mr. Gillespie is a member and keeps up active connection with Lodge No. 755 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Tontogany, in which he is a past noble grand, and was past exalted ruler of Bowling Green Lodge No. 818 of the Benevolent and Protective 'Order of Elks and also belongs to Bowling Green Lodge No. 158, Knights of Pythias and to the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. CHARLES SMITH, M. D. One of the very successful physicians of Elida and Allen County, Dr. Charles Smith is a native of this section of Northwest Ohio, and has made his profession an opportunity for hard work and diligent service to humanity. He was born on a farm in Allen County, October 2, 1882, and is a son of George C. and Maria C. Smith. His grandfather, Solomon Smith, located on a farm northeast of Lima in very early times, and along with farming combined the trade of shoemaker. He spent his last years in Bath Township of Allen County. George C. Smith went to Allen County with his father when he was three years of age and spent practically all his life as a farmer in Bath Township, where he owned 160 acres of land. His death occurred in 1898. There were eleven children in the family, ten of whom are still living. Doctor Smith, who was the ninth in order of birth, grew up on the home farm and attended the township schools of Bath Township until fifteen years of age. His higher education has come as a result of his own resolute purpose and energy. He lived at home until he was twenty-one, and then attended the Elida public schools a year and Lima College two years. He was also a student in Miami University a 1914 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST. OHIO year and from there entered the Ohio State Medical College at Columbus, where he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1913. Doctor Smith at once returned to Elida and began' the practice which he successfully continues to the present time. He was a member of the board of health of his township for two years and- is now secretary of the Allen County Medical Society. He also belongs to the American Medical Association, is a Knights Templar Mason, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Loyal Order of Moose. In politics he is a republican. Doctor Smith was married May 28, 1911, at Elida to Miss Zelma Bennedum, of Elida. They have one son, Charles O. EARL R. STOUDER is a merchant of Upper Sandusky, has a finely appointed store and an unusually complete stock of clothing and haberdashery, and is building up a constantly widening circle of patronage. Mr. Stouder's success in business is due to long and thorough concentration of his abilities in one line. He was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1887, a son of J. W. and Sarah A. (Rea) Stouder. His father was at one time in business as a merchant at Antioch, Indiana, and when Earl was one year old the family moved to Van Wert, Ohio. In that Ohio city Mr. Stouder attended school until he was eighteen, having three years of the high school course. On leaving school he immediately identified himself with commercial work as an employe in the New York Store, a general mercantile establishment. He was there three' years and then for six years was at Tiffin, Ohio, with the Zirger Clothing Company. This company sent him to' Upper Sandusky as local manager for their store, but after a year he engaged in business for himself on Wyandot Avenue with Mr. Fred Warner as partner; under the firm name of Stouder & Warner. They opened their store in 1915 and in 1916 Mr. Stouder bought out the interests of his partner and is now sole pro= prietor. In 1906 he married Miss Georgia E. Mounts, of. Van Wert, Ohio, daughter' of J. E. and Anna (Kunkle) Mounts. They have two children : Eugene R., born in 1911; and Virginia M., born in 1915. Mr. Stouder has identified himself with the best life of his home community, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in politics he is a republican. JOHN G. WEAVER has been in the general hardware at New Bavaria since the fall of 1892. Nearly a quarter of a century of reliable merchandising in one locality has proved him not only one of the successful young men but also a citizen of the highest standards and qualifications. Hundreds of people in that section of Henry County have patronized his store for years and all of them are his warm personal friends. For a short time before coming to New Bavaria, Mr. Weaver was in similar business at Holgate, Henry County, and had gone to that town from Reedtown in Seneca, County. For thirteen years he was proprietor of a general country store in Seneca County. Mr. Weaver was born at Waterville on the Dutch Road in Lucas County, ,Ohio, May 13, 1844. When he was twelve years of age his parents removed to Lorain County, Ohio, and when he was twenty he came to Henry County. Mr. Weaver lived in Henry County from 1865 to 1878, and in the fall of the latter year, after his marriage, and after his first child had been born, he removed to Seneca County and engaged in business. His parents were John and Catherine (Pitzern) Weaver, both natives of Germany. They were married in Germany, two children were born there, and they then set out to find homes in the New World, sailing from Havre to New York. They were six weeks in crossing the ocean. They came west to Detroit and then went south to Maumee, where John Weaver found employment on the canal. Later he rented land and eventually acquired the ownership of a small farm. In 1865 he brought his family to Pleasant Township of Henry County, and he lived on the Ridge Road and developed a good farm there. His good wife died in Pleasant Township in the spring of 1876 at the age of seventy-three. Later he went to live with his son, John, in Seneca County, and died there in 1885. John Weaver, Sr., was born in 1801, and had a long and useful career. He was a poor man when he came to America; but by hard work and thrift did well for himself and by his family. He was a democrat, and he and his wife and children were all members of the Catholic Church. Of the three sons of the family that grew up, John G. Weaver is the only one now living. In 1876 in Pleasant Township of Henry County he married Miss Susan A. Spangler. Mrs. Weaver was born in Pleas- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1915 ant Township October 27, 1857, a daughter of Gottlieb and Anna (Mess) Spangler. Her father was born in Bavaria and her mother in Luxembourg, . Germany, her mother being a sister of J. B; Mess. They came to America when young and were married at Defiance, Ohio. Gottlieb Spangler was a shoemaker, also farmed, and a few years after his marriage he removed to Pleasant Township, buying land on the Ridge which he cleared up and developed as a good homestead of eighty