HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1175 ranked the highest in efficiency of any of the Western Union offices. William A. Beach was married in Toledo, Ohio, May 28, 1851, to Miss Harriet E. Brigham, who was born in New York State in 1831, and was brought to Toledo in 1835 at the age of four years. Her father was the late Mayor Brigham, one of Toledo's pioneers, and at one time a mayor of the city. Reference to Mayor Brigham's career is found on other pages. Mrs. Beach came to Toledo by canal boat as far as Buffalo and then by sailing vessel from Buffalo to Toledo. Mrs. Beach died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. S. M. Jones, May 28, 1916, aged eighty-four years. At the time of her death she had lived more years in Toledo than any other resident of the time, having been identified with that city for four score years and having witnessed under her own eyes its magnificent development and transformation from a village into a metropolitan center. Mr. Beach, after his marriage, had one other interest that ranked alongside his professional work—his. home. He enjoyed his home life to the full, and it was one of great happiness. Mr. and Mrs. Beach had two children, both of whom married and reside in Toledo. Mrs. Helen Jones is the widow of the late Samuel M. Jones, Toledo's Golden Rule mayor. The second daughter is Mrs. S. R. Maclaren. Mrs. Beach was also survived by four brothers : Stanley F. Brigham of Toledo ; William A. Brigham, president of the Woolson Spice Company of Toledo; Frederick M., of Germantown, Pennsylvania ; and Harry Chase, of Walding, Kinnan & Marvin Company, wholesale druggists of Toledo. Mrs. Beach also reared in her home a nephew, Charles G. Brigham, a sketch of whom is found on other pages. Mrs. Beach was one of the oldest members of the First Congregational Church of Toledo, and her father was one of its founders. She was also one of the founders of the Toledo Industrial School, which later added a day nursery. It was a school for the education of poor children on the streets, and these children were carefully looked after, clothed and fed and given some of the opportunities to grow up to useful and wholesome manhood and womanhood. Mrs. Beach devoted herself with characteristic unselfishness to this cause for a number of years, and was president of the board of trustees of the school until its property was turned over to the Adams Street Mission, which had carried on the work along similar lines for many years. ADAM COOK. One of the valuable citizens of Henry. County is Adam Cook, who since January 15, 1914, has conducted a substantial business as a harness dealer and manufacturer at Napoleon. His place of business is at the corner of Clinton and Perry Streets, where he has a store 22x60 feet, and where he carries a large line of staple wares, including harness, whips, robes and other wares usually found in such establishments, and he also does considerable manufacturing. He is himself an expert workman in leather, and keeps one man steadily employed at the bench. Prior to his removal to Napoleon Mr. Cook was for many years a resident of Ridgeville Corners in Henry County, where he began business in February, 1892. He learned his trade at Stryker, Ohio, was a journeyman worker there for about eight years, and moved to Ridgeville Corners to represent the Stryker Manufacturing Company. After three years he took over the business at Ridgeville, and for the last twenty years has been an independent manufacturer and merchant. Adam Cook is of strong and self reliant German stock. He was born in Hesse Darmstadt August 1, 1865. His early years were spent in Germany, where he acquired an education, and his parents John and Eve (Fissel) Cook, are still living in the old country, where they have spent their lives as farmers. Both are now about seventy-seven years of age, and are active members of the German Reformed Church. Their five children are also living. Rose, Eve and John are all residents of Hesse Darmstadt and are married and have families. One daughter Katie came to the United States in 1886 when a young woman of about sixteen, and is now the wife of John Boyinger of Cincinnati, and her son Edward is also married and lives in Cincinnati. On July 3, 1881, Adam Cook took passage on a ship at Hamburg, Germany, and two weeks later landed at New York City. From there he came on west as far as Stryker, Ohio, and was soon apprenticed to learn the harness maker's trade. While living at Ridgeville Corners Mr. Cook married Miss Dearey Walcott, who was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 1867. She spent her life in her native town and other sections of Ohio and was living at Ridgeville Corners when she met and married Mr. Cook. She was a true and devoted helpmate and her death was greatly lamented. She passed 1176 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO away at Ridgeville Corners July 27, 1908. Both her children, Clarence and Harold, died in infancy. Mr. Cook's present wife was Mrs. Eliza (Barbee) Metz, who was born and reared in Henry 'County. Her first husband George Metz died in January, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have adopted a boy, Charles A. Cook, who is now two and a half years of age. The family are members of the First Presbyterian Church in Napoleon. Mr. Cook is a republican and he is affiliated with both the subordinate lodge and the encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Napoleon. DANIEL CONN, who is now living retired after an active career as a farmer at Napoleon, represents a very worthy family in that section of Northwest Ohio, and he and his wife own some of the very valuable property in Henry County. Twelve years ago Mr. Conn moved from his farm. in Monroe Township in Henry County to Napoleon, and has been a resident of Henry County since February, 1894. Before locating there permanently he had bought a farm of 160 acres, and here and elsewhere he showed his ability and enterprise as a progressive agriculturist. Since coming to Napoleon he has sold eighty acres of his old farm, and subsequently bought 140 acres in Columbia Township, Jackson County, Michigan. He and his wife's ownership also include another farm of 200 acres in Monroe Township. Both farms are excellently improved and have a complete set of farm buildings on each. Mr. and Mrs. Conn reside in one of the very attractive residences of Napoleon, a house that was built in 1913. It is of brick and modern in all its appointments, two stories and basement, and well furnished. Besides their farm and city property, Mrs. Conn owns two good houses end lots on Maple and Clinton Streets and he has a residence at the corner of Walstead and Norden avenues. Daniel Conn was born in the southern part of Perry County, Ohio, in Monroe Township, February 7, 1856. His early life was spent amid scenes where during the war the Confederate leader Morgan made his raids. He grew up on a farm and has always made that his regular vocation. During his, early youth. his parents moved from the southern to the northern part of Perry County. Since coming to Napoleon Mr. Conn spent four years representing the Toledo Milling & Grain Company as superintendent and buyer at Grelton and Ellery in Henry County. His family connections have lived in Ohio for several generations. His grandfather George Conn was born in Pennsylvania of Irish ancestry, lived for a number of years in Carroll County, Ohio, and then moved into the wilderness of Perry County, where he secured new land and had improved much of it before his death, which occurred at the age of sixty-three prior to the Civil war. His widow survived him many years, and died when about eighty years old. Her maiden name was Sarah Carlile. Both were laid to rest side by side in the Presbyterian Church cemetery. They had been very active in that church, had helped to organize it, and were among its most liberal supporters. 'Their children comprised five sons and two daughters. One of the sons, Robert, is still living in Perry County, being nearly seventy-five years of age, as was also his wife, who died in April, 1916. He and two brothers, George and William, were soldiers in the Union army during the Civil war and all came home safe. John Conn, father of Daniel, was born in Carroll County, Ohio, March 16, 1826, and was still a child when his parents moved to Perry County. He was married in the latter county to Sarah Grimm, who was born in Harrison County, Ohio. After their marriage they lived near the old homestead, and then moved to a farm north of New Lexington, where John Conn died March 12, 1897, his wife having passed away November 18, 1895. They were members of the English Lutheran Church, and he was a republican. Daniel Conn was one of three sons. His brothers Granville and John W. are both living with their families in Perry County. There were also two daughters, Isabella, who died young, and Mary, who died after her marriage and left one son. Mr. Daniel Conn was married in Athens County, Ohio, to Samantha J. Norris. She was born in Athens County April 21, 1864, and died on the home farm in Henry County, September 29, 1902. She left two children. Edith M., who was born April 4, 1884, and was educated in the public schools, is the wife of Howard B. Vogel, who lives in Detroit and is connected with the Michigan Central Railway Company ; they have three children, Burdette 0., James S. and Hazel E. Albert E., the second child, was born December 1, 1889, was graduated from the Napoleon High School with the class of 1909, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1177 and is now employed by the D. U. R. electric line ; he married Virginia Granger, and has a daughter Eleanor J. In Toledo, Ohio, November 12, 1907, Mr. Daniel Conn married Mrs. Ellen M. Ketter (nee Smith), who was born in Monroe Township of Henry County on a farm which she still owns. Her birth occurred June 16, 1862. She grew up and received her education in that vicinity. Her grandparents were George and Catherine (Sohn) Smith, natives of Alsace-Lorraine and of French and German ancestry. After all their children were born except the father of Mrs. Conn, they set out for America during the latter '20s, came by sailing vessel, and located in Wayne County, Ohio, where they bought and improved a tract of new land. There the grandparents spent their days and were quite old when they passed away. They were members of the Protestant Church. Jacob Smith, father of Mrs. Conn, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, February 11, 1831, and at the age of seventeen moved to Henry County where he secured 160 acres of wild land from the Government. This land was situated on Turkey Foot Creek. Later he conducted a farm in Stark County, Ohio, for two years and while on that farm made the acquaintance and married Elizabeth Dissinger, who was born in Summit County September 7, 1836. They were married February 25, 1858. After his marriage Jacob Smith brought his wife to the new and heavily wooded land in Henry County and Monroe Township, and there he remained an active farmer until his death on May 3, 1877, at the age of forty-six. His widow four years later moved to Napoleon, where she died April 14, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were members of the Christian Union Church and he was a democrat and a very active and influential citizen in Monroe Township. For twelve years he served as township treasurer and was in that office to the time of his death. He also showed much zeal in behalf of school affairs, and the impress of his character and influence is still found in that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Conn are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a republican and has held several local offices. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason and has served four years as Tyler of his lodge. Both he and his wife belong to the Eastern Star, and Mrs. Conn is a past worthy matron and was at one time associate matron. JOHN W. TIETJENS. One of the oldest business institutions in the City of Napoleon is the Tietjens Brewing Company. For more than half a century, under the present name and through a succession of previous owners, it has been producing a high grade of products, and along with the growing popularity of its brews the capacity of the plant has increased many fold. The late John W. Tietjens was head of the company until his death. He was an expert brewer and maltster, and had an invaluable aid and associate in the person of his son, Otto P., who on May 1, 1913, became a partner in the company. The brewery was under the ownership of John W. Tietjens from July, 1891, and most of the time he was sole proprietor. The success of the business is largely due to his care and management in manufacturing. The enterprise was originally established at Napoleon in 1862 by a German brewer, Joseph Kopp. He started the brewery on a scale commensurate with his modest capital, but in a few years had to enlarge the capacity in order to meet the growing demands for the excellent products. For a period of more than half a century the Napoleon brew has measured up to the highest standards of the brewer's art. At the end of five years Mr. Kopp sold to John Herbolsheimer, who was at the head of the business until 1885. He then sold the property to Ferdinand Roesing, who gave further impetus to the business by enlarging the capacity of the plant and extending the market for the product. Even in the early years the brewery was an important factor in local prosperity, since it furnished a market for the barley raised in Henry County, and has always employed a number of workmen. In July, 1891, Mr. Roesing sold out to John W. Tietjens, who on taking charge, not only enlarged the plant, but improved both the quality and quantity of the product by introducing modern refrigeration and installing a complete bottling plant. This bottling plant is now under the management of his son Otto. The company has made its standard brew, the Imperial brand, one of the most popular not only in Northwest Ohio, but in Michigan and Indiana, and their trade extends over three states. The capacity of the brewery is now 70,000 barrels of fine beer annually, and the company gives employment to from twelve to twenty men the year around. John W. Tietjens was a Napoleon business man from 1868. For many years he was 1178 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO one of the leading furniture dealers and undertakers in the city, his location being on Washington Street, but from 1891 he devoted his time and energies with excellent results to the brewing trade. A native of Germany, Mr. Tietjens was born in the Kingdom of Hanover at Altenbruch in 1850. His father, William Tietjens, and his grandfather were both natives of Hamburg, but when William was quite young the family moved to the North Sea section of the Kingdom of Hanover at Altenbruch, where the grandparents spent the rest of their lives. The family for generations have been communicants of the