HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1275 attention until the time of his death. The Paine store was well known, being located at 903 Madison Avenue. In 1865, about the close of the war, Mr. Paine became assistant chief of the Toledo Volunteer Fire Corps, and held that office ten years. After the paid fire organization succeeded the volunteer corps he was elected its first chief, and he directed the fire fighting organization for several years. For more than thirty-five years he was identified with Masonry, being affiliated with Sanford L. Collins Lodge No. 396, Free and Accepted Masons. In Old Trinity Church at Toledo Mr. Paine married Miss Mary Sherman. Mrs. Paine, who died at the family home on Ashland Avenue, July 27, 1908,. had resided in Toledo for more than forty years, and was prominent in charitable and philanthropic work in the city. For many years she was an active member of Bedell Circle of the King's Daughters. She had formerly been identified with St. John's Episcopal Church, but at the time of her death was a member of Trinity. Surviving their honored parents are two daughters and two sons : Mrs. Maud Paine Carpenter, widow of the late Clement D. Carpenter, reference to whom is made on other pages ; Mrs. Ernest R. Torgler, of Toledo ; George P. Paine of Burlingame, California, and Charles S., of Grand Rapids, Michigan. SAMUEL P. AXLINE. It is probable that the men who render the greatest service and most worthy of memorial are those who employ their talents to influence and direct the development and training of mind, will and character of other men. Such was the service rendered by the late Samuel P. Axline, who died at Toledo June 11, 1916. It was the good fortune of many men now prominent in Ohio public affairs to have been under his instruction and leadership while he was a teacher and Dean of the law school at Ohio Northern University in Ada. He had given up his work in the law school and moved to Toledo to take, up active practice only about three years before his death. Samuel P. Axline was born March 31, 1849, on a farm in Coshocton County, Ohio, and was sixty-seven years of age at the time of his death. He secured a substantial education, and for a number of years taught in commercial lines. In 1875 he married Ella Monroe, and in 1882 he and Mrs. Axline opened and conducted the stenographic department of the old Ohio Northwestern Normal Institute, now Ohio Northern University, at Ada. In the meantime Mr. Axline had studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1886. Instead of practicing he became an instructor in the law department at the Ohio Northern University, and in 1888 was made Dean, a position he held until 1913, a period of a quarter of a century. During this long period of teaching service, Mr. Axline touched and influenced the lives of many notable men. Among those who graduated while he was Dean are Governor Frank B. Willis, Judges R. M. Wanamaker and Edward S. Mathias, both of the Ohio Supreme Court ; Mayor Charles W. Milroy of Toledo ; Judge Charles E. Chittenden, of the Court of Appeals, of Toledo ; Ralph D. Cole, of Findlay, and Beecher W. Waltermyer, chairman of the State Public Utilities Commission. Mr. Axline was also a close personal friend of President McKinley, former Governor Myron T. Herrick, Senator Theodore E. Burton and other men of note. When he resigned the position of Dean at Ada, in 1913, Mr. Axline removed to Toledo, and became associated with Attorneys Otto L. Hankinson and Clyde L. Deeds in the law firm of Hankinson, Axline and Deeds. It is also worthy of note that both Mr. Hankison and Mr. Deeds were pupils of his at Ada. At Toledo Mr. Axline became dean of the law school of the Toledo University, and his death occurred soon after his return from Columbus, where he had taken his fifty-fourth law class for bar examination. Mr. Axline was buried at Ada, his old home. He was a member of the Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon Literary Fraternity, the Toledo Bar Association, the Knights of Pythias, and was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His widow Mrs. Ella M. Axline survives him, and he also left two brothers and two sisters, William M. Axline, an attorney at Lima ; John Axline, a retired farmer in Coshocton County ; Mrs. John Garlach of Ada, and Mrs. William Musgrave of Dunkirk, Ohio. WILHAM D. BRUBAKER. It is now many years since the Brubaker family was established within the limits of Henry County ; the earlier ones have long since passed away, but there is record of their worthy work as pioneers, as developers of the wilderness, and in later generations the activities and the as- 1276 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO sociations of the family have always been of a most useful character. One prominent member of the family was the late Wilham D. Brubaker, whose son Arthur Brubaker still owns and occupies a part of the fine old Brubaker homestead in Napoleon Township. William D. Brubaker was born in Pennsylvania January 17, 1839, and died at his home in Napoleon Township January 10, 1887. His father, Henry Brubaker, was also a native of Pennsylvania, where he grew up and where he married Leah Weible, who was also of German ancestry. During the early '40s Henry Brubaker brought his family to Napoleon, Ohio, and soon bought a tract of wild wooded land on the north side of Maumee River not far from Napoleon. After he had cleared this up and put it into cultivation, the growth of the city encroached upon his agricultural domain and it became too valuable as lots to continue it for purely agricultural purposes. Therefore he traded for another farm in Flatrock Township, just west of the Village of Florida, and in that locality Henry and his wife spent their last years. He was past sixty when he died, while his widow lived to be within three months of ninety-eight years. They were good faithful Christian people, of the United Brethren faith, while he was a whig and republican. They were the parents of fourteen children : Wilham D., Jacob, George, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary, Harvey, Emma, Minerva, John, Lincoln, Ada, Edward and 'Henry. Of this large family Henry died at the age of sixteen and Edward at four, while the rest grew up and all married except Harvey. Four sons and two daughters are still living, and Most all of the children were born in Henry County. William D. Brubaker grew up in Henry County, and soon after his twenty-second birthday he answered the first call for men to put down the rebellion in the South. He 'joined a three months' regiment in 1861, and when his term expired he re-enlisted in Company F of the Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was with that regiment in all its engagements and campaigns until he was honorably discharged after two years on account of ill health. He was never wounded or captured, and made a record as a soldier which will always redound to his credit and will be a cherished memory among his descendants. In his business career he was a practical farmer. He began with little money, and for three years rented. He then bought 240 acres in section 28 of Napoleon Township, and from time to time added improvements and brought all the land under cultivation. Idleness had no part in his makeup, and consequently he left a large . estate as the fruit of his earnest plans and endeavors. He had used good judgment in buying his land, since it is of the rich alluvial and of almost inexhaustible fertility. One conspicuous improvement which he left was a handsome brick house of twelve rooms, in addition to a number of other substantial farm buildings. This brick house is still a most comfortable and attractive residence, and one feature in its construction was a large basement divided into five different apartments. This old residence landmark in Napoleon Township is now owned and occupied by his son, Arthur Brubaker, who also has eighty acres of the old homestead estate. William D. Brubaker was a republican, and while he belonged to no church he was a Christian in practice and principle. In 1863 he married Elizabeth Bales. She is still living and occupies a pleasant home at 750 West Washington Street, Napoleon, and is a very active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of that city. She was born October 6, 1847, in Wayne County, Ohio, and was very young when brought to Napoleon Township by her parents, Jacob and Saloma (Sidel) Bales, who settled on the old Bales farm on the Bales Road, 1 ½ miles west of Napoleon. Her father died in 1886, his death being the result of a runaway accident, when his team was scared by a clap of thunder. Jacob Bales was a native of Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood, and was married in Wayne County, Ohio, to the mother of Mrs. Brubaker. Mrs. Brubaker's mother was born in Pennsylvania and died in 1877. Jacob Bales married for his second wife Mrs. Martha (Meeks) Miller, who is still living. he had seven children by his first marriage, and there are four by the second wife. Mr. and Mrs. William D. Brubaker had thirteen children. Three of them, Elmer, Hester and Laura, died young. The others are : George, who is married and lives on a farm near Hamler in Henry County and has five children; Ida, who is unmarried and lives with her mother ; Lila, wife of Sanford Durham, living on a farm in Defiance County and the mother of three children; Wallace, a farmer near Blissfield, Michigan, and a widower with seven children ; Arthur ; Perry, HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1277 who is a farmer in Damascus Township, and has a family of four children; Carl, who lives in Napoleon and has three children; Nellie, wife of Ray Shreve of Napoleon and the mother of one son ; and Jennie, wife of Alonzo Durham, a farmer in Liberty Township ; and Arthur. Arthur Brubaker, who, as already stated, occupies the old family residence of the Brubakers in Napoleon Township, was born on the farm where he still resides, September 11, 1875. He has spent his active career in this one locality, and after attending the schools applied himself industriously to farm management and is now one of the very progressive agriculturists. of Henry County. He erected the first silos in his community for the production of beef cattle. In Ridgeville Township, in 1898, Arthur Brubaker married Miss Clara Frances Smith, who was born there November 5, 1876, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Labar) Smith, both natives of Ohio and married in Henry County. Her parents are still living at Ridgeville, where her father is a carpenter and is still active at his trade. Mr. and Mrs. Smith attend the United Brethren Church, of which she is an active member, and he was reared in the Catholic faith. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker have two children : Granville D., born June 30, 1899, and now in the eighth grade of the public schools ; and Florence A., born March 14, 1909, and recently taking up her work as a student hi the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, And politically he is a republican. JOHN BICK is one of the sterling and public spirited citizens of Spencer Township in Lucas County, and is a very successful farmer, operating the old homestead of his father the late Nicholas Bick. Mr. Bick was born on the farm. where he now lives. His parents were Nicholas and Catharine (Brown) Bick. This is one of the prominent early pioneer families of Northwest Ohio, and is mentioned on other pages. Nicholas Bick was brought to Northwest Ohio when a boy by his parents, and on starting life for himself he bought land at Raab in Spencer Township. There he underwent all the hardships and experiences of the pioneer. His land was absolutely uncleared and uncultivated, and was covered with woods or swamp. It took several years of hard labor to make it productive, and in the meantime he supported himself largely by work at Toledo. Many times he made the trip from his land to Toledo, a distance of eighteen miles, on foot. In the early days he would carry his wheat on his back to a mill at Maumee. When the wheat was ground into flour he would retrace his steps to his home. He sometimes made this journey on Saturday, remained for church services on Sunday, and then after church would return home. Nicholas Bick and his family came into frequent intercourse with the Indians who were still living in this part of Ohio, there being an Indian village on the west side of their farm. There were frequent exchanges of commodities between the Bick household and the Indians, the Indians supplying much of the meat consumed by the white family, while Mr. Bick gave them meal in return. The life of this honored old settler Nicholas Bick came to a close in 1913 at the age of ninety-two. At that time he was one of the oldest pioneers of Northwest Ohio. His wife died in 1894. Their children were : Mary, who is still living in Raab ; Lena, wife of George Bauersmith of Wood County ; George, deceased, who was a farmer in Spencer Township ; Cornelia, Mrs. J. A. Gessner of Toledo ; Jacob, a deceased farmer of Spencer Township; Catherine, deceased, who married Jacob Lochbihler of Toledo ; Barbara, deceased ; and John. Mr. John Bick married Elizabeth Stoll, daughter of Ferdinand Stoll, who was an early settler on Central Avenue in Richfield Township of Lucas County. Mr. and Mrs. Bick have the following children : Edna, Walter, Agnes, Arnold, and Evelyn. During his lifetime the late Nicholas Bick was a very successful farmer, having cleared up a great tract of land and was the owner of two hundred acres when lie died. Mr. John Bick now owns the old homestead, and is devoting it to profitable use as one of the model farms of the county. Mr. Bick as a democrat has frequently been called upon to serve in some capacity of trust. For six years he was treasurer of Spencer Township and at the same time was treasurer of the school board. The family are Catholic and Mr. Bick is a member of the Catholic Knights of Ohio. JOHN RICE. In the death of John Rice at his home, 718 West Washington Street, in Napoleon, February 13, 1915, Henry County sustained the loss of an excellent and high 1278 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO minded citizen, a man whose rugged integrity commanded confidence and esteem, and who well deserved all the success and popularity that came to him during his many years of residence in that section of Northwest Ohio. For some years before his death he lived retired from his regular vocation as farmer, and in the meantime had served a term with much credit as county commissioner. John Rice was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in December, 1857, and was not yet sixty years of age when he died. When twelve years of age he came to Henry County with his parents and grew up on a farm. He had a common school education, and after his marriage moved