2100 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO of both court and bar. He can well point with pride to his accomplishments in that work.   Public affairs have always received from him an active interest. He has been a dignified and influential member of the councils of the democratic party and was a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago in 1896, where he opposed bimetallism. But he never held public office, except a single term as member of the Board of Education.   More than a word is demanded in consideration of his Masonic career. Mr. Smith was initiated in the Masonic order in 1876. He at once began the study of Masonry and was soon appointed to a minor office. Since then he has never been without an official place in the order and today holds the highest Masonic office in the United States, and there is none higher in the world. There is hardly a question that he is the best posted man on Masonic law in America. When the contest was on between the Masonic bodies and the spurious branch known as Cerneauism, which had become very strong and was rapidly increasing, Mr. Smith was employed to conduct the litigation and was the constant adviser of the Grand Master and the real master spirit in the contest both in the Grand Lodge and in the courts. In both places victory was complete.   The thirty-third degree was conferred upon him in 1887. In 1894 he was an active member of the Supreme Council. In 1896 he was at the same time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge and Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Ohio. Both offices were administered with conspicuous ability and success.   In 1907 he was delegate to the Conference of the Supreme Councils of the World in Brussels, and was vice president of this conference held at Washington three years later. Later he was deputy for Ohio from January, 1906, until appointed Puissant Grand Lieutenant Commander in 1909. In September, 1910, he succeeded to the highest office, that of Most Puissant Sovereign Grand Commander, and has continued in that dignity ever since. A high Mason has described Mr. Smith as " The most eminent Masonic statesman and the greatest Masonic executive of his time." Very appropriately, a Masonic lodge in Toledo has been named the Barton Smith Lodge.   This brief article may properly conclude with reference to his family life. On Christmas Day, 1877, Mr. Smith married Miss May Searles of Illinois. Two children were born Clifford Charles and Mildred. The son graduated from the Toledo High School in 1897 and then entered the University of Michigan. June 6, 1899, near the close of his freshman year, he was accidentally drowned. Thus died at the age of twenty years a bright and promising young man. The daughter graduate, at the Smead Seminary in Toledo. She has traveled much abroad and is now the wife of Maurice Allen, one of Mr. Smith's law partners.   REV. E. GERFEN, pastor of the Lutheran Church at Gibsonburg, Ohio, has devoted his life to the Lutheran ministry and to educational affairs. He entered the ministry nearl forty years ago and his work has been in different states, though largely in Ohio.   Rev. Mr. Gerfen was born in Prussia, Germany, May 1, 1853. His great-grandfather, Louis Gerfen, was a French Huguenot who on account of religious troubles moved to Germany and reared his family there. Rev. Mr. Gerfen is a son of Christ and Caroline (Bran. denburg) Gerfen, both natives of Prussia. The parents came to the United States in 1870, locating in Illinois. They left Germany because of war conditions. Christ Gerfen was a machinist, followed his trade for a number of years in Germany, and was, connected with the construction of one of the large bridges over the Rhine River near the City of Cologne. He was quite a successful man. After coming to America he became a democrat in politics. He and his family were always loyal to the Lutheran faith. There were four childrcn: Fred, who resigned a Prussian commission, came to America in early life, enlisted and served in the Tenth Missouri Infantry during the Civil war, fighting under General Sigel, and later under General Grant. He was severely wounded at the battle of Shiloh. After the war he was elected a justice of the peace in Southern Illinois, and lived a retired life. He was a stanch republican in politics. The second child, Minnie, died in St. Louis. Louisa, a widow, is now living at Nashville, Illinois.   The fourth and youngest of the family is Rev. Mr. Gerfen. He attended the common schools and gymnasium in Germany, and after coming to America was educated in Concordia College at Springfield, Illinois, and at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. He was graduated in 1879 and soon afterwards was ordained a minister in the Lutheran Church.   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2101   His first charge was at Lebanon, Ohio, where he remained eight years, and during that time was professor of languages in the noted Holbrook Normal School. He afterwards was in charge of churches at Trenton, Ohio, Union City, Indiana, and for three years was president of a school at Bonham, Texas. From there he accepted a call at Woodville, Ohio, as president of the Normal School. In 1904 Reverend Gerfen came to Gibsonburg, and for thirteen years has been the beloved pastor of Zion Lutheran Church. His work as a minister has been administrative and constructive, and he is also well known as an author, particularly of religious works. Among his books are "Baptizein and Eucharist," now in the second edition ; translation of "Count Struense's ;" author of "Die Deutsche Schule," a grammar for the study of German; and an "Essay on Conscience." Reverend Gerfen is a republican in politics.   He was married in 1880 to Miss Minnie Hebbler, of Lebanon, Ohio. They are the parents of a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters : Victor, who for the past ten years has been secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association of Cleveland, Ohio, and has also been in charge of the educational department of the association ; Emil, a Lutheran minister, now pastor of a church near Bucyrus, Ohio ; Morris, a druggist at Sandusky, Ohio, who married Lillian Lear, daughter of the mayor of Sandusky ; Arthur, connected with the White Automobile Factory at Cleveland ; Walter, at home and attending school ; Clara, wife of •William Silscott of Prairie Depot, Ohio ; Edna, Hulda and Elizabeth, all at home. The , children were well educated in the public schools and the boys attended college.   CHARLES RIECK manages and owns the oldest and largest business as interior decorators in Hancock County. His establishment is located at 522 South Main Street in the City of Findlay. Mr. Rieck is an expert in his line and was a capable workman for many years before he settled in business for himself. He now looks after his large establishment and directs a force of men who are almost constantly busy all over Hancock County.   Mr. Rieck was born in Mecklenburg Schwerin in North Prussia, Germany, a son of Carl and Elise (Mueller) Rieck. Mr. Rieck was seventeen years of age when he set out for America alone. He attended the common   Vol. III-49   schools of Germany up to the eighth grade, but left school at the customary age of fourteen and served a three year apprenticeship with his brother to learn the decorating business.   Thus he was qualified as a master workman when he came to this country and going to Chicago he was soon put on the force of a decorating contractor, and spent nine years there, almost all the time with one concern. He was a good workman, and he also had an ambition for a business of his own and therefore thrifty of his earnings. In 1889 he came to Findlay and established a store on South Cory Street. That was his location one year following which lye had his place of business at 111 South Main Street for six years. In the meantime he bought the decorating business of John Freer at 522 South Main Street, and conducted both shops until he consolidated them in 1900. He carries a complete stock of all the materials and supplies used in interior decorating, and maintains a force of six or seven men who handle the business. His success has been accomplished by hard work, and at the same time he has made himself a factor in the progressive movements of the City of Findlay.   Mr. Rieck was married in 1899 to Miss Flora M. Watt, daughter of John and Euphemia (Hennessy) Watt of Findlay. They have three children : Edna, aged twenty-three, living at Marion, Ohio; Anna, twenty-two years of age ; and Carl, aged twenty-one, still at home.   Mr. Rieck is independent in politics. From 1912 to 1916 inclusive he served as treasurer of the Findlay Business Men's Association. He is also a stockholder in the Majestic Building Company. Fraternally he takes much interest in his lodge work with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.   JOHN W. WHITKER. Of the many thousands who act as mediums for the sale of merchandise, only a comparatively few are true and real merchants. The real merchant is not merely a profit taker. For the price he asks for his goods he renders a service based upon careful judgment, careful buying and a thorough study of conditions and qualities.   In this class belongs John W. Whitker of Bowling Green. Mr. Whitker is a furniture dealer. He possesses a remarkable knowledge of furniture from the manufacturing processes to its final uses in homes of taste and   2102 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   comfort. He has studied furniture since he was a young man. He is an expert judge of quality and that makes him a splendid medium through which the customer can secure re-. liable goods from reliable makers. Mr. Whitker has conducted his business with a thorough knowledge of costs and this knowledge has enabled him, especially in these later years of high cost of living, to give exceptional service to his patrons.   His store at Bowling Green is stocked with some of the best makes of furniture, household goods of different kinds, and carpets, rugs and other equipment. He represents the Taylor and other leading furniture manufacturers. Since he was fourteen years of age Mr. Whitker has had experience in the furniture business. He keeps in his store only merchandise that he can personally guarantee and has always made it his rule to handle goods at one price for all and to stand behind every article that goes out of his store.   He has been in business at Bowling Green, at 157-159 North Main Street, since 1904. In that time he has built up a business all over Wood County through his individual efforts and by his able business policies. He has a modern store. Some years ago he threw both stores into one and has decorated his establishment so as to furnish appropriate surroundings for the fine class of goods he carries. His main store room is now 50 by 100 feet and he also has another room 25 by 40 feet and a wareroom 20 by 30 feet.   Mr. Whitker was born at Weston in Wood County forty-seven years ago, a son of John H. and Elizabeth (Matzinger) Whitker. His father was -born in Wood County of Hanover German ancestors, the family having come to Wood County in early days and having improved a farm in Troy Township. John H. Whitker was married in Toledo and his wife was a native of Switzerland. About five years ago John H. Whitker retired to Weston and is still living at the age of seventy-four.   John W. Whitker was educated at Weston and for four years worked in a hardware store in that village. He then went to Toledo and was employed with W. L. Milners, later with Draper & Nugent, with Stewart Brothers, and with Mathew Bartlett. He then went to Columbus, Ohio. During the number of years he was employed by Mr. Mathew Bartlett, of Toledo, a well known dealer in furniture and a connoisseur on all subjects connected with the furniture trade, Mr. Whitker made use of every opportunity to gain a knowledge of the furniture business. He entered his employ twenty-two years ago and was connected with Mr. Bartlett about eight years.   Mr. Whitker was married in Toledo to Miss Clara Rudolph. She was born in that city and reared and educated there. She has been associated with Mr. Whitker not only in the task of building up a home but in the business. They have two daughters : Ruth, now twenty one, graduated from the Bowling Green High School in 1915 and is now a student in Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Lucile, aged sixteen, is now a student in the Bowling Green High School. The family are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green. Their home is in the same lot with the church edifice. Mr. Whitker is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in politics is a democrat.   HOMER O. DORSEY has served continuously as probate judge of Hancock County since February, 1909. In that time he has performed an immense volume of work that is of vital value to the community. He not only has those many cases involving wills and chancery matters which require the utmost human discernment and conscientious care in adjustment, but in his jurisdiction is also the working of the Juvenile Court. Judge Dorsey has exercised his judicial functions on numberless occasions on behalf of the hapless children of the county and is keenly interested in every phase of the corrective movement applied to juvenile delinquency.   Judge Dorsey was born on a farm in Allen Township of Hancock County, January 27, 1879. He is one of the nine children of Wallace and Lois (Nelson) Dorsey. The family is of Scotch-Irish stock, and the Dorseys include some' ancestors who were Revolutionary soldiers. Judge Dorsey 's father was a farmer and tile manufacturer.   His early education was obtained in country schools and as time and opportunity offered lie attended the Ohio Northern University at Ada, taking the teacher's course. In the meantime in summer seasons he helped his father on the farm and worked around the tile factory. At the age of nineteen he began teaching and taught four years in the country districts of Allen Township, Hancock County, one year in Portage Township, and for two years was superintendent of the schools at Arlington, Ohio. In September, 1903, Judge Dorsey removed to Findlay and began work as a pumper and in other capaci-   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2103   ties in the oil fields. In April, 1904, he was appointed deputy clerk of the Probate Court under Probate Judge Banker, and as clerk he familiarized himself with the many duties and responsibilities of the office to which he was himself elected as judge in 1908, taking office in the following February. He was elected on the democratic ticket and received 1,700 majority over Charles V. Bish, the opposition candidate. He was re-elected in 1912 over A. G. Fuller, and was chosen for his third term in 1916 against Ross J. Wetherald.   