acres. That was his home until his death in 1900. His wife passed away July 1, 1901. They were also Catholics and Mr. Spangler was a democrat, taking an active part in local affairs, and serving as township treasurer for a time. Mr. and. Mrs. Weaver have ten living children. Erben, who is now a foreman in the National Stove Works at Lorain, Ohio, is married and has four sons named Clarence, Harold, Charles and Howard. Clara is the wife of Joseph Minch, and they reside at Bryant in Jay County, Indiana ; their two children are Paul and Lucile. Catherine married L. A. Krupp, who is superintendent of a ditching machine company ; their children are Malcolm, Genevieve, and Leone. Joseph represents. the Libbey Wholesale Hardware Company at Charleston, South Carolina. He married Gertrude Caspeny of Charleston and their children are Beulah, Florian, Alberta and Joel. George is bachelor and still lives at home. Dorothy is a seamstress living at Findlay,. Ohio. Frances is the wife of Floyd Pritchard, who is with the Overland Automobile Company at Omaha, Nebraska ; they have a daughter, Virginia. Florian, who lives at Lorain, Ohio, married Elizabeth Miller of Henry County and has two children, Paul and Joseph. David, unmarried, is assisting his father in the store at New Bavaria. Lauretta is still pursuing her studies in the local schools. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver and family are all members of the Catholic Church, belonging to the Sacred Heart Parish of Pleasant Township. His political affiliation. is with the- democratic party, and he has filled the office of township clerk. JOHN B. COONROD; now serving in his fifth consecutive term as judge of the Probate Court of SanduSky 'County, has long had a prominent and useful part in his home county. Judge Coonrod was born in Riley Township of Sandusky County July 13, 1866, a son of Henry and Nancy (Ellis) Coonrod. His parents were also natives of Sandusky County, his father born in 1836 and his mother in 1838. The father died in 1914 and the mother in 1908. The paternal grandfather, John Coonrod, was born at Marietta, Ohio, and he and his father, whose name was also John, both fought in the War of 1812. They were stationed at Fort Seneca when the battle of Fort Stephenson was fought within' the present limits of Sandusky County. After his discharge from the army Grandfather Coon-rod went to Pickaway County, married there, and in 1821 settled in Sandusky County, taking up a tract of Government land. He and his family lived in log cabin days and endured many privations in establishing homes in the wilderness. Judge Coonrod's maternal grandfather, James Ellis, was of English ancestry and birth and died when a young man. Henry Coonrod was a farmer for a number of years, was sheriff of Sandusky County from 1874 to 1878, and until a few years before his death was keeper of the Ottawa Club House. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and quite an active figure in democratic politics. He and his wife had four children : Sarah, who lives in Toledo ; Judge Coonrod ; Frank ; and William, of Fremont. Judge Coonrod has had a very active career and has had experience in different lines. After completing the course of the public schools at Fremont he was a teacher for ten years. He also took a business course in the Tri-State Business College at Toledo. For several years he was on the Great Lakes, part of the time as captain of a boat and later as an engineer. From 1897 to 1903 he was deputy probate judge of Sandusky County and in the latter year was elected judge of probate and has been retained in the office ever since, having been elected for his fifth term in 1916. Judge Coonrod was married in 1892 to Miss Elnora Shepler, a native of Sandusky County and daughter of Frank Shepler, who was a marine engineer. Judge and Mrs. Coonrod have three children: Gladys, who is clerk in her father's office ; Gertrude, now a student in a business college; and Haldon, also in school. The family are members of the Episcopal Church. Judge Coonrod is a democrat and has done a good deal of work for his party. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 169, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and in Masonry has membership in the Blue Lodge, 1916 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Chapter, Council and Commandery. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Woodmen of the World. His civic spirit and interest in the public welfare have brought him various positions of unremunerated trusts. He is a member of the board of trustees of Birchard Library, is secretary of the board of trustees of the Memorial Hospital at Fremont, and is secretary of the trustees of the Masonic Temple. During the great Ohio floods of a few years ago he was prominent in relief work. He is secretary of this relief commission and in charge of rescue work, and is president of the Fremont Chapter of the American Red Cross Society. RUXTON S. SWEET, public accountant, city auditor of Bowling Green and for many years secretary of the Wood County Fair Company, has lived a life of serious interests and of earnest capabilities and service in this section of Ohio. He was born near Perrysburg September 2, 1852, grew up on a farm, and largely by dent of his own efforts and through the leading of an earnest ambition he acquired a liberal education and qualified as a teacher. For twelve years he was engaged in educational work, and has never lost an opportunity to benefit the schools of his home county. For a time he was a student in Oberlin College. Mr. Sweet is a scholarly man, and outside of the duties that connect him with the public welfare finds perhaps his chief delight in company with his books. He has been a reader as well as .a buyer of books, and has surrounded himself with a fine library in his home at 120 East Reed Avenue in Bowling Green. The Wood County Fair Company, of which he became secretary in 1904, is one of the oldest and most prosperous organizations of its kind in Ohio. It is a corporation, capitalized at $10,000, and maintained for the purpose of conducting a local Wood County Fair. It was incorporated in 1881, and has held successful fairs every year since that date. The first president was A. J. Manville and the first secretary, M. P. Brewer, both of whom are now deceased. The second president was R. W. McMahan and the second secretary was Frank A. Baldwin. Since 1914 the president has been C. D. Yonker. The fair is one of the great annual events of Northwest Ohio, and is noted not only for its races and agricultural exhibits but for the many other departments that serve as a stimulus to the arts and crafts of home and industry. In recent years about $7,000 have been paid annually for the racing premiums, and more than $7,000 for other