HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2175 Bass, and they have two children, Irene and Richard. While the making of a home and the management of his business affairs have occupied his time so steadily for many years, Mr. Webster. has not neglected the community responsibilities of a good citizen. He served eight years as town trustee and is now clerk of the board of education. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. GUY C. DITTENHAVER has spent his active business career chiefly at Paulding, Ohio, where he is a real estate man and a practical farmer. Mr. Dittenhaver takes just pride in what he has accomplished in his line of business, having bought and sold as high as a million dollars in value of farms in one year. The farms now owned by him are models in improvement and efficient management. His birth occurred at Napoleon in Henry County, Ohio, March 15, 1867, a son of Jerome B. and Malinda A. (Parker) Dittenhaver, both .of whom are natives of Ohio. His father was a successful druggist in Toledo up to the date of his death in 1916: He was a model citizen and stanch democrat. Guy C. Dittenhaver, the fourth in a family of six children, spent practically the first twenty-seven years of his life at home, though in the meantime he had acquired considerable interests and responsibilities in a business and professional way. He attended the common schools, graduating from the Napoleon High School in 1886, and for four years was a teacher in the public schools of Napoleon. In 1895 he was married to Alethea II. Leach, of Toledo, the result of this union being a daughter, Frances R., and son, Harold A., both of whom, having graduated from the Paulding High School, are seeking higher education in college. Soon after his marriage Mr. Dittenhaver came to Paulding, which county had begun to forge to the front, showing promise of becoming one of the richest. agricultural districts in the Middle West. He has since been actively engaged in- the real estate business, buying and selling farm lands. At the present time his own farms, aggregating over 1,000 acres of black corn land, are recognized as some of the best developed in the state, and were bought by him a number of years ago at a price around $100 per acre, such land at present being held at $250 per acre. Mr. Dittenhaver has given much of his time and money to the welfare and improvement of his home city, and is now a member of the Carnegie Library Board. He is prominent in lodge circles, having attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry, being a member of the Toledo Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Toledo, also a member of Zenobia Shrine, Toledo. As to church, he is Presbyterian,. being a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Paulding. In politics he is an active and enthusiastic democrat, but has always declined political preferment. Much of Mr. Dittenhaver's early life was spent. in the newspaper business as stenographic reporter and correspondent on several of the leading newspapers of the state. When quite young he was editor of the Wood County Democrat, a paper published at Bowling Green, Ohio, and his feature articles for metropolitan papers were widely read. He has always been a student of our best literature. FULTON M. MERCER has spent his active career in Wood County, largely 'as an agriculturist and developer of farms, and with a handsome competency is now living retired in Bowling Green. He is owner of the old Mercer homestead which has descended in direct line without a single change in title since it was acquired from the government. He has also given lands to his children, and also has 320 acres of farming land improved and drained in Jackson Township of Wood County. Mr. Mercer and other members of the family have done as much if not more than any other group of individuals to promote modern ideas as to the management of lands, especially in the direction of thorough drainage. Much of the important drainage work undertaken in Wood County within the last fifty years has been actively promoted by members of the Mercer family. Mr. Fulton M. Mercer can speak with special authority on the advisability and profit of drainage, since much of his success is due to this class of improvements. Nine years ago Mr. Mercer built a beautiful and modern home at 432 South Main Street in Bowling Green. Practically that entire block has been built up by members of the Mercer. family and is located in one of the fine residential sections of the city. It was Mr. Mercer and his brother Jackson D. who constructed the larger Mercer Block 2176 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO on North Main Street, one of the best business structures of the city. Fulton M. Mercer was born in Liberty Township of Wood County August 1, 1859. His grandfather, William Mercer; was born in Eastern Pennsylvania May 13, 1775, and married Charity Pettit, who was born there in 1781. The Pettits were pioneers settlers in Columbiana County, Ohio. William Mercer and wife came into the wilderness of Wood County in 1834, more than eighty years ago. The land which William Mercer secured from the government in Liberty Township in that year is now part of the possessions of Fulton M. Mercer. He died there March 2, 1839, and his widow survived him until 1855. They had a large family of thirteen children, all of whom are how deceased. Charles. Mercer, father of Fulton M., was born in Columbiana County April 22, 1826, and inherited part of the old homestead and in the course of time had an extensive acreage under his management and ownership. He retired to Bowling Green in 1888 and died there about 1890. He was married in Wood County about 1855 to Jane Mominee who is still living at Bowling Green at the age of seventy-seven and represents One of the oldest families around the Great Lakes. Her people were of the Canadian French stock and were identified with. the old settlements around Detroit before that region was transferred, to American ownership. All this family history and many other details are recounted on other pages of this work. Fulton M. Mercer grew up on the old Mercer homestead in Liberty Township, received his education in the local schools and early took up farming as his regular vocation. He followed that until he removed to Bowling Green. His portion of the old homestead comprises 132 acres. It was the land which his grandfather started to improve and has never been out of the family ownership. Besides his progressive work in the matter of promoting drainage and general farm progress, Mr. Mercer was active in local school affairs, serving as clerk and treasurer in his native' township and has proved a good friend of every public spirited movement. He and his family are members of the Christian Church. He was married at the old homestead in Wood County to Miss Frances C. Frisbie. She was born at Prairie Depot in Wood County October 10, 1859, and was reared and educated there. Her father, Theodore Frisbie, gave his life as a sacrifice to the cause of the Union du ring the Civil war. He served as a soldier in the Union ranks until captured in battle, and 'during his confinement in the notorious prison stockade at Andersonville, Georgia, died of starvation. He was then in the prime of life. Mr. and Mrs. Mercer became the parents of four children. Clayton died at the age of eight and Elmer Dowling died while in the last year of his studies at Bethany College in West Virginia. A daughter and son are still living. Deborah, who was born in Liberty Township, completed the course of the Bowling Green public schools and is now the wife of Bert 'King, a farmer in Perrysburg Township of Wood County. Mr. and Mrs. King have two daughters, Mildred Lucile, aged ten, and Gertrude A., aged eight, both of them in school. Charles L., the only living son, was educated at Rudolph and Bowling Green, and now has the active management of a fine farm in section 18 of Perrysburg Township. He has shown many of the qualities that have distinguished the family and employs his brains and intelligence along with the hard work of his hands. He is married but he and his wife have no children. CAREY JAY ORWIG. A special instance of the office seeking the man rather than the man the 'office was given in the recent general election in Wyandot County when the people chose for the responsibilities of sheriff a man whose name had previously been unknown in politics and with nothing to recommend him for that office except his known capacity for work and thorough honesty and integrity. Sheriff Orwig is a farmer and has been identified with the management of the old home farm in Richland Township since he left school. He never cared to hold office and first mixed in county politics when he became a candidate for sheriff. The people of the county have come to know him, and their confidence in his ability to run the sheriff,s office as it should be run has found evidence in the fact that in the entire county he lost only two precincts and those by very few. Votes. Mr. Orwig is a democrat. He was born on his father’s farm in Richland Township of Wyandot County, February 26, 1882. He is a son of Samuel Morgan and Ella (Bartlett) Orwig. The Orwigs are of Mayflower stock and have lived close to the soil throughout their 300-year record in Amer- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2177 ica. The Bartletts were among the first settlers in Wyandot County. Mr. Orwig is of Yankee stock all along the line with only a slight admixture of German blood. His father died October 8, 1898, and his mother is still living on the home farm. C. J. Orwig attended the country schools in Richland Township and also the Wharton High School. At the age of nineteen he left school to begin work on the old farm and soon took its active management and followed the business with no interruption until he entered upon his duties as sheriff of the county on January 1, 1917. Mr. Orwig is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. In 1903 he married Miss Ferra tole, a daughter of Philip and Anna (Mohre) Cole, of Richland Township. Her parents were early farmers in that locality. RUFUS V. SEARS. A prominent member of the Bucyrus bar and a representative citizen along every line of intelligent effort is found in Rufus V. Sears, who belongs to one of the old settled families of Crawford County, Ohio. He was born on the Sears homestead, a few miles distant from Bucyrus, and is a son of Benjamin and Melissa (Minick) Sears, and on both sides can claim Revolutionary ancestors. Benjamin Sears was born at Delhi, in Delaware County, New York, October 11, 1824, came to Crawford County, Ohio, in 1836, and died at his home in Bucyrus on May 20, 1917, a worthy man whose long life had covered ninety-two years seven months and eleven days. He was the second son of Elkanah and Desiar (Phelps) Sears. He was married to Melissa Minick May 14, 1851, who died January 20, 1915, and they became the parents of nine children, the survivors being : Alice M., who resides at Bucyrus ; Mindia P., who is a resident of Santa Barbara, California ; Rufus V. ; Frank O., of Bucyrus, Ohio ; Hiram B., who resides at Bucyrus; Mrs. Bertha M. Dorrance, wife of Rev. John Dorrance, now stationed at Santa Clara, Utah; and Mrs. Ruby D. Carpenter, wife of 0. W. Carpenter, whose home is at Lakewood, Ohio. Benjamin Sears was a grandson of Benjamin Sears, who was a Baptist missionary and who died at Delaware, Ohio, in 1821, while returning to New. York from Fort Wayne, where he and his sons had established the first Baptist mission in that region; then frontier territory. Elkanah Sears came to Crawford County with his wife and four children in 1836, his son Benjamin being then a boy of twelve years. He grew to robust manhood and for years was an active farmer west of Bucyrus and was so successful in his horticultural efforts that he was considered an authority on fruit growing in this section. He acquired valuable real estate and for a number of years before his death took a great deal of interest in the trees,. shrubs and flowers which had grown from his planting around his comfortable residence in this city. In his active years he was a man of much importance at Bucyrus. He was one of the founders and original stockholders of the First National Bank of Bucyrus and survived all of that body of enterprising men. He lived to see and to rejoice in the wonderful development of this section.of Ohio from .a comparative wilderness and helped to change the virgin soil into productive farming land. He passed away honored and revered, reaching an unusual age because of wholesome living, mental activity and kindly interest in others, maintaining a benevolent attitude to humanity and always being able to recognize the good and forgive the evil. Rufus V. Sears attended the country schools in boyhood and later the Bucyrus High School, from which he was creditably graduated, after which he applied himself to the study of law and in 1886 was admitted to the Ohio bar. He opened a law office at Bucyrus and engaged in practice and continued alone until 1893, when he entered into partnership with the late Hon. S. R. Harris, his father-in-law, and for many years this firm, as partners and individually was a strong combination in the Crawford County courts. Since the death of Judge Harris, Mr. Sears has continued alone and has made an enviable reputation for himself through his able handling of a number of very important cases of litigation. Mr. Sears was married in 1888 to Miss Sallie J. Harris, who is a daughter of the late Hon. S. R. Harris, and they have three sons : Paul Bigelow, Demas Lindley and John Dudley. The three sons entered the army at the outbreak of the war with Germany. Paul B., who was a professor in Ohio State University, is a sergeant major in the new National Army ; Demas Lindley, who graduated at Ohio State University in 1916, and was admitted to the bar and began practice with one of the leading law firms of Cleveland, entered the army at the time of the threatened trouble with Mexico, and is now first lieuten- 2178 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO ant in the First United States Regular Cavalry ; and John Dudley, nineteen years of age, and a junior at Ohio State University, enlisted in Company A of the Eighth Ohio Infantry and is now a non-commissioned officer in that regiment. The two older sons are married, Paul having married Marjorie Lee McCutchen of Virginia, June 22, 1917, and Demm L. married Lura Belle Grigsby of Illinois, September 25, 1917. Mr. Sears belongs to that class of dependable and constructive citizens who do many unselfish things to advance public movements and promote substantial enterprises. He is a republican in his political affiliation and is loyal to party and friends, but has seldom consented to accept political preferment for himself, and is a man who, in times of public stress, can put aside any ambition he may have cherished to unite for the general welfare. He is identified in a business way with several of the prosperous enterprises of this city and is vice president of the First National Bank of Bucyrus, of which his late father, as . mentioned above, was one of the founders. There is no name in Crawford County that is held in higher esteem than the one he bears. M. B. REIDER. Bowling Green has a mill whose wheels have been turning and grinding out the staff of daily life for over thirty years. Throughout that time M. B. Reider has been in active control and proprietor of this establishment, known as the Union Mills. The machinery has been changed, the processes adapted to modern conditions, and the old building has been torn down and a new one erected, but always the