2050 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO was born in Louisville in 1846, and both of them still live in Louisville. The father is a retired farmer and has spent a quiet but useful life. In his early years he was a school teacher and is well educated and well read. Politically he is a democrat. There were nine children, and the seven still living are : William, a hardware merchant at Bloomfield, Kentucky ; G. R. Elder,, a retired merchant at Bloomfield and now serving as police judge ; John,, who occupies the old homestead farm.; Benedict, a prominent attorney at Louisville ; Father Elder; Joseph, who is general statistician of the Louisville & Nashville Railway Company ; and Mary, still at home with her parents. Father Elder was educated in the local schools at Taylorsville, Kentucky, then entered Petit Seminary at Cincinnati and took his theological course in St. Mary's at Cleveland. He was ordained priest June 9, 1906, and his first assignment was to a church at Summitville, Ohio, where he remained three months. He was then called to Toledo and for six years assisted at St. Patrick's, a parish of seven or eight hundred families. In August, 1912, he took charge of the church at Edgerton, Ohio, and after 2 ½ years went to Swanton, where he remained sixteen months. In August, 1916, Father Elder came to Fremont and has since been the spiritual and administrative head of St. Ann's Parish. This church is in a flourishing condition and the parish contains three hundred families. There is a well organized school, with five teachers, and the course runs through the eight grades, with a commercial department offering a two years' course and with 160 pupils. Father Elder allows no outside interests to interfere with the duties and the work to which he has devoted and consecrated his life. He is a democrat in politics, and is chaplain of the local council of Knights of Columbus. LINFORD HALLOWELL is a successful young architect and builder at Findlay. For that profession he discovered a natural talent and aptitude when a boy and has carefully developed his resources and through long experience has become one of the able men in his profession. Mr. Hallowell has his offices in the Jones Block at Findlay. He was born at Findlay January 10, 1882, a son of Charles and Sarah M. (Jacqua) Hallowell. His father was for many years a bridge builder and blacksmith and a member of one of the well known firms of Hancock County, The ancestry is of English and Welsh. Mr. Hallowell vas educated in the public schools, attending high school two years. On May 20, 1899, at the age of eighteen he went to work for F. W. Duttweiler, contractor and architect at Findlay. He had been at work only a short time when he found himself in a congenial field and advanced rapidly in architectural drawing and in all other phases of the profession. He remained with his employer for eight years, and toward the end of that employment had complete charge of the construction and designing work.' When his employer retired from business Mr. Hallowell was in a position to take it over and has continued it successfully to the present time. He is both a. general contractor and architect and has built scores of homes, business blocks, churches and other structures. Some of the more notable of his buildings are the Church of Christ, the St. Paul's Evangelical Church, the Parkford flats, the Baumgartner flats, the .Mount Cory High School, etc. Mr. Hallowell was married in February, 1904, to Miss Edith May Spaith, daughter of Fred and Mary (Weber) Spaith of Findlay. Her father was a merchant at Findlay. Mr. and Mrs. Hallowell have two 'children: Ruth Margaret, born June 26, 1906; and Inez Evelyn. born November 14, 1909. Mr. Hallowell is a director and secretary of the Mausoleum Company of Findlay. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and in politics is a democrat. His public spirit as a citizen has induced him to accept at different times responsibilities Of trust. In January, 1914, he was elected a city councilman at large, and served two years, being a member of the Railway and Lights and the Sidewalks and .Sewers committees. For two years Mr. Hallowell served as a director of the Findlay Y. M. C. A., in 1915-16. CHARLES J. ROCKWELL. Much of the history of business affairs in the little City of North Baltimore could be written as part of the activities of the Rockwell family. The leading milling industry of that town is due to Rockwell enterprise, and in recent years the Rockwells have acquired a controlling influence in the First National Bank, one of the strongest banks of Northwest Ohio. The First National Bank of North Balti- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2051 more was organized in 1890. It has had twenty-seven years of successful history and its prosperity is due to sound methods of finance. Year after year has brought a steady increase in business and usefulness and the directors and officers have always aimed to keep the facilities at the highest standard of efficiency. Only recently, in line with its policy, the bank became a member of the Federal Reserve System. The First National Bank still retains its capital stock of $60,000, with which it was organized, but its total resources according to a recent statement shows the figures of over $600,000. The best index of a bank's prosperity and usefulness is its deposits, and the First National has deposits of over half a million dollars. The founder of the bank and the first president was Andrew Emerine, who was also president of the First National Bank of Fostoria, where he lived. The first directors were Andrew Emerine, B. L. Peters, James R. Rogers, Hugh Campbell, S. E. Niece, Jeff Richcreek and Andrew Schick. Of these original directors only two are now living, S. E. Niece and Andrew Emerine, who held the office of president until 1916, and is still a director, being now eighty-six years of age and one of the wealthy and influential citizens of Northwest Ohio. The present officers of the First National Bank are : Andrew Emerine, Jr., president ; Fred B. Rockwell, vice president ; C. J. Rockwell, cashier; O. E. Sponsler, assistant cashier. Other directors than those named are Lewis S. Lyon., Louis Auverter and G. G. Rockwell. Mr. Charles J. Rockwell became identified with this bank in November, 1891, and has been with it through nearly all of its successful history. He began 'as a clerk, and through various promotions attained the office of cashier in August, 1904. He has since had many of the responsibilities of managing this splendid institution. His brother Fred is vice president and since January, 1915, his father, George G., has held the post of director. The Rockwells are of New England ancestry. Mr. C. J. Rockwell's great-grandfather, Jeremiah Rockwell, was a direct descendant of the Massachusetts Puritans. He died when quite old in Holmes County, Ohio. The grandfather, P. V. Rockwell, was born in Vermont about a hundred five years ago, and was a young man when he came to Ohio. He married in Holmes County Miss Eliza' Ann Freeman, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1813 and died in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1883. Both were very active members of the Presbyterian Church. P. V. Rockwell served as deputy sheriff of Holmes County for several years and was also a school teacher. Politically he was a democrat. His death occurred at North Baltimore August 15, 1880, and of his family of twelve children ten grew to maturity. George G. Rockwell was born in Wayne or Ashland County, Ohio, and is now seventy-six years of age. He had a common school education and learned the trade of miller. For several years he lived at Findlay, Ohio, where he married, and in 1880 he brought his family to North Baltimore. At that time North Baltimore was a village in the midst of the black swamp region of Northwest Ohio. All around it was woods and water and the growth and prosperty of the town have been recorded largely since the Rockwell family located there. G. G. Rockwell bought the flouring mill which was one of the first business institutions of the village and which had „been built by Doctor Eaton in 1874. This mill was renovated, modernized and enlarged, and the Rockwells have since added elevators and made North Baltimore an important milling and market center. George G. Rockwell gave many of his active years to milling and to the flour, feed, hay and grain business, but is now retired. He is a director of the First National Bank of North Baltimore and is still vigorous in mind and body, and with his wife is an active member of the Presbyterian Church. George G. Rockwell married Hannah Cromley, who celebrated her seventy-third birthday July 9, 1917. Their children were all born in Findlay, Ohio. B. B. Rockwell, the oldest, now deceased, left a widow and one daughter, Nellie G., who was born November 18, 1891. The second son, Fred B., has been active as a North Baltimore banker and he and his wife are prominent members of the Christian Church, in which he is an official. They have one son, Paul. Charles J. Rockwell was born in Findlay in 1874 and was six years of age when the family came to North Baltimore. He completed the course of the high school here and was also well trained in the business of his father. He gives all his time to the management of the bank and has had neither time nor inclination for practical politics. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Rockwell married at North Baltimore Miss Nellie Adams, a native of this city. She is a graduate of the high school 2052 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and her parents are both still living in North Baltimore. FRED B. ROCKWELL, manager of the G. G. Rockwell Flouring Mills and Elevator at North Baltimore, and a director and vice president of the First National Bank of that city, is a live and enterprising young business man who has exemplified many of the excellent qualities which have made this family name notable in Wood County business affairs. The mills are one of the older institutions of North Baltimore and have been under the direct management and control of the Rockwell family for over thirty-five years. The flour mill has a capacity of 100 barrels of flour and twenty tons of feed stuffs a day. The leading brands of flour are the Venus Patent and Gold Lace. The company also deals in seed, grain, hay, coal and other merchandise. It was in 1880 that George G. Rockwell, the father of Fred B., came to North Baltimore from Findlay. He learned the milling trade at. Findlay and on coming to North Baltimore he bought the old grist mill first established in 1873 by Dr. H. P. Eaton. The mill under the ownership of G. G. Rockwell was vastly improved in processes and facilities, elevators were built, and from year to year improvements and new equipment have been added until it is now a high class modern rolling mill and the institution more than anything else has been responsible) for making North Baltimore a center in the grain business of Northwest Ohio. George G. Rockwell continued the active head of the firm until ten years ago, when he turned it over to his sons Bruce B. and Fred B. These brothers were together in business until the death of the former in February, 1909. Since then Fred B. Rockwell has had active control of the mill and has kept it up to the same high standards that have marked the business throughout its history. The firm ships large quantities of grain in carload lots and altogether this is one. of the cornerstones in North Baltimore's bubusi-ess enterprise. Mr. Rockwell's grandfather was P. Villard Rockwell, a native of Eastern Ohio and a resident of Holmes County. From there he removed to Findlay and for a number of years was proprietor of a mill. Thus. the milling industry has been in the Rockwell family for at least three generations. George G. Rockwell learned the trade from his father, and he in turn passed it on to his sons. George G. Rockwell is still living at North Baltimore at the age of seventy-six. He married in Findlay Hannah Cromley. She was born in Findlay, daughter of Jacob Cromley. Jacob Cromley had the first tin and hardware store in Findlay, while his wife was the first milliner in the town. They spent their lives at Findlay, where Jacob died when past seventy. The children of George G. Rockwell and wife were three sons : Bruce B., the oldest, at his death left a widow and two children. He spent all his active career in the milling industry. The second son, Charles J., is a well known banker of North Baltimore and is elsewhere referred to. Fred B. Rockwell was born at Findlay October 10, 1876, and was four yers of age when the family moved to North Baltimore. He grew up here, received his education in the local schools and from early boyhood acquired a practical acquaintance with the working of the milling machinery and with the larger factors in the business. At North Baltimore he married Miss Effie Cobler, who was born at Garrett, Indiana, forty years ago but was reared and educated in North Baltimore. They have one son Paul Villard, born December 9, 1905, now in the eighth grade of the public schools. The family are all very active members of the Christian Church, Mr. Rockwell being an elder and clerk of the church board, and both he and his wife are teachers in ,the Sunday School. He is a member of the NoNorthaltimore School Board, is independent in politics, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. FRED BRETZ is the oldest living settler on Middle Bass Island. What he has accomplished is even more important than his length of residence. He was one of the pioneers in the growing of fruit and the improvement of the agricultural resources of the islands, and the farm and home he has developed there, recognized far and wide as the finest place on the island, has served as a model and inspiration for the efforts of others. Mr. Bretz is a native of Germany, having been born in Mecklenburg February 8, 1843. His father, John Bretz, came to America about 1860, locating at Sandusky and subsequently on Middle Bas Island.. He was a plasterer by trade and followed that occupation on Middle Bass Island when there were only five or six houses. Fred Bretz received his early education in Germany and was a young man of twenty- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2053 two when in 1865 he bought his present place on Middle Bass. He was one of the pioneers the development of the vineyard interests, put out a large vineyard himself, and has probably raised more grapes than any other individual grower on the island. From time to time he has added to his original purchase until he now has a large estate, and though well able to retire he is still giving it his active supervision. Mr. Bretz married Caroline Burggraf, a sister of Mathias Burggraf, member of a well known family of these islands elsewhere mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. Bretz have four children. Fred is a carpenter living at Cleveland and; Julia is the wife of John Rehberg of Put-in-Bay ; Edward is connected with the Bell