awards. Largely through the influence of Mr. Sweet a sum' of about $500 has been set aside for the educational features. The public school exhibit always attracts much attention. One of the events is the spelling contest, participated in by students from all the county schools and prizes are paid to the six best scholars and the aggregate individual award to individual pupils and teachers amounts to $70. All the directors of the Fair Company are local citizens of Wood County. Since 1910 Mr. Sweet has been city auditor of Bowling Green. He was first appointed by I. M. Taylor, a democrat, and has since been elected three times as a republican. Once he was elected on a citizens ticket in opposition to a ticket nominated as a factional opposition within his own party. Several years ago Mr. Sweet was candidate for county recorder, being defeated by a very small majority. Without doubt he is one of the most popular citizens of Wood County. For many years Mr. Sweet has carried on his profession as a public accountant. He was formerly private secretary to the late Albert E. Royce, a prominent grain dealer of Bowling Green and for twenty-seven years president of the Fair Company. In 1901 Mr. Sweet established an office of his own as a public accountant, and has practiced his profession in addition to his various official duties. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Local Building and Loan Association and is clerk of the city council. Fraternally Mr. Sweet is a Lodge and Chapter Mason, is past junior warden of his lodge and is past secretary of Lodge No. 818, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Bowling Green. Mr. Sweet married in Troy Township of Wood County Miss Emma J. Brough, who was born in Troy Township in 1862, the daughter of a substantial farmer in that district. She attended school taught by Mr. Sweet, and after she had finished her studies she became the wife of her former instructor. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet have two children. Corrington G., aged thirty-five, was educated in the public schools and was given liberal opportunities to improve his special talent as a musician. He is an accomplished violinist, and for a number of years has been an orchestra leader and teacher. He conducted orchestras in the Palace Hotel HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1917 at Denver and in other cities, but for the past five years has been located as a teacher in Bowling Green and spends one day each week in his profession in Toledo. Geraldine, the only daughter, is still at home and assisting her father in his office. She was educated in the Bowling Green High. School and in the Thomas Normal School at Detroit. JAMES ELMER HUNTINGTON, who has had a long and active career as a farmer, and also as a practical veterinary surgeon, is now living largely retired at the Village of Van Buren and is serving that community as mayor. Mr. Huntington was born on a farm in Allen Township near Van Buren in Hancock County. in 1854, a son of Anthony and Lucy (Campbell) Huntington. His people are of Pennsyl- vania German stock and in the early days they left Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and came by wagon across the country to Hancock County. J. E: Huntington acquired a country school education, working on the farm in summer and attending school in the winter. He not only helped his father but worked out for neighboring farmers until he was twenty-one years of age. He then began farming for himself and continued that work actively for upwards of forty years. In 1875 Mr. Huntington married Rosa Durst of Hancock County. Of their children, all are living except Edward. Della is the wife of S. Decker of Mortimer, Hancock County; Lilly is Mrs. Emanuel Carmine of Beardstown, Ohio, and has a son Silas ; Franklin Allen lives in Allen Township and by his marriage to Debby Baker has three daughters, Dorothy, Catherine and Marjorie ; Charles Anthony, living in Allen Township, married Edna Hall and has three children, Stanley, Roseanna and Ellis H. ; Mary is the wife of Paul Hosman of Akron ; Harley. James, Fannie Amelia, and Ada are still at home with their parents. As a youth Mr. Huntington showed exceptional natural talent for the handling of horses and other livestock and doctoring them when ill. Thus in early years he did a great deal of amateur veterinary surgery, and finally took the veterinary course at the Toronto Veterinary College, received an average of ninety-four per cent in his examinations and was granted a diploma as a competent and thoroughly trained veterinary surgeon. He has practiced his profession all over Hancock County for the past eighteen years and practically all the farmers and stockmen in this vicinity recognize the high value of his services. Mr. Huntington is a democrat in politics. He filled the office of town trustee two terms and in 1915 was elected for a two-year term as mayor of Van Buren. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church and of the Knights of the Maccabees. LEWIS E. MILLER, who is now filling the office of county clerk of Putnam County, is a veteran educator and was widely known for his efficient services as a schoolmaster in Putnam and in other counties of the state before entering upon his present duties at the courthouse in Ottawa. Mr. Miller was born in Allen County, Ohio, —February 29, 1860. His parents were Jacob and Barbara (Roeder) Miller. Barbara Miller, mother of L. E. Miller, was the daughter of Michael and Barbara Roeder, who were among the pioneers of Allen County, having settled in that county about 1837. Jacob Miller, a native of Germany, on coming to America located in Allen. County, Ohio, and for several years followed his trade as a cabinet maker. Eventually he took up the business of farming, and for many years resided on a well improved place of eighty acres in Allen. County and through the tilling of the soil, combined with a good business practice, he provided well for his family and home. He died in Allen County in 1898. He was a Christian in every sense of the word, and very active in the Lutheran Church. Of the family of ten children, eight are still living, and Lewis E. was the fourth in age. His early life was spent on a farm, and he attended the district schools of !Allen County until his eighteenth year. After that he lived at home with his father until he was twenty-five, but in the meantime had taught a number of terms. School work was congenial to him, and he made a more than average success of the profession. He taught many schools both in Allen and Putnam counties, and since 1886 his home has been in Putnam County. In 1911 Mr. Miller accepted a clerical post in the office of secretary of state at Columbus, and resided in that city for four years. In 1914 he was elected clerk