Judge Dorsey has always been a democrat. He is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and he and his family are members of Howard Methodist Episcopal Church. His career has been successful and he has found his opportunity in life without special favor and by dependence entirely upon his individual efforts and industry.   Judge Dorsey was married to Harriet E. Dunlap, daughter of George and Anna Dunlap. Their three children are : Lowell Dale, born September 30, 1900 ; Dorothy Dare, born May 20, 1903 ; and Anna Lucile, born October 13, 1905.   GEORGE D. COPELAND began the practice of law at Marion thirty-five years ago, and through his profession has gained a reputation now largely extended over the state. He was born at Marion December 14, 1860, a son of Howard and Katherine (Darlington) Copeland. His grandfather, Josiah S. Copeland, was a native of Massachusetts, went from there to Baltimore, Maryland, and was foreman in the Ellicott mills at Ellicott City, Maryland. About 1826 he went to Zanesville, Ohio, and there engaged in the jobbing business. He was an early settler in Marion County, where he conducted a farm and stone quarry. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. His death occurred in 1870. The maternal grandfather, Carey A. Darlington, was born in Adams County, Ohio, was a farmer in this state, and subsequently went to Montana, where he was identified with mining for a time but found a more profitable business in farming in that northwestern country.   Howard Copeland was born at Zanesville, Ohio, May 13, 1828, and died December 1, 1884. His wife was born at Newark, Ohio, in March, 1830, and died August 22, 1893. They were married in Marion November 11, 1852. Howard Copeland was for a number of years a dry goods merchant at Marion, and was a fairly well to do man. He was a republican and his wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Of their five children only two are now living, Arthur P., a banker at Rochester, Indiana, and George D.   George D. Copeland secured his early education in the Union schools at Marion and on June 2, 1882, graduated from the Cincinnati Law School. He has been in practice at Marion ever since his admission to the bar. He has been quite active in republican politics and was a delegate to the National Convention of 1896 which nominated William McKinley. He is vice president of the Marion County Bank, director and treasurer of the Osgood Company, director and attorney for the Home Building, Savings and Loan Company and is the owner of considerable real estate and farm property. For fifteen years Mr. Copeland was a trustee of the State Hospital at Massillon.   He is one of the most prominent Masons of Ohio, having attained the thirty-third and supreme degree in the Scottish Rite. He has filled all the chairs of the lodge, chapter and Knight Templar Commandery, and is past grand master and past most illustrious grand master of the State of Ohio. He and his family are active members of the First Presbyterian Church of Marion.   Mr. Copeland married June 5, 1889, Miss Katherine Bartram. She was born at Marion, daughter of Samuel H. Bartram, an attorney. Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have one daughter, Alice, wife of John Damon Guthery, a farmer.   GEORGE C. DEAN began his work in the world as a telegraph operator, followed that profession for a number of years, and finally located at Gibsonburg, where he has been best known as a banker. He was formerly cashier and is now a vice president of the Home Bank ing Company. Mr. Dean gives practically all his time and attention to the work of the bank, and deserves a considerable share in the credit for the making and upbuilding of this splendid institution.   The Home Banking Company has a paid in capital of $25,000, and the stockholders have joint liability as security for deposits amounting to $100,000. Thus both safety and strength are liberally safeguarded. The total resources of the Home Banking Company according to a recent statement were nearly $500,000. Over $450,000 represent the deposits. The bank pays 4 per cent on savings   2104 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   deposits. The officers are : J. A. Nieset, president ; J. F. Sherrard and George C. Dean, vice presidents; and O. H. Paul, cashier. The officers and directors are among the leading local citizens of Gibsonburg.   Mr. Dean was born at Rollersville in Madison Township of Sandusky County January 28, 1868. He is a son of John E. and Parintha (Cook) Dean. His grandfather, John Dean, was born at Assonet, Massachusetts, and late in life came to Ohio, where he lived retired until his death. He was a ship carpenter by trade and had served in the War of 1812. The Dean family had its original seat in England and from there came to Massachusetts in colonial times. Mr. Dean's maternal grandfather was George D. Cook, a farmer in Columbiana County, Ohio, who subsequently removed to Sandusky County and spent his last years in that section.   John E. Dean was born at Assonet, Massachusetts, in 1825 and died in 1907. His wife was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1830, and died in 1912. They were married at Prairie 'Depot, Ohio. John E. Dean came to Ohio in 1846 and was a merchant ,tailor and for some time was engaged in the woolen mill industry at Ballville with his brother Phillip C. Dean. He then removed to Rollersville, where he followed his trade as a tailor and also engaged in farming. For a number of years he held the office of assessor of Madison Township, and during the Civil war he had charge of the local draft for soldiers. He was a republican and a member of the Congregational Church and of the Knights of Honor. He and his wife had three children : Mrs. Ella DeCoster, of Summit, New Jersey; Mary D. Miller, of Rollersville, Ohio ; and George C:   George C. Dean spent his early life chiefly on his father's farm. He attended grammar and high school at Prairie Depot, and when a young man learned the business of telegrapher and was an operator for about sixteen years. He was assigned to different places and part of the time was in the city passenger office at Buffalo. For five years he was connected with the Standard Oil Company, being with that company at Gibsonburg. He finally resigned his position with the Standard Oil Company and entered the Home Banking Company as its cashier. A few years ago he was elected vice president and has' always handled a large share of the responsibilities of the business.   Mr. Dean was married in 1902 to Lone Ladd, daughter of Amos T. Ladd, a farmer of Madison Township, Sandusky County. They had one child, John L., now in school. Mrs. Dean died in 1914. Mr. Dean is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and the Knight Templar Commandery and Mystic Shrine. Politically he is a republican.   CHARLES H. DAUM has played the part of a worthy and useful citizen in Henry County where he was born and reared, and owns and occupies a very attractive farm in section 36, Union School District, Liberty Township. He represents an old family of this section of Northwest Ohio, and the sturdy traits of his ancestors have been transmitted through him to his own children, and the family is worthy of consideration in any publication relating to the citizens of Henry County.   His birth occurred in Pleasant Township of Henry County, July 15, 1861. His grandparents, George and Margaret Daum, were born in France, in 1798, and they were born on the same day, at the same hour and in the same town. Early in the '40s they came to the United States. They made the voyage on an old-fashioned sailing vessel, and after coming to Ohio located east of New Bavaria in Pleasant Township of Henry County. There they lived out their useful lives and died when quite old. Both were members of the Lutheran Church. Of their two children, their daughter Catherine, now deceased, married Christian Deckrosch of Defiance, and they spent their lives near Ayresville, being survived by Kate, Maggi, Louise, Elizabeth, Sadie, Charles, Christian, Peter, all of whom are living but Peter and all married.   George Daum, Jr., father of Charles II. Daum, was born in France January 12, 1834, and was a child when brought to America. He died at his home in Liberty Township, December 8, 1912, aged seventy-eight years ten months, twenty-six days. As a young man he learned the trade of tinsmith, and by working at that laid the foundation for his modest fortune, though afterwards for many years he was identified with agriculture. He was a soldier in the American Civil war. Enlisting from Henry County, October 1, 1862, he became a private in Company D of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and by meritorious service won promotion as first lieutenant and was finally brevetted captain. He was in much of the fighting in the South, was at Chickamauga and during the Atlanta campaign participated in the battles of Kenesaw Moun-   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2105   tain and Peachtree Creek, and later in the great battle of Nashville was severely wounded in the leg. He was mustered out and given an honorable discharge as one of the gallant soldiers of the Union in 1865. After this creditable military career, he played an equally distinguished part in the civic affairs of Henry County. He lived on his farm in Pleasant Township until January 1, 1872, and then moved to Napoleon. He had been elected sheriff of Henry County and for eight years filled that office, he then scrved as deputy under Daniel Spangler, his successor in the office of sheriff. For several years he devoted his time to his duties as receiver of the Vocke estate. For six years hc served as county commissioner, and was also a justice of the peace of Pleasant Township. He was a very popular and widely known democrat in his section and was a member of the Lutheran Church. George Daum married in Defiance County, Miss Lucinda Frederick, who was born in Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania parents, who early settled in the City of Defiance. Her father was a tinner by occupation. Lucinda Daum died in November, 1866, when in the prime of life. She left the following children: Adelia, wife of George Herthneck of Holgate, and the mother of one son and three daughters, all of whom are living and married ; Susan, who died in September, 1898, married Henry Van Carsen, a plumber of Toledo ; Edward who died in July, 1911, leaving a son Roscoe, who is married and living in Chicago; Charles H.; and William F., who lives on a farm in Liberty Township and by his marriage to Rosa Meek has two daughters and two sons. In the fall of 1871 at Napoleon, Ohio, George Daum, Jr., married Miss Rachel Spieth, who was born at Liverpool, Ohio, and came with her parents to Henry County. She was a good wife and mother, both to her own children and to her stepchildren, and her death occurred in Liberty Township, February 13, 1915, when sixty-six years of age. She had five children : Hattie, wife of S. A. Palmer, of Liberty Township, who has reared a number of sons and daughters; Frank A., who has been county surveyor and is now deputy surveyor and by his marriage to Miss Bessie Whiteman has one son; Beryl, wife of George Kessler of Napoleon ; and Catherine and Lela, both of whom died young.   Charles H. Daum finished his education in the Napoleon public schools. As a young man he learned the trade of butcher, subsequently gave that up in favor of farming, his father having bought a farm of 140 acres near Napoleon, Ohio. His scene of operations has been in Liberty Township and in that locality he has owned three different farms, and has left each one of them in a much higher state of improvement than it was when he took possession. His present home is in section 36, Union School District, Liberty Township and measures up to the best farm estates of the county in the way of improvements and general cultivation and management.   Charles H. Daum married a school mate, Miss Pauline Scherer, November 10, 1884, at Maumee, Ohio. Theo. W. Brake, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church officiating. Mrs. Damn was born in Napoleon, March 22, 1862, and received her education in that city, being a member of the high school. Her father, William Scherer, was a cooper by trade, was born in Baden, Germany, and her mother, Mrs. Anna .(Meyer) Scherer, was born in Switzerland and on coming to America settled at Maumee. Mrs. Scherer died November 8, 1900. Mr. Scherer came from Germany to avoid military service, and is still living at Maumee at the age of eighty-one years. He and his wife (deceased) were members of the Dutch Reformed Church and later attended the German Lutheran Church.   Mr. and Mrs. Daum have two sons, Charles Irvin, who was born September 6, 1885, graduated from Liberty Center High School in 1905, and attended Davis Business College of Toledo, and has been a successful teacher for eleven years. He married a schoolmate, Miss Iva Fay Hahn, August 3, 1910. She graduated in the same year and from the same class as her husband. They have a daughter, Doris Lucile, born August 3, 1911. Mr. Daum was principal of Liberty Center High School and later superintendent of the same schools, a position he held for two years. He was a successful teacher and also a superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School. Mr. Daum resigned as teacher in Liberty Center schools in April, 1917, to take up his new duties May 1, 1917, as mail-carrier, Rural Route 3 out of Hamler, Henry County, Ohio, where he and his family are now making their home. George William Daum, the second son, was born October 31, 1898, graduated from Liberty Center High School May 25, 1917. He is secretary   2106 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   of the Sunday school of the Reformed Church of Liberty Center, his mother is a teacher in the same school.   For the most part the family have been members of the Reformed Church. Mr. Charles H. Daum has accepted many opportunities to serve his community, was a trustee of his home township six years, has been a member of the rural school board ten years and for three years was president of Liberty Center Village Schools Board. He is a democrat, a member of the Sons of Veterans, and has been particularly active in the Knights of Pythias, having been deputy of the order at Liberty Center, having filled all the chairs in his local lodge, is a past chancellor commander and for the past twenty years has been master of finance.   On April 25, 1917, Mr. Daum was duly appointed to the office of township food and crop commissioner by Governor James Cox and Secretary of State William D. Nulton, authorizing and empowering him to execute and discharge, all and singular, the duties appertaining to said office, and to enjoy all the privilges and immunities thereof during the war.   