Telephone Company of Cleveland ; Howard is still at home. Mr. Bretz has lived uprightly, has proved an excellent neighbor and enjoys a splendid share of community esteem. For many years he served as a director of the public schools and also as a trustee. He votes the republican ticket, which party he has supported for many years, and he and his family are active .members of the Lutheran Church. GEORGE N. LEASURE, subject of this sketch, was born at Delphos, Van Wert County, Ohio, on August 4, 1864. He graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in June, 1886 ; immediately entered into the practice of his chosen profession at Delphos, his home town, and at the present time is the ,oldest practicing member of the bar, in point of continuous service. Mr. LeaSure is of French stock on both sides, his forebears having come to this country from Normandy, France, at a very early date. His father, Newton I. LeaSure, was raised on a farm near. Zanesville, Ohio, came to Delphos, in 1850, a very poor man. By his industry and integrity he soon acquired a home, and as the Miami and Erie Canal was the only means of transportation to and from Delphos at that date, he quickly saw the advantages and profits awaiting owners of means of transportation. He acquired a canal boat and entered into a general freight business between Toledo and Cincinnati, which netted him a competency. At the breaking out of the Civil war Newton I. LeaSure was the owner of a general store in Delphos, Ohio, and conducted it in connection with his other interests. He disposed of his business and entered the Union army, served until the close of the war, returned to his home an invalid, and died. in March, 1868. Vol. III-46 Elizabeth (Lazier) LeaSure, the mother, was born in September, 1826, is now living in the home erected by her husband in 1852, and enjoying remarkable health for one of her advanced years. She is one of the very few remaining pioneers of Delphos, having lived here ever since her marriage in 1850. George N. LeaSure is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having taken every degree in every branch of that order and has served through all the chairs ; he is also a member of the Elks and is a republican in politics. At the present time he is filling the office of mayor of his city and has been honored with a renomination for the same office. WILLIAM HENRY BRUNS. An industry whose wheels have been turning and whose machinery has been making useful products for more than half a century is always an interesting institution in the life of a community. Such has been the successful work through two generations of the Woodville Flour Mills. These mills have been making flour and grinding the grist for the people in the vicinity of Woodville for a great many years and the product has furnished the bread for many of the oldest as well as the youngest citizens of that locality. This institution is the more interesting for the fact that it has been under practically one ownership for the entire half century. It was the venerable William Henry Bruns, a man now past fourscore years of age, who established the mill in 1865. At that time he had the familiar machinery and processes of that age, and it was a three burr mill, with a capacity of custom grinding of fifty barrels a day. The original mill stood on a foundation 35 by 50 feet. At the present time the mills have the full roller process and machinery, and have a daily capacity of 150 barrels. There are now three large buildings comprising the group known as the Woodville Mills. Two of these buildings are 35 by 50 feet each, and one, used for storing purposes, is 30 by 90 feet in ground dimensions. The elevator has a capacity of 10,000 bushels. There are six regular employees, and the business has long been looked upon as the central landmark in the Woodville business district. The mills, however, are not the only institution for which Woodville is indebted to the enterprise of William Henry Bruns. In 1864 he organized and started a general store in the town, and that business likewise is still 2054 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO in operation. There are five people employed in looking after the trade of this store, and the stock and offices are in a two-story and basement building 46 by 90 feet. As the character of a town depends largely upon its class of business men, any community might consider itself fortunate to have such a citizen as William Henry Bruns. He was born at Osnabruck in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, February 4, 1834, a son of Christopher and Catherine (Niemann) Bruns. His father was a German farmer and died in 1848. After getting his education in the old country William H. Bruns immigrated to America in 1852. During the first year spent in New York City he was employed in a grocery store, and there learned the fundamentals of American methods of retail trade. In the fall of 1853 he first came to Woodville, Ohio, but soon found employment at Maumee as porter in the old Null House. A year later he returned to Woodville, clerked in a general store two years, and for the next two years was employed in General Hunt's dry goods store. His first independent work as a merchant was done at Genoa in partnership with a cousin, but after a year he sold out on account of ill health, and subsequently resumed merchandising in Archibald, Fulton County, Ohio. Then in 1864 he returned to Woodville, started a general store and soon afterward the mills which have been in operation. ever since, and around which has been centered much of the growth and life of the village. During his long and honorable business career Mr. Bruns has taken an active part in local affairs. He has filled the offices of mayor and justice of the peace, was for many years on the school board, and was a member of that body when the present schoolhouse was erected in 1878. He is a director in the Ohio Savings Bank at Toledo. Mr. Bruns is a member and was formerly deacon of the Lutheran Church. In 1857, at Genoa, Ohio, he married Caroline Uhlmann, who came from the same locality in Germany in which he spent his early youth. Of their children the son John William has for a number of years been associated with his father in the business in the general store at Woodville ; he married Rica Reeker of Woods County, Ohio, and they have a son Donald. The son Adam Henry, who was also with his father in business, died at the age of forty-eight. He married Mary Wegmann, who lives in Woodville, and is the mother of two children, namely : William Henry, now assistant cashier in the State Savings Bank, and Carrie, living at home. The son Augustus, who died at the age of thirty. four, married Sophia Sandwich, who is still living. The daughter Ella is the wife of John Molkenbur of Woodville, a farmer in that locality, and they have a daughter named Florence. The other living daughter is Carrie, still at home with her parents. Among the large possessions which William H. Bruns has accumulated during the many years of his active career should be mentioned several farms aggregating altogether 2,500 acres. A. J. HOYER has accomplished a great deal since he started as a butcher's apprentice during his early boyhood, and is now member of the firm Daub, Schuchardt & Hoyer, the leading firm of retail meat dealers in Findlay. Mr. Hoyer was born in Fostoria, Ohio, in 1873, a son of George and Mary (Bannan) Hoyer. He is of German and Swiss stock. His father was born in Germany, came to America at the age of sixteen, lived in Bost for several years and in 1875 came west Ohio. He died in 1915. A. J. Hoyer attended the common schools of Fostoria until he was twelve years of age and then began learning the butcher's business with the firm Lyberger & Lynch. He was with them six months, and then worked at different places until he removed to Findlay. Here for a short time he was with Joseph Feldkercher and then with J. P. Spayth. He returned to Fostoria for a short time, but was soon Findlay again, and for ten years worked as an all around man with one of the butcher firms of the city. On July 24, 1903, he became a partner in the firm of Daub, Schuchardt & Hoyer, and now owns most of the stock of the company and is practically head of the business. In 1898 he married Arista E. Miller, daugh- ter of B. Franklin and Elizabeth (Hein) Miller, of Findlay. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyer have two children : Carl Miller, born in 1899, and George Franklin, born in 1902. Mr. Hover is a democrat, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and he and his family worship in the United Brethren Church. JAY W. BOROUGH has for twenty-one ye been cashier of the Hardy Banking Compan of North Baltimore. His career since earl youth has been identified with banking his success and position are due to complete HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2055 concentration of study and care upon one line business. The Hardy Banking Company was organized in 1896 under the state laws of Ohio. One of the largest stockholders was James Hardy, a prominent early settler of North Baltimore and a man of large business affairs. The company took its name from him. The first president was D. W. Murphy, of Toledo, now deceased. The first vice president was Dennis O'Brien of Parkersburg, West Virginia, also now deceased. Mr. Borough is the only official who has been steadily with the hank since it was organized and always in the capacity, of cashier. Mr. Murphy was succeeded in the office of president by Dr. D. W. Reddin, who still fills that post. Mr. Clark succeeded Mr. O'Brien as vice president and he in turn by Dr. E. A. Powell, who is now vice president. Both Doctor Powell and Doctor Reddin are well known old timers of North Baltimore. The original capital stock of $50,000 has ever been changed. This is an institution ow with resources of nearly three hundred forty thousand dollars and the management and service have always been such as to inspire complete confidence in the business community which the bank serves. The bank now has deposits of over two hundred eighty thousand dollars. The board of directors consists of Dr. D. W. Reddin, Dr. E. A. Powell, James Cathers, A. H. Jimison, all of whom are local residents and well to do men of North Baltimore. Mr. J. W. Borough was born in Hancock County, Ohio, December 14, 1866. He spent his early life on a farm there and his advantages in the country schools were supplemented by six months in the Fostoria Academy. In 1887, at the age of twenty-one, he came to North Baltimore, and soon became connected with the Old People's Bank of that town, which liquidated in 1893. Three years later he assisted in organizing the Hardy Banking Company, and has given his time and talents to that institution continuously. Mr. Borough was a son of William I. and Rhoda J. (Needles) Borough, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared and married. Immediately after their marriage they came to Ohio, locating near Mount Corey in Hancock County, and in 1877 they removed to Jackson Township in Wood County. Here the father improved a new farm and was successfully identified with agriculture there for many years. His wife passed away in 1910, at the age of sixty-six. William I. Borough still lives on his farm near North Baltimore and at the age of seventy-six is working in his fields almost every day and from his industry and vigor one would be completely deceived as to his real age. His normal expectation of life is much greater than the average, since his father lived to be past ninety and his grandfather was 104 years of age when he died in Pennsylvania. His father died at Traverse City, Michigan. William I. Borough, with his wife, has long been identified with the United Brethren Church and in politics he is a republican. There were two sons, Jay W. and Frank C. The latter was formerly in the bank at North Baltimore but is now a banker in Lawrenceville, Illinois. He married Edith Chalfant, of North Baltimore, and they have a son, William, now fourteen years of age. Jay W. Borough married at North Baltimore Zella McClarran, daughter of Doctor A. and Ellen (Bowles) McClarran. Her parents are both deceased. They located near North Baltimore toward the end of the seventies and spent the rest of their days here. Doctor McClarran and his wife were both born in America of Scotch stock. Mr. and Mrs. Borough have one son, Fred, now eighteen years of age and a graduate of the North Baltimore High School with the class of 1916. He is now filling the responsibilities of assistant bookkeeper in the Hardy Banking Company. Mrs. Borough is active in the Presbyterian Church, while he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and in politics a republican. For twenty-two years he has filled the office of city treasurer and is also secretary and director of the Hardy Machine Company, manufacturers of oil well tools and supplies. EDWARD B. CONLISS has been a figure in Toledo journalism for upwards of twenty years. He is vice president and business manager of the Toledo News-Bee and his abilities have found fullest exercise and chief success in the management of this large newspaper. Mr. Conliss was born at Cooperstown, New York, January 1, 1874, a son of Thomas and Margaret (Delaney) Conliss. His liberal education has been the fruit of experience rather than of association with colleges, and he attended only the common schools and an academy at Cooperstown. For several years Mr. Conliss was connected with the Republican at Findlay, Ohio, and on coming to Toledo in 1899 worked with 2056 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO the Toledo Times and the Toledo News until the consolidation of the News and Bee under the title News-Bee. He has been with that paper ever since it became the property of the well known Scripps-McRae syndicate, and as business manager has been largely responsible for building it up to its present high prosperity and immense circulation. Mr. Conliss is a man of public spirited activities and freely contributes of his time to public affairs, especially to the Commerce Club, of which he is a director. He is a member of the Toledo Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Yacht Club, the Old Sod Club, the Young Men's Christian Association, Commerce Club, Knights of Columbus, Rotary Club, Inverness Club, Toledo Automobile Club. He is a Catholic and a member of the Cathedral Parish. Mr. Conliss, who is unmarried, resides at 22 Kenilworth Drive in Toledo. FRANK P. SPITZER. It would be difficult to conceive of a more substantial combination for the attainment of. financial security than a bank founded upon the prosperity and landed values of such a rich agricultural county as Wood. The Citizens' Savings Bank of Pemberville, therefore, is illustrative of the best type of bank in a farming community, something founded upon a stable basis, which the panics and the peculations of the metropolis cannot affect. Frank P. Spitzer, president of this institution and one of its founders, has been identified with financial matters at Pemberville