750 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO died in 1914, and she is the mother of thirteen children, twelve of whom are living, and her oldest son is serving as a veterinary surgeon in the United States army. Mrs. Christian Hollenbacher is the wife of a farmer three miles south of Wapakoneta; Mrs. Henry D.eerkake, wife of a farmer in Auglaize County. The children by the marriage to George Holl, Sr., were : Mrs. J. G. Keller, wife of a grocer at Lima ; George W.; Edward C., a contractor associated with his brother George at New Knoxville ; Rebecca, wife of William Fishbaugh, who is an assembler in the National Cash Register Works at Dayton, Ohio; Mrs. Asa Mallory, who lives at Lima, Ohio ; and Mrs. Roy Mallory, wife of a blacksmith employed in the locomotive works at Lima, Ohio. THOMAS A. WHITE came to St. Marys, Ohio, in September, 1892, and took charge of the St. Marys Wheel & Spoke Company. For nearly twenty-five years he has directed that important industry, which in its payroll and general output, is the largest concern of its kind in the United States. Mr. White is general manager of the plant, and vice president of the company, and has gained a very substantial position in business affairs in Auglaize County. Besides this industry, which requires nearly all of his time, and in the success of which he takes great pride, he is also president of one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the state, the Union Building & Loan Company of St. Marys. He is also a director of the St. Marys Banking & Trust Company. Though Mr. White came to St. Marys from New York City, he is a native of Wisconsin, having been born at Wonewoc in Juneau County, November 5, 1871. His parents were John W. and Catherine (Crane) White. His grandfather, Horace White, was born and reared in Erie County, New York, and in 1855 moved out to Wisconsin, in which state he spent the rest of his years as a farmer. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Crane, a native of Tipperary, Ireland, came to the United States when a young man, and for several years was employed steamboating on the Muskingum River in Ohio. Later he settled on a farm near Stockport, Ohio, and married and reared his family there. John W. White was born January 31, 1848, and died in September, 1902. Though very young at the time, he served as a soldier in the Civil war, being for two years with Company K of the Forty-first Wisconsin Regiment, and came out of the army with the rank of sergeant. His active career was spent as a farmer. He was a member of the Catholic Church, was a democrat in politics and belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic. He was married in Wisconsin to Miss Catherine Crane, who was born in Ohio, February 12, 1851, and is still living. Of their eight children the five now living are : Thomas A., Blanche, wife of George W. Price, of Indianapolis, Indiana, Mary, wife of Elmer Youngs of St. Marys, Ohio, Edward, now serving in the army, and Catherine, wife of Henry C. Coman of Menominee, Michigan. At his birthplace, Wonewoc, Wisconsin, Thomas A. White spent his early years and received his first training in the public schools. Later he went to New York City, and was graduated in 1891 from Xavier College. Leaving school, his first occupation was with Crane & MacMahon of New York, exporters of wheels and carriage woodstock. He remained with them until September, 1892, gaining in the meantime a very detailed knowledge of the business and an excellent training for the responsibilities of the position which he next assumed at St. Marys. In 1897 Mr. White married Mary W. Keuthan, who was born in Cincinnati, daughter of John W. Keuthan, an early settler of Auglaize County, and proprietor of the Diecker House of St. Marys. Mr. and Mrs. White have five children: John C., who is now with the Second Ohio Regiment stationed at El Paso along the Mexican border ; Thomas A., Jr. ; Frederick F. ; Beatrice B. and Robert Lee, all of whom are attending school. The family are members of the Catholic Church and Mr. White is an active democrat. Outside of his business, his citizenship has been especially directed toward the welfare and advancement of his home city. For seven years he was a member of the town council, for two years was mayor, and for the past three years has been on the board of education. A. L. F. MANN, D. D. S. There are many excellent reasons why Findlay is a live, progressive city, an excellent business location and an ideal place in which to live. Not the least of these reasons is the fact that here have assembled highly skilled professional men, a scientific body second to none in the HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 751 state as to ability. Among the leading representatives of the dental profession is Dr. A. L. F. Mann, who was brought to this city by his parents when ten years old and practically has lived here ever since. A. L. F. Mann was born on his father's farm in Salem Township, Wyandot County, Ohio, August 19, 1874. His