REZIN WELLS SHAWHAN was one of the first merchants of Tiffin and in the course of a long and active business career acquired not only a fortune in that city but used his means liberally and for the welfare and upbuilding of the entire community. His is one of the names that will live longest and receive the highest tributes of memory in that community.   He was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, October 19, 1811, a son of Frederick Shawhan. His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, going into service at the age of sixteen. He spent the dreadful winter with Washington's troops at Valley Forge and also followed his great leader through the ice of the Delaware River on the Christmas Eve before the battle of Trenton. This Revolutionary soldier came to Ohio in 1833.   Rezin W. Shawhan acquired an education in Virginia. He was a man of liberal tastes and a great student and accumulated a fine library. He was the first president of the public library at Tiffin and was always interested in institutions of culture as well as business.   He chose to begin life at the bottom of the ladder. Declining his father's proffered assistance he undertook to carve his own destiny. He was the youngest of eleven children. Beginning business at Tiffin, he first had a small stock of dry goods and gradually developed a large store and then entered the warehouse and grain business. He was one of the leading grain merchants of Northwest Ohio many years, and through that accumulated a fortune, so that he was rated as practically the .owner of three-quarters of a million whsucn the possession of that amount of money meant an enormous fortune. A large part of this wealth he spent in developing railroad communications for Tiffin and in many other enterprises of local benefit. He was one of the founders of what is now the Tiffin National Bank and for more than forty years was a well known banker. He was a member of thc school board, a republican in politics and was active in the Presbyterian Church. One time he was proprietor of the original Shawhan Hotel at Tiffin. After his death Mrs. Shawhan replaced the old hotel with the present modern Shawhan Hotel, one of the finest appointed hostelries in Northwest Ohio. It is a splendid monument to both her and her husband, and a credit to the entire city.   R. W. Shawhan died June 6, 1887. He had married in 1881 Della Watson, who is still living at Tiffin. She was born in Pennsylvania, daughter of James L. and Margaret (Foster) Watson. The parents were also natives of Pennsylvania and her father in early life was a farmer and afterwards a dry goods merchant in Tiffin. He retired a number of years before his death and was living in Toledo when he died.   Eight years after the death of Mr. Shawhan Mrs. Shawhan married William Harris Laird, of Winona, Minnesota. Mr. Laird was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1833, a son of Robert Hayes and Maria (Nevius) Laird. His father was of Scotch-Irish and his mother of Holland Dutch descent. William H. Laird was educated at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1855 went West to the Territory of Minnesota. There he entered the retail lumber business, becoming a member of the firm of Laird Brothers at Winona and later of the firm of Laird-Norton Company, which firm still exists. He became one of the foremost lumbermen of the Northwest and acquired a fortune in that industry. He was recognized as one of the foremost citizens of Winona. Mr. Laird acquired a large fortune in business and besides lumbering he was a banker and had a large   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2107   number of business interests. His death occurred at Winona February 4, 1910.   Mrs. Laird continued to live in Winona for 3 ½ years after her husband's death and then returned to Tiffin. She built one of the finest homes in Northwest Ohio at Tiffin and is now spending her later days with every comfort. She has, erected a number of residences at Tiffin, is interested in the Tiffin National Bank, and busies herself with many interests in this city. Mr. Laird was a very prominent church man and for over forty years was deacon in the First Congregational Church at Winona. He also gave liberally to the extension of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was president of the board of Trustees of Carleton College at Northfield, Minnesota, twenty-one years. Mrs. Laird was the donor of the fine Science Hall (Della S. Laird) to Heidelberg College at Tiffin. For years she has taken a deep interest in the young people who are receiving their education in Heidelberg.   WILLIAM T. JONES of Marion has made a wonderful success as a real estate operator and developer. He is not a real estate broker, handling only his own property. Local citizens credit him with building more houses and selling more city property than any other dealer in the city. For the past two years he has built on the average a house every week. His business is flourishing, and his success is the more noteworthy because when he came to Marion he was practically at the bottom of the ladder so far as financial resources were concerned.   Mr. Jones was born in Delaware County, Ohio, July 11, 1871, a sort of Martin and Martha A. (Crawford) Jones. His grandfather Thomas Jones was a native of Pennsylvania and was a pioneer farmer in Delaware County, Ohio, where he spent his active years. He was of Welsh descent. The maternal grandfather William P. Crawford was also a native of Pennsylvania and an early settler in Ohio. He was a cousin of that famous Colonel Crawford who led one of the early expeditions into Northwestern Ohio and met a tragic end by being burned at the stake by the Indians. Martin and Martha Jones were both natives of Ohio. The father was born in 1846 and died in 1907. The mother was born in 1843 and is still living, making her home among her sons. Martin Jones was married in Delaware County and spent his active career as a farmer. He was a democrat in politics, was a fairly successful and well to do man, was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a member of the United Brethren Church. The three sons are William T., Charles R., on a farm in Delaware County, and Edwin L., who lives on the old homestead.   William T. Jones had a country school education in Delaware County and also took a business course in the college at Delaware. He spent the first twenty years of his life on a farm, learned telegraphy and for four years was employed as an operator by the Big Four Railway. In 1894 he entered the life insurance business in Delaware County as local agent for the John Hancock Company. After one year in Delaware County he came to Marion in 1895; and here he continued both life and fire insurance for twelve years. In 1905 he began handling real estate on a small scale, and since then his operations have been widely and rapidly extended as already noted. He still handles some insurance and still has the agency for the John Hancock Company, which he has represented for twenty-three years.   In 1904 Mr. Jones married Flora R. Rhodes, who was born in Moultrie County, Illinois. They have two children, Mildred B. born in 1900, and Paul Martin, born in 1907. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Jones is a Scottish Rite Mason. Politically he is a republican and has served as a member of the Civil Service Commission since it was organized.   MAURICE LEAHY, M. D. In point of continuous service Doctor Leahy is one of the oldest members of the medical profession in Seneca County. He began practice at Tiffin almost forty years ago. His professional success has been in proportion to the years of well qualified service he has rendered and his career has been a source of benefit to4ndividuals and the community such as could scarcely be over estimated.   Doctor Leahy is a native of Ireland, born in County Kerry, not far from the famous Lakes of Killarney, on March 14, 1855. He is a son of Thomas and Ellen (Hartnett) Leahy. His parents immigrated to America a few years after his birth and in 1861 located on a farm south of Tiffin, where they spent the rest of their days. They were the parents of eleven children, nine of whom are still living, as follows : John W., an attorney of Cleveland, Ohio ; Dr. Maurice, of this biographical sketch ; James F., a banker of Detroit, Michigan ; Mary A., of Cleveland, Ohio ; Margaret,   2108 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   of Cleveland ; Richard P., of Chicago, Illinois ; Thomas J., of Tiffin, Ohio, a dealer and shipper of horses ; Rev. Michael D., of Cleveland, pastor of St. James Parish ; Jeremiah E., M. D., of Chicago, Illinois; William and Julia, both of whom died in infancy.   On the farm near Tiffin Doctor Leahy spent a large part of his boyhood, attended the local schools, also Heidelberg University at Tiffin, Ohio, and taught school several terms. He then entered the medical department of Wooster University at Cleveland, where he was first graduated in 1878. He subsequently finished the course and received the diploma in 1883 from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City, and in 1898 he again interrupted his private practice for post-graduate courses in the Post Graduate College of New York City.   Doctor Leahy opened his office and began practice at Tiffin in July, 1878. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Ohio State Medical Society and the Seneca County Medical Society, and has contributed to their work and out of his experience has been able to furnish advice and counsel to many younger members of the profession.   Doctor Leahy married Enna McFarland, of Tiffin, a daughter of the late Dr. John A. McFarland, a well known physician of Seneca County, who practiced in Tiffin and vicinity upwards of fifty years. Three children were born to Doctor and Mrs. Leahy, and two are now living. John A. died at the age of nineteen. Maurice Leahy, Jr., is a graduate of the Northwestern University Medical School at Chicago and practiced in that city, but at present is a member of the Medical Reserve Corps, United States Army. He married Eileen Vallelly, and they have one daughter, Maureen B. Paul James, the younger son, is a graduate of the,. Medical Department of Northwestern University, and is in practice with his father. He married Olive Garrett, of Cleveland, and they have one son, Paul J., Jr. The family are all active members of St. Mary's Catholic Church at Tiffin.   EDWARD PAYSON BRECKENRIDGE. Coming to Toledo in 1878, Mr. Breckenridge has been almost continuously identified with this city as a factor of growing influence in its business and industrial prosperity.   He was born near Monroeville in Huron County, Ohio, July 23, 1841, a son of Myron and Almira (Morton) Breckenridge. Both his parents represented old colonial stock and they themselves were both natives of Vermont, the father of Charlotte and the mother at Middlebury. Myron Breckenridge and wife were pioneers of Northern Ohio, having come to this state in a covered wagon in the year 1836. They located on the farm in Huron County where Edward P. was born. Myron Breckenridge was not only a farmer but also a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, frequently filled the pulpit, and led a most exemplary daily life. He lived to be ninety-two, and his wife to ninety-five. Edward Payson Breckenridge grew up in a rural district, and such training as was not supplied by the country schools was given him during one term at Plymouth and one term in thc academy at Milan, Ohio. For a time he essayed the role of a country school teacher, following that profession four years. He then clerked in Hillsdale, Michigan, spent two years in the oil regions of Pennsylvania and in 1866 entered business for himself at Richmond, Indiana, as a hardware merchant. Later he followed the same business at Galesburg, Illinois, and from there came to Toledo in 1878. Save for a brief interval Toledo has been his home for forty years.   At Toledo Mr. Breckenridge became a can manufacturer, establishing the E. P. Breckenridge Company for that purpose. He was active in that line almost twenty-five years and built up a very large and important industry. In 1901 the E. P. Breckenridge Company was one of the many, conspicuous companies that consolidated under the incorporation of the American Can Company, which Mr. Breckenridge himself helped to organize. He then went to New York as general manager of the manufacturing department of the corporation, and at one time had 120 plants scattered all over the United States under his control.   Returning to Toledo in 1903, Mr. Breckenridge has since been busy looking after his numerous investments in manufacturing and other concerns. He is a director and was for many years president of the Toledo Machine and Tool Company ; director of the Toledo Metal Wheel Company, the Consolidated Manufacturing Company of Toledo, and is vice president of the Colburn Machine and Tool Company of Franklin, Pennsylvania.   In recent years Mr. Breckenridge has acquired some extensive interests in the Isle of Pines, where he and his wife have spent many winters. While there he has developed a   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2109   grape fruit grove and owns a beautiful home on that tropical island.   The political record of Mr. Breckenridge can be easily written. He has always been a republican, having cast his first vote for Lincoln and having supported every presidential candidate since that time. He is a member of the Toledo Country Club, and has long been prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he joined in 1861. For almost forty years he has been a member of the official board and of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church at Toledo, and has taken a deep interest in every phase of its welfare.   On September 12, 1867, in East Toledo, Mr. Breckenridge married Miss Clara Warren, daughter of George W. Warren. Both her father and one of her brothers were soldiers in the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Breckenridge have three children. Harry .W. is treasurer of the Colburn Machine and Tool Company at Franklin, Pennsylvania.; he married Nellie Mowry of Fremont, Ohio, and they are the parents of five children. One son, Donald E. B., is now with the American army in France. The second child, Edith B., is the wife of Joseph B. Fisk, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Fisk live in Havana, Cuba, where Mr. Fisk is in business. Maude, the youngest child, married Henry B. Monges, who for many years has been a professor in the University of California, their home being in Berkeley.   On September 12, 1917, the Breckenridge home at Toledo celebrated with quiet dignity the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Breckenridge. All their children and several of their grandchildren were present, and still more notable is the fact that five guests who had been at the wedding fifty years before were also on hand to congratulate the honored couple.   