of courts of Putnam County, and the administration of that office has received his complete time and attention ever since. Mr. Miller is a courteous public official, is systematic and thorough in keeping the records of the office, and has made his 1918 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO office a factor in the efficient and prompt dispatch of public business. Mr. Miller is a stanch .democrat and has for many years been a leader in his party in Putnam County. .He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On November 27, 1885, at Columbus. Grove, Ohio, he married Miss Waif Rimer, of Columbus Grove. They are the parents of three children : Clarence C. who married Anna Boegel, of Lima, Ohio; C., Wauketa, who died at the age of twenty-two and was a successful teacher and an accomplished pianist; and Frances Fredericka, who married Leland Good of Allen County. C. LOCKE CURTIS has been a resident of Toledo for many years, and is almost equally well known in the newspaper field and insurance circles. He is district agent for the Aetna Life Insurance, Company, with offices in the Ohio Building. For many years he was connected with the Toledo Blade and other Toledo papers. Mr. Curtis was born in Cayuga County, New York, September 2, 1860. His father, John A. Locke, was also a native of New York and is now deceased, while the mother is living at the age of eighty-four. The second in the family of three children, C. Locke Curtis, had the finest of home advantages and a liberal education as his preparation for a career of usefulness. He attended the public schools and in .1883 graduated. A. B. from Cornell University, located in his native county. He .took up the study of law. His purpose to make a lawyer of himself was defeated by the earnest admonitions of his uncle, who pointed out the long road he would have to travel and the constant battle to keep the wolf from the door before he could attain any degree of eminence in the profession. Mr. Curtis therefore desisted from his studies and accepted his uncle's advice to enter the field of journalism. Mr. Curtis became a member of the reportorial staff of the Toledo Blade. He found it congenial work and his youthful enthusiasm soon promoted him to larger responsibilities. He served as city editor of the Blade until 1889, then went for a time with another paper, and in 1890 did his first work as a life insurance solicitor. He solicited .insurance for three years, but in 1895 resumed his post as city editor of the Blade and was .connected with that paper until 1908, when he again took up life insurance as district agent for the Aetna Life Insurance Company. He has done much to build up the business of that company in Toledo and adjoining territory, and his name is associated with the strongest insurance men in this part of the state. Mr. Curtis is a member of the Toledo Commerce Club, the Toledo Life Underwriters Association, and throughout his residence in the city has manifested a deep concern in all movements for civic betterment and improvement. E. B. SMITH has played a varied and important part in affairs at Fremont for many years. -He is a lawyer by profession, having been admitted to the Ohio bar over thirty-five years ago, but his practice has been much interrupted by the pressure of business affairs, and he is hardly known at all in the court rooms and in the trial of cases. He has been very successful in the handling of oil interests, and is essentially a business man. Mr. Smith was born at Green Springs in Sandusky County, Ohio,. April 1, 1851. He is a son of Samuel H. and Charlotte (Van Sickle) Smith, both of whom are natives of New Jersey, where they grew up and married and soon afterward came west to Sandusky County, Ohio. Samuel H. Smith had learned the tailoring trade in the East, but did not follow it long. On coming to Ohio he opened a small stock of general merchandise at Green Springs. That was the nucleus and the starting point of a very successful business career. In the course of time he had a very large store and numerous other interests. He also conducted .a bank at Green Springs, had a grain elevator, and for a number of years was a pork packer. He traded extensively in farm produce, and though he never aspired to political distinction he was one of the most important men in and around Green Springs. He was a republican as a voter, he and his wife were active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his life was distinguished by the quality of effort which he put into it without help or influence from the outside. He and his wife. had eight children, seven of whom are still living. The third among these children, E. B. Smith, grew .up in the Town of Green Springs, attended the district school there, and also had a course in the college at Berea, Ohio, and in the State University of Nebraska. Much of the business enterprise that characterized his HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1919 father was early manifest in his own career. When a young man he became a contractor for the building of railroads. He assisted in constructing the Wheeler & Lake Erie Road from Bellevue to Fremont, and also the Nickel Plate line from Fort Seneca to Bellevue. He did some contracting with other roads. In the meantime he had begun the study of law in a private office at Fremont, and was qualified and admitted to the bar in 1881. For several years he gave much of his time to private practice, but when the oil development was at its height he turned to that business and from it has made his chief financial success. He now gives most of his time to handling his oil interests. He is also at the head of the Fremont Kraut factory and nearly every enterprise with which he has been identified has been a paying venture. Mr. Smith was married November 3, 1887, to Miss Crissie Renick, daughter of John and Amanda (Buckle) Renick. Her father was born in Kentucky and her mother in Xenia, Ohio. For many years her father followed farming near Circleville, Ohio, and his family of seven children grew up in that locality. Besides Mrs. Smith three of the children are still living. The Renick family is an old and prominent one. Mrs. Smith's great-grandfather, John Renick, fought as a soldier in the War of the Revolution and through that ancestry Mrs. Smith has membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Renicks are Scotch-Irish, and they came to Virginia from England in colonial times. Mrs. Smith's grandfather, Thomas Renick, was born in Virginia, went from there to Kentucky and thence to Ohio, and early in the War of 1812 he raised a company and served as its captain. He fought at Fort Meigs' and at other places in the northwestern territory. Mrs. Smith's maternal grandparents were Rev. Abraham and Sarah (King) Buckle, the former