ancestors came to the American colonies before the Revolutionary war, in which they took honorable part, while his more immediate kindred were pioneers along the Sandusky. His parents are J. G. and Jennie (Wagner) Mann, the former of whom was a farmer and merchant and brought his family to Findlay in 1884. After attending the public schools of Findlay, A. L. F. Mann entered the scientific department of Findlay College, where he continued for four years, then spent some time in the Chicago College of Dentistry and passed the examination for license to practice, before the state examining board in 1894. According to ordinary professional demands the young practitioner was thoroughly qualified but he was not satisfied with the knowledge already gained and continued his studies and in 1907 took a course in the Haskell Post Graduate School, Chicago, a special course in anaesthesia in the Chicago School of Anaesthesia under Dr. L. W. Nevius, and in 1914 a course in Barber's Institute of Anaesthesia and Dental Economics. He keeps thoroughly abreast of the times in every branch of his profession, has a very large practice and belongs to the Hancock and Seneca County Dental Society, of which he is president, and to many other professional organizations in Northwestern Ohio. Doctor Mann was married in 1901 to Miss C. Riley, who is a daughter of W. J. Riley, who was a man of large estates in Northern Indiana. Doctor and Mrs. Mann have two children : Margery, who was born in 1902, and Helen Clara, who was born in 1910. In politics Doctor Mann may be called an independent republican. He is a member of the First Lutheran Church at Findlay. Fraternally his connections include the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Elks, and the Findlay Country Club and the Symposium Literary Club afford him congenial relaxation for his few hours of leisure, his busy professional life not leaving him many of these. J. W. EITING is secretary and treasurer of the Minster Machine Company, a business which was founded by his father, and has an active association with the various other local industries of the town, including the local telephone, the brewery and the cooperage shop. He is one of the live and progressive business men of Northwest Ohio. Born in Minster November 27, 1875, he is a son of John and Gertrude (Rahe) Eiting, both natives of Germany. His father was born close to the border of Holland in 1828, and died in 1912. The mother was born in 1834, and died in 1908. John Eiting when a young man came to America and landed at New York with only 25 cents in money. In his early years he worked on the canal, and also followed his trade as tailor. He subsequently operated the woolen mills at Minster, and built them up until they were one of the leading industries of Auglaize County. He sold the mills in 1894, and after that lived a retired life. By his first marriage he had one daughter, Mary, wife of Ralph Oldiges, a wagon maker at Minster. By his second marriage there were seven children, and the five now living are : Frank, a farmer near Minster; Elizabeth, wife of Casper Lang, of Decatur, Indiana ; Josephine, wife of J. H. Bremerkamp, a dry goods merchant at Decatur, Indiana ; Carrie, who is living at Decatur, Indiana, the widow of C. P. Hinger ; and J. W. Eiting. The parents were active members of the Catholic Church, and the father was a democrat. J. W. Eiting attended the public schools of Minster, and his first experience was in the local dry goods store, where he remained for ten years. This was the old Boston Dry Goods Company, which subsequently went out of business. Mr. Eiting afterward engaged in the machine shop business, bought stock in the company and then became secretary and treasurer. The. Minster Machine Company is incorporated with a capital of $80,000, and has a very large and fully equipped plant both for general machine work, foundry and repairing. Seventy-five people are on the payroll, and the products of the company are shipped all over the United States and Canada. In 1900 Mr. Eiting married Miss Delia B. Herkenhoff, of Minster. They have two children, Marie and Carl, both of whom are attending the local schools. The family are active in the Catholic Church, and Mr. Eiting is a member of the Knights of St. John and has served that organization as treasurer. Politically a democrat, he is now in his third term as a member of the board of public re- 752 - . HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO pairs. Besides the machine shops he is president of the Minster State Bank, but gives his. chief attention to the shops and foundry. EDWARD E. BALMER has been a Toledo business man for over twenty years, *and has built up and developed a high class business in the making of first mortgage loans. He now occupies one of the suites of offices in the Nicholas Building. Mr. Balmer was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1862, and his early life was not one of pleasure and luxury by any means. His father Oliver D. Balmer was also a native