Lutheran Church. William Tietjens was married in Hanover to Christina Wiechmann, who was born and reared in Hanover, her people being farmers. All of William Tietjens' children were born in Germany, and the parents later followed some of their children to America and lived .in Napoleon, Ohio, until the mother died in 1888. William Tietjens then returned to Germany and died five years later at the age of seventy-five. John W. Tietjens was the oldest of the children. His brother Henry is a farmer in Smith County, Kansas, and has a family. The sister Marie is the wife of George Decker, a Toledo business man, and they have a son and daughter. Henrietta is the wife of Henry Sehlmeyer, living at Sylvania near Toledo, and they have three sons and one daughter. Anna is the wife of William Dannenberg, a farmer in Smith County, Kansas, and they have a son and daughter. John W. Tietjens grew up in Germany, gained his education there, and at the age of eighteen, in 1868, took passage on a sailing vessel at Bremen and some weeks later landed in Baltimore. From there he came west to Napoleon, where he arrived an absolute stranger. He found employment as a laborer and by thrift and economy accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to engage in business for himself. He was for years regarded as one of the most successful business men of Napoleon. At Napoleon in 1874 he married Miss Dora Ditmer, who was born in Hanover, Germany, December 8, 1855, a daughter of John and Maria (Meier) Ditmer, who spent their lives in the Kingdom of Hanover. Mrs. Tietjens first met her husband in Napoleon, having come to the United States several years prior to her marriage. Mr. Tietjens was an active member of the Lutheran Church, as is also his wife, and he was affiliated with the Elks Lodge, served as an alderman of the city, and in politics was a democrat. They had three children : Lulu, Otto and Lillian. Lulu is the wife of Herman Spengler, who is engaged in the monument business at Napoleon, and their daughter Constance is now a high school pupil. Lillian is the wife of Edward Blitz, and they live in Toledo. Otto P. Tietjens is a young man of liberal education, and has shown great capacity for business. He attended the public schools of Napoleon, graduated from high school and in 1904 graduated from the Ohio State University. Later he became associated with his father in business, and in 1913 became active manager of the brewery and a partner in the company. He married Corine Orwig, who is a native daughter of Napoleon, where she was reared and educated, and she also attended a music conservatory at Cincinnati. Her father, Luther L. Orwig, is editor of the Northwest News, the oldest newspaper in Henry County. Mr. and Mrs. Otto Tietjens have two children, Norman 0. and Bruce E., both in school. Otto is affiliated with Napoleon Lodge No. 929 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in politics is a democrat. Mr. John W. Tietjens passed away on April 7, 1916, at the age of sixty-six years, and was buried in Napoleon Cemetery. J. FRED BUSCH. Among the best known and most comfortably circumstanced of the retired farmers of Henry County, is J. Fred Busch, now a resident of Napoleon. He is one of the fortunate few representing the agricultural element of the county whose diligent exertions and systematic husbandry, through years of persevering toil, have enabled him, while still within the limit of life's meridian, to enjoy the rewards of unremitting industry under conditions of sound health, contentment and freedom from care. To all the gratification attending such conditions Mr. Busch is richly entitled by the meritorious strivings of his active career. Mr. Busch was born in Hesse, Germany, January 29, 1852, a son of John and Caroline (Weakhart) Busch, natives also of that province. His grandparents. on both sides were German farmers and innkeepers before the day of railroads, and passed active and contented lives in the land of their birth, all dying in the faith of the German Reformed Church, of which they had been devoted HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1179 members. The parents of Mr. Busch were born in the old village of Hemma, about the year 1830, and there grew up and were married. After the birth of three children, J. Fred, William and Edwin, the family left Bremen in 1861 on a mail boat, and fourteen days later landed at New York City, in early August. It had been the intention of Mr. Busch to locate in Missouri, but the Civil war had come on and conditions in Missouri were in such a disturbed state that he heeded the advice of a German stranger and brought his family to Henry County, Ohio. Here he purchased eighty acres of land located four miles in the heart of the woods, in section 6, Monroe Township, where he erected a hewed log house. The land was drained by School Creek, and Mr. and Mrs. Busch started at once to develop a farm and form a home, but the father did not live to see his ambitions realized, for his death occurred in 1867, when he was but thirty-seven years of age. Beside the three boys born in Germany, there was another son, John, born in this country, and several others who had died in infancy. Mrs. Busch later married Christ Busch, who, although of the same name and from the same province in Germany, was not related. He had beer married before, but had lost his wife, who died without issue in Monroe Township some time previous. Mr. and Mrs. Busch became the parents of two sons : Henry and George both of whom are now married and engaged in farming in Monroe Township. Christ Busch and his wife. passed the remainder of their lives in Monroe Township, he dying at the age of seventy-three years and she when seventy-one years old. They were faithful members of the German Reformed Church, and in politics Mr. Busch was a democrat. They were known throughout their community as honest, hard-working, God-fearing people, who won respect and esteem by their straightforward lives, their charity, and their kindness to their' neighbors. J. Fred Busch grew up on the old home farm, and was given a thorough training in all matters that pertained to the making of a successful agriculturist. He attended the district school during the winter months, but much of his education came in the school of hard work and experience. When he attained years of maturity, he purchased the homestead farm, which he greatly improved, adding to its equipment and stock, and erecting a ten-room residence, and a 40x90 feet stock and grain barn. There he continued for many years to be engaged in raising large crops of wheat, oats and corn, also breeding and growing horses, sheep, cattle and hogs. His keen business sense and foresight enabled: him to find a good market for his produce and stock, and from time to time he invested in more land, until he is now the owner of 232 acres, all in a high state of cultivation, ninety-one acres being located in Flat Rock Township and the remainder in Monroe Township. In 1909 he retired from active pursuits, and, moving to Napoleon, erected a modern seven-room residence just off Maumee Avenue, where he has since maintained the family home. He still manages his property and supervises the operations thereon. Mr. Busch is known as one of his town's progressive citizens and one who can be counted upon to support any worthy movement. He is a democrat in his political allegiance,.and while not an office seeker takes a lively interest in affairs that affect his community. With Mrs. Busch and the members of their family, he belongs to the German Reformed church. Mr. Busch was married in Flat Rock Township, Henry County, to Miss Elizabeth Knipp, who was born in that township, April 29, 1853, and there reared and educated. She is a daughter of John and Susanna (Brick) Knipp, the former a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and the latter of Prussia. John Knipp was nine years of age and his wife seven when they were brought to the United States by their respective parents, the former family being sixty-three days and the latter sixty-one days in making the journey in sailing vessels. These families located on wild farms in Crawford County, Ohio, and there the elder Bricks and Knipps died in advanced age and in the faith of the German Evangelical Church. The male members of the family were all democrats. John Knipp and Susan Brick were married in Crawford County, and there two children were born to them : George, who died young; and Fred, who died after his mother in Flat Rock Township. After the parents removed to Flat Rock Township the following children were born : John, who is a retired farmer of Holgate, Henry County ; Henry, who has been twice married and is now a widower of Sandusky ; and Mrs. Busch. On coming to Flat Rock Township! Mr. and Mrs. Knipp settled on a wild farm, which they developed and improved and where they 1180 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO resided until the death of Mr. Knipp, in 1891, when he was past seventy-two years of age. Later Mrs. Knipp went to live with her son, John, at Holgate, and there her death occurred in the fall of 1913. This remarkable old lady, although ninety-three years of age, had the use of her faculties up to the last, and until almost the day of her death her mind remained clear and unclouded. Both she and her husband were devout members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Knipp, who was an industrious man of great integrity, was a lifelong democrat, and held a number of local offices, the duties of which he discharged faithfully and capably. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.. Busch : Millie, who is the wife of William Theild, proprietor of a grocery in Chicago, and has three children : Walter, Cora and an infant; Cora, who is the wife of Henry Hoff, a farmer of Monroe Township, and has a son : Willis; Noah, a farmer of Liberty Township, who married Maggie Fetter ; John, the second in order of birth, who is engaged in cultivating his father's farm in Flat Rock Township, married Lydia Hoff, of Monroe township, and has two sons: Arthur and Donald ; Vallie, who lives at home and is a clerk in a dry goods establishment at Napoleon; and Fred C., a farmer of Monroe Township, who married Clara Hooper, of Holgate, and has a daughter : Catherine. All of the children have been well educated, and all have lived to be a credit to their parents, to their training and to their community. CHRISTIAN GEARHART. Among the worthy pioneer residents of Henry. County, who by reason of long careers of industry, careful management, patient endurance and upright dealing, have richly earned the respite from toil which they are now enjoying in circumstances of ease and comfort, Christian Gearhart, of Napoleon, is one of the best known and most respected. Now that the period of his life has passed four score years, he is fortunate indeed in being able to look back over the past with a happy consciousness that he has faithfully discharged his duties in public and private relations and has done his full share in building up the most important interests and promoting the highest welfare of the locality with which he has been so long identified. Mr. Gearhart was born on a farm in Jackson Township, Crawford County, Ohio, December 14, 1834, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Weaver) Gearhart, natives of Wuertemberg, Germany, of an old and honored German Reformed family. The parents grew up in their native land, where they were married, and not long thereafter came to the United States. With John Gearhart came his brothers, Joseph, Christian, Jacob and George, and all arrived in this country after a trip of seven weeks across the ocean in a sailing vessel. From New York they made their way to Crawford County, Ohio, where each secured a farm from the Government in the wild country, located in log cabins, cleared up their properties, drained them from the swamps, reared families and died full of years and in comfortable circumstances. John Gearhart and his wife were typical representatives of that sturdy pioneer class which led the way for future generations. Honest, hard-working, industrious people, they labored faithfully to make a home for their children, and won .the respect and affection of their neighbors by their many admirable qualities of mind and heart. When past sixty years of age they left the old home farm to come to Napoleon, and here both passed away at the home of their son, Christian, the father being past seventy-five years, and the mother past sixty-five. They lie buried side by side in the Lutheran Cemetery at Napoleon. Their children were : Christian, George, Elizabeth and Jane, all of whom are still living, and all married and with families. Christian Gearhart grew up on his father's new farm in Crawford County, surrounded by the wilderness. He secured his education in the primitive schools of his day, and early learned the value of hard work and honesty in dealing with his fellows. On March 8, 1861, he was married to Elizabeth Sprow, who was born in Crawford County, Ohio, December 28, 1841, daughter of George and Mary (Patterson) Sprow, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania respectively. At an early day Mr. and Mrs. Sprow made their home in Crawford County, where they cleared a good farm from the wilderness and became prominent and highly respected people of their community. Mrs. Sprow died May 10, 1874, and her husband survived her only two days, both being past eighty years of age. They were faithful members of the German Reformed Church. Several years after their marriage, in 1863, Mr. and Mrs. Gearhart came to Henry County and settled in section eight, Monroe Township, where Mr. Gearhart secured eighty acres HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1181 of unbroken land. On this he erected a rude log cabin, with a window on the end and side, and covered with clapboards. In this primitive home they settled down to life, surrounded with various wild animals, and with only the barest necessities of existence to be secured. Mr. Gearhart broke out a small piece of his property during his first year, and planted some truck, but his growing family had little trouble in disposing of all that he could raise, and the next ten years of his life were ones filled with unremitting labor. However, his industry and preseverance were eventually rewarded, for by the end of that time he had his farm under a good state of cultivation and was able to sell out at a handsome figure. With the proceeds of this sale he purchased another farm, but shortly became convinced that there were greater opportunities. for him in mercantile lines, and in 1873 took up his residence at Napoleon, where for a few years he was engaged in business in partnership with James McCaw. When he dissolved partnership with Mr. McCaw, Mr. Gearhart began operations' on his own account on the South Side. He began his enterprise in a small way, but his business soon developed to such an extent that he was obliged to seek