HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2025 Perrysburg, Ohio, and late in life moved to Toledo. Mr. McCauley died there December 6, 1904, in his seventy-fifth year, and his wife passed away December, 18, 1906, at the age of seventy-three. Both were life long members of the Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have only one child, Harry E., who was born April 7, 1877. He grew up in Wood County, was educated in the common schools, and is now a successful farmer. He married Fannie J. Lowell, who was reared and educated in Wood County. They have three children : Elaine, born January 22, 1901; and now a student in the Bowling Green High School ; Harold Webster, born September 19, 1903, and in the grade school; and H. Henry, born October 1, 1906, and also in school. The Hughes family are members of the Christian Church. HEATH K. COLE. To his profession as a lawyer Heath K. Cole brought talent, thorough learning and understanding, and an industry that keeps him up to the highest tension of his powers in behalf of every interest entrusted to his charge. Mr. Cole has already built up a successful practice as a member of the Tiffin bar; though he is by no means one of the seniors in practice in that city. He was born at Republic, Ohio; September 16, 1880, a son of John L. and Maria (Platte) Cole. His grandfather, Nathan Cole, was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1785, and married Maria Walker, a native of Tompkins County, New York. Nathan Cole came West to Michigan in 1836, and three years later located in Seneca County, Ohio, on a farm, where he spent his last years. Forty acres of the land which he acquired nearly eighty years ago is now owned by his grandson, the Tiffin lawyer. Mr. Cole's maternal grandparents were Joel M. and Rachel (Norton) Platte. They were born in New York State and came to Ohio; in 1833, locating on a farm, but' ten years later going to Republic, in which town they spent their last years. John L. Cole, who was one of a large family of children, was born in Seneca 'County February 4, 1820. He became 6,' 'Successful lawyer and practiced for many years at Republic until his death on December 9. 1912. He read law under George Seney. He was not only an able lawyer but successful in a business way. He held some local town offices and was in every way 'entitled to the success and esteem which followed him' to the end. He was a republican, a member of the Masonic Order and he and his wife belonged, to the Baptist Church He married Maria Platte on October 9, 1876, at Republic. She was born in Seneca County December 8, 1841, and is still living. Heath K. Cole was the only son. The daughter, Elsie L., is now the wife of Mr. Loudenshlager, who is an engineer in the packing plant' at Bellevue, Ohio. Heath K. Cole grew up in the Town of Republic, where his father was in active practice as a lawyer, and attended local schools, graduating from high school in 1895. He taught school for a year or so and in 1897 entered Heidelberg University at Tiffin and was graduated Bachelor of Science in 1901. During 1902-03 he was superintendent of the Republic schools and while there carried on his law studies in the offices of McCauley et Weller. He then entered the law department of the Ohio State University and was grad; uated LL. in 1905. After about 11/2 years spent in Kansas Mr. Cole returned to Ohio in June, 1907, and has since been gaining reputation and a large business as a lawyer at Tiffin. He has served as clerk of the local election board, but has been too busy as a lawyer to concern himself much with practical politics. On November 24, 1910, Mr. Cole married Dora D. Dunn. She was born at Atlanta, Illinois, daughter of William and Catherine (Shaffner) Dunn. Mr. and' Mrs. Cole have one daughter, Anna Katherine, now two years of age. They are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Cole is Serving on 'the official board. He is affiliated With the Masonic Order and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and in politics is a republican. WILLIAM H. FREDERICK has spent the best years of his long and useful life at Bowling Green. Ample material possessions have been his and it has been the greatest pleasure of his declining years to help do good among others, especially among the poor and unfortunate. His is a name that will stand long in the memory and gratitude of this community. He comes of old Holland ancestry and Pennsylvania families: His grandfather, Jacob Frederick, was born in Pennsylvania, grew up as a farmer in that state and married a Pennsylvania girl. Upwards of a century ago they came to Ohio, locating in Seneca County, and secured a home in the midst of 2026 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO the unbroken forest near Adrian. The land under his efforts became a good farm, and there. Jacob and his wife spent their last years. He was about eighty and she eighty-five when death overtook them. They were early members of the Dutch Reformed Church. All of their children have long since passed away and most of them were farmers in Seneca County. William Frederick, father of William H., was born in Pennsylvania in 1812. He married in Seneca County Elizabeth Freet. She was a native of Pennsylvania and of ancestry similar to that of her husband, her parents having located in Ohio in early days. She grew up at McCutchenville in Wyandot County. After their marriage they located a mile and a half north of Adrian, Ohio, and had the simple comforts of a log cabin home for some years. It was in that home that William H. Frederick was born May 3, 1846. His first instruction was received in the old Kestener schoolhouse a mile and a half from the family home. Every Sunday his parents drove to the McCutchenville Reformed Church, three miles away, to attend Worship. His parents finally retired and lived in the village of Adrian, where his father died in 1864, while William H. was home on a furlough from the army. The widowed mother died some years later at Tiffin, Ohio. 'William Frederick began voting as a Whig and was a republican before his death. Their seven children all grew up and married, and all had children of their own except William H. Those now deceased were named Samuel, Alice Ann, Margaret, 'Jacob, and Calvin Z. Calvin was living at the Soldiers Home in Sandusky at the time of his death'. Henry, who is a plaster contractor, lives at New Philadelphia. The son Jacob was a Union soldier. William H. Frederick was still a boy when the war broke out, and he did not reach his majority until after the war had closed. He enlisted in Company D of the Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry, under Colonel William Gibson. Mr. Frederick says that no better colonel ever drew a saber and he has an undying love and respect for his old commander. The company enlisted in 1862 and joined General "Pap" Thomas' Command and was in the campaign around Murfreesboro, later at Chattanooga, Chickamauga and in other engagements. While on the skirmish line Mr. Frederick was shot through the left knee and on the spot where 'he fell he was captured by the enemy. He was kept in prison eleven days and was then paroled with other wounded soldiers and he recovered from his, wound in a hospital at Stephens, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee. He was granted a furlough and returned home just a week before his father died. He never attempted to rejoin his command and was finally given an honorable discharge and mustered out at Columbus, Ohio. After the war Mr. Frederick learned the trade of plasterer and soon built up a large business as a contractor. He was prospered in his own business affairs and his wife brought him a comfortable fortune. A number of years ago they built a beautiful and modern home of eleven rooms at 504 South Main Street in Bowling Green, where Mr. Frederick has lived retired. He is a stockholder and director in the Commercial Bank of Bowling Green. At Bowling Green he married Miss Maria Hollington. She was born on' a farm near Bowling Green January 26, 1852, and died at San Diego, California, November 21, 1915. They had gone West and she had been in California only a week when her death occurred. Mrs. Frederick was carefully reared and educated and was the daughter of rich and prominent people, Joseph and Elizabeth (Lamb) Hollington. They were both born in Ohio and were wealthy farmers in Wood County. Her father died on one of his farms in 1900. He was born March 28, 1822. Mrs. Frederick's mother was born May 21, 1824, and died in Bowling Green in June, 1906. The Hollingtons were widely known over this section of Ohio and Mr. Hollington was one of the leaders in the republican party. He was never ambitious to serve in public office but he did much as a stump speaker and usually .carried his point in any argument. He went all over Wood County canvassing and speaking in public for the courthouse. The Hollingtons were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs.. Frederick had one sister, Mary, who died unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick had no children and they used their means liberally for the benefit of many poor and unfortunate people in this community. Mrs. Frederick was a devoted Methodist and a regular attendant of that church. Mr. Frederick is a republican and .is affiliated with Wiley Post. Grand Army of the Republic.. His faithful housekeeper for the past seventeen years has been Mrs. Mary Kraner. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2027 WILLIAM J. WALKER, M. D., who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1869, moved with his parents to a farm in Williams County when sc-ven years old, and has been numbered among the successful physicians and surgeons at Bryan for the past four years. Before he became a doctor he was a school teacher, and wherever the duties of the world have called him he has given good account of his time and talents. He is a son of substantial farming people, William and Jane (Boyd) Walker. It was on the farm that he learned his first lessons of nature and of the moral responsibilities of manhood. He also attended district school there, and acquired more than a passing acquaintance with farm work. In the Fayette Normal School he prepared himself for the work of teaching, and for several years taught some of the country schools of Williams County. He then entered Hiram College, where he pursued the regular scientific course and where he was graduated with the degree Bachelor of Science. After leaving college he taught again at Delta in Fulton County and then entered the Detroit College of Medicine, from which he received his degree of M. D. Since then Doctor Walker has taken post-graduate courses in Chicago and in Rochester, Minnesota, and has always availed himself of* the best literature and of association with the ablest men in, the profession. For twelve Years Doctor Walker practiced at Farmer in Defiance County, then removed to Sherwood, and four years ago established his office at Bryan. He is an active member of the County and State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association, is a Lodge, Chapter and Commandery Mason and also belongs to the Mystic Shrine. Doctor Walker married on June 12, 1917, Corinne J. Silvers. By a former marriage Doctor Walker is the father of two children. CHARLES A. BOWERSOX, advisory and contributing editor of Williams County for this publication, has been a resident of that county all his life, and for many years has been identified with many of its vital and important interests. He was born in St. Joseph Township, Williams County, October 16, 1846, a son of John W. and Mary J. (Breckenridge) Bowersox. His father, who was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, was of German ancestry, a Lutheran, and in politics was first a whig and free soiler but died a republican. His wife, who was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, her lineage being connected with the celebrated Breckenridge family of Kentucky, was born not far from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The parents were married at Taneytown, Maryland, when the groom was twenty-two and the bride twenty-one. John W. Bowersox died at the age of eighty-one years four months, and his wife when about sixty years of age. After their marriage they spent seven years at North Industry, a village four miles south of Canton, Ohio, and then in October, 1838, they removed by ox team to St. Joseph Township in Williams County, locating on a farm in the wilderness. On that farm seven children were born. Altogether there were eight in the family, one dying in infancy. The only. survivors are Judge Bowersox and his brother, who was a farmer during his active career and was eighty years of age on August 25, 1916. Judge Bowersox now owns the farm where his parents located nearly eighty years ago. His mother was a Presbyterian, but owing to location both parents joined and died in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Judge Bowersox oldest brother died as a minister in the Congregational Church. One of his sisters was twice married and had children by both marriages. Another sister, who died December 30, 1916, at the age of seventy-five, never married and spent her entire life on the farm where she was born. The first school attended by Charles A. Bowersox was held in a log building in the midst of the woods in Williams County. He graduated from that school, and then taught seven terms of country school. The meager income from that work he supplemented by teaching an occasional singing school. In March, 1870, when nearly twenty-four years of age he left the farm and entered Otterbein University at Westerville, Ohio. He was graduated in the classical course with the degree A. B. in June, 1874, and three years later was given the degree Master of Arts. In 1890 Mr. Bowersox was elected president of Otterbein, but after holding that position nominally for two years resigned. While he was too young to be a soldier in the Civil war Mr. Bowersox is an honorary member of the Thirty-eighth Ohio Infantry Volunteers, one of the best regiments in that war. On August 17, 1874, soon after leaving Otterbein, he became superintendent of the public schools of Edgerton, Ohio, and held 2028 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO that office two years. In February, 1875, he was appointed one of the county school examiners of Williams County, and officiated in that capacity nearly two years. In June, 1875, he was nominated probate judge of Williams County, was elected in October and served one term of three years. In the intervals of a successful law practice and business career Judge Bowersox has had numerous public honors and responsibilities. In 1881 he was elected to the Ohio Legislature, serving one term. In the spring of 1884 he was appointed common pleas judge to succeed Judge Owen, who went upon the supreme bench and served until the election of his successor. In 1907 he was again elected a member of the Legislature for one term, and