to Ridgeville Township, where he secured a tract of 106 acres and made many improvements upon it and was a very successful farmer. In 1909 he was elected county commissioner of Henry County, and soon afterward moved to the City of Napoleon. He served four years in office, and retired with the confidence of all his fellow citizens in September, 1913. At Napoleon he bought a fine city home on Washington Street, and his widow and some of his children still live there. John Rice always took a prominent part in local politics, served for some years as township trustee, and was particularly well known in the northern part of Henry County, where the impress of his activities and influence is still felt. His parents were Henry and Eva (Weimer) Rice. His father was born in Bavaria, Germany, and his mother in Alsace, then a province of France, but now a part of the German Empire. When still single they set out for America in the days of the sailing vessels, and were married in Wayne County, Ohio. About 1869 they came with their five sons and two daughters to Henry County, where the father improved a good farm and where he lived until his death at the age of seventy-four. The mother passed away some years later at the age of eighty-two. Both were active members of the German Reformed Church, and the father was a democrat. The living children are Jacob, Henry and Elizabeth, all of whom are married and are farming people in Fulton County. The late John Rice was married in 1880 in Sherman Township of Fulton County to Caroline Miller. She was born in that township June 5, 1857, and while growing to womanhood acquired a good education in the local schools. She lived at home until her marriage. Her parents were John and Catherine (Knapp) Miller. Her father was a native of Switzerland, where he was born October 29, 1829, and was eighteen years of age when he came with his parents to the United States, the family locating on wild land and living in a log cabin in German Township of Fulton County, Ohio. This log cabin home, where the children were reared, stood until 1915, a period of more than fifty-seven years, and the old homestead is still owned by the Miller family, it having passed from John to his son William, who still owns it. John Miller died at the old home in Fulton County July 17, 1911. His widow died in the summer of 1915. She was born in 1829 in Bavaria, Germany, and came to America at the age of fifteen with her parents, who located near Archibald in Fulton County, Ohio. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Knapp, lived there until their death at a good old age. They were active members of the German Reformed Church. John Miller and his wife grew up in the same neighborhood, and after their marriage started farming in Sherman Township and occupied the old homestead for fifty-eight years. They were members of the German Reformed Church, and politically he was a democrat. In their family were four sons and four daughters. One son died young, but the others all grew up and have families. To the marriage of Mr. John Rice and wife were born nine children. Ida is the wife of Noah Burkholder, a farmer in Henry County, and their children are Harold and Luella. Clarence, a farmer near Ridgeville, married Clara Linger, and their children are Grover, Freeda and Gladys. Charles, a farmer in Liberty Township of Henry County, married Lydia Fourier, and her two sons are Kenneth and Wilbur. Oliver now manages the old homestead of his father and by his marriage to Freda Kutzley has three children : Emerson, Lucile and Vorana. John Jr. is connected with a mercantile house at Napoleon, and by his marriage at Cleveland to Miss Violet Schrader has a home of his own but no children. Elma, who like the other children, was well educated in the city schools, is now living in the State of California. Gertrude lives at home with her mother. Melvin is now pursuing a course in chemical and electrical engineering at Defiance College. Augusta, the youngest child; graduated from the Napoleon High School with the class of 1915. This youngest daughter is a member of the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1279 Presbyterian Church, while Mrs. Rice and the other children all belong to the German Reformed denomination. PETER H. DEGNAN. Toledo was called upon to mourn the loss of one of its ablest and most successful business men in the sudden death of Peter H. Degnan at his home on January 5, 1916. Mr. Degnan had been active in business up to the very day preceding his sudden passing of heart trouble. He had been a resident of Toledo for half a century. He was born in Roscommon, Ireland, and was sixty-four years of age at the time of his death. He came to Toledo as a boy, learned a trade, and was capable, skillful, industrious and thrifty, and finally founded The Degnan Builders Supply Company, the predecessors of The Toledo Builders Supply Company, of which he was president at the time of his death. He was known not only as the creator of a distinctive business establishment, but also as a public spirited citizen and a man of many attractive social traits. For eight years he served as president of the Board of Aldermen. He was one of the first members of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and was a generous supporter of charitable organizations. He was also affiliated with the Toledo Commerce Club,. the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Toledo Club and the Builders Exchange. Mrs. Degnan is a sister of Bishop Kelly of Ann Arbor. Her three children are Walter, Lauretta and Mrs. Charles Walsh. REV. THOMAS M. REDDING. One Of the broad minded and efficient Catholic priests of Northwest Ohio, Father Redding has for some years been in charge of the old and historic parish of St. Joseph's in Maumee. He knows the people of this section, having grown up among them, and has been devoted to his work as a minister and teacher since early manhood. Born in Toledo in 1872, he is a son of David and Catherine (Tuey) Redding. As a boy he spent part of his early years in Maumee and attended the high school there. He also attended St. Francis de Sales School in Toledo and the Melchior Business College.. After completing his collegiate course in Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, Father Redding taught in western and eastern colleges for about five years. He then finished his philosophical and theo logical courses in St. Mary's Seminary at Baltimore, Maryland, and was ordained in December, 1905, in the Baltimore Cathedral by His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Appointed assistant to St. Ann's in Toledo he remained there until February, 1908, and then became pastor of St. Mary's at Hudson, Ohio. In addition he also had the duties of chaplain to Tom Johnson's Home for Boys at Hudson. Since September, 1908, Father Redding has been in charge of St. Joseph's Parish at Maumee. This is one of the oldest parishes in Northwestern Ohio. Since coming here Father Redding has interested himself especially in the improvement and enlargement of the parochial schools. Under his administration a fine new school building has been erected, and the course has been extended to include the ninth grade and also courses in stenography and typewriting and general commercial work. At the present time about one hundred seventy-five pupils are enrolled in the Maumee parochial school. Father Redding is not only the beloved pastor of his parish but is also one of the most esteemed citizens of that community. Father Redding has been reappointed chaplain of Toledo Council, No. 386, Knights of Columbus, for the sixth term. He has been frequently engaged to give retreats for that organization in many parishes of his diocese. He is also secretary of the Diocesan School Board. CHARLES R. GUENTHER has been a resident of Napoleon for the last nineteen years, and is one of the first butchers and retail meat merchants of Henry County. He has been doing business at one and the same stand for many years. This location is at 506 South Perry Street, and in the spring of 1912 he constructed a building specially fitted and equipped for his business. This building occupies ground 22 by 73 feet. Mr. Guenther kills and 'prepares all his own meat, and has a splendid patronage. Until the completion of his new building he occupied an older structure on the same spot. Mr. Guenther learned his trade near the City of Berlin, Germany. He was born in Brandenburg, Germany, September 5, 1864, and he grew up in his home village and gained his education there. His grandfather, William, spent most of his life in the Kingdom of Saxony. He married a Miss Sleveke. They were substantial farming people, and lived to be quite old. They were members of the 1280 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Lutheran Church. Their family comprised the following children : William, Andrew, and a daughter, all of whom spent their lives in Germany. William Guenther Jr. grew up on a farm and died in the village where his son Charles was born. He passed away in 1866 at the age of forty-two. He was married in Brandenburg to Wilhelmina Witchin, who was also born and reared in the same village. Her death occurred about the same time as that of her husband. Their children were : E. August, who is still living on the old homestead in Germany and has a family ; Julia A., who married Otto Krepps, and she died about fifteen years ago, leaving a son and a daughter. The other child, Charles R. Guenther, completed a common school education at the age of fourteen, and then began learning the trade of butcher. He remained in Germany until the summer of 1893, when he set sail on the ship Oller and landed in New York City August 10th. For the next four years he was employed at his trade in New York City, and in 1897 he came to Napoleon, Ohio, where he has since been in business for himself, and has been well prospered. In Henry County, at Napoleon, Mr. Guenther married Anna Manke. She was born in the Kingdom of Hanover, May 18, 1867, and was reared and educated there, her parents being excellent and worthy people of that kingdom. In 1888 she came to the United States and soon afterwards to Napoleon, and was later joined by her brother Henry and Fred Manche. Mr. and Mrs. Guenther have one daughter, Marion Dorothea, who was born January 16, 1902, and is now in the eighth grade of public schools. All the family are members of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Guenther is a democrat. Miss Ida Fruth, who for the .past five years has been Mr. Guenther's clerk in the business, is a native of Henry County and a graduate of the Napoleon High School with the class of 1909. THE JOSEPH F. GROSSWILLER COMPANY of Toledo is a concern of special importance be, cause it exemplifies the modern commercial spirit in furnishing an equitable distribution of profits among those chiefly responsible therefor. The company handles supplies for plumbers steamfitters, manufacturers, mills and railroad, and its trade extends over four or five of the large states of the Central West. The nucleus of the business was established in 1900 by Joseph F. Grosswiller, who began supplying the gasfitters and plumbers trade with all the necessary articles and equipment used. Mr. Grosswiller conducted the business alone for several years and brought it to a high degree of success. Then in 1908 it was reorganized as the Joseph F. Grosswiller Supply Company, with a capital stock of $75,000. At that time was introduced the special feature of a co-operative plan. This principle of co-operation was suggested and the plan was promoted by Mr. Grosswiller himself. As a result the employees are given a share in the profits on a properly graduated scale of dis.tribution, and this plan has worked out most effectively, both to the advantage of the employees in a material way and as a matter of satisfaction and has also improved the personnel of the service. At the reorganization Mr. Grosswiller retained control and management of the business. Then in March, 1913, the. company was incorporated with a capital of $100,000, under the present name, The Joseph F. Grosswiller Company. Mr. Grosswiller is president, treasurer and general manager, with Charles Keplinger as secretary and N. Kohn as assistant treasurer. This company is one of the largest local establishments of its kind in Northwest Ohio. Its offices, show rooms and store are situated at 430-434 Huron Street. The trade now extends over the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and even in the more remote sections. Mr. Grosswiller is one of Toledo's prominent business men and citizens. He is president of the Toledo Metal Manufacturers Company of Toledo, whose plant is located on Cleveland Avenue, and is also treasurer of The Mutual Savings Association.. He is a member of the Toledo Club, the Inverness Club, the Toledo Yacht Club, the Toledo Commerce Club, the Toledo Automobile Club, the Toledo Museum of Art, and is always active in promoting any enterprise for a greater and better Toledo. Fraternally he is affiliated with Rubicon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Toledo Commandery of the Knights Templar, Zenobia Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He also has membership in the Collingwood Avenue Presbyterian Church. Mr. Grosswiller is married and has one of the attractive homes in the city. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1281 JOHN F. LENARDSON. At his fine home a mile northeast of Richfield Center John F. Lenardson is now enjoying a well earned retirement. He has almost reached that time in life when men are supposed to lay down some of the activities of earlier years and spend their days in peace and comfort. Mr. Lenardson has found success as a farmer and is also a banker and business man, with extensive interests in Lucas County. A native of Northwest Ohio, he was born in Williams County October 25, 1847, a son of James and Hannah (Dean) Lenardson. His father was from the Mohawk Valley of New York State. He married in Sylvania, Ohio, but soon went on to Williams County. In 1854 James Lenardson returned to Lucas County, and bought the farm adjoining the place now owned by his son John. John F. Lenardson remained at home with his father until 1874. In the meantime he had enjoyed the advantages of the local schools and had given a good account of himself in such responsibilities as were entrusted to his youth and comparative inexperience. He enlisted in February, 1865, in Company A, One Hundred and Eighty-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until September, 1865. He did guard duty in Alabama. He is now a member of Brint and McBride Post, No. 225, Grand Army of the Republic of Berkey, Ohio. In 1874 Mr. Lenardson bought the nucleus of the farm which he now owns. His home has been there ever since, a period of more than forty years, and there are many visible evidences of his work and enterprise. Altogether he now owns one hundred seventy acres. Its improvements are of the very best, and a brief observation shows that Mr. Lenardson is entitled to the distinction of being a thoroughly progressive and up-to-date farmer. He has large barns and silos and believes in getting the farm work done by the most efficient and thorough methods, and consequently uses the latest machinery and also employs tractors in cultivating and working his fields and crops. Since 1910 Mr. Lenardson has not actively supervised the management of his farm, which has been under the direction of his son in law Bayliss Griffin. However, Mr. Lenardson has other business interests. He is president of the Berkey Elevator Company and a director in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Sylvania and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Metamora. He is also giving much of his time to the public, and is serving as treasurer of Richfield Township and has also filled the offices of trustee and is a member of the board of education. Politically he is a republican. Mr. Lenardson married Lovina Ford, daughter of Charles Ford. To their marriage were born four children. Fidelia B. is the wife of Farley Taylor, a farmer in Richfield Township and they have a son John T. Myrtle E. married Fred Collins, a Richfield Township farmer. Nina F. is the wife of Frank Tredway, son of Horace Tredway, and they live on a farm in Richfield Township and have three children named Howard, Florence and Ralph. Lula L., the youngest daughter, is the wife of Bayliss Griffin, who now manages the home farm of Mr. Lenardson, and their three children are named Lenardson, Helen and Ruth. PHEBE D. SHEFFIELD. The attractive little city of Napoleon, judicial center of Henry County, Ohio, is justly proud of the facilities, equipment and building .of its fine Carnegie Public Library, but the popularity of this admirable institution is by no means more definite than that of its efficient and gracious librarian, Miss Sheffield, who has been the incumbent of this responsible and exacting office from the time of the opening of the library, her appointment having been made in November, 1912, and her administration having been marked by zeal, earnest devotion and appreciation of the high functions of the institution over which she is placed in charge. Miss Sheffield, who is familiarly known to her many friends by the personal name of Ora, is a native daughter of the city in which she now maintains her home and is a woman of distinctive culture and most attractive personality, as manifest in her gentle consideration for all with whom she comes in contact, in which connection it may consistently be said that no person in Henry County is better known or can claim a wider circle of loyal friends. The building of the Carnegie Library of Napoleon was erected in the year 1912, and it occupies a most attractive site on Woodlawn avenue, with beautiful grounds to enhance its -charm. For the erection of the building Mr. Andrew Carnegie contributed ten thousand dollars, with a stipulatory provision that the citizens of Napoleon contribute one thousand dollars annually for the upkeep of the institution. The library building is of substantial and attractive modern design and of effective brick construction. In addition 1282 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO to the rooms devoted to the accommodation of the library proper, now comprising three thousand six hundred .volumes, the basement. of the building is consistently equipped as an assembly room. Marked circumspection has been shown in the selection of the books for the various departments of the library, which is maintained at a specially high standard, and the librarian is indefatigable in her efforts to make the service of the institution justify its establishing and to bring to the library the greatest possible popular appreciation and support in the community. Miss Sheffield was born and reared at Napoleon and is a daughter of Edward and Phebe (Brownell) Sheffield. Edward Sheffield was born and reared in Ohio, and was a scion of a sterling family that sent representatives from Sheffield, England, to the United States, where settlement was made in Ohio in the pioneer period of the history of this favored commonwealth. Edward Sheffield profited duly by the advantages afforded in the common schools of the Buckeye State and as a young man he wedded Miss Elizabeth Tyler, who was a sister of. Justin H. Tyler, a review of the latter's career appearing on other pages of this work, with adequate data concerning the family history. Mrs. Sheffield survived her marriage by only a few years and left one son, Byron E., who is now engaged in the insurance business at Boise City, Idaho. and who is married and the father of children. After he had established his home at Napoleon Edward Sheffield studied law under effective private preceptorship, and after his admission to the bar he here engaged in the practice of his profession. He was then a young man of about twenty-four years and he soon gained definite success and prestige as .a skilled trial lawyer and well fortified counselor, besides which he became influential in public affairs in Henry County. He represented this county most loyally and effectively as a member of the lower house of the Ohio Legislature and was one of the leaders in the councils of the democratic party in his constituent county. In his profession he formed a partnership alliance with the late Judge James Haley, who was long incumbent of the office of Judge of the Probate Court of Henry County. Mr. Sheffield died in the very flower of his strong and useful manhood, as he was but thirty-nine years of age when summoned from the stage of his mortal endeavors, in October, 1865. He held inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem and in addition to his service as a member of the Legislature he held. for a time the office of auditor of Henry County. He maintained active affiliation with the Masonic fraternity. At Napoleon was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sheffield to Miss Phebe Brownell, who was born in Rensselaer County, New York, on .the 9th of December, 1828, and who was a child of eight years at the time of the family removal to Ohio, her parents, William C. and Lydia (Chase) Brownell, having become pioneers of Henry County, where̊ they established their home in the village of Florida, which was then a community of greater population and more relative importance than Napoleon. These sterling pioneers were numbered among the earliest settlers of Henry County, which was then on the very frontier, with Indians and wild game much in evidence in the untrammeled forests that marked the most of the surrounding country. When Napoleon rose to prominence as the leading town of the county William C. Brownell here established the family home, and as a skilled surveyor he was concerned with the surveying of a large part of the prospective farm land throughout Henry County. He was a well known pioneer and influential citizen of this county and he was about fifty-five years of age at the time of his death, which resulted from an injury to his chest that caused him to succumb to what was commonly known as quick consumption, the original injury having been inflicted by a log which rolled upon him as he was handling it. His wife preceded him to eternal rest. He was of the eighth generation in descent from a sturdy Scotch 'ancestor who came from his native land and established a home in America in the early colonial period of our national history. Mrs. Phebe (Brownell) Sheffield was one of a family of six children, all of whom are now deceased and four of whom married and reared children. Mrs. Sheffield was the last survivor of the immediate family and attained to the venerable age of eighty-four years, her death having occurred on the 5th of March, 1911, at her home. in Napoleon, where she had been cared for with the deepest filial devotion by her daughter Phebe, Ole present librarian of the public library in this city. Mrs. Sheffield was a woman whose gentle and kindly nature and gracious refinement endeared her to all who came within the sphere of her influence, and she was one HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1283 of the revered pioneer women of Henry 'County at the time of her death. She was one of the early members of the Presbyterian Church of Napoleon, and continued her earnest affiliation with the same until the close of her life. Of her children the eldest is Ella, who is the widow of Prof. Eugene L. Cowdvick, who at the time of his death held the chair of ancient and modern history in the high school in the City of Topeka, .Kansas, his widow being now a resident of Topeka and her only child being a son, Edward S. Mary. E. is the wife of Earnest L. Hartman, editor and publisher of the Continental News, at Continental, Putnam County, Ohio, and they have two sons, Eugene and Edward S. William C., the only song was graduated in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, as a member of the class of 1876, and he became successfully established in the drug business in the State of New Hampshire, where he died in the year 1893. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Mary Kershaw and Mrs. Jessie Sweeney. Miss Phebe D. Sheffield, the immediate subject of this review, is the youngest of the children. HENRY C. COY, M. D. One of the old and honored families of Northwest Ohio, members of which have been identified with farming, commercial and industrial activities and the various learned professions since the advent of the first pioneer is that represented by Dr. Henry C. Coy of Napoleon. Possessing great native ability and showing especial devotion to his calling, Doctor Coy has won a secure place in his profession and has been in active practice in Henry County for more than a quarter of a century. In 1888 he was graduated M. D. from the Baltimore Medical College and soon afterwards established himself in practice at Ridgeville in Henry County. He soon had a large and profitable practice in the country districts, remained there until the fall of 1907, since which date he has his home and office in Napoleon. Doctor Coy was born at Evansport, Defiance County, Ohio, in 1855, and grew up and received his education both in that and in Henry County. For three terms he was a student in Bryan College and altogether was a teacher for five years. During vacations he studied medicine and largely from his own earnings paid his way into the ranks of the profession. He studied medicine under his older brother, Dr. M. C. Coy, and then entered the Medical School at Baltimore. Doctor Coy has Scotch blood in his veins through the paternal line, while his mother was of German parentage. Grandfather Coy was killed as a result of a runaway accident in Greene County, Ohio. He left a small family, and the oldest son, Jacob, was thirteen years of age at the time. Jacob was born in Greene County, Ohio, in 1807, and died at the age of ninety, in 1897. He grew up in his native county, and was married there to Mary Shank. She was also a native of Greene County and of German parents, who were early settlers in that section of Ohio. Soon after his marriage Jacob Coy and his young wife, in 1831, made a journey through the wilderness and over Indian trails to Defiance County, and were the first settlers to locate on the banks of the Tiffin River in the township of that name. There they put up a little log cabin, and for a number of months lived with Indians for their closest neighbors. There was hardly another permanent settler between his cabin and the state line of Michigan. Theirs was in every way a typical pioneer home. The possession of the simplest material comforts and necessities was considered sufficient, though both the sturdy young husband and wife had ambitious plans for the future. They lived largely on the products of their own soil, while the husband shot much of the game of the woods to furnish meat for the larder. Following their advance into Defiance County there subsequently came a brother of Jacob and two of his sisters, and also his widowed mother. In time the little log cabin, with its puncheon floor and bed quilt for a door, gave way to a more commodious structure, built on a clearing and out of hewed logs. Jacob Coy had all the pioneer industry and thrift, and in time he cleared away the heavy forest and developed a fine farm. He was a man of remarkable abilities and faculties. He had mechanical skill and he had no peer in that part of the state as an axman. When the first white woman in Defiance County, Mrs. Clark, died, he made the black walnut coffin and- carried it on his back into Williams to be used for her burial. Jacob Coy's widowed mother, whose maiden name was Polly Jones, died at the old home in Defiance-County at the age of eighty-eight. She was al native of Kentucky and one phase of her girlhood experience was spending some time in Daniel Boone's forts for protection against the Indians. She was noted for her 1284 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO physical strength, and Jacob and other members of the family inherited that characteristic. Polly Jones' father was a Kentucky pioneer, and at one time was captured by the Indians and held for some months before making his escape. Jacob Coy employed his great strength and endurance not only to provide well for his own family, but also to assist his pioneer neighbors. He was the chief reliance in many house raisings in Defiance County, and he and his brother John and brother-in-law, John Snyder, erected the first mill on Tiffin River. The mill was run for many years by John Coy, provided the flour and meal used by settlers for miles around. Jacob Coy and wife were active Methodists, and he and his brother and brother-in-law put up the first log church for. that denomination, and took the lead in organizing the society in Defiance County. When he died Jacob Coy was the oldest member of the Methodist Church in Ohio. He cast his first vote for Old Hickory and was also devoted to the principles of the democratic party as founded by President Jackson. His wife was born in 1811 and died in 1887. Doctor Coy is next to the youngest in a family of eleven sons and two daughters. Four of -these died young while scarlet fever was epidemic, but all the others grew up, all of them married, and five sons and two daughters are still living. At Riggsville in Henry County, Doctor Coy married Miss Catherine McIntosh, who for several years before her marriage had been a popular young school teacher. She was born and reared and educated in Henry County, a daughter of Henry McIntosh, who was born in Scotland and came to America. when a young man. He was married in this country, was a substantial Ohio farmer, served through the Civil war as a Union soldier, and died near Wauseon, Ohio, in 