since 1897, and during the twenty years of his residence here has taken an active part in the movements which have made for better civic government as well as for improved conditions generally. He was born in Medina County, Ohio, February 1, 1868, and is a son of Aaron and Anna M. (Collins) Spitzer. Mr. Spitzer belongs to an old and honored family of Medina County, which was founded in America by his great-grandfather, a Dutch-Huguenot, who came to this country prior to the Revolutionary war, in which he served as chaplain of a regiment of patriot soldiers. Nicholas Spitzer, grandfather of Frank P., was born in the Mohawk Valley of New York, from whence he and his two brothers left for various parts of the country, one going to Michigan and another to some Southern state. All were in very modest financial circumstances, and as they had no means of communicating with one another he soon lost sight of his brothers and did not hear from them thereafter. Nicholas Spitzer came to Ohio in 1836, at a time when Cleveland was still a small hamlet, and located six miles southwest of Medina, at that time one of the principal trading points for the early settlers of this locality. A few years later his wife died on the farm, but Mr. Spitzer lived for a long time thereafter, became a sound and substantial citizen who was highly thought of by his fellow-citizens, and died when eighty-four years of age. He and the grandmother were faithful members of the German Lutheran Church. Of the children of Nicholas Spitzer, three sons and two daughters lived to grow to maturity. Aaron Spitzer, father of Frank P., was born in the State of New York, in 1826, and was a lad of ten years when brought by his parents to Ohio. He grew up amid pioneer surroundings and learned to be self-reliant and industrious, received what education could be secured in the primitive schools of his day, and was trained in the arts and pursuits of the farmer. For many years he was known as one of the leading farmers and stockraisers of Medina County, and one year prior to his death changed his place of residence to the City of Medina, where he passed away May 13, 1893, aged sixty-seven years. A man of sterling character and probity, he established an excellent record for business dealings and public spirited citizenship, and his community suffered a distinct loss in his death. Politically, he supported the candidates of the republican party. Mr. Spitzer was married in Medina County, and by his first wife had a son, C. M., formerly of Toledo, but now a resident of Los Angeles, _California. Mr. Spitzer next married Miss Anna M. Collins, who was born at Troy, New York, and now resides at Medina, having been seventy-six years of age on her last birthday, January 7, 1917. She is a member of the Congregational Church, as was her husband. There were three sons in the family : Frank P. ; Garrett E., the proprietor of a stave manufacturing plant at Malden, Missouri, married and the father of three sons ; and Sidney of the Sidney Spitzer Bond & Brokerage Co. of Toledo, and acting as assistant cashier of the Citizens' Savings Bank of Pemberville at the time of organization. Frank P. Spitzer grew up on the home farm in Medina County, and received his education in the public schools there and Oberlin (Ohio) Business College, from which institution he was graduated in 1888. Following this he returned to the home farm for two years, at the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2057 end of that time commencing his experiences in the field of finance as an employe of a bank at Medina. The great panic of 1893 sent many banking houses crashing into bankruptcy, but Mr. Spitzer's institution withstood the shock and came through with colors flying. In the summer of 1895 Mr. Spitzer came to Pemberville, where, in company with C. S. Strong, he founded the Strong Banking Company, a private house. Two years later, July 22, 1897, he became one of the incorporators of the Citizens' Savings Bank, an institution which from modest beginnings has grown to be one of the strongest in Wood County, now having a paid-in capital of $25,000. The first officers of the bank were : President, G. W. Barnes ; vice president, M. Hobart ; cashier, secretary and treasurer, F. P. Spitzer, and assistant cashier, Sidney Spitzer. In 1900, Allen D. Rees of Luckey, Ohio, became identified with the bank, remaining until 1906, when he withdrew, and John S. Hayman succeeded Morris Rees in the office of president. Mr. Hoyman retired in 1915, at which time Frank P. Spitzer became president, the other officials at this time being H. F. Bowlus, vice president ; Otto Bushman, cashier (who in October, 1916, succeeded S. R. Williams) ; Sidney Spitzer, assistant cashier ; and Jacob Clink, A. A. Zindler, H. F. Bowlus, Frank Joseph, F. P. Spitzer, George H, Speck, Otto Bushman, George A. Weber, and Sidney Spitzer, directors. It has been President Spitzer's fortune to have drawn about him men of energy and ability, and one of these was S. R. Williams, a young man of progressive ideas, who was with .him for ten years, from 1907 to 1916, as assistant cashier and cashier, now a resident of New Madrid, Missouri, where he is engaged in business. The excellent condition of the Citizens' Savings Bank of Pemberville is shown in the condensed statement issued at the close of business June 20, 1917, when the following figures were given out : Resources : Loans, $220,281.01; Bonds, $46,143.75 ; Real Estate, Furniture and Fixtures, $8,000.00 ; Overdrafts, $520.78 ; Cash on Hand and in Banks, $82,501.66, Liabilities : Capital Stock, $25,000.00; Surplus and Undivided Profits, $7,772.98 ; Dividends Unpaid, $30.00 ; Deposits, $324,644.22. Total, $357,447.20. This bank was particularly active in the sale of Liberty Bonds, and aided a number of its depositors in buying loan bonds. It has always been the policy of the institution to give aid and money to the Government as well as to the town and the community in which it transacts its business, and the straightforward manner in which it has met all proposals has won it many friends. As the guiding spirit of the concern, Mr. Spitzer has shown himself a capable, far-seeing and conservative financier, with, a comprehensive knowledge of banking principles and economic conditions ; in short, a man worthy of the trust placed in him by his associates and the bank's depositors. He has served his community as a member of the city council and the school board, as well as in other ways which have contributed to the advancement of Pemberville, and supports all good civic movements, as well as those of the Presbyterian Church, of which he and his wife are members. Politically he is a republican. As a fraternalist, he belongs to Pemberville Lodge No. 516, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he has twice been master. Mr. Spitzer married Ora M. Wells, daughter of Rev. W. L. and Mary (Moore) Wells, natives of Southwest Ohio. Rev. Mr. Wells spent his life in ministerial labors in the Methodist Episcopal Church, principally at West Lafayette. He and his wife died in Pemberville and they were laid to rest side by side in the little cemetery at West Lafayette. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Spitzer : Donald, a graduate of the Pemberville High School; Beatrice, who is attending that institution ; and Edward Aaron, who is a student in the graded schools. EZRA G. GILL was born in Wood County in 1865. When he was a child he went to Hillsdale County, Michigan, with his parents, George E. and Rozina (Moe) Gill ; they were the parents of six children, as follows : Ezra G ; Grant, who died in 1894 ; Herbert; living near Grand Rapids, Wood County, Ohio ; Fred, who resides on the Maplewood Farm owned by his brother; Sherman resides near Weston, Ohio ; and the only daughter, Rose, died in young womanhood. His father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother in Ohio and they were married in Huron County. When they came to Wood County the district was practically all a swamp and from here they moved to Hillsdale County, Michigan. After twenty-one years they returned to Wood County and the father located on his father's (Harrison Gill's) homestead near Tontogany. There the mother died three years later when past fifty. The father is still living on the old farm and is now seventy-six years old. He and his wife were formerly active members of the Congregational Church but- afterward 2058 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO joined one of the local denominations represented near Tontogany. He has been a prominent republican, always active in local affairs, and for a number of. years served as justice of the peace Mr. Gill entered business as a merchant at Tontogany in 1890, and his interests in that line and as a farmer have been steadily increasing until he is now one of the leading factors in the business and civic affairs of his community. He is head of the firm Gill & Company, handling lumber, coal, hardware and automobile garage. His son is the active member of the garage. They handle the Maxwell and Oldsmobile cars and also do a general repair business. When Mr. Gill entered business at this place in 1890 he handled lumber and coal and in 1905 opened a general store. The company carries a large general stock of merchandise and it is one of the leading supply centers for a large section of country surrounding Tontogany. Mr. Gill is also owner of a 110-acre farm on the east side of the village. This farm is a noted landmark in that section, part of it being known as Maplewood Park, and the entire farm is known as the Maplewood Farm. This park consists of a grove of handsome maple trees, set out on the plan of a wheel, the rows radiating from a central point like a hub. This landscape feature was developed by Mr. Roswell M. Skinner, who obtained the land from the Government, improved it and lived there for many years, eventually acquiring about 500 acres. About fifteen years ago Mr. Skinner died intestate, and the Probate Court then allowed his widow to have the farm as a home until her death, which occurred about eight years ago. The property under the will fell to the American Bible Society, and this society subsequently sold out the land in parcels. Mr. Gill acquired the 110 acres from the society, including the old home and the park. Mr. Skinner had bought most of the land from the Government, and had paid for it by hunting coons; he figured that each coon at $1.25 would pay for one acre of land and he bought 450 acres, paying for it in the above way. Today this same land would bring from $200 to $250 per acre. Mr. Skinner was a notable pioneer of Wood County, and was very prominent in the Presbyterian Church. Since acquiring this picturesque spot Mr. Gill has in many ways developed and beautified it, especially the park. He has made it now a public institution by opening the grounds for free use and every Sunday afternoon in. the summer the churches unite in services in the beautiful grove. Mr. Gill married in Wood County in 1890 Mollie Smith. She was born near Weston, Ohio, January 22, 1869, and was reared and educated in that community and, like her husband, was for some years a teacher. Her parents were William and Jane L. (Miller) Smith, both natives of Erie County, Ohio, where they grew up but were married near Weston in Wood County. Mr. Smith died in August, 1913, and his wife in 1908. They were active supporting members of the Christian Church and Mr. Smith was a republican. Mrs. Gill's father made a creditable record as a, soldier in the Union army in Company K of the Eleventh Ohio Infantry under Col. Isaac Sherwood, the present congressman from the Toledo district. He fought with the regiment in the Murfreesboro and other campaigns and was once seriously wounded by the bursting of a shell, and left on the field for dead. He subsequently revived and after recovering rejoined his regiment and fought gallantly until the close of the war. After the war he took up farming and finally retired to Weston, where he died. He was a member of Neibling Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Smith celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on June 6, 1904, at Weston, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Gill have one son, Harley E. He was born June 30, 1893, graduated from the local high school in 1910 and completed the course of the Toledo High School in 1913. He is now an active member of the firm Gill & Company, and is an expert mechanic and garage man. He married Blanche Wenig, of Washington Township, Wood County, who is a daughter of John and Elizabeth Wenig, prominent farmer of Washington Township, Wood County. She was graduated from the local high school. Mrs. Gill is an active member of the Evangelical Church. EDMUND RAYMOND VOORHEES. A very capable and well informed lawyer at Woodville. Edmund R. Voorhees has been in practice twelve years and enjoys the cream of the legal business in the Woodville community. When the civic welfare is at stake he is also willing to work hard and without expectation of reward for some benefit that will accrue to all. An Ohio man by birth, Edmund Raymond Voorhees was born at Gibsonburg December 6, 1877, a son of James and Mary Ann HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2059 (Daum) Voorhees. His father followed the trade of plastering and cement work. The son grew up in a home of good influences and simple comforts, and acquired an education in the public schools. After leaving high school he entered the Ohio Northern Uniersity at Ada, and subsequently studied law under J. L. Hart at Gibsonburg. After his admission to the bar on June 11, 1903, he opened his office and has since had his home in Woodville. While he has taken many cases of a general nature, Mr. Voorhees also handles much of the public and business affairs of a legal nature in Woodville. He is attorney for the village, represents both banks, is attorney for the Washington Building Lime Company, and is secretary and attorney for the Woodville Mutual Live Stock Insurance Association. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association. On May 12, 1910, Mr. Voorhees married Henrietta Babione, of Woodville Township, Sandusky County. They are the parents of one daughter, Celestine Gladys. SIMON COHEN. The presence of a business man and public spirited citizen like Simon Cohen is an asset to any community. He is one of the newer business men of Findlay, but has shown a remarkable energy not only in connection with his work as manager of the People's Shoe Store, but also in promoting the general welfare of the community. His career is one that has many lessons for the struggling young man. He was born near Riga, Russia, in 1882, and of a substantial family of Russian Jews, at one time prominent merchants in that locality. Mr. Cohen has one brother and four sisters still living. The family maintained a private tutor for the education of the children and Simon Cohen was thus instructed until he was sixteen years of age. He then took charge of his father's store and continued in business until he was nineteen. On account of political oppression in Russia he practically exiled himself from that country, and came alone to America, landing at Baltimore. His sister Lena lived at Baltimore. Here he worked. at the tailor's trade for five months and then with a cash capital of only 75 cents bought a small stock of tinware and carrying the stock on his back he peddled it through New York State, selling to farmers. He finally paid $15 for a horse, wagon and harness, and began traveling up and down the roads of New York State, soon paying for his equipment and vehicle and prospering so that at the end of two years he had accumulated over $2,000. This capital he immediately invested and soon lost it all. After this calamity he returned to Tioga County, New York, bought a horse on credit from his friend, Eugene Schoenhover, a farmer, bought a wagon on credit from another friend, and still another friend stood good for a set of harness. He also borrowed the cash necessary to stock up. Again he was on the road as a peddler., In order to avoid the expense of lodgings he slept by his wagon or in the homes of friends. About that time he bought an old engine from a farmer, paying $25, and soon afterward sold it at a profit of $45. He then began buying and selling, and continued in that line for four years. He next started a stock of jewelry and for a time had a shop at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and at Monessen, Pennsylvania, he established a clothing and shoe store. He was there a year and a half, but was unable to establish himself in a profitable business. His next location was Lynchburg, Pennsylvania, where he and a partner started a store under the name Cohen & Ives. Through the carelessness and neglect of the partner the business soon failed. Mr. Cohen then went to Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and was in business for a time with his brother. He prospered there but in 1914 he again faced bankruptcy. His next enterprise was a shoe store at Rochester, Pennsylvania, and having as his principal asset a reputation for good business dealings he secured the credit necessary to get his store stocked and he was once more on the highway to success. On April 12, 1915, Mr. Cohen came to Findlay to become manager of the People's Shoe Store, a branch of a house which has similar stores in various cities. Here he has done much to build up this store, and his public spirit has led him into efforts at securing cooperation between the merchants of the town and the residents of the trade territory tributary to Findlay. He has especially studied means by which the people of the city and the rural districts may come into closer and more cordial relationship. He has thus formulated a plan for an organization known as the Merchants and Farniers Institute. The principles of this organization are that the local merchant shall furnish the farmer a square deal and thus stand behind the business relations of the communities which are naturally dependent upon each other. The organization has also encouraged a plan of public markets, where the products raised in the country may be sold 2060 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO at fair prices by the farmer. This plan of Mr. Cohen has received the cordial approval of the business men in general and the Commerce Club and has been inaugurated with great success. Mr. Cohen was married November 10,. 1913, to Miss Rose Tobinfield, daughter of Max and Sylvia Tobinfield, of Pittsburgh. They have one daughter, Sylvia Floretta. Mr. Cohen is a republican in national politics, but is strictly non-partisan in local affairs. He is a member of the Findlay Commerce Club and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. ALPHONS PHILBERT SCHMIDT has a long and honorable record as a merchant at North Baltimore. He is the leading dry goods merchant of the town, and his store has steadily found 'favor and prestige in that community because every one recognizes the business ability and integrity of the man at the head. Mr. Schmidt was born in Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio, September 22, 1875. His is an interesting family record. His parents were Simon and Mary A. (Darr) Schmidt. His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Napoleonic wars and was at the battle of Waterloo. He afterward spent his life in Alsace, where he died in old age. Simon Schmidt was born in Alsace, near the City of Metz, and was of French ancestry. He was born there in 1820, grew up in his native city, and as a young man served in the cavalry branch of the regular army. He fought in several wars, including a campaign in Algiers. He learned the trade of cabinetmaker, and when still unmarried, in 1852, he set out for the United States. He crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel, and after landing at New York came West to Fremont, Ohio, where he established himself in the business of his trade. There he met and married Miss Darr. She was born in Germany, of German ancestry, in 1836, and was two years of age when her parents immigrated to the United States. They were members of a colony of German people who settled on new land in Ottawa County, Ohio, and her parents developed a farm there, on which they spent the rest of their lives. They were a fine old family and all members of the Catholic Church. Mary A. Darr was reared and educated in Ottawa County, and after her marriage she and her husband moved to Fremont in Sandusky, County, where they were long known as capable and hard working people and substantial members of thEir community. Simon Schmidt died in 1906, at the age of eighty-three, and his widow survived him until 1911. They were married in April, 1856, and had celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary a short time before his death. Both were confirmed members of the Catholic Church, and Simon Schmidt was a democrat. Of their thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters, the subject of this article was the twelfth. All the children grew up, and all are still living except two, who died after their marriage. Alphons P. Schmidt was reared and educated in Fremont. He attended the parochial schools there and later had a business college course. At the age of fifteen he became self supporting and has made his own way in the world ever since by reliance upon his efforts, judgment and enterprise. At first he worked in manufacturing plants, but about the time he reached his majority he became a merchandise clerk and with what capital he was able to accumulate he removed to North Baltimore in 1902 and has since been an independent business man. From 1902 to 1911 he was head of the firm A. P. Schmidt & Company. In 1941 occurred a destructive fire in North Baltimore, which destroyed all the property on the west side of the street where his business was located. After this fire, in 1913, Mr. Schmidt opened up a large stock of dry goods and notions in his store 22x100 feet on the east side and in the heart of the business district. His well filled shelves and counters speak for themselves as to the prosperity of the store. Mr. Schmidt is a democrat and is affiliated with the Findlay Council of Knights of Columbus. ROLAND A. HUGHES is one of the men who do things and get things done in the community of Cygnet in Wood County. Mr. Hughes is a banker, an extensive oil operator, and also one of the leading farmers and stock raisers in that community. Almost every expression of his life is in some form of practical work. Everything he undertakes he makes a success of and he has likewise been fortunate in having in his wife a practical business woman as well as a splendid home maker. Mr. Hughes is president of the Cygnet Sayings Bank. This institution was organized in 1900, and has a capital of $25,000. He has been president from the start. The bank has had a healthy growth and reflects in its resources the prosperous condition of the surrounding country. The vice president is HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2061 son Solether, while Charles Solether is cashier. Besides these officials the other directors are Henry Fryman, Thomas Whitiker, J. C. Solether and Wills E. Apple. The bank is local depository for township and school funds. Mr. Hughes was born in Aroostook County, Maine, September 10, 1853, and is of Irish parentage. He is a son of Alexander and Margaret (Buckley) Hughes. Both were natives of County Clare, Ireland, and were married in Maine after they came to the United States. Roland A. Hughes was sixteen years of age when his father died and three years later the death of his mother left him an orphan. He early learned to look after himself, and with an eminently practical character got along with very little education. Mr. Hughes has been in the oil industry since 1876. He acquired his first experience in Butler County, Pennsylvania. In 1880 he went to McKean County, Pennsylvania, and was a successful operator there until 1890, when he came to Wood County. As an oil operator for the past forty-one years Mr. Hughes has become widely known in the Wood County district and also in the states of Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma. He took some of his capital and enterprise into • Oklahoma in 1907. He is one of the interested capitalists in the Barnesville Pool in Washington County, Oklahoma, where he and Charles F. Solether have some very valuable holdings and leases. When Mr. Hughes came to Wood County the oil industry was in its infancy. He gave it encouragement through his active developments and has made this county one of the largest producers in the state. Some mention should also be made of his farming and stock raising. He has a 300 acre farm in Bloom Township, all well improved with two complete sets of buildings. As a breeder he handles only the graded stock, and keeps a number of stallions, jacks and bulls and feeds over 100 head of cattle and many hogs every year. He also operates a high class dairy. In 1874, in his native county, Mr. Hughes married Miss Helen L. Martin: She was born and reared in the same neighborhood and was well educated. Mrs. Hughes is one of the few women who have a practical and thorough knowledge of the oil industry. She can handle practically every proposition connected with oil production almost as well as her husband, and many times has gone into the oil fields and taken part in the practical work, from directing the drill to the shooting of a well. Mrs. Hughes is president of the local Red Cross Society. Mr. Hughes is a democrat in politics. JOHN CHURCH ALLEN. A family name that has possessed itself of numerous worthy distinctions in Northwestern Ohio was founded by the late John Church Allen, one of the oldest and in his time one of the foremost citizens of Lucas County. Though a native of New England, where his family had lived for generations, Mr. Allen spent all his active years from early childhood in Ohio, and was identified with Lucas County from pioneer days. He was born at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, January 27, 1809, and died in Maumee, Ohio, when nearly a hundred years old. His father, James Allen, was born in the same locality of Massachusetts, January 25, 1783. The grandfather was born there also in 1763, while the great-grandfather was born in 1719. The late Mr. Allen's mother was Cynthia (Cottell) Allen. She became the mother of four sons and three daughters. Owing to the family home being on one of the exposed positions of the Atlantic coast, the early generations suffered much from depredations by the British during the Revolutionary war. Much of the property was taken away by force or destroyed. James Allen, father of John C., established on the island of Martha's Vineyard the first nail factory in the United States. During the War of 1812, being unable to obtain raw material or to sell his stock of nails, he was forced to suspend operations. Then in 1815, with his father and with their respective families, they set out for a new and unbroken country beyond the Alleghenies. Coming to Ohio, they settled at Zanesville. It required six weeks to make the long and laborious jour ney from New England to Southern Ohio. James Allen died at Zanesville in 1847, while his wife passed away in 1863. Reared in the wilderness of Ohio from the time he was six years of age, John Church Allen came to manhood with the training and instinct of the pioneer. He was still a young man when on March 10, 1835, he arrived at Maumee in Lucas County. The following year he opened a provision store and later he established and for some years conducted the Central House Hotel.• As a merchant his business record extended until 1872, covering a period of thirty-six years. He was not only a business man but a just 2062 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and upright citizen and one who wielded more than an ordinary influence in the early life of Maumee. He was a member of the first city council, and was the fourth mayor to be elected by the people of Maumee. For twenty years he served as city treasurer under Frederick E. Kirkland, who was in office when the Maumee Courthouse was first occupied. An illustration of this old courthouse of Lucas County at Maumee is found on other pages of this history For many years John C. Allen was an active and useful member of the board of education of Maumee, and he was a man whose character and attainments enabled him to perform a great deal of community work. On September 30, 1839, John Church Allen married Miss Nancy Kirkland of Parkman, Geauga County, Ohio. She was born in that county March 8, 1817. Her parents; Frederick and Sophia (Parkman) 'Kirkland, were married in September, 1808, and they were numbered among the very earliest settlers of Northern Ohio, having established a home in Geauga County as early as 1806. The late Mr. Allen and his wife were active members of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maumee. John C. Allen was baptised by Bishop Chase, the first Protestant Episcopal bishop west of the Alleghenies and at one time bishop of the diocese of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Allen became the parents of ten children : Mrs. W. R. Carr ; John Church, Jr., who died July 31, 1855, at the age of thirteen ; Mrs. E. J. Leppelman, who died in Washington, D. C., on March 9, 1886 ; James F. ; Noah N., who died April 14, 1870 ; Francis E. George C. ; Henry A.; Charles E. ; and Lucy A. The sons, James F. and Noah N., both served with creditable records as volunteer soldiers in the Union army during the Civil war. FRANK GUY BLANCHARD, M. D. For nearly twenty years Doctor Blanchard has practiced medicine in Woodville. People of that community know him as an able and conscientious physician and a man who has conferred dignity upon his profession. His name is also associated with much of the community life. His career as a practicing physician covers more than a quarter of a century, but he still keeps up with the profession as much as many younger men. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in Troy Township March 10, 1860, a son of Jacob Guy and Sarah Jane (Marvin) Blanchard. His father was a contractor and builder in Western Pennsylvania, and it was in that section of country that Doctor Blanchard spent his early youth and manhood. In 1881 he finished the course of the Sunville Seminary in Venango County, Pennsylvania, and soon afterwards took up the study of medicine. Doctor Blanchard is an alumnus of the Western Reserve Medical College, which awarded him his degree Doctor of Medicine on March 7, 1888. During the years up to 1894 he was engaged in a promising practice at Pleasantville, Ohio, but then on account of illness had to retire from professional work for two years. In May, 1896, he located in Woodville, and has since enjoyed a large general practice. He is a member of the Sandusky County and the Ohio State Medical societies and the American Medical Association, and has served as health officer of the town. For years he was a member of the local school board. Fraternally Doctor Blanchard is a lodge and chapter Mason. On December 16, 1885, Doctor Blanchard was married in Venango County, Pennsylvania, to Martha Catherine Sharp-Plumb. To their marriage have been born two daughters. Josie, who died June 15, 1916, was Mrs. Albert Henry Vilbrandt, and she left one child. Byrd is now Mrs. William Byran O'Connor of Woodville. Mr. O'Connor is a driller in the lime quarries. They have three children. FLORIEN GIAUQUE. The name of a prominent Cincinnati lawyer, author, litterateur, figures in Northwest Ohio history chiefly because of his extensive land holdings and more important still because of the influence he has exercised on development work in and around Deshler in Henry County. Quite early in his career Florien Giauque became noted for his exceptional skill in the handling of real estate law cases. As early as 1885 he was selected by the wealthy Deshler heirs of Columbus to look after their holdings, comprising a vast bulk of lands in Henry County. These Deshler lands were largely unproductive, not because they were lacking in fertility but because the necessary development work had not been done. It was a district of swamps, heavy timber, and of only casual cultivation and improvement. Mr. Giauque, as already stated, had handled much litigation involving real estate, and had had some personal experience in real estate investments, chiefly in Missouri. He also had the insight and vision which enabled him to see HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2063 possibilities where many persons would find only ground for pessimism. Thus when the dissatisfied owners of the great black swamp district in which the Deshler lands were located offered their property for sale Mr. Giauque purchased it and thus acquired more an 2,500 acres. The residents of Henry County are thoroughly familiar with what has been accomplished. When the land was drained and its heavy timber cleared off, nothing could surpass it in fertility and in productiveness sustained year after year at a maximum yield. Mr. Giauque after getting the preliminary improvements made sold most of the land at great financial profit. This in itself was an important achievement sufficient to link his name with the permanent prosperity of Henry County. But his interest in the Deshler community has been a continuing one. He recognized the possibilities of Deshler as a junction point on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and the Baltimore & Ohio railways, and further as a station on the Ohio Electric Line. Mr. Giauque, while never a resident of Deshler, has been as keenly interested in its develop: ment as any local citizen. He spent money lavishly on local improvements, and how well the community has responded is a matter of special delight to him. For one thing he erected the well appointed and modern fifty-room hotel which bears his name and which is known to commerical travelers all over Northwest Ohio. He also put up some of the largest and best blocks in the town, all of them solid brick buildings, and they would be a credit to places several times the size. At one time he owned most of the property on both sides of Main Street, and even now he owns about 100 tenant houses in the town, which he built in advance of development and for the good of the community. An appropriate sketch of the career of Florien Giauque will lend distinction to these pages. He was born on a farm near Berlin, Ohio, May 11, 1843, and is descended from some of the early Swiss families of Holmes County, Ohio. Some of these families were the Giauques, the Guillaumes and the Marchands, who came out of the Canton of Berne in the French speaking part of Switzerland to Ohio between the years 1830 and 1836. They have been described as sturdy folk, self-respecting, honest, industrious, law abiding, Protestant and not illiterate. Among them was John David Giauque, grandfather of the Cincinnati lawyer. His son Augustus, father of Florien, married Sophia Guillaume, and they subsequently moved to a farm about a mile southwest of Berlin, Ohio. Their three children to grow up were : Sophia; Emely, who married Jacob W. Anderson, the latter dying while a Union soldier ; Mary A. J., Who married W. S. Peppard, a lawyer; and Florien. In 1849 Florien's father removed to Wayne County, Ohio, and died soon afterward, leaving his widow only means enough with which to buy a modest cottage in Fredericksburg in the same county. She kept her children together and sent them to the public school and to the Presbyterian School, and as part of their education insisted that they speak French. This knowledge of a foreign language, inculcated much against his will at the time, Florien Giauque has always been grateful for. In 1855 his mother married Ulysses Jeanneret, another representative of the Swiss people. He was a very practical business man, provided well for his family, but had no sympathy with Florien's desire for an education. In his early boyhood Florien Giauque felt an unceasing appeal from the "still small voice" within him to study and get a college education. In some way he had learned that his ancestors in Switzerland were people of considerable learning and of social pretensions, and he made up his mind that his own life in America should have consistency with his forebears. His first instruction aside from that given him by his mother was acquired in a subscription school taught by an accomplished neighbor woman, and Florien was not too proud to drive her cow to pasture and back home as part pay for his tuition. There are few men, even in the ranks of the more successful, who can say that they have unflinchingly and undeviatingly carried out a fixed ideal and purpose formulated in early youth. That is perhaps Florien Giauque's most interesting distinction and one that affords inspiration to the careers of younger men. As a boy he determined to become a lawyer. It should be remembered that he was poor and had the utmost difficulty in securing even a common school education. His stepfather was opposed to such pretentious ideas and at almost every turn he met obstacles in the way of carrying out his purpose. But he persisted and won the fight to secure a liberal education and eventually admission to the bar, and what he has accomplished in his profession is a complete justification for the unwavering ambition of his youth. He enjoyed boyish sports, but used every possible spare moment in reading, and 2064 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO at the same time worked to support the family and pay his own expenses in the subscription school. For two terms he attended an excellent academy maintained in the Village of Fredericksburg. One of his classmates there was John S. Cowan, who later became prominent as chief counsel, president and receiver of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In a career dominated by such purpose it is only natural to look for a positiveness of character and somewhat of an indifference to public opinion when convinced by conscience and reason that his course is right and just. Florien Giauque grew up in a time much more liberal in respect to many things than is true of modern social standards. He resolved that he would sow no wild oats, would refrain from the use of all intoxicants, including tobacco, and has not only carried out these principles strictly but has always lived very simply if not abstemiously, indulging such beverages as tea and coffee very mildly. His family were all democrats, but he resolved to become a republican. This choice of a political party increased his stepfather's disgust. His position at home was not altogether pleasant, though he was devoted to his mother and at her request remained with her until her death and practically nursed her throughout her last illness and has since found that one of the greatest satisfactions of his life. His mother died in 1861. At that time the family physician requested the boy to enter his home and office and take up the study of medicine. It was an offer which in ordinary circumstances would have meant much to him and would have opened the way to a promising and no doubt a successful career. But he frankly told the doctor of his resolution to become a lawyer Sand that nothing could be allowed to stand in the way of carrying out that design. At the time of his mother's death he was eighteen years old. As a result of work at different times he had accumulated a small fortune of $20. He used that to attend five month.s of school at Vermilion Institute. In those years his chief resource as a livelihood was manual toil. He has always respected the dignity of manual toil as a stepping stone to higher things. He worked out on farms, and as soon as competent and qualified he secured the position of teacher in a public school near Wooster. For a young man who had so carefully thought out and was so intensely ambitious as to his future plans, it is not surprising that the duty he recognized to become a soldier in the Civil war involved the severest kind of self-sacrifice and self-abnegation. He determined that he ought to enlist, and enlist he did in Company H of the One Hundred and Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Through the hardships of the war to its close he sere under Generals Buell, Rosecrans, Thom.:, Sherman and Grant. Few men suffered more from the disease and ills of army life, and again and again he passed through severe attacks of fever and other disease and yet he never asked for nor received a furlough, was uncomplaining and cheerful in obedience to command, and went through to the end, coming out of the war hollow-chested, stoop-shouldered, weak and emaciated, and it was more than three years after his discharge before the weighed as much as when he enlisted. During one spell of illness he was in a hospital at Nashville, Tennessee. While in convalescent camp near that city he determined that he was fit for a resumption of active duty. The surgeon curtly inform him that he must remain in camp. He boarder a freight train bound for the South, but having no official discharge he was ordered off by the military conductor. He finally took hi place unobserved between a couple of cars, and after the train was well under way he went back to the caboose. The conductor, astonish., and angry, came at him in a very threatening manner, but the boy calmly informed him that he knew he would not be put off since that would mean capture by the rebels. The conductor closed the colloquy with the words: "Well, you are the most anxious soldier to get to your regiment I ever saw." The next morning, arriving at his destination, he reported for duty to his colonel, who told him. he had received information by wire that he had deserted. After allowing the enormity of such a charge to sink in, the colonel said: "But you deserted in the right direction, you can go to your company." Only one other time during his army career did Florien Giauque disobey orders. While suffering the tortures of disease his physician ordered him to drink ale, but Giauaue was not to be shaken from his early resolution and absolutely refused to take the dosage. Understanding his principles the kind physician excused him: Even while in the army Mr. Giauque showed his leadership among men, and was appointed to a non-commissioned office. He served in that commission during HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2065 most of his military experience and only modesty prevented him from obtaining higher preferment. Mr. Giauque made another resolution which he kept, and that was that he would never apply for nor accept a pension for his services as a soldier until by a general law practically every soldier of the war should be granted one. After his return home, though weakened with illness and exposure, he re-entered Vermilion Institute, and while there carried studies in some of the regular classes and was also a teacher. In 1866 he entered Kenyon College at Gambier and remained there until he graduated with honors in 1869. Such was his standing as a student that he won the honorary scholarship fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. He completed a four years' course in three years and at the same time had taught Latin and other classes in the preparatory schools at Gambier and a number of private pupils. He had a class of private pupils consisting of young ladies at Mount Vernon, five miles away, and walked back and forth through all kinds of weather twice a week one entire winter. As a result of such unflagging industry and determination Mr. Giauque came out of college not only out of debt but also with $90 in his pocket. Since then Mr. Giauque has served as a trustee of Kenyon College, and has received from that institution the honorary degrees A. M. and LL. D., the latter chiefly because of his authorship of certain law books. While in college he had as classmates the sons of some rich and aristocratic families of eastern cities. He came to have a better appreciation of the essential democracy of young men of wealth, since these rich fellow students showed for him complete respect for his conduct and success even though he was of poor and humble family. He was accorded the highest honor of his literary society, the Philo, when he was elected in his senior year as orator on Washington's Birthday. The reputation as a speaker and writer which has followed him so persistently in later years Mr. Giauque acquired while in Kenyon College. In 1868 he delivered an oration on his father's native country, Switzerland, and it was accorded unstinted appreciation and praise both for the thorough knowledge he showed of the land of his ancestors and the feeling with which he portrayed the patriotic spirit prevalent in the land of William Tell. Mr. Giauque, needless to say, when his army record is considered, has proved as patriotic to America as his fathers were to their native Switzerland. Even after leaving Kenyon College there stood between him and his cherished goal several years of hard and self-denying work.. To make his living while he studied law he taught school. He had been granted a state teacher's certificate, indicating that he had passed an examination with high grades in twenty-seven different branches. Mr. Giauque went to Glendale, a suburb of Cincinnati, and served as principal of its public schools until 1875. He was seven times unanimously elected principal and refused the seventh term. In the meantime he had studied law under the late Justice Stanley Matthews, then a resident of Glendale. In 1875 he gave up teaching and opened a law office in Cincinnati and has been continuously an active and influential member of the bar of that city for over forty years. Much of the time he was in partnership with Henry B. McClure. Mr. Giauque still lives at Glendale. In politics he has been a republican, a strong advocate of its principles, but has been too busy with his profession and other affairs to seek even local offices. However, he could not refuse to accept some of the honors conferred upon him by his neighbors at Glendale, and served as solicitor and mayor of the village, as president of the school board, president of the waterworks board and member of the board of health. Mr. Giauque is widely known among the profession as a legal writer and editor. Among the publications associated with his name are "Giauque's Revised Statutes of Ohio," "Settlement of Decedent's Estates," "Manual for Assignees," "Manual for Guardians," "Manual for Notaries," "Road and Bridge Laws of Ohio," and he and his law partner prepared "Life Tables;" a work of great value. For more than twenty years he prepared and kept revised The Robert Clarke Company's series of legal blanks. Mr. Giauque's literary interests are wide and varied, and he has both written and spoken much on scientific and patriotic questions. He is fond of American Archaeology, and has gathered a fine collection of stone and copper prehistoric implements and pottery. This collection was exhibited and won medals at various expositions, including the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876. He was one of the men whO had charge of the Ohio. Archaeological Exhibits at that Centennial. Much of the collection was destroyed by fire. . 