declined renomination. In November, 1916, he was chosen common pleas judge of Williams County for a term of six years, and began the duties of his present position January 2, 1917. In June, 1876, while serving as probate judge, he removed to Bryan, the county seat of Williams County, located about thirteen miles from his birthplace, and has lived in that city continuously to the present time. While probate judge he acted for one year a8 editor in chief of the Bryan Press. On the first of September, 1879, he began the practice of law and his first partner was Hon. E. Foster, a partnership that continued until the death! of Mr. Foster in the spring of 1883. Mr. Bowersox then practiced alone for a number of years and for fifteen years was a partner with R. L. Starr. Again he conducted an individual practice, and his last formal partner was E. C. Peck, and they were together until Mr. Peck was elected probate judge. Judge Bowersox has always been a republican. He took part in every political campaign beginning with 1876 until 1916, when he was a candidate for his present office on a non-partisan ticket. He has done much active campaign work and has spoken in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. Outside of politics he has appeared frequently upon the lecture platform, and has spoken on different subjects and delivered addresses, memorial and otherwise, both in Bryan; and surrounding, counties. Judge Bowersox and son are both, Knight Templar' Masons. In 1870 he united with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and was educated in and graduated from its oldest institution of learning. However, in recent years he has affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Judge Bowersox became connected with the Farmers National Bank at Bryan in 1880, was soon made a director and vice president, and for the past twenty-seven years has been its president. For the past ten years he has been connected with and is president of the Edon State Bank Company and the Edgerton State Bank Company, both in Williams County, and was president of the First National Bank of Montpelier until he resigned. He is also president of the Bruns-Bowersox Land and Lumber Company, has for a number of years been vice president of the Stryker Boat-Oar and Lumber Company, and is president of Enos Taylor Boat and Barge Line, which does business at Shawneetown, Illinois, but maintains its offices at Stryker, Ohio. On June 10, 1875, in the village of Westerville, the seat of Otterbein University, Judge Bowersox married Laura A. Jarvis. Mrs. Bowersox was graduated from Otterbein University in June, 1875. Her mother died at Westerville.. Her name was Lydia M. Jarvis. Her father, Samuel Jarvis, who was a merchant, on retiring from business spent the last fourteen years of his life at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Bowersox at Bryan. Mrs. Bowersox's parents, 'her brother and an infant sister are buried in Otterbein cemetery at Westerville. In that same cemetery lie the remains of B.. R. Hanby, author of the war song "Darling Nellie dray." Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis were members of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ: Mrs. Bowersox is an amateur artist, has done much painting, drawing and china painting, and takes a keen interest in all matters of an artistic nature. Judge Bowersox has two children. His son,. Charles R. Bowersox, born March 28, 1886, is secretary and manager of the Bryan Show Case Company at Bryan, Ohio. He married Lenore Grant, daughter of J. A. and Alice Grant, her father being a banker at Pioneer, Ohio. Judge Bowersox's daughter is Helene Bowersox, who is a graduate of .the high school at Bryan, of the Frances Shimer Boarding School at Mt. Carroll, Illinois, and is now a junior, taking the general course in the University of Wisconsin at Madison. J. M. SMYTHE 'S work has been chiefly as a railway telegrapher and agent, and for the past fifteen years he has handled the business HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2029 of the Pennsylvania Railway Company at Gibsonburg. Mr. Smythe has been diligent and faithful to his company and at the same time has proved a popular citizen at Gibsonburg and by his business ability and tact and diplomacy has served both the 'community and the railroad interests. Mr. Smythe was born in Tiffin, Ohio, October 16, 1870, a son of John M. and Margaret E. (Milliken) Smythe. His grandfather, David Smythe, was a native of Pennsylvania, followed the business of tanning in Philadelphia for a number of years, but finally located. in Tiffin, Ohio, where he was an employee of the Probate Court. Mr. Smythe's maternal grandfather, Joseph Milliken, spent all his life in Pennsylvania and owned and operated a. tan yard at Lockhaven. John M. Smythe and wife were both born in Center County, Pennsylvania, and were married in that state. They afterwards removed to Ohio and for a number of years he' was in the railroad service, but finally bought a farm in Seneca County and lived on it until his death. His hard work enabled him to provide a good home for his family. He was a democrat in politics but all his sons grew up to be republicans. He and his wife were members of the First Presbyterian Church at Tiffin. Of their seven sons six are still living. Edgar E., the oldest, now deceased, was a very successful railroad man. He served as first commercial and assistant general freight agent of the Frisco lines, afterwards was general agent for the Kansas City Southern, and at the time of his death was vice president of the Missouri & North Arkansas Railway Company. Herbert J. was for a number of years connected with the Associated Press at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and is now a Chicago newspaper man. The third oldest of the sons is J. M. Smythe. David Laird is a board of trade man in Chicago. Reed M. is a telegraph operator with the Pennsylvania Company at Tiffin, Ohio. -Robert M. is a farmer near Tiffin, and Charles" D., the youngest of the sons, is now commercial agent of the Joplin & Pittsburg Railway Company. J. M. Smythe grew up in and around Tiffin and for a time attended high school in that city. He began life on absolutely no capital and not only had himself to support but for a number of years he supported his aged grandmother. Some of his early experiences were as a farm laborer and as a farmer. At the age of twenty-one he learned the art of telegraphy, and became connected with the railway company at Tiffin. He was promoted from bill clerk to agent at Helena in Sandusky County, subsequently was joint agent at Carrothers, and in 1902 he was assigned to his present post at Gibsonburg as agent for the Pennsylvania lines. This position has given him sufficiency of business cares and responsibilities, though he has also acquired some interests in oil development in this section of Ohio. Mr. Smythe married Harriet Loveberry, who was born at Helena in. Sandusky County. They have two sons, Joseph Gordon, now in the second year of high school ; and John Meredith, in the seventh grade of the local schools. The family are members of the Trinity Evangelical Church. Mr. Smythe is a republican, and while not an active partisan he has found some opportunities to serve the public welfare in his home town as a member of the school board and was president of the board for eight years. HENRY S. DONZY. A man of sterling worth and pronounced ability, the late Henry S. Donzy was for many years closely identified with the advancement of the agricultural business interests of Wood County. Whatever he undertook he did well. He grew up here when the country was partially wild and unimproved, and found many opportunities to engage his energy and time. He was born in Bowling Green November 13, 1851, and died at his home in that city, at 324 South Grove Street, April 21, 1913, at the age of sixty-three. He was a son of Peter F. and Catherine (Marchand) Donzy, both of whom were born near Paris, France, and of old French stock and ancestry. They knew each other as children and after they had came to the United States, each alone and on a sailing vessel, they renewed their acquaintance at Maumee, Ohio. Fallowing their marriage they located at Bowling Green, during the '40s, and bought a small property on East Wooster Street. While living in Bowling Green the following children were born to. them : Fred, Julia, Louisa and Henry S. In 1854 the parents settled in the wilds of the Black Swamp in Liberty Township of Wood County. Peter Donzy bought there a tract of eighty acres, and his purposeful energy and determination cleared it up and made a fine farm out of it. Other children were born at the farm, named Susan, George, Charles and one that died in infancy. Of this considerable family the only two now living are Julia 2030 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and Susan. The father died on the old farm. in Liberty Township. His widow subsequently moved to Bowling Green and lived in the home of her son and daughter-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Henry Donzy. Mrs. Donzy gave most careful consideration to the comfort and welfare of her mother-in-law and looked after her every want until she passed away in 1915, when nearly ninety-four years of age. The parents were reared as French Protestants but after coming to Ohio they united with the Rudolph Christian Church. The late Henry S. Donzy grew up on his father's farm in Liberty Township, and after getting his education and announcing his determination to start out in life for himself he had as capital and equipment $75 dollars in cash and a horse. Later he bought forty acres of land, and this was subsequently sold as oil property for four thousand dollars. Henry S. Donzy was distinguished by his ability as a land trader and farmer, and he bought and sold many farms in this county. When he retired to Bowling Green. in 1,900 he possessed a good competency and after that he spent his years looking after his private affairs. Mrs. Donzy still owns 160 acres in Liberty Township, this being a farm of excellent improvements and substantial buildings. On coming to Bowling Green Mr. Donzy bought a good home at 324 South Grove Street, and took the greatest pleasure in that home and its surroundings the rest of his life. At Rudolph on November 27, 1874, he married Miss Sarah E. Wallace. Mrs. Donzy was born in Ottawa County, Ohio, January 1, 1854, and went with her parents about the close of the Civil war to Liberty Township in Wood County. She is the daughter of William L. and Mary C. (Willey) Wallace, her father a native of Ottawa County, of Pennsylvania parentage, and her mother born in Germany and brought to this country by her family when nine years of age. The Willeys also located in Ottawa County, where her father died and her mother spent her last years in Wood County. William L. Wallace and wife were active farmers in Wood County from the close" of the Civil war until they passed away, and both were members of the Christian Church. Mrs. Donzy has two daughters. Faidella is the wife of Charles C. Loomis, a prosperous young farmer near Scotch Ridge in Wood County. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis have three children, Charles H., Ralph E. and Mary E. The second daughter, Flora May, was, like her sister, educated in the local high school at Bowling Green and is now the wife of Clyde L. Bishop. Mr. Bishop was born and reared in Bowling Green and is now one of the firm of Bishop Brothers, proprietors of a garage and dealers in automobiles. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop have no children. Mrs. Donzy and her family are supporting members of the Christian Church. D. S. GOTTLIEB, who was born at Tiffin May 8, 1881, has made a striking business success for a man of his years. He had the ability to perceive opportunities and to make the most of them, and he is now chief executive officer of the Seneca Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company, one of the important corporations of Tiffin. He started this business with small capital and with practically no demand for the goods. His working force included only a few girls. By good judgment he built up a trade that demanded the output of his factory to the limit, and as rapidly as possible has kept the facilities of his factory growing to meet the demand. The business has also had two serious misfortunes. The flood of 1913 almost destroyed the plant, and the second time a fire visited the business with serious disaster and inconvenience. The home of the company is now on South Washington Street, and the entire building is devoted to the manufacture and handling of the business. A large number of people are on the payroll, and out of it all has come a considerable fortune to Mr. Gottlieb. Local bankers rate him as one of the most substantial men financially in Tiffin. He has recently begun the erection of a fine home. He is a son of Joseph and Bertha (Stricker) Gottlieb. His father was born in Germany and his mother in Cincinnati, and they came from Cincinnati and located at Tiffin about 1875. The father was a traveling man in Cincinnati and at Tiffin engaged in the clothing business, but is now living retired. The mother is deceased and of their two children D. S. is the older, while his sister, Elsie, is the wife of Joseph Strasburger, a dry goods merchant at Albia, Iowa. The family are all members of the Jewish Church. D. S. Gottlieb was educated in the public schools of Tiffin and his first business experience was in his father's store. He remained there three years, then started the glove fac' tory. The Seneca Glove and Mitten Manufacturing Company was organized in 1901, and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2031 Mr. Gottlieb is its secretary and treasurer, while his father is president. The principal output is workingmen's cotton gloves. These are sold in nearly every town of the United States. Mr. Gottlieb married in 1913 Helen Kohn, a native of Davenport, Iowa. Their two children are David K. and Bertha Maxine. Mr. Gottlieb is a member of the Lodge and Chapter of Masonry and also of Lodge No. 94, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically he is a democrat. JUDGE CHARLES E. SCOTT. By his six years of service on the bench and by more than thirty-five years of active connection with the Williams County bar Judge Charles E. Scott has won a place of enviable prominence in that section of Northwest Ohio. When he was trying his first cases many years ago it was observed that he not only manifested a thorough fidelity to his clients but also to the ethics of his profession, and throughout his career the dignity and responsibility of his high calling have been one of his most distinguishing characteristics: He is one of the native sons of Williams County who have earned a high position in its citizenship. He was born there, a son of William C. and Elizabeth (Millhouse) Scott. His grandfather, Robert Scott, was a native of Ireland and came to the United States in the early days. William