larger quarters and accordingly purchased the store on the southwest corner of Maumee Street, South Side, where he continued in business until the death of his wife, April 16, 1874. At that time he returned to Crawford County for a short stay, but soon came back to Napoleon and once more entered business, continuing therein until 1890. In that year he retired from active participation in business affairs, and since then has taken care of the rentals from his stores, his residence, and fifty-five acres of good land in Henry County. For many years he has resided with his daughter, at 143 West Maumee Street. The career of Mr. Gearhart has been characterized by industry and economy, and by well directed interest in affairs which have contributed to the welfare of the community. He is a democrat in public affairs, but has never allowed politics to interfere with his other interests.. During the lifetime of his wife he was a member of the German Reformed Church, to which she belonged, but since her death has been affiliated with the Presbyterian Church: Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gearhart, of whom two sons and one daughter died young. Those now living are as follows : Carrie A., now the wife of Allen Hollinger, of Michigan, living with Mr. Gearhart at Napoleon, has one son by her former marriage to Fred Horning, Carl, who married Josephine Young and has a daughter, Martha A. ; Kate, who is the wife of Richard Horn, and has five children : Frank, Bertha, Lulu, Earl and Raymond ; Ella, who married first Peter Shiley, now deceased, by whom she had four children : Emma, Walter, Carl and Alice, and now the wife of Gottlieb Hess ; and Tillie, who is the wife of Jay J. Woodman, a carpenter of South Napoleon, and has two children, Sarah and Kennison. PORTER Z. BLUE. Of the men who have made farming and the management of land and its resources their chief business in life, undoubtedly one of the most successful in Northwest Ohio is Porter Z. Blue, who is now living retired at his beautiful home at 849 Scott Street in Napoleon. His capacity for making a farm productive and profitable seems almost remarkable to his friends and associates, and he has also shown great judgment in investing in land. His home has been in Napoleon since May 16, 1911, at which date he moved from his fine farm in Marion Township of Henry County. He was born in Shelby County, Ohio, September 8, 1847, and was fourteen years of age when his parents moved to Henry County. He is a son of Morgan and Mary M. (Thompson) Blue, both natives of Ohio. His father was born at Troy, Ohio, August 1, 1824, and died April 28, 1897, and his mother was born in Shelby County, Ohio, September 14, 1823, and died February 9, 1908. The grandfather was Michael Blue, a native of Pennsylvania, who moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, when a young man and there met and married Nancy Chaney, a sister of former Congressman John Chaney. She was a native of Virginia. Michael Blue after his marriage moved to Miami County and bought sixty acres where the City of Troy now stands, but when he was offered $60 an acre for his place he thought it wise to accept that price rather than wait for a rise in value on account of the growing up of the city, and with the purchase price he bought a farm not far from Sidney, in Shelby County. Morgan Blue and wife lived in Shelby County until eight of their nine children were born, and in 1861 moved to Henry County, cutting a way through the woods three miles into Marion Township. There they began 1182 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO life in a log cabin home twenty-two feet square. This house was completely surrounded by a swamp, and there were large numbers of porcupines who inhabited this swamp. Morgan Blue was a man of great industry and with the assistance of his children he effected a marvelous transformation in that part of the country which he occupied. He drained his land and added to his possessions until his 900 acres became the finest land in the state, and in recent years a price of $210 an acre has been refused for some of that land. It was an extensive system of drainage that made the land a garden spot and the large estate was divided up into smaller farms for his eleven children. Each of the farms carved from the original estate is now improved with farm buildings, and the entire lot represents the contribution of the Blue family to the progressive industry of Northwestern Ohio. Both parents attended the Primitive Baptist Church, of which the mother was a member. Morgan Blue was a democrat, and twice served as land appraiser for Henry County and for a number of years was trustee of Marion Township. Of his eleven children all are still living and all are married and they all have fine farm homes and few families in Northwest Ohio can show such a net aggregate of achievements. Porter Z. Blue grew up on the old home farm in Henry County, and his first purchase of land was eighty acres. After keeping it for a time he sold it at double the price he had paid, and he made several other purchases of land that were equally profitable. Later he bought 120 acres for his own home, and this he has improved with a set of farm buildings hardly equalled in that section of the county. He increased the area of his holdings until his ownership now extends to 355 acres of fertile and well improved farm lands, of which his wife is the owner of 100 acres, and to this he gave his active management until a few years ago when he retired and moved into Napoleon. Mr. Blue is a life member of the Farmers' Congress of the United States. There is but one organization in each state and Mr. Blue was appointed to his membership by Governor Harmon. Mr. Blue is a man of remarkable intellect, of tenacious memory, and has always wielded more than an average individual influence in his community. He has kept himself well posted on current events, and is one of the few men who have succeeded in keeping a diary since early manhood to the present, his daily record now covering events in his own career and reflecting the progress of the outside world for fully half a century. Mr. Blue married for his first wife Elizabeth Catherine Hayes, who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, and who died in 1882, five years after her marriage. She was survived by two children : Oliver, born February 16, 1879, manages one of his father's farms in Marion Township in section 13, and married Hattie Punches. Myrtle, the daughter, is the wife of Martin H. Spangler of Albion, a former prosecuting attorney and an able lawyer ; they have two children, Virginia M. and Walter B. For his second wife Mr. Blue married in Shelby County Jennie Staley, daughter of Nicholas Staley. Mrs. Blue was born and reared in Shelby County. Her first child, Ora Ethel, was born August 29, 1884, and is the wife of George McKee, formerly of Pennsylvania and now bookkeeper for the Commercial State Bank at Napoleon ; their two children are named Kearn P. and Vincent K. Ernest L. was born September 5, 1886, and like his sister Ora completed his education in the Ohio Northern University at Ada; he is now living on his father's homestead. DANIEL A. HECKLER iS proprietor of Napoleon's chief establishment for the wholesale dealing in and manufacture of ice cream. This plant is located on Front Street, where he established himself in the business on a small scale in 1907, and by looking well after the quality of his output and carefully developing his business he now has a trade extending over three or four counties in that part of Northwest Ohio. Its annual output is between 20,000 and 30,000 gallons, and his motto has always been quality first. Several years ago he introduced a power service in the business, including a fifteen horse power engine and refrigerator with a capacity of six tons per day. His success as a progressive young business man is the more interesting because he came to Napoleon a green country boy, and has made himself a place among the business leaders. For six years he also conducted a candy factory. Mr. Heckler came to Napoleon from a farm in Harrison Township of Henry County, where he was born March 25, 1874, and where he was reared and educated, his early training being farming pursuits until he moved to Napoleon. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1183 His parents, Peter and Barbara (Peifer) Heckler, were both natives of Hanover, Germany, where their respective parents died. Peter Heckler was the only one of his family to come to the United States, while his wife came with a brother and sister. They met and married in Richland County, Ohio, and a few years later moved to a farm in Harrison Township of Henry County, where they made many improvements and provided well for their family. They lived there forty years until the death of Mrs. Peter Heckler in February, 1905, at the age of sixty-seven. He later lived at the home of his son Daniel in Napoleon until his death on February 1, 1913. Both parents were church members, the father a Lutheran and the mother an Evangelical, and in politics he was a democrat. In their family were five sons and four daughters. A pair of twins died in infancy and three sons and three daughters grew to maturity. Of the sons William and John died as bachelors. Daniel A. Heckler married a neighbor girl in Harrison Township, Miss May Bost, who was born and reared in Henry County, a daughter of Frank and Sophronia (Wells) Bost. They were both natives of Ohio, where they married and where they followed farming until they moved to Napoleon. Her father died in Napoleon in February, 1914, and his widow now lives there at the age of fifty-eight. The Bost family were members of the Evangelical Church, but later joined the Methodist denomination. Frank Bost was a democrat. Mrs. Heckler's two brothers and sister are all married. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Heckler are Grant, aged nineteen, a graduate of the local high school and now a student of pharmacy, and Harry , aged sixteen, who is still attending the city high school. Mr. and Mrs. Heckler attend the Presbyterian Church and politically he is a democrat and has filled all the offices in the subordinate lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of the Encampment. CHARLES FRANCIS MEDARIS. Almost the entire active career of Mr. Medaris, since attending his majority, has been spent with The Union Central Life of Cincinnati, the largest financial corporation of Ohio. For many years his field of operations has been in Northwest Ohio, and he is now financial correspondent with offices in the Gardner Building at Toledo. After entering the service of this corporation about twenty years ago he was in the home office at Cincinnati six years, and was then transferred to Ottawa, Ohio, where he remained until moving to Toledo in August, 1910. For the past fourteen years he has beep. financial correspondent in Northwestern Ohio, with jurisdiction over twenty-six counties in that quarter of the state. As the principal financial institution of Ohio something should be said concerning The Union Central Life, and some of the facts drawn from a recent statement are given here concisely and in abbreviated form. The statement shows total assets of $109,385,000 ; liabilities, including policy holders reserve, special fund, policy holders funds, dividends, policy claims and other liabilities, $103,210,000 ; the surplus and capital stock $6,175,000. The total receipts for the year 1915 were nearly $22,000,000 ; payments to policy holders during the year, $12,500,000'; excess of receipts over all other disbursements, $5,250,000. Since January 1, 1915, .Mr. Medaris has also been Toledo representative for The United States Mortgage & Trust Company. His position in public affairs has been won by close concentration of attention to one line, and by loyal service with one corporation. However, he now has other interests both in a business and 'civic and social direction. He is a director of The Guardian Trust & Savings Bank of Toledo, is a democrat in politics, and has long been identified with Masonry, having demitted from the lodge at Ottawa and becoming a charter member of Barton Smith Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons at Toledo, where he is also affiliated with Fort Meigs Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and St. Omar Commandery, Knights Templar. He finds his recreation principally in golf and motoring, is a member of the Inverness Golf Club, the Toledo Automobile Club, and belongs to the Toledo Commerce Club and the First Congregational Church. Charles Francis Medaris was born at Owensville, Clermont County, Ohio, February 21, 1872. His parents were Dr. Leonidas H. and Ella (Roudebush) Medaris. They were also natives of Clermont County. His father was a very capable physician and surgeon, a graduate of the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati and of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. Doctor Medaris, when seventeen years of age, enlisted for the 100 days' service in the Civil war, going out as a 1184 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO drummer boy with the One Hundred and Fifty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was engaged in a large practice at Owensville until 1893, and then removed to a larger field at Cincinnati, where he was one of the city's able physicians until his death* on June 18, 1898. The mother is now living with her daughter, Mrs. George Herbert Charles, at Middletown. Ohio. Doctor Medaris was a democrat, and both he and his wife were loyal workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church. All their five children were born at Owensville, where Doctor Medaris was in active practice for about a quarter of a century. Of the two daughters and three sons, one daughter died in infancy and the other four are still living : Charles F. ; William R., an attorney at Chicago, Illinois; Dale R., of Cleveland ; and Alice C., wife of George Herbert Charls, now sales manager and vice president of The American Rolling Mill Company at Middletown, Ohio. Charles Francis Medaris graduated from the high school at Batavia, Ohio, with the class of 1890, and followed that with a business course in the Cincinnati Business College. At Cincinnati, October 30, 1895, he married Miss Lida Sutherland, daughter of Rev. William H. and Margaret (Gilfillan) Sutherland. Her father was of Scotch descent and her mother of Scotch-Irish lineage. Reverend Mr. Sutherland was born in Washington, D. C. in 1819, came when a young man to Springfield, Ohio, and was one of the veritable pioneers in the Methodist ministry with the Cincinnati Conference, of which he was a member for sixty-five years. In the early days he rode circuit in Ohio, carrying the message of the Gospel to many isolated communities. He died at the age of eighty-nine at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Medaris, at Ottawa in August, 1908, while his widow passed away at the Medaris home in