of Pennsylvania, was a tailor by trade and died when his son Edward was only four years old. There were three children, and Edward was one of twins. The widowed mother had difficulty in keeping her little household together and providing the necessities of life and as soon as Edward became old enough he took much of the responsibility for her support and gave her his filial devotion and care throughout the remainder of her life. He lived at home with his mother until he was twenty-five. His education under such circumstances was decidedly limited so far as regular attendance at school was concerned. He attended altogether about six months. But from the university of experience and by practical contact with men and affairs he has been constantly drawing upon the sources of real knowledge and he has perhaps accomplished as much as many men better situated during their youth and possessors of college educations. Work and hard work was his avenue to success, and he traveled it unceasingly for a number of years. He worked at different occupations and gradually accumulated the experience and the abilities which have enabled him to handle successfully .a business of his own. Mr. Balmer came to Toledo in the fall of 1895. Here he became associated with one of the pioneer loan agents of the city, the late Frank G. Thompson. They were together in business for thirteen years, and after Mr. Thompson's death Mr. Balmer succeeded to the business and has done much to extend and develop it. For a number of years Mr. Balmer had the supervision of loaning money for the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company and the funds available from that company no' constitute his chief source of loans upon first mortgages in and about Toledo. Mr. Balmer has always been conceded one of Toledo's public spirited citizens and wherever possible to use hiS influence he has directed it to public good and advancement. He cast his first vote for Grover Cleveland, but since then has supported various republican presidential candidates and to a large extent is independent. He is a member of the Methodist Church. On October 20, 1887, Mr. Bal- mer was married at Delaware, Ohio, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Myers. Her people came from Germany and she was educated in the public schools of. Delaware. Mr, and Mrs. Balmer have one son, Harry W. This son was liberally educated and is now connected with the government service in the Signal Corps, being stationed on the Mexican border at El Paso. HARRY R. SCHNEIDER. The Harry R. Schneider Company, practical merchant tailors, of Findlay, Ohio, one of the finest tailoring establishments in Northwest Ohio, has a fine and appreciative clientele, which is due to the fact that Harry R. Schneider, the general proprietor, spent most of his early life in Findlay and has many of his boyhood friends as his patrons, and also to the fact that he is an expert in the business, has had long training and experience and has built up an organization capable of meeting the most exacting demands of his custom. He was born at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, December 3, .1879, a son of Christian and Anna (Hoffman) Schneider. In 1880 the family removed to Findlay, where Christian Schneider established a tailor shop, and he conducted that business until his. death in 1898, and was at that time one of the oldest tailors in the county. After getting his education in the public schools of Findlay, Harry R. Schneider began working for his father and when the latter died he and his brother Carl took over the business. The illness of Carl made it necessary in a short time to discontinue the partnership' and in 1905 Harry R. Schneider went east to New York City and supplemented his practical experience with a thorough course in design and the cutting of men's garments at the 'John J. Mitchell Cutting School. He graduated and received his diploma from that institution, and for a time was a cutter in one of the best shops of Boston, Massachusetts. He returned to Findlay. but soon afterwards became affiliated with one of the largest merchant tailoring firms of West Virginia and Ohio in the capacity of HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 753 manager and cutter, and spent eight years with the firm ; he was tendered a place in the official staff but declined the offer. This was a very responsible position, but Mr. Schneider was not content to continue working for others indefinitely and he finally resigned to engage in business for himself, at Lynchburg; Virginia. In 1915 he returned to Findlay and opened the largest merchant tailoring shop in the city. He employs as high as fourteen tailors and has every facility for perfect tailoring service, both in men's and women's garments. He carries an immense stock of woolens and owns the building in which his shop is located. This building is three stories high and has a depth of 150 feet. Mr. Schneider is affiliated with the Masonic order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1914 