1914, at the age of eighty-eight. Henry McIntosh cast his first vote for the whig party and afterwards became a republican. Near Hiram, Ohio, he married -Maria Tilden, a first cousin of James Tilden, who received a popular majority for President of the United States in 1876, but was counted out of the race. Mrs. Henry McIntosh died in 1894, when about seventy years of age. She was a member of the Methodist Church. Doctor and Mrs. Coy have one daughter, Florence, born February 2, 1907, and now attending the fifth grade of the public schools at Napoleon. Doctor Coy is a Knight Tem plar Mason, being affiliated with the Definace Commandery, and is also a candidate for Scottish Rite degrees. In medical circles he is a member of the county, Northwest Ohio and state medical societies. Mrs. Coy has been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. AARON G. WASHBURN. Living retired on his handsome farm in Richfield Township, Aaron G. Washburn is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war in Lucas County. He gave several years of his young manhood to the cause of the Union, followed the flag on many a hard fought battlefield, and since returning home after doing his share in preserving the union of the states he followed farming in Richfield Township until he was able to retire and enjoy the comforts of his earlier years of toil and industry. Mr. Washburn was born in Richfield Township May 30, 1843, and represented one of the old and highly respected pioneer names of that section of Lucas County. His parents were Isaac and Mary (Wolfinger) Washburn. His maternal grandfather Jacob Wolfinger was the first white settler in the southeast corner of Richfield Township. He arrived there in the spring of 1834 and located on the open prairie. During the following summer other families arrived, including the Lathrops, Farleys and Hendricksons. It was in the fall of 1834 that Isaac Washburn came to Richfield Township and established a home in the heavy timber. Isaac Washburn came from the vicinity of Lake Champlain near Georgia, Vermont, and came to Ohio a poor man, but by industry and good judgment acquired a large estate. He died in 1893 at the age of eighty-four. He was a man of affairs, splendidly public spirited, and impressed his character and ability in many ways on the community. His wife died in 1869 at the age of fifty-four and they were the parents of three sons and two daughters. One of the sons William gave his life for his country during the Civil war. Aaron G. Washburn spent his early life on his father's place in Richfield Township, secured an education in the local schools, and at the age of eighteen in August, 1861, he enlisted in Company F of the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, commanded by James B. Steadman. This was one of the first regiments to answer the call for troops for three years' service. Mr. Washburn was with the army of the Cumberland, and participated in all the campaigns from the fall of 1861 until HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1285 the close of the war, fighting in Kentucky, Tennessee, Northern Georgia, the Carolinas, following Sherman after the fall of Atlanta to the sea., thence up to Richmond and on to Washington and after the Grand Review he returned home, with a record of brave and efficient service to his credit. In 1868 Mr. Washburn began farming for himself on a place of 115 acres. He still owns and occupies that fine farm, which in improvements is one of the best in Richfield Township. When he acquired this land it was in the woods and much of it was swampy and wet. As a result of his hard work and intelligent management the land has been drained and cleared, and unproductive wastes turned into fertile and valuable fields. About 1906 Mr. Washburn gave up the active responsibilities of farming and has since enjoyed a well earned retirement. In 1867 he married Lucy Smith, a daughter of Edmund Smith. Her father came to Lucas County from Lorain County, Ohio, where Mrs. Washburn was born. Mrs. Washburn died in 1902, leaving the following children : William, who resides in Tiffin, Ohio, and married Ada Leonardson of Richfield Township ; Bert, who died at the age of twenty-one in 1892 ; and Mary, who married Fred McNees of Maumee, who died leaving three children Lynne, Beatrice and Jean, and she then married John Burgy, win, is now active manager of Mr. Washburn's homestead. For many years Mr. Washburn has taken an active interest in the Grand Army of the Republic and is one of the esteemed members of the Grand Army Post. He has served his community as town clerk and trustee, and is a loyal republican. MAYOR BRIGHAM. The Brigham family, which has been identified with Toledo for three quarters of a century, and through three generations, is descended from a Puritan ancestor, Thomas Brigham, who came to the New England colonies from England. Further down the line. was Major Asa Brigham, who helped the colonies fight in the early Indian wars, and a son of Asa, Captain Stephen Brigham, was present at the battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution. The founder of this branch of the family in Toledo was Mayor Brigham, who spent more than sixty years at Toledo, and whose record reflects much of Toledo's growth and history. He was born in Westmoreland, Oneida County, New York, May 16, 1806, and died Vol. II-40 in Toledo January 8, 1897, at the ripe old age of ninety-one. He was one of eight children. Spending his youth on a farm, and getting such education as was offered by the New York schools of that time, conducted on the subscription plan he, nevertheless, showed a sturdiness and masterful independence which took him far in every relationship of a long life. When he was still young his parents moved to Vienna, a small village in the county where he was born, and he grew to manhood there. He learned the carpenter's trade and showed unusual skill in this line, and thereby he laid the foundation for his home and competence. His independence of views and the courage of his convictions were displayed quite early in life. He was one of the first to express his views against the evil of the slave traffic. When a young man in 1832 he organized at Vienna, New York, the first anti-slavery society in that state, and for three years was its secretary. When the time came to make a home of his own, he married Miss Clarissa Bill of Vienna. In the spring of 1835, with his wife and child, he took passage on the Commodore Perry, Captain David Wilkinson commanding, bound for Toledo. The newcomers were welcomed by Chester Walbridge, father of the late H. S. Walbridge of Toledo, reference to whom is made on other pages. The Brighams remained as Mr. Walbridge's guests while their own home was being constructed. From 1837 to 1840 Mr. Brigham lived at Dundee, Michigan, but with that exception was continuously a resident of Toledo for a period of sixty-two years. His first wife died in 1842, leaving her husband and two children, Harriet, who later became Mrs. William A. Beach, and who died at Toledo May 28, 1916, at the age of eighty-four ; and the late Charles 0. Brigham, who died May 2, 1906,. and is individually mentioned elsewhere. In 1843 Mayor Brigham returned to his birthplace and married Miss Malinda P. Merrill of Westmoreland. To this marriage were born five children : Stanley F., of Toledo ; George M., who for thirty years was connected with the Western Union Telegraph Company at Toledo, the last few years as night manager, and after completing his work at 12:30 A. M., March 21, 1907, he returned home and a few minutes later was stricken with apoplexy and died within a few hours, at the age of fifty-eight, having during that comparatively brief career filled a useful 1286 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO place both in business and social affairs ; William A., of Toledo; Frederick M., who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Harry C., of Toledo. No man watched with more solicitude and cherished interest the growth and development of Toledo from a hamlet into a me:- tropolis than the late Mayor Brigham. His own name appeared frequently in connection 'with the municipal progress of the city. Before Toledo's incorporation he served as township clerk, township treasurer and infirmary director. With the establishment of the municipality. he was for two years a member of the city council, for three years one of the waterworks commissioners, and in 1852 was appointed mayor to fill out an unexpired term. Other honors came to him from men prominent in the state and national affairs. In 1856 Governor Salmon P. Chase nominated him for collector of canal tolls, and subsequently he was made' a member of the first organized police board of the city. Mr. Brigham was a very active whig and in turn an equally active republican. He was almost an authority on the history of Toledo, and among the many interesting recollections of his own experience he recalled the historic mass meeting at Fort Meigs in 1840, when General William Henry Harrison opened his presidential campaign. Mr. Brigham was one of the charter members of the First Congregational Church of Toledo, which was organized in 1844. For fifty-three years he was continuously deacon and church clerk and held that office at the time of his death on January 8, 1897. The home life of Mayor Brigham was ideal in all its relations and circumstances. For thirty years he had been accustomed to gathering his children and their children about him every twelve months in a family reunion.. The last gathering of this kind was one especially felicitous, since all felt that owing to advanced years Mayor Brigham was among them for the last time. His devoted wife survived him nine years, until her death on May 12, 1906. While the record of her lifetime does not admit of circumstantial description, a tribute should be* paid to the beauty and simplicity of her character and the years of devotion and care she gave to her home and children. She was eighty-five years of age at the time of her death, and for sixty-three years had been a resident of Toledo, going there from her home in Oneida County, New York, as a bride of but a few weeks. It will not be amiss to repeat what was often said that Mrs. Mayor Brigham exemplified the finest and most beautiful type of motherhood. A year after her arrival in the city she identified herself with the various activities of the First Congregational Church and was one of the most constant in its work and membership until the time of her death. KENTON DRAKE KEILHOLTZ, junior partner to Mr. E. L. Southworth, of Southworth & Company, grain and seed, at Toledo, was born at Tiffin, Ohio, June 24, 1885, a son of Richard William and Annie (Drake) Keilholtz. His mother is still living and his father, who died at Toledo February 19, 1909, was for many years connected with the Merrill Manufacturing Company of Toledo as general manager. After an education in the Toledo High School with the class of 1901, Kenton D. Keilholtz found employment in the grain trade, soon entering the office of Southworth & Company, and has steadily moved himself along until he attained the goal of his ambition, a partnership in that prominent firm. In 1904 he was elected a member of the Toledo Produce Exchange. In 190'7-1909 he was secretary of the Toledo Transportation Club and is a trustee of the Y. M. C. A. Other organizations with which he is connected are the Toledo Club, the Inverness Golf Club, the Rotary Club, the Toledo Yacht Club the Toledo Commerce Club, Barton Smith Lodge of Masons and Toledo Royal Arch Chapter and the Collingwood.Avenue Presbyterian Church. At Toledo, November 14, 1907, he married Miss Flora Gage Conklin, daughter of Herbert G.. Conklin. They have two sons, Richard Conklin and Robert Gage Keilholtz. The above contains the essential facts of his career. In the Toledo Rotary Spoke on March 2, 1916, as one of the theories in something good about Rotarians, was an article concerning Mr. Keilholtz, containing a quotation from a letter written by him to the secretary of the Rotary Club. One paragraph of this letter deserves quotation as a modest and witty explanation of how he got ahead in the world. "There's a dispute about my birthplace between Toledo and Tiffin. Toledo says I was born in Tiffin and Tiffin. says I was born in Toledo. Tiffin really gets the blame, but give them credit for trying to get out from under as soon as possible, for they soon exported me to this town. Here I went to school. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1287 After that I 'fluctuated' as kids are 'accustomed to doing. After about a year 1 got what I had been wanting, a chance in the grain business. My first work was in the transportation line. I carried samples of grain from the elevators. Later I was given a chance in the office of Southworth & Company, where I am now a partner. I started with the understanding that I had all the chance in the world to work. I was to be the first one in the office in the morning and the last one out at night. My pay was twelve dollars a month, whether I earned it or not. At this I was short on cash and long on futures, but the head of the firm must have been a kid himself once, for he knew that an ounce of encouragement is worth a pound of knocks, and he gave me the best chance in the world. I don't want to mention the fact that I was elected a member of the Toledo Produce Exchange when only nineteen, as there's a law against that sort of thing in this state. However, the statute of limitations will protect me .now." CHARLES F. HARROUN. For over twenty years. Charles F. Harroun has been one of the prosperous and substantial farming residents of Richfield Township in Lucas County. His postoffice is Berkey, and his home is a mile north of Richfield Center. The Harroun family has been identified with Northwestern Ohio for more than three quarters of a century. Mr. Charles F. Harroun was born in Richfield Township July 22, 1858. His grandfather John Harroun spent all his life in Franklin, Massachusetts. Levi Harroun was one of the prominent early settlers of Northwest Ohio, coming about 1839. He was a native of Franklin, Massachusetts. His cousin David Harroun was a pioneer settler in the vicinity of Sylvania and Levi's brother John also located in Sylvania about the same time, and at his death left no family. He is buried in the Sylvania cemetery. Levi Harroun had his home in Sylvania for several years and finally located in Fulton County. In 1852 he moved to a farm a mile south of Berkey in Richfield Township, and there spent the rest of his days. He was a man of more than ordinary prominence in local affairs. He was one of the pioneer abolitionists, and probably voted in support of the first free soil ticket ever put out in Richfield Township. Among local offices which he held was that of town clerk. Levi married for his first