Toledo, March 11, 1913. When Mrs. Medaris' father came to Ohio there was ohly one railroad in the state, a part of what is now the Pennsylvania system. Mrs. Medaris was born at Urbana, Ohio, where her father was in the ministry at the time, and she completed her education in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. She is active in club circles at Toledo, and is the mother of two vigorous young sons. Charles Leonidas, who was born at Wyoming, a suburb of Cincinnati, graduated from the Scott High School of Toledo with the class of 1915, and is now attending the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware. Robert Sutherland, the second son, was born at Toledo in 1914. CAPT. CHARLES E. REYNOLDS has for fully half a century been closely identified with the business and civic interests of Napoleon and Henry County. He is an honored survivor of the great Civil war, in which he served fully 31/2 years, a large part of the time being a prisoner at Libby and Andersonville, and for eleven years he was captain of a company of state militia, a service that has brought him the familiar title of Captain Reynolds. Before coming to Ohio his family had lived for several generations in New York State, but the ancestral line goes back to Scotland. They were a farming class of people, and his grandparents spent all their lives in New York State, and were long lived and hardy people. Captain Reynolds' father Elijah was born in the vicinity of Seneca Falls, New York, February 2, 1804, grew up there and became manager of some cotton mills. He also lived for a time in Vermont and in South Carolina, but subsequently located' at Fulton, New York, and married there Abbie S. Tyler. She was born in that locality of New York State in 1822, and was a sister of Judge Ransom Tyler, who was a prominent attorney and a writer of law books. Mrs. Reynolds died at Napoleon, Ohio, in 1855 at the age of thirty-three. She was reared in the Presbyterian Church, but afterwards joined the Episcopal denomination. After his marriage Elijah Reynolds moved to the Town of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and took charge of a new cotton mill there. It was at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, that Capt. Charles E. Reynolds was born, June 15, 1844. There was a still older child, Helen, who is now living in Chicago, widow of Dr. R. B. Brown. Doctor Brown was a prominent physician and for many years was surgeon for the St. Paul Railway and also the Northwestern Railway Company at Milwaukee. Mrs. Brown has two sons and a daughter still living. In 1854 Elijah Reynolds brought his family to Ohio, and located at Napoleon, where he engaged in the grocery business, and before and during the Civil war he was deputy and acting postmaster. After the war he retired from all business activities and died July 6, 1886. He was a strong whig and afterwards a republican, and while not a church member HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1185 was a moral, upright man, highly respected and greatly beloved by his fellow townsmen. Captain Reynolds and his sister, Helen Brown, are the only ones of the family now living. His brother Ransom died in young manhood while Captain Reynolds was in the war. Thus Captain Reynolds is the only son still living, and his father was an only son, and as the captain has no surviving son he is the last to bear the name of this branch of the Reynolds family. He was about ten years of age when he came to Napoleon, and he grew up in that town, attended the public schools, and was planning a college career when the war came on. Then, in January, 1862, he enlisted from Napoleon in Company F of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Infantry, commanded by Captain Bowen and Harry Steedman, colonel. He went with his command to Camp Chase and three months later was sent to Fort Donelson, though he was not actively engaged in the siege of that stronghold. He was afterwards at Pittsburg Landing, Iuka, Corinth and Memphis, and really received his baptism of fire at Little Hatchee River. Later he was promotecl to quartermaster sergeant, and that was his rank in service until the end of the war. While the siege of Vicksburg was still in progress, in May, 1863, Captain Reynolds was captured near Port Clinton, Mississippi, by Harvey scouts, and was sent as a prisoner to Libby prison and spent three months in that notorious warehouse. He was then paroled and sent to Camp Chase, was exchanged, and rejoined his regiment. Three months later he was again captured near Port Clinton, Mississippi, by the same company, just after the battle of Jackson, and this time he was sent to Andersonville, and was held a prisoner in that stockade, where so many Federals died of ill treatment and exposure, for a little more than a year. He was paroled and exchanged, was sent to St. Louis, and from there to Camp Chase, and received his honorable discharge June 16, 1865, about 31/2 years after his first enlistment. His honorable discharge was granted him the day following his twenty-first birthday. Returning to Napoleon, the young veteran soon found ample opportunity for the employment of his energies, and has lived in that one community ever since, most of the time having been engaged in the insurance and real estate business. After his return from the army he was appointed inspector of the United States Revenue District under the administration of President Johnson, and was also gauger for the distillers of the district. For ten years he served as deputy county. auditor. Largely due to his mother's teaching he has been a democrat all his active career, and while he has seldom sought official honors for himself he has been loyal and hardworking in the interests of his friends. For about twenty-five years he served as a member of the Union School Board and a member of the high school examiners. For ten years he served as clerk of Napoleon Township. Captain Reynolds is a member of Choat Post No. 66, Grand Army of the Republic, and for a number of years was its commander and has always interested himself in behalf of the Grand Army organization. He is affiliated with the Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter of Masonry at Napoleon and for more than forty years has been a member of Toledo Knight Templar Commandery. He was also superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday school for twenty-five years. At Napoleon Captain Reynolds married Sarah Parker. She was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, March 2, 1846, and died at her home in Napoleon March 10, 1902. For some years before her marriage she was connected with the Napoleon schools as a teacher and throughout her life she was active in the Presbyterian Church. Her father, James H. Parker, took a leading part in the organization of the Presbyterian Church at Napoleon, was an elder therein and served as first clerk of the first session. James A. Parker was a prominent lawyer of Henry County, served as prosecuting attorney, and for many years as justice of the peace, holding the latter office when it was one of considerable dignity and importance. 'He was a very decided democrat. While he was prosecuting attorney he tried the first murder case in Henry County in which the defendant was convicted and hanged, and it was a notable case arousing much prejudice and factional hostility, and Mr. Parker's life was frequently threatened. He died in Illinois while temporarily absent from Napoleon, and at that time was past seventy. He is buried in the Glenwood Cemetery at Napoleon beside his wife, whose maiden name was Rachel A. Langley. Miss Langley was from Virginia and was an F. F. V. She lived to be ninety years of age and was one of the splendid Christian women of her community, and was greatly beloved and esteemed. 1186 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Captain and Mrs. Reynolds had two children. Their son Charles E. died at the age of twelve on April 24, 1881. The only daughter, Jeanne E., was born and educated in Napoleon, and for a number of years was a successful teacher. Since the death of her mother she has superintended the management of her father's household and is also one of the leading club women of Henry County, being active in the S. S. C. and the L. L. clubs at Napoleon. GEORGE BOWERMAN. Now living retired from the active labors and 'responsibilities that long marked a career of signal industry and worthy achievement, Mr. Bowerman finds himself compassed with the gracious conditions and influences that should consistently crown such a career, and he takes just pride in claiming the old Buckeye State as the place of his nativity and as the stage on which he has played a successful role as an agriculturist and as a loyal and appreciative citizen. He is a scion of a staunch old German family that was founded in Pennsylvania in an early day and his father was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, in which he was a representative of the State of Pennsylvania, that commonwealth having continued as his place of residence until his death, and both he and his wife, whose maiden name was Diehl, were well advanced in years at the time of their death. John and Mary B. (Diehl) Bowerman, parents of the subject of this review, were born in Pennsylvania in, the first decade of the nineteenth century and they were reared and educated under the conditions of the pioneer period in the history of the old Keystone State, where their marriage was solemnized. They finally removed to the State of New York; and in the early '30s they came to Ohio and established their home in Seneca County, the overland journey from New York State having been made with an old gray mare and a small wagon. John Bowerman entered claim to a tract of Government land in Adams Township, Seneca County, and in the midst of the forest wilds he erected for a home a rude log house of the true pioneer type. In the primitive domicile they reared their children and in the same the devoted wife and mother died in the year 1846, at which time she was about forty-five years of age. She was a devout member of the Methodist Church and the final words uttered by her on her deathbed were those of a fervent prayer. . Of the twelve children of this union George, of this sketch, is the elder of the two survivors, and the other is Amos, who served with honor as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war and who now resides at Lafayette, Indiana, his family comprising several children. John Bowerman eventually contracted a second marriage, and he passed the closing years of his life on his farm near Ligonier, Indiana, where he died when about seventy-five years of age, his second wife having survived him by several years and both having been specially active and zealous members of the United Brethren Church ; they had no children. On the old homestead farm in Beaver Creek Township, Seneca County, Ohio, the birthplace of George Bowerman was the pioneer, log house of which mention has just been made, and the date of his nativity was March 18, 1837. He was there reared under the invigorating discipline of a farm that was in the process of reclamation and development, and thus he learned the art of agriculture at first hand, the while his educational advantages were those afforded in the pioneer schools of the locality and period. As a young man he wedded Miss Adelia Bosombork, a young woman who likewise was born and reared in Seneca County and who was two years his junior. Her death occurred about five years subsequently to her marriage and she was survived by one son, Frank, who was born in 1860, and who now occupies and has the active supervision of his father's old homestead farm in Harrison Township, Henry County, his father now being a resident of Napoleon, the county seat. Frank Bowerman married Miss Caroline Kitter, and of their six children the eldest, Forrest, met an accidental death, and Mildred died in childhood. Of the four surviving children the eldest is Myrtle, who is the wife of Henry Luepker, and who has one child, Geraldine. David, who id a prosperous farmer in. Liberty Township, married Miss Agnes Dowd. George now holds a position in the City of Toledo, and Charles remains at the parental home, all of the children having been afforded the advantages of the public schools, including the high school at Napoleon: On the 6th of June, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of George Bowerman to Miss Mary M. Tressler, and their devoted companionship has since continued during a period of more than half a century. Mrs. Bowerman was born in Tuscarawas Township, Stark County, Ohio, on the 19th of October, 1847, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1187 and in the following year her parents removed to Henry County and established their home on a pioneer farm near Napoleon, the land having been .little more than a forest wilderness at the time. She is a daughter of William A. and Nancy Ann (Elliott) Tressler, both natives of Pennsylvania, the father having been of German and the mother of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Henry and Margaret (Jordan) Tressler, the parents of William A., removed from Maryland to Ohio in an early day and became pioneer settlers in Stark County, where they passed the remainder of their lives, both having been strict members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Tressler having served as a soldier in the War of 1812. William Elliott, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Bowerman, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio and became an early settler in Stark County, where he developed a fine farm, the value of the land having later been found to be exceptional, as it gave excellent returns in the mining of coal. William Elliott was twice married and reared children by both unions. After his removal to Henry County William A. Tressler not only became a successful and representative farmer but he also owned and operated a sawmill for a number of years. He rose to prominence as one bf the influential men of the county, served two terms as county treasurer, represented his district in the State Senate for two terms, and thereafter held for several years the office of mayor of Napoleon, his final official service having been in the position of justice of the peace. He passed the closing years of his long and useful life in the home of his daughter, Mary M., wife of the subject of this review, and was eighty-five years of age at the time of his death, his birth having occurred in 1824 and his marriage having been solemnized in Stark County, Ohio, his wife having passed to eternal rest in 1881, at the age of fifty-nine years, and both having been earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a man of strong political convictions and during his entire mature life he was an unfaltering and effective advocate of the principles of the democratic party. Of the six children five attained to maturity, married and reared children, and of