C. Scott, who was born in Wayne County, Ohio, moved to Williams County in 1865, and for many years combined the occupation of farming with that of veterinary surgeon. He was a graduate of the Toronto College of Veterinary Surgeons. He began his political life as a republican, but after 1878 was affiliated with the democratic party. His death occurred March 22, 1887, while his widow survived him until June 18, 1910. They were the parents of five children. One son, the late Robert A. Scott, died September 7, 1886, at the beginning of a very promising career as a lawyer. He was a graduate in law from the University of Michigan, and was serving his third consecutive term as prosecuting attorney when death called him from his profession to the higher bar. Judge Charles E. Scott spent his boyhood days on a farm. In the meantime he attended the public schools, and at the age of seventeen qualified for work as a teacher. By this occupation he paid part of his expenses in the University of Michigan, where he studied law. At the age of twenty-one he gained admission to the bar, on October 6, 1880, and in 1881 he began practicing at Defiance. He was there three years, and then became associated with his brother at Bryan, under the firm name of Scott & Scott. This partnership was continued until the death of his brother. He then assumed the large clientage which the two brothers had built up, and in 1890 took in as a partner John H. Shrider. That partnership continued nine years, until 1899. In 1900 Judge Scott formed a partnership with E. C. Peck, and they were together in practice until 1905. After that Judge Scott practiced alone until he was elevated to the bench. Governor Harmon, on July 1, 1910, selected Mr. Scott to fill a vacancy on the bench of the Third Judicial District, due to the elevation of the incumbent judge, John M. Killets, to the Federal bench by appointment from President Taft. Judge Scott served out the appointed term of six months, and on November 8, 1910, was regularly elected for the full term of six years. His term expired December 31, 1916, and as he had refused a renomination in August, he returned to private practice and carried with him a record of impartial administration and a distinguished ability in the judicial office. In 1888 Judge Scott married Miss Sadie Plank, who was born in Wooster in Wayne County, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Plank. Mrs. Scott is a graduate of the Bryan High School. They have one daughter, Hazel M. Scott, who is also a graduate of the Bryan High School and is now the wife of Earl W. Sutterly, of Lansing, Michigan. Judge Scott is a Knight Templar Mason and Shriner, and for years has been especially active in the interests of the Knights of Pythias, which he has served as past chancellor in his lodge and as a member of the Grand and Supreme Lodge of the state. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Before taking up his duties on the bench Judge Scott was very active in democratic politics, and his services have been in much demand as a campaigner. JOHN WILBUR JACOBY has been a member of the legal profession in practice at Marion for twenty years. While many lawyers get into politics almost as a matter of course, Mr. Jacoby's interests have rather led him 2032 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO into business affairs and he is one of the leading attorneys and business men of his home city. He was born in Richland Township of Marion County, Ohio, December 23, 1871, a son of Michael and Catherine (Emery) Jacoby. Both the Jacoby and Emery families were early nineteenth century pioneers in Marion County. Mr. Jacoby 's parents were both born in Richland Township. Mr. Jacoby's great-great-grandfather was Bartholomew Jacoby, his great-grandfather was John Jacoby, the grandfather was Michael Jacoby, Sr., and the father was Michael Jacoby, Jr., who was born May 24, 1843. The John Jacoby family came to Ohio about 1820 and settled in the south part of Marion County. Their previous home was near Redding, Pennsylvania, and they were of German descent, commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch. John Wilbur Jacoby grew up on a farm, was educated in the common schools, and after reaching manhood he found means to gain a liberal education. He was graduated A. B. from the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware in 1895 and in 1898 the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him by his alma mater. In the meantime he had attended Cincinnati Law School, where he took his LL. B. degree in 1897. Mr. Jacoby began practice at Marion in June, 1897. The twenty years since that date have been filled with the interests and activities of a successful lawyer. In 1902 he formed a partnership with Hoke W. Donithen under the firm name of Jacoby & Donithen, which was a successful partnership until it was dissolved in 1912. Since then Mr. Jacoby has been practicing alone at Marion. Among business interests he is vice president of the Marion Savings Bank, vice president of the Citizens Building and Loan Company, president of the Economy Lumber Company, and secretary of the Marion Tire and Rubber Company. He served as city solicitor of Marion from 1899 to 1903 and was a member of the city board of education from 1907 to 1911. Mr. Jacoby is a democrat. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has served as chancellor commander of Lodge. No. 51 of the Knights of Pythias, and as exalted ruler of Marion Lodge No. 32 Benevolent and. Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the Marion Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Jacoby was married at Covington, Kentucky, August 8, 1900, to Edna L. Bird daughter of Noah and Sarah Bird of Covington. They have two children : Wilbur Bird Jacoby, born July 16, 1903 ; and Robert Bird Jacoby, born July 2, 1906. KARL P. KOBE. From early boyhood Karl P. Kobe has been gifted musically and his best work and service have been rendered in connection with music as a business and profession. His musicianship is of the highest type and he is both an instrumentalist and a capable director. For a number of years Mr. Kobe has been in the musical instrument business and is now the active man of the firm C. Kobe & Son, dealers in pianos, piano players and phonographs, with a large and well appointed store at 107 East Sandus Street in Findlay. Karl P. Kobe was born at Findlay August 4, 1882, a son of Carl and Minnie (Fillwock) Kobe. His father was born in Saxony, Germany, in 1853, and when about twenty years of age came to America, locating at once in Findlay. Here he found work as a mason tender and in that learned the trade of brick mason. After a time he took up contracting and followed that business actively for four teen years. He was a contractor when he married and he provided for his family in that work. He was also a talented musician, and when opportunity offered, he played in the Bernard Orchestra. Another business which he followed for ten years was the laundry dry business, and for six or eight years he was in the wholesale and retail liquor business. He finally sold out his interests to a brewing company and continued as their agent. Karl Kobe next entered the field of insurance as Findlay agent for the Home Life Insurance Company of New York. He continued in that line until 1907, when he joined his son in the present business. Karl P. Kobe grew up at Findlay, attended the common schools, and at the age of seventeen entered the Findlay Conservatory of Music, where he concentrated all his time and energies upon a musical education. He had become proficient on several instruments as boy, and in the conservatory he continued his work with the cello, bass viol, tuba, Italian harp, and in the study of harmony and composition. His principal instructor was the eminent Prof. Leon Wineland. Mr. Kobe was HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2033 a student in the Findlay Conservatory of music five years, graduating in 1903. In the meantime during summer months he had played in vaudeville at Reeve Park, having the tuba and bass viol in the local orchestra. During 1903-04 he went on the road with a minstrel company and traveled all over the country. The company went as far west as California, and he was with them giving high class musical entertainments for two years. Returning to Ohio he located at Van Wert and entered the factory of the Anderson Piano Company. His purpose was to learn the business technically and from the business end, and he served there from June, 1904, until January, 1907. Among other accomplishments he acquired an expert knowledge of piano tuning. During the holiday season he worked with the Whitney & Currier Company and B. S. Porter Company at Findlay, Ohio. In 1907 he became associated with his father in the firm of C. Kobe & Son and they established their piano salesrooms at 107 East Sandusky Street. This business has grown and prospered. Mr. Kobe has managed the house and his unusual musical talents give him a splendid advantage in promoting the proper selection and sale of musical instruments. He has also managed and conducted the Kobe Orchestra since 1911, and this orchestra furnishes music for all the better class of social affairs in Hancock and adjoining counties. He also manages the Majestic Theater Orchestra. This firm handles the instruments of the Henry Miller & Sons Piano Company, the Mehlin, Haddorff & Becker Brothers pianos, he Sonora phonograph and a large amount of andard musical merchandise. In 1912 at Fostoria, Ohio, Mr. Kobe married Miss Clara E. Mowery, daughter of David and Mary D. S. Mowery. Her father was a general merchant at Fostoria. Mr. and Mrs. Kobe have one child, Carl Ervin, born November 13, 1914. In fraternal affairs Mr. Kobe is active in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and has been through all the chairs and representative to the Grand Lodge of the latter order. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church, is a republican in national affairs and independent locally. He has been successful in his business and profession and that success has been accompanied by a thorough public spirit which makes him a factor in the progress of his home city. BENJAMIN F. JAMES. For more than thirty years Benjamin F. James has been a member of the Wood County Bar and for more than twenty-two years a member of the Toledo bar and because of his professional connections and public career is undoubtedly one of the best known men in Northwest Ohio. Of Welsh and English ancestry, he was born at Mount Gilead, Morrow County, Ohio, April 30, 1863. His grandfather, Edmund James, and his grandmother, Esther Griffith, were both born in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, and about 1795 came to the United States first locating in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, later near Granville, Ohio, upon the Welsh Hills. They subsequently removed to Chesterville in what was then Knox County but now Morrow County where Edmund James followed farming; he and his wife were splendid people, honest, industrious, active church members and willing to co-operate with every movement for the welfare of the community. William D. James, father of Benjamin, was one of their ten children, born December 22, 1815 ; from this date it will be seen that the James family has been identified with Ohio for more than a century ; William became a farmer and stock dealer, was quite prominent locally in politics, voting first as a whig and subsequently as a republican being a vigorous exponent of abolition principles. He was married to Sarah Meredith born in Morrow (then Knox) County, July 30, 1818, the seventh of ten children whose parents were William and Mary (Farmer) Meredith, pioneers in Knox County. Both the Meredith and Farmer families came from England, but were of English and Welsh ancestry. William D. James died May 13, 1875, and his wife September 24, 1894, leaving ten children of whom our subject was the youngest. Benjamin F. James, when a small boy, entered the Chesterville High School and thereafter continued his higher education in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Denison University at Granville and the University of Chicago graduating as A. B. June 11, 1884. Upon leaving college he taught Latin and Greek in Bardstown College, Kentucky, and in Burlington College, Iowa, being tendered the presidency of the latter college but declined to enter Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, for post graduate and law studies ; he received the degree of LL. B. from the law department June 28, 1887, he was admitted to the Ohio bar in October, 1887, 2034 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO was admitted to practice in the Federal Courts in 1890 and in 1906 was admitted to the United States Supreme Court upon recommendation of Hon. Hannis Taylor, the eminent publicist and lawyer, who was United., States Minister to Spain under the Cleveland administration. Besides his active law practice Mr. James early became identified with politics ; in 1891 he was elected a member of the legislature serving from 1891 to 1895 and secured the enactment of the law authorizing a new court house in Wood County. In March, 1905, he was appointed an attorney for the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission upon the recommendation of Senator J. B. Foraker of Ohio, and Ex-Senator William E. Chandler of New Hampshire, then chairman of the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission ; this commission was created after the Spanish-American war pursuant to. the Treaty of Paris December 20, 1898, between the United States and Spain ; as attorney for the commission Mr. James spent two seasons in Cuba in connection with his official duties ; he also visited Spain, but resigned this position in 1907 to resume his law practice in Bowling Green and Toledo. Mr. James owns one of the finest estates in Bowling Green ; it is situated on the highest point in the city, if not in the entire county ; his home is a modern commodious residence surrounded with several acres of forest trees and grounds that exemplify the finest art of the landscape gardener; there may be found one of the finest private libraries in the state ; he is a thirty-second degree Mason ; while in the University he was a member of the Zeta Psi Fraternity and while in the Yale Law School was the founder of the Waite Chapter of Phi Delta Phi. He was married September 4, 1901, at Washington, D. C., to Miss Myrtle E. McElroy who was a daughter of the late Hon. Joseph C. McElroy; captain of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; later he was a member of the Ohio State Legislature and from 1895 until his death in 1907 was postmaster of the House of Representatives in Washington. In the practice of his profession Mr. James has been unusually successful ; his indefatigable industry and close application to his cases have marked him as a lawyer who wins ; his practice has been general covering all lines of the law both in