position of the business has been in the one and the same spot. The Union Mills manufacture flour, feed and meal, and it is largely a domestic business. Their leading brands of flour are "Our Favorite" and "Vitala" and the granulated corn meal. The business was established in 1884. In 1887 the old burr mill was converted into a roller process and in 1899 an entirely new plant was erected with a capacity of fifty barrels per day. The power for running the machinery is now supplied by a gas engine. The mill is situated on a switch from the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway. In 1912 Mr. Reider installed a corn meal plant and is now in position to manufacture the highest grades of meal and flour. Mr. Reider is a thoroughly practical miller. He began his trade in 1876 as an apprentice at Boyertown, Berks County, Pennsylvania. In 1879 he came to Findlay, Ohio, and while there conducted a rented mill until his removal to Bowling Green. Thus his experience in the milling industry covers over forty years. Mr. Reider was born near Reading, Pennsylvania, December 18, 1857, grew up and received his education there in the public schools and found his opportunity for usefulness quite early in. life. His great-grandfather was born in Germany and came with a party of German colonists to the United States, first locating in New York State and subsequently in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He and his wife spent the rest of their days there and were quite old when they died. Many of the family in the earlier generations were employed in the wood-working trades as carpenters, cabinet makers, etc. Mr. Reider's grandfather, John Reider, was born in Pennsylvania, in Berks County, and married a Pennsylvania girl. He spent all his life there and was between ninety-three and ninety-four years of age when death called him. He and his family were all German Reformed Church people. They had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, all of whom grew up and married, all had families and all passed the age of seventy and most of them lived into the eighties. The only one who left Pennsylvania was a son who moved out to Kansas. Simon Reider, father of M. B. Reider, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1828. He acquired a skillful knowledge of mechanics, but subsequently became a horseman and teamster and late in life bought a farm and made a specialty of raising good grades of horses. He lived and died in Pennsylvania, his home being about eight miles east of Reading. He died there about 1902. He married Miss Rachel Bridagham, who was also born in Berks County, in 1829, of Pennsylvania parentage and German ancestry. Her father, Benjamin Bridagham, was a custom shoemaker and also conducted a small farm. Benjamin Bridagham and wife lived to be quite old. They were active and consistent members of the Reformed Church. Their children were ten or more and all of them daughters. Of these Mrs. Simon Reider survived her husband four years and passed away in 1906. Both were active in the Reformed Church. Simon Reider was a Whig, as was his father HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2179 before him, and subsequently joined the re- publican party, though his wife's people were all democrats. M. B. Reider was the fourth in a family of five sons and four daughters. Six are still living, all married, and he is the only one not in Pennsylvania. Mr. Reider was married in Hancock County, Ohio, to Catherine Sharp, who was born in that county September 21, 1860. She grew up there, attended the public schools, and was well qualified for the duties and responsibilities of a homemaker. Her parents are Rev. Lyman and Polly A. (Lines) Sharp, both natives of Ohio but of Pennsylvania ancestry. Her father became a well known minister of the United Brethren Church, filling various pastorates over Northwest Ohio, and is now a superannuated minister living at Findlay at the age of eighty-two. His widow died at Findlay when about seventy-five. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Reider, Nellie Gray, born in 1885, is a graduate of the Bowling Green public schools, took a course in the Thomas Normal Training School at Detroit, and was a successful teacher in music and drawing at Stratford, Connecticut. She is now the wife of C. R. Brown, who is cashier of a bank at Springer, New Mexico. They have children named Elizabeth, Shirley and Norman. Frank Joy, the oldest son, born in 1889, graduated from the Bowling Green High School in 1908, attended Audubon College three years and is now associated with his father in' the milling business. Roxie, born in 1891, was educated in the Bowling Green High School and is now the wife of Raymond E. Ladd, of Bowling Green, and John Kenneth, the youngest, was born in 1901. Mr. Reider is a Royal Arch Mason, and his son is a member of the Masonic order and also the Council at Fostoria. Mr. M. B. Reider also belongs to the Subordinate Lodge of Odd Fellows, and he and his family are members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Reider has served two terms on the city council of Bowling Green. HIRAM E. HALL. In some respects the county school system of Wood County enjoys a place of conspicuous leadership among all the counties of Ohio. This was the testing and proving ground for the centralization and consolidation movement of rural schools, and the plan, first successfully tried out in Liberty Township, has since spread pretty well over the county and in fact throughout the progressive sections of the entire state. The vitalization of school work in conformity with the real needs and requirements of modern life has gone forward and been developed to a surprising degree in Wood County schools. For much of this work credit is due Hiram E. Hall, who has been county superintendent since 1914, and for twenty-three years has been actively identified with the schools of the county as teacher and superintendent. At the close of the school year of 1915-16 Wood County had seventeen first-grade high schools, more than any other county in Ohio. Nine of these first grade high schools had been organized in the two years of Professor Hall's superintendency. In that same period the enrollment in the high schools increased more than forty per cent and the attendance in the rural school districts had increased twelve per cent. During that time half a million dollars had been expended on the improvement and equipment of school buildings and facilities and for the year 1915-16 Wood County, not including Bowling Green, paid for the maintenance of its rural schools and village schools a sum approximating $350,000. Perhaps the greatest improvement has been witnessed in the rural schools, where the work has been simplified by the elimination of every thing except the practical and useful and the centralization and consolidation whereby classes of two or three pupils and in many cases entire one room schools have been transferred to other districts to the centralized school building. Fully a dozen of the schools of the county are now conducted an the consolidation plan, and in several townships there is one central school, to which the pupils are transported by automobile busses, school wagons and the electric railway facilities. In industrial work, manual training and other courses the Wood County high schools offer far more than the requirements imposed by legal statute. The rural high schools offer from one to four years of agriculture, a number of them give courses in domestic art, and also manual art, and practically all the elementary schools do some kind of hand work. Perhaps nothing has done more to encourage interest in the rural schools and co-ordinate the school with the home than the so-called "home projects," which are carried on by the individual pupils outside of school but with the co-operation and supervision of the school authorities. Thus in Wood County the pupils are encouraged to register and take part in one or more of five groups of enterprises, in- 2180 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO cluding garden projects, field projects, livestock projects, poultry projects, and business projects. In each of these the pupil keeps an accurate record on standard forms, and the work is closely supervised and results subject to careful accounting. It requires a great deal of enthusiasm and ability for administrative detail as well as technical experience in pedagogic affairs to manage and vitalize such a county school system as this. The qualifications are exemplified in a high degree by Superintendent Hiram E. Hall. Mr. Hall is a native of Liberty Township, Wood County, and is still a young man for all his active experience. He began teaching when only eighteen. His early education was acquired in rural schools and also in the village schools at Weston and the Normal School at Middlepoint, Ohio. His first term as a teacher was in District No. 8 of Milton Township, and after three years in the rural schools he became principal of . the Rudolph School in Wood County, where he remained two years ; was superintendent of schools at Jerry City four years ; then had charge of the school at Cygnet ; was superintendent one year of the Liberty Township school ; for four years was superintendent at Prairie Depot; for two years was superintendent at Genoa in Ottawa County ; and then returned to the Liberty Township schools. He became superintendent of the centralized school of Liberty Township in 1913 and resigned from that position to enter upon his duties as county superintendent, to which lie had been chosen in 1914. In the meantime he has widened and broadened his capabilities by extensive associations with school. men and schools and study in higher institutions. For several years he attended the Normal School at Lebanon, spent one summer in the Ohio Northern University at Ada, for two summers was in Wooster College, and was also a teacher there, and is now carrying on studies toward his Master's degree in Columbia University at New York City. Mr. Hall early 'became a convert to the necessity of centralization and consolidation of rural schools, and he has done much to advance that worthy cause. He was largely instrumental in securing the consolidation of the Liberty Township schools, and that experiment was so successful that it had an inspiring effect throughout Northwestern Ohio. Mr. Hall comes of an old New York State family. On both sides his great-grandfathers were soldiers in the revolutionary war. His father, Lewis, and five brothers, served as soldiers in the Civil war, all of them enlisting from New York State and all surviving the ordeal of battle and returning home. Lewis Hall was the youngest of the family. Lewis. Hall subsequently came to Wood County, Ohio, and at Tontogany married Miss Lemay Taylor. She was a native of New York State, of Connecticut parentage, and her two brothers, who were old enough, both served with a New York Regiment in the Civil war. One was killed in the battle of Gettysburg while a commissioned officer, while the other died of the measles while still in the army. Lewis Hall and wife after their marriage at Tontogany located on a farm in Liberty Township and subsequently removed to Milton Township and for years they were successfully engaged in farming. In 1910 they retired to Weston, where Mrs. Lewis. Hall died June 25, 1916, when three days past her sixty-fourth birthday. Mr. Lewis Hall celebrated his seventieth birthday on December 25th, Christmas Day, 1917. Quite recently he sustained a severe accident in an automobile collision. He and his wife were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Professor Hall was married in Wood County to Miss Jennie Kirk, who was born in Utica, Pennsylvania, in 1878. She was educated partly in Pennsylvania and partly in the high school at Bradner, Ohio, and was a teacher before her marriage. They are the parents of one son, G. Stanley, who was born November 18, 1902, and is now a freshman in the high school at Bowling Green. Their only daughter, Frances Willard, was born March 3, 1904, and died July 23, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are members of the Methodist Church. He is interested in Masonry, belongs to the Lodge and Chapter and has finished the work of the Council at Fostoria. CHARLES SOUTH. The recent retirement of Charles South from active life was justified by the accomplishment of success in its broadest sense, by many years of devotion to the science of farming, by faithfulness to public and private duties and conscientious regard for the perpetuation of his name and labor in the bringing up of his children. Mr. South occupies a modern cottage at No. 721 North. Main Street, Bowling Green, furnished in accordance with refined taste and practical ideas of comfort. His life has been a steadfast and busy one, and the end of his HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2181 working days finds him prosperous financially and rich in the esteem of a large circle of friends. Mr. South was born on a farm in Webster Township, Wood County, Ohio, June 30, 1867, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Wiseman) South, natives of Cambridgeshire, England, where both Were born about the year 1828. The parents were of old English stock and married in their native land, and when their only living daughter, Mary, was seven years old, in 1.863, came to the United States, making the journey in a sailing vessel which consumed seven weeks in the journey from Liverpool to New York City. From the latter metropolis they made their way to Cleveland, Ohio, where they resided for two years, and then came on to Webster Township, Wood County, and purchased twenty-five acres for a home in section 36, and forty acres in another section of the same township. . This they improved and here continued to live for many years, Mr. South passing away on his farm in September, 1879, aged fifty-one years, while Mrs. South died in 1897, aged seventy-one years, at the home of her son George South at Bowling Green. Mr. and Mrs. South were members of the United Brethren Church of Webster Township, and honorable, upright Christian people, who lived their faith, were faithful friends, and kind and generous neighbors. Their children were : Mary, who married Samuel Muir and has five children, Robert, Linda, Emory, Minnie and Ollie ; Charles ; and George, the proprietor of a grocery at Bowling Green, married Ortha Loomis and has three children, Robert, Ellen and Lenora. Charles South received his education in the district schools of Webster Township, and was but twelve years of age when he began to devote his entire time to the business of farming. He was well reared in agricultural pursuits and was compelled to assume a man's duties long before he had passed out of boyhood, the death of his father putting many responsibilities on his young shoulders. Perhaps this helped to make him self reliant and resourceful, at any rate his farming operations were most successful and he continued to be engaged therein until the fall of 1915, when he retired from active pursuits and moved to his present home At Bowling Green. Mr. South is still the owner of 160 acres of land in section 35, Webster Township, all improved and growing full crops. On this land are two sets of buildings, including resi- Vol. III-54 dences and barns of modern character and substantial construction, and these buildings were all erected by Mr. South with the exception of a barn, the older one, which is 40 by 66 feet, the newer one being 36 by 84 feet. So much does Mr. South think of this property that he has refused as high as $250 per acre for it, although twelve years ago he purchased it at $80 