at Parkersburg, West Virginia, he married Miss Carrye Uhl, daughter of Van Buren and Marietta (Mick) 'Uhl. CHARLES S. YOUNGER. It has been more than twenty years since Charles S. Younger was admitted to the Ohio bar and began practice at Celina. A native son of Mercer County, he has been known to the people of that section of Northwest Ohio since early youth, and his abilities have received a compliment. of a large law practice and several promotions to places of trust and responsibility. He was born in Mercer County June 1, 1869, a son of B. L. and Victoria (Landon) Younger. His father was also a native of Mercer County. His mother, who was born in Jay County, Indiana, was brought to Mercer County when young, and 'parried there. The parents settled on a farm in Jefferson Township a mile northeast of Celina, and though now retired from the active work of the farm still live on the old homestead. Charles S. Younger spent his boyhood days on the home farm. He had a district school education, but early determined to get a liberal education and make his career count for something in the world., He attended the Celina High School and for six years was one of the popular young teachers in the public schools of his native county. During that time he took the normal course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. By teaching and other work he gained the money which would enable him to secure the training for the profession in which he was most ambitious to excel. In 1895 Mr. Younger graduated from the Cincinnati Law School, and in October of the same year located at Celina, where he has been practicing ever since. He has handled some of the very important cases tried in local courts and together with his practice has also been identified with other lines of business. At the present time he owns a business property in Celina and valuable farm land near town. In politics Mr. Younger is a republican, and his personal popularity has always exceeded the normal strength of his party in the county. In 1897 he was elected a justice of the peace, though the normal republican vote that year was only one-third of the total. He filled that office with credit for three years. In 1905 he was elected judge of the Probate Court by a majority of 759, and had the distinction of being the only republican elected for thirty years in Mercer County. For three years Judge Younger presided over the Probate Court and left the office as he had entered it with the firm confidence and trust of the majority of people in the county. In November, 1916, he was re-elected to the same office for a term of four years. Judge Younger is a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is especially prominent in fraternal circles, in Odd Fellowship especially. He belongs to Celina Lodge No. 399, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is past chief patriarch of the encampment, for eight consecutive years represented the twenty-ninth district of Odd Fellowship in the Grand Lodge, and from June, 1914, to June, 1915, served as grand master of the state. During that year he traveled 18,000 miles in performance of his duties as head of the Ohio grand lodge. He is also a member of Celina Lodge No. 241, Free and Accepted Masons, Celina Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and of White Oak Camp No. 41 of the Woodmen of the World. On July 29, 1896, he married Emma A. Andrews. Mrs. Younger received her early education in the Celina High School and in Findlay. College, and was a teacher before her marriage. She is the youngest daughter of Charles W. Andrews, one of the pioneer citizens of Mercer County. To Mr. and Mrs. Younger were born three sons, Raymond A., who graduated from the Celina High School in 1916, and is now a student in the University of Michigan, Charles Russell, now a junior in the high school ; and C. Norval, who is still in grammar school. 754 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO LEVI BORTNER MILLER. Much of the activity and prosperity of the Village of Harrod revolves around the Wood Novelty Company and the energetic influence of its president, L. B. Miller. Mr. Miller is a man who has a capacity for the successful handling of many interests. He has been a hard worker all his life, and has been a stalwart factor in the welfare of any community with which he has been identified. He was born in York County, Pennsylvania, August 23, 1864, a son of David F. and Angelina (Bortner) Miller. His father was a farmer, and both parents were natives of Pennsylvania. Educated in the public schools and also attending the Glen Rock Normal School, near which he was born and reared, after finishing his education he taught school two years anti then pursued a business course in Philadelphia. While living in Philadelphia he was in the bookkeeping department for the great merchant John Wanamaker for over two years. Following that he clerked and did bookkeeping in a. general store at York, Pennsylvania, and for six years beginning in 1891 