wife Dorcas Hol lister, of Sylvania. Her brother Hiram Hollister was a well known resident of that locality, and her father settled in the western part of Sylvania Township in early days. Levi and Dorcas had the following children: Henry E., a resident of Coldwater, Michigan; Harriet, who first married John Van Norman, who fell while fighting for his country in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, and she later married Henry Hubbard of Sylvania, and both are now deceased. The mother of these children died about 1845. Some five years later Levi Harroun married Amanda Wolfinger. Her father Jacob Wolfinger represented one of the very oldest and most prominent families of Lucas County, the Wolfingers being the first white settlers in what is now Richfield Township. By this marriage there were born the following children : Ira W., who died at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, July 24, 1914; Ezra S., an active physician at Lyons, Ohio, married Clara Jones and their children are Mary, Edith and John ; Harple M., died at New Orleans December 27, 1888 ; the next in age is Charles F. ; and John F. is a farmer at Semmes, Alabama. Charles F. Harroun grew up in Lucas County, gained a common school education, and remained at home until his marriage. The next ten years he and his wife rented a farm and in 1894 bought his present place in Richfield Township. He continued his business as a general farmer until 1915, and then turned the responsibilities of its management over to a younger generation. Mr. Harroun married April 2, 1882, at Ogden, Michigan, Minerva Potter, daughter of Caleb Potter of Amboy Township, Fulton County. She was born July 7, 1858. Their children are : Wellington, who is a Richfield. Township farmer and by his marriage to Myrtle Lochbihler of Richfield has three children, Austin C., Dward and Imogene. Bertha M. is the wife of C. H. Koos, a farmer at Delta in Fulton County, and she is the mother of two daughters, Ruth and Janve. Basil M. is now operating his father's home farm and he married Ella Smith of Ogden Township of Lenawee County, Michigan. Lyall is the wife of K. K. Lathrop, a farmer in Riga Township of Lenawee County, Michigan. Ercie F. is the wife of Floyd Gray, a farmer in Richfield Township. In polities Mr. Harroun is a republican. He has given his time liberally to various public interests, was an active member of the school board for some years, and since 1897 has been continuously in the office of justice 1288 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO of the peace. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow. NATHANIEL C URWIN WRIGHT. No one institution has had a more pregnant influence on the life and affairs of the City of Toledo and Northwestern Ohio than that old and honored journal, The Toledo Blade. Corresponding to its high position and influence there is always an interest in the personality of its publisher and head. On July 1, 1908, Nathaniel C. Wright became the publisher of the Blade, and its growth and manifestations of power since that date have been largely due to his broad experience and ability as a newspaper man. Born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1871, he is a son of Nathaniel Webster and Olive (Bennett) Wright. His ancestry is largely Irish, with an admixture of English. On the paternal side his forebears were English and Irish, and the maternal were Irish. Either through some direct ancestor or collateral lines Mr. Wright is related to men who have participated in every war the United States has been engaged in from the Revolution to the present. Mr. Wright was educated in DePauw University at Greencastle, .Indiana, and under private tutors in Chicago. Beginning journalism, he was successively reporter, editorial writer and assistant city editor of the Chicago Daily News during 1891-1892. He then went with the Associated Press as commercial editor, staff correspondent, Chicago city editor and night manager of the Central Division until the breaking out of the Spanish-American war in April, 1898. Being sent to the front as war correspondent for the Associated Press he was a witness of its events on both land and sea at Santiago de Cuba and in that vicinity. Returning to Chicago he was made day manager of the entire evening newspaper service of the Associated Press. Going to Indianapolis in 1900, he assumed the managing editorship of the Sentinel, but in 1903 became editor and publisher of the Indianapolis Journal, which he conducted until its sale the following year. In 1904 Medill McCormick, of Chicago, acquired the Cleveland Leader, and sold some of his interest in that paper to Mr. Wright as editor and H. S. Thalheimer as business manager. That was the beginning of a very noteworthy and successful business partnership between Mr. Wright and Mr. Thalheimer, which' has continued to the present time. Within a year Mr. McCormick sold all interest in the Leader and the control passed to Messrs. Wright and Thalheimer, together with J. H. Dempsey of Cleveland. The new management instilled a vigorous vitality into the Leader, which had been on the decline, and .soon had it in a prosperous condition. Mr. Wright changed the editorial policy from one of violent and intolerant partisanship to absolute independence. While according a general support to the republican principles, this was based on broad lines, and neither the news nor editorial departments showed any discrimination between progressive measures and tendencies and men, whether under republican or democratic names. In 1908 Mr. Wright and Mr. Thalheimer entered into a contract with the D. R. Locke estate for the publication of the Toledo Blade. This arrangement was in the form of a long term lease, the first of the kind ever made for the control of a newspaper property. As such it attracted considerable attention in the newspaper world, and the practice has since been followed in a number of other transactions. The Blade was naturally put on the same basis of political independence and progressive activity as the Cleveland Leader. The Leader in the meantime was prospering under the management of Wright, Thalheimer & Dempsey, and when D. R. Hanna, early in 1912, bought the entire lot of the Leader stock it was provided that the paper should continue under the former management until January 1, 1913. A little later Wright, Thalheimer & Dempsey negotiated for Mr. Hanna the purchase of the Cleveland News, and consolidated that with the Leader. Mr. Wright is also interested as a stockholder in several other newspapers. Early in 1916 he and Mr. Thalheimer purchased the Newark Star and the Newark Eagle, of Newark, New Jersey, and consolidated the two papers as the Newark Star-Eagle. Mr. Wright is a member of the Phi Kappa Psi, the Press Club of Chicago, the NUnion, Country, Rowf ant and Athletic clubs of Cleveland, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, and of the Toledo Club, Toledo Commerce Club, Toledo Yacht Club and Maumee Yacht Club, and the Friars Club of New York. He is a Member of Anthony Wayne Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. GEORGE HERBERT LEWIS. As a vigorous and ambitious lawyer, one possessed of suf- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1289 ficient ability, so that he never has to resort to pretense or display in order to hold his own, and as a citizen of large public spirit, George H. Lewis, during his six years of membership in the Toledo bar, has made an excellent reputation professionally and otherwise. His offices are in the Nicholas Building. He was born in that district of Southern Ohio known as the Hanging Rock Iron Region. His birth occurred in Jackson Township of Jackson County, December 28. 1879. His parents were R. O. and Julia A. (Greene) Lewis, the former a native of Jackson County, Ohio, and the latter of Hocking County, Ohio. Both are still living retired at the old homestead in Jackson County, where they were married. The Lewis family comes from Wales and grandfather Lewis and wife left that country in the early days and settled in Southern Ohio. Mrs. Julia Lewis' parents came from New England, her father Christopher H. Greene afterwards serving as a soldier in the Civil war. This is the same branch of the Greene family which produced the great revolutionary leader, Nathanael Greene. George Herbert Lewis is the only survivor of his parents' three children. His older sister, Bertha M., who died at her home in Columbus, Ohio, in 1907, was the wife of Henry Eversbach. Oscar M., a younger brother, died at the old home in Jackson County at the age of twenty-four in 1904, having previously been a teacher and just before his death was pursuing a preparatory course in the Ohio State University. George H. Lewis grew up on a farm in Jackson County, Ohio, and lived in the country until he was seventeen. His education came from the district schools, and at the age of seventeen he began teaching, an occupation which he followed in the winter times until he was nineteen, and occupied his vacations and summer seasons in farm work. Thus he made his own way into a professional career, and early learned the valuable lessons of self reliance. For two years he was a student in Dennison University, and then entered the Ohio State University where he was graduated A. B. in 1904. He continued in the State University in the law department until graduating LL. B. in 1907. Mr. Lewis was admitted to the bar at Columbus before the Supreme Court in 1907 and in the fall of that year began practice at Bowling Green with E. G. McClellan under the firm name of McClellan & Lewis. Mr. Lewis came to Toledo in the spring of 1910, fortified with three years of active experience at Bowling Green, and has" since looked after a general practice without a partner. He also handles the claim work in the Toledo district for the Travelers Insurance Company of Hartford. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Delta 'Chi Law fraternity, and is affiliated with Bowling Green Lodge No. 818 of Elks at Bowling Green. He also belongs to the Toledo Commerce Club. FRANK G. SAXTON is the present secretary of the Toledo Commerce Club. When it is considered that this club represents every important. line of business and industry, and every real interest of the city, and that its rolls of membership includes practically every person worth mentioning in Toledo, the responsibilities of Mr. Saxton's office can be more properly appreciated. A young man, he has for a number of years been identified with some of the larger business organizations of Toledo and besides his extended personal acquaintance has at ready command a vast amount of detailed information and statistics concerning Toledo 's commercial and industrial affairs. He was born at Jackson, Michigan, June 1, 1884, a son of Frank H. and Anna (Graham) Saxton. His people were early settled in Southern Michigan, and the family came originally from New York State. Mr. Saxton's uncle, Charles T. Saxton, formerly occupied a prominent place in New York State politics. His home was at Clyde, and at one time he was lieutenant governor of New York while Morton was governor, and later for several years was judge of the Court of Claims of New York State. Reared in his native City of Jackson, Frank J. Saxton graduated from the public schools in 1902, and his first regular line of experience in commercial work was with a wholesale wall paper house. Later he became secretary of the Toledo Real Estate Board, and then was made assistant secretary and is now secretary of the Toledo Commerce Club. He is also a member of that club, of the Toledo Ad Club, of the Toledo Rotary Club, Toledo Yacht Club, Toledo Museum of Art and the Young Men's Christian Association. He and his family are members of the Trinity Episcopal Church. On June 20, 1911, at Toledo, Mr. Saxton 1290 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO married Edna Caroline Witker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Witker. They have one son, Frederick Saxton. DWIGHT O. WASHBURN represents one of the old established and prominent families of Lucas County. The foundation of his success was laid as a farmer in Richfield Township, where he has spent practically all his life, but Mr. Washburn is now officially identified with a number of local business organizations, and is president of the Sylvania Savings Bank Company. He was born in Richfield Township July 6, 1854, a son of Isaac and Mary (Wolfinger) Washburn. His maternal grandfather Jacob Wolfinger was the first white settler in this part of Lucas County. He arrived in the spring of 1834, and located on the open prairie which covered the southeast corner of Richfield Township and extended southwesterly into Spencer Township. During the same summer and fall the Lathrops, Farleys and Hendricksons came and also settled in Richfield. In the fall of that year Isaac Washburn arrived in Lucas County, but instead of locating on the prairie as most of the settlers did he established a home in the timber. Isaac Washburn was able to acquire only forty acres from the Government and his first home was just north of the present site of Richfield Center. At that time all taxes had to be paid in currency, though nearly all other business was carried on by barter and exchange. In order to get money for his taxes Isaac Washburn in 1836 was employed for several weeks in hewing timber for the old strap line railroad. He was paid 50 cents a day for that labor and boarded himself. By hard work he gained a competency as a farmer and land owner and was long one of the most substantial residents of Richfield Township. At one time he owned 400 acres. Isaac Washburn was born and reared at Georgia in Franklin County, Vermont, and had come direct from his native state to Ohio. His death occurred in 1893 at the age of eighty-two. He was a man of great physical vigor and continued his active life up to within two weeks of his death. Broadminded and public spirited, he did much to advance the welfare of his community during his lifetime. Isaac Washburn and Mary Wolfinger were married in 1836. She died in 1869. at the age of fifty-four. In their family were three sons and two daughters. Jeanette is the widow of John Shull and lives in Sylvania. William became a soldier in the Union army and died in 1862 from illness contracted while at the front. Aaron G. married Lucy Smith of Richfield Township. Keziah is the widow of Charles B. Howard of Richfield. The youngest of the children, Dwight O. Washburn married Julia Fuller of Richfield. Township, a daughter of Henry Fuller. Her grandfather was one of Lucas County's pioneers, having settled in Richfield in 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Washburn are the parents of a fine family of children. June is the wife of Dr. O. F. Lang of Falls City, Nebraska, and their three children are Dwight, Donald and Delmer, Sylvia, the second