per acre. Since that time, however, he has made many improvements and has so treated the land that it is some of the most fertile to be found in Wood County. He has grown of corn 100 bushels to the acre in a fifty-one acre field, of oats seventy-five bushels to the acre and of wheat from thirty to forty bushels per acre, with other crops in proportion, in addition to which he cuts from forty acres fifty-five tons of meadow grass. During his active Career Mr. South was a practical farmer who recognized the value of modern methods in his work, and who in addition to general farming also engaged extensively in stock raising, having only high-grade animals in use for his farm work. Since his retirement his younger son has been superintending the operations of his land. Mr. South was married in Webster Township to a neighboring farmer's daughter, Miss Ella M. Muir, who was born in this township, June 6, 1871, and there reared to womanhood and educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Samuel Muir, who was born in Scotland, August 15, 1822, and was nine years old when brought to the United States by his parents, John and Mary (Curtiss) Muir. From New York, where the family arrived after a sailing• vessel trip across the Atlantic in 1831, they came to Wood County and settled near Maumee, residing in the neighborhood of the river for a few years. They then moved to Webster Township, at a time when the whole country was covered with timber and the Indians were numerous, while the wild game was to be found in abundance. Mr. Muir, the grandfather of Mrs. South, was a mighty hunter of his day, not using a gun, but faring forth with his ax and dog, with which he succeeded in killing much big game, including bears and wild cats. His trips to Perrysburg, the nearest trading point, were made on horseback over the blazed roads, and often the water would reach to his saddle girths, and his trips to the mill at Fremont required three or four days in the making, the occasions being the securing of a grist of grinding for himself and neighbors. John 2182 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Muir and his wife, being thrifty, industrious people, accumulated twelve eighty-acre tracts of land and saw the greater part of it cleared during their lifetime. They both reached advanced ages and were known as among the oldest pioneers here at the time of their demise. Strict members of the Presbyterian Church, they interpreted its teachings in a way that left no doubt as to their convictions, and so set were they against Sunday work that the potatoes for the Sunday dinner had to be peeled and the wood for the fire split and piled on a Saturday of each week. Of the eleven children of John and Mary Muir, four sons and seven daughters, Samuel was one of the elder. He grew up amid the wilderness, followed farming industriously all his life and was the last of the children to die, his demise occurring at Dunbridge, June 22, 1911. Had he lived until the following August 15th he would have been eighty-nine years of age. In Webster Township he was married to Malinda Loomis, who was born on the farm and died twenty years before her husband, when sixty years of age. They were devout Presbyterians, and Mr. Muir, like the Souths, was a strong republican and for many years treasurer of his 'township. Like the other family, also, he had strong prohibition principles. and never lost an opportunity to speak in favor of temperance. Mr. and Mrs. South are the parents of two children : Floid H. was born January 28, 1890, educated at Webster and in the Dunbridge High School, was a, teacher for a time, and is now a resident of Bowling Green, married May Williamson, of Webster Township, and has two children, Doris, born November 20, 1912, and Richard, born July 2, 1916. Orwin S., born August 21, 1891, was educated at Webster and in the Dunbridge High School, and is now the operator of his father's farm. He married Maud Miller, born in Webster Township, and has one son, Dale, born January 6, 1915. Mr. South and his wife and family are members of the United Brethren Church. He is a stalwart republican in his political allegiance and has held a number of local offices within the gift of his fellow citizens, who have recognized and appreciated his many sterling traits of character, his good judgment and business ability and his unswerving integrity. L. L. LAMBORN. .The business side of journalism has been the field in which Mr. Lamborn has developed his talents to the highest degree of success and for several years he has been business manager of the Marion Tribune, a daily paper with a circulation now of 5,000 copies and one of the most influential papers outside the largest cities in Northwest Ohio. His genius as a circulation builder has been well exemplified in connection with this paper. When he took charge less than 2,000 copies circulated through Marion County, and the circulation figures have had to be revised every few months upward to correspond to the growth and prosperity of the journal. He has also developed a large job printing business. Mr. Lamborn was born at Alliance, Ohio, March 25, 1867, a son of L. L. and Maria (Grant) Lamborn. His grandfather, Townsend Lamborn, was a native of Pennsylvania, was an orthodox Quaker, and spent most of his life in his native state as a farmer. His maternal grandfather, Stacey Grant, was a native of New Jersey and was an early settler near Alliance, Ohio. He was an uncle of Ulysses S. Grant. L. L. Lamborn, Sr., who was born at Westchester, Pennsylvania, in 1827, came with his parents to Ohio when about fifteen years of age. He lived at. Salem, Ohio, during his early youth. He was a young man of great natural ability and of very determined ambition. Without means or influence, he resolved to become a physician, and he rode and walked fifty-seven miles to attend medical college in Cleveland. He graduated from the Western Reserve Medical College and afterwards from the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia. For many years he practiced successfully in Alliance, but became widely known for his ability in other lines. At one time he owned a homestead which cornered on the land* which General Grant once farmed. A portion of this farm is still owned by his son Leroy. Doctor Lamborn had the distinction of importing the first carnations from Europe, and developed that flower and was the only person who ever wrote a book on the subject. This book, under the title "American Carnation Culture," has been published by his son, L. L. Lamborn, and there is still a large demand. Doctor Lamborn was a democrat in politics, had great ability as an orator, and at one time was candidate for Congress against William McKinley, being defeated by less than 200 votes in a district normally republican by over 3,000. It is said that William McKinley acquired the carnation habit through Doctor Lamborn's culture of that flower. At one time he served as clerk of the HISTORY OF. NORTHWEST OHIO - 2183 House of Representatives at Columbus. He was a Quaker, while his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Doctor Lamborn was married at Alliance, where his wife was born. He died in 1910 and of the seven children four are still living : Lassetta, who lives at Cleveland, widow of Alexander Fletcher ; Leroy, who is proprietor of a greenhouse at Alliance ; L. L. Lamborn ; and Lebert Lloyd, a successful attorney at Brooklyn, New York. L. L. Lamborn grew up and received his education in Alliance, attending both the public schools and Mount Union College. Even while in school he became interested in the printing business and he acquired his first newspaper experience at Alliance and for fifteen years was business manager of the Leader in that city. Then for 21/2 years he was connected' with the Canton Morning News, and on selling his interest in that paper he spent two years looking for another favorable location. During that time he lived in Cleveland and was sales manager of the Arnstine Brothers wholesale jewelry house. On May 1, 1912, Mr. Lamborn came to Marion and took the business management of the Daily Tribune. The editor of this paper is Brooks Fletcher, who, however, is away from the city much of the time on the Chautauqua platform. He fills about 250 dates each year and in his ability to draw crowds he stands next to William J. Bryan. Mr: Lamborn married in 1891 Miss Mabel Tetters, daughter of Jesse Tetters. They have two children,. Mabel and Leroy. Mrs. Lamborn, who was a member of the Christian Church, died in 1909. In 1910 he married. Ida Martin, daughter of Euphratus Martin of Canton. Mr. and Mrs. Lamborn are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Mason and Knight of Pythias and in politics a democrat. While living at Alliance Mr. Lamborn served as safety director for the city three years, and has always been interested in political affairs. J. LEE EWING. From the time that he completed his studies and started out to make his way in the world, J. Lee Ewing has been connected with the Citizens' Banking Company of Weston. Starting in as a sort of general office boy, through fidelity to the institution, energy in the discharge of the duties of his positions and the display of accumulating knowledge and ability he has risen steadily in the confidence of those with whom he has been employed and since 1909 has occupied the post of cashier of this institution, one of the substantial banking houses of Wood County. J. Lee Ewing was born in 1875, in Hancock County, Ohio, and is of Ohio parentage but Pennsylvania ancestry. He is a son of Lewis C. and Cinderella (Lee) Ewing, the former born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1849 or 1850, and the latter born in 1850 as a member of an old pioneer family of Hancock County. They were reared in the same locality in the latter county, where they were 'married, and after some years came to Weston, where Mrs. Ewing died about twenty years ago, when still in middle life. Mr. Ewing, who still survives at the age of sixty-eight years, retains all his faculties and is in good health, a well-preserved man who has led an industrious life and is now in the enjoyment of a competency won during many years of strenuous labor. He is a resident of Weston, where he is a member of the Methodist Church, and has always voted with the republican party. There were three sons and one daughter in the family : J. Lee, of this notice ; Richard, connected with the military service at San Francisco, California; Travis T., who is married and resides in Weston ; and Clemmie, who died in infancy. J. Lee Ewing came to Weston with his parents in 1881, received a public school education in Weston, and was but fifteen years of age when he accepted the position of general office boy with the Citizens' Banking Company. His duties were numerous and of a varied character, but the youth showed himself willing and ambitious to learn, and after the passage of several years he began to start his upward climb, subsequently being advanced to bookkeeper, then to assistant cashier and finally to the position of cashier in 1909, succeeding Mr. J. A. Holmes. The' Citizens' Banking Company enjoys an excellent reputation throughout Wood County, where it is adjudged a reliable and conservative institution, backed by men of prominence and much financial capability. This bank was established in 1890, its first officers being : Henry C. Uhlman, president ; John Henry, vice president ; and J. A. Holmes, cashier. After Mr. Uhlman had served as president for ten years he was succeeded by John R. Jones, who died a few years later, the next chief officer being the present one, William C. Singer, the well-known hardware merchant. Robert D. Hen- 2184 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO derson, now a retired business man of Weston, is vice president; Mr. Ewing retains the position of cashier ; and H. E. Jones is assistant cashier, while the board of .directors is composed of the following : W. C. Singer, D. E. Lashley, J. L. Ewing, R. D. Henderson and Hiram Sattely, the latter retired and a resident of Toledo. The institution transacts a general banking business, with a savings department in connection, and during the past year the deposits have increased over $60,000. A statement of the condition of the bank at the close of business, June 20, 1917, shows the following figures : Resources.: Real Estate Mortgages, $117,606.50 ; Loans and Discounts, $119,020.67 ; United States and Municipal Bonds, $44,078.11; Banking House and Lot, $8,000.00 ; Furniture and Fixtures, $1,500.00 ; Cash and Due from Banks, $118,987.04; Total, $409,192.32. Liabilities : Capital Stock, $30,000 ; Surplus Fund, $10,000 ; Undivided Profits, $9,240.39 ; Deposits, $359,951.93. Total, $409,192.32. Since the foregoing statement was rendered the surplus .and undivided profits have grown greatly, and at this writing (August, 1917) the figure is $24,500. Much of the success of this institution may be accredited to the ability and personality of the cashier, who through his long connection with the bank is one of the best known men in monetary circles of Wood County. Under all circumstances he measures up to the highest standards of citizenship and commands the respect and enjoys the confidence of the business community. His time has always been largely taken up with important business affairs, but not to such an extent that he has been neglectful of the claims of charity or the responsibilities of citizenship. He has been town treasurer for ten years, an office to which he was elected on the ticket of the democratic party, to which he has belonged since attaining his majority, and at the present time is a member of the county executive committee: Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and Mrs. Ewing are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Ewing married at Weston, September 4, 1901, Miss Harriet Heidlberg, who was born and reared at Weston, where she was graduated from the high school. She is a daughter of John and Caroline (Mann) Heidlberg, who were married at Weston and spent their lives here, being buried in the local cemetery, and who had three children: Mrs. Ewing ; Charles, who is married and lives at Oxford, Michigan; and John, who is married and resides at Toledo, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing have two children, Wayne H. and Eileen C. ALBERT E. ROYCE. The late Albert E. Royce, of Bowling Green, was a productive worker in the best sense of the term. He had a practical genius in business affairs. His life was one long continued effort in the handling of important interests as a banker, grain merchant and other affairs, and it also expressed a constantly loyal and helpful participation in those things that concern the community. At the time of his death he was president, an office he had held for a number of years, of the Commercial Bank of Bowling Green. That institution was founded in 1885 as a private banking house under the name Royce, Coon & Smith. His associates in the banking business were Mr. Julius J. Coon and Wallace A. Smith. In 1890 the private bank was organized as the Commercial Bank, with a capital of $100,000. It still stands in the front rank of banking institutions in Wood County: Mr. Royce died November 1, 1914. Besides his position as a banker he was president of the Royce & Coon Grain Company, of which he was the founder, was vice president of the First National Bank of Weston, and treasurer of the Monarch Underwear Company of Bowling Green. For a number of years he had been president of the Wood County Fair Company, which he helped to found. With all his business interests he Was not lacking in public spirit and in those social qualities which brought him into present relations with his fellow men. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Royal Arcanum and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Bowling Green, and at his death his Masonic brethren had charge of the ceremonies. He was a Presbyterian, voted for many years the republican ticket, and was honored with various local offices in the city. Albert. E. Royce was born on a farm in Huron County July 25, 1844, and was past the age of seventy when he died. He always lived in Ohio, and was of New England ancestry and of combined English and Scotch stock. As a boy he acquired industrious and self reliant habits, and at the age of seventeen was working in a humble capacity in a HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2185 chair factory at Toledo. He mastered the business and when he resigned he was holding the position of manager at a salary of $110 a month. Then for a time he was in .business for himself in a small way at Toledo, and on coming to Bowling Green he invested his modest capital in a grocery store. His close attention to business, his sterling honesty and integrity, soon brought him extended business, which grew from month to month and year to year. He began handling grain as a local buyer, shipping from cars on local sidings. Gradually he developed that as an important enterprise, and with his associates began the building of elevators and at one time the company had a dozen elevators in different parts of Ohio. He was recognized as the pioneer grain merchant of Wood County. He built the first elevator at Bowling Green and then joined Mr. Coon in a partnership which was continued until 1885. In that year was organized the Royce-Coon Grain Company. Mr. Royce was married in Toledo, October 31, 1867, to Elizabeth Curson. At her death in 1877 she left One child, Maude, who was born November 29, 1871, was educated in Bowling Green and Oxford College, and is now the wife of Frederick. E. Whitker. Mr. Royce married in-1888, at Toledo, Miss Hattie M. Cargo. There were born two children by this union, Ethel and Bass, the last named.being deceased. Mrs. Royce was born. in Eaton County, Michigan, March 4, 1859, and when four years of age was brought to Bowling Green by her parents, Hugh and Charity (Depew) Cargo. Her father was born in Medina County, Ohio, in 1832, and her mother in Cayuga County, New York, in 1835. They met and married in Michigan in 1853 and in 1863 located on a farm in Wood County, Ohio. From the farm they removed to Bowling Green in 1869, where Mr. Cargo conducted the American. House for a number of years, when failing health compelled him to give up that location. He then lived retired until his death in 1883. His widow, Mrs. Cargo, is still living at 112 South Church Street in Bowling Green. At the age of eighty-two she preserves her health and vigor to a remarkable degree. She is a Presbyterian, as was her husband, who was a democrat and took much interest in local politics. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Royce had a brother, David J. Cargo, who died January 14, 1915, and for a number of years had been a passenger conductor on the Toledo and Ohio Central Railway, with headquarters and home in Toledo. He married Harriet Gibbs, who survives him, and has a son, Hugh G., who is in the aviation section of the United States Army. Another son, Fred Cargo, died of illness in a naval hospital in Brooklyn, New York, during the Spanish-American war. Mrs. Royce has one daughter, Ethel M., who was born at Bowling Green. She was educated in the high school, in the college at Granville, and is now the wife of Irvin A. Gorrill. Mr. Gorrill is a native of Ohio, grew up in Wood County, and acquired a liberal education, attending the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University at Columbus. He was graduated and admitted to the bar in June, 1914, and practiced law at Bowling Green with the firm of Fries & Hatfield. He is now serving in the Officers Corps of the United States Army. Mrs. Royce is an active Presbyterian, as was Mr. Royce, and her daughter is also. a member of the same church. CHARLES L. SHIPMAN. Of the business men who have helped to sustain the commercial integrity of Weston, Wood County, for many years, mention is due Charles L. Shipman, long connected with one of the leading meat establishments of the county and its sole proprietor since 1914. This business reflects the zeal of a man who has assisted in building it up from a small beginning to a prosperous condition and the prestige of a necessary commercial adjunct. To the management of his large. and important interests Mr. Shipman has brought not only enthusiasm, energy and sound business judgment, but an Appreciation of high business ethics and a policy of straightforwardness that has given him a solid reputation and won him many 'friends. Mr. Shipman was born at Weston, October 20, 1866, and has lived here all his life. His father, Joseph W. Shipman, was born at Bloomington, Hamilton County, Ohio, June 17, 1832, and was there reared to agricultural pursuits, early displaying the industry and perseverance that marked his operations throughout life. When still a young man he removed to Mercer County, where he engaged 'in farming, and while there was married to Margaret Stretchbery, who came of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock and belonged to the old and respected family which formerly spelled its name Stratsbery, and in Mercer five children were born to them: Herman, 2186 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Lewis N. B., Mary, William F. and Frances M. In 1864 they came to Weston, then a small village, and here were born : Sarah L., in that year; Charles L., in 1866; Stella C., in 1868 ; and Margaret, in October, 1872. Of those still living, Charles L., Lewis N. B. and Mary are all married, and Stella C. has been a teacher for thirty years, principally in the schools of Toledo, where she now resides. After coming to Weston Joseph W. Shipman learned the butchering business and started the business now conducted by his son. He built up a good trade through good business methods and honorable policy, and continued as the active head of the enterprise until 1900, when he retired and turned the establishment over to the management of his sons Charles L. and W. F., who had been associated with him for several years. He continued to live in retirement until his death, which occurred at Weston, October 13, 1907. Charles L. Shipman received his education in the public schools of Weston and as a young man learned the trade of butcher in the store of his father. In 1900 he and his brother took over the business, as before noted, and for fourteen years remained in partnership, building up a trade that extended to far-distant points and a reputation second to none in the county. In the meantime Lewis N. B. Shipman had extended to other lines of endeavor, and in 1914 he retired from this industry, and is now one of the wealthy citizens of Perrysburg, where he is vice president of the Perrysburg Bank, the owner of five farms and a possessor of various other important interests. Charles L. Shipman has also had outside holdings, but in the main has devoted his energies and abilities to the building up of a meat business, which is not only important as a wholesale house, but also has a large retail trade. Few of the business houses of this flourishing community contribute in greater degree to the prestige of Weston as a live commercial center, and it is to Mr. Shipman's credit that he has always so directed his operations as to bring credit upon the place of his birth. Mr. Shipman married in Perrysburg Township, Wood County, Miss Mary Alice Gunder, who was born at Perrysburg, in 1871, and there reared and educated. She is a daughter of John Gunder, and a member of one of the pioneer families of this locality, which was founded in 1810, and the members of which have since been identified with prominent agricultural, business and civic interests. John Gunder married a Miss Bowman, a member of one of the older families of the county, and he became one of the prominent and wealthy men of his locality, a skilled agriculturist and public-spirited citizen and a leader in many progressive movements. He fought as a soldier during the Civil war, from which he returned with an officer's rank. He died October 13, 1911, on the day he was seventy-nine years old. Mrs. Gunder, who still survives him and has reached advanced years, is descended on her mother's side from the Ewing family, one of the first to locate in Wood. County. To Mr. and Mrs. Shipman there have been born two children : Paul R., born June 26, 1895, who is a graduate of Weston High School, class of 1913, studied at Wooster, and is now a student at the Ohio State University, as a member of the class of 1920, and who assists his father in the conduct of, his business during vacations; and Margaret Maria, born March 21, 1900, a graduate of Weston High School, class of 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Shipman and their children are members of the Presbyterian Church. He has been active in civic affairs, always as a citizen and for two terms as a councilman, and while serving in that capacity was influential in securing a number of improvements for the city, including the grading and paving of the streets. He has always supported the principles of the republican party. In fraternal affairs Mr. Shipman affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, belonging to the lodges at Weston, where he has numerous friends. Mr. Shipman is progressive, as has been noted, and recently has been successful in building up a large business in ice, supplying many of the principal families of the city and conducting a modern ice plant in connection with his meat business. LOUIS EDWARD SHEETS, proprietor of the Sheets Roller Mills at Upper Sandusky, is a small miller of exceptionally long and varied experience. He has been identified with the business in Ohio for upwards of forty years in the aggregate. Mr. Sheets was born on a farm in Augusta County, Virginia, near Staunton, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Wheelbarger) Sheets. His father spent all his life as a farmer and was of German ancestry, as was his wife. L. E., Sheets acquired his early schooling in Augusta County, attending only in the winter terms. During the summer he helped HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2187 on the farm and at the age of sixteen he began a three years' apprenticeship to learn the flour milling business in Augusta County. Mr. Sheets came to Ohio, in 1876, and during the following winter was head miller of a mill north of Columbus. In 1877 he married Mary Drumheller, daughter of Van and Frances (Damrow) Drumheller,. of Franklin County, Ohio. Her father was also a farmer. After his marriage Mr. Sheets removed to Union County, and for a couple of years conducted a mill near Watkins. His next work was in Indiana, where he operated a mill a short time, and on returning to Ohio leased a flour mill near Belle Point in Delaware County for three years. His next work was in charge of a mill in Delaware County, near the Girls Industrial Home, for two years. At West Liberty, Ohio, on the Makacheet Creek, he ran the mill for Piatt Brothers, for several years was in charge of Aaron Aton's mill three miles west of Urbana, and then for a year had Woodard & Michael's mill at Urbana. For six years Mr. Sheets operated the flour mill of the Connersville Milling Company at Connersville, Indiana. Returning to Ohio, he was at Carey in charge of Straw & Hen-. derson's flour mill thirteen years. Throughout this time he was general manager and head miller of these different institutions. For a short time he traveled on the road selling the products of the Richmond City Mill of Richmond, Indiana. His next employment was with the National Milling Company of Toledo as head miller and in 1902 he came to Upper Sandusky and for nine years operated Kerr Brothers mills at Seventh & Crawford streets. On the death of Robert Kerr he bought a half interest with David Nitrauer, and the business was continued as Nitrauer & Sheets Flour Mill for six months. Mr. Sheets then sold his interest to his partner and became miller for Worley Brothers at Bainbridge, Ohio, for a year and a half. In 1913 he returned to Upper Sandusky and bought the D. Walbron Flour Mill at Wyandot and Fourth streets and has since conducted it under the name Sheets Flour Mill. He operates a general milling business, grinds flour and feed, and purchases the raw material chiefly from local farmers. He has a large trade over Wyandot County, the favorite brand of flour being the Melrose brand. It is a fifty barrel mill and the power for its operation is supplied by a fifty horse power gas engine. Mr. Sheets is a republican in politics and a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Upper Sandusky. He and his wife have three children : James Samuel, born in 1878, married in 1904 Florence Ward. Martha Edna, born in 1880, was married in April, 1917, to H. V. Riley, of Lima, Ohio. Paul Hamilton, born in 1889, married in August, 1916, Myrtle Slicer, of Lima. FRANK D. GLOSSER has been a resident of Marion since 1904 and is one of the prominent men in the industrial life of that city. He is secretary and treasurer of the United Electric Supply Company, a business with a capital of $20,000 and operating a large retail business at Marion. He is also a member of the Berry-Glosser Company, manufacturing sheet metal cutout boxes. This plant sends its output all over the United States. Mr. Glosser was born in Belleville, Ohio, February 28, 1880, a son of Henry and Juliet (Dillon) Glosser. Henry Glosser, who was born in Maryland in 1822, lost his father when he was a small boy and was bound out as apprentice to a tailor. He subsequently took up the business of photographer and he gave to that art the best years of his life. For twenty years he was in business in New York City on Lower Broadway, and in ,1873 moved to Richland County, Ohio. He died in 1907. In early life he was a member of the Universalist Church, but later joined his wife in worship in the Presbyterian denomination. He was affiliated with St. John's Lodge, No. 1, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at New York City, and attained the Knight Templar degree. Politically he was a republican. He married at Brooklyn, New York, Miss Juliet Dillon, who was born there in 1843. She died in 1900. Her father, John Dillon, was a native of New Hampshire, but spent his active career at New York City. He was a skillful maker of chronometers and senior member of the firm of Dillon & Tuttle. Henry Glosser and wife had four children : H. T., a farmer at Sparta, Illinois; Clara, wife of W. M. Taylor, a painting contractor at Marion, Ohio ; E. E., who is construction foreman for the Columbus, Delaware & Marion Electric Company ; and Frank D. Frank D. Glosser graduated from the high school at Harrisburg, Illinois, in 1897. For a time he did farm work, and then became fireman with an electric light plant He was there a year, and then went to Evansville, Indiana, and for three years was repair man with the Evansville Gas & Light Company. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2187 on the farm and at the age of sixteen he began a three years' apprenticeship to learn the flour milling business in Augusta County. Mr. Sheets came to Ohio, in 1876, and during the following winter was head miller of a mill north of Columbus. In 1877 he married Mary Drumheller, daughter of Van and Frances (Damrow) Drumheller, of Franklin County, Ohio. Her father was also a farmer. After his marriage Mr. Sheets removed to Union County, and for a couple of years conducted a mill near Watkins. His next work was in Indiana, where he operated a mill a short time, and on returning to Ohio leased a flour mill near Belle Point in Delaware County for three years. His next work was in charge of a mill in Delaware County, near the Girls Industrial Home, for two years. At West Liberty, Ohio, on the Makacheet Creek, he ran the mill for Piatt Brothers, for several years was in charge of Aaron Aton's mill three miles west of Urbana, and then for a year had Woodard & Michael's mill at Urbana. For six years Mr. Sheets operated the flour mill of the Connersville Milling Company at Connersville, Indiana. Returning to Ohio, he was at Carey in charge of Straw & Henderson's flour mill thirteen years. Throughout this time he was general manager and head miller of these different institutions. For a short time he traveled on the road selling the products of the Richmond City Mill of Richmond, Indiana. His next employment was with the National Milling Company of Toledo as head miller and in 1902 he came to. Upper Sandusky and for nine years operated Kerr Brothers mills at Seventh & Crawford streets. On the death of Robert Kerr he bought a half interest with David Nitrauer, and the business was continued as Nitrauer & Sheets Flour Mill for six months. Mr. Sheets then sold his interest to his partner and became miller for Worley Brothers at Bainbridge, Ohio, for a year and a half. In 1913 he returned to Upper Sandusky and bought the D. Walbron Flour Mill at Wyandot and Fourth streets and has since conducted it under the name Sheets Flour Mill. He operates a general milling business, grinds flour and feed, and purchases the raw material chiefly from local farmers. He has a large trade over Wyandot County, the favorite brand of flour being the Melrose brand. It is a fifty barrel mill and the power for its operation is supplied by a fifty horse power gas engine. Mr. Sheets is a republican in politics and a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Upper Sandusky. He and his wife have three children : James Samuel, born in 1878, married in 1904 Florence Ward. Martha Edna, born in 1880, was married in April, 1917, to H. V. Riley, of Lima, Ohio. Paul Hamilton, born in 1889, married in August, 1916, Myrtle Slicer, of Lima. FRANK D. GLOSSER has been a resident of Marion since 1904 and is one of the prominent men in the industrial life of that city. He is secretary and treasurer of the United Electric Supply Company, a business with a capital of $20,000 and operating a large retail business at Marion. He is also a member of the Berry-Glosser Company, manufacturing sheet metal cutout boxes. This plant sends its output all over the United States. Mr. Glosser was born in Belleville, Ohio, February 28, 1880, a son of Henry and Juliet (Dillon) Glosser. Henry Glosser, who was born in Maryland in 1822, lost his father when he was a small boy and was bound out as apprentice to a tailor. He subsequently took up the business of photographer and he gave to that art the best years of his life. For twenty years he was in business in New York City on Lower Broadway, and in 1873 moved to Richland County, Ohio. He died in 1907. In early life he was a member of the Universalist Church, but later joined his wife in worship in the Presbyterian denomination. He was affiliated with St. John's Lodge, No. 1, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at New York City, and attained the Knight Templar degree. Politically he was a republican. He married at Brooklyn, New York, Miss Juliet Dillon, who was born there in 1843. She died in 1900. Her father, John Dillon, was a native of New Hampshire, but spent his active career at New York City. He was a skillful maker of chronometers and senior member of the firm of Dillon & Tuttle. Henry Glosser and wife had four children : H. T., a farmer at Sparta, Illinois; Clara, wife of W. M. Taylor, a painting contractor at Marion, Ohio ; E. E., who is construction foreman for the Columbus, Delaware & Marion Electric Company ; and Frank D. Frank D. Glosser graduated from the high school at Harrisburg, Illinois, in 1897. For a time he did farm work, and then became fireman with an electric light plant. He was there a year, and then went to Evansville, Indiana, and for three years was repair man with the Evansville Gas & Light Company. 2188 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO For a year he was superintendent of the electric department and in 1904 came to Marion and entered the service of the Columbus, Delaware & Marion Electric Company, and was advanced to the position of superintendent of its electric light and power department, which position he now holds. In 1904 Mr. Glosser married Miss Jessie H. Pickett. She was born at Harrisburg, Illinois, and her father, F. M. Pickett, served with the rank of major in the Union army during the Civil war and subsequently was a newspaper publisher. Mr. and Mrs. Glosser have four children : Catherine, Francis, George and Robert. The two older children are in school and George is aged five and Robert two years. Mr. and Mrs. Glosser are members of the Trinity Baptist Church at Marion. He is a Knight of Pythias and a republican in politics.. He is also a trustee of the Marion Young Men's Christian Association, a director in the Chamber of Commerce, and a director in the Automobile Association. JOHN L. UNDERWOOD. One of the greatest grain producing sections of its size is that covered in the territory included in Northwest Ohio. Naturally the conducting of large elevators for the handling of this grain in a modern way and an expeditious manner forms one of the chief business interests of the various cities, towns and villages, and in this respect the thriving little city of Weston is doing its full share in transporting the grain of this rich section to other parts of the country. Here are located several elevators of merit, the oldest of which is that now conducted by Underwood & Son, although the senior member of this concern has been connected with it only since 1916. While he is a practical newcomer to the business, Mr. Underwood is widely known for his extensive agricultural operations in the past, and has already made a decided success in his new field of activity. John L. Underwood was born November 5, 1860, at Lowellville, in the extreme eastern part of Ohio, on the Mahoning River in the county of that name. He was two years of age when brought to Center Township, Wood County, by his parents, Wright and Mary A. (Jones) (Palmer) Underwood, natives of Ohio, who grew up, were educated and married in Mahoning County, where the father was engaged in teaming and as a canal worker until coming to Wood County. Here he secured a timbered farm of forty acres in Cen ter Township, and on this he and Mrs. Underwood made their home for forty years, clearing their land, erecting good buildings, establishing a comfortable home and developing a valuable property. Mrs. Underwood died on the homestead in 1895, when past sixty-one years, in the faith of the Methodist Church, and in 1902 Mr. Underwood retired from active pursuits and moved to the City of Bowling Green, where he died in 1910, aged seventy-nine years. He was a republican in politics and a prominent man in his township, where his fellow-citizens, respecting his ability and having confidence in his integrity, elected him to a number of local offices. John L. Underwood was the youngest but one in a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, all of whom grew to maturity. The family circle remained unbroken until the year 1.913, since which time Nancy, Marietta and William have died, all leaving families. Those who survive are : Robert, retired and a pensioner of the Civil war, living at Edgewater, Colorado, who has a daughter Edna and a grandson, Robert ; George, who follows the trade of carpenter at Bowling Green, married and the father of three sons, Charles Allen and Bernard ; John L., of this notice; and Norman, a successful building contractor of Durham, North Carolina, who is married and has five sons and one daughter. John L. Underwood grew up on the home farm in Center Township and received his 'education in the district schools of his home community, which he attended during the winter terms while assisting his father with the farm work on the home place. At the time he attained his majority he began farming on his own account and continued to follow general operations and stockraising in Center Township until 1901, when he changed his scene of activities to Milton Township, where he was also a successful farmer, first purchasing sixty acres and later adding seventy-five acres more. He had the best of improvements, principally made by himself, erected commodious and well placed 'buildings and drained all his land and put it under a high state of cultivation, and through the judicious use of labor-saving machinery made a real success of his labors. In 1914 Mr. Underwood retired from operations as a farmer and moved to Weston, where for several years he looked about seeking a good enterprise in which to invest his capital and engage his abilities. Finally, in January, 1916, he succeeded the late Edward Baldwin in the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2189 ownership of the oldest elevator property at Weston, located on the C. H. & D. Railway, which has undergone many changes of proprietors since it was built many years ago. Mr. Underwood has succeeded in this venture, as before intimated, and in addition to doing a large retail business ships on an average sixty carloads of grain and about as many loads of stock to distant points. His son is now a member of the business, which is conducted as Underwood & Son, and the extensive trade maintains the old while constantly gaining new customers. The financial success of Mr. Underwood is augmented by a moral influence second to none. He carries with him into his business and social life a splendid ethical perspective, and a capacity for acknowledging the good and weeding out the undesirable in general existence, a discrimination fostered by his origin and training. With his family he belongs to the Presbyterian Church and contributes to the success of its movements, and in politics is a republican. He has fully discharged his civic duties and at times has been called upon to act in places of public preferment, having served as a member of the board of directors of the Infirmary of Wood County in 1911 and 1912, as member of the school board and school assessor for two years, and as land tax appraiser during 'a like period. His fraternal connection is with the Knights of Pythias, while his sons Ivan and Earl belong to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which the former has passed all the chairs. Mr. Underwood married in 1881, in Center Township, Adella Schroyer, who was born in Portage Township, Wood County, in 1861, and grew up on the banks of the Portage River, in which locality she received a public school education. Her parents, who are now residents of Weston, are Samuel and Catherine (Scott) Schroyer, who were married in Ohio and have since resided here. Mr. and Mrs. Underwood are the parents of ten children : Austa, who is the wife of Ed D. Amos, a garage owner of Bowling Green and has five sons and one daughter; Grace, who is the wife of J. A. Crom, a farmer of Center Township, and has a son, J. Wendell ; Ivan, who married Bertha Wisnar and lives on a farm in Wes. ton Township, and has two sons, Carl and Stanley; Earl L., associated with his father in business as Underwood & Son, was like his brothers and sisters educated in the public schools, and married in Eaton County, Michigan, Mrs. Bertha (Miller) Bosworth, who by her former marriage had a son, Allen Bosworth, and they have a son, Kenneth; Verna, who is the wife of William L. Sockman, a farmer of Milton Township, and has two daughters, Marjorie and Irene; Alpha, a graduate of the Milton High School, and residing at home ; John A., sergeant of Company H., Sixth Ohio Infantry, who saw service on the Mexican border; and Alva and Ottie, who are attending school. JOHN V. DIRK. One of the most earnest promoters of the grain trade at Weston and in the surrounding country in Wood County is John V. Dirk who, aside from any prestige he may have received from connection with a fine old pioneer family of the county, has mapped out his own fortunes with a certainty of intent and purpose which could have no other result than definite and substantial success. Embarking in business as a young man of twenty-seven years, totally without experience, he has since developed into one of the most progressive men in his line, and as proprietor of the Black Elevator is known to the trade and to agriculturists generally all over this section of the county. Mr. Dirk was born on the family farm in Wood County, April 12, 1881, the only son and child of William and Rebecca (Kieffer) Dirk. His grandparents were Jacob Dirk and his wife, who tore the maiden name of Pottemeyer: Jacob Dirk was born in Germany and was a young man when he came to the United States, first locating in Hancock County, where he married Miss Pottemeyer, a native of that county. They later removed to Wood County as pioneers, buying land which later became the site of the present city of North Baltimore, and there completed their useful and industrious life, both reaching advanced age. They were highly respected residents of their community and honest, Christian people, and for years members of the United Brethren Church. The grandfather was originally a whig and later a republican. William and Rebecca (Kieffer) Dirk were natives of Ohio and commenced their married life on a farm within seven miles of Weston in Liberty Township. There they still make their home, the father being sixty-seven years of age and the mother fifty-seven, and are surrounded by all the comforts that come as rewards for well-ordered lives, and by a wide 2190 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO circle of warm and appreciative friends. They are members of the United Brethren Church, and Mr. Dirk is a republican. John V. Dirk received a good education in the public schools and remained on the home farm, assisting his father in his agricultural operations, until he reached the age of twenty-seven years. For some time before that he had felt that there was a better future awaiting him in commercial lines, and when the opportunity presented itself he came to Weston and became a partner with Edward Baldwin in the ownership of the Black Elevator. This enterprise had been founded at Weston by the firm of Milton Churchill & Company, which erected the structure and started business in 1898, this concern being succeeded by the United Grain Company, who, in turn, gave way to the Paddock-Hodge Company of Toledo. From this company Edward Baldwin bought the elevator and Mr. Dirk later became his partner, the firm of Baldwin & Dirk continuing to do business in grain and stock buying and selling for four years. Mr. Baldwin retiring at the end of this time, Mr. Dirk took over his partner's interest and has since carried on the business alone. Through perseverance, industry and modern methods of doing business he has built up one of the most successful concerns of its kind among the smaller cities of the county, and now handles from 175,000 to 200,000 bushels of corn, wheat and clover seed annually, buying locally and shipping to points all over this section. The elevator is situated on a private siding, connected with the C. H. & D. Railroad. Some time after becoming proprietor of the elevator Mr. Dirk realized that expediency and efficiency