the number Mrs. Bowerman is now the only survivor. At the time of his second marriage Mr. Bowerman found his resources summed up only in his personal energy and ambition, and in the earnest sympathy and helpfulness of his young wife. He had become a skillful workman at the blacksmith's trade, and by the great demand placed upon his services in this line during the progress of the Civil war he accumulated sufficient money to enable him to purchase a farm. He finally bought 170 acres of the splendidly fertile land of Harrison Township and there for many years he continued his successful activities as an agriculturist and as a raiser of fine live stock, including registered Jersey cattle. He made a specialty of raising standard-bred horses, and in this field of enterprise he gained a reputation that far transcended local limitations. On his farm were bred the splendid horses known as "Atlantic King," "Mary Centlever," and two to which were given the name of "Frank Bogash." The second horse of the name last mentioned made a turf record of 2 1/4 miles, and other horses from the Bowerman farm came into high repute on the turf and in breeding enterprise. Mr. Bowerman continued to reside on his finely improved farm until about the year 1900, since which time he has lived virtually retired in the attractive little City of Napoleon. Here he purchased seven acres of land on Woodlawn Avenue, on which thoroughfare his fine modern home is situated, his wife being its gracious and popular chatelaine and having given to it a reputation for generous hospitality. They became the parents of four children : Minnie B., William A., George and Georgiana, all of whom died in early childhood except Georgiana, who passed away when she was ten years of age. Mrs. Bowerman has been an active and earnest member of the Presbyterian Church since she was twenty years of age, and her husband has manifested similar continuity of political faith, as a staunch supporter of the cause of the democratic party. They are well known and highly honored pioneer citizens of Henry County and it is gratifying to accord to them merited recognition in this history. HARMON C. GATHMANN. A former citizen of Napoleon whose life should be remembered in connection with his excellent business services and his substantial qualities of citizenship was Harmon C. Gathmann, who came to America from Germany a poor boy, and by the exercise of sound intelligence and continued industry built up a large estate, the fruits of which his widow, Mrs. Gathmann, now enjoys. He was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, October 24, 1861, and was in his 1188 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO forty-sixth year when he died at his home at 124 West Clinton Street in Napoleon April 20, 1907. His father, Harmon C. Gathmann Sr., spent his life as a farmer in Hanover. His first wife, the mother of Harmon C. Gathmann, died when the latter was a child, and he afterwards married a second time. Only part of his youth did Harmon C. Gathmann spend in Germany. He received his education there, and largely to avoid the military service required of all German youth he came to America. After landing in New York City he came on West as far as Henry County, Ohio, and there found employment on a farm in Napoleon Township. Though ignorant of the American language and ways and customs he quickly made himself a master of circumstances, overcame his handicap, and by hard work saved a small capital which enabled him to start for himself. About 1888 he moved into Napoleon and established a small stock of groceries on the west side of West Perry Street. He prospered, and in 1892 bought a building on the east side of Perry Street, where for the next fifteen years he carried on a large and profitable business and was in the high tide of success when death came to him. His substantial competence was due not only to his work as a merchant but also to his wise investments. As soon as he had any surplus he began investing in property, both business and residence, and he also bought farm lands, and at his death left as part of his estate a fine place of 220 acres in Henry County. He also built a substantial home at 124 West Clinton Street, where Mrs. Gathmann now lives. Politically he was identified with the democratic party, and was a member of the German Lutheran Church. In 1888 at the home of the bride in Napoleon Township, he married Miss Mary Lange. She was born in that township September 20, 1870, was reared and educated there, and has proved a most capable wife and mother. Her parents were Fred and Mary (Schulte) Lange, her father a native of Hanover and her mother born near Preisminden, Prussia. Both came to this country alone, and in Henry County met and married, starting out as farmers. Fred Lange unfortunately met an accident, being injured by a horse, and as the result of an amputation of a leg he died July 14, 1870, before Mrs. Gathmann was born. He was then in the prime of life. He was a democrat and a Lutheran. His widow, Mrs. Lange, survived him and died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Gathmann, May 15; 1896, aged sixty-seven years three months and twelve days. She was also a member of the Lutheran Church. She possessed many splendid qualities as a woman, carefully reared and trained her children. There were six in her family, and the three still living besides Mrs. Gathmann are : Henry, a farmer on the old homestead, who has seven children, four sons and two daughters still living ; Fred, a retired farmer at Napoleon, and father of three sons; Sophia, wife of Henry Arps, living at Napoleon, and the parents of three sons and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Gathmann had two children. The daughter, Alma, now twenty-six years of age, completed her education in the Napoleon High School, and is now the wife of George Enz of Henry County. The son, Harmon F., who was born November 14, 1893, was also educated in the public schools of Napoleon and at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is now a clerk for his father-in-law at Payne, Ohio ; he married Vivian Dyerman of Paulding County, and they have one child, DeArmand. Mrs. Gathmann and family are all members of the Lutheran Church, while the son is an official member of the Masonic Lodge at Payne. HENRY D. SCHULTY, who with his good wife is now enjoying the comforts of retirement in their pleasant home at Napoleon, is a giant physically and his mental and moral stature is not less than that with which his body has been endowed. It was his physical vigor which in the early days enabled him to perform unusual tasks and lay the foundation for the substantial competence he now enjoys. Along with material success he had accumulated a wealth of esteem among all who know him. While Mr. Schulty is upwards of sixty he as well as his wife still retain perfect health, and he is able to do now more than many men years his junior. The splendid characteristics of his physical manhood are inherited from his forebears. Henry D. Schulty was born in Napoleon Township of Henry County March 22, 1859, a son of Henry P. and Mary Schnitke Schulty. Both parents were born in Pruesminden, Germany, and all the older members were of the same physical stamina and vigor as characterize Henry D. Schulty. These characteristics were especially notable on the maternal side, and many of the Schnitke family stood more than six feet high and few HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1189 of them weighed less than 250 pounds. They were as athletic and agile as they were large. Mr. Schulty's paternal grandparents spent all their lives in Germany, and all the older stock went through the wars in which their country was engaged. Mr. Schulty's maternal grandmother came to the United States after the death of her husband. Henry P. Schulty and wife emigrated to the United States at the close of the decade of the '40s. Their passage was made on a sailing vessel, and after many weeks they arrived in New York City and came from there by canal and lake as far as Sandusky, Ohio. Henry Schulty worked for a time on Kelly's Island near Sandusky, and then moved to Henry County, Ohio. It was in Henry County that he met and married his wife. Starting out poor, they built a log cabin home not far from Napoleon, and by much hard and patient industry developed some fertile fields among the woods. They endured all the privations and limitations of pioneer life, and in time made a fine home and reared a splendid family of sons and daughters. The father died on the old homestead in 1887 at the age of sixty-four, while his widow spent her last years in the homes of her children in Napoleon and died in June, 1909, when nearly eighty years of age. Both parents took a very active and helpful part in organizing and building St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Henry County. From the founding of this church they were among its most liberal supporters and the father served as an official and for a number of years taught in the Sunday school. They did good both at home and throughout their neighborhood and were highly esteemed and useful citizens. Henry P. Schulty was a democrat in politics. The youngest son in a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, five of whom are still living and all married and have children except himself, Henry D. Schulty grew up on the old home farm and was reared and carefully "educated by his parents. When only a boy he could undertake and carry out the tasks usually assigned to a man, and his athletic prowess attracted considerable attention in the countryside. In his earlier days he was almost as swift on his feet as a horse. Thus he found it easy to take part in the hard work of clearing up the land, and he worked at home, developed a farm of his own comprising 240 acres, and helped others in similar tasks. Mr. Schulty occupied and followed farming on his old place until 1907, Vol. II-94 in which year he moved to Napoleon and bought and improved a good property at the corner of Main and Webster streets. There he and his wife have a fine nine-room house. Mr. Schulty was first married in Henry County to Christina Elling. She was born in Henry County in 1870 and died November 13, 1891, two years after her marriage, leaving no children. Her parents were German people, and her mother is still, living at Napoleon. On November 23, 1897, at Napoleon Mr. Schulty married Mrs. Phoebe (Seeling) Schroeder. She was born at Napoleon September 1, 1856, and was also of German parentage, her people having located in Henry County many years ago and her father was a stone mason. They were members of the Lutheran Church. Her parents being in modest circumstances, Mrs. Schulty at the age of nine years went out to work and paid her own way until she was married to Mr. Schroeder. He died two years after their marriage, being then in the prime of life. A special word of appreciation should be said of him, since he was a man of splendid character, a Lutheran in religion, was of German birth and parentage, and for a number of years taught school, enjoying the full esteem of all who knew him. Mr. and Mrs. Schulty have no children. Both are very active workers in St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and Mr. Schulty is one of the deacons and they identify themselves with all church affairs. He is a democrat in national politics and his support goes to everything that makes a better community life. Mr. Schulty was one of the founders and is still a director of the Napoleon Commercial State Bank. JOHN HENRY FREASE. Since May 1, 1880, John Henry Frease has been in the jewelry business at 721 North Ferry Street in Napoleon. He is one of the old and honored merchants of that city and for years the best trade in the city and surrounding country have gone to his establishment for the varied assortment of wares comprised in a jewelry stock. It is creditable alike to his business judgment and to his integrity as a merchant that he has thus been in business at one location for considerably more than a third of a century. The citizens of Napoleon have associated that location with a jewelry trade for an even longer period. Mr. Frease succeeded W. A. Goodell, who had founded the store 1190 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO about the close of the Civil war. Mr. Frease conducted the business alone until 1908, at which time he took in as a partner his nephew, Edwin Allen, and the name has since been Frease & Allen. Their store room is 22 by 70 feet, and is handsomely arranged and equipped for proper display and keeping of their large stock. Mr. Frease learned his trade as jeweler in Youngstown, .Ohio, under Walter G. Smith, and spent an apprenticeship of six years, from 1873 to 1879. Mr. Frease is not only one of the oldest merchants of Napoleon, but belongs to a family which has been identified with Henry County since pioneer times. He was born within five miles of the county seat on November 18, 1851, and grew up on a farm, gaining his education in the district schools, and remained at home until twenty-one, when he went to Youngstown to learn his trade. Mr. Frease bears the name of his two grandfathers. Both these grandfathers were splendid types of Middle West pioneers. His paternal grandfather, John Frease, was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, of North German ancestry, while the maternal grandfather, Henry Willard, was eight years of age when his parents emigrated from Switzerland and settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.. At a later date John Frease moved to Stark County, Ohio, while Henry Willard established a home in Tuscarawas County of that state. John Frease started a small store at what is now the Village of Wilmont in Stark County, while Henry Willard set up a mill in Tuscarawas County, the two establishments being not more than three miles apart. Thus the two families became neighbors and afterwards intermarried. John Frease removed from Wilmont to Henry County in 1843, and spent the rest of his days in Henry County. He was eighty-four years of age at the time of his death. Henry Willard late in life moved to Henry County, Ohio, and died at the home of his eldest daughter at the age of ninety-three. As a young man he had been noted as a hunter, and killed quantities of wild game in Pennsylvania. At one time he escaped from danger from a panther, only by building and keeping up a large fire at the foot of a tree. John Frease and Henry Willard were both active members of the whig party and later became republicans, and both were also of the Lutheran faith. George Frease, father of the Napoleon jeweler, was the eldest of twelve children, and was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 1812. At one time he served as captain of militia in Stark County, Ohio. He was well educated, became a surveyor, and was also a skilled blacksmith. After he came to Henry County he surveyed much land in this section of Ohio. George Frease married Elizabeth Willard, eldest