A. H. MILLER was for many years a rail-: road man, and finally acquired a permanent business of his own as a coal and general supply merchant at Gibsonburg, which city has been his home for over thirty-six years. He began railroading soon after he left school and followed that line of work for twenty-five years. In 1896 he entered the coal business at Gibsonburg and has developed a business with extensive facilities for the handling of coal, cement and general builders' supplies.   Mr. Miller was born in Bettsville, Seneca County, Ohio, November 1, 1856, a son of John A. and Mary (Pence) Miller. John A. Miller was born in New York State in 1822, son of John Miller, who followed farming in New York State. He came to Ohio in 1852 and for many years was in the mercantile business and also a traveling salesman. He died in 1866. He was married in Putnam Cuunty to Miss Pence, who was born in that county in 1836, daughter of Henry Pence, also a native of the same county. Mrs. John A. Miller died in 1896. She and her husband were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and in politics he was a republican. He was a man of unusual education and had taught school for a number of years. They had three children : A. H. and A. J., twins, and Siddie, wife of F. A. Abbott, of Tiffin, Ohio, a retired farmer.   Mr. A. H. Miller was married in 1887 to Edlie Fernburg. Mrs. Miller was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Edward Fern-burg, who followed the milling business and died in Ohio. Mrs. Miller died May 5, 1911, and surviving her are two daughters : Bertha F., who finished her education in DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, and Leah, who was educated in the Gibsonburg schools and with a four year course in the Woman's College at Oxford, Ohio. Mrs. Miller was an active member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Miller is a republican and is a Knight Templar Mason.   W. B. VAN NOTE, M. D. Lima is the home of one of the ablest specialists in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat in the State of Ohio. Dr. Van Note has been in practice more than twenty years and has well earned the reputation which follows him not only in his home community but wherever exceptional skill in his specialty is known and appreciated.   Dr. Van Note first became interested in diseases of the eye not so much from the pathological standpoint as through the technical or mechanical operation of adapting lenses to defective eyes. He practiced as an optician for several years, took up the study of medicine in the meantime, and finally went abroad to study under some of the most eminent of the world's surgeons in this special line.   Dr. Van Note is a native of Ohio, having been born at Lebanon in Warren County in 1867. He is of old American stock, probably of Holland Dutch ancestry. His great-grand-   2110 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   father Jacob Van Note was an American soldier in the Revolutionary struggle. He died in Monmouth County, New Jersey, as a result of wounds received while fighting for independence. The father of Dr. Van Note was W. H. Van Note. Dr. Van Note attended school in Lebanon, one year in the Lima High School, and his first business experience was as clerk in a jewelry store. With a view to qualifying himself for practice as an optician he entered the Chicago Ophthalmic College, where he was graduated in 1888. He practiced this profession for a time in connection with the jewelry business. In 1891 he began the study of medicine at Lima under Dr. Brooks, and in 1892 entered the medical department of the University of Southern California at Los Angeles. To support himself while a medical student he opened an office as optician at San Diego. In 1893 he returned to Lima and soon entered the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati, where he took the full medical course and was graduated M. D. in April, 1895.   While Dr. Van Note is a fully qualified general physician and has kept himself well informed on the general subject of medicine, he has practically from the first concentrated his time and attention upon the lines in which he is a specialist. After graduating from the Medical College in Ohio he went abroad and in May, 1895, became a student in the medical department of the Friedrich Wilhelm University at Berlin. While there he became a member of the Berlin Anglo-American Medical Society. In 1896 he transferred his residence to London, and for a time was junior assistant in the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital. It was his good fortune while abroad to be accepted as a student under the eminent Professor Hayek of Vienna. Professor Hayek has for years ranked second to none among the world's authorities on diseases of the nose and throat. In 1914 Dr. Van Note again returned to Vienna and pursued a second course for three months under Dr. Hayek. His earlier residence abroad continued for over a year. During that time he visited the clinics in nearly all the great medical centers of Europe and studied various phases of diseases in Italy, France and Switzerland.   With such unusual equipment and preliminary experience, it is not surprising, considering Dr. Van Note's talents that he has long ranked as a leader in his specialty. He has served as consulting oculist to the Lima Hospital and to the United States Pension Bureau, has been lecturer on the eye at the Lima Training School for Nurses, is consult. ing oculist to the State Blind Institution, and is councilor for ten counties in Ohio for the Ohio State Medical Society. Much of Dr. Van Note's work is familiar to physicians and surgeons throughout America. Recently he performed a charity operation which ranks as one of the greatest achievements of recent times. The case was that of a little blind girl, and as a result of the operation performed by Dr. Van Note she was given sight, though she had been blind from birth, and she now sees as well as anyone.   Dr. Van Note is a member of the Allen County and the State Medical societies, thsuc American Medical Association, is a Fellow in the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto-Laryngology. Every winter hsuc spends at Miami, Florida, and while in the South he practices for the benefit of the many patients who come to him there. Dr. Van Note is an active member of the Lima Club and he and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church, 'in which he is a vestryman. They have perhaps the most beautiful home in Lima at the corner of Ohio and Jamison streets. On April 11, 1899, he married Miss Margaret B. Ellis, who was born in Randolph, New York. Her father, Col. I. E. Ellis, was an officer in the Union Army during the Civil war and was long prominent in military affairs. Dr. Van Note was one of the local citizens who, donated Faurot Park to the City of Lima. He is a member of the Shawnee Country Club and also belongs to the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias.   J. M. BECKLEY. The best years of his lifsuc, aside from those given to his military service as a soldier of the Union, J. M. Beckley has spent as a merchant at Tiffin. He is one of that city's oldest business men and his gro-'eery store has been a center of trade and a supply point for provisions and staple necessities for upwards of half a century.   Mr. Beckley is a sturdy Wuertemberger German, born in that kingdom December 4, 1843, a son of J. M. and Barbara (Wenner) Beckley. His father was born in 1813 and died in 1884. The mother died when J. M. Beckley was an infant. The father came t Tiffin in April, 1852, and continued farming in America as he had in Germany. He bough   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2111   a farm in Hancock County, but subsequently sold and bought a place near Fostoria. He was twice married and had children by each union. J. M. Beckley is the son of his first wife and his two living sisters are Barbara Wendler, living at Tiffin, a widow, and Jennie, the widow of Leonard Kisner, of Lancaster, Ohio.   J. M. Beckley grew up on his father's farm, and on December 2, 1861, at the age of eighteen, two days before his birthday, he enlisted in Company D of the Seventy-second Ohio Infantry. His service continued three years and ten months. He was at the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, then at Memphis until October, 1862, and had many trying experiences during the Vicksburg campaign. Most of the time he was in Sherman's army in the various battles around that Mississippi stronghold, particularly at Holly Springs, Guntown, Champion Hill and other landmarks of that great and prolonged siege. He was with Sherman's army in the rear of the city when it surrendered on the 4th of July, 1863. In October, 1863, he was furloughed and returned home to Fremont, Ohio, from which city he had enlisted. After a month he rejoined the regiment at Germantown, Tennessee, and he stood guard during the coldest night of the winter of 1864. At the end of his three years' term of enlistment he re-enlisted with twenty-seven others and remained in service until discharged in October, 1865. He was twice captured but escaped before being put in a Confederate prison. He was wounded at the battle of Oxford, Mississippi.   With the close of the war Mr. Beckley took up the harness making trade, and subsequently was an employe of a hotel at Fostoria. In August, 1867, he returned to Tiffin and became a grocery clerk and subsequently utilized his small capital in a business of his own, which he has continued now for so many years and with a growing success that makes him one of the most substantial merchants of the city.   On October 2, 1870, Mr. Beckley married Mary Hoos, who was born on a farm near Fort Seneca, Ohio. The children born to their marriage are mentioned as follows : Anna, deceased ; Cora, wife of Leon Stricker, a cloth• ing merchant at Tiffin ; Jennie, wife of Earl Nayler, of Tiffin ; Lela, wife of Charles Sprattem, superintendent of the National. Machine Company of Tiffin ; Amelia, living at home ; and Carl, who is employed by his father. The family give their religious affiliation partly to the German Reformed Church and partly to the Episcopal Church. Mr. Beckley is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in politics has always been a republican. In his prosperity he has invested considerably in local real estate and now has an ample property for all his needs and at the same time has provided liberally for his family.   H. H. NEWELL. The bar of Wyandot County has one of its ablest members in H. H. Newell, who has practiced law at Upper Sandusky for a quarter of a century. Like many successful lawyers he entered his profession through the avenue of teaching, from which occupation he derived the means to continue his preparation for a permanent career.   Mr. Newell was born in Wyandot County April 18, 1867, a son of Charles W. and Millie (Van Horn) Newell. His father was a successful lawyer and at one time was prosecuting attorney of Carroll County, Ohio. He died in 1872. During the Civil war he served with an Ohio regiment in the Union army.   H. H. Newell acquired his early education in the local schools, and in 1890 graduated in the scientific course from the Ohio Northern University. For ten years he was a successful teacher in Wyandot County, and began the study of law while still in that vocation. He subsequently studied two years in the office of D. D. Clayton at Upper Sandusky, and in 1892 was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-five. He has since carried the increasing responsibilities of a large general practice. He was formerly quite active in democratic politics, but in later years has resigned political participation in order to devote his whole time to the law. He was elected and served as prosecuting attorney two terms, from 1907 to 1911.   In 1892 Mr. Newell married Miss Eva C. Forney, daughter of John and Mary (Kohr) Forney. They have one daughter, Louise, born November 26, 1894, a graduate 'of the Upper Sandusky High School with the class of 1911 and of Ohio Wesleyan University with the class of 1915. Mr. Newell is an active fraternity man and is affiliated with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Upper San-   2112 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   dusky. He attends the First Methodist Episcopal Church.   E. L. TRIFFIT. From the classical work of journalism have been recruited men prominent in all the walks and professions, and even the universities are not a better training ground for real talent than the business of reporting and handling the actual details of a newspaper, either metropolitan or small town in size and character.   One of the leading editors of Sandusky County is E. L. Triffit, editor and proprietor of the Derrick of Gibsonburg. But Mr. Triffit's big part and influence in the world has been played not only as an editor but as a lecturer and he has used his voice and pen for political uplift and the spread of civic ideas which eventually must leaven the lump of American political life.   Mr. Triffit was born in Lodi, Medina County, Ohio, June 26, 1880. He acquired a liberal education, graduating Bachelor of Arts from Wooster College in Ohio in 1904. He subsequently pursued his studies in the Western Reserve Law School, but has never practiced law, having found newspaper work more congenial.   Mr. Triffit had his first experience as a journalist with the Akron Times-Democrat and subsequently was with the Cleveland Press. For one year he was advertising manager of the Roderick Lean Agricultural Company at Mansfield and then became advertising manager of Frank B. Wilson's papers at Kenton, Ohio. In 1908 he removed to Gibsonburg, bought the Derrick and has successfully managed that influential paper, which now has a circulation. of 1,400.   Soon after he graduated from college Mr. Triffit took part in a political campaign, and that was the experience which when developedmade him a regular platform lecturer. He has been a constant student of affairs, books and men, and has brought into his lectures a great variety of his individual experience and observations and has been able to vitalize the old as well as introduce much that is new in the topics he discusses. His subjects are chiefly of civic and political problems. The lecture in which he has been chiefly heard is entitled " The Broken Sword," and is an elaboration of an idea he conceived a number of years ago as a means to the solution of the obstacles which prevent the free and perfect working of a democratic form of government. The essential purpose of his lecture is the awakening of people to a sense of their own responsibility in shaping the affairs of thsucir times, no matter how limited the scope of their individual activities. Mr. Triffit as a lecturer has been widely heard and his servicsucs have been much sought after. The principal field of his lecture work is in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. Politically Mr. Triffit is a democrat and has done much campaigning in Ohio.   