was in the creamery business. Mr. Miller came to Harrod, Ohio, in 1898. Here he continued in the creamery business and also in the manufacture of ice cream. In 1904 he began the manufacture of bucket staves and kindred wares. Then in 1907 he bought the S. T. Winegardner saw mill and took up the general manufacturing of lumber, and since 1908 he has maintained a yard for the supplying of all classes of lumber, builders' supplies, paints and other commodities. In 1910 his hub mill burned, and in May, 1913, his other mill was also destroyed by fire. In 1910 Mr. Miller was one of the -organizers of the Wood Novelty Company, of which he has since been president. This company is the outgrowth of the Kephart Manufacturing Company. It has a capital stock of $5,000, and besides Mr. Miller C. J. Davidson is vice president, and C. W. Johnston is secretary, treasurer and manager. ThiS plant, 300 by 300 feet„ occupies an entire city block, and 'about fifteen persons find employment there. Its output is handles, flag poles and a general line of custom work in wood. The value of the.yearly output is about $20,000. Mr. Miller is also a director and was one of the organizers of the Herrod State Bank, and in 1916 became secretary of the board. He is also treasurer of the village corporation, an office he has filled several terms, was formerly treasurer of the school district and treasurer of the township, served several terms as school director, has been clerk of the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America since it was organized in 1900 and is treasurer of the First Christian Church. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On August 23, 1891, Mr. Miller married Annie Hoke of York County, Pennsylvania, daughter of David and Rebecca (Ketterman) Hoke. Her father was a general merchant in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have three children : LeRoy Hoke, a machinist at Lima, Ohio, who married Opal Kahler and has one son named Lewis K. ; Diamond, at home ; and Pearl Rebecca, at home. ADAM BYRON WOODRUFF. The same qualities of enterprise and keen business judgment which distinguished the late John Woodruff, Sr., were also qualities of his son, Adam Byron Woodruff. Though he died in the prime of his years Adam. Byron Woodruff was one of the leading business men of his time in Northwest Ohio. He had an unusually active career, and his sudden death on March 29, 1901, was a profound shock to a large community. He was born December 3, 1848, on the old Woodruff farm of his father two miles north of Arlington, Ohio. While he had better educational advantages than were permitted to his honored father, he attended the public schools hardly beyond the age of fourteen, and then at once threw himself with characteristic energy and purpose into the practical affairs of life. He was always noted for his honesty and industry, and his sense of responsibility was highly developed. It is said that when only fourteen years of age his father entrusted him with money and 'with the handling of stock sent for a considerable distance, and at the age of fifteen he accompanied a carload of stock to New York City. Removing with his father to Dunkirk in 1869, he at once assumed many of the responsibilities connected with his father's extensive livestock interests, and when his father established a private bank he became its cashier, and continued to hold that post until his death. He not only had unusual financial judgment, but was a fine judge of men, and seldom made a mistake in a business transaction. He was a constant and loyal friend, was devoted to his home and family, and was HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 755 a liberal giver to benevolent causes. About six years before his death he was injured in a railroad wreck while taking stock to Pittsburgh, and that injury no doubt hastened his end. In 1870 A. B. Woodruff married Miss Elizabeth Cameron of Dunkirk. Mrs. Woodruff and two daughters survived him. Mr. A. B. Woodruff at one time served as school treasurer of the Village of Dunkirk. Dora Woodruff, his older daughter, was born at Dunkirk March 19, 1871, and died at Chicago, Illinois, April 12, 1902, aged thirty-one years twenty-three days. On March 24, 1898, she married Henry Haas. Her one son, Byron Woodruff Haas, was born April 25 and died September 24, 1901. Lillian Woodruff, the second daughter of A. B. Woodruff, was born in Dunkirk September 11, 1873, and was married December 29, 1901, to Emory W. Henderson of Chicago, Illinois. Their one child, Helen Cordelia Henderson, was barn July 17, 1903, in Chicago. After a residence of 21/2 years in Chicago Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and mother returned to the old home in Dunkirk in April, 1904, and Mr. Henderson was active as a dry goods and grocery merchant until he sold his store in March, 1914. He now gives his active superintendence to a fine farm of 214 acres. He is a member of the board of public affairs of Dunkirk and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served