daughter of Henry Willard. She was also born in 1812. A few years after their marriage they same to Henry County, in 1843, making the journey overland with teams and wagons, and establishing themselves on a tract of wild land in Napoleon Township. George Frease paid $2.50 an acre for land that is now worth many times more. His industry enabled him to clear up and develop a good farm, and on it he spent the rest of his useful days. He passed away in 1896, while his good wife died in 1877. They were well known among all the pioneers of Henry County, and were widely loved and respected for their many excellent qualities. They had no church affiliations and George Frease was an ardent republican and did much in local politics, though he belonged to the minority party. They were parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters. One son, Daniel Webster, served as a private throughout the war in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Infantry, and is still living at Napoleon. A daughter, Clarinda, is a widow living now in one of the western states, and has a son and two daughters. Clarissa died after her marriage, leaving two daughters and one son. Celesta died as the widow of Harry Allen, and left three sons, one of whom is Edwin F. Allen, the junior partner of Mr. Frease in the jewelry business; Cynthia married Joseph Allen and died leaving two daughters; Samantha is also deceased, and died as the wife of Louis Lay. Edwin F. Allen, partner of Mr. Frease, married Mertie Neff, and they have a daughter Drucilla, who recently, graduated from the Napoleon High School. Mrs. Mertie Allen has a sister Nettie, widow of Mr. Sikes, and she is now a clerk for the firm of Frease & Allen. John Henry Frease was the youngest of his parents' children. He has never married. He is a republican in politics, and was the first member elected to the city water board of Napoleon, and did much service in completing the water and electric light system. His partner, Mr. Allen, is now serving his second term as city treasurer. Mr. Frease is affiliated with the Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter of Ma- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1191 sons at Napoleon, with Defiance Knights Templar Commandery and with Zenobia Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Toledo. ERVIN M. DETRAY. Representing an old family of Northwest Ohio, Ervin M. DeTray grew up on a farm, but showed such an inclination as a boy for domestic animals, their handling and care, that he properly devoted his talent to the science of veterinary surgery, and now has a splendid practice and a fine animal hospital at Napoleon, where he has been located since 1909. It was in 1915 that he built his animal hospital in a building of cement block 40 by 60 feet. It represents the last thing in the way of a veterinary hospital, and he has complete equipment and appliances for the care and treatment of all classes of domestic animals, from a horse to a dog. There are four box stalls and half a dozen other stalls, but the central feature of the hospital is of course the large operating room, 25 by 25 feet, and fitted out with all the standard appliances and equipment necessary for successful work. Doctor DeTray 's practice as a veterinary extends not only over Henry County but also into Wood County. He is a graduate of the class of 1907 from Ontario Veterinarian College at Ontario,' Canada, one of the best schools of its kind in America and for many years its graduates have filled some of the best posts in their profession. Doctor DeTray did his first practice at Grand Rapids, Ohio, but two years later he moved to Napoleon. A native of Henry County, he was born at McClure August 31, 1882, had a high school education, began the study of veterinary surgery by correspondence, and then entered and finished a course at Ontario. His father, Isaac DeTray, has also been well known over Northwest Ohio as a veterinary surgeon, and he now lives at Pemberville in Wood County. He was born at McCutchenville, Ohio, in 1854. His father was Francis Freeman DeTray, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, and was also a veterinarian, so that three successive generations of the family have furnished members to this profession. The grandfather spent his life in Seneca County asixty-sevenre at the age of siktyseven. The grandfather of Francis F. DeTray was a Frenchman, came to America with General LaFayette during the Revolutionary War; and served as a commissary in LaFayette's army during the Revolution. The name in France was spelled de Estray. Isaac De-Tray was married in Seneca County to Miss Mary L. Pugh, who was born in Paulding County, Ohio. She died in Lucas County in 1896 at the early age of thirty-seven. Her father served as a soldier in the Civil war and while in the army contracted smallpox, on account of which he was furloughed home. At home his wife contracted the disease and soon died. He recovered and rejoined the army, but was killed in the battle of Gettysburg, and is buried among the soldier dead on that great battlefield. Mrs. Isaac DeTray's older sister was Mrs. Emma Ludwig, who died in 1897, leaving a family of sons and daughters. Ervin M. DeTray was the second son and child in the family of eight, two of whom died in infancy, while the others are all living and all married except one. Winfield S., the oldest, is a farmer in North Dakota, and is married and has a family. Blair lives in California. Ica is the wife of Jay Philip of Tontogany, Ohio, and has a son and daughter. Francis is the wife of John Lake, also of Tontogany. Emery lives at Pemberville in Wood County, and has one daughter. Doctor DeTray was married in Tontogany, Ohio, to Miss Mabel Kuder, a daughter of Charles C. and Ellen (Kelley) Kuder, both natives of Ohio and still living on their farm near Tontogany in Wood County. Mr. and Mrs. DeTray have a daughter Helen Imogene, who was born September 6, 1913. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally Doctor DeTray is affiliated with the Lodge and Chapter of Masonry at Napoleon, belongs to the Northwest Ohio Veterinary Association, the State Veterinary Association, and also the National Association of Veterinarians. HENRY LUDEMAN belonged to some of the pioneer stock of Henry County, and spent many years in successful business enterprise, part of the time at Toledo and part of the time at Napoleon. He died at his home, 831 Scott Street, in Napoleon November 16, 1913. Mrs. Ludeman is still living at Napoleon and she, too, represents a family of early settlers in Henry County. A native of Germany, Henry Ludeman was born in Hanover December 24, 1842, and was five years of age when brought to the United States. His parents were William and Mary (Ludeman) Ludeman, both natives of Hanover. William Ludeman and wife grew up in their native kingdom, and he learned the 1192 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO trade of blacksmith, which he followed on a private estate in Germany for a number of years. In 1847, accompanied by, his wife and two children, William and Henry, he set out for the United States, leaving Bremen and after fifteen weeks or more landing from a sailing vessel at Baltimore. The little family journeyed to the interior by way of the river, canals and great lakes, and over a country highway to Henry County. Here in the midst of the wilderness at what is known as Friday Schoolhouse in Napoleon Township he secured a tract of land and had to cut out the trees in order to make room for his first log cabin, which contained one room for living purposes and one room to serve as his blacksmith shop. Nearly all the meat consumed in the first years was supplied by the wild game killed in the neighboring woods. In this Ohio home one more child was born, August, and soon after his birth the mother passed away in the prime of life. William Ludeman married for his second wife Mary Haas. She was also a native of Hanover and had come to the United States in young womanhood. After a few years William Ludeman died, leaving one child by his second wife, Eliza, who is now the wife of Henry Sunenburg of Hamler, Ohio. The second wife of William Ludeman afterwards married a Mr. Bremer, and both are now deceased, leaving two sons and one daughter. Henry Ludeman being left an orphan by the death of his mother and afterwards of his father started out at the age of sixteen to make his own way in the world. For a time he worked on the canal at Florida in Henry County, and then came to Napoleon and found work as a grocery clerk. After his marriage he established himself in the grocery business and also built up a large trade in the handling of ice. Still later he engaged in the manufacture of brick, and by these various enterprises acquired a modest capital. Selling out his interests at Napoleon he moved to Toledo, where for six years he was one of .the leading grocery merchants. He then disposed of his business at Toledo and returned to Henry County, where he bought the 140-acre farm of his father-in-law in Napoleon Township.. To that farm he gave all his energies for twenty-one years, and was one of the ablest, and best known farmers in that vicinity. After that he retired and moved to Napoleon, buying a new home of eleven rooms at 831 Scott Street. There he remained until his death. Henry Ludeman was a democrat, was a confirmed Lutheran and was a man of high principles, a good neighbor, and is remembered gratefully by a large circle of loyal friends. In Toledo, Ohio, in 1865 he married Miss Henrietta Classman. Mrs. Ludeman was born in Lippe Detmold, Germany, June 14, 1843, a daughter of Fred and Johanna (Bakerman) Classman, who were also natives of the same locality, where they were reared and married. Besides Mrs. Ludeman there was another daughter Julia, who was born in Germany. In 1852 the family set out from Bremen and by sailing vessel arrived in New York City ten weeks later. They came on west as far as Cleveland, where they lived a year, and while there a son was born, Fred Classman. Fred Classman grew up and married and left seven children, and of these children Mrs. Ludeman has reared George, who married Regina Neidemeyer and now lives with Mrs. Ludeman. In 1854 the Classman family left Cleveland and moved into the wilds of Henry County. They established their first home in the woods four miles west of Napoleon on 140 acres of -heavily forested land. There they cut out a space among the trees and built their first log cabin home. Subsequently this was replaced by a substantial frame residence and a barn, and this farm in its improved condition Mr. Ludeman subsequently bought as already stated. Mr. Classman lost his wife at the age of fifty-six, and after her death he lived among his children until he passed away at the age of eighty-six. He was a strong democrat and both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Ludeman has lived at her present home on Scott Street. She also 'owns some valuable business and residence property in Napoleon and has shown much ability in managing her business and private affairs. To her marriage with Mr. Ludeman only one child was born, Julia, who died when two months old. Mr. and Mrs. Ludeman were both confirmed as members of the Lutheran Church, and Mrs. Ludeman takes an active part in the church of that denomination in Napoleon. ALBERT J. WESTHOVEN. An old resident of Henry County, Albert J. Westhoven was for a number of years in business at Wauseon, but returned a year ago to Napoleon, and conducts one of the best appointed and best managed butcher and meat markets in the county. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1193 He kills all his own meat and has a finely equipped market at 722 Perry Street, with quarters 24 by 100 feet. He established this business in Napoleon March 1, 1915. For fifteen years he was in the same line of business at Wauseon, his shop being on South Fulton Street, the main business section. Albert J. Westhoven was born in the northeastern part of Henry County in Freedom 'Township August 9, 1865. He grew up on a farm, attained a country school education, and at the age of eighteen came to Napoleon, where he began learning his trade with Tom Burns on Washington Street. A year later he went to Wauseon, but subsequently returned to Napoleon to complete his apprenticeship, and for a time conducted business in the old Burns shop. For many years now he has conducted a market of his own, and knows the business in every detail. His parents were Albert J. and Magdalen (Condgen) Westhoven. They were born in one of the Rhine provinces of old German Catholic stock. The father was twenty-seven and the mother about twenty-two when they came across the Atlantic to seek homes in the new world. They arrived about the same time, having made the journey in about four weeks, and subsequently met in Napoleon, where they were married in May, 1859. They started housekeeping very modestly and their first home was a log house on a farm in Freedom Township. They were thrifty, industrious, and worked hard to establish a home and rear their family. In time they accumulated a homestead of 160 acres, 'besides other tracts of land, one forty acres and two others, of eighty acres each. All their ten children were born in the old log house, which was subsequently replaced with a more substantial and modern dwelling, and in 1883 the parents rented their farm lands to their children and moved to Napoleon to enjoy the comforts of the city. Here the father passed away in August, 1892, at the age of sixty-two. The widowed mother is still living, and in September, 1915, celebrated her eighty-second birthday. She has been hard working, cheerful, has lived simply, and hence it is not surprising that she is still alert and vigorous in spite of her years. Both parents made trips back to their old German homes after they attained prosperity. They were lifelong Catholics and the father was a democrat. The rugged vigor of the parents has been transmitted to the family consisting of four sons and six daughters, all of whom grew up and married and had families of their own, and only two of the daughters are not now living. Albert J. Westhoven was the second son and fifth child. He was married in Napoleon November 22, 1887, to Miss Mary Casey, who was born in the Province of Quebec, Canada, March 27, 1864, and was still a child when brought to Henry County, Ohio, by her parents, William and Anna (Berry) Casey. They were both natives of Canada and of Irish ancestry. William Casey was reared and married near Montreal, and in that locality his first six children were born. In the latter '60s they came to Henry County, where he found his first employment in the woods getting out ship building timbers, and he was soon afterwards joined by his wife and children. Mrs. Casey died in Henry County in July, 1907, when past sixty years of age. William Casey is now retired and lives with his daughter, Mrs. Westhoven, and is now quite advanced in years. The Casey family were also members of the