were the two great factors in the building of a worthwhile success in this line, and he therefore decided upon a policy which would cover these characteristics of his business. In line with this decision, he had installed machinery of the most modern character, including large five-motors of the latest manufacture, which handle every department, including the elevating of grain, the cleaning of wheat and the loading of cars through two channels. Mr. Dirk's success has been purely self won and in its winning he has always maintained high business principles. Mr. Dirk was united in marriage in Wood County with Miss Marie Reese, who was born in this county, September 22, 1887, and was here reared and educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Thomas and Clara Reese, who are agricultural people of Wood County, well-to-do and now living on their farm not far frOm Weston. Mr. and Mrs. Dirk are the parents of two children: Gena, born July 2, 1907 ; and William, born in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Dirk are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and support its movements liberally. He is independent as to politics. He is one of the well informed and progressive young business men of his community, a genial man of approachable manner, and one who takes a keen interest in the affairs which engage the attention and affect the welfare of the community. Since taking charge personally of the elevator he has eliminated the stock business from his field of operations. WILLIAM D UNIPACE. In Mr. Dunipace the law has had a steady and successful votary at Bowling Green, where he has been in active practice for eleven years. In his professional and personal career he has manifested the best qualities of the intelligent, thrifty and positive character of his Scotch antecedents, and after his admission to the bar he was not long in proving his ability and industry. Mr. Dunipace graduated from the law department of the Ohio Northern University at Ada in 1904. After leaving college he spent about fifteen months in travel and was admitted to the bar in December, 1905, and at once located at Bowling Green, establishing himself in general practice. In 1908 Mr. Dunipace was elected on the democratic ticket as prosecuting attorney for Wood County. He served in that office two years. This office is generally recognized by the profession as an invaluable experience and opportunity for public service as well as individual experience, and Mr. Dunipace made the very best of those opportunities and also proved a vigorous law enforcer during his term. Mr. Duniface is a member of the Masonic order and the Modern Woodmen of America and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, being on the official board of the church. William Dunipace was born in Webster Township of Wood County, October 10, 1879. He grew up there on his father's farm and had a rural experience until he entered college and from there went into the law. On both sides he is of Scotch ancestry. Mr. Dunipace is one of the few members of the family for generations back who have not affiliated with the United Presbyterian Church, which was their faith in Scotland. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2191 His great-grandfather, William Dunipace, was born in Scotland and married there Jane McGill. Both were of the Lowland Scotch people. All their children were born in Scotland before they came to America. In the family were Robert ; William ; James ; Margaret, who after coming to, the United States married _William Webb, who was accidentally killed, leaving two 'children, William and George ; Marian, who married after coming to America James Mueir, and died leaving a family ; Isabel, who never married and lived to be ninety-three years of age ; William, was also a bachelor and died at the age of ninety-one. William and Isabel and their widowed sister Marian all lived to a good old age and they had their home together for many years. The son James was three times married, and by his last wife had three children: He died when past seventy-four. Robert Dunipace, grandfather of the Bowling Green lawyer, was born in Scotland in 18.09 and was about twenty-five years of age when he came with other members of the family to America. They made the voyage on a -sailing vessel and it took eight weeks to come from England to New York City. From there they went westward to Buffalo and thence by lake and river and arrived at Perrysburg, Ohio, in the year 1834. The family had not long been in Ohio when the great-grandfather William died. His widow survived him many years and passed away at the home of her son William, Jr., at the age of ninety-six. Robert Dunipace was married near Perrysburg in 1'836 to Jane Muir. She was born in Scotland and came to this country in 1832. After several years the Muir family located in Webster Township of Wood County, where her father, John Muir, was founder of the Scotch settlement and of the United Presbyterian Church. John Muir and wife both died there and he was ninety-six years of age at his death. In politics the Muir family somewhat regularly supported the republican doctrines, while the Dunipaces as a rule have been democrats. Robert Dunipace and wife spent their lives on a farm in Webster Township, where he died at sixty-six and his wife at seventy-seven. Robert Dunipace was for a number of years an elder in the United Presbyterian Church. Their children were : William, John, Margaret, Robert, Jane, Samuel and George. Samuel died young, and Margaret and Jane, who never married, and William and George all taught school. William and John were soldiers in the Civil war, the former in the. Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry and the latter in the. One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment. John was captured at Monocacy, Virginia, but soon escaped and rejoined his regiment. He died soon after coming home from the army. William Dunipace, father of the Bowling Green lawyer, was born in Wood County in 1842 and served nine months in the Union army. He was given his discharge and subsequently was refused the privilege of re-enlisting. He took part in the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, and in various other engagements. William Dunipace, Sr., was a thrifty farmer, lived a long and honorable career and died in 1907. From 1883 to 1886 he served as county commissioner. Politically he was usually independent but afterwards maintained a more or less regular affiliation with the democratic party. He held all the offices in the gift of the people of Webster County. His most notable business achievement was as president and treasurer' and founder of the Wood County. Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Under his management this company made a record hardly second to any among the mutual fire insurance companies of Ohio. Before he gave up his office as president it had $9,000,000 of insurance in force in Wood County. He was also very attentive to his duties as a member of the United Presbyterian Church. On December 1, 1867, at Prairie Depot, William Dunipace, Sr., married Miss Lizzie Adams, who was born in Wood County in 1845 and died in 1898. She was of Scotch parents and. the Adamses were influential members of the Scotch settlement in this county. A number of the family taught school at different periods. Mr. William Dunipace, Jr., was married to Edna Smith, of East Liberty, Wood County. Mrs. Dunipace was born in Logan County, Ohio, March 17, 1879, and was graduated from . the Ohio Northern University with the same class as her husband. She took the normal course and for several years taught in Logan County before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Dunipace have three children : William, Jr., Max and Winifred. Mrs. Dunipace's parents were active Methodists and largely through her influence Mr. Dunipace became affiliated with the Methodist Church. GEORGE W. MILLER'S active career in Crawford County covers a period of about forty years, and in that time he has associated him- 2192 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO self with many of the county and state's most substantial interests. He is a banker, business man, might still be classed as a farmer, and also has a record as a teacher and public official. Mr. Miller was born in Todd Township of Crawford County January 22, 1859, a son of John D. and Mary (Kahl) Miller. His grandfather, Daniel Miller, spent his life in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather, Henry Kahl, was an early settler in Richland County, Ohio. Mr. Miller's parents were both natives of Pennsylvania and are now deceased. They married in Richland County, Ohio, and the father in his younger days followed the trade of cabinet maker and later was a farmer. The family located in Crawford County in 1852. Both the father and mother had been previously married, and the former had. by his first union four sons and one daughter and the mother had two children. George W. Miller was the only child of his parents. He has three half-brothers still living, Nathaniel Miller, a retired contractor and miner at Berkeley, California; Ananias Miller, a retired farmer near Shelby, Ohio ; and William A. Miller, a retired farmer at Old Fort, Ohio. The parents were reared as Lutherans but afterwards became identified with the United Brethren Church: John D. Miller was an active democrat and filled most of the offices of his home township. George W. Miller has from an early age carried the key to success in his own hands and has worked for all he has attained. He had a common school education, supplemented by one term in the Northwestern College At Fostoria.. He began life as a farmer, and with that occupation he combined the vocation of teaching and spent twelve terms in the schoolroom. His home has been in Bucyrus since 1898. He was elected secretary of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company and was with that company almost six years. He left that office to become county treasurer, and handled the funds of the county for five years. In 1907 Mr. Miller was one of the men who organized the Farmers and Citizens Bank and Savings Company of Bucyrus, and has been its first and only president. This is one of the strong financial institutions of Crawford County, has capital of $100,000, surplus of $100,000, and its average deposits aggregate $800,000. Mr. Miller is secretary of the Ohio Wind Storm Insurance Association, a mutual company with many millions of dollars insurance in force. His interest in farming is evidenced by his ownership in two good farms in the county. He has long been an active figure in local democratic politics and has filled various offices. He was a delegate from this county to the recent Ohio Constitutional Convention. He is president of the Ohio Foresters Association, was for six years county school examiner, and has been town clerk and treasurer. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Miller married in 1880 Dell A. Sigler, who- was born in Todd Township of Crawford. County, daughter of George E. Sigler. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and was an early settler in the rural community of Crawford County. Mrs. Miller's mother was Harriet Hourick, and she was one of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had one child, Minta, who died at the age of twenty-two, at the entrance of a promising young womanhood. EDWARD BALDWIN. It is hardly possible to do full justice to a man who is still in the land of the living, for his deeds and character must be reviewed in retrospect in order that their true value be determined. Some men pass through life without making any appreciable impress upon their times, while others appear to possess that faculty which gives them the power to dominate every situation in which they may be placed. Such men often are of great value to their associates and communities. Through their ability and influence important business industries are founded and carried on ; they take an important part as a general rule in civic activities, either as private citizens or public officials, or both ; and oftentimes are also prominent factors in religious, social and educational life. The death of such men leaves vacant places not easy to fill, and this is the case with the passing of the late Edward Baldwin, who for fifty-seven years was identified with affairs at Weston, and who was an acknowledged leader in business life, as well as a helpful factor in securing for his community advancements in the way of religion, education, morality and good citizenship. Edward Baldwin was born at Townsend, Huron County, Ohio, November 28, 1842, and died at his beautiful home at Weston, Wood County, December 17, 1916. He was a son of Watson and Almira (Church) Baldwin, natives of Pennsylvania and members of old and honored families of that state, where they HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2193 resided for several years after their marriage. They then went to Huron County, but when their son Edward was but four years of age came to Bowling Green, Wood County, where Watson Baldwin, a potash burner by vocation, did a good business in his line as long as the timber was plentiful. When the lumber began to disappear, he turned his attention to agriculture, purchasing a farm east of Portage, where he spent the remaining years of his life in the pursuits of the soil and died when about sixty years of age, after a period of ill health. Later his widow came to Weston and purchased a nice home, and here her last years were spent, her death occurring when she was about seventy-eight years of age. They were members of the Methodist Church. Of their large family of children, nearly all grew to maturity, a number were married and all are now deceased, Edward having been the last survivor. Two of the sons, Charles and Byron, fought as soldiers through 'the Civil. war. Byron who was color-bearer of his regiment, was killed in battle and buried on a Southern battlefield. Charles returned safely after a gallant service, having been in many battles, and at his death left a widow and family. Edward Baldwin grew up at Bowling Green, receiving a public school education, and when still a youth embarked upon a career that continued to be active and useful throughout his life. He began as a merchant at Milton Center, and in 1859 came to Weston, where he was a clerk for one of the pioneer storekeepers here, H. R. Atkins. At the time of the raids of the Confederate Morgan, which caused so much excitement in the south ern part of Ohio, he joined the organization known as " The Squirrel Hunters," the members of which sought the wily Southerner and his men. When the danger of the raids had passed he returned to Mr. Atkins' employ, but after the close of the war embarked in a venture on his own account, engaging in grading and contracting for ties and cordwood for the C. H. & D. Railroad. Later he again centered his activities in the little Village of Weston, as it was then, being proprietor of a hardware establishment, with H. B. Ladd as a partner, but this firm was subsequently mutually dissolved, and Mr. Baldwin became an extensive buyer of grain and stock. He built one and owned several other elevators at Weston, Deshler and other places, and did a large business as a farmer and stockdealer. For years he was a leader in civic affairs at Weston, serving as trustee and in other official positions and took an active interest in all that pertained to the advancement of the community. Mr. Baldwin was also an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he was a member of the official board during a long period, and for twenty-six