State and Federal courts. He has been engaged in fifteen murder cases and the successful results which he achieved in the last three, the Neiswender, the Willey and the Santimire cases, have placed him in the front rank of lawyers in Ohio. CHARLES ROGER& This name brings up associations with early business history in Bowling Green and mention of a family that has long been prominent in Northern Ohio, originally in the Western Reserve in old Trumbull County, and also as early settlers of Wood County. In colonial and later times the Rogers family lived on Long Island. That was the home of Lieutenant Joseph and Lydia (Lloyd) Rogers. They were married there and soon set out with wagon and team for the Ohio Western Reserve. They were connected in some way with the enterprise of General Hull and located in Trumbull County. That was prior to the War of 1812. They had a tract of land through the middle of which ran a small creek. Joseph Rogers built a tannery on the banks of that creek, and furnished leather for the shoes used by the pioneers in that vicinity. The cabins were very few and far between and he also carried his kit of tools and went about over the country making shoes. Most of his work at the trade was done in the winter time, while the open seasons of the year were spent in looking after his land. The old Rogers farm in the days of military training was a favorite rendezvous for the militiamen and Joseph Rogers was very prominent as a leader in the military and civic life of the community. He took part in the War of 1812 and served with the rank of first lieutenant. He was a man of remarkable energy and intelligence. and was a natural leader of men. He led a very active life and was ninety-three when he passed away. For several years he had been blind. He was one of the leading whigs of Trumbull County and served both in county and township offices. His wife died many years before him and both were devout Presbyterians. In the early '50s Dr. Gilbert Rogers, a son of lieutenant Joseph, took up the practice of medicine at Hayesville in Huron County, Ohio. Not long afterward he was visited by his father, who traveled on horseback, and through the latter's inducement Dr. Rogers made a journey into what was then the West, to Bowling Green, which was a hamlet. In this new country Lieutenant Joseph bought a considerable tract of land, perhaps half a mile in length. This land is all now built over by the City of Bowling Green and the original tract runs from North Main Street back to HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2035 Haskins Street. At that time it was almost completely covered with timber or brush and only two streets or thoroughfares passed it. On his land some of the early Wood County fairs were held. A lot now owned by Mrs. Charles Rogers was the scene of some of these fairs and many of the get-together meetings and conventions were held in a grove of trees on the same land. A sand ridge is the chief feature of the topography there. After Dr. Gilbert Rogers had located on the land his father returned home. Dr. Gilbert Rogers practiced medicine in and around Bowling Green for thirty years and then retired, going out to Kansas. He was succeeded in practice by Doctor Manville. Doctor Manville became associated with Charles Rogers, the youngest son of Lieutenant Joseph, in the drug business at Bowling Green. Dr. Charles Rogers had previously been a general merchant, and had come to Bowling Green when a young unmarried man for the purpose of joining his older brother, Doctor Gilbert. Charles Rogers came to Bowling Green in 1856. He had a long and prosperous business career and lived retired several years before his death, which occurred March 23, 1891. In he meantime he had turned his drug business over to his sons, the Rogers Brothers, who still conduct it. Charles Rogers was born in Trumbull County February 8, 1836, being the youngest of a family of six sons and two daughters all of whom grew up and all married and all are now deceased. On February 19, 1862, at Warren in Trumbull County, Charles Rogers married a neighbor girl, Miss Mary M. Scovill. She was born in Vienna Township of Trumbull County May 6,1840, and spent her early life in that section of the old Western Reserve. Mrs. Rogers is a daughter of Smith and Rachel (Bartholomew) Scovill. The Bartholomews were a prominent pioneer family of Vienna Township of Trumbull County and her mother was a daughter of Ira and Bodecia (Churchill) Bartholomew, who were among the earliest arrivals in Trumbull County. The Scovill family located in Trumbull County just 100 years ago, in 1817. Their first home was a cabin by a. spring in the beautiful Mahoning Valley, not far from the present county seat of Warren. The record of the Scovill family in the various generations has been preserved and published. Such of the record. as pertains to the direct lineage of Mrs. Rogers is given as fol lows. In 1666 John Scovill married Sarah Barnes in Farmington, Connecticut. They lived in Farmington until 1672, then moved to Waterbury and in 1677 to Hadden, where John Scovill died in 1712. His son, John Scovill, Jr., was known as Sergeant John and had a son, Lieutenant John, :born in 1694. Lieu tenant John Scovill had a son Asa, born in 1732. Asa Scovill married Louise Warren and of their seven children Obadiah, the youngest, was born July.4, 1769. His wife, Philamelia, was born in 1778. He afterwards married a widow named Glazier. By the first marriage there were nine children and six by the second. In the second wife's children the fourth born was Smith Scovill, who was born January 22, 1815. Smith Scovill married for his first wife Rachel Bartholomew on April 8, 1838. Their children were Mary M. Scovill ; Mrs. Charles Rogers, born May 6, 1840 ; George W. Scovill, born December 7, 1842 ; and Martha B. B. Scovill, born August 24, 1848. Smith Scovill married July 27, 1854, Julia A. Clark, and the one child of that union was Frank H. Scovill, born February 26, 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rogers had three children : Grace L., who died at the age of sixteen ; and George and Clayton, who conduct the drug business founded by their father and have a large and handsomely appointed store and are numbered among the capable business leaders of the city. Both the sons are married but neither has children. Mrs. Rogers gives dutiful attention to her family. She is a well preserved woman in mind and body and completely belies her seventy-seven years. Her life has been a long and useful one and has been filled with charitable deeds to a large community, by whom she is greatly beloved. JOHN H. BENNEHOFF is one of the ablest abstractors in Northwest Ohio and has been identified with that business in Tiffin for over thirty years. His business in handling real estate and loans has in later years acquired increasing importance and his judgment in those matters has caused him to be entrusted with making the investments of some large financial concerns as well as many individuals. Mr. Bennehoff was born in Adams Township of Seneca County, on the farm of his parents, Solomon and Ann (Rader) Bennehoff. His parents were born and married in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Solomon Bennehoff, who was born in 1807 and died in 1885, was an expert wagon maker by. trade. He could 2036 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO make and finish a wagon from tongue to end gate, and he made many such vehicles in the early days of Seneca County. He came to Ohio in 1837, locating on a raw tract of land in Adams Township of Seneca County. Besides working .at his .trade he did the clearing of a farm and for some years the family lived in a log cabin. He and his wife were active members of the Lutheran Church and in politics he was a democrat and was several times entrusted with local offices. He had some pioneer experiences. He had crossed the Allegheny Mountains twice on horseback and he brought his family to Seneca County in an old fashioned prairie schooner. Before his death he had developed a good farm. He and his wife were the parents of eight children and John H. is the only one living. The latter had six brothers, and four of them grew up to worthy and useful manhood and none of them were addicted to bad habits in any form. Mr. John H. Bennehoff largely educated himself through his work on the farm and as a teacher. He attended the local schools, also the Heidelberg College at Tiffin, and always excelled it the study of mathematics. He also took a business course in Cincinnati. For twelve years Mr. Bennehoff was a successful teacher. He is the product of that environment which has been made familiar through many pioneer stories. As a boy he attended his first school by walking 11/2 miles from home to schoolhouse twice a day. Much of his study was then by the light of an open fire in the fireplace of the Bennehoff home. Mr. Bennehoff first became widely known in Seneca County when he was elected to the office of county recorder. He held that office from January 1, 1882, to January 1, 1888. While in office he became acquainted with every land owner in the county and with the location of every tract of land and thus gained an authoritative knowledge which well qualified him for his business as an abstractor. In September, 1886, he copyrighted what is known as "Abstractor's Aid and Digest to Records of Real Estate, " a system of abstracting that has since been adopted in several counties. For the past thirty years Mr. Bennehoff has been entrusted with all the real estate work of the Northwestern Life Insurance Company in this part of Ohio, and has also loaned large volumes of money for that company. Mr. Bennehoff still owns the old homestead which his father cleared up from the wilderness. On November 9, 1882, he married Ida Ann Hensinger, a native of Seneca County and a daughter of John Hensinger, one of the county's pioneers. Of the four children born to their marriage two are living : Vinton Arthur is a graduate of the Tiffin High School, completed his course in Heidelberg College in 1910, then studied law in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and for the past four years has been successfully engaged in practice at Tiffin. He represents the National Security Company in several counties. Vinton A. Bennehoff married Edna E. Gibson. Olton Rader, the second son, graduated with honor in a class of 200 from the. Annapolis Naval Academy and thus he qualified for official position in the United States Navy. He is an ensign on the Battleship Kansas, United States Navy. The 'family are active members of the Reformed Church. Mr. Bennehoff has filled all the offices in the lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is district deputy .grand master. Politically he has always been a useful and influential democrat. He served on the city council and for several years has been a member of the board of education. A number of years ago while county recorder Mr. Bennehoff was secretary and vice president of the Recorders Association of Ohio. W. S. KIMBALL. Since beginning practice as a lawyer at Delphos fifteen years ago W. 5. Kimball has been rapidly accumulating the wisdom of experience and a successful business. He is a hard worker in the law as he was as a student before being admitted to practice. He is a strictly self-made man, and paid his own way while getting his education. Mr. Kimball was born at Delphos, Ohio, February 12, 1877, a son of E. E. and Ida (Breese) Kimball. His people have been identified with Ohio since early times. His grandfather, Stephen Kimball, was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and during the '30s he was a soldier 'under General Jackson in the Seminole Indian wars in Florida. He was a pioneer farmer in Indiana, and after retiring from the farm he removed to Ohio, where he spent his last years. Mr. Kimball's maternal grandfather, William Breese, was born in Delaware County, Ohio, and for many years was agent for the Adams Express Company at Delphos. He lost a leg in the service of that company and afterwards was employed as a watchman until his death. Mr. Kimball is also great-grandson through his mother's HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2037 line of James Alexander, who was another early Ohio man and was superintendent of construction on one of the divisions of the old Ohio Canal. He afterward owned and operated a string of canal boats and he lived to the venerable age of ninety-one. E. E. Kimball was born in Indiana while his wife Ida Breese is a native of Delphos, in whick town they were married. Mr. E. E. Kimball for many years has conducted a cigar store at Delphos. He is an active democrat, has served on the town council and is now superintendent of the local cemetery. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. Of their three children W. S. is the oldest. Charles is in the draying business at Delphos, and Ora is employed by his father. W. S. Kimball grew up in Delphos, tended the local schools, and early became self-supporting. For four years he was in the employ of the Clover Leaf Railway Company, and through his earnings in that work he paid the expenses of his law course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. Mr. Kimball was admitted to the bar in 1901 and at once began practice in his native city. Besides looking after a substantial general law practice he represents a number of old-line life insurance companies. For four years Mr. Kimball seved as a member of the Board of Education at Delphos. He is a democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Kimball is active in the church societies and organizations. On November 27, 1899, he married Miss Edna Holliday. Airs. Kimball was born in Everett, Pennsylvania. They have two children: Paul, aged sixteen, and Harold, aged seven, both of whom are attending school. GEORGE D. KINDER. Perhaps the dean of Northwest Ohio's newspaper men is the venerable George D. Kinder of Putnam County. Though in the eighty-first year of his age Mr. Kinder is still going about diligent and earnest in his duties as an editor. He learned the art of typesetting in the years before the war. He was a practical newspaper man before hostilities broke out. He began publishing the Putnam County Sentinel just half a century ago, and while he sold out and gave up the business responsibilities conducted with the paper a number of years ago, he still finds a congenial duty in working with the paper in its editorial department. Mr. Kinder was born at Franklin in Warren County. Ohio. He is a son of George and Vol. III-45 Eliza Kinder, both of whom were born in the year 1800, two years before Ohio was admitted to. the Union. Mr. Kinder's great-great-grandfather was a gallant soldier in the Revolutionary war, enlisting from Berks County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather did duty in the War of 1812. He enlisted in Colonel Gano's regiment, the First Ohio, and was in active service until that regiment was surrendered at Detroit to General Hull. George D. Kinder acquired his early education in public schools and also took the preparatory course in Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. He went into a printing office as an apprentice in the year 1851 and mastered the trade and grew old in its application long before the introduction of the modern linotype and other power machinery. He worked as a journeyman printer until 1861 and then became a newspaper " broker." In this business he bought and sold a number of newspapers, and finally in 1867 acquired a permanent connection when he bought the Putnam County Sentinel. He continued the publication and editorial management of this newspaper until 1900, but then after a retirement of a few years found time heavy on his hands and since 1906 has again been connected with the editorial department. He did a very successful business both with his newspaper and in the job printing business. Mr. Kinder is one of the contributors to the permanent historical records of Northwest Ohio. He is author of the History of Putnam County published a few years ago by the B. F. Bowen & Company of Indianapolis, and has written and contributed many local historical accounts to newspapers and other publications. Mr. Kinder has also been active in business and public affairs. From 1902 to 1906 he was county treasurer of Putnam County, was a member of the board of education four years, and for the past twelve years has been a member of the board of public affairs. He has been connected as an official with loan associations for the past twenty years. Mr. Kinder is a stanch and sterling democrat, and again and again has had a place on state, congressional, senatorial and county committees. lie is a member of the Masonic Lodge and has attained the Knight Templar degree in that order, belongs to the Putnam Club, and to a number of other social organizations. In February, 1869, he married Miss Zella Gordon, daughter of Judge John H. Gordon. 