Mr. Triffit is a son of James Merton and Cyrena (Lewis) Triffit. His paternal grandfather, Richard Triffit, was born in England and after coming to Ohio followed farming. The maternal grandfather, Newell Lewis, was one of the early day circuit riders of the United Brethren Church in the Ohio Western Reserve, and his father before him had also been a minister. James M. Triffit was born near Akron, Ohio, in 1849 and died March 28, 1913. His wife was born near Lodi, Ohio, in 1850 and is now living at New London, Ohio. James M. Triffit was for twenty-five years an able minister of the Congregational Church and at one time served as chaplain of the Ohio penitentiary. His death occurred at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the course of a long trip including Cuba and Panama. He was a republican in politics and was affiliated with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. E. L. Triffit has one sister, Mrs. A. White of New London, Ohio.   In 1907 E. L. Triffit married Eleanor Wright, who was born at Perth, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Triffit is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity.   BUDGE B. BOWER was a well known and successful business man of North Baltimore, and though his life was cut short before his prime he accomplished those things which it is the ambition of every worthy man to achieve. He left an honored name, and one that will long be spoken with respect in this section of Ohio.   Mr. Bower was born at North Baltimore October 9, 1876, and died at his home in that city October 26, 1914. His family were substantial people and early identified with Wood County. His parents were Samuel M. and Mary A. (Schaffer) Bower. His father was born in Ohio June 12, 1837, and died May 30, 1900. His mother was born in this statsuc' August 13, 1847, and died in 1907. They were married March 11, 1875, in West Millgrove.   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2113   Samuel M. Bower was a son of John David and Susanna Bower, both of whom were natives of Germany. The former was born January 24, 1792, and the latter November 28, 1799. After their marriage they came to America in 1828, being three months on board the sailing vessel which brought them to the New World. They soon identified themselves with pioneer localities in Northwest Ohio, and lived to develop a farm from the wilderness. John D. Bower died July 19, 1864, and his wife on October 30, 1868. Both were active members of the Lutheran Church. Seven sons and five daughters were born to them, nine in the old country, one on the boat while crossing, and two, Samuel M. and his younger brother, in this country.   Samuel M. Bower after his marriage located in North Baltimore and became a prominent and successful business man. He was chiefly employed as an attorney at law, also handled real estate, and later in life had much property of his own. He was a leader in improving land for agricultural purposes, and he converted several large tracts of waste land into productive farms. Much of this land was subsequently developed for oil purposes, and its value consequently increased. At the time of his death he owned six farms not far from North Baltimore, and throughout his life he made ample provision for his family and long stood as one of the leading citizens of North Baltimore. His wife had much to do with the Presbyterian Church, in which she was an active member. In politics he was a republican. They had just two children, Budge B. and Lulu Leota. The latter was cducated in the North Baltimore High School, took a college course at Cincinnati, and is now the wife of A. H. Emerson, of Toledo. Mr. Emerson is secretary of the Samuel Jones Company of Toledo. Their four sons are named Eric, Alan, Roger and Richard.   Budge B. Bower grew up in his native city, attended the high school, and at his father's death he took over the active management of the business and carried it on with the same degree of skill which marked his father's operations. He was in the full tide of a successful business career when he died. In politics he was an independent republican and was a popular and esteemed member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Findlay.   At Bloomdale, Ohio, in 1909, Mr. Bower married Miss Grace Hamman. Mrs. Bower, who still retains her home in North Baltimore, was born at Hammansburg in Wood County, a village named for her father. Mrs. Bower is still a young woman and has spent most of her life in Wood County. She completed her education in Toledo. Her parents were William and Mary (Henning) Hamman. Her father was born in Pennsylvania of Pennsylvania parents and was quite young when the family went to Mahoning County, Ohio, where his parents died. He grew up and married there for his first wife Rose A. Dustman. She was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1826 of German ancestry. They were married in 1846 and she died after the birth of six children. Of these children one son and one daughter are still living, are married and have families of their own.   William Hamman married for his second wife in Wood County Mary Henning. She comes of a true pioneer family of this section of Ohio. She was born in a log cabin on the pioneer homestead near North Baltimore in 1840. There she grew up with an environment of the woods and wilderness, and when much of the land was still an unreclaimed swamp. She lived a long and useful life and died July 18, 1914, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Bower, in North Baltimore, at the age of seventy-four. She had survived her husband twenty-one years, who died at the old homestead in Henry Township of Wood County, leaving his widow with five children. Of these children four daughters are still living, all of them married.   Mrs. Bower's mother was the daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth Henning. The former was born in North Germany and the latter in South Germany, and they met while on a boat crossing the ocean to America. Immediately after landing they married and then as bride and groom they journeyed into the wilderness of Wood County and in Henry Township built a log cabin and cleared up the land which for so many years was their home-'stead. Frederick Henning was also a blacksmith and he had a shop on his farm, resorted to by many of the farmers of the community for the repair of their implements. Frederick Henning and wife lived to be past eighty years of age, and were very substantial factors in their community and devout church people.   Mrs. Bower is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which her husband was also affiliated. Mrs. Bower has one daughter, Mary, born April 13, 1910, and now in the public schools at North Baltimore.   2114 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST. OHIO.   LOREN PETERS is one of the very substantial business men of Findlay, has extensive interests in farm lands and other real estate, and is junior partner with Mr. J. G. Kimmell in the City Roller Mills. The City Roller Mils is one of the leading industries of Findlay, manufactures a product which is recognized as standard in quality over a large part of Northwest Ohio, and the demand for the flours turned out by the City Roller Mills of Findlay has been all that the plant could produce.   Mr. Peters is a native of Northwest Ohio and was born in Henry Township of Wood County September 9, 1872. His parents were J. C. and Frances A. (Wilson) Peters. His father was a man who combined industry with business judgment in such a degree that he acquired an immense estate and at his death owned 1,300 acres of land. He had retired from farming and his death occurred at Findlay. As a boy Loren Peters attended country schools in Wood County. He went to school during term times and in the vacations, as his strength permitted, he found employment for his rugged health and strength at logging and ditching. At the age of seventeen he took entire charge of his father's farm and managed it until he was twenty-seven years of age. Since then he has been occupied with various business interests, and in 1911 bought the interest in the City Roller Mills formerly owned by William Gorrell.   Mr. Peters' first wife was Amanda Bartz, daughter of John and Mary (Shankle) Bartz of Wood County. They were married when Mr. Peters was twenty-one years of age, in 1893. There were two children : Loren Gree, born in 1894 and died in 1903 ; and J. Dail, born in 1896. In 1913 Mr. Peters married Emma Mullenberg, daughter of Fred and Rose (Riffer) Mullenberg of Portage, Ohio. By this marriage there is one child, Lotis Emma, born in 1914.   Mr. Peters is of German ancestry. His great-grandfather, Ephraim Peters, came from Germany and was a colonial settler of America. Mr. Peters is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, votes the democratic ticket in national affairs and gives his support to the best man in local politics.   CHARLES S. BARON is manager of the Ohio Lantern Works of Tiffin. This is one of the largest industries of the city and was founded by his father, the late Alfred Lewis Baron. Besides lanterns the company manufactures a number of tin plate and aluminum specialties.   Mr. Baron was born in Belmont County, Ohio, May 21, 1873, a son of Alfred Lewis and Agnes (Tolmie) Baron. He comes of a family of manufacturers and mechanical artisans. His grandfather, Thomas G. Baron, spent most of his life in Belmont County, Ohio, where he conducted ,a tin shop and store. His maternal grandfather, Andrew Tolmie, a native of Scotland, lived for three years in France and was married at the home of the French ambassador. From France he went to Canada, became a manufacturer, and later removed to Bellaire in Belmont County, Ohio. He also took up a claim in Kansas, but finally returned to Ohio and died in this state.   Alfred L. Baron was born at Moundsville on the Ohio River in West Virginia, then Virginia, September 10, 1842, and died March 4, 1904. His wife was born in Canada Dccember 16, -1851, and is still living. They were married at Bellaire, Ohio. Of their four children three are living. Elizabeth, the oldest, is the wife of Howard V. Nicolai, a dry goods merchant at Tiffin. The second in age is Charles S. Alice is deceased. Wilhelmina married John H. Wells, of Port Clinton, Ohio. Mr. Wells was formerly secretary of the Mathews Boat Company and left that position to accept an appointment as a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Mrs. Nicolai and Mrs. Wells are members of the Christian Science Church. Alfred L. Baron was a Presbyterian and for many years had been identified with the Masonic order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He voted the democratic ticket many years but finally became a socialist. Practically his entire career was spent in some phase of manufacturing. He was interested in several different companies, including the Baron Manufacturing Company and the Buckeye Lantern Company. He removed to Tiffin in 1889 and established the Ohio Lantern Works, which he conducted until his death. This company's exclusive output for years was lanterns, but they now manufacture a number of specialties stamped out of tinplate and aluminum. The industry is one requiring the services of about fifty people.   Charles S. Baron received his early education at Bellaire, Findlay and Tiffin, Ohio, and has always been a keen student of books and is well read in literature and as well versed in affairs. He began work with his father and in 1893 was made secretary of the com-   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2115   pany and filled that office until his father's death, since which time he has been manager. He gives all his time to the factory, though so far as possible he identified himself with every public spirited movement for the welfare of the city.   On January 15, 1913, he married Frances E. Clauss, a native of Tiffin and a daughter of Benjamin Clauss, who was a farmer. Mrs. Baron is a member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, while Mr. Baron is an Episcopalian. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in politics is inclined to the socialist arty.   GEORGE H. VAN FLEET, managing editor of the Marion Star and vice president of the Harding Publishing Company, was born at Marion, Ohio, April 20, 1864. His wife is Carrie P. Van Fleet.   A. P. JOHNSON, now living retired at Gibsonburg after a long and active career as a sawmill man and farmer, had much to do with the upbuilding and founding of that community, where he has lived since 1872. Mr. Johnson had the distinction of erecting the third house in Gibsonburg. One morning he arose at 3:30 o'clock, cut the logs, sawed them, and had the house built and he had moved into it all in the same day.   Mr. Johnson was born in Holmes County, Ohio, December 11, 1848, and his life has been one in which the value of determination and energy has counted more than any privileges and opportunities conferred from the outside. He acquired his education almost entirely from study carried on in the intervals of hard work. He is a son of Prelate and Phoebe (Cutler) Johnson. His father was born in Connecticut in 1808, was married in that state, and coming to Ohio he followed the trade of carpenter until .his death at the age of fifty-five. His- widow after his death returned east with her children and lived in the home of her father, Jonathan Cutler, in Massachusetts until her death at the age of fifty-four. Jonathan Cutler, who was born in 1786, was a silversmith by trade and followed that occupation at Brimfield, Massachusetts, until his- death at the age of eighty-five. Prelate Johnson was a member of the Baptist Church, was a Henry Clay whig, and an equally strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln. Of the family of eight children, three sons and five daughters, A. P. Johnson is the only surviving son. His only living sister is Martha, wife of J. B. Tice. They live in Michigan, where Mr. Tice is a farmer, thresherman and contractor.   When A. P. Johnson was fifteen years of age he went to Massachusetts with his widowed mother. Eighteen months later he returned to Ohio: He attended school very little, and reached the age of eighteen before he was able to read and write. His book learning was acquired by the purchase of books and other material and study in the intervals of hard work. After returning to Ohio he worked three months on a farm in Madison Township of Sandusky County, and then began his career as a sawmiller, which he followed most of his active career. He also became superintendent of the Zorn and Horning Company's heading and stave mill.   Mr. Johnson now owns twenty acres of good land within the corporate limits of Gibsonburg, and is retired except for managing this place and performing various duties for the county, such as supervising roads and bridges.   