a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and of Virginia stock. Mr. Smith has one son, Renick Smith, who was born in 1889 and is now business assistant to his father. Mrs. Smith and her son are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Smith is 'a republican .without any further political aspirations than his father showed. He was the first chancellor commander of Fremont Lodge No. 204 of the Knights of Pythias, and is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. JOHN F. GALLIER. Some very heavy and important responsibilities are connected with the office of county surveyor and engineer of Wood County, the incumbent of which office is Mr. John F. Gallier. Mr. Gallier is a civil engineer by training and has followed his profession for thirteen years; most of the time in some line of public service in Wood County. He was first appointed county engineer and surveyor by the board of county commissioners in 1907 to fill a vacancy. He served that term until 1909. In 1914 he was elected to the office on the republican ticket, and was re-elected in 1916. His second term begins in 1917. In the meantime, from 1909 to 1914, Mr. Gallier was city engineer of Bowling Green. He filled that office three terms by as many appointments from the mayors of the city. As county engineer Mr. Gallier has the supervision and the technical control of all the public works carried on either through the agencies of the township, county or state in Wood County. The administration of many details connected with these improvements and public works is of itself a vital and important function and involves an enormous amount of technical detail. While the county was quite well ditched and drained when he came into office, Mr. Gallier has put in about fotty miles of new ditches and has improved about 160 miles of old ditches. He also built about 250 miles of new pike road in the county, and this is the largest mileage at any similar period in the history of the county. The turnpike roads are well apportioned among the various townships, and altogether Wood County now has more than 800 miles of good hard surface roads. Of ditching, in the size which comes under Mr. Gallier's supervision. there are now 1,200. miles, in addition to thousands of miles of smaller and individual laterals by which Wood County surface waters are thoroughly drained and the agricultural lands redeemed to cultivation. Mr. Gallier has spent most of his life in Wood County. He is still a young mar, about thirty-nine, and was born in Lucas County, Ohio. When he was four years of age he was brought by his parents to Center Township of Wood County. He is a son of Alfred G. and Mary (Jones) Gallier, both natives of England. His father was born in Hertfordshire in 1848 and his mother in Wales. As her name indicates, she is of Welsh family. The Galliers were French originally, probably Huguenots, who left France on account of religious persecution and settled in Southern England. Alfred G. Gallier 1920 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO was married near his native home in England and two years later immigrated to the United States. He lived in Toledo for some years and as an expert gardener was employed by the Brunson estate seven years. In 1882 he removed to Center Township of Wood County and bought the farm where he and his wife Still reside. Since buy. ing this place they have surrounded themselves with all the comforts and conveniences of life. There is natural gas to light and heat their home, and an automobile to carry them about over the fine country roads. Both parents still retain much of the vigor of their earlier years, and having reared their family and -liberally trained them they have every reason to take their declining years in comfort and leisure. They are life long members of the Episcopal Church and the father is a republican who has held some of the local offices in this county. John F. Gallier was the third in a family of ten children, and the vigorous stock is indicated by the fact that all are still living and all are married except one son and one daughter. John F. Gallier received his early education in the common schools of Center Township. He afterwards entered the Ohio Northern University at Ada, where he specialized largely in engineering and was graduated in 1904. He was married at Perrysburg in Wood County to Miss Jessie Meeker, who was born in Liberty Township of Wood County. Mrs. Gallier is just four years younger than her husband. She was well educated and has proved not only an industrious homemaker but a wise counselor to her husband. Both are active members of the Methodist, Episcopal Church, in which he is on the official board. Mr. Gallier is past chancelor of Lodge No. 148, Knights of Pythias, at Bowling Green, amid is also a member of Bowling Green Lodge No. 818 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. CHARLES D. YONKER, secretary of the Bowling Green Commercial Club Company and president of the Wood County Fair Company, is a veteran business man of that city and has spent practically all his life in its environs. Mr. Yonker has been secretary of the Commercial Club since its organization. This club is an incorporated company. The date of its incorporation was January 11, 1910. Its capital stock is $10,000. At first the organization was something in the nature of a board of trade, but subsequently its purposes and ob jects were broadened and its object is now stated as a means of promoting the best interests of all who live in the city, including the inducement for new factories and industries to locate there, and generally to make the town a better place to live in. Its membership is composed of business and professional men, and in fact public spirited citizens generally, and there are now approximately 200 members. The membership list is in fact a directory of the progressive, enterprising and public spirited citizens of Bowling Green. The first president of the club was B. A. -Gramm, and the present officers are : J. H. Lincoln, president ; Judge E. M. Fries, vice president; C. B. Eberly, treasurer ; and M. C. D. Yonker, who has served continuously as secretary from the beginning. The nine directors, well known local citizens, are : J. E. Baird, Dr. F. D. Hallack, S. F. Canary, J. N. Easley, F. P. Riegle, James English, P. H. Prieur, Robert Place and J. E. Ladd. Much practical work has been done by this organization since it was instituted. Perhaps the most conspicuous benefit conferred upon the community was in securing the location of Bowling Green as a site for the State Normal School. Another benefit is a branch of the H. J. Heinz System of his fifty-seven varieties which is the largest in the United States outside of his main plant. Mr. Yonker was born near Bowling Green in