2038 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Mrs. Kinder has been active both at home and in her church and has active membership in the woman's clubs of her home city. Mr. Kinder has one daughter, Zella D. Kinder, who married J. C. Shemer, now a resident of Findlay, Ohio. His only son, Gordon D. Kinder, a graduate of the Ohio State University, is a successful lawyer now practicing at Martin's Ferry in Belmont County, Ohio. O. F. VAN OSDALE has been a resident and business man of Toledo for the past twenty-two years, and is now manager of the Toledo office of the Stein Brothers Manufacturing Company of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a firm whose goods have had a remarkable vogue and have become widely known as the " Stein-made" trousers and knickerbockers. Mr. Van Osdale has had a wide and competent business experience. He is a native of Ohio, born April 28, 1857, in Ashland County. He was the only son and child of Simon B. Van Osdale, also a native of Ohio. His father was a contractor and builder, and in the early days he did much to build up West Salem, Ohio, now a thriving village. At the opening of the Civil war he enlisted in Company C of the One Hundred and Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served faithfully and went through all the hardships of a soldier for two years. He was finally stricken with the smallpox and died while still in the army. O. F. Van Osdale was a very small boy when his father died, and his opportunities were somewhat limited owing to being deprived of a father's care. He attended the public schools at Lodi, Ohio, and in 1876, graduated from the Lodi Academy. For five years Mr. Van Osdale was in the piano and organ business at West Salem, Ohio. From that he went into the line of salesmanship which has chiefly occupied his time and attention ever since. He went on the road as traveling representative of a large men's furnishing goods house at Cleveland, and distributed their goods for six years. He then went with the W. H. Lyon & Company as traveling salesman, and covered the territory of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan for seven years. Twenty-two years ago he came to Toledo and became connected with an old established wholesale notion house and helped, maintain the prestige of that firm six years. For many years Mr. Van Osdale has been manufacturer's agent for the Stein Brothers Manufacturing Company of Williamsport, and has made the Toledo office one of the most important in volume of trade maintained by that company. Mr. Van Osdale is a member of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church of Toledo. Politically he is a republican. In 1878 he married at West Salem, Ohio, Miss Evelyn Elgin. They have two children : Clinton G. and Florence W. The daughter is now married and the son is connected with the Toledo Transfer Company. MARK T. HEMINGER has been one of the leading merchants of North Baltimore for the past fifteen years, and his entire life has been characterized by industry and straightforward relations that commend him to the confidence of a large community either as a business man or citizen. Mr. Heminger was born on the line between Hancock and Wood counties August 26, 1855. He grew up there, was educated in the common schools and has spent practically all his life in these two counties. His parents were Frederick and Barbara A. (Young) Heminger, both of whom were natives of. Stark County, Ohio, and of Pennsylvania parentage. The grandfather, George Heminger, went to Stark County and established a distilling business and became a wealthy man, being considered the most prosperous citizen in Pike. Township. He died there at the age of ninety-four. He was twice married, having twelve children by the first Wife and five by the second. Nearly all of these grew up and married, and all are now deceased. Frederick Heminger became a farmer in Stark County, and some years after his marriage moved to Hancock County, where he rented land on Blanchard River for some years. He finally bought .a tract of practically unimproved soil in Allen Township, and as the result of years of trial and effort he made a splendid farm and home there. The mother of his children died in 1875, at the age o sixty-two. He was twice married after that, divorcing one wife, while the other lived to be sixty-two. Frederick Heminger died in November, 1895, in his eighty-fourth year was born February 22, 1812. He and his were active members of the United Brethren Church, and in politics he was a republican. Of his twelve children, nine sons and t daughters, three of the sons and all the daughters are still living. One son, Jonas, enlisted in the Union army early in the war and was killed at the battle of Stone River. His remains rest on that noted battlefield. Two HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2039 other brothers, John and George, were also soldiers. John was, wounded in the right arm, but returned home and afterward married. George was out only six months during the close of the war. The husbands of all the three daughters were likewise soldiers. In the family of twelve Mark T. Heminger as the tenth child and the youngest of those ow living. He grew up on his father's farm, earned the carpenter's trade, and followed these vocations actively until February, 1902, when he came to North Baltimore and engaged in the grocery business. He now has a large Store, stocked with all the staple merchandise needed for the extensive community that trade with him. In Wood County Mr. Heminger married Miss Salome E. Ebersole. She was born in Pennsylvania August 20, 1861, received most of her education there, and at the age of fourteen came with her parents to Henry Township of Wood County, where she lived on a farm until her marriage. Her parents, Samuel and Mary (Barber) Ebersole, were natives of Pennsylvania, but spent most of their active lives in Wood County, Ohio. Her. father died at the age of seventy-five and her mother at eighty-four. Mr. and Mrs. Heminger have one son, Irwin 0. He was born November 7, 1882, was educated in the common and high schools, and at the age of twenty became associated with his father in business at North Baltimore, and now handles the more active responsibilities of the store. He married Mollie Baker, a native of Canada but reared and educated in Wood County. They have two young sons, Jack and Ned. The family are all active members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Heminger and his son are affiliated with the Woodmen of the World and both are republican voters. H. L. WENNER, M. D. It was over thirty years ago that Doctor Wenner began practice as a physician and surgeon in Tiffin. While he has covered the general field of medicine, his services have been more and more in demand along the line of surgery. He ranks as one of the steadiest and surest men in surgery in Northwest Ohio. His reputation is by no means confined to Seneca County. For a number of years Doctor Wenner has performed most of his work in Mercy Hospital at Tiffin. He was born at Tiffin September 19, 1861, a son of Edward and Susan (Thompson) Wenner. His father was born in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and his mother in New York State and they were married at Delphos, Ohio. Edward Wenner came to Ohio at the age of fifteen. He was then a boy on hiS own resources. His trade was that of tailor and he worked along that line in Delphos, Republic and Tiffin, coming to the latter city in, the early '40s as a pioneer. He was quite a successful man. Edward Wenner was a son of William Wenner, a native of Pennsylvania, while the great-grandfather was born in Germany. Edward Wenner and wife were members of the Baptist Church, he was a republican in politics and was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Doctor Wenner, the only survivor of three children, attended the Tiffin public schools, graduating from high school in 1879. He then entered the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland, from which he graduated M. D. in 1882. Doctor Wenner did his first practice at McCutchenville and Arcadia, but in 1884 removed to Tiffin, in which city he has 'been steadily engaged in his professional work ever since. Almost from the first he showed special ability in surgery. He had been instructed in that science under Doctor Scott of Cleveland, and for some time was associated with the eminent Dr. A. B. Hovey, a prominent surgeon of Tiffin. On October 26, 1886, Doctor Wenner married Emma Huss, who was born at Tiffin, daughter of George and Mary Ann (Tomb) Huss. Her parents were early settlers of Tiffin, where her father kept a book and stationery store. Doctor and Mrs. Wenner have two children. Dr. H. L. Wenner, Jr., attended Heidelberg College at Tiffin, graduating in science, and took his medical course in the University of Michigan, where he was graduated M. D. in 1914. For the past three, years he has been an interne in a hospital in New York City, and is building up a reputation among the younger medical men and 'surgeons there. He is first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps, United States army, and now in service. Marjorie, the only daughter, is the wife of Roswell F. Machamer, of Tiffin, but now a student in the Western Reserve Medical College. Doctor Wenner is a member of the Baptist Church and his wife is a Methodist. He has long been active in the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and for the past twenty-five years has served as state treasurer. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias and 2040 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO in politics is a republican. He was an elector from the Thirteenth District when Mr. McKinley was a candidate for president. He has also served as president of the Tiffin School Board. NEWHARD BROTHERS COMPANY OF CAREY, INCORPORATED, is the oldest and largest men's furnishing and clothing store of that city. The constituent members of the company at present are Jay P. Newhard, president of the company, and his brother Winfield J. Newhard, secretary and treasurer. They are sons of Jacob and Matilda (Bixby) Newhard. Their great-grandfather, Jacob Newhard, came out of Baden Baden,. Germany, and settled at Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1754. The grandfather, also Jacob Newhard, was a captain in the American army in the War of 1812. Jacob Newhard, father of Newhard Brothers, was a successful merchant at Carey for a number of years, and at first worked as salesman for Dow & Schwartz, later for D. Straw, and still later for H. B. Kurtz, and in 1886 entered business for himself, which he continued until his death in 1889 and was then succeeded by his sons. Jay P. Newhard was born at Carey, April 12, 1858, while his brother Winfield J. was born September 15, 1869. They were of a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters. Both the boys received their education in the Carey public schools. Jay P. Newhard left school at the age of fifteen and began work as clerk and general hustler in the Amos Bixley clothing store. He remained there seven or eight years, then went south to Dallas, Texas, and was a salesman in the great merchandise establishment of Sanger Brothers for two years. Returning to Ohio, he worked for C. J. Yengling as salesman at Tiffin for six years. He then returned to Carey and was in his father's store several years, until he and his brother succeeded to the business. Both brothers had a thorough apprenticeship as clerks before they became independent business men. They have a large and well equipped store and supply the standard demands for clothing and men's furnishings over a wide territory. Jay P. Newhard married Alice Shuman, and they have two daughters and one son : Leta married William D. Pierce and they have two children, William and Perces ; Clara married Dr. 0. M. Randal and they have one ohild, Brooks N. ; Jay P. Jr. is at school. Winfield J. Newhard married in 1893 Della Hebberman and they have one child, John, attending school. The brothers are active members of the English Lutheran Church, are republicans in politics, have attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry and are men of affairs in the community, giving their sup port generously and liberally to every worthy cause. CAPT. MORRIS REES. In contemplating the careers of men who have won meritorious success in various lines of activity, it has been frequently found that a man who has followed the pursuits of agriculture during the formative and active years of his life, makes a decidedly useful and helpful citizen when he is able to retire from these labors and devote himself to a consideration of civic affairs. His long hours alone, following the plow and reaping the harvest that his hands have planted and developed, teach him many things unknown to the man who has passed his life in the busy marts. Hours of contemplation o nature and study of her lessons, fit the farmer for conservative, consecutive action when he is called upon to discharge the duties of public office or to assume control of industrial