On April 17, 1870, Mr. Johnson married Miss Elizabeth Tice, who was born in Pennsylvania April 24, 1853, and died at Gibsonburg March 13, 1915. Mrs. Johnson's father, A. H. Tice, was born in Pennsylvania in 1821 and in 1844 married Catherine Noggle, who was born in 1822. They removed to Ohio in 1853, locating in Sandusky County, which was their home until 1884, when they went to Michigan. Mrs. Tice died in that state in 1888 and he then returned to Gibsonburg and died in 1890. He was survived by nine children, twenty-three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. A. H. Tice had served eighteen years as a justice of the peace and was an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.   Mr. Johnson is the father of four children. The oldest, Effie, born April 15, 1871, has one child by her first marriage to Lester J. Hobbs of Toledo, and she is now the wife of Oliver Yount of Gibsonburg. Horatio, the second child, was born June 21, 1873, and is proprietor of a restaurant and bakery in Gibsonburg. He married at Bluffton, Ohio, Nettie Howser and their three children are Willa, Ralph and Romaine. Delbert, the third child, was born October 21, 1876, and is a motorman in Toledo. He married Hattie Overmyer, a native of Sandusky County, and of the eight children born to their union the seven still living are named : Kenneth,   2116 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   Herschel, Dale, Gladys, Richard, Iva Rose and Ruby Rebecca. Verna, the youngest of Mr. Johnson's children, was born June 12, 1888, and is now the wife of Earl Reinick of Gibsonburg. They have one son, Le Roy.   In politics Mr. Johnson has always been a stanch democrat. In 1893 he was a candidate for county commissioner but in that year the entire county ticket except the coroner was defeated. In 1887 he was elected a justice of the peace and filled the office six consecutive years. In Gibsonburg he has filled all the town and township offices, including school trustee, justice of the peace, mayor and has been justice of the peace here for twenty-eight years. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and has filled the various chairs in both orders.   JOSEPH RIX TRACY, who died at Toledo in February, 1905, at the advanced age of eighty-five, was one of the later pioneers of Wood County, and his name and career are especially identified with this section of Northwest Ohio.   He was born September 21, 1820, at Smyrna, New York. His parents Thomas Rix Tracy and Lydia Bell' Tracy were married February 20, 1817. His father was born at Lenox, Massachusetts, moved from there to Central New York and in 1837 followed the rush toward Northwest Ohio, which was then just opening up and beginning development, and located in the newly established town of Bowling Green, Wood County. His death occurred there December 31, 1841. His wife, Lydia Bell Tracy, died at Bowling Green October 28, 1855.   Joseph Rix Tracy was seventeen years of age when the death of his mother left him an orphan. He had to content himself with a common school education. The schools both of New York and Ohio of that time were very primitive, and the extent of their curriculum was usually the three R's. He was one of the men who secured a real education in spite of such early limitations. He always read extensively books of history and biography and became unusually well grounded in important historic facts.   His life in a business way was devoted to farming. He acquired a competence in that occupation, and was actively identified with the county until 1881, when he retired and moved to Toledo, where he spent the last twenty-four years of his life.   From the date of his removal from Ncw York State to Bowling Green in 1837 until his retirement and removal to Toledo in 1881 he was a continuous resident of Wood County, active in political, church and all public matters, was wise in his counsel, fearless in maintaining the right, and his practical wisdom and judgment were much sought and highly prized by the pioneers of his community. He saw Wood County develop from a swamp into one of the richest counties of Northwest Ohio. He was an effectual leader in everything pertaining to its material and its ethical upbuilding. Many local offices were thrust upon him, he was a member of the school board, and a justice of the peace. Such offices do not indicate points in progress to material prosperity but were merely opportunities for unremunerated service to the public and evidences of the confidences reposed in him by his fellow citizens. In matters of politics he was a republican and was a sincere and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from early manhood until his death. All his children followed his example in that particular.   A very complete account of his ancestry is found in the Tracy genealogy compiled by Mattie Liston Griswold and published in 1900. From the data found in that work it is evidenced that the late Mr. Tracy inherited many of the splendid qualities that marked his career.   On September 23, 1843, he married Hanna Salina Burdick. Her people were pioneers of Central New York State, where many of the descendants still remain. Joseph R. Tracy and wife had five children. Philinda P., the oldest, born February 13, 1845, married Charles F. Chapman, who died in 1914. Dr. James L. Tracy, second in age, was born September 1, 1850, and is a well known practicing physician of Toledo. Marcena Rix Tracy, born October 26, 1854, is living in Toledo. Thomas H. Tracy, born July 13, 1859, is head of the law firm of Tracy, Chapman & Welles. Joseph B. Newton Tracy, the youngest child, was born. May 28, 1864, and died in infancy.   MISS MAYME KEHLER is a highly efficient business woman of Bowling Green. Through her own resourcefulness she has built up a large business in Wood County as an abstractor and in real estate and loans, and has brought to this the thorough and exact knowledge acquired bylong experience and thorough study.   Miss Kehler established her present business   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2117   in 1912. Her offices are in the Reed & Merry Block on North Main Street. The scope of her operations is confined to Wood County. For eight years prior to taking up business for herself Miss Kehler was deputy county recorder under S. W. Bowman, now mayor of Bowling Green, and also under F. P. Clark, a retired resident of North Baltimore, Ohio. While in the recorder's office she learned all phases of abstract work and was special assistant to Mr. Bowman when he compiled a thorough index and set of abstracts for the entire County of Wood. Miss Kehler took a great interest and delight in this work, and from it acquired the experience which has proved invaluable to her in her present line. She is a hard worker, and the prosperity that has attended her efforts has been well merited.   Miss Kehler is still a young woman, about thirty years of age, and was born in Toledo. She was a child when her parents, Jacob and Mary J. (Egley) Kehler, came to Bowling Green. Both her parents were bbrn in Northwest Ohio, her father about sixty years ago, her mother being several years younger. Her father is of German and Swiss parentage and her mother of German stock. Their respective families were early settlers in Northwestern Ohio.. Grandfather Kehler was an early day farmer, while Miss Kehler's maternal grandfather was a cabinet-maker and in the early days made the coffins required by the community. Both the Kehiers and Egleys were members of the Lutheran Church. Miss Kehler's father was only a child when his father died and he early became dependent upon his own efforts.   Her parents were married in Toledo and her father became a custom shoemaker and also worked in a shoe factory where machinery was employed. He subsequently conducted a shoe store and shoe making shop at Tiffin and at Elmore, and from there removed to Bowling Green, where he still conducts a shop of his own. Miss Kehler's parents still live at Bowling Green and her mother and the children are all members of the Methodist Church. Her father was one of the early members of Toledo Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to the Woodmen of the World at Bowling Green. Politically he is an independent democrat.   Miss Kehler has a brother, Henry A. Kehler, who after getting a good education entered banking and is now cashier of one of the leading banks of Los Angeles, California. He marled Maude Meyers, of Delaware, Ohio, and   Vol. III-50   has a son, Henry A., Jr. Her sister Laura is a graduate of the Bowling Green High School and of a business college in Toledo, was a clerical worker several years and is now the wife of Gerald Q. Farwell, a successful dentist practicing at Los Angeles.   Miss Kehler was graduated from the Bowling Green High School in 1902 and in 1903 finished a course in the Metropolitan Business College at Toledo. She is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.   JOHN P. LOCKE.. No name in the history of Northwest Ohio journalism stands quite so high as that of Locke. While one branch of the family produced the late David Ross Locke, whose writings under the name "Petroleum V. Nasby " were a tremendous influence in preserving the integrity of the Union during the stormy times of secession, and who was the founder and for many years publisher of the Toledo Blade, still carried on by his son, Robinson Locke, another branch of the family has for practically half a century been identified with journalism in Seneca County at Tiffin. The Daily Tribune and Herald and the Weekly Tribune of Tiffin have for many years been published by 0. T. Locke & Son. The late 0. T. Locke was a brother of David R. Locke of Toledo and his son, John P. Locke, who now has the active management and control of the newspapers at Tiffin, is a cousin of Robinson Locke of the Toledo Blade.     The late Otis T. Locke, who died at Tiffin October 1, 1916, was born in Lisle, Broome County, New York, February 27, 1842. His great-grandfather served as a colonel in the British Army in colonial times. His grandfather, John L. Locke, was a member of the historic "Boston Tea Party" of December, 1773, and was subsequently fighting in the Continental line in the struggle for independence. Nathanial Reed Locke, father of Otis T., was born in Vermont, lived in that state as a soldier in the War of 1812 and subsequently settled in Cortland County, New York. He was a tanner and shoemaker by trade and also followed farming. In 1882 he came to Ohio, where he died in Toledo. He lived to be ninety-seven. His wife's maiden name was Taft.   Otis T. Locke was reared in his native state, had a common school education, and at the age of eighteen came to Ohio and served an apprenticeship at the printer's trade in the office of the Bucyrus Journal at Bucyrus. The publisher of this paper at that time was his brother, David R. Locke. Later David R.   2118 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   Locke purchased 'the Findlay Jeffersonian and during his publication of this paper (1861 to 1863) wrote the famous Nasby letters. In 1863 Otis T. Locke formed a partnership with his brother, Charles N. Locke, and they bought the Findlay Jeffersonian at Findlay in Hancock County. This paper was published under their control until 1868, when in company with the late William G. Blymer they bought the Tiffin Tribune. With that old and influential journal Otis T. Locke was closely connected in both the business and editorial management throughout the rest of his life. He and his brother finally bought the interest of Mr. Blymer and the paper was continued under the name Locke & Brother until 1893. In that year Otis Locke and his son John bought the interest of the widow of Charles N. Locke and established the firm name of 0. T. Locke & Son, which is still continued, though the senior partner is deceased. Otis T. Locke was an active exponent of the republican party, was a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Royal Arcanum, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and for over twenty years he filled the office of postmaster at Tiffin. He was first appointed to that office under President Arthur. His last commission was issued by President Taft, and he served through almost three years of President Wilson's term.   Otis T. Locke was married at Findlay, Ohio, in 1866 to Miss Maria C. Porch, a daughter of Henry and Sallie (Clark) Porch. Henry Porch was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Findlay in 1845 and was an early cabinet maker and undertaker in that city. Mrs. Otis T. Locke, who was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in August, 1842, is still living at Tiffin. She was the mother of three sons and two daughters. Harry David and Burton Parker died in infancy. The living children are : Carrie M., still at home ; Sallie P., wife of A. J. Hazlett, an oil man living at Houston, Texas ; and John P.   John P. Locke was born at Tiffin, Ohio, August 24, 1869. He was educated in the Tiffin public schools and since the age of eighteen has been identified in some capacity with the Tiffin Tribune. He worked as clerk in the business office, as reporter and in every other capacity, and in 1893 became a partner under the name Locke & Son. He has &large printing plant, handles a large amount of commercial printing, and has built up the circulation of the Tribune and Herald and the Weekly Tribune to over 2,500. He is both editor and manager of these papers.   Mr. Locke was married December 19, 1894, to Eleta H. Kaup, who was born at Tiffin, daughter of John T. Kaup. Her father was a cabinet maker by trade and subsequently for twenty years was in the railway mail service and for five years was in the ocean mail service. Mr. and Mrs. Locke have one son, Charles Otis, who is now in Yale College. The family are members of Trinity Episcopal Church. Mr. Locke is a member of the Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Council and Knight Templar Commandery in Masonry and served as master of Tiffin Lodge in 1913. For fifteen years he has been a member of the vestry and is senior warden of Trinity Church. Politically he is a republican.   