Catholic Church and the father is a communicant of St. Augustine Church at Napoleon. Albert William, the oldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Westhoven, was graduated from the public schools of Wauseon in 1908, and is now junior member of the firm of Westhoven & Son, at Napoleon. He married Emma Gorsuch, who was born and reared on a farm in Fulton County, Ohio, and they have a son named Albert Franklin. G. Mary, now twenty-four years of age, was born in Wauseon, graduated from the high school there in 1909 and is a bright young woman who is keeping books and clerking for her father. Margaret C. is now twenty-two years of age and completed her education in the Wauseon schools. Walter William graduated from the Wauseon High School in 1914, and is now assisting his father and brother in the shop. Casper J. is now eighteen years of age and is a junior in the high school. The family are all confirmed members of St. Augustine Catholic Church of Napoleon, and the oldest son is a member of the Knights of Columbus, while Mr. Westhoven the father has three brothers who are connected with the same order. Politically he is independent in local affairs, and a democrat so far as national elections are concerned. ASA C. SENTER. His wide circle of friends and business associates say there is no man in Henry County who has had a record of 1194 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO more substantial achievements and who represents more of the substantial virtues of character than Asa C. Senter, who until recently was secretary of the Henry County Farmers Mutual Insurance Company and for half a century or more has been closely identified with the agricultural and civic life of the county. "As true as steel to every principle and sentiment of right and justice," is the way one of his friends characterized Mr. Senter's character. Though reared in pioneer times and conditions he acquired the equivalent of liberal education, and spent twelve years of his early life as a teacher in the public schools. He was one of the incorporators of the Henry County Farmers Mutual Insurance Company on March 20, 1897, and became its first secretary. This is one of the most prosperous organizations of its kind in Ohio, its business is confined to Henry County, and it now has on its books between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000 of insurance on farm property, and at the extremely low rate of two mills per dollar. Mr. Senter held the office of secretary and had much of the executive management of the company until the spring of 1914, when on account of ill health he declined re-election. His successor is Mr. A. F. Fabler of Harrison Township. Mr. Senter spent his active career as a farmer in Harrison Township, and he still owns two fine farms aggregating 220 acres in that township, both of them well improved with two complete sets of farm buildings. Asa C. Senter was born near Green Springs in Seneca County, Ohio, July 10, 1838, and represents a family that has been identified with Ohio for fully a century. He was still young when his parents moved to the wilds of Harrison Township in Henry County, and he grew up there and his early life was passed without special incident except four months of service in the Union army in 1864. When the family came to Henry County there were no public highways from their place to Napoleon, a distance of 61/2 miles, and for nearly nine months of every year the surrounding country was almost a swamp. The Senters located on South Turkeyfoot Creek in order to secure natural drainage, and in that community they bought a log cabin 14 by 14 feet with a puncheon floor, a clapboard roof held down with weight poles, and the logs being chinked and daubed with mud, while a mud and stick chimney arose above a fire place with a capacity for holding a four-foot stick of wood. There was not a brick yard in that section of Ohio, and no one thought of making bricks for building a chimney or house for several years. After some years the family put up a hewed log house, and in 1865 erected a substantial frame building. Mr. Senter's father, who was of English stock and of New England ancestry and was born in 1812 in New Hampshire, was brought to the wilds of Muskingum County when three years of age, and his mother died there the same year of the settlement. He was one of ten young children, and Harper, the father of Asa C., was next to the youngest. Their father bound these children out and Harper went to the home of Asa Crockett, who was a man of excellent character and had come from the State of Maine. In his home he grew up, and in the early days he exerted his youthful strength in removing the trees from the principal street of Tiffin when that village was just beginning to grow. He developed a splendid physique and became noted all over that section of Ohio as a skilled axman. He was called to a distance of many miles to "take up a corner" at the raising of the log cabins of his neighbors. In the early home of the Senter family in Henry County wild deer frequently found a night's repose in the yard surrounding the cabin, where they were free from the ravages of the wolves who would not come that near to a human habitation. Harper Senter, after reaching his majority, met at Tiffin Irene Emery, who was born in Maine and hid come to Tiffin as a young lady. After their marriage they lived on a farm in Adams Township, where A. C. Senter was born as was also his older sister Caroline, who was born August 5, 1836, and died in 1886 at the age of fifty years, after her marriage to Alden C. Emery, who had come from the State of Maine and who died leaving one son, Rev. Vernon J. Emery, who is now pastor of the First Congregational Church of Wellington, Ohio, and has one son, Alden H. Harper Senter and his family lived on the old homestead in Henry County until 1899, when he and his wife retired to Napoleon, and in September of that year he passed away at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. Asa C. Senter was married in Henry County to Ellen Emery, who was born in the State of Maine March 16, 1836, where her parents spent all their lives. She was well educated and came to Henry County at the age of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1195 twenty-five in 1861. She has been a devoted companion and helpmate to Mr. Senter, and both of them are Universalists in religious belief and have lived in keeping with Christianity and the principles of the golden rule. Mr. Senter is a republican, having been affiliated with that party since its early years, and has twice been called to serve on the federal grand jury in Toledo. He is a member of Post No. 66 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Napoleon and for many years filled the office of township clerk in Harrison Township. SAMUEL R. HASHBARGER began his career as a boy soldier fighting for the flag of a united country. His has been a long and enviable career of success. By many years of consecutive effort he acquired a place among the most substantial farmers of Henry County, and a few years ago retired with an ample competence to Napoleon, and subsequently took the post of president of Henry County Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, an office he still occupies. He is directing the affairs of that company with great success and though now past seventy years of age is rendering a valuable service to the community in this work. He was one of the organizers of the company when it was incorporated in 1897. Its first officers were : Amos Blank, president ; Asa C. Senter, secretary ; in 1910 Mr. Hashbarger became president, succeeding Frank Krone, who had succeeded Mr. Blank, both of those honored gentlemen being now deceased. The first secretary, who succeeded Mr. Senter, is A. F. Tabler of Harrison Township. The insurance company has prospered ever since it started and now has outstanding more than $4,500,000 of insurance. Its business is strictly confined to Henry County and to farm buildings in that county. By an economical administitation the rate of insurance is now about 2 mills per dollar. Besides the distinctions already noted, Samuel R. was the first white child born in Marion Township of Henry County. He was born there December 7, 1844. His father, Samuel H. Hashbarger was the first settler in that locality and had located in the midst of the black swamp, and his cabin home for some time was three miles from the nearest neighbor in an adjoining township. This was in 1841. Indians still roamed through that section of the country, and in order to reach his place he had to blaze a trail through the woods and across the swamps. On his first tract of forty acres he bought a log cabin with a puncheon floor, clapboard roofs weighted down with poles, and with a wooden door swinging on wooden hinges. The little family lived a life of many privations and hardships for several years. The nearest trading place was twenty miles away at Defiance, which was then only a hamlet and a number of times the little household was on short rations because of delay in getting to the mills or grocery stores. Meat was of course plentiful, since the woods and swamps were filled with wild game. Samuel H. Hashbarger took up his life in that pioneer community with characteristic vigor, improved his land, and died there in 1847 when in the prime of his life. He was born in Pennsylvania about 1800 and was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. On coming to Ohio he made his first pioneer home in Hancock County, where he met and married Anna Rader, who was alsO of Pennsylvania parentage. Her father was Henry Rader, who entered a tract of wild land in Hancock County and was a well to do citizen, living to be past eighty years of age. Samuel H. Hashbarger and wife had three sons and a daughter born in Hancock County, and they then moved with their little family to the wilds of Henry County and settled in Marion Township. After his death his widow looked after her family alone for six years, and was then married in Hancock County to Enoch B. Stephenson, and with him returned to the old homestead in Marion Township, where both lived out their lives. The Raders were members of the Baptist faith, while the Hashbargers were Methodists, as was Mr. Stephenson. The Raders were all democrats, while the Hashbargers, were all republicans. Samuel H. Hashbarger and wife had five sons and one daughter. The daughter, who is still living, is Catherine, wife of John Dillon of Belmore, Putnam County, Ohio. Four of the sons were soldiers in the Civil war, all of them in different Ohio regiments. William was wounded in the battle of Stone River in 1863, after having been captured and recaptured several times, and he died at Nashville from the effects of his wounds. Drake and David went through the service unharmed and returned home. Both are now deceased. Samuel R. Hashbarger was a very young boy when the war. broke out and in the meantime had spent his life on his father's farm 1196 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO in Marion Township and had gained such education as the local schools could afford. In 1864 at the age of twenty, he enlisted in the 189th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and spent most of his time in garrison duty in the far south. His regiment followed Sherman in its campaigns and he came out of the war unscathed. After the close of hostilities he took up his independent career as a farmer, beginning in Marion Township, where as a result of his industry and good management he acquired large holdings of fertile and well developed land. He still owns a farm of 138 acres and this is one of the best improved places in houses and other equipment in the county. He has been very liberal in giving his children a good start on farms of their own. In 1908 he retired to his modern home on East Maumee Street in Napoleon, and two years later accepted the post of president of the insurance company and has since ably directed its affairs. On June 17, 1869, in Marion Township Mr. Hashbarger married Miss Lorane Blue, who was born in Shelby County, Ohio, January 26, 1849, and was brought to Henry County when a child thirteen years old. She was reared and educated here, and is a member of the well known Blue family referred to on other pages of this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Hashbarger have two children : Olive Belle is the wife of Albert Mowery and they are farmers in Marion Township, and their daughter Mabel, now the wife of Cloice Gillespie, lives on Mr. Hashbarger's old homestead, and there are two Gillespie children, Bernadine and Harold. Sidney S., the only son, died at the age of thirty-six, after his marriage to Orpha Swyhart, who still lives on her home farm in Marion Township and is the mother of five children : Verda, Vernon, Bernard, Carl and Bonnie. Thus Mr. and Mrs. Hashbarger have the comfort and solace of a number of grandchildren. In politics Mr. Hashbarger has acted with the republican party, and for eight years rendered able service to his home township as assessor. He is a member of the subordinate lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Hamler, and is the present commander of Post No. 66, Grand Army of the Republic at Napoleon, and has always been extremely popular with his old comrades of the war. CHARLES V. BRUBAKER. The most successful business man is usually the one who has not only energy but also a large fund of experience and a close and accurate knowledge of the line in which he is engaged. That accounts for the success of Charles V. Brubaker, who for the past six years has had a fine establishment at Napoleon as a dealer in pianos, and he also handles Victrolas and Victrola records. He represents a number of the best makes of piano and distributes his goods not only in Napoleon but all over Henry and a number of adjoining counties in Northwest Ohio. He has two assistants in the business, and has one of the most eligible locations in Napoleon, at the corner of Washington and Scott streets, opposite the new Postoffice Building. He is recognized as a merchant of thorough integrity and his own name and reputation stands for a guarantee of the products which he sells. He was sixteen years old when he acquired his first knowledge of the piano trade. He has the qualifications of the good salesman, but with that he also unites a thorough knowledge of pianos, acquired by extensive experience in some of the largest piano manufacturing concerns in the country. His first work was with the Anderson Company at Van Wert, Ohio, in the shop, he was also with a concern at Marion, Ohio, and later with the Schaff Brothers Company at Huntington, Indiana, and the Packard Piano Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana. His first experience as an independent business man was at Monroeville, Indiana, where he was a member of the firm of Friedline & Brubaker from 1903 to 1906. During the next two years he was again in a piano factory, and subsequently he sold pianos