daughter, lives at home with her parents. Jean is the wife of James L. Farley of Richfield and they have two children named Evelyn and William. Bert is farming on his father's place, and by his marriage to Lura Taylor has two children, Bernard and Ruth. Reared and educated in his native township, Dwight 0. Washburn steadily followed the occupation of farmer until 1914, and conducted a large farm and also engaged extensively in dairying. Since leaving the farm he has given much time to the management of various business interests. He is president of the Sylvania Savings Bank Company of Sylvania, is manager of the Richfield Creamery Company at Richfield Center, is a director of the Berkey Elevator Company at Berkey, is secretary and treasurer of the Sylvania Home Telephone Company, which operates two exchanges, and for seven years was president of the Lucas County Farmers Aid and Insurance Company. Politically he is a republican, has served on the board of education, is a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with Berkey Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. FRANK G. KREFT, M. D. One of the younger members of the medical profession of Toledo with offices at 2907 LaGrange Street, Doctor Kreft entered practice with such qualifications, training and natural ability as to insure a highly successful career. He was born in Toledo February 1, 1891, a son of Ignatius and Josephine (Klimaszewski) Kreft. Both parents were born in German Poland. Ignatius Kreft came to the United States alone when about twenty-four years of age, landing in New York and going direct to Detroit, where he spent about seven years, and since then, for a period of thirty years, has been a resident of Toledo. A tailor by HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1291 trade, an occupation he learned in the old country, he worked as a journeyman in Detroit and also in Toledo, and for a number of years until 1911 was connected with a merchant tailoring establishment at 506 Jefferson Avenue. Since 1899 he has been proprietor of a dry goods, boot and shoe and millinery establishment at 2905-2907 LaGrange Street, and while still giving his active supervision to this well located and prosperous store he has surrendered many of its cares and responsibilities to his sons, Joseph E., Victor, Leon and his daughter Clara Lucile. The mother of these children came to the United States when about fourteen years of age, her family settling in Detroit, and there she met and married Mr. Kreft. Mrs. Josephine Kreft died in Toledo December 5, 1915. She was the mother of six sons and two daughters : Nettie, now Mrs. Anton Kotowski of Cleveland ; John F., proprietor of the Kreft Garment Cleaning Company at 1406 Cherry Street, Toledo; Joseph E., a bookkeeper in the Ohio Savings Bank and Trust Company and also interested in his father's store ; Dr. Frank George, the fourth in age among the children ; Anton, a pharmacist in the Boody House drug store ; Clara Lucile, in her father's store ; Victor, a machinist by trade, but now bearing a responsible part in the store on LaGrange Street ; Leon, who is also one of the firm. All the children are natives of Toledo except Nettie, who was born in Detroit. Doctor Kreft between the years five and seven attended the German school ; was then a student in the Parkland School up to the age of ten, and from that time until he was twelve was in St. Hedwig's Parochial School. He then entered St. John's College, and was graduated from the high school department of that institution in 1909 at the age of seventeen. Having already determined what his life work was to be, he spent the succeeding four years in the Toledo Medical College, and from there entered the University of Cincinnati Medical School, where he was graduated M. D. with the crass of 1915. 'Following his graduation he became an interne, serving four months in the Cincinnati General Hospital and four months in the Good Samaritan Hospital of that city. Thus it will be seen few young men enter the practice of medicine so thoroughly equipped and fitted for skillful and successful work. Since beginning practice Doctor Kreft has had his office. in Toledo. He is a member of St. Michael's Society, is physician to Camp No. 274, Woodmen of the World, belongs to the Polish National. Alliance and is also quite active and influential in Third Ward politics, being a progressive republican. His church home is St. Hedwig's Polish Catholic parish. On October 18, 1910, Doctor Kreft married Miss Martha Eleanor Palicki of Toledo. They were married in St. Anthony's Catholic Church. Mrs. Kreft is a daughter of John and Eleanor Palicki, her mother having died in Toledo in 1911 and her father still a resident there. Mrs. Kreft was born and educated in Toledo, attending the Hoag Street School and St. Anthcny's Parochial School, and still later the Metropolitan Business College. Doctor and Mrs. Kreft have two children, Frank George, Jr., born at Toledo March 2, 1914, and Alice Eleanor, born July 31, 1916. FRANK STUART LEWIS. One Of the best known law firms in Northwest Ohio is that of Doyle, Lewis, Lewis & Emery. of Toledo. The senior members are John H. Doyle and Charles T. Lewis, both of whom have for years sustained a reputation that ranks them among the best lawyers of the state. The younger members of the firm are Howard Lewis and Frank S. Lewis, both sons of Charles T. Lewis, and Ralph Emery. The offices of the firm are in the Nicholas Building. A son of Charles T. and Dora (Glidden) Lewis, Frank Stuart Lewis was born June 18, 1879, in Caldwell, Noble County, Ohio. He was liberally educated, attended the Toledo public schools, graduated A. B. from Denison University with the class of 1902, and LL. B. from Harvard Law School in 1905. He was admitted before the Supreme Court at Columbus in December, 1905, and at once took up active practice with his father at Toledo, and in 1910 was admitted to membership in the firm. He is now serving as general attorney for the Toledo and Ohio Central Railway Company. He and his brother Howard are connected with a number of enterprises in Toledo, and recently they bought ten acres at Fort Miami, a Toledo suburb, and on that historic ground they are beginning improvements which will make magnificent country homes. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and is affiliated with Center Star Lodge Fort Meigs Chapter of Masonry. He also belongs to the Toledo Club, the Toledo 1292 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Country Club, the Toledo Automobile Club, is a trustee of the Toledo Commerce Club, and belongs to the Lucas County Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association. His church is the Ashland Avenue Baptist. One of the brilliant social events in Toledo in recent years was the marriage on Wednesday, October 6, 1909, of Miss Ethelyn Belle Chesbrough and Frank Stuart Lewis. The wedding took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Abram M. Chesbrough on Robinwood Avenue. The Chesbroughs are an old and very prominent family in Toledo. Mrs. Lewis has been one of Toledo's most attractive society leaders and she came into special prominence a short time before her marriage, when chosen queen of the Wamba Carnival at Toledo during August, 1909. This was the first big Mardi Gras festival of the North, and was an event of much importance in Toledo and Northwest Ohio. Miss Chesbrough was selected as queen on account of her personal beauty and also because of her social prominence. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have two children, both born at Toledo, Nancy Jane Lewis and Dorothy Chesbrough Lewis. HORACE TREDWAY. During a period of seventy years a single family may contribute a splendid amount of energy and benefit to the improvements of a locality. The Tredways have lived in Lucas County for that length of time, and there is a great deal to show for their presence in this community. Mr. Horace Tredway a son of the pioneer, now lives on a part of the old farm settled by his father at the west edge of Richfield Township. Mr. Tredway himself has spent half a lifetime in active work as a farmer, and is now retired, and in the enjoyment of a large and ample competence massed by his industry and intelligent management. His birth occurred a few miles north of his present home just across the line in the State of Michigan May 18, 1841. His parents were Reuben and Nancy (Smith) Tredway, both of whom were reared in New York State and were married in what was then Allegany, but is now Wyoming County. In 1836 Reuben Tredway brought his family to Southern Michigan, locating in Monroe County in the midst of the woods. In fact the entire distance between Toledo and Detroit at that time was dense timber. In coming West the Tredways made the journey by boat from Buffalo, and encountered some of the severe lake storms. In fact the passengers had almost given up hope of landing. They finally reached Toledo and disembarked at the foot of Monroe Street. There was a bend in the river there and the current had cut away the bank so that boats could swing right up to the shore. Eighty years ago that was the only landing in Toledo. Reuben Tredway cleared up partially a farm in Southern Michigan and then sold out and in 1844 bought the farm where his son Horace now resides. Reuben and his wife both died there. Of their ten children the three now living are : Mrs. Almira Fry of Ogden Center, Michigan ; Mrs. Adna Hendrickson of Richfield Township, Lucas County ; and Horace. Horace Tredway was married at Kent City, Michigan, to Anna Collins, who was also from New York State. Their children are : Frank, who is farming a portion of his father's place and is thus continuing the activities of a third generation in one locality ; he married Nina Lenardson, daughter of J. F. Lenardson of Richfield Township ; their children are Howard, Florence, Ralph. Hartwin H., the second child, is cashier of the Home Savings Bank of Metamora in Fulton County; by his marriage to Elsie Garnsey of Metamora he has children named Marion, Beryl and Lucile. Stewart W., the third son, is also a farmer on the old homestead ; he married Ella Doyle of Ogden, Michigan, and has a son named George. Georgia, the only daughter, is the wife of D. C. Crowl, who is engaged in Chautauqua work; they have a child named Catherine. Harry R., the youngest child, is cashier of the Lyons Bank at Lyons in Fulton County, Ohio. From the time he was three years of age Horace Tredway has lived on the farm that he still owns, situated on the Toledo and Western Electric line. He received his education in that community and as soon as old enough acquainted himself with the duties of the farm. His present estate comprises 388 acres, consisting of some of the finest land in Lucas County. While his two sons are farming part of the place, the rest of it is rented. Mr. Tredway himself gave up active supervision of the farm in 1911. He also has other extensive' business interests and is financially identified with the Metamora Elevator and the Metamora Home Savings Bank, and owns stock in other elevators and creameries. Mr. Tredway also owns a winter home at Yalaha in Lake County, Florida, and a summer home at Hess Lake in Michigan. There is much to show for his many years HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1293 of industry in Lucas County. When the family came to Richfield Township the land now owned by Mr. Tredway was all in the woods. The successive labors of many years have cleared up the land and at the present time on his farm Mr. Tredway has between twenty and twenty-five miles of tile, so that the entire place is thoroughly drained. Other improvements are in keeping, and some large silos indicate the progressiveness of his farm management. Politically Mr. Tredway is a republican, and has served as justice of the peace of his township. He is a Knight Templar Mason, being a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter at Lyons, the Council at Wauseon and the Commandery. at Toledo. Mr. Tredway served as a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in May, 1864, in Company G, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio National Guard, and was stationed on guard duty at Johnson Island. Later he volunteered for service in the regular army at Sandusky, Ohio, and was sent to the front in Virginia. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant and was mustered out September 20, 1864. PETER A. BYKOWSKI. One of the largest and most completely stocked retail drug houses of Toledo is the Polska Apteka at 1343 Nebraska Avenue, situated in the heart of the Polish district of the city and commanding a patronage from all that part of the city. The head of this business, Peter A. Bykowski, has spent most of his life in Toledo, is a man of liberal education, broad and progressive ideas, and one of the most liberal Polish-American citizens of. Northwest Ohio. He was born in Cerekwica, a village in the Province of Posen, Poland, June 21, 1883. His parents Lawrence and Anna (Robakowski) Bykowski are both living in Toledo, and were also born in the Province of Posen. They came to the United States in 1886 when their son Peter was three years of age. Landing in New York they spent three months in Medina, New York, and from there came direct to Toledo, where the family has since. lived. Lawrence Bykowski is a laborer, and both he and his wife are among the highly respected Polish people of the city. They have six children, two sons and four daughters, and five are living : Mary, the oldest, is the wife of Paul Szczechowiak, of Toledo ; Victoria died April 1, 1912, at the age of twenty-eight ; Peter is the third in age ; Catherine is the wife of John Osmialoski, now president of the Polish Commerce Club of Nebraska Avenue district in Toledo and one of the progressive business men ; Henry A., who is a registered pharmacist and is associated with his brother Peter in the drug store ; Veronica wife of Stephen Jarczynski, who is also employed in the Polska Apteka. The two youngest children were born in Toledo and the others in Poland. Mary, the oldest daughter, was educated in Poland, while all the others attended St. Anthony's Parochial School and Peter and his brother Henry also had other advantages. Peter Bykowski attended St. John's University of Toledo, St. Xavier University of Cincinnati, and took his pharmacy course in Toledo University, where he was graduated Ph. G. in 1908. His brother Henry also studied pharmacy in Toledo University, where he was graduated Ph. G. in 1912. He has since been pharmacist for his brother in the splendid store on Nebraska Avenue. Immediately after his graduation as a registered pharmacist in 1908, Peter Bykowski engaged in business in this neighborhood, and on his birthday in 1914 opened his present place of business. He had erected for business purposes and also for a residence a structure