F. E. GUTHERY, one of the leading lawyers of Marion County, has been in active practice in the city of that name for over a quarter of a century:   He is a native of Marion County, born January 13, 1868, a son of John D. and Susan (Frederick) Guthery. The family have been identified with this section of Northwest Ohio for nearly ninety years. Grandfather Joseph Guthery was a native of Pennsylvania, was a pioneer settler in Pike County, Ohio, and in 1828 located in Marion County, where he bought land from the Government and spent a long and active career as a farmer. Mr. Guthery's maternal grandfather was John Frederick, a native of Virginia, and also an early settler in Marion County. He was both a farmer and miller, and owned and operated an old water power mill in this county. John D. Guthery was born in Pennsylvania in 1819, and spent his active career on a farm in Marion County. He contented himself with a common school education, but became a man of considerable success and influence. He served two terms in the State Legislature and was an active democrat, a member of the Masons and Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his wife was a very zealous member of the Baptist Church. They were married in Marion County. She was born in Virginia in 1824 and died in 1903. Of their ten children seven are living, F. E. Guthery being the youngest. The others are : Joseph D., a retired farmer at Marion ; James B., a farmer and stock dealer at Marion ; Anna, wife of C. N. Barnes, an attorney at Peoria, Illinois; William L., a retired farmer at Marion;   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2119   John H., who lives on the old homestead near LaRue in Marion County ; and Isaac S., a farmer and at present a member of the State Board of Administration.   F. E. Guthery spent his early life on his father's farm. He completed his literary education in the Ohio Northern University at Ada in 1888, and in 1891 received his law degree from the Cincinnati Law School. He was admitted to the bar the same year, and at once began practice at Marion. He was alone until July, 1900, when he became associated with D. R. Crissinger. This is one of the prominent firms of Northwest Ohio, and handles considerable corporation work. Mr. Guthery was prosecuting attorney of Marion County eight years. He has always been active in politics as a democrat, and while his chief interest has been in the law and its practice he has become identified with various business organizations, being a director of the local telephone company and owning a large amount of stock in local banks, being interested in three of the banks at Marion, one at LaRue and one at Caledonia. He is a director in three banks. He also has interests in coal mines in West Virginia.     The first case Mr. Guthery ever tried was before a justice of the peace, and was to secure a decision on the matter of quality of a consignment of cheese, as to whether it was good or bad. Mr. Guthery won this case: He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Marion Club aid is a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason, hiving passed all the chairs in the Lodge and Chapter He also belongs to the Mystic Shrine, is past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks No. 32. In 1898 he married Miss Mildred Howard. She was born in Kansas and when about seven years of age was taken by her parents to Chicago. They have three children : Howard F., who has completed the course of the local high school and has recently entered Pomona College in California; Philip E., a student in the grade schools ; and Esther.   JOSEPH FOWEL WONDER, a veteran of the Union army, has played a very active part in public affairs at Carey and in Wyandot County for a long period of years.   Mr. Wonder belongs to the pioneer element of Northwest Ohio, and his paternal ancestry goes back to the early days in the province of Pennsylvania, when that district was filled with bears, panthers, wild cats and wild boars, and most of the people supplied their meat from the venison of the wild deer and from wild poultry. It was a time when the gun was the only sure defense, and though the settlers were exposed more or less to constant danger they also had that inestimable advantage of owning an unlimited country in common and enjoying the liberty and opportunities that go with the virgin wilderness.   Mr. Wonder 's first American ancestor was Lewis Nieuton Wonder, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1706. He belonged to a noble family, and was himself a wealthy man. He came to America and died in 1746, at the age of forty.   His son, Andrew Wonder, was only five years of age when he crossed the ocean with his parents and landed at Philadelphia in 1729. He married Catarine Swartz. He was by trade a wheelwright. During the war for independence he served as a revolutionary soldier, and afterwards drew a pension from the United States government. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian. He died in 1795, the father of twelve children.   The next ancestor in line was Daniel Wonder, grandfather of Joseph F. Daniel was born on Chestnut Ridge near Little York, Pennsylvania, in 1791. Later he lived in Lost Creek Valley, Pennsylvania. He married Catarine Harpster and in 1814 moved to Wayne County,. Ohio. He died in 1887, at the advanced age of ninety-six. He was a licensed preacher of the Evangelical Association and was a pioneer circuit rider, traveling his rounds over a circuit of 100 miles in Central Ohio. He was the father of nine children.   Mathias Wonder, father of Joseph F., was born in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, in 1813. He was only an infant when his parents removed to Wayne County, Ohio, and he afterwards lived in Seneca and Wyandot counties and acquired the ownership a large amount of land. He died in 1888, at the age of seventy-four. He married Catherine Fowel arid they were the parents of eleven children.   Joseph Fowel Wonder, who represents the fifth generation of the family in America, was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1842, at Flat Rock. His birthplace was a brick house that had been built by his grandfather, Daniel Wonder. His grandfather made the brick that entered into this old homestead. When Joseph F. Wonder was a year old his parents moved from Seneca County to a farm   2120 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   of 176 acres in Wyandot County. This farm was two miles north of Carey and when the family occupied it the brush and timber had not been cleared away. Mathias Wonder did that heavy work with his own hands and in the course of time had a thoroughly cultivated homestead. The Spring Grove Cemetery now occupies part of the old farm. The first person buried in that cemetery was Joseph F. Wonder's cousin, Henry Wonder.   At the age of twenty-one Joseph F. Wonder, who had acquired his early education in the public schools of Wyandot County, enlisted in Company D of the 144th Ohio Infantry. He was in active service until mustered out in November, 1865. He participated in the battles of Gettysburg, Winchester, Wilderness and others and was once taken prisoner by the famous Mosby guerrillas. He endured the hardships and tortures of confinement in Libby Prison three months before he was exchanged.   After the war Mr. Wonder worked on the farm until 1868, when he married Miss Margaret Malinda Miller, daughter of Henry and Mary (Gracely) Miller, of Hancock County. To this marriage was born one son, Arthur Eugene, in 1869. This son was born in Richland County, graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and died in 1891, at the age of twenty-two, at the entrance upon a promising young manhood.   After his marriage Mr. Wonder became a traveling minister of the Evangelical Association and for five years preached in Richland, Seneca and Hancock counties. On giving up ministerial work he became proprietor of a sawmill at Benton Ridge in Hancock County. This he conducted as a very profitable business for six years but at the end of that time he sold out and moved to Carey, where he has had his home ever since.   Practically all his time has been taken up with some official duty or other. He was elected marshal and constable of Crawford Township of Wyandot County for six years, was elected justice of the peace in 1901, held that office continuously for four consecutive terms, fifteen years. In 1907 he was appointed city health officer and has done much to safeguard the health and improve the sanitary conditions of the community for the past ten years. In 1912 he was elected as mayor of Carey for a term of two years. He has also held the position of street commissioner. Mr. Wonder is a democrat in politics, though formerly a republican. He became a democrat under, the influence of William J. Bryan. Through all his life he has been religiously inclined, and has an unshaken confidence in the rule of an almighty Providence both in this world and in the next.   Judge Wonder's first wife died in 1890. In 1893 he married Mary Elizabeth Hibbins, daughter of James and Sarah (James) Hibbins. Mr. and Mrs. Wonder are members of the Evangelical Church and he is active in the Knights of Pythias at Carey, in which lodge he has filled all the chairs, including that of chancellor commander.   CHARLES H. BARR is one of the substantial business men of Bowling Green. His has been an active career, engaged in different lines, and he is now head of the firm of Barr & MeStay, real estate and loans. They deal in all kinds of city and farm property and have influential connections in this part of Northwest Ohio. Mr. Barr besides being personal owner of considerable city property has a fine farm of eighty acres with modern buildings and improvements, situated in section 8 of Center Township near Bowling Green.   His business associate for the past year has been Mr. James McStay. Prior to that for two years he was a partner with Mr. E. J. Snyder, now a resident of Detroit. The firm make a specialty of farm lands.   Mr. Barr came to Bowling Green from Paulding, Paulding County, Ohio, where he handled large tracts of farming land in that section for ten years. However, he is a native of Wood County and was born at Bowling Green February 22, 1868. He grew up and received his education in Bowling Green, and from there removed to Paulding, where he took a course in commercial law under J. C. Heaton. He studied this department of jurisprudence for business purposes and has never set up as a practicing lawyer. The knowledge has proved invaluable to him as a real estate dealer.   Mr. Barr comes of an old American family and through his mother is of Protestant Irish lineage. His grandfather, Robert Barr, was a Pennsylvanian, and his son Samuel, father of Charles H., was born in that state early in the last century. In 1822 the family came to what is now Bowling Green, then merely a hamlet, and grandfather Robert Barr was one of the first pioneers of the county. All this section was then a wilderness, with abundance of wild game and not a few wild Indians roaming the woods. Robert Barr and wife spent the rest of their years in this section and died when   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2121   past eighty years old. They were among the early members of the Methodist Church and did much to support the church and other philanthropies and early movements for general benefit.   Samuel Barr grew up on a farm in Wood County and married for his first wife a Miss Harris. She died in the prime of life, leaving five sons and one daughter. Those still living are Daniel, Clarence and Libby, all of whom are married and all have their homes in Ohio. Samuel Barr married for his second wife at Bowling Green Harriet Porter. She was born in Cambridge, England, in July, 1838, and is now seventy-nine years of age. When she was five years of age she came to the United States with her parents, Christopher and Rebecca (Grummage) Porter, who identified themselves with the early settlement of Wood County and in time cleared up and drained two good farms. They were industrious and worthy people, and lived here the rest of their lives. Christopher died at the age of seventy-five and his wife at seventy-seven. They were active members of the United Brethren Church. In the Porter family were three sons and two daughters, four of whom are still living. Mrs. Harriet Barr has a' sister, Mrs. Rebecca Barr, living at Toledo, and her two brothers, George and James, are prosperous farmers in Michigan.   Samuel Barr died at his old homestead farm in section 8 of Center Township in 1869. His widow survived him and is still active and belies her seventy-nine years, though recently she sustained an accident and has suffered much from a broken hip. She is a member of the Methodist Church and has always been devout in her religious attendance. Samuel Barr was a republican. They had four children : Ida, who died at the age of twenty-four; Edward, who owns and occupies a farm of forty acres in Center Township of Wood County, is married and has a daughter, Mary ; Charles H. ; and William, who is unmarried and lives at Sugar Ridge in this county.   Mr. Charles H. Barr was married in Wood County to Miss Jessie Zimmerman. She was born in Webster Township of Wood County in 1870, and was reared and educated there. She is a daughter of Daniel and Emma Jane (Fox) Zimmerman. Mrs. Zimmerman is still living at Bowling Green at the age of eighty. Her father was the first white child born in Webster Township. His birth occurred in 1837. He grew up and married there, and his wife came from New England and was a teacher in the early days before her marriage. Mrs. Barr's grandparents came him Pennsylvania and were among the first settlers in Wood County, where they spent the rest of their days. Mrs. Barr's father died about nine years ago. Her parents were active members of the United Brethren Church.   Of the family of children born to Mr. and Mrs. Barr two, Donald and Bernice, died in infancy. The seven still living are : Hazel L., who was educated in the local high school and in a business college at Toledo ; Myrtle B., who is a graduate of the High School and the State Normal at Bowling Green, is a teacher but now clerk in a local mercantile store. Winifred M., who has completed the course of the Bowling Green High School and also a musical course in the State Normal College ; Dorothy, now in the second year of the high school ; Charles Z. and John S., both in the grade schools ; and Richard, the youngest. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Barr is a republican and while living in Paulding served as a member of the City Council. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he was noble grand in the lodge at Paulding, and also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias of Bowling Green, Ohio.   REV. A. A. WEBER has been pastor of St. Wendelin's Catholic Church at Fostoria since May 4, 1894. That long pastorate has been filled with work and with a constantly growing responsibility as head of a large and flourishing parish. Father Weber has the spiritual leadership of a, parish of 2,000 souls and has developed a splendid school, with about' 325 scholars enrolled and with seven teachers.   