or commercial enterprises, and his success in the field of agriculture gives him standing in a community where prosperity and advancement depend upon the progress of the tillers of the soil. At any rate, it is found that Capt. Morris Rees is one whose standing and usefulness in the community of Pemberville would seem to indicate that the successful retired farmer is a desirable asset. The repository of large interests, the owner of a handsome fortune won by his own hands, and a veteran of the Civil war, in which he attained promotion and made a splendid record, he is now, in the evening of life, one of the foremost men of his community, a citizen widely respected and a man depended upon to take a leading part in progressive movements. Captain Rees was born in 1838, in Morrow County, Ohio, a son of David and Anna (Morris) Rees. He is of Welsh stock, and his paternal grandfather was Rev. Theophilus Rees, a Welsh Baptist preacher, who came to the United States after his marriage, and had a parish at Baltimore, Maryland, where he died one year later. In this connection the following letter, now in the possession of his grandson, may prove of interest. It was written to Rev. Mr. Rees by his brother, John, and HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2041 sister, Ann Thomas, from London, England, bears the date of September 6, 1796, and is addressed to Mr. Theophilus Rees, At Mr. Owen Jones, Chandler, Rosewell Street, New York, America. It is as follows : "Dear Brother—It was with much joy and contentment of mind to myself and to my wife and daughters that I received your letter. We were glad to hear that you passed safely over the sea, and that you love the new world, and a new world indeed it is to you. I understand from the Apostle that there are more worlds than one, but I don't understand their locality. I have no particular news to send you this time. The things from Wales which are of interest to you are contained in the letter of Mr. Samuel Thomas, of Carmenthen. There are no news or changes here that will be worth while writing about. The price of bread has been reduced to one-half of its former amount. A fifteen-penny loaf can now be had for. seven pence half penny. This is `good news' to the poor. There is a great abundance of grain here, there being the new crops ; besides what is upon the river in over a hundred ships from Spain, etc. The loaf ought to be sold for five pence, if justice had its due. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to hear that you think so much of your country. I hope that you will not be disappointed in your expectations. It is impossible for you to know much about it yet. You must beat a great deal upon those roots in the wilderness before you shall eat bread from bread of your own raising. There is a rumor here that the French are going into Ireland, but I do not think that it is true. There are great preparations being made 'here for war. Twelve hundred men are raised for City Militia and eight guineas are given them before their service is commenced. They will enlist many, because ork is. very scarce here. One thing more I wish you to know—there are a great many of the Jews here coming to believe in Jesus Christ. They sent messengers and letters asking to be received into our chapel, Zion Chapel. So many assembled there, according to some, 15,000 and others 20,000, that there was no room for half of them. The Jews went into the house over ladders through the windows, and others came out lest they should be smothered. There were three preachers outside. A young man, an apprentice to a bookseller in the city, was preaching to them. His text was in 'Genesis 22:18. Evan Jones and Hannah Thomas wish you success in everything you may undertake to do. Do not delay long before writing again, after knowing the country better and making your home in your new place. I and my wife and my three daughters wish to send our love and good will to you and yours. It is not profitable to write things that are not necessary. Solomon says : 'He that refraineth his lips is wise. So much from your kindest brother and your sister, John Rees and Ann Thomas." Some time after the death of Rev. Theophilus Rees, his widow and her family came to the Welsh Hills, Granville, Licking County, Ohio, where the widow married Deacon Benjamin Jones, a Welshman and moved to Morrow County. At that time, David Rees, father of Capt. Morris Rees, was about of age, and shortly thereafter married a Licking County girl, in Morrow County, Anna Morris, who was a daughter of Morris Morris, a Welshman who lived for some years in Morrow County, where he died in middle life. He was a deacon in the Baptist Church. Mr. Morris' widow lived to advanced years and died at the home of her daughters in Wood County. In 1853 David and Anna (Morris) Rees and their children came to Wood County with a colony of Morrow County Baptist Church people, all settling around what is now known as the old Madison Baptist Church, in Freedom Township. Because of the interest attaching to this old place of worship, and because Captain Rees' parents played an important part in its establishment, the following is quoted from a paper read by the Captain at a "watch-meeting" held at this church, at Ladd Ridge, December 31, 1900, as quoted in the Pemberville Leader : " The first road through this neighborhood was cut out and used by Harrison's army. It was as straight as a bee-line from Fort Seneca—now called Old Fort—on the Sandusky River about half way between Tiffin—then called Fort Ball—to Fremont, or Lower Sandusky, as it was then called. The road came through this neighborhood, crossing Sugar Creek near the Maple Grove schoolhouse. Kohler's house is on the old trail. It crossed near Thomas Morgan's place over the ridge on Ladd's ; crossed the Wood County line near the bridge south of Kohler's mill ; crossed the Portage River near Henry Hoodlebrink's house at Pemberville ; crossed the west branch near Doctor Brown's place, and then went straight on to Fort Meigs at Perrysburg. My father, David Rees, passed over that road I don't know how often, hauling supplies to the soldiers. He used oxen and sleds and had mostly flour. The soldiers would eat the oxen 2042 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and load, (everything except, perhaps, the sled and yoke) then the teamsters would go back on foot through the woods to Zanesville or Chillicothe for another load. One of the first to settle here was Samuel Myers who took up a quarter-section on the old trail in 1834. He came on foot and brought his wife on a horse from near Lancaster in 1835. There were some hunters and trappers here then, and one of them, named Dowhower, lived in a shanty not far away. One Sunday after Myers had a patch of wheat growing he saw a deer feeding upon it. He ran for Dowhower to come with his gun and shoot it ; but Dowhower said he never took his gun out on Sunday. The first schoolhouse was built on this trail on Whitney's place, then Myers' quarter-section. It was in that log schoolhouse that this Madison Baptist Church was organized with a membership of nineteen. It was then called the Freedom and Madison Baptist Church. It was organized and recognized as such on the 7th day of October, 1857. Names of members : David, Evan, Morris, Ann and Sarah Rees ; John, Eliza, Hannah and Caroline Peoples ; Thomas and Margaret Griffith ; Eliza and Sarah Ann Ladd ; Susan Chamblin ; Hannah Jones ; Martha Oglevie ; Esther Hayden and Hannah Burnes. To bring this organization about, we find that on the 9th day of March, 1857, the brethren and sisters met at David Peoples' house and organized a church conference, and appointed the Rev. David Campbell, moderator ; Elias Lloyd, clerk ; brethren, David Rees, John Peoples, Evan Rees and Elias Lloyd ; sisters, Anne Rees, Elizabeth Peoples, Sarah Rees, Hannah Peoples, Eliza Ladd, Susan Chamblin and Hannah Jones. At this meeting David Rees was elected deacon. At a meeting held August 4 we find four more joining, May 30 two more, and the first to be received by baptism was Elizabeth Ladd, afterwards the wife of Morris Rees. At the meeting of June 27, Morris Rees and Caroline Peoples were received and baptized, and at the meeting of May 30, Evan Rees was elected clerk. August 22 a resolution was passed to call a council to advise as to the propriety of being organized as. a regular Baptist Church, whereupon the clerk was ordered to write letters of invitation to the following churches to send pastors and delegates to sit with them in council on the 7th day of October, 1857: Amanda Church, Findlay ; Jackson, Liberty and West Millgrove. October 7th the council organized, with David Campbell, moderator, and Reverend' Barber, clerk. Our articles of faith and church covenant were read by the council, and they then went out and sat on a log in the woods to hold the council. Our covenant and what we had done was approved and we were constituted and recognized as a regular Baptist Church. Thus we find this little band of nineteen started on the road of churches. * * *" David Rees and his worthy wife succeeded in the clearing of their land, and in the establishment of a good home, and here rounded out their lives in the pursuits of agriculture, Mr. Rees living to the age of ninety-six years and his wife dying when seventy-one years of age. During the period of the Civil war Mr. Rees was a strong Abolitionist and Union man, and maintained a station of the underground railway on his farm, assisting a number of slaves to their liberty. He was also an active worker in the cause of temperance, and an excellent citizen in every way who held the respect and esteem of his fellow-men throughout his life. Morris Rees was educated in the schools of his native locality and by instruction from his brother in Wood County and in the year of Fremont's candidacy for the presidency was teaching his first school, near Texas, Henry County, being at that time a youth of eighteen years. After a few years of educational work, he was married and secured a piece of wild land in Wood County, thus entering upon an agricultural career that resulted in his accumulating a large and valuable property. He was for five years identified with the Standard Oil Company as a leaser of land, and subsequently became one of the earliest and largest land leasers on his own account in this section of the state (having leased in Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa and Lucas counties, for the Standard Oil Co.), and during more recent years in the same way invaded Kentucky, where he leased thousands of acres. Likewise he was one of the pioneers in the oil industry here, both as a leaser and an operator, and through his extensive operations accumulated a handsome fortune, being accounted at this time one of the most substantial men in Wood County. He is still the owner of much property, although it is being operated by others, Captain Rees having retired and now living in a home at Pemberville, which he has owned for seventeen years. This was built by Thomas N. Bierly, of Toledo, and is located near the scene of the old camping-grounds of the soldiers who came across this country during HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2043 the War of 1812, on their way to Fort Meigs. Since coming to Pemberville, Captain Rees has taken an active part in the life of the community. He was at one time president of the Citizens' Savings Bank, and is at present president of the. Farmers' Elevator a new organization which is already prosperous with plans made for a large business in the future. lie has likewise been prominent' as a republican politician, attending conventions in various parts of the state as -a delegate, and for fifteen years served in the capacity of mayor of Pemberville, during which time he gave his community an excellent administration. For a half a century he has been a Mason, having joined that order at Elmore, Ohio, and is now a member of Fremont Chapter and Toledo Commandery No. 7, and for thirty-six years has been a member of Cincinnati Consistory, at Cincinnati. An Encampment member of the Odd Fellows for years, he was the first noble grand at Bradner, and is still a member of the lodge there.   The army record of Captain Rees is a splendid one, anal is given here as taken from the war records : Entered the service as a private of Company D, Seventy-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Col. R. P. Buckland (later general of the brigade), October 26, 1861; promoted first sergeant, December 13, 1861; commissioned second lieutenant, September 3,, 1862; first lieutenant, April 9, 1864 ; captain, March 18, 1865 ; regiment organized at Fremont, Ohio; moved to Camp Chase, Ohio, January 24, 1862, thence to Paducah, Kentucky ; attached to the District of Paducah, to March, 1862 ; Fourth Brigade, Fifth Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862 Third Brigade, Fifth Division, District of Memphis, Tennessee, Department Tennessee, to November, 1862 ; Third Brigade, First Division, Right Wing Thirteenth Corps, Department Tennessee, to December, 1862 ; Third Brigade, Eighth Division, Sixteenth Corps, to April, 1863 ; First Brigade, Third Division, Fifteenth Corps, to December, 1863 ; First Brigade, First Division, Sixteenth Corps to June, 1864. Captain Rees' service was as follows : Moved from Paducah, Kentucky, to Savannah, Tennessee, March 6-10, 1862 ; expedition from Savannah to Yellow Creek, Mississippi, and occupation of Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, March 14-17 ; Crump's Landing, April 4; Battle of Shiloh, April 6-7 ; Fallen Timbers, April 8 ; advance on and siege of Corinth, Mississippi, April 29-May 30 ; Russell's House, near Corinth, May 17 ; march to Memphis, June 1, July 21 ; duty at Fort Pickering and Memphis until November ; Grant's Central Mississippi campaign, operations on the Mississippi Central Railroad to the Yockmapatalfa River, November, 1862-January, 1863 ; action at Wolf River Bridge, November 29, 1862 ; duty at White's Station, January to March, 1863; ordered to Memphis, March 13, thence to Young's Point, Louisiana ; operations against Vicksburg, Mississippi, April 2-July 4; Mississippi Springs, May 13 ; Jackson, May 14; siege of Vicksburg, May 18-July 4; advance on Jackson, July 5-10 ; siege of Jackson, July 10-17 ; Brandon Station, July 19 ; camp at Big Black until October ; expedition to Canton, October 13-20; Bogue Chitto Creek, October 17 ; ordered to Memphis, November, and guard ; Memphis & Charlestown Railroad, at Germantown, until January, 1864; expedition to Wyatts, Mississippi, February 6-18 ; Coldwater Ferry, February 8 ; near Senatobia, February 8-9 ; Hickahala Creek, February 10; Wyatts, February 13; operations against Forest in West Tennessee and Kentucky, March 16-April 14 ; Sturgis' expedition to Ripley, April 30-May 9 ; whole regiment enlisted having a 30 days' furlough ; Sturgis' expedition to Guntown, June 1-11; Brice's Cross Roads, June 10 ; near Ripley, June 11; captured June 11 and prisoner of war confined at various Southern prisons until March, 1865 ; paroled March 1,- 1865 ; honorably discharged from service, April 25, 1865. Captain-Rees is a member of Forsyth Post No. 15, Toledo, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Loyal Legion, Cincinnati, Ohio.   