2066 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Mr. Giauque has been an extensive traveler. For business as well as pleasure he has visited most of the states of the Union and has acquired his extensive real estate interests largely as a result of personal observations of opportunities. He has owned many thousands of acres in Louisiana and other portions of the South, and in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, a town was named for him, Florien. Mr. Giauque was married November 18, 1884, to Miss Mary Miller, daughter of William H. Miller. Her father was a lawyer of Hamilton, Ohio, and was killed in action while an officer of the Union army during the war. Mrs. Giauque was a granddaughter on her mother's side of John Woods, long a leading Ohio lawyer and at one time member of Congress, auditor of the state, and prominently identified with early canal and railroad building. Five of Mrs. Giauque's ancestors were soldiers on the American side in the Revolutionary war and others were in Colonial wars. Mrs. Giauque is now deceased, and there were no children of their marriage. CHARLES A. GRAHAM is one of the very successful business men of Lima. He was a farmer boy by training, started life without capital or special influence, taught and managed schools for many years, and now has a great variety of- interests, chief among which are his duties as secretary of the Central Building and Loan Company of Lima. Mr. Graham was identified with the organization of this company, and since 1908 has been its secretary. This company has completed ten full years of business activity. The year 1916 was one of the best in its history, the company's growth in that year was measured by nearly $135,000 increase, and the present assets are over $576,000. During its ten years the company has never foreclosed a mortgage, has never lost a cent on a loan, and as security for its depositors and shareholders it has loans on first mortgage real estate of more than $500,000. While perhaps not the largest this company is one of the strongest in Northwest Ohio, and otherwise its record is unexcelled. Mr. Charles A. Graham was born in a log cabin, which is still standing, in Auglaize County, Ohio, November 17, 1864. His parents were John and Mary (Tussing) Graham. The Grahams go back to early pioneer times in Auglaize County. Grandfather Charles Graham was a native Irishman, came to Auglaize County in early days, and acquired land from the Government, his patent being signed by President Andrew Jackson. He also assisted in building the St. Marys Reservoir This ancestor brought with him from Ireland a watch, and it is still a prized relic in the family. John Graham, father of Charles A., was born in Auglaize County July 1, 1839. He was born, reared and died on the same farm. That farm is now owned by his widow who was born in Franklin County, Ohio, July 24, 1840, and is now in her seventy-seventh year. They were married in Allen County. Of their five children, four are living : Charles A, ; Thomas H. on a farm in Auglaize County; Anna D., wife of William White, a farmer in Auglaize County; and George W., who owns a farm in Allen County. John Graham and wife were members of the Christian Church. He was a democrat, was a well educated man, was an excellent penman and was well read. His brothers Thomas and Christopher were both soldiers in the Civil war. Thomas was killed near Baltimore while Christopher went through the war and is now living in Allen County. Mr. Graham's maternal grandfather was John Tussing of German descent. Charles A. Graham started life with the resolution and ambition to make the best of every opportunity. From the farm and country schools he broadened his advantages by a student career in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. At the age of eighteen he taught his first school and continued in that work for twenty years. Most of the teaching was in Auglaize and Allen counties. For eight years he was superintendent of schools at Lafayette, and he closed his career as a teacher as superintendent of the Spencerville schools. He assisted in organizing the Central Building and Loan Company at Lima on September 1, 1906, and has since been actively identified with its management. He was elected secretary in 1908. Much of the responsibility of its management has devolved upon him, and he can personally be credited with much of its prosperous record. However, Mr. Graham has been identified with Lima and Allen County in many other important relationships. He served two terms as clerk of courts from August, 1909, to August, 1913. For six years he was county school examiner of Allen County, and is now and has been for twelve years secretary of the Allen County Agricultural Society and for eighteen years has served on the board of directors of that society. Mr. Graham has done much to bring about a cordial relationship between the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2067 interests of the city and those of the country districts. He is director and recording secretary of the Lima Y. M. C. A. and is a member the executive and business committee of the Ohio State Sunday School Association. In season and out of season he is a booster for ma and Allen County. In 1888 Mr. Graham married Eva. Inez Wonnell. She was born in Allen County, daughter of the late Edward and Mary Jane Wonnell. Edward Wonnell was an early settler at South Warsaw in Allen County, was or many years a merchant, served as postmaster of the village thirty years, receiving his first appointment to that office from President Lincoln. Mr. Wonnell was a soldier in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Graham have two children : Helen Estelle is a graduate of the Lima Business College and is now and has been for several years deputy clerk of courts. Russell Thoburn Graham is a graduate of the Lima High School, and is now bookkeeper for the Central Building and Loan Company. Mr. Graham and family are members of the First Christian Church. He has been prominent in Odd Fellowship, has been through all the chairs of the subordinate Lodge and Encampment, was representative to the Grand Encampment eight years, has recently closed his term as grand junior warden and is now grand senior warden of the State of Ohio. The majority given him in his election as grand junior warden was the largest ever paid to a candidate for that office. He has also filled all the chairs in the Modern Woodmen of America, having been consul for several years. He is also affiliated with Lima Lodge No. 54, Benevolent and Protective Order Of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Maccabees, the Royal Arcanum, and the Loyal Order of Moose. In politics Mr. Graham is a democrat and has rendered valuable services to the party. LEN L. TROUT is one of the practical and aggressive business men of North Baltimore, and has built up one of the leading commercial establishments of the town as a dealer in furniture, carpets, musical instruments and other household wares and equipment. Mr. Trout has been in active business in North Baltimore since 1904. For the past eight years he has occupied the Dirk Building, with a forty-five foot frontage and a hundred feet in depth. He has both floors of this building in use for his stock. The building was built and designed especially for use as a furniture store, and that class of business has been conducted here for thirty years. Mr. Trout came to North Baltimore from Findlay, Ohio, for the purpose of starting a branch house of the Trout Brothers firm of that city. These brothers conduct a large store at Findlay, which was established in September, 1900, and is operated on the same high plane as the store at North Baltimore. The Trout family is one of the oldest and most substantial of Hancock County, Ohio, where they have lived through four generations, for a period of nearly ninety years. Len L. Trout was born in that county on a farm. This farm was the old homestead entered by his great-grandfather, John Trout, for his son George. George was the grandfather of Len L. John and Eleanor Trout and their family removed from Perry County, Ohio, to Hancock County in 1828. John Trout became one of the men chiefly influential in laying out and founding the Town of Van Buren. He was a thorough business man and practical farmer and he died at the old homestead in 1832. At Van Buren he had conducted a hotel known as the Trout House. .A sign swung before the door of this hotel bearing the picture of a trout to correspond with the family name. John Trout fought in the second war with Great Britain in 1812. He had three children, George, Ephraim and Jack. Of these George was the grandfather of Len L. Trout. George Trout married Caroline Heller and had six children, including Judson B. Judson B. Trout was born in Hancock County seventy years ago, and has lived an industrious and active career as a farmer and is now living retired at Van Buren. His wife died in December, 1912, in her sixty-fifth year. She was an active member of the United Brethren Church. Len L. Trout is the youngest of three children. The oldest is George F., who is senior partner of the firm of Trout Brothers in the furniture business. He is married and has a daughter, Irene. The second child is Mrs. Cora Campbell, wife of Frank Campbell, whose father, Hugh Campbell, was one of the early residents of North Baltimore. Mrs. Campbell has one son, Roy. Len L. Trout grew up in Hancock County, acquired a common school education, and at an early age identified himself with business affairs and has become successful. At Findlay he married Miss Dolly Lyne. She was born thirty-five years ago near Findlay and was reared and educated there. Mr. and Mrs. 2068 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Trout have four children : Clarence, aged fifteen, now a student in the North Baltimore High School ; Mary, aged ten, in the fifth grade of the public schools ; Grace, aged six, and Len L. Jr., born in 1916. Mr. Trout is a Chapter L., at Findlay and in politics is an independent republican. He 'has contributed to the development of North Baltimore by the erection of a fine cottage home on South Main Street and in every way is closely associated with the prosperity and progress of that town. HON. CLYDE R. PAINTER was graduated from the Ohio Northern University in 1892, and later passed one year in the Ohio State University at Columbus, Ohio, specializing in law. He took up the study of law under Ira C. Taber, then of Bowling Green but now general counsel for the National Supply Company of Toledo. Since his admission to the bar in 1896 Mr. Painter has been one of the leading lawyers of Bowling Green, has served in the Legislature and in many ways has made his profession a means of important service to the community. After his admission to the bar he was associated as a law partner with Mr. Taber until the latter removed to Toledo. For the past twenty years he has practiced alone and has handled a large volume of important litigation in the local and state courts. Mr. Painter was elected a member of the Legislature in 1897 and served continuously from 1898 until 1902. He was chairman of the judiciary committee and held various other committee assignments. He has been chairman of the Standing Republican Caucus of the Legislature during his last term and in 1906 was nominated for state senator from the Thirty-third District. However, in that year he failed to overcome the large democratic majority. He was at one time the candidate of his party for common pleas judge. In politics he has wielded a large influence in Wood County and for years has been a well known figure in local, congressional and state conventions of his party. Mr. Painter was born in Wood County in 1866 and has always lived here. He is of Scotch-Irish and Dutch ancestry, and the Painters have been well known in Pennsylvania for generations. His grandfather, Peter Painter, came from Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania to Columbiana County, Ohio, and subsequently pioneered into Wood County, making the journey over the rough roads and through the woods with wagons and ox teams. His location was in the forests of Bloom Township, and there he cleared up and improved a farm. His death occurred before the Civil war and he left his widow and a large family. He married Elizabeth Musser, who died in 1898. Her father, Michael Musser, great-grandfather of Mr. Painter, was a soldier under General Harrison during the War of 1812 and was in the battle at Fort Meigs and in numerous other engagements. He was one of the pioneers who made early history in Wood County, where he spent his last years. Peter S. Painter, father of the Bowling Green lawyer, was the eighth in a family of eleven children. He was born in Bloom Township of Wood County on August 6, 1841, and is still living, active and vigorous for his years and for his varied experiences. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company H of the Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry under General Gibson, and served as a private for three years and six months. Among the major battles in which he participated were those of Pittsburg Landing, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and toward the end of his service he was wounded by gunshot and also by the explosion of a shell which fractured several ribs. After three years and six months in the army he was given his honorable discharge and returned and for the past fifty years has been quietly engaged in the vocation of agriculturist. Politically he is a republican and has been a more than interested participant in the councils of his party. He has served on various committees and has been a delegate to county, congressional and state conventions. Peter S. Painter was married in Wood County to Mary J. Schwinehart, who was born and reared in this county and died at the old homestead in October, 1911, at the age of sixty-eight. She was an active member of the Christian Church, as is her husband. Clyde R. Painter was the oldest in a family of four children. His sister, Mollie, married William Holmes and died at the old homestead near Bloomdale, Ohio, leaving a daughter, Jeanette Holmes, who is now living with her grandfather in Wood County. Lissa A. is still at home, is a college graduate and is a teacher. Evaline is the wife of Vaneier Fiesael, a farmer of Bloom Township near the old Painter home. They have a daughter, Mollie, who is now attending high school. Mr. Clyde R. Painter has never married. Fraternally HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2069 he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The father of the above children was in very meager circumstances, especially so while his children were of school age, but he gave each of them a college education. R. J. DORNEY, of Arlington, Ohio, has distinguished himself by that hard work which alone enables a man to ,conquer success and acquire and manage numerous interests profitably and well. While Mr Dorney has retired from some of his business activities, he is still president and a director of the Farmers and Merchants Banking Company of Arlington. He was born at Arlington, Ohio, April 16, 1862, a son of Robert and Clara (Myers) Dorney. His father was born on the Isle of Man, a British subject, in December, 1821. When a small child he was brought to America by his uncle and was bound out among strangers. He spent those early and hard working years near Cleveland, and though his indenture was until he reached his majority, he left his employers at the age of eighteen, practically running away. At the time he had only a three cent piece in his pocket He then learned the blacksmith trade and for a time. was employed in the iron work for the con- struction of canal boats at Boston in Stark County. On December 9, 1845, in Stark County, he was married by Squire Chamberlain to Miss Clara Myers. In 1856 Robert Dorney removed to Arlington, Ohio, and opened a blacksmith shop on Main Street. He continued his work there until the beginning of the Civil war, when he enlisted and served as a private in the Sixty-sixth Illinois Sharpshooters. He was also assigned to work on a supply wagon and as a blacksmith. He spent thirteen months in the army, until January, 186:3. After the war he resumed his trade at Arlington and also acquired 160 acres of land within the corporation limits. He was noted as a natural mechanic in iron and steel and vas a very versatile as well as successful business man His death occurred in Arlington in 1884. He and his wife had the following children : Marshall, who was born November 15, 1846, and died in August, 1847. Robert Fulton, born November 14, 1849, died September 12, 1850 ; Arthur J., born in January, 1851, and now a retired farmer at Clare, Michigan; Julius Zacharias, born November 21, 1852, now deceased ; George Sidall, born January .28, 1856, and died October 25, 1899 ; Alice Vol. III-47 Almeda, born in 1854, and the deceased wife of Jacob Kiebler ; Allen Ricketts, born at Arlington November 15, 1859 ; and Robert John Wesley, the special subject of this sketch. Mr. Dorney had his early training in the public schools, attending school in the winter time and during the summer season developing his muscle by helping pull stumps, rolling logs and clearing up the home farm. At the age of eighteen he gave up schooling and began working about among the neighboring farmers. He distinguished himself even then by a long look ahead and was keenly interested in saving his money so as to get into business for himself. Finally with a modest capital he and his brother George started a brick yard. That proved a disastrous venture and all his savings were lost. During 1885 Mr. Dorney traveled over Ohio, Illinois and North Dakota, and was employed by the Walter A. Wood Company of Glenns Falls, New York, to set up the binders which were then practically new in the harvesting machine line. On April 3, 1886, Mr. Dorney married Miss Ida May Ghaster, a daughter of Solomon and Mary (Fox) Ghaster. Her parents were farmers near Mount Corey, Ohio, and of German stock of the so called Pennsylvania Dutch. Mrs. Dorney is of Revolutionary ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Dorney now live in a handsome red brick house just across the street from the old Dorney homestead in Arlington. After his marriage Mr. Dorney rented a farm of ninety-five acres from his wife's mother, and has since continued its active management. In 1891 he engaged in the wire fence business and bought a patent right for Hancock County. He made a great success in selling fence. Doubtless from his father he inherited some mechanical genius and his experience in the wire fence business led to the invention of the "Little Giant" wire stretcher, which has had a wide sale and has brought him considerable revenue. He also invented the Dorney Adjustable Farm Gate, which has also had a wide distribution and sale. For some years Mr. Dorney had a plant for the manufacture of wire fence and sold his product all over the county. In the general fencing business he continued actively for twenty years. From the fall of 1896 until 1915 he was likewise engaged in the buying and selling, baling and shipping of hay. Mr. Dorney's mother died November 27, 2070 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO 1892,, and in the following year he bought the homestead farm from the estate and has developed that into a model place. As a land owner he now has 160 acres and 83 acres, and is also interested in a property on Catawba Island and has a summer home at Pon-She-Wa-Ting, Michigan. He is one of the principal stockholders in the bank of which he is president. Mr. Dorney has always shown a public spirited attitude toward everything that concerns the public welfare. He is a republican, served seven years as county infirmary director and for two terms was a member of the city council of Arlington. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the Subordinate and Encampment degrees and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Dorney have only one child, Donna Dorcas, now the wife of Rev. Mr. I. Powell, a minister of the English Lutheran Church. Mrs. Powell has three children : Robert Theodore, born in 1912 ; Luther Vincent, born in 1914 ; and Burdett, born in 1915. HENRY CORDES, JR., enjoys the proud posi- tion of a farmer in Henry County. Farming has always enjoyed a place of dignity second to none among the occupations of mankind, but never in the history of the world was the lot of the farmer one of greater emolument, prestige and contentment than it is today. No small part of the development of Henry County from wilderness conditions is to be credited to the influence and energies of the sturdy people who came from Germany. It is as representative of this class of citizenship that Henry Cordes, Jr., stands. His fine country home is situated in section 9 of Pleasant Township. He has lived there for seventeen years, and he now owns seventy-nine acres. Nineteen acres are in sections 9 and 10 of the same township just across the road from the main farm. Some of the best practices of Ohio farming can be found illustrated on this place of Mr. Cordes. The entire tract is under cultivation except eight acres of native timber. Mr. Cordes is constantly studying improved methods of increasing the efficiency of the farm, and also of making his home more comfortable and attractive. He recently erected a fine barn 40 by 60 feet with 20 foot posts. With its coat of red paint it stands up as one of the conspicuous features of the landscape. Mr. Cordes also has a new home, a seven-room residence, well built and comfortable and tastefully furnished. Mr. Cordes was born in Hanover, Germany, September 28, 1868. When he was sixteen years of age and after he had acquired his education in the German common schools he came with his father to America. They took passage on a vessel at Bremen, sailing for New York City, and from there proceeded direct to Henry County, Ohio. His father, Henry Cordes, located forty acres of wild land in Flat Rock Township, and he has been identified with the development of that place ever since. He is still living and is now seventy-six years of age, quite well and hearty. He owns 160 acres in Flat Rock Township and his homestead of eighty acres is in section 27. While living in Hanover, Henry Cordes married Mary Lenthurst, who was born in Hanover and died there in 1880, when about forty years of age. She was the mother of six children : Anna, who came to America and was married in Defiance County to Detrick Bresling, and when she died at the age of forty years left three sons and three daughters. The second of the family is Henry. Detrick is a successful farmer in Pleasant Township, where he owns 160 acres in sections 8 and 9, is married and has one daughter, Bertha. Mary is the wife of August Schlitter, of Flat Rock Township, and they have two sons and three daughters. Fred is a farmer of Flatrock Township and by his marriage to Dora Brener has a son, Harold. Herman is a progressive young farmer in Flat Rock Township, lives at home with his father, and is still unmarried. Henry Cordes has never married and for a number of years has kept bachelor's hall. He grew up on the old homestead in Henry County, and lived with his father until he took title to his present farm. He has made the chief improvements on his land and is a thoroughly public spirited citizen of his community. He and his brothers and sisters and father are all members of St. John's Luther Church, and the father and sons are usual democrats in their voting. M. G. NORTON, superintendent of the Paragon Refining Company's plant at Gibsonburg, is a veteran in the oil industry, which he has followed actively nearly twenty years. His success is due to hard work and good management, and it is noteworthy that he started life a poor boy and has either found or create his own opportunity. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2071 Mr. Norton was born at Danville, Pennsylvania, February 13, 1858, a son of Michael and Bridget (Ducey) Norton. Both parents were natives of Ireland, his father born in 1822 and his mother in 1820. In 1842 Michael Norton crossed the ocean and located at Quebec, Canada, where he Married. For a number of years he was in the railroad business and subsequently moved to Pennsylvania, where he filled various positions at Emporium. He came to the United States with very little capital, but made considerable success in life. In his later years he was engaged in the oil business with his sons Peter and M. G. Norton. He was a democrat in politics, and he and his wife were active members of the Catholic Church, in which they reared their family. Of their four children, M. G. Norton is the only one now living. The oldest was Peter J. Norton, who first followed railroading, afterwards was an oil man, and he died December 8, 1882; Ella died in 1879, and Cassie died in 1880. M. G. Norton grew up and received most of his education at Emporium, Pennsylvania. He left school when in the seventh grade and began railroading as a switchman and followed that occupation from the age of sixteen until he was twenty. In 1878 he became associated with his father and brother in the oil business, and first worked as a laborer on the Union Pipe Line. In 1892 he left the Pipe Line Company to become field superintendent of the Paragon Refining Company of Toledo. For two years he lived in Toledo, and since then has had charge of the Gibsonburg office. He is now superintendent of the works and also has a financial interest in the company. Mr. Norton was married April 26, 1892, to Jennie M. Sherry, who was born at Portville, New York. To their marriage were born nine children, and the three now living are : William L., who works for his father ; Harry M., a traveling representative of the Paragon Refining Company ; and Catherine, at home. The family are members of the Catholic Church in Gibsonburg. Mr. Norton is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and has filled all the chairs of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and is president of the branch of that order at Gibsonburg. Politically he is an independent democrat. For a number of years he has filled a position on the local school board and has done much to promote educational advancement and general community progress. J. W. BECKETT, of North Baltimore, is one of the widely known oil contractors and producers in this section of the state. He entered this business when a young man and while he has experienced the ups and downs characteristic of the industry, his operations on the whole have been profitable and have made him widely known in the different oil fields of Ohio. Mr. Beckett is also member of the firm Fulton & Beckett, garage proprietors at North Baltimore. They established their garage in 1915, and have a large well equipped building 50x140 feet, with a complete service and repair department. Since 1914 they have been agents for the Old and reliable Ford cars, and handle this car in four townships of Wood County. Through their agency about a hundred thirty Ford cars have been distributed in this territory annually. Mr. Beckett has been a resident of North Baltimore for the past twenty-one years, having carried on his productive activities as an oil man from this city. He,is both an oil well contractor and producer, and still has some productive properties in the North Lima field. Mr. Beckett was born in Wyandot County, Ohio, October 9, 1869, a son of John and Elizabeth (Moulds) Beckett. His parents were both born in Yorkshire, England, and in the paternal line his lineage goes back to the family of the noted ecclesiastic and churchman Thomas a' Becket. John Beckett and wife married in their native shire and while living there three children were born, Mary, Zilla and Ada. The little family crossed the ocean in 1869, locating in Little Sandusky, Ohio, and in 1876 removing to Harpster. The father was a mason by trade, having learned that occupation in England, and was also a local minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his wife being closely associated with him in his church work. They died at Harpster, the mother at the age of sixty-six and the father at seventy-six. Five other children were born to them in Wyandot County, including J. W. The others were : Betha, wife of T. J. Martin, of Rising Sun, Ohio; Charles W., now superintendent of the Ohio Oil Company at Wyoming, Ohio, also married ; Ernest M., who is married and is an oil man at Westfield, Illinois ; and Florence, wife of E. C. Swihart, of Wyandot County, and the mother of one daughter. J. W. Beckett grew up in Wyandot County, acquired his education in the public schools, 2072 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and at the age of twenty-five entered the business of oil contracting. In North Baltimore he married Miss Nannie M. Turnpaugh. She was born in Ohio and was reared and educated in North Baltimore. For his first wife Mr. Beckett married Miss Cora B. McLain, who was born and reared at North Baltimore and died there September 5, 1895, at the age of twenty-seven. She left two children : Clyde, a graduate of the local schools and still single ; and Gail M., who is twenty-three years of age and has likewise received a substantial education. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Beckett is past master of the local Lodge of Masons at North Baltimore and is affiliated with the Royal Arch Chapter, the Council and Commandery at Findlay, and the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 110, at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. JOHN JOSEPH ALLEN, M. D. One of the more recent additions to the medical profession of Wood County is Dr. John Joseph Allen, who located in Bowling Green after an extended experience in practice in West Virginia, and as a result of his thorough qualifications has quickly built up a fine reputation and practice. Doctor Allen is a graduate of the Baltimore Medical College, now the medical department of the University of Maryland. He finished his course and received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1901, at the age of twenty-six. He began practice at Wheeling, West Virginia, and continued his professional activities there for eight years. After some experience elsewhere Doctor Allen located at Bowling Green July 1, 1916. He has both a city and country practice, and his offices are at 115 South Main Street, where he has a complete equipment, including X-ray apparatus. Doctor Allen was born in Venango County, Pennsylvania, of an old family in that section of the state. His grandfather, Capt. Joseph A. Allen, was a noted citizen of Venango County and during the Civil war trained many recruits for the service. He was a strenuous advocate of the preparedness principle. In fact he was the best known military man in that county. For a number of years he had served as county commissioner and for fifty-six years was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He died at the ripe age of eighty-eight. He was from the organization of the party an active republican. Captain Allen was three times married. There were three children by his first wife and five by the third. Doctor Allen's father was John Allen, whose mother was Jane Coleman. He was born on farm near Wesley, Pennsylvania, in 1846, grew up there, was well educated, and after succeeding to the ownership of part of the old homestead acquired another portion by purchase and continued a career as an active, farmer and good citizen until his death in the summer of 1911. He was a man of decided; convictions and positive character, was an active republican and a life long and faithful Presbyterian. He was married in his native county to Mary M. Ford, who was born and reared there, of mingled Scotch and Dutch ancestry from Pennsylvania and Maryland. She is still living in Pennsylvania with her oldest sister, and is now sixty-two years of age and a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church. Doctor Allen had a country school education in the rugged district of Western Pennsylvania,. also attended an academy, and for a time was a teacher before he took up the study of medicine. Besides his private practice at Bowling Green Doctor Allen represents a number of insurance societies and old line life insurance companies, including the New York Life, the Continental, the Reserve Loan Life of Indianapolis. He is an active member of the County and State Medical societies, and is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at West Liberty, West Virginia, and with the Knights of Pythias at Bowling Green. On November 8, 1903, Doctor Allen married Miss Nellie Kilgore, who was born January 5, 1878, also in Venango County, Pennsylvania. She was partly reared there and partly in Bowling Green, and is a graduate of the. Bowling Green High School. Her parents, Andrew J. and Susan (Baker) Kilgore, were born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, of Scotch and German stock. Andrew Kilgore's father was Hon. John J. Kilgore, a noted character in local politics in Western Pennsylvania, and elected several terms to the State Legislature on the democratic ticket. He spent his life in Mercer County, where he died at the age of eighty-eight. Mrs. Allen's parents are still living at Bowling Green. Her father was born in August, 1840, and her mother in July, 1845. Both are active members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Kilgore has been an elder for two score years or more. Politically he is a republican. Doctor and Mrs. Allen have three children : Mary, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2073 born July 19, 1905, and now in the junior class of the local high school ; John Jackson, born November 7, 1907, in the fourth grade of the public schools; and Susan, born January 22, 1912. Doctor Allen and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he is serving as a trustee and formerly as an elder. In politics he is a republican. W. H. C. MONROE of Elida, is a veteran lumberman both as a dealer and manufacturer, and is active head of the Monroe Screen, Blind and Partition Company, manufacturing chiefly devices of his own invention. The main office of this firm is at Lima, and the factory is at Berkley, Virginia. Mr. Monroe was born September 4, 1864, in Logan County, Ohio, a son of John W. and Marian (Beeson) Monroe. His father was born in Marian County, Virginia, and the mother in Montgomery County, Ohio. John W. Monroe was brought to Shelby County, Ohio, by his parents when he was ten years of age. Grandfather Monroe was a farmer and one of the early settlers of Shelby County, where 'he lived until his death at the age of seventy-five. John W. Monroe was a very active citizen in Shelby County, served as township trustee for many years, and was a very devout and active member Of the Baptist Church. He died in 1902 and his wife passed away in 1912. Their family of four sons and three daughters are all still living. The oldest of the family, W. H. C. Monroe, grew up on a farm, attended the public schools of Shelby County and for several years was a .teacher in his home locality. His first experience in the lumber business was at Sidney, Ohio, where he continued until 1890, when he removed to Lima. The Monroe Screen, Blind and Partition Company was first established as a lumber mill at Berkley, Virginia, in 1882. In. 1895 the business was reorganized when Mr. Monroe formed a partnership with his brother, which lasted for three years, at the end of which time he bought out the interests of his brother and then continued alone for four years. Mr. Monroe has had his home in Elida since 1910, though he divides his time between the factory at Berkley, Virginia, and the offices in Lima. The Monroe Screen, Blind and Partition Company manufactures as a specialty the Monroe Wood Rolling Partitions. Mr. Monroe is the inventor and patentee of the inside sliding blind and the sliding window screen, articles which are., turned out in large quantities by the factory, and for which there is a steadily increasing demand. Mr. Monroe is a Knight Templar Mason. and was a charter member of the Babi Commandery of Ohio at the time of the National Council at Washington, D. C., in 1884. He was also a charter member of Ben Hur Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church and in politics is a democrat. For eight con secutive years he served as a member of the city council of Sidney, Ohio. He is now judge of elections of German Township and Elida Village. Mr. Monroe has been twice married. He has one daughter by his first wife and five children by his second union. REV. FRANCIS L. HULTGEN, for many years pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Tiffin, is a man of many interesting talents and attainments, and has manifested a great deal of zeal in the cause of local history. He is president of the Seneca County Board of Visitors and also chairman of the local Exemption Board of Seneca County. He is now serving as president of the Seneca County Historical and Archaeological Society at Tiffin and is the advisory and contributing editor for Seneca County to the present "History of Northwest Ohio." Two years ago he was appointed a Dean of the Diocese of Toledo and since its inception in 1911 he has served as a Consultor to his Right Reverend Bishop. Father Hultgen was born in Lorraine, France, April 3, 1864. His father, John Hultgen, who died in 1886, was a member of the bodyguard of Napoleon III. Father Hultgen studied the classics in the gymnasium at Metz and philosophy at Luxemburg. Coming to America in 1885, he entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary at Cleveland pursuing also the philosophical course there, and was ordained by Bishop Gilmour on December 19, 1889. His first pastorate was St. Mary's Church at Kirby in Wyandot County. He entered upon his duties with great energy and soon had plans perfected for a new church, the cornerstone of which was laid in June, 1890, and the church was dedicated November 17, 1891. He was pastor at Kirby for thirteen years and three months, and throughout that time he displayed many other qualities that made him conspicuous as a leader and organizer and a forceful member of the community irrespective of church affiliations. 2074 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Father Hultgen became pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Tiffin on March 17, 1903, and his labors here during fourteen years have been followed with a great revival and expansion of church growth and welfare. Father Hultgen is a thorough scholar and as a linguist he speaks and writes French and German as fluently as English. and also knows the Italian. His knowledge of music has been an invaluable aid to him in his work, and has been constantly employed in the services and ceremonies of his church. JOHN BURNS DUFF. Since learning his trade as a plumber and tinner in a shop at Brooklyn, New York, John Burns Duff has had a varied and versatile experience in many different localities, but chiefly in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. From a journeyman worker he gradually developed interests until he acquired a business of his own and is now proprietor of the J. B. Duff plumbing establishment at. 525 South Main Street in the City of Findlay. Mr. Duff, who is of Scotch-Irish stock, was born in 1856 at Penfield, Monroe County, New York, near the City of Rochester. He is a son of William and Eliza (Burns) Duff. His father was both a farmer and surveyor, and after settling in Indiana he served eight years as county surveyor of LaGrange County. The early childhood of John B. Duff was spent chiefly in Wyoming County, New York, at East Gainsville, Castile and Perry Center. He attended country schools in those localities. When he was about eight years of age the family moved out to Lima in LaGrange County, Indiana, where his education was completed in the LaGrange Normal School. When quite young Mr. Duff went to Brooklyn, New York, and served an apprenticeship in the shop of his uncle, Edward Burns, at 557 Myrtle Avenue, who conducted a stove and tin shop in that city. His apprenticeship lasted four years and at the end of that time he was well qualified for master workmanship in the trade. In 1876 he returned to Lima, Indiana, having during his residence at Brooklyn attended a night school and received a certificate of graduation in the commercial course. After going back to Indiana he worked on his father's farm a time and then re-entered LaGrange Normal School, where he remained until he was given a diploma as teacher. Mr. Duff never followed teaching, but took up active work at his trade in Sturgis, Michigan, with A. W. Wright, hardware merchants, plumbers and tinners. He remained with Mr. Wright 21/2 years and then formed a similar connection with George H. Schriver of St. Louis, Michigan. He had charge of the plumbing and heating establishment of that firm for twelve years. In 1891 Mr. Duff came to Findlay, Ohio, and after two years with Coates Brothers, plumbing and heating, he acquired a quarter interest and became associated with John Decker in the same business for one year. He then opened up a shop of his own, and that business has been continued, with various changes necessitated by the increase of his trade, until he came to his present address. Mr. Duff was married to Etta Martin, daughter of Solomon Martin of Palmyra, Ohio. They have two talented children: Howard Martin Duff and Helen Frances Duff. Howard M. Duff has developed his talents as a cartoonist and commercial artist and is now located in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Duff in politics votes the republican national ticket and for the best man in local affairs. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. CHARLES WILLIAM GREEN, of Toledo, has had an experience that well qualifies him for the responsibilities of his position as sales agent for The Long-Bell Lumber Company. He gained his first knowledge of lumbering in his native Province of Ontario, Canada. He has facts and figures and a practical acquaintance with the lumber regions both east and west, north and south, gained by years of active association with the business in all its phases. Mr. Green was born in Ontario, Canada, January 25, 1866, a son of George and Sarah Ann Green. Both parents are now deceased. They had seven children, four still living, and Mr. Green was the third in order of birth, As a boy he grew up at Brampton, Ontario, and attended the public and high schools there, and also the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph, Ontario. When the time came for him to choose an occupation of his own, he found work with an uncle, William R. Thistle, a lumber merchant and manufacturer in Canada, and spent three years with him. During that time he laid the foundation of his thorough knowledge of lumbering. His next location was at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where for three years he was in mercantile agency work in the employ of R. G. Dun & Company. Going out to the Pacific Coast, he resumed