Wood County, August 10, 1855. In 1866 the family moved into the city, and after a rather brief education in the local schools Mr. Yonker began clerking in a local drug store. That experience opened the way for his first independent activities as a business man and in 1889 he established the Yonker Drug Store at corner of Main and Wooster Streets, now the home of the Wood County Savings Bank. Mr. Yonker continued in the drug business and finally sold his store about the time he took up insurance work. He has been engaged in the insurance business for the past sixteen years, with offices in the Yonker Block on West Wooster Street. His connection with this company has been continuous for fourteen years. For two years Mr. Yonker was also traveling passenger agent for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway Company. His ancestors had their home in Holland, where the name was spelled Youngkers. The immigrant ancestor was his great-grandfather, who after coming to America lived in Pennsylvania, where he died. Among his children. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1921 was Charles Yonker, grandfather of the Bowling ,Green business man. Charles Yonker was born in Pennsylvania, married a native of that state, and was an early settler in Columbiana County, Ohio. His wife died there several years later and early in the '50s he moved to Wood County and established a home at Prairie Depot, where he cleared up and developed a farm. During the early '60s he bored the first well for gas in Wood County. Lack of equipment prevented the success of this early experiment. It was impossible to sink the bore far enough to strike the gas stratum. Charles Yonker and his second wife spent the rest of their lives in Wood County, and he and both his wives are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. In these earlier generations some of the family were Methodists and others were Lutherans. Charles Yonker was a democrat. Four of his sons, Henry H., John, Edward and Madison, did their loyal part as soldiers of the Union during the Civil war. They all went out from Wood County and all were in Company C of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. They saw much active service, and after the war returned to Wood County and spent their lives there. These four old soldiers are now at rest in the cemetery at Bowling Green. Henry H. Yonker, father of Charles D., was born at Fairfield, Ohio, September 23, 1830. He attended local schools and became a skilled cabinet and wood worker. He followed his trade in Medina County, where he married Mary Gunsaulis. She had come to that county with her parents from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1856 Henry Yonker moved to the wilds of Center Township in Wood County. He went through all the hardships and experiences connected with establishing a farm and home in the woods, and after ten years he removed to Bowling Green and in association with Captain Kitchen and Mr. Lindsley established a planing and sawmill. This plant turned out large quantities of building supplies of all kinds. Besides his part in the management of the mill, Henry Yonker continued work at his trade as cabinetmaker. One of the important services of the cabinetmaker at that time was the making of caskets. It was not customary for undertakers to carry a supply of coffins as at present, and the casket was usually manufactured by a local cabinetmaker for the immediate occasion. In. this trade and through his various business activities Henry Yonker lived an exceedingly profitable life. He died in Bowling Green, November 6, 1900, at the age of seventy. His wife, who was born September 19, 1834, passed away in May, 1904. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Henry Yonker was long affiliated with Wiley Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and was a republican in politics. The children of this worthy couple were : Charles D., John L., Sarah, Dr. Lewis L., Frank C. and Arthur H. The son John L. was accidentally killed in a hotel elevator at Van Wert, Ohio, in 1889, when thirty years of age and unmarried. Sarah was the wife of Edward Sears, and both are now deceased, two children surviving them, Sherman and Foster. The son Frank C. was killed in an automobile accident at Toledo, February 4, 1910. He was then forty-four years of age and is survived by his widow and only daughter, El Leen, who live in Bowling Green, the daughter being a student in the local high school. Arthur H. is in the real. estate and life insurance business at Fostoria, Ohio, is married but has no living children. Dr. Lewis L. Yonker, brother of Charles D., graduated from the Dental School of Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, with the class of 1888. He began practice at Bowling Green and for thirty years has been the leading dentist of the city. In 1892 he built the Yonker Block on West Wooster Street. He is prominent in dental associations, being a member of the County, State and National Dental societies, and was formerly a member for one term of four years for the last two years has been secretary of the Ohio State Dental Board. Doctor Yonker was married in Cincinnati to Belle Goldamer, a daughter of Rev. Julius Goldamer, a Jewish rabbi, who was closely associated with and intimate friend of the noted Rabbi Wise, formerly of Cincinnati and later of New York. Mrs. Yonker has long been prominent in Wood County educational affairs. She was fOrmerly a school principal and for some years past has served as a member of the Board of School Examiners. Mr. Charles D. Yonker married in Bowling Green, in 1875, Rebecca L. Leonard. Mrs. Yonker was born in Seneca County, Ohio, but was reared and educated near Bowling Green. She also taught school for a time. Their oldest child, Pearl M., born in 1876, graduated from the Bowling Green High School and is now the wife of Fred E. Kershner, a baker at Delphos, Ohio. Earl E., born in 1882, is a graduate of the Bowling Green High School and is now connected with the Childs Restau- 1922 - HISTORY OF. NORTHWEST OHIO rant Company at Toledo. He married Nellie Holstein. Mr. Yonker and his brother Doctor Yonker are both prominent members of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Bowling Green. Mr. Yonker is a charter member, having joined the organization thirty-four years ago. He has served as chancellor commander of the order. He and his brother are also members of the Associated Post of Wiley Post, Grand Army of the Republic at Bowling Green. Mr. Yonker has been a vigorous and influential republican and has served on all the county and local committees of the party. CHARLES BRUCE MCKINNEY. It is the fortune of some men to live long enough to witness mighty changes, greater than ever visioned by them during the days of their