Captain Rees was first married at Ladd Ridge, Wood County, to Miss Elizabeth Ladd, who was born in 1838, in Columbiana County, Ohio, of Quaker parentage, and died at her home in Wood County in 1888- She was the mother of the following children : Allen D., president of a bank at Luckey, Ohio, married Mary Allen, and has a family as follows : Hazel, Chester, Ida, Chrystal, Ruth and Bernice ; Alta, is the widow of L. W. Morgan, formerly a prominent attorney of Toledo, and has a son, Morris Hebert, a member of Company C, United States Signal Corps, and five daughters : Elizabeth, Catherine, Frances, Amelia and Lois ; Sarah is the wife of Dr. F. L- Klopfenstein, of Toledo, and has a family of five. Rees, Oma, Edith, Morris and Martha. Captain Rees was married the second time, at Ladd's Ridge, to Mary Ann Morgan, who was born in Wales and was brought to the United States as a child of three years. She   2044 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   was well educated and was a public school teacher prior to her marriage to Captain Rees. Captain and Mrs. Rees have three children : Ethel, who is the wife of Prof. Clifford M. Stodghill, who occupies the chair of chemistry in a college at Atlanta, Georgia ; Florence Helen, a graduate of Pemberville High School, 1912; domestic science class, Granville College, 1914, and now a teacher in the Bowling Green High School ; and Morris Lloyd, aged sixteen years, a pupil in. Pemberville High School. The family are all members of the Baptist Church, the daughters belonging to the Ashland Avenue church at Toledo, and those bearing the name are interested in all that pertains to modern advancement and improvements along material, intellectual and moral lines, while their charities extend to many worthy enterprises.   JOSEPH L. RENTZ was one of the sturdy men of Northwest Ohio who give their best years and energies to farming and the upbuilding of community interests, and his record was such that his name deserves lasting recognition in his home county of Henry. For many years he lived in Monroe Township and the old homestead there is still occupied by Mrs. Rentz and members of their family. Mrs.. Rentz represents old and prominent Ohio lineage, and is a woman of rare judgment and exceeding skill in the management of the properties left her by Mr. Rentz.   Joseph L. Rentz was of German -ancestry. His father, John Rentz, was born in ,Germany and when nine years of age, in 1827, came to America on a sailing vessel, landing in Baltimore, and the family lived in the East for several years and John Rentz grew up on a farm. He came to Fairfield County, Ohio, and there in 1847 he married Mary Hiestan, who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio. Several of their children were born in Fairfield including the late Joseph L. Rentz, who was born June 7, 1849. When he was an infant his parents removed to Hancock County, and John Rentz was a tenant farmer there for several years. In 1863 he brought the family to Monroe Township of Henry County, and started out on eighty acres of land in section 14. A small clearing and a rude but were the only improvements on this land. John Rentz developed a fine farm there and subsequently bought another eighty acres, which gave him a quarter section at the time of his death. He died in Henry County September 11, 1890, at the age of seventy-one. His widow survived him until 1895 and was seventy-seven years of age. Both were members of the Evangelical Church. They had eight children, and seven of them grew up : Lydia, Elizabeth, Joseph L., Jacob, Christina, Carolina and Barbara,   Of this family of children only two now survive. Seven of them married and established homes of their own. Joseph L. Rentz grew up in Hancock County and was about thirteen years old when the family came to Henry County. He was well educated in the schools of that time, and he became one of the most progressive and successful farmers of Henry County. He and his wife owned 160 acres, eighty acres including the old Rentz homestead. There he erected a twelve-room house with a large barn 36x72 feet, painted red with white trimmings, and before his death he was able to carry out many of the extensive plans for the management and improvement of that place. He had his land well fenced, tiled, and had a large stock of implements, and exercised great care in the use of all his tools and equipment. The old Rentz farm is widely known as the Poplar Row Farm, and stands as a monument to the industry of a man of high character and worthy civic ideals.   His success in the management of his own affairs naturally called him to offices of public trust and honor. He was a township trustee, for fourteen years held the office of treasurer of Monroe Township, and was assessor eight years. Fraternally he was affiliated with Lodge No. 839 Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Malinta, of which he was a past noble grand, and he was buried by the rights of Odd Fellowship. He was also a member of the Rebekahs and of the Grange, and for some years was master of the Pomona Grange of the county. He had the faculty of leadership highly developed, and was usually in the forefront of every enterprise undertaken by the community.   In Monroe Township Mr. Rentz married Miss Amanda Aurand. Mrs. Rentz was born in Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio, February 5, 1857, and the name of the. township where she was born was given as her first name.. Her parents were Samuel and Mary (Benner) Aurand, both of whom were born in the central part of the state, and in 1871 they came as a family to Henry County and bought 240 acres. About half of this land had been improved, and with the cultivation and improvement of the entire tract Samuel   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2045   Aurand was busied during the rest of his worthy career. He was born in May, 1823, and died at the age of sixty on June 24, 1883. His widow was born January 27, 1839, and died December 25, 1892. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church but later joined the Evangelical Church in Henry County. Mr. Aurand was a democrat, was a Granger, and was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.   Mrs. Rentz, who was an active member of the United Brethren Church, has carried on the old farm since the death of her husband, and in that work has the assistance and comfort of her children, several of whom still live at home. There were eight births in the family. Harvey is a machinist in Garrett, Indiana, and married Alice Bechtel. Cora is the wife of William T. Hitchcock of Troy, Ohio, their three children being Eveline, Kent and Franklin. Howard lives on his mother's farm and is its active manager, and by his marriage to Nettie Parcher has children Owen, Herman, Harold, Clarence, Herbert, Paul and Ethel. Ada married George Castle and she lives at Troy, Ohio, her daughter Naomi being in the sixth grade of the public schools. Orville lives at home and married Hannah Hoff of Monroe Township and has a son named John. Ethel is the wife of Ralph Cline, who is purchasing agent for the Standard Slide Company at Youngstown, Ohio. Homer, now nineteen years of age, has finished his school work and is at home with his mother. Mildred is still in high school.   MEADE G. THRAVES. Born on a farm in Sandusky County, where he developed his physical strength and his indomitable determination to make the best of his resources in life, Meade G. Thraves for over a quarter of a century has enjoyed a practice hardly second to any among the lawyers of Fremont. He particularly excels in office consultation and practice, and has gained many influential connections and many times has been highly honored both in the profession and in public affairs.   He was born February 15, 1863, a son of George and Mary Jane (Crowell) Thraves. His father was born in Nottinghamshire, England, and his mother in Sandusky County, where they were married. The Thraves ancestry originated in Germany and from that country went to England. The paternal grandfather, William Thraves, brought his family from England to. the United States in 1840. The maternal grandfather, Samuel Crowell, was born in Maryland and came to Ohio about 1810, and was agent for the Government. He, acquired a tract of land for himself and died on 'a farm. Remotely his family was connected with that of Oliver Cromwell.   George Thraves, father of the Fremont lawyer, grew up in Sandusky County and became a blacksmith by trade. He learned the trade under Mr. Lansing, for whom Lansing, the capital of Michigan, was named. Besides blacksmithing he also bought and operated a farm and lived in the country until his death. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, while his wife was a Methodist. George Thraves was one of the earliest members of Croghan Lodge No. 77, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Fremont. He passed through all the chairs of this lodge. He was also active in politics, and for fifteen years served as a member of the school board, and it was largely his work and influence that made the public schools of Ballville Township the best in the state. From that district school went Governor Glick of Kansas, also Judge T. P. Frinefrock and also President Hayes. Mr. and Mrs. George Thraves were the parents of five children: Mrs. Anna Young, a widow living on a farm in Sandusky County ; Mark Eugene, a successful mining engineer now employed by the Humboldt Gold Mining Company in California; Ida, wife of George Summers, who conducts the elevator at Summers Switch in Sandusky County ; Meade G.; and Lillie, wife of M. C. Huber, living on the old Thraves homestead.   Meade G. Thraves was reared in the country and yet had influences and an environment calculated to bring out the best of his qualities and make him energetic, ambitious and' capable of realizing his high ideals. in 1884 he graduated from the ,Fremont High School, and for two years was a school teacher. He read law under the firm Frinefrock & Dudrow at Fremont, and was admitted to the bar in 1889. He immediately began practice, and he is now located in the offices which Judge Buckland and President Hayes once occupied.   Mr. Thraves married, in 1890, Mary M. Bristol, who was born in Fremont, daughter of E. A. Bristol. Her father was a hardware merchant at Fremont for thirty-five years. Mrs. Thraves died in 1906, leaving no children. She was an active and loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1913   2046 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   Thraves married Miss Edna Faller, also a native of Fremont and daughter of William Faller, a well known merchant of the city. They have one child, George Eaton, born in 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Thraves are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.   Mr. Thraves has passed all the chairs in Croghan Lodge No. 77, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This is one of the most noted lodges of Odd Fellowship in Ohio. Among its members were one president and two governors of the state. He has also passed the chairs in the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is affiliated with Lodge No. 169, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, with the Independent Order of Foresters and the Bankers' Fraternal Union.   His professional interests and public leadership have brought him numerous associations at different times. He served as the first president of the Ohio Abstractors Association and is first vice president of the American Abstractors Association, assisting in organizing both these bodies of abstractors. He is a member of the American and the Ohio State Bar associations, and has at times taken a very active part in the democratic party. He served as state central committeeman in 1896 and 1897, and during the first Bryan campaign of 1896 he was an able campaigner in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Almost from the start Mr. Thraves had a paying law practice. At a recent term of court, of the 185 cases .docketed Mr. Thraves had the handling of 28, a proportion which in itself indicates his high standing as a lawyer. He was father of the Sandusky Law Library Association, and that association has acquired a splendid collection of legal literature and reference works. He is also one of the three members of the Ohio State Free Library Board. In the course of his long and successful career he has acquired many financial and business interests and is secretary and treasurer of The Sanitary Burial Vault Company, whose headquarters are at Fremont, the capital stock being $10,000.   WALTER HARTMAN made a success in life comparatively early and is now living retired from the main burdens and responsibilities as a farmer in his attractive and well appointed home at 906 West Wooster Street in Bowling Green. Mr. Hartman moved to the county seat and built this substantial eight room home in 1915.   His farm of 120 acres is in Plain Township, in section 27. In that locality the Hartman family has lived for three generations. Farming is a business in which the Hartmans have always been prospered and at the same time have contributed to the growth and benefit of the community. Mr. Hartman's farm is one of model excellence. While most of the land is in cultivation, he still keeps a grove of fine native timber. The buildings are all sound and in good repair and the land indicates the energy and intelligence with which it was managed. Mr. Hartman has always been a rotation farmer, growing in succession corn, oats, wheat and grass. His land is clay subsoil, and its fertility has been kept up by proper handling rather than by the introduction of any commercial fertilizer. Stock raising has not only contributed to his profits but also to the value of his land and he has never hail, dled any special line of stock husbandry but believes that most profit is to be found in keeping a few hogs, a few cattle and other stock without especial emphasis upon any one class. His experience tends to the belief that a dairy farm when conducted close to a populous community is one of the surest sources of revenue.   Mr. Hartman was born on section 27, where his present farm is located, on November 19, 1878. He grew up and made that his home from infancy until he removed to Bowling Green. On coming to Bowling Green Mr. Hartman bought an acre of land in the western part of the city and built his home with commodious and ample grounds.   