Father Weber began his active ministry as a priest over thirty years ago. He was born in the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, March 25, 1854, a son of Aloysius and Ursula (Wetter) Weber. His parents were born in the vicinity of Freiburg. The grandfather was Joseph Weber, a tailor, who spent his life in Germany, and the maternal grandfather, Anthony Wetter, came to the United States in 1854, settling in Wisconsin, where he spent the rest of his years. He was a saddler by trade. Aloysius Weber was a man of affairs, a manufacturer and produce merchant, and acquired considerable property. He and his wife spent all their lives in Germany and were the parents of ten children. Four of these are still living, Father   2122 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   Weber being the youngest. Savilla is still living in- Germany. Mrs. Victoria Brown resides at Detroit, a widow. Louis is a merchant at Appleton, Wisconsin, but was formerly a draftsman.   Father Weber began his instruction in the parochial schools of Germany and in 1871, at the age of seventeen, came to the United States. He took his classical course in the college at Sandwich, Canada, where he graduated in 1881, and subsequently studied at Cincinnati, and took his classical course in the seminary at Cleveland. He was ordained in 1886, and his first work was at Warren, Ohio, where he remained as pastor for fifteen years. The next two years were spent in Ashtabula, and then one year with one of the churches of Cleveland, and from there he came to his present duties at Fostoria. Father Weber has gone in and out among the people of his parish and of Fostoria for fourteen years and has gained the respect and admiration of all classes by his fidelity and his devotion to the interests of the community. He is assisted at this writing (1917) by Rev. Charles Comte, who was appointed in November, 1915. Father Weber is a member of the Knights of Columbus and in politics maintains an independent attitude.   F. G. BITTIKOFER. It may be stated as a fact that the educational field in the United States is not crowded with capable instructors. In intelligent communities like Crawford County, Ohio, the value of education is accepted and fortunately, through compelling laws, in no section is illiteracy now recognized as an excuse for lack of progress. Everywhere people are interested and yearly vast sums are expended in the erection of school buildings that are more ornate and comfortable and far more sanitary than the old-time castles of kings, and boards of education vie with each other in providing essentials and non-essentials for the school training of the young of the land. However, without the careful choice of real instructors, these many efforts fall far short of possible efficiency. No easy task is that of the best-intentioned teacher, for not knowledge alone makes him capable. There are so many qualities that must be combined that perhaps, after all, it is fortunate that so many do come up to standard. No one understands and laments this deficiency more than the conscientious county superintendent of schools, especially when so able and experienced a teacher fills the office as does F. G. Bittikofer, county superintendent of schools for Crawford County, to the duties of which position he has closely devoted his time and energies since 1914.   F. G. Bittikofer is a native of Crawford County, born May 24, 1876, and is a son of Jacob and Christina (Ackerman) Bittikofer, and a grandson of John Bittikofer and Mathias Ackerman. The paternal grandfather was born in Switzerland and emigrated early to the United States and located in Crawford Cqunty in the '20s, securing Government land on which he continued to live during the rest of his life. The maternal grandfather located first in Stark County, Ohio, but later came to Crawford and he, too, waS one of the sturdy and representative early settlers. Jacob Bittikofer was born in Crawford County, Ohio, in 1845 and died on his farm in this county, in July, 1917. All his active life was spent in agricultural pursuits and he became a man of substance. In politics he was a democrat and many times was elected to local offices and served as township trustee and as school director. He belonged to the German Reformed Church. He was married in 1875 in Crawford County to Christina Ackerman, who was born here in 1848 and died in June, 1915. The mention of these names brings memories of sterling virtues, neighborly kindness and family devotion.   F. G. Bittikofer attended the local schools and afterward the Ohio Northern University, where he remained until he completed the scientific course, subsequently taking postgraduate work in the Ohio State University and a course in Heidelberg University, from which well known institution he was graduated in 1913. Before and after and at intervals, Mr. Bittikofer taught school, in fact the greater part of his life has been spent in the school room, and his choice of vocation has been fortunate. He has every reason to look back over his work as a teacher, with a large measure of contentment. He has loved his task, that of developing the inborn powers of the intellects placed in his charge, having a natural understanding sympathy that has been rewarded by the unusual progress his pupils have made and the respect and affection with which they have regarded him. His election to the superintendency of the schools of the county was a gratifying token of public approval and Crawford County is still benefiting by his thorough methods and his wise discrimination in educational affairs.   HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2123   Prior to accepting this position he served six years as superintendent of the public schools of New Washington, Crawford County.   Mr. Bittikofer was married in March, 1906, to Miss Catherine Geneva Norton, who was born at Reedsburg, Ohio, and is a daughter of Benjamin Lincoln Norton. Mr. and Mrs. Bittikofer have had four children, two of whom survive : Justine and Myron Richard.   In politics Mr. Bittikofer is a democrat and is loyal to party and friends. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church and fraternally is a Royal Arch Mason, is past chancellor in the order of Knights of Pythias, and is a member also of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He is well known in educational bodies all through this part of the state and his teaching methods have met with the approval of his co-workers in the same field. Personally he is agreeable but dignified in manner and he enjoys the respect and esteem of his teachers.   JACOB N. EASLEY. When Mr. Easley was a very young man he entered an office at Bowling Green and learned the abstracting business in all its details. He is now one of the two prominent business men comprising the firm of the Wood County Abstract and Loan Company. This is the chief business of its kind in Wood County, and besides abstracting it loans large amounts of money on real estate and also buys and sells city and farm property: The company was first organized in 1891 by C. W. Lenhart and Ira C. Taber. Mr. Benjamin F. James later became an interested party. The business was then reorganized and in time Mr. Easley succeeded Mr. James. In 1897 C. C. Griffith succeeded Mr. Taber. In 1906 another change was made when Mr. Lenhart and Mr. Easley bought the Taber interest and these two business men have since conducted the firm in all its branches.   Mr. Easley is an expert in the abstract field and looks after that branch of the business while Mr. Lenhart gives most of his attention to the Wood County Insurance Agency, which is a part of the business organization, and the two concerns share the same offices at 110 West Wooster Street. This has been the home of the firm for the past ten years, and they have a very complete office with records available for all their work.   Mr. Easley has been an active factor in this business since he was twenty-three years of age. He was born in Crawford County, Ohio, May 6, 1867. When a boy his parents removed to Wood County and he received' most of his education at Bloomdale in that county. For a short time before entering the abstract business he was a teacher. Mr. Easley is one of the leading democrats of Wood County. Since 1891 he has been a factor in the local party and served continuously as one of the executive committee until a few years ago. He has represented his party in numerous conventions, but has never sought any official position himself.   Mr. Easley is of old Swiss ancestry on both. sides. His father, Daniel N. Easley, was born in Canton Berne in 1831. When he was three years of age, in 1834, the family, consisting of his father, mother, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Easley, and nine other children came to the United States. They made the voyage on an old fashioned sailing vessel and were weeks between ports. For two years they lived in New York State and from there removed to Cranberry Township of Crawford County, Ohio. They were early settlers in that new and swampy section and Jacob Easley and wife spent their last years there, he dying in 1856 and his widow in 1868. They were active members of the Reformed Church. Other children were born to them in Crawford County and most of them grew up and married. Two are still living: Frances, wife of M. M. Springer, of Toledo, and they have a large family ; and Mrs. Anna Peters, a widow, now living with her daughter in the State of Idaho.   Daniel N. Easley grew up in Cranberry Township, of Crawford County, and there learned the trade of carpenter. From working as a journeyman he developed a business as a contractor and combined that successfully with farming. In 1874 he removed to a farm near Bloomdale in Wood County and subsequently retired to the Village of Bloomdale, where he died in August, 1893. He was married in Cranberry Township of Crawford County to Rosana Bittikofer. Mrs. Daniel Easley, who is still living, was born in Stark County, Ohio, December 4, 1846, and still enjoys the best of health. When she was a small girl her parents removed to Chatfield Township of Crawford County and she is a daughter of Jacob and Mrs. (Frank) Bittikofer both natives of Switzerland and of old Swiss ancestry. Mrs. Daniel Easley has in her possession an old Swiss Bible which was printed over 200 years ago and has been handed down through the line of Bittikofers for several generations. It is a rare old vol-   2124 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO   ume, betraying by its very form and shape its antiquity. It is some seven or eight inches thick, and the covers are boards covered with leather, all bound together with heavy clasps. Jacob Bittikofer came to the United States soon after his marriage, and his father, Jacob, Sr., also came to this country. For some years the family lived in Stark County and then moved to the newer section of Chatfield Township in Crawford County, where they improved a farm. Both Jacob Sr. and Jr. and their wives spent their days in Crawford County and all of them are buried in the same plot in Chatfield Cemetery. They were devout members of the Reformed Church, and in politics the Bittikofers supplied many voters to the democratic party. Mrs. Daniel Easley was one of ten children. The two now living are herself and her brother Christopher. Christopher resides at Tiffin, Ohio. She has her home at Bloomdale in Wood County. Soon after her marriage she and her husband joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a democrat in politics. Jacob N. Easley was one of a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters. Five of them are still living : Justin L., who is a carpenter and contractor at Bloomdale, and has six sons and one daughter ; Jacob N., the second in age ; John C., a contractor and builder at Rushsylvania in Logan County, is married and has three daughters ; Ida is the wife of Eugene C. Stay, of Tiffin, Ohio, a manufacturer of stock food, and their family consists of two sons; Edna R., who is unmarried and living with her mother for many years has been a successful educator in Wood County, having served as principal of the public schools at Bloomdale ; and Jacob N.   Jacob N. Easley was married in Bowling Green to Miss Helen I. Comstock. She was born in Plain Township of Wood County, and completed her education in the Bowling Green High School and in Oberlin College, where she pursued musical instruction. For some years before her marriage she was a talented teacher of music. Mr. and Mrs. Easley are active members of the Presbyterian Church. He is a democrat, is affiliated with Bowling Green Lodge No. 818 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a past grand of Bloomdale Lodge No. 416 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a director of the Wood County Savings Bank Company.   GEORGE S. TILLOTSON is treasurer and manager of the Sterling Grinding Wheel Company of Tiffin. He has spent the greater part of his active career in the manufacture of grinding wheels and in the past twenty years has built up the Tiffin concern to a grade of importance where it ranks among the first of similar enterprises throughout the United States and Europe.   The company has a capital stock of a $100,000, and the product is shipped all over the world. Mr. Tillotson through this industry has become a very successful business man and he is also a director in the City National Bank of Tiffin and has long been an active factor in local affairs.   He is a Massachusetts man by birth and an- cestry. He was born in that state April 5, 1863, son of George W. and Mary L. (Palmer) Tillotson. His parents were born at Otis, Massachusetts, and his father spent his life as a farmer and contractor. They were members of the Congregational Church and he is a republican in politics. Of their four children, three are now living, George S. being The oldest of the children.   He was reared on a Massachusetts farm, attended the local schools, and at the age of seventeen left school to begin work in a rake factory and sawmill. He worked in the lumber business until he was twenty-one and then associated himself with the Grant Corundum Wheel Company of Chester, Massachusetts. His work in that line has advanced from a small company until he is now practically head of a company that makes a large and complicated assortment of grinding wheels of all types. He came to Tiffin in the fall of 1897 and haS had active charge of the Sterling plant since January 1, 1898.   Mr. Tillotson first married Minnie Mixer, of Massachusetts, who died in February, 1903. The one daughter of that marriage is Vera, now the wife of Ralph Sugrue, a Tiffin attorney. After the death of his first wife Mr. Tillotson married Mabel Chandler, of Tiffin. They have two children : George C., now in the fifth grade of the public schools, and Fred W., in the third grade. Mr. Tillotson and wife are members of the Methodist Protestant Church. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since he was twenty-one years of age and is past noble grand. Politically he is a republican. Mr. Tillotson was one of the first safety directors appointed in any of the cities of Northwest Ohio and filled that office in Tiffin for a number of years. He is now president of the Board of Education of this city. He was pres-