forceful, ambitious youth. However, all of those who make up this class do not have the satisfaction of knowing that they have borne their part in the development of their communities, for it takes more than the desire to do good and accomplish something worth while. In order to attain the best results an individual must have the capability, energy and aptness to either direct compelling forces or carry out the ideas of directing power. One of the representative men of Wood County, whose services in relation to oil development have made his name widely and prominently known, is Charles Bruce McKinney, who has been a resident of the Pemberville community for a quarter of a century, and who is now living retired after a career devoted unreservedly and successfully to the oil industry. Charles Bruce McKinney was born about one mile from Seneca, Venango County, Pennsylvania, April 15, 1837, a son of Samuel and Rachael (McKinny) McKinney, and comes of Revolutionary stock on both the paternal and maternal sides of the family. His, paternal grandfather, who passed practically his entire life in Center County, Pennsylvania, as a farmer, was a private in the patriot army during the winning of American independence, and his maternal grandfather Dunn also an agriculturist by vocation, lived in Westmoreland County and held the rank of general in the same struggle. Samuel McKinney was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, in 1790 or 1791, and grew to manhood in that community, where he was married to Rachael McKinny, who in spite of having the same name was no relative. Samuel McKinney was a volunteer soldier during the War of 1812, and among other engagements was in the battle of Lake Erie, where he performed so gallantly that he was voted a medal by his state, accompanying which was a letter of commendation of his valiant services. In .1833 he took his family across the mountains into Venango County, Pennsylvania, where he settled on a farm, and there rounded out a useful and industrious life, dying in 1871, when in the neighborhood of eighty-four years of age. Mrs. McKinney survived him until 1892 and was well advanced in years at the time of her demise. They were consistent members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and active in its work, and Mr. McKinney was a republican from the time that party was organized. Of their twelve children, eleven grew to maturity, ten married and four are still living, these being : Frances, the widow of a Mr. Bruce and now eighty-five years of age ; Samuel H., now retired at the age of eighty-three years, a well-to-do and prominent citizen of Venango County, Pennsylvania, where for many years he was engaged in agricultural and oil operations in Cranberry Township, married, and the father of fifteen children ; Amelda, of Oil City, Pennsylvania, widow of A. J. Gates, has children and many descendants in various parts of the Keystone State ; and Charles Bruce. Charles Bruce McKinney was educated in the public schools of Venango County, Pennsylvania, and also in Alleghany College at Meadville, Pa., and grew to manhood on his father's farm. It was in 1858, when he had just reached his majority, that oil was first discovered there, within ten miles of his home, and his sight of the first well was the deciding factor in changing the whole course of his career. The first well at Oil City held a strong attraction for him, and he at once decided that his success would be made in that field of endeavor and he was not long in securing an interest in a well in his home community. His success in his initial venture proved encouraging, and he went along steadily in Venango County, sinking many wells and producing much oil, until 1892. By that time he had become' convinced that Ohio offered a better field for his operations and he accordingly came to Wood County and located at Bradner, where he remained about one year, then removing to Pemberville, which has since been his home. Here he soon became one of the most prominent and active operators in this field, sinking as many as HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1923 100 wells, a number Of which he himself located. Perhaps his greatest producer was on the Tomb farm in Seneca County, Ohio, a gusher which produced over 70,000 barrels of oil. While he is now retired from active pursuits, he is still the owner of a number of properties, and holds fast to the faith that any man who legitimately stays with the oil producing business during his life time will ultimately reap a handsome competence and be able in his declining years to enjoy the comforts of life, as Mr. McKinney is now doing. Few men have been better known in this field of endeavor, not alone in Wood; but in Sandusky, Seneca. and other counties of Ohio, and in Pennsylvania, and no man has enjoyed in greater degree the confidence and respect of his fellowmen. His life has been one characterized by straightforward and honorable dealing, and his integrity has never been questioned. Mr. McKinney was married March 16, 1870, at Enterprise, Warren County, Pennsylvania, to Miss Anna L. Brandon, who was born in Schenectady, New York, September 10, 1850,' and there reared and educated. In young womanhood she went to Pennsylvania, where she met and married Mr. McKinney, and has since proved a helpful and willing partner in his career, a faithful wife and a devoted mother. They became the parents of the following children : Herbert E., an oil operator at Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio, married Frances Edna Patton, a Wood County girl, and has three children, Russell, Louise and Charles ; Jennie, who is the wife of H. L. Bacon, of the Electric Oil Refining Company of Toledo, and has a son, Bruce H.; and Raymond B. associated in the oil business with his brother at Tiffin, Ohio, married Miss May Bruning, of Pemberville, and has three children, William, Eleanor and Samuel. Mr. and Mrs. McKinney also reared Mrs. McKinney's nephew, H. L. Brandon, now manager of the National Supply Company of Electra, Texas. He married Gladys Dennis and has a son, Herbert Lloyd, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. McKinney are members of the Presbyterian Church. His political views make him a republican. PHILLIP GRUMMEL. While he has long been rated as one of the influential business men of Tiffin, Phillip Grummel began his career in the humble circumstances of respectable poverty. Hard work has turned the scale in his favor and he is at once one of the oldest and best known citizens of Tiffin, where he has lived nearly sixty years and continued active in business affairs until quite recently. He was born in, Germany December 15, 1828, a son of Phillip and Elizabeth (Schmidt) Grummel. His parents spent all their lives in Germany. His father was