His grandparents were early settlers in Wood County and improved some of the wilderness of this section as it existed seventy or eighty years ago. His grandfather Hartman was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, on May 24, 1808. After coming to America he married in Stark County in 1834, Miss Mary Lichtenburger, who was born near Strassburg, Germany, March 12, 1812. Both of them came to America in the days of sailing vessels and were many weeks in making the voyage to New York City. They located in Stark County and soon after their marriage they moved to Perryburg in Wood County and in 1836 located on a forest tract of land in Center Township, a few miles southeast of Bowling Green. In that locality they cleared up a farm and developed a home equal to the best in that district at the time. Grandfather Hartman died in 1890 and his widow survived him a few years passing away at the same age. They we the parents of five sons and three daughters   The fourth son and fifth child is George W.,   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2047   Hartman, who was born on the old farm in Center Township May 26, 1841. That was the scene of his early youth and about the time he reached his majority in 1863 he enlisted in Company H of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He saw active service as a soldier of the Union until December 19, 1865. Those two years brought him into close touch with military operations and he was in many of the campaigns waged around the Confederate capital at Richmond. Though again and again exposed to enemy bullets he escaped unhurt. Returning home, he bought land in section 27 of Plain Township and for several years lived as a bachelor on the farm. Having made the necessary provisions for a home of own he married a neighbor girl, Miss Barbara A. Apel. She was born in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, March 27, 1849, but when two years of age went with her parents to Eood County, where she was reared. Her parents, John and Margaret (Busser) Apel, were both natives of Hesse, Germany, her father born November 30, 1824, and her mother February 13, 1821. They were married in Erie County, Ohio, in 1847, and subsequently cleared up a farm from the woods in Middleton Township of Wood County. They reared their children on that farm, and the father passed away in 1898 and the mother in 1889. Both were active members of the German Reformed Church, while the Hartmans were all Methodists.   George W. Hartman's first wife died in Bowling Green. In 1903 Mr. Hartman had removed to Bowling Green, purchasing a home in one of the most attractive sections of the city on South Main Street, where Mrs. Hartman died March 21, 1914. He is still living there, having married a second time. He is a popular citizen generally and is especially esteemed among his army comrades in Wiley Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics he has always been an ardent republican. Mr. Walter Hartman was the third in a family of four children. His brother John died at the age of twenty and his sister Agatha died in infancy. His only living sister is Irena, wife of Alva George, a farmer near the city of Bowling Green. Mr. and Mrs. George have three children, Marvin, Howard and Lester.   On December 17, 1902, Mr. Walter Hartman married Miss Grace L. Parrish. She was born in Allegany County, New York, October 18, 1878, and received her education in Rochester, New York, both in the high school and in the business institute. Before her marriage she was a competent bookkeeper. Mrs. Hartman is a daughter of Hartley and Francella E. (Brown) Parrish, both natives of New York State, where they married. Her father was a business man and spent several years in Michigan, where he died in 1906, when just past fifty. His widow died in New York State in 1909, at the age of fifty-two. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and he was a republican. Mrs. Hartman has a brother, Guy, and a sister Edna, and they are both married.   Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have three children : Helen L., born July 18, 1906, and now a student in the sixth grade ; George Walter, born July 14, 1910, who recently entered school ; and Lois M., born March 26, 1913. The family are members and attend regularly the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bowling Green. Fraternally Mr. Hartman is affiliated with Kenneth Lodge No. 158 of the Knights of Pythias and in politics is a republican.   LOUIS O'CONNELL. When Louis O'Connell was five years of age his father died and he soon had to become dependent upon his own resources. His struggle with the serious responsibilities of the world has been a successful one, and he is now one of the leading 'merchants and business men of Tiffin.   He was born in Tiffin September 1, 1869, a son of Edward and Bridget (Murray) O'Connell. His grandfather, Thomas O'Connell, was a native of Ireland, and on coming to the United States in the '40s located on a farm in Medina County, Ohio, where he died. His widow subsequently removed to Seneca County and bought a farm just west of Tiffin. Edward O'Connell was born at Seville in Medina County, but grew up on a farm in Seneca County and during his brief career was engaged in farming and teaming at Tiffin. His widow, Bridget (Murray) O'Connell, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, and came to America with her mother when a mere child, in 1839, and is still living. Her father, Phillip Murray, was born in Ireland and was a worker in the silk industry. He died at Toronto, Canada. Mrs. Bridget O'Connell had three children. Her son, Frank, is now deceased, and Louis O'Connell has a sister, Minnie, a teacher in the Tiffin schools. Mrs. Bridget O'Connell is an active member of St. Mary's Catholic Church.   Louis O'Connell was educated in the public schools of Tiffin and at the age of fifteen be-   2048 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   came an employee in the coal yard of Dildine & Glick. The coal business in which he started as a boy employe is now part of his own property. At the age of eighteen he was put in charge of the coal yard and hay business. The proprietor subsequently became Mr. C. Hatcher, with whom Mr. O'Connell continued, with an interest in the business. In 1903 he became head of the firm O'Connell & Knepper and in February, 1906, he bought out his partner and has since conducted the business as the Louis O'Connell Company, with a capital stock of $30,000. It is one of the largest firms of the kind in Seneca County, handling coal, hay and building supplies. Mr. O'Connell for years has been the leading wholesale dealer in hay at Tiffin. From this center he ships hay to all the Eastern States.   In 1915 Mr. O'Connell married Bertha Dutt, a native of Tiffin and a daughter of Frederick Dutt. Her father, a shoemaker by trade, was born in France and came to the United States after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and for many years was engaged in the shoemaking business. He married at Tiffin Mary Roller, a native of that city and a daughter of Fred Roller, who was a pioneer grocery merchant at Tiffin. Mrs. O'Connell is an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. O'Connell is a Knight Templar Mason, also a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Politically he is independent. He has always been active in local civic affairs and is a member of the Commercial Club and the Chamber of Commerce.   JAMES ELMER BURNSIDE has been an active and successful factor in farming and business affairs in the Nevada community of Wyandot County for many years, and was called from that district to the office of county recorder, in which he is now serving his second term.   Mr Burnside was born December 16, 1867, on a farm in Antrim Township, 3 ½ miles southwest of Nevada, a son of James and Catherine (Neikirk) Burnside. For generations the principal occupation of the family has been farming. The Burnsides are Irish while the Neikirks are Pennsylvania Dutch stock, but both families have been in America for many generations. The original home of the Burnsides in Ohio is a mile east of Tiffin and the land is now used for cemetery purposes. James Burnside, Sr., acquired his early education in the country schools near Tiffin, and spent his active career as a farmer.   James Elmer Burnside grew up on his father's farm, attending country school in winter and helping in the fields in summary and he completed his education in the schools of Nevada at the age of seventeen. After leaving school he found work and increasing responsibilities at home, and had assumed most of the active management of the home farm of 200 acres before his father's death, which occurred in 1900. After that he continued the farm until 1903 and he and his mother then moved to the Town of Nevada, where he was interested in several lines of business.   Mr. Burnside has long been a popular member of the democratic party in Wyandot County and in 1914 was nominated and elected to the office of county recorder by a big majority. When the next election rolled around in 1916, there was no candidate to oppose him in his aspirations for a second term, and his official record throughout has been clean and efficient.   Mr. Burnside is a stockholder in the Nevada Deposit Bank of his home town and has other business interests. For the past six years he has served as financial secretary of Nevada Lodge, No. 625, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is also affiliated with the Masonic Lodge, No. 186, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Royal Arch Chapter and the Council. He is a member of the Lutheran faith. In 1913 Mr. Burnside married Violet Austin, daughter of John and Anna (Wyles) Austin, of Nevada. They have one child, Jay Austin Burnside, born April 14, 1915.   HENRY LOUIS BUSCH, M. D. After forty-four years of active practice and service to humanity Doctor Busch retired from his profession as a physician in 1910, and has since lived quietly in the Village of Woodville, with which he has been identified for almost half a century, and where the best work of his life has been accomplished. This venerable physician has been one of Woodville's most prominent citizens. He is widely known for his kindly deeds as well as for the skill which always characterized his active professional work. No name could be mentioned that would be more significant of honor and usefulness in this section of Sandusky County.   A native of Germany, born in Hesse February 19, 1840, Henry Louis Busch is a son of Adolph and Elizabeth (Crecelius) Busch, His father was a minister of the Lutheran Church. Doctor Busch was thoroughly and   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2049   liberally educated in Germany. He attended the usual schools of academic instruction and took his course in medicine under some of the best instructors of the fatherland. In 1866 he immigrated to America and soon afterward found his permanent home at Woodville, were his services were soon in much demand on account of his recognized skill and his high personal character. He continued forming the active work of a physician, in soldier years riding and driving about the country without regard for his own comfort and health, and in later years attending to a large office practice, until 1910, when he retired. He has always stood high in the various medical organizations of which he is a member.   Doctor Busch is vice president of the Woodville State Savings Bank, of which he was one of the organizers. For years he served as treasurer of his home township and for sixteen years was a member of the school board and also belonged to the city council a long time. He was formerly a deacon in the Lutheran Church.   In 1867, the year following his coming to Woodville, Doctor Busch married Sophie Cronenwett, who was born in Sandusky County. Her father was minister of the Lutheran Church at Woodville for forty-seven years. Doctor and Mrs. Busch became the parents of seven children. The daughter Henrietta still lives at home. Elizabeth is Mrs.Carl Soldan, wife of the cashier of the State Bank of Woodville. Sophie is Mrs. Otto M. Bartz, her late husband having been a Lutheran minister ; their four children are named Otto, Miriam, Helen and Frederick. Magdalena is the wife of L. G. Dreyer, a retired minister of the Lutheran Church ; their four children are named Christian, Paul, Louis and Ruth. Frieda, who still lives at home, is a teacher of music. Karl is a professor of science in the Capital University at Columbus, Ohio; his four children are named Henry, Henrietta, Daniel and Frieda. Alma, the youngest, is still at home.   CHARLES FERDINAND SOLDAN. The State Savings Bank of Woodville, one of the most prosperous financial institutions of Sandusky County, was organized in June, 1909, with a capital stock of $25,000. The first officers were: D. H. Bittinger, president ; Dr. Henry Busch, vice president ; J. F. Smith, cashier; and G. H. Roll, assistant cashier. The only changes that have since been made in the officials are in the offices of cashier and assistant cashier. In 1912 Mr. Charles F. Soldan became cashier, and the assistant cashier is F. W. Keil. The capital stock remains the same and there is now a surplus of $5,500, while the average deposits are $275,000. The bank pays 4 per cent on savings deposits, and it has proved a great boon to the community which, it serves. The bank owns its own building, a concrete block structure 35 by 70 feet.   The cashier of this bank, Charles Ferdinand Soldan, was born in Macon, Missouri, January 6, 1870, a son of Charles H. and Sophia (Gundlach) Soldan, both of whom were natives of Germany. His father was a merchant in Macon, Missouri. Educated in public and private schools, Mr. Soldan graduated in pharmacy, and for twenty-five years worked as a registered pharmacist at Macon, Missouri. In 1911 he came to Woodville, Ohio, and has since been identified with local banking affairs in connection with the State Savings Bank. While a resident of Macon, Missouri, he served as councilman four years, and six years as city treasurer. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Solomon Lutheran Church of Woodville.   On November 26, 1908, he married Miss Elizabeth Busch, daughter of Dr. Henry Busch of Woodville. They are the parents of three children : Sophia Margaret, Bertha, and Ermine Alma Marie.   REV. J. S. ELDER, now pastor of St. Ann's Catholic Church at Fremont, has been a devoted and zealous worker in the Catholic ministry for a number of years, and practically all his duties have lain in Northwest Ohio. For several years he was connected with one of the largest churches of Toledo. He has distinguished himself by a constructive ability as a church man, and though comparatively a new comer in Fremont has gained a strong hold on all classes of people both in and out of his parish.   Father Elder was born in Taylorsville, Kentucky, December 27, 1876, a son of Joseph and Ellen (Doncaster) Elder. The Elder family were very early pioneers in the State of Kentucky. His paternal grandfather, Rezin Elder, was born in Lebanon County, Kentucky, of English descent. The maternal grandfather, John Doncaster, was an early settler at Louisville, Kentucky, and a stonemason by trade. Joseph Elder was born in Lebanon, Kentucky, in 1841, while his wife