as trustee of the official board. He served as a member of Battery L, Fifth United States Artillery, from June, 1897, to June, 1900, and was discharged as sergeant. He was honorably spoken of by United States Senators Hanna and Dick for promotion to second lieutenant. Mr. Henderson is a native of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, a son of William and Louisa (Fox) Henderson, also of Tuscarawas County. Mr. William Henderson served in the Union army, in Company I, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, from 1861 to 1865, and was promoted to orderly sergeant. He was twice wounded while in service. He was a general merchant at Lock 17 for a number of years and later engaged in farming. He died from injuries received from a kick of a horse on June 25, 1878, aged thirty-eight years, leaving a family of five children, one by the first marriage, Emory W. Henderson, and four by his second marriage. THOMAS K. PRIDDY is a civil engineer and building contractor at Van Wert, and has recently entered upon a term as county surveyor. He is a comparatively young man but has gained a substantial position in his business and profession, and has enjoyed honor and esteem in a community which has known him since childhood. Mr. Priddy is a son of Thomas F. Priddy, whose career is sketched on other pages of this publication. The Priddys were pioneers in Van Wert County. Thomas K. Priddy was born on his father's farm April 27, 1875. When he was eight years of age his parents removed to a farm adjoining the City of Van Wert. Most of his early recollections are centered about that old homestead. He gained an education in the grammar and high schools of Van Wert and at the age of nineteen began earning his living as a carpenter. After five years of journeyman experience he took up contracting on his own account and that business he has developed to very successful proportions. Mr. Priddy was the contractor for the United Brethren and the Catholic churches at Vaal Wert and has also constructed many of the best residences in the city. He is a thorough business man and has also a technical ability which is so important an asset to the building contractor. Mr. Priddy was elected county surveyor of Van Wert County in November, 1916. On July 18, 1905, he married Miss Olive A. Beck. Mrs. Priddy was born October 9, 1876, a daughter of Adam and Rebecca (Rogers) Beck. Her father was born in Darke County, Ohio, and her mother in Richland County, his parents having come from Pennsylvania and hers from Maryland. Adam Beck came to Van Wert County with his ,parents when he was a small boy, became a farmer, and died May 28, 1900. His widow is now living at Delphos. Mrs. Priddy was reared and received most of her education at Van Wert. To their marriage were born two children, Joseph L. and Rebecca Elizabeth. Mr. Priddy has affiliated with the republican party since casting his first vote. As a member of the Van Wert School Board he has rendered a service of great value to the community especially because of a thorough knowledge of building and mechanical construction.. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Church, and he is a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. 756 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO FRANK B. COTNER spent many years. of his useful career as a teacher in the schools of Allen County, but has been actively identified with the Lafayette Banking Company at Lafayette in that county since the inception of that institution. He is a man of many genial qualities, is thoroughly business, and much of the favor which the bank has enjoyed in its community is due to the confidence reposed in his integrity and ability. The Lafayette Banking Company was organized in October, 1908, with a capital of $5,000. In 1915 the capital was advanced to $9,000, with undivided profits of $1,000. The deposits now aggregate about $80,000. The bank owns a two story brick block, 22 by 60 feet, the second stock being used for apartments, and the banking room is one thoroughly modern in its equipment. The president is Newton W. Cunningham, while Frank B. Cotner is practically the executive manager in the office of cashier. He was barn in Richland Township of Allen County, November 2,, 1868, a son of David S. and Elizabeth (Clark) Cotner. His father, who spent his active career as a farmer, was a native of Dover, Ohio, and moved to Allen County at the age of twenty. He was a man of influence in the county and in his home community of Jackson Township, which he served as trustee and a justice of the peace for many years. He died at the age of sixty-eight while his wife passed away aged sixty-seven. Educated in the public schools and in the Ohio Northern University at Ada from which he graduated in 1892, Frank B. Cotner spent eighteen years in the schools of Allen County. In the meantime he took a special commercial course at Ada, and when the Lafayette Banking Company was first organized in 1907 he became cashier in May of that year. After the bank was sold to its present officials he continued as cashier. Since 1908 Mr. Cotner has served as mayor of Lafayette, and for fifteen years has held the office of justice of the peace in the. town and township. He has also been a member of the school board since 1908, and thus is in close touch with most of the important institutions of his village. He is trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for eight years has been superintendent of its Sunday school. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order, is past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. On October 15, 1891, he married Nancy J. Stoodt of Lafayette, daughter of Frederick Stoodt, who was a farmer. They have three sons: Clifford A., who is bookkeeper for the Lafayette Ranking Company and was married June 21, 1915, to Evadne Meyer of Lafayette; Bryan DeWitt, born April 1, 1895, and now a student in Bluffton College in Ohio; and David Larnell, born August 12, 1901, now a student in the public schools. CHARLES A. MCCONAHY has played his part well and usefully in life, and is now enjoying a well earned retirement at Van Wert, where his most active years were spent. He was born in Gilboa, Putnam County, Ohio, in 1848. His father, Grimes McConahy, who was born December 20, 1817, probably in 'the State of Pennsylvania, son of James McConahy, learned the trade of harness maker. That was his occupation at Gilboa, in Putnam County, and he removed from there to Lima, and in 1852 joined the little settlement at Van Wert, where he was one of the pioneers in his trade. After the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad was built through Van Wert the first agent of the road appointed was Grimes McConahy. He filled that position to the satisfaction of all concerned until after the close of the war, when he was elected to the post of county auditor, serving four years and eight months. On leaving office he engaged in the grocery business, and continued that the rest of his active life. He married Lucetta Baker, who was born in Marion, Ohio, December 10, 1830, a daughter of Charles and Mary (Anderson) Baker. A very complete genealogy of the Baker family has been prepared and published by Eber Baker. Mrs. Grimes McConahy died October 14, 1900, having reared seven children. Charles A. McConahy grew up in Van Wert from the time he was four years of age, gained his education in the public schools, and showing marked ability in that direction, he became a draughtsman. For several years he was engaged in the business, of publishing town, city and county maps. In 1878 he established a carriage business at the corner of Jefferson and Jackson streets in Van Wert, and that was his business home for twenty-five  years. He was very successful, and after rearing his family and securing an ample competence he retired. 1 On October 28, 1874, Mr. McConahy married Miss Mary Davenport, member of an HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 757 old and prominent family in Ohio and in the East. She was born in Belmont County, Ohio. Her ancestry goes back in direct line to Abram Davenport, who was the King's magistrate in Frederick County, Maryland, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war. His seven sons at once took service in the Patriot armies, and fought valiantly for the cause of independence. Mrs. McConahy's great-grandfather was John Davenport, who was born in Frederick ()aunty, Maryland, moved from there to Berkeley County, Virginia, and married Eleanor Harris. Judge John Davenport, grandfather of Mrs. McConahy, was born near Winchester, Virginia; and in 1815 moved to Ohio, settling in Belmont County. He brought with him his slaves from Virginia, gave them freedom on crossing the Ohio River, but many of them refused to desert their beloved master and spent the rest of their lives with him, always ready to give him service. Judge Davenport improved a large farm in Belmont. County, and that was his home until his death. He married Martha Coulson, who was born in Maryland, and she died in Belmont County, Ohio. Of the nine children reared by Judge Davenport and wife one, Ellen Frances, who married William. Hare, died at Astoria, Oregon, at the remarkable age of one hundred and four years. Samuel Davenport, father of Mrs. McConahy, was born in Belmont County in 1828, was a lawyer by profession and training, also active in journalism and as a teacher. For a number of years he published the Bluffton Chronicle at Bluffton, Indiana, and at the time of his death was serving as postmaster of that town. He died aged forty-nine. His wife was Caroline Gratigny, who was born in Monroe County, Ohio, daughter of Louis and Desdemonia (Ford) Gratigny, the former a native of France and the latter of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. McConahy's mother died at the age of eighty years, having spent her last days. in Van Wert. The four children of Mr. and Mrs. McConahy are Florence, Coulson, Caroline and Grace. Florence married Charles