a laboring man. Phillip was one of four children by his father's second wife. Ile has one living sister, Lizzie, who is now a widow living at Lima. Mr. Grummel received a very limited education in Germany. When he arrived At Tiffin, Ohio, he brought nothing with him except unlimited energy and a willingness to work. For several years he was employed as. a day laborer.. After five years, having by earnest effort accumulated a very modest capital, he engaged in the saloon business and from that went into a grocery store, following which he was again a saloon man, and then became a hardware merchant. Through these various ventures he had accumulated considerable capital. He went on the bond of a local brewery 'for the sum of $6,500 and on a note for $1,500, making a total of $8,000, and finally had to take over the property and manage it himself. The Tiffin Brewery has been in the hands of the Grummel family ever since 1888, but it is now the property and under the management of Mr. Grummel's children. Mr. Grummel's business record at Tiffin covers all the years since 1859. In 1857, three years after coming to this city, he married Elizabeth Bower, who was born in Germany and died at their home in Tiffin in January, 1913. Ten children were born to them, eight of whom are living. Fred is in the hardware business at Tiffin ; John is in the brewery at Tiffin ; Henry is in the local brewery ; Albert is the manager of the brewery ; Otto is in the brewery ; Mary married Jack Haggerty, of Toledo, Ohio ; Tillie married William Hartzel and lives in Upper Sandusky, Ohio ; and Cora is at home with her father. The two deceased children of Mr. and Mrs. Grummel were Phillip and William. Phillip was for some years in the hardware business and afterwards associated with his father in the brewery. He married Mayme Zipful and had one child, Eugene, now of Toledo, Ohio. William died at the age of two years. Mr. Grummel is an active member of the Second Reformed Church. He possesses the German love of music and possessing a good voice was identified with local musical affairs for many years. Politically he is a democrat. 1924 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Mr. Grummel's mother died when he was ten years of age. His father married again, and was soon stricken with tuberculosis. At that time young Phillip was sixteen years old and had to work early and late to keep up his sister and father. He had none of the usual pleasures and recreations of the average boy and life became steadily serious with him at an early age. Along with industry he has kept an incorruptible character for honesty and has eminently deserved his steady promotion from the ranks of day laborer to the position of a wealthy man. At one time he owned three different business enterprises. At an other time he was. in debt to the extent of $45,000, but there was never a time when he did not have confidence in himself and his ability to pay out in full. Mr. Grummel is owner of a large amount of city property in Tiffin and in other places, including a farm of sixty acres near Tiffin. His own home, at the corner of Perry and Sandusky streets, is one of the most comfortable in the city. CURTIS MILLER WISELEY is sole proprietor of Wiseley & Company, hay., grain and general produce dealers in Findlay. Mr. Wise-ley has built up a large and prosperous business. He became connected with this line a number of years ago as a partner and gradually acquired entire control. He does a general commission business handling fruits and produce, hay and grain, his specialty being hay. The business is located at 219 Broadway in Findlay. Mr. Wiseley represents old and prominent families in this section of Ohio. His parents, Daniel S.. and Elizabeth (Miller) Wise-ley, were successful farmers 'in Marion Township of Hancock County. The first ancestor of the name George Wiseley came from Scotland about x.700 and located in Pennsylvania. Mr.. Wiseley's ancestors are Scotch on both sides. His grandfather, William Wiseley, moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, locating east of Carroll in Fairfield County, and cleared up a tract of Government land, living a number of years in a log cabin, the material of which pioneer structure is still in use. Another ancestor, Allen Wiseley, conducted a tannery at Findlay as early as 1809, when the entire village comprised only thirteen cabins. Mr. Wiseley is also descended from Major Bright, who came to Hancock County on horseback in 1909. Curtis M. Wiseley was barn in Marion Township of Hancock County in 1872, and had the advantages of the country schools plus one term in Findlay College. When he was fifteen years of age he was working out among the neighboring farmers and earning his own living and that was his chief experience and vocation until he was nineteen. In 1891 Mr. Wiseley went to the Far West, and spent one year in California working on ranches and as a section hand. He was still working for others when at the age of twenty-three he married Miss Effie E. Bright, daughter of Charles and Catherine (Carnes) Bright They were married in 1896: Mrs. Wiseley is also of a Marion Township family, and while her parents were Brights, and Mr. Wiseley is related to the Brights on his father's mother's side, there is no blood relation between Mrs. Wise-ley and her husband. Mr. and. Mrs. Wiseley are the parents of a household of children whose names and ages are: Evelyn Bright, born in 1898; Catherine Elizabeth, born in 1901; Ruth, born in 1905 ; Dorothy, born in 1998; Charles Robert, born in 1914; and Richard Allen, born in 1916. After his marriage Mr. Wiseley became an' oil worker and had an extensive experience over Ohio and other fields, being employed in that line for six years. He then went with D. C. Davis, grain and commission merchants at the same location in Findlay, where Mr. Wiseley now conducts his business. He was with that firm until 1909, when he bought an interest and subsequently acquired the entire business. He now employs between ten and twenty-five men and the volume of trade aggregates' $250,000 a year. Success has come to him by hard work and the faculty of making use of his experience and enlarging upon his opportunities. Mr. Wiseley is one of the well considered citizens of Findlay, is a republican in politics, a member of the Commercial Travelers Association and of Lodge No. 400 of the Knights of Pythias. He and his family attend the Howard Methodist Episcopal Church. CARL F. STEINLE, active head of the Steinle Construction Company of Fremont, is one of the ablest and most successful building engineers in Northwest Ohio. The business of which he is now the head was founded and for many years conducted by his father and uncle. Since he organized the Steinle Construction Company, Carl F. Steinle hag used the or-