of two stories, modern and up-to-date in equipment, and it is one of the substantial additions to the Polish business district. Politically Mr. Bykowski is a democrat. He has made an enviable record in Toledo, and those who are competent to judge his business character 'state that his word is as good as a bank note. He is a man of broad interests, and since childhood has been a keen and eager student of history and has read and absorbed the history of the greater part of the civilized world. He is a member of the four bodies of pharmacutical organizations, and is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Toledo Commerce Club, the Polish Commerce Club of the Nebraska Avenue District, with the Knights of Columbus, and belongs to St. Anthony's Catholic Parish. His parents were among the charter members of that Catholic parish in Toledo. On June 21, 1910, his birthday, Mr. Bykowski was married in St. Anthony's Church of Toledo to Miss Frances Spitza, a daughter of Francis and Frances (Balvinski) Spitza. Mrs. Bykowski was born in Bay City, Michigan, and after ten years came to Toledo with her parents. Her parents live in Toledo 1294 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO and her father is a laboring man. Mrs. Bykowski was educated partly in Bay City and partly in the parochial schools of Toledo. She is a member of the Polish Ladies Auxiliary of the church. They are the parents of two children : Peter A., Jr., born at Toledo July 28, 1912, and Anna Ruth, born May 16, 1914. The family have a summer cottage at Toledo Beach and spend much of the summer months there. The recreation of which Mr. Bykowski is fondest is fishing and baseball. He is a stockholder in a recently organized bank in the Polish district of Toledo. He is also one of Uncle Sam's sub-postal agents of Toledo, the United States Postal Sub-Station No. 25 being located in his drug store. THEODORE SCHMITT. When Theodore Schmitt arrived in Toledo about thirty-seven years ago he was without money, credit or influence. For the first few months he peddled bills advertising the fever and ague pills manufactured by Doctor McCormick of Toledo. Gradually, having adapted himself to American life and manners, he laid the foundation and began the development of a firm that has long had a recognized prestige in Toledo, The Theodore Schmitt Company, general insurance, real estate and loans at 218 Superior Street. Mr. Schmitt was also one of the founders and for a number of years has been secretary and manager of The Mutual Savings Association, one of the largest and oldest concerns of its kind in Northwest Ohio. From these brief statements it is clear that Mr. Schmitt has utilized his opportunities since coming to America and has made himself both successful and useful in the fields of business and local affairs. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, January 11, 1856, the only son of the four children born to John Adam and Elizabeth (Krebs) Schmitt. His parents spent all their lives in Bavaria, where his father was a farmer. Reared on a farm, educated in the parochial schools of Bavaria, Theodore Schmitt at the age of twenty began the regularly required service in the German army, and spent two years in the ranks, earning promotion to the grade of sergeant. About the very last day of December, 1879, or New Year's Day of 1880, Theodore Schmitt landed from a vessel at Baltimore, Maryland. He came west direct to Toledo, and a stranger in a strange city and in the absence of any more suitable employment accepted the occupation already mentioned of peddling. Other work was offered him, and after six months of experience and gaining acquaintance with American language and institutions, he took up life insurance as a business. He proved a very successful solicitor, and for a number of years gave all his time and energies to life insurance, though in the meantime he had developed his agency by the addition of fire insurance and real estate. Among other companies he represented the London Assurance, the Teutonia of Dayton, Ohio, the Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford, the Germania of New York, some assessment companies, and several others. It was his success in this field that led to participation in other business affairs. In 1886 Mr. Schmitt organized the Eagle Brewing Company of Toledo into a corporation later known as The Schmitt Brewing Company, of which he was the principal stockholder. In 1902 he sold his interests in this company to the Huebner Brewing Company. One of the soundest institutions of its kind in Northwest Ohio is the Mutual Savings Association, which at the present time has resources aggregating nearly a million two hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Schmitt organized and incorporated this association in 1888 and has been its secretary and general manager ever since. The president of the association is Frederick E. Witker and the treasurer Joseph F. Grosswiller, and the names of the directors include some of the best known business men of Toledo. The home of The Mutual Savings Association is at 218 Superior Street, where the company has a fine modern office, with a special department for women customers, including a rest room, and also comfortable quarters for the men customers. It has been largely due to Mr. Schmitt's careful and successful management that the association has enjoyed such a healthy and prosperous growth. Mr. Schmitt was also one of the builders of the Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway running from Toledo to Marblehead and Sandusky. He was its president and general manager until he sold his interests in 1912 to an eastern syndicate. Though his career has been an exceedingly busy one, Mr. Schmitt has not neglected a public spirited part in local affairs. He represented the fourth ward in the city council for two years, from 1892 to 1894, and had the fortune of being included as a member in the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1295 rather celebrated "Boodle Council." Politically he is now independent or liberal, and is always regarded as one of the progressive men of the city. He is affiliated with Toledo Lodge No. 53, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, with the National Union, the Catholic Knights of America, with the Toledo Club and is a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. On April 26, 1881, he married Miss Josephine M. LaPoint of Maumee, Ohio. Mrs. Schmitt, who died at the family residence in Toledo February 24, 1912, at the age of fifty-two years, was born and reared in Maumee, daughter of Joseph and Lavina (Bourdeau) LaPoint. Both the LaPoint and Bordeau families, were of old French stock that settled in the Maumee Valley more than a hundred years ago. Joseph LaPoint was a veteran of the Civil war. Mrs. Schmitt lived in Maumee until her marriage and then became a resident of Toledo, where she was widely known for her devotion to her home and family. She was survived by two sisters and two brothers : Mrs. Martin Mahan of Maumee, Mrs. George Bourdeau of Saginaw, Michigan, Fred and Charles LaPoint. Mr. and Mrs. Schmitt had one daughter and five sons : Theodore Schmitt, Jr., who is assistant secretary of The Mutual Savings Association, takes the active management of that business during the absence of his father ; Gertrude M., the only daughter, is the wife of Frank W. Showel, one of the directors of The Mutual Savings Association ; Rudolph J. is connected with the 'real estate and insurance department of The Theodore Schmitt Company ; Alfred H. is a farmer, owning a quarter section of land near Merrill, Wisconsin, where he resides ; J. A. Schmitt is connected with The Paragon Refining Company of Toledo ; Walter E. is a student at the University of Michigan. All the children were born in Toledo and began their education there. R. J., Alfred and J. A. all attended Notre Dame University at South Bend, while Walter E. and Alfred were also students in St. Mary's School at St. Mary's Kansas. Mr. Schmitt now spends his winters in Miami, Florida, where he has extensive property holdings, and during the summer months lives partly in Toledo and partly in Northern Michigan, where he enjoys the fishing and outdoor life. In Toledo he is usually to be found at the Toledo Club or the Elks Club, when not at his business office on Superior Street. He is a member of the Maumee River Yacht Club. Mr. Schmitt has been a somewhat extensive traveler and during the past twenty years has made seven trips to Europe, visiting his old home and many other places and countries of the Old World. AVERY W. BOARDMAN. There have been circumstances in the career of Avery W. Boardman which make his success in business and his prominence in public affairs of special note. He began life as a newsboy. For years he was identified with railroading, holding positions with increasing responsibility until incapacitated by an injury, and finally graduated into executive duties as a Toledo business man. He owes his success in life to his own assiduous, honest endeavor, and in every sense of the term is strictly a self made man. Representing a very old and prominent Ohio family, he was born at Akron, Summit County, Ohio, January 6, 1848, a son of John C. and Priscilla P. (Granger) Boardman. His parents were natives of New York State. In the maternal line his ancestry is especially noteworthy. Thomas Granger, his maternal great-grandfather, was a fifer in the American army during the Revolution, serving in the Twelfth Massachusetts Infantry, under Colonel Loomis, his military duties covering a period of forty-three months and five days. The maternal grandfather, Lemuel Granger, arrived in Ohio in pioneer times, locating in what is now the City of Akron, where he followed his business for years as contractor and builder. He supervised the construction of the nine canal locks at that place. Mr. Boardman 's paternal grandfather arrived in Ohio in 1812, and bought Government land in the immediate vicinity of the present City of Springfield, where he became a successful breeder and raiser of cattle. Some years later he took a large drove of cattle across the country to market at Cincinnati, and while returning home from that city was robbed and cruelly murdered. John C. Boardman was born in Washington County, New York, April 2, 1803, came to Ohio when still a boy, and followed the business of stone cutter and contractor. He lived in Summit County from an early day until his death in 1869. It was in Summit County that Avery W. Boardman spent his early years. He attended the public schools of Akron, and at an early age was inclined to make his own way. His business career began as a newsboy on the old Atlantic and Great Western Railway, now a 1296 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO part of the main line of the Erie System. After several years as a newsboy, he found work as a brakeman on the same road. On February 5, 1872, Mr. Boardman entered the employ of the Wabash Railroad Company, continuing as a brakeman, but some years later being appointed yardmaster in the freight yards at Toledo. Subsequently he was transferred to Danville, Illinois, where he was yard conductor until he sustained an injury as a result of which he lost his left leg. Returning then to Toledo he found employment in the. freight offices of the Wabash Company for five years, and was then transferred to the elevator offices of the Wabash System at Toledo. For twelve years he carried many of the responsibilities in connection with the management of the local Wabash elevators and that experience opened the way for a later independent business career. In 1894 Mr. Boardman became the first secretary and manager of The Iron Elevator Company of Toledo. This company enjoys the distinction of having put up the first iron elevator in the world. In 1895, in connection with several others, he incorporated The East Side Iron Elevator Company of Toledo, and was its secretary and general manager until January 1, 1914. At that date his son Whitman A. Boardman, reference to whom will be found on other pages of this publication, became secretary and manager of the Elevator Company and still holds that position. Mr. Boardman gave up active business to accept the appointment as director of the public service of Toledo. This appointment was given him by Mayor Carl Keller, whom Mr. Boardman had ardently supported in his campaign for mayor. Among the best class of Toledo people Mr. Boardman has been the object of genuine respect and commendation for his valuable service as public service director. He resigned from this position before his term expired, being succeeded by Albert Neukon, who also resigned before the expiration of his term. Mr. Boardman accepted this office with the express intention of running that department of the city according to his own ideas and ideals, and from the first he refused to tolerate employes of drinking tendencies or general incompetency. In other words he followed out the same principles as he would have imposed upon the administration of any successful private business. Naturally enough his methods soon clashed with political influences and owing to a constant interference with the efficiency of his department he finally determined to give up the office rather 'than be hampered in carrying out his policies. He worked constantly for good government and efficiency, and is known as a man who stands consistently for the best ideals in public life. Mr. Boardman is probably as well posted on politics in Toledo and Lucas County as any man living and everyone knows him as a citizen of eminent public spirit, straightforwardness, and of undoubted efficiency and honesty in everything he undertakes. In the primaries of 1915 he was a candidate for mayor of Toledo, and made a good showing among the number of candidates running for that office. Fraternally he is affiliated with Wapaukonica Lodge No. 38, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Toledo Encampment No. 118, and Aurora Lodge No. 3 Daughters of Rebekah. He also belongs to Anthony Wayne Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. As a man in business circles, he is an active member of the Toledo Produce Exchange, The Toledo Commerce Club, The Transportation Club, and the Toledo Settlement Association. The members of the Boardman family are actively identified with the Washington Street Congregational Church, in which they are prominent and active. Mr. Boardman has served as treasurer of the church for a number of years, as a member .of the board of trustees, and is now superintendent of the senior. department of the Sunday school. On April 29, 1873, he married Miss Fannie May Funk, daughter of Christian and Mary (Schoff) Funk of Danville, Illinois. They are the parents of five children : Ethel, Grace, John C., Whitman A., and Frederick A. EDWARD H. RAY has been an active member of the Toledo