on the road until 1910, when he came to Napoleon. Charles V. Brubaker was born in Van Wert County, Ohio, April 10, 1877, and grew up on a farm, acquiring 'a practical common school education. His grandfather, Peter Brubaker, was a native of Pennsylvania, an early settler in Van Wert County, Ohio, where he married Catherine Dull, a native of Ohio and of Pennsylvania parents. The grandparents spent their lives on a farm in Van Wert County, where they died, both of them about eighty-four years of age. They were members of the Presbyterian Church. Naman Brubaker, father of the Napoleon piano merchant, was born in Van Wert County, grew up on a farm there, and made farming his life vocation. He married Sophia Ellen HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1197 Lintermoot, also a native of Van Wert County. She died in June, 1911, at the age of fifty-six. Naman Brubaker, who was born in 1849, is still living, making his home among his children. Both parents were members of the United Brethren Church. Of the large family of ten daughters and six sons, nine of the daughters and three of the sons are still living, and all are married except one daughter. Charles V. Brubaker was married in Henry County, Ohio, to Debbie Lewis, who was born in Defiance County, but grew up and received her education in Henry County. Her father, Joseph J. Lewis, now lives on a farm in Flat-rock Township of Henry County at the age of seventy-seven. He was born in Ohio and married in Henry County Mary Brubaker, also a native of that county. She died at her home in Flatrock Township in 1907, when about sixty-seven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker have three children : Ross W., born December 13, 1908 ; Caroline J., and Marion P., twins, born November 24, 1913. Mrs. Brubaker is a member of the Methodist Church. Fraternally Mr. Brubaker has attained thirty-two degrees in Scottish Rite Masonry. His lodge membership is with Lodge No. 293 at Monroeville, Indiana. He demitted to Haley Chapter No. 136, Royal Arch Masons, at Napoleon, from Fort Wayne, and is a member of the Defiance Knight Templar Commandery No. 30, and the Toledo Consistory. Politically Mr. Brubaker is a republican. WILLIAM A. BOCKELMAN. Some said he would last a month and others only two weeks. Such were the cheerful predictions of his friends when William A. Bockelman in March, 1908, took a step in line with modern progress and business efficiency and established at Napoleon the Union Delivery System. Mr. Bockelman made this a success not only in Napoleon but has since extended it to Delta, Wauseon, Perrysburg, Bowling Green in Ohio, and to Morenci, Michigan. In the large cities there are no doubt adequate reasons for a store keeping up an individual delivery service to convey its goods to its customers. Until a few years ago the same custom prevailed everywhere in smaller towns. It is obviously a great burden upon the ultimate consumer who must pay the cost of a delivery service which for a considerable part of the time is idle because the volume of business does not justify its operation all the time and yet it cannot be altogether dis pensed with. It was to supply an adequate and efficient delivery service for an entire town, furnishing it impartially to all merchants and individuals who are subscribers thereto, that the Union Delivery was established by Mr. Bockelman. He has contracts with most of the merchants and dealers to carry their goods at regular intervals and distribute them all over the cities in which his business operates, and his system is not only more prompt and efficient than the older methods but it saves a large sum of money that formerly was invested in equipment which was idle a good share of the time. In Napoleon the business started with four wagons and there ale now five employed. In some of the towns where the business was established by Mr. Bockelman he has since sold out. This was true at Delta, Ohio, and at Morenci, Michigan., At Delta he maintained a service of three wagons and at Morenci three wagons, and at the present time he keeps three outfits in operation at Wauseon, three outfits at Perrysburg and seven at Bowling Green. Altogether the business employs eighteen men and wagons and represents a large investment. By fair and courteous treatment, by prompt and efficient service, Mr. Bockelman has laid the foundation of a large and profitable business. He owns at Napoleon a fine barn with complete accommodations for his delivery organization. In August, 1915, he was one of the organizers of the National General Delivery Men's Association. This organization was effected at Toledo with the following officers : H. E. Burgon, president ; L. C. Rhodes, vice president ; David Dernberger, secretary, and H. D. Hunter, treasurer. This organization represents all of Southerh Michigan and Northwest Ohio. William A. Bockelman was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, July 5, 1874, and represents an old German family of that country. His parents were William and Anna (Lensman) Bockelman, both of whom were reared there, and continued to live in the same home where William A. was born. They are now about seventy years of age. The father has spent his active career as a locksmith and blacksmith. The family are members of the Lutheran Church. There were eight sons and daughters, and three of the family came to the United States. Ann, who is the wife of William F. Draves, and they live on a farm in Napoleon Township 1198 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and have a family of three children. Alfred also came to the United States and located in Napoleon about five years ago and is now overseer for his brother's delivery business. Reared in his native locality, William A. Bockelman at the age of fourteen, in 1888, came to the United States, sailing from Bremen to New York City and from there coming to Henry County. Several years were spent as a farm worker and he then became a clerk in Napoleon for the late H. C. Gathman. Later Mr. Bockelman purchased the Gathman store and conducted it four years until in 1908 he sold out and established his present enterprise. Mr. Bockelman is active in all local matters, is secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, having taken that office in January, 1916. He is an independent in politics, and is a member of the Emanuel Lutheran Church. In Napoleon on April 20, 1904, he married Miss Catherine Rohrs, who was born in Henry County March 13, 1881, and was reared and received her education in the public schools of that locality. Her father, Henry A. Rohrs was born in the Province of Hanover, Germany, and came with his parents to America and has made his permanent home in Henry County, where he has become extensively known as a successful breeder of high grade draft horses. Mr. Rohrs married Anna Mahnke, also of Henry County but of German parentage. They have nine children, four sons and five daughters. Mr. Bockelman and family are members of the Lutheran Church. They have four children : Regina, Lucia, Sedonna and Hildegarde. The two older children are now attending the public schools of Napoleon. WARREN A. RITTER. Henry County takes an especial pride in the career and accomplishments of W. A. Ritter, whose record as a soldier in the Cuban and Philippine wars, as an engineer in the construction of the Panama Canal, and as a leader in public affairs at Napoleon has reflected the highest credit upon his native locality. He was born in Henry County April 25, 1878, and completed his education in the local high school. As a .boy he studied flower gardening and is an accomplished landscape gardener, an art which he has pursued at intervals and in which he has specialized in recent years. His ability as a landscape gardener is especially reflected in his own home at the corner of Haley and Welsted streets. He has a beautiful two-story brick house and both the house and grounds are adorned in exquisite fashion by his art as a landscape gardener. His skill in that direction is exemplified in various other homes in Napoleon. When he was twenty years of age, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war in 1898, Mr. Ritter enlisted in Gen. William V. McMakem's regiment at Toledo, and went with the regiment to Cuba. Much of this time he was stationed at Cienfuegos, Cuba. After returning home and receiving an honorable discharge, he again enlisted in September, 1899, in the Forty-fourth United States Volunteers for service in the Philippines. In November of that year he started from San Francisco and landed at Cebu, Philippine Islands, January 1, 1900. Under the command of Colonel McClernand he saw active service in the islands during the Philippine insurrection for eighteen months, and was with his regiment altogether for twenty-one months. While in the islands he came in contact with the enemy on a number of occasions but escaped serious injury except a slight deafness due to sunstroke. After this career as a soldier Mr. Ritter returned to the United States and for a time conducted a laundry in Kentucky, and in the spring of 1901 established a similar business at Napoleon. That was his business until 1904, and in December of that year he re- ceived from Washington through the war department a commission to go to Panama as a foreman of laborers. At the end of six months he was assigned to the steam shovel department, and altogether he received four promotions in the canal construction service. He finally resigned in June, 1908, as steam shovel engineer. His resignation was due to his previous appointment as postmaster at Napoleon. He was appointed postmaster both on the recommendation of President Taft and also Colonel Goethals, who wrote a very enthusiastic recommendation complimenting him highly for his services rendered the government on many occasions. Beginning August 1, 1908, Mr. Ritter was for five years in charge of the Napoleon post-office. During that time he organized the Napoleon Chamber of Commerce, in which he served as secretary one year and as vice president another year, and was a member of its board of directors four years. While postmaster he was also Secretary and president for three years of the Northwest Ohio and Southern Michigan Postmasters' As- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1199 sociation. He introduced order and efficiency into the management of the Napoleon post-office and his record was exceedingly creditable. Since retiring from the postoffice he has given most of his time to his profession as a landscape gardener. His family have lived in Henry County since 1850. His father, John D. Ritter, a native of Ohio, spent his career as a farmer in Henry County and died in November, 1912, at the age of sixty-four. His wife, whom he married in Henry County, was Nancy E. Abbott, who is now living with her only daughter, Mrs. C. H. Colbertson at Bryan, Ohio, at the age of sixty-nine. Mr. Ritter is the only son. In Napoleon Mr. Ritter married Adelia A. Knipp. They are the parents of three children : Clyde W., who was born in Panama March 10, 1907 ; John C., born January 10, 1909; Virginia Nay, born September 17, 1914. Mr. Ritter is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and is a member of the International Brotherhood of Steam Shovel and Dredge Men. His wife is active in the Presbyterian Church and both attend there. Mr. Ritter has in his possession three letters of recommendation from three distinguished Americans, Col. E. J. McClernand, Governor-General Goethals and President Taft. JOHN BLOOMFIELD, M. D. With one exception Doctor Bloomfield is the oldest graduate physician in active practice in Henry County. He is now in the seventy-fifth year of his life, and his career has been one of mingled experience and service ever since he fought for the supremacy of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war more than half a century ago. He was fifteen years of age when he came alone to Henry County, Ohio, from Summit County, Ohio, where he was born. He was only eight years of age when his father died, and the mother, Anna Park Bloomfield, married a second husband three years later. Doctor Bloomfield is of Irish stock through his father and of Scotch from his mother. After his mother's second marriage Doctor Bloomfield was thrown on his own resources, and has really worked his way since he was eleven years old. He found employment on farms and in other occupations, attended school as opportunity offered, and on arriving in Napoleon at the age of fifteen spent two years as clerk in a local store. That and other employment enabled him to make a liv ing until he was nineteen, and then at the beginning of the war he enlisted in Company D of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Col. R. K. Scott and Capt. Arthur Crockett. Going out as a private he was in the ranks four years and few of the surviving veterans saw so much of the real strife of that conflict as Doctor Bloomfield. He has his baptism of fire during the Fort Donelson campaign, participated in the historic conflict at Shiloh, was in the Vicksburg campaign, fought in the advance upon Atlanta, and after the fall of that city followed Sherman on his splendid march to the sea and up through the Carolinas. He was with the army when Joseph Johnston surrendered west of Raleigh, North Carolina, went to Washington and participated in the Grand Review, and in July, 1865, was finally given his honorable discharge at Louisville, Kentucky. Thus a veteran at the age of twenty-three, he returned to Henry County, Ohio, and with such capital as he had been able to save from his soldier's wages he bought a little land and became a practical farmer. Later he sold this property at considerable advance over what he paid for it, and used the proceeds to pay his way through the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. After gaining his coveted degree of M. D. he returned to Henry County, and has been in active practice at Napoleon for thirty-seven years. His present office in the National Bank Building at Washington Street and Perry Street he has occupied continuously for thirty-five years. Doctor Bloomfield, aside from his service as a soldier has given his work with exceptional devotion and skill to a large private clientage and to his community largely along professional lines. For twenty years he has been pension examiner and a member of the pension board for his district, was for six years a member of the County Board of Health, and is an active member of the Henry County, the Northwest Ohio and the Ohio State Medical Society. In politics he is a republican and cast his first vote for Governor Bruff and his second vote was given for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 while he was in the army. For about thirty years Doctor Bloomfield has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, served six years as Master of the Blue Lodge and filled other offices, and has also passed the York Rite degrees and is a member of the Knight Templar Commandery at Defiance.