years was superintendent of the Sunday school at Weston. Fraternally he was a charter member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was prominent in both orders. Mr. Baldwin was married January 1, 1866, at Weston, to Miss Harriet M. Taylor, who was born near Weston, August 29, 1843. Mrs. Baldwin, who has spent her entire life at and near Weston, where she is widely known, greatly esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances and much beloved by her numerous friends, is now passing her declining years in the enjoyment of the comforts of her beautiful home of modern architecture, located on North Main Street,. where she and Mr. Baldwin resided for more than twelve years, and where their fiftieth wedding anniversary was celebrated January 1, 1916. She is a daughter of Thomas Taylor, of Pennsylvania, a member of an old and honored family of that state, the name of which was intimately associated with a number of events during the Revolutionary war. Her grandfather, also named Thomas Taylor, was an early settler of Loudonville, then in Richland County, where he and the grandmother passed their lives in agricultural pursuits and died on their farm well advanced in years. Thomas Taylor the younger grew up at Loudonville, where he was married to Sarah Keith, who was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Richland County, Ohio, where her parents had settled at an early day. In 1834 Thomas Taylor and his family came into Wood County, Ohio, where he entered a lot of valuable' land near the Milton Township line. Subsequently. he laid out what was first known as Taylorville, but which later because of confusion in the postoffice service, was changed to Weston. One of principal thoroughfares of the city, Taylor Street, was named in his honor. Here Mrs. Taylor died in 1852, when still in middle life, while Mr. Taylor survived until 1870 and was seventy years of age at the time of his demise. He was a real pioneer of this locality and may be called the father of Weston, for he not only laid out the town but fostered its every interest and worked unceasingly in its behalf, both in a business and civic way. He was one of 2194 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO the leading improvers of land in his community, was the owner and operator of a saw and gristmill, and later, with his son, became a merchant of Weston, with the postoffice and express office at his establishment and handling all the business of the C. H. & D. Railroad for some years. He was a Presbyterian, and in politics was originally a whig and later a republican. Mrs. Baldwin is the youngest of her mother's ten children, and the only one now surviving. Her two brothers, William James and Thomas Taylor III, were soldiers in the Civil war, and the former met a soldier's death on the field of battle, being buried in the South, while the latter returned safely home and died a single man in October, 1903. After the death of his first wife Mr. Taylor married Margaret \(Warner) Clark, a widow, by whom three children were born but only one is now living, John W., of Deshler, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin became the parents of three children : Albert Byron, proprietor of a large department store at Weston, married Fannie A. Uhlman, and has two children, Henry A. and Grace V., now attending school ; James M., an automobile salesman and real estate man of Los Angeles, California, who is married and has a son, Andrew, in the United States Naval Reserves ; and Harriet A., the wife of Bolton S. Armstrong, of Cincinnati, Ohio. EDWARD W. CROOK has been closely and vitally identified with the business and industrial prosperity of the Village of Hicksville in Defiance County- for fully forty years. The industry which more than anything else gives prosperity to that community is the manufacturing concern known and conducted under the title Crook, Son & Company. All three members of the family are actively concerned in its management, including Mrs. Crook, who has proved herself a woman of remarkable financial judgment and general business ability. Mr. Gook was born at Elkton, Columbiana County, Ohio, December 23, 1847, a son of Thomas and Jane (Batchelor) ,Crook. In January, 1888, a short time before his death, Thomas Crook wrote for the benefit of his children a short autobiography, covering the details of his early life in England, his marriage, and his early experiences in Ohio up to the time he became successfully established in business. It is a narrative which has more than ordinary interest, not only for his family but for others. It indicates some of the reasons which caused many families to come to America in the early years of the last century and also some of the definite incidents connected with such an immigration. At the beginning of his narration he states that his father, whose name was also Thomas Crook, was born at Bradford on Avon, County of Wilts, England, in 1784, and died there in December, 1868, aged eighty-four, his wife having died the previous year. He was a clothier by trade. Of his family of eight children five were living in 1888. That portion of the narrative pertaining to the late Thomas Crook reads as follows : "I, Thomas Crook, the third child of my parents, was born in Chippenham, County of Wilts, England, January 11, 1817. When about eighteen years of age I moved with my parents from Chippenham to Bradford on Avon. My education was very limited, there being no public schools at that day. Private or select schools existed, but their terms for tuition were higher than my parents could afford to pay. Sunday schools existed, and were held twice on each Sabbath, in nearly all the churches in the land, and in these schools thousands of children were religiously instructed and, taught to read and spell. My parents sent me regularly to the Sunday school, where I soon learned to read and also to commit many portions of the Holy Scripture to memory, which has proved a great source of comfort and consolation to my mind when oppressed or troubled. At the age of ten I was engaged to work in a woolen factory located at Staverton, three and one half miles distant from home, at which place I worked daily for ten years, walking five miles a day to and from the factory, thirty miles per week or one thousand five hundred sixty miles a year, working twelve hours per day. Another important event took place in 1833 through the religious instructions received from faithful teachers at the Sabbath School, I became convinced that it -was my duty to take upon me the profession of religion. I had been a regular attendant at the services of the Wesleyan Methodist Church for some time, and felt a desire to become a member ; application was made and I was accepted into the Society, and soon after experienced a change of heart under the preaching of the Word of God by Rev. John W. Button. I have retained through the Grace of God my integrity to his cause and his church with a firm hope of eternal life. "On June 26, 1836, I was united in mar- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2195 riage to Jane Batchelor, a member of the same church, a noble, pious and good woman who loved the church and served God with all her heart, and became a great helpmate to me religiously and a true helpmate in all our financial and' household affairs. In a very short time after our marriage we were called upon to pass through a severe trial. Business became dull, times rather hard, manufacturers became discouraged, and workmen were put on short time ; many people were out of employment and wanted for bread. Our income was small and we often conversed together about what we could or should do in order to better our prospects and conditions of life financially. Sometimes I worked only two days per week, and not more than three for nearly a year; wages were low, only two shillings per day (about forty-six cents), and there were scores of men offering to work for less. Had we not lived economically previous .to the panic, saving some money, we would have suffered want." About that juncture a relative returned from his home in America and his descriptions of the new country introduced a new prospect to Thomas Crook. It was a matter seriously discussed and debated for a number of weeks. The economic arguments all favored removal to America, but his wife disliked to break home ties, and the parents of both were adverse to their children leaving them. The outcome of the discussion can be told in a continued quotation : "As I returned from work one evening my wife met me with a smile. 'I have today been thinking over the subject of our leaving home for America, and have concluded that we ought not to go, and I hope yob. will not think any more about it yourself. It took me by surprise, and after a few minutes of thought I said to her : 'I have made up my mind to go this spring, with you or without you, to America. I am determined I won't walk five miles and work twelve hours a day any longer.' To this she made no answer. I saw she was troubled and we both were silent for some time, the tears came to her eyes and her heart seemed broken; we both felt very sad. After some time she said to me, `if you go I will go with you.' And it was settled at once: We began to make preparations, disposing of our household goods as rapidly as possible, drew the money we had saved from the bank, and found it sufficient to take us to America and back again provided we did not like the country. In a few days I went to Bristol and secured our passage in the ship Cosma bound for New York. After this our relatives and friends did all they could for us,. in helping to provide for our leaving. They also bestowed on us many gifts that proved to be of great service to us. "We sailed on the 28th day of March, 1838, and arrived in New York on the 12th day of May. After a tedious voyage of forty-five days we went ashore, wife and Martha, our six months old babe, and stayed in New York with my uncle a few days; then left there for Pittsburg on the 23d of May, 1838. We went by railroad and steamboat to Philadelphia, stayed one day, thence to Pittsburg by the Pennsylvania 'Canal, and after nine days traveling arrived at Pittsburg on the 3d day of June; stayed over one day ; then went by steamboat on the Ohio River to Wellsville in Ohio, remaining one night, from there going to New Lisbon, and next day to Moore's factory, five miles west of Lisbon, on the west fork of the Beaver Creek. On our way to Moore's we became fearful we were not on the direct road. We met a person on horseback and asked him if we were on the road to Moore's factory, and he answered. yes. I asked him if he knew a- man there by the name of James Batchelor; he said, 'yes, he knew him' and then began to smile. Wife looked up in his face and discovered that his face had taken a serious turn. He then spoke and said 'Is that Jane and dismounted from his horse, making himself known to her by saying, 'I am James Batchelor, your brother,' and taking her by the hand asked, 'how is mother ?' Then turning to me and taking my hand asked after my health and how we stood our journey and many other questions. He took us to his home, where we rested after nearly four months journeying, and scarcely knew whither we were going, but were fully satisfied that a kind Providence was watching over us and leading us safely day by day. We found those strangers living on and along the banks and hills of the West Fork of Beaver Creek a kind hearted people, who showed us no little kindness, but became very much interested in our welfare and well, doings ; a more social and clever people I think I can say I have not found excelled. I obtained work in the woolen factory owned by Abner Moore, and stayed in his employ about one year. After the lapse of a week or two we found a Methodist Society at the house of a neighbor over two miles from where we resided. Here we found a Christian and 2196 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO religious home, kind people who took great interest in our spiritual welfare. We stayed here a little over a year, then moved to Hanover, where we stayed until May, 1840, then moved to Elkrun township, Columbiana county, where we are still living. Here I went into partnership with James Batchelor and purchased a small woolen factory, which proved a profitable investment, made some money, and for twenty-two years conducted the mill. Those years were the happiest years of my life. It was here where all but two of our children were born and reared. We had excellent church privileges and enjoyment." After his twenty-two years as a woolen manufacturer Thomas Crook operated two farms near the Village of Elkton until 1866, and then was in mercantile business at Elkton with his brother John for three years. After that he lived retired. His brave and true hearted wife died in January, 1864, at the age of forty-eight. Her children were : Martha, Sarah; Edward W., Emma, John Frank and Ida. Thomas Crook married for his second wife Dorcas Burford, also a native of England, and for his third wife Mary Ann Eaton, who had one child, Homer Crook. From the time of his birth in Columbiana County in 1847 until 1876 Edward W. Crook lived in that locality. He attended the common schools, spent one term in the New Lisbon High School, and for that part of his higher education he walked 4 ½ miles each morning and night. After the age of thirteen he had also worked in his father's woolen factory and there he gained the habits of industry which have always stood him in good stead. In 1866 he apprenticed himself to learn the carriage making business, and after three years set up a small shop of his own at Fairfield in Columbiana County. In the meantime he had married and in November, 1876, he removed to Defiance and bought a third interest in the Kerr Brothers manufacturing business, the other two partners being brothers of his wife, Mrs. Crook. This business had recently been established at Hicksville to manufacture handles for agricultural implements. Besides the three partners only one hand was employed at the beginning. About 1887 Mr. Crook acquired a half interest in the business, but it was continued as Kerr. Brothers & Company until 1902, when it was succeeded by a stock company, Kerr Brothers Manufacturing Company. During 1906-07 Mr. Crook organized the firm of Crook, Son & Company, the son, Thomas Leonard, being a half owner in the business, and this industry has steadily grown, and now has a plant where about seventy-five persons are employed and goods to the value of about $100,000 are manufactured annually. Most of the product goes to wholesale hardware jobbing firms throughout the country, and some large shipments have been made to foreign countries. In matters of politics Mr. Crook has always been identified with the republican party. Both he and his wife are prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has been officially identified with his church for thirty-nine years. Fraternally his only membership is in the Knights of Pythias. On July 14, 1875, at Hicksville, Mr. Crook married Miss Alice M.. Kerr. She was born at. Middletown, Holmes County, Ohio, November 5, 1853, daughter of Joseph and Jane .(Dowell) Kerr. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Holmes. County, Ohio, where they were married. Joseph Kerr was a tailor by trade, followed that occupation in Middletown, and in 1857 removed to Hicksville, where he lived until his death in 1902. His widow died in .1904. At Hicksville he was also a tailor, but subsequently took up the milling industry, put up a large grist mill, and later was manager of the electric light plant. He was a very public spirited citizen, ready to 'do anything to help his community, and among other things he donated the site for the Methodist Episcopal Church at Hicksville. He was a stanch republican. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr had two sons and two daughters. Mrs. Crook, who was next to the youngest in her parents' family, attended the common schools, spent several years in higher schools at Ashland and Cleveland, and for two years was a teacher in Hicksville just before her marriage. After her marriage she and Mr. Crook lived for a year and a half in Columbiana County, but since then her home has been continuously at Hicksville. Almost from the first she has had more than a nominal part in the manufacturing industry originally established by her brothers Joseph, Thomas and R. F. Kerr. She has been the real financier of the business, and in the absence of a bank at Hicksville has had the management' and care of the funds used by the factory. The growth and progress of the business have always been a great satisfaction to her, and that, her home, her church and her devotion to the uplifting influences of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2197 humanity have made hers a very busy and useful life indeed. Mrs. Crook has always been active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a member of the church at Hicksville longer than any other woman. She contributed generously to the building of the present church edifice. For three years she was county president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and in 1910 was a delegate to the world convention of that order in Glasgow, Scotland, and while abroad that year she also attended the Passion Play. She is one of the most earnest and persistent workers in Ohio for the cause of prohibition and it is a matter of much satisfaction to her that she has contributed at least something to the great movement which has now drawn half of the states of the Union under the prohibition banner. Mrs. Crook has always had a bounding vitality, and in whatever circumstances she has been placed she has turned a smiling and cheerful countenance to the world. She grew up in this rural district of Northwestern Ohio and one of her duties as a girl was hunting up the cows and doing her share of the milking. Mr. and Mrs. Crook had two sons. Thomas Leonard, born October 25, 1884, has for a number of years been actively identified with the business at Hicksville. Edward Leland, born July 14, 1888, died in infancy. In 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Crook erected a beautiful home, one of the finest in that section of Defiance County. In 1915 their son Thomas was also provided with a beautiful residence. Mr. and Mrs. Crook in recent years have spent much of their time in travel, their winters being passed in Florida, and they have toured both Europe and their home country. HENRY DANIELS. While many worthy civilian efforts have characterized the usefulness c Henry Daniels, it is, perhaps, as a soldier of the Union that he rendered services that he cherishes as his fondest memories. Certain it is that the traits of courage and faithfulness with which Mr. Daniels was so richly endowed found no more, certain avenue of expression than in the great struggle between the North and South, where freedom for slaves and unity of government were purchased at the frightful sacrifice of 650,000 lives. As were the great majority of those who came to the rescue of their country in its hour of dire necessity, Mr. Daniels was following the dull routine of the farm, and his Vol. III-55 life up to that time had known little deviation from the 'strict fulfillment of home duty, interspersed by attendance at the district schools. Later Mr. Daniels turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and so well did he direct his affairs that he became the owner of several large tracts of land and is now the possessor of a handsome competence and is living in retirement at Weston, where he is one of his community's most highly esteemed citizens. Mr. Daniels was born in Carroll County, Ohio, October 27, 1842, a son of Charles G. and Belinda (Marshall) Daniels, and a grandson of Samuel G. Daniels, who for some years was a miller in Carroll County, where he died. From Carroll County, Charles G. Daniels removed with his family to Pike County and after a few years to Bethel, Sharon Ridge, Paulding County, where he entered unimproved land and succeeded in the development of a productive farm. He had gone to that community over the Black Swamp in a "prairie schooner," the true type of pioneer conveyance. Subsequently he rented what was known as the Barnheizer Mill, which he conducted for some years, and then returned to his farm and cleared up its 160 acres, also adding an additional tract of forty acres, which he also cleared and improved. In addition to this he owned several hundred acres of land in Fulton County, and in every way was one of the substantial and well-to-do men of his locality. After the death of his wife he moved to Kansas, where he secured new land in Gove County, and there passed the rest of his life, dying at the age of about seventy-nine years.. His remains were brought back to Ohio and laid beside those of his wife, who had died at Liberty Center, Henry County. They were faithful members of 'the Seventh Day Adventist Church for many years. Henry Daniels was reared on the home farm, from whence he enlisted August 21, 1862, in Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Colonel O. H. Payne. He enlisted for three years, but his service was a few days less than that period, as the war had closed and he received his honorable discharge. At various times under the commands of Generals Rosecrans, O. O. Howard, Buell and Johnston, he was promoted because of meritorious service until reaching the rank of first sergeant. He was in numerous engagements, including the first battle of Franklin, 'handling 2198 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO himself with gallantry, and at Chickamauga was shot through the left arm near the shoulder. He refused to go to the rear in spite of his wound, but fought bravely on, and in the raging backward and forward of the desperate fight two hours later received a severe scalp wound. He was left for dead, but after the Confederates had charged over his prostrate body and had again been swept back by the Union forces Mr. Daniels' comrades found him and sent him .to the hospital, where he eventually recovered. Later he received a slight wound at the battle of Resaca. Throughout the three years of his service Mr. Daniels gave to his country the best that was in him, patiently enduring the hardships of the long marches, faithfully performing his arduous duties, winning the respect of his officers by his fearless courage, and tendering innumerable kindly services to less fortunate comrades. At the close of his military service Mr. Daniels returned to the duties of civil life. He began his career in the cultivation of the soil as a truck farmer on 1 ½ acres of land in Wood County, where his skilled operations gained for him the title of " Cabbage King." He also raised as much small fruit as any one in this locality, and propagated the locally well-known Nonesuch strawberry, which stood highest in Wood County for some years for quantity, quality and flavor. From time to time thereafter he bought land and enlarged the scope of his operations until he was a full-fledged general farmer. At this time he owns forty acres in the corporation of Weston, a part of the old Noble homestead, twenty acres more in Milton Township, and other lands in Weston Township.' In 1908 he retired from active pursuits and came to Weston, where he had erected a handsome modern home on North Main Street. His farming properties are all finely improved and have substantial and commodious buildings and modern equipment and appliances. In business circles his name has ever been one connected with honorable dealing and as a citizen he has done his full part in promoting beneficial movements and enterprises. Mr. Daniels is a member of Neibler Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Weston, and the Union Veterans at Lima. He maintains an independent stand in regard to political matters. In Paulding County, Ohio, Mr. Daniels married Miss Emma C. Shirley, daughter of Judge Robert Shirley, who came from the East to Paulding County as an early pioneer and there was married to Sarah Hudson. Both died in that county after years passed in farming. They had five sons in the Union army during the Civil war, Joseph, David, Elias, James and Benjamin, the last-named of whom, a drummer boy, died at Defiance. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels are the parents of two daughters : May, who is the wife of M. D. Hall, a garage owner of Milton, Ohio, and has six children : Jessie R., Lewis H., Edith M., Mildred I., John M., and Montford G.; Myrtle R. is living with her father, the widow of Charles Baker, who was a teacher in the schools of Wood County for some years. Mr. Daniels and the members of his family attend the Christian Church. WILLIAM H. HATCHER. For the past fifteen years a retired resident of Weston, William H. Hatcher demonstrated during the active years of his career the fact that a man can overcome the handicaps of early limitations, and there are few residents of the county who deserve more credit for what they have done in lifting themselves from the surroundings of responsible and cheerless youth. When he returned from valiant service as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war he struck out boldly for himself in an unimproved section of Henry County, and in the years that followed worked so industriously and managed his affairs so well that he became the possessor of several handsome and valuable properties, and as a result his evening of life is being passed amid comforts that his childhood never dreamed of. Mr. Hatcher was born February 13, 1844, in Logan County, Ohio, and was there reared. His people were honest, but very poor, and as the lad's services were constantly needed at home his educational training was slighted, and in fact he attended school only twenty days of his life: Living in the backwoods, he knew little beyond the drudgery of the home farm, an unproductive tract of land operated in a primitive way with crude implements, but when the news of the Civil war reached his community he was anxious to serve his country and in 1862 presented himself for service, but was declined owing to lack of height and weight. He persevered in his attempt, however, and in February, 1864, was accepted as a member of Company C, Forty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued to serve until receiving his honorable discharge at Columbus, Ohio, having been mustered out of the service at Galveston, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 2199 Texas, November 4, 1865. He was through the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta and in the siege of the latter city, under General Sherman, whose forces went on "to the sea," but Mr. Hatcher's regiment, under General Thomas, went back to Nashville in pursuit of Hood. At the battle of Resaca Mr. Hatcher was wounded in the leg by a splinter in an explosion in which ninety Union soldiers lost their lives, but he returned to his home safely in spite of the fact that he had been confined to a hospital by sickness for a few weeks. With an excellent record for faithful discharge of duty and gallantry in action Mr. Hatcher returned to his old home. He had, however, during his term of service seen enough of the world to be self-reliant and to know that the Logan County community of his boyhood held out no opportunities to him, and he therefore went into the woods of Henry County, securing a tract of forty acres of land on Beaver Creek in 1869, where the first settlers located because it was about the only, part of the county not inundated. His land, which he secured for a first 'payment of $100 and a like amount per year for eight years, was in Richfield Township, across which no road had yet been built, and his first home was a small log cabin, erected by a previous owner. Subsequently, by the hardest kind of work, he succeeded in clearing and draining a farm of ninety-three acres, and later bought another farm of ninety-seven acres, located on section 13, the greater part of which he himself cleared. He still owns these properties, which now have the best of improvements and substantial modern buildings. His capacity for industry and business wrought great changes upon these farms, which today stand as models of what may be accomplished by a man who is bound to win out in the calling he is called upon to pursue. Mr. Hatcher was married first in Logan County, Ohio, to Maria Elzina Argo, who was born, reared and educated in that county, and who died on the Henry County farm May 20, 1880, aged thirty-seven years. She was the mother of the following children : Ella B. Hopkins, of Custer, Ohio ; her twin, Albert Gallatin, a farmer who died in May 1901, leaving a widow and two children, Nellie and Ralph ; Clara J., the wife of Sherman Logan, of Fremont, and the mother of two children, Hazel and Agnes ; Emma, who married James Nicholas, a drayman of Custer, and has three sons, Guy, George and Walter ; Charles E., superintendent of the Henry County Infirm- ary, who is married and has four children, Elzina, Oscar, Gladys and Burdette ; Effie, of Fremont, who is the widow of Herbert Spangler and has two children, Marie and Virgil; and Olive, the wife of Frank Linedecker, of Custer. Mr. Hatcher was married second, in Henry County, to Adeline Roberts, who came from Logan County when only nine years old, her father, Thomas Roberts, being the only teacher Mr. Hatcher ever had. To this union there were born the following children : William T., who is superintendent of schools of Napoleon, Henry County, married and has two children, Ruth and Mildred ; May U., who is the wife of Harry Barnes, of. Metamora, Ohio, and has one daughter, Chloetta ; John E., former superintendent of schools of Hamler and Florida, Ohio, and now postmaster of the former place, married Rilla McFadden, and has three children, Lucile, Norma and Iva J.; Verna B., who is the wife of Charles Fahrer, of Custer and has three children, Harold, Clara and Richard ; Burton C., a railroad man of South Dakota, who is married and has a son, John H. ; Katharine, who is the wife of Ross Hoskinson, telegraph operator at Deshler, and has a son, David; Martha, who was educated in the Weston High School and resides with her parents; and James F., who is a volunteer member of Company H, Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, soon to be called into service for participation in the great European war. He is a graduate of Weston High School. The family for many years have belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Hatcher assisted in the building of the Laramore Church in Richfield Township, of which he was a steward and trustee from its organization until he came to Weston. He has: served as trustee of Richfield Township for six years and held other offices, and in principle is a pioneer prohibitionist. Remembering the trials of his early life, he is kindly disposed and generous toward those less fortunate than himself, and is accounted an honorable and high-minded as well as a public-spirited citizen. GEORGE W. BISH is a merchant and business man of wide experience and splendid ability, and is now sole proprietor of the Bish grocery establishment at 105 Findlay Street in Carey. Mr. Bish has been connected with mercantile enterprise for a great many years, though part of his experience was as,