bar for more than twenty years, and is senior member of the firm of Ray & Cordill, who in extent and importance of practice rank as one of the leading law firms of Northwest Ohio. Mr. Ray was born on a farm of Richfield Township of Lucas County September 1, 1870, a son of Henry and Alice (Tucker) Ray. His mother, who was born in Lorain County, Ohio, went with her parents to Richfield Township in Lucas County at the age of three years, grew up there and is still living at the old homestead at the age of sixty-five. Mr. Ray 's father was born in Lorain County May 28, 1847, and died June 2, 1897, when a little past fifty years of age. He spent HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1297 all his active career as a farmer. During the war, though a boy in years, he enlisted and served two years in the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a private. He fought at Chattanooga, and was with Sherman on the march to the sea and in the Grand Review at Washington after the close of the war. His company was commanded by Captain Chase of Toledo. He was a member of the Grand Army Post at Richfield, also belonged to Berkey Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was a member of the First Christian Church at Richfield. In the paternal line Mr. Ray is of Irish and in the maternal Scotch ancestry. He has one younger brother, Charles S., now a farmer in Rigi Township of Lenawee County, Michigan. Edward H. Ray received his early education in the public schools and high school at Blissfield, Michigan. He attended the Northern Indiana Law School at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was graduated LL. B. with the class of 1894. In the same year he was admitted to the Indiana bar and in the spring of 1895 successfully passed the examination before the Supreme Court at Columbus, Ohio. Coming to Toledo, he began practice in the spring of 1895 with W. E. Cordill, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. That partnership of Ray & Cordill has existed now for twenty-one years and they command a large and profitable law practice. Since casting his first vote Mr. Ray has been active in politics as a republican, though never an office seeker. Hie is affiliated with a number of fraternal organizations. His principal recreation is fishing and hunting. JOSEPH L. ACKER has spent a very busy career in Toledo, has been identified with several well known industries of that city, and for the past fifteen years has been in the undertaking business and is now operating under his individual name as successor to the firm of Senn & Acker, of which he was a member until he took the entire establishment about three years ago. He has acquired splendid facilities for prompt and reliable service as funeral director, and his establishment is located at 1602-1604 Cherry Street. The name Acker has been identified with Toledo for a great many years. Though Joseph L. Acker was born at Perrysburg, Wood County, Ohio, August 15, 1868, his parents lived there only a year or so before they returned to Toledo. His father, Anthony Acker, was born in Germany, was brought to the United States at the age of six months, his parents locating in what was then called Liverpool, now Abbyville, in Medina County, Ohio. The grandparents were farmers, and they lived in Medina County until the late Anthony Acker was about nineteen years of age. Anthony's sister is still living on the old homestead. On leaving the farm Anthony Acker went to Toledo, where he married Elizabeth Weaver, who is still living and resides at 387 Belmont Avenue in Toledo. After his marriage Anthony Acker moved to Perrysburg, Ohio, where for two years he was in the furniture and undertaking business with Mr. Krupp. Selling out his interests to Mr. Krupp he returned to Toledo and resumed his trade as carpenter. He then became superintendent of the L. M. Skidmore Company, and his death, which occurred about five years after he returned to Toledo was the result of an accident in the factory. About ten days after this accident he passed away August 15, 1874, on the sixth birthday of his son Joseph. Anthony Acker was a man of mechanical genius, was an inventor, and filled a number of responsible positions as foreman and superintendent in mechanical industries. At the time of his death he was a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church, and his widow is now a member of St. Patrick's Church of Toledo. Of the three children all are still living, and all except Joseph were born in Toledo. The second child is Mrs. Martin Maher, wife of Capt. Martin Maher of Toledo. The youngest is Frank E., a bricklayer by trade, but now engaged in farming on the Holland Road in Washington Township of Lucas County. Joseph L. Acker grew up in Toledo, received his early education in St. Peter's Parochial School, and had his first regular experience in business affairs as a worker in a cigar shop on Summit Street between Monroe and Jefferson streets. During the six months he spent there he stripped tobacco, was press boy and made himself generally useful. The proprietor of that cigar factory was Colonel Haughton, who afterwards founded the Haughton Elevator Company. Leaving the cigar factory, Mr. Acker next went to Tiffin, Ohio, and entered the employ of his uncle, Father Joseph L. Bihn, who was the sole owner and founder of the St. Francis Orphanage at Tiffin. That institution is still in existence, and it was founded and con- 1298 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO ducted for a number of years by Father Bihn, who supplied both the money and the executive ability required for its administration. Mr. Acker spent two years there working on the farm for his uncle. Returning to Toledo he found employment for six months in the box factory of George Wilson, and then identified himself with the Gendron Wheel Company. Mr. Acker was connected with 'the Gendron Wheel Company for about twenty-two years, most of the time as assistant foreman and wheel inspector. When he began employment there the company occupied a very small shop on Water Street. Some years later he helped the company move to its present location, in a large plant on Superior Street. In 1901, having left the wheel company, Mr. Acker took up undertaking and embalming. December 10, 1901, he became associated with an old established undertaker, Frank J. Senn, and the firm of Senn & Acker continued business under that title until April 1, 1913, when Mr. Senn retired and has since lived in Florida. Mr. Acker is now sole owner of the business, while the building, a brick block at the corner of Cherry and Bancroft streets, is owned in partnership by Senn & Acker. Mr. Acker has complete facilities, including both automobile and horse service, and has proved himself a very successful undertaker. He is president and a director of the Corn City Savings Association. He belongs to the Undertakers Club, the Toledo Automobile Club, the Toledo Young Men's Catholic Benevolent Society, the St. Mary's Catholic Church, and is a member of the National Union, the Knights of Columbus, and Lodge No. 53 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On April 18, 1896, Mr. Acker married Miss Mary Pfefferle of Toledo. They were married in St. Mary's Church. Mrs. Acker was born in Toledo, received her education in St. Mary 's Parochial School and is a daughter of John and Margaret (Dimmer) Pfefferle. Her father died about thirty-five years ago and her mother still lives at Toledo. To their marriage were born three children, all of whom claim Toledo as the place of their nativity. Joseph and Mary are twins and the youngest is Paul. The boys were educated in St. John's College at Toledo, while Mary secured her education in the Ursuline Convent of Toledo and the Ursuline Convent at Tiffin, Ohio, and is now in Notre Dame Academy. REV. JOSEPH LOUIS BIHN was born in Diermstein, Bavaria, Germany, January 2, 1822. In the fall of 1845, in company with his mother and two sisters, he sailed for America and located near Liverpool, Medina County, Ohio. Shortly after removing to this country he became a clerk in the dry goods store of Alcott, Horton & Company, Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained about five years and made many friends by his genial disposition and other sterling qualities. In 1852 he entered St. Mary's seminary in Cleveland, where he studied for the priesthood and was ordained by Bishop Rappe, June 1, 1856. On the 18th day of the same month he took charge of St. Joseph's congregation, Tiffin, Ohio, which relationship he maintained over seventeen years. During this time he erected the beautiful St. Joseph's Church which now stands as one of the many monuments to his prudent management and the generosity of his parishioners. From 1864 to 1873 he was superintendent of the Ursuline Convent of this city and also took a part in the erection of some of the handsome buildings of that prosperous and excellent institution. In 1867 he founded the St. Francis Orphan Asylum and Home for the Aged and one year later, he established a sisterhood, known as the sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis Seraphicus. In 1869, the property held in the founder's name was transferred and the institution incorporated under the title of " The Citizens' Hospital and Orphan Asylum." A large three story brick building was erected in 1869 and blessed in 1871 by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Huss, D. D. of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Additions were built as the means of the community allowed and circumstances required. The asylum has a frontage of 284 feet. At the east end of the main building stands the beautiful chapel (40x70 ft.,) of Gothic architecture, tastily frescoed and furnished with a fine Italian marble altar and stained glass windows. The cornerstone was laid by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Gilmour, on Trinity Sunday, 1878, and blessed by the same bishop in the presence of many clergy and a large assembly of people, on June 1, 1881. This day also marked the twenty-fifth anni- HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 1299 versary of the ordination of the holy priesthood of the founder of the institution. About one mile from the main building the older orphan boys are domiciled ; they and the hired help manage the large farm comprising about five hundred acres of excellent land. The Rev. J. L. Bihn was the founder of St. Joseph's Hospital, Lorain, Ohio. The institution was opened in the fall of 1892 and placed in charge of three Franciscan Sisters, members of the community established by him at Tiffin, Ohio. Rev. Father Bihn was called to his eternal reward on August 17, 1893, after a life spent for God and in the interest of the community he had founded. So long as there are orphan children to nurture and care for, so long as children's homes survive, so long as the great heart of humanity shall be touched with pity for the homeless child, just so long will the name of "Father Bihn" be cherished and honored throughout Northwestern., Ohio. Up to date (1916, Sept. 18) 1,025 orphans and 407 aged were cared for at St. Francis', Tiffin. (By Rev. F. L. Hultgen, Tiffin, Ohio.) HENRY J. SPIEKER. The loss of Henry J. Spieker from the citizenship of Toledo was one this city or any community could ill afford. He was a splendid type of the rugged character, originating on foreign shores, coming to America poor and without influence, who rises by sheer force of ability and enter. prise to a place among the leaders of a large city. Mr. Spieker was a resident of Toledo for over thirty-five years. During that time he founded and until his death was president of The Henry J. Spieker Company, one of the largest contracting and building firms of Northwestern Ohio. Ill health kept Mr. Spieker from active business life for some months before his death. He believed during his illness that in the course of time he would be able to resume his activities at the head of the company. Then came the unprecedented heat spell of the summer of 1916, and Mr. Spieker fell a victim of what the weather bureau pronounced the hottest day of the year in Toledo. He died July 31, 1916. Henry J. Spieker was born in Hanover, Germany, January 19, 1857, the oldest of the five children of Gerhardt Henry and Eliza (Clausing) Spieker. Both parents were born in Hanover and spent all their lives there. His father died in December, 1908, and his mother when Henry J. was eleven years of age. The father spent three years in the cavalry branch of the German army, but otherwise his occupation was as a hotel landlord. There were three sons and two daughters in the family : Mrs. Casper Sieck of Toledo; John and Herman of Butte, Montana ; Mrs. Otto Eye of Hanover, Germany. Until he was twenty-three years of age Henry J. Spieker lived in his native land. He acquired a practical education according to the standards of the old country and also served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. In 1880 he emigrated to America, coming directly to Toledo from New York, and on the day following his arrival he found employment as a carpenter. He showed much proficiency in adapting himself to American ways and customs, and in a few years he established a business which grew to be one of the foremost in the city. In 1888 Mr. Spieker engaged in the business of building contractor, and The Henry J. Spieker Company is the result of his planning and foresight. As head of that company Mr. Spieker deserves credit for the erection of some of Toledo's best architectural landmarks. Included among these are the Toledo Museum of Art, Collingwood Avenue Presbyterian Church, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the Young Men's Christian Association Building, the Ohio Building, the People's Savings Association Building, National Union Building, the Ursuline Convent, Schmidt Building, in which The Henry J. Spieker Company has its offices since its erection, the Newsboys Building, the Country Club, the Toledo Yacht Club, the Ford, Baldwin, Simmons and Berdan residences, and, to note some of the most recent products of the company's corps of trained mechanics, there should be mentioned the Scott and Waite high schools and the Toledo Club Building. On May 18, 1884, Mr. Spieker married Miss Sophia Kuhlmann, daughter of Christian mid Freund Kuhlmann, the former now deceased and both representing some of the first German families of Toledo. Mrs. Spieker was born in Toledo, and was reared and educated there. Her children are also natives of this city and their names are : Fred G., Gideon and John, all active members of The Spieker Contracting Company; Mrs. Thomas Eslinger of Battle Creek, Michigan ; and Misses Florence and Frances, who lives with their widowed mother. Early in 1916 Mr. and Mrs. Spieker removed from their old home at 1317 Erie Street, and were living with their son on