Kratzenherger. Coulson married Delphia E. Newland. Caroline is the wife of Aden 0. Faulkner and has a daughter, Elizabeth. Grace married Charles P. Reiniger and has a daughter, Cecelia. A. W. SHEAHAN. general agent of the Clover. Leaf Railway System at Toledo, is a veteran railroad man, has known no other occupation Vol. II-7 since early boyhood, and taking his own record and placing it with that of his father, there is a continuous association of the name with railroading in Toledo for nearly seventy years, since railroads were in their pioneer condition of operation and efficiency. Mr. Sheahan was born at Toledo October 3, 1867. His father, Dennis S. Sheahan, who was born in Ireland, came to America in 1848 and in that year located in Toledo, establishing his home on Erie Street. He at once engaged in railroading, at first with the Lake Shore as a conductor, subsequently was promoted to the position of yardmaster for the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City, the Clover Leaf, served that company fifteen years, and then became general yardmaster of the Pittsburg & St. Louis Narrow Gauge. That was his last position . in railroading, and. after eight years he retired from active service. Dennis Sheahan was a devout Catholic, and was not only a prominent man in railroad circles, but also a citizen of the highest standing and esteem in the community which he adorned for sixty years. He died at Toledo in 1908. He was the father of a family of eight children, all of whom are still living. The sixth in the family, A. W. Sheahan, was reared in Toledo, attending the public and, parochial schools. He was sixteen when he took his first regular employment, in a telephone office, but soon afterward entered the service of the western division of the Lake Shore Railroad Company. After a year he became clerk in the general freight and passenger department of the C. C. C. Railway, then a narrow gauge line, remaining three years. Returning to the Lake Shore he was in the Toledo offices as clerk for 11/2 years, and was then appointed local freight agent in Toledo. Three years later he was promoted to cashier of the local freight department of the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railway, and after seven years was advanced to a place of much greater responsibility, as local freight agent of the Clover Leaf, on September 18, 1894. Mr. Sheahan continued to serve as local freight agent until 1905, when the duties and responsibilities of general agent of the system at Toledo were .assigned him, and he has handled those duties now for eleven years. Mr. Sheahan is a member of the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, and in politics is a democrat. On April 17, 1892, in Toledo, he married Miss Mary C. Johnson, daughter of A. L. Johnson of Toledo. They. 758 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO are the parents of seven children; John R., who is a graduate of St. John's University at Toledo and is now a traveling salesman; Florence M., a graduate of Notre Dame University; Alexander, who graduated from the same university and is now deceased; Donald J., a student; James C., who is carrying his studies in St. John's University; Rosella and Heloise, both attending Notre Dame Academy. WILLIAM CHRISTIAN NEIBLING, M. D. The distinguishing feature of the Neibling family record in Northwest Ohio has been a courage of convictions and an exalted patriotism. Dr. William C. Neibling, one of the most successful physicians and oldest practitioners in Hancock County, is not the only one of the family to illustrate these characteristics. He comes of German stock, and is a great-great-grandson of the ancestor who emigrated out of Saxony and settled in America during Colonial days. Through another line Doctor Neibling represents the solid Scotch-Irish qualities. His grandfather, Christian Neiblin g, was a soldier who saw active service in the War of 181.2. Distinguished both by, his military record and by his public and business achievements in Hancock County was Doctor Neibling's father, the late James M. Neibling. Colonel Neibling was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1827, but as a young man went to Hancock County, and for several years was a well known merchant in Findlay. About the time he reached manhood he enlisted under Colonel Scott in the Second Ohio Regiment for service in the Mexican war, and came out of that struggle with the rank of orderly sergeant. In 1856 he was elected to the office of sheriff, and was re-elected in 1858. About the close of the second term he was among the first to respond to the call to duty in helping put down the rebellion. He became lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-first Ohio Infantry, and in January, 1863, for meritorious conduct on the field was promoted to colonel of the regiment. During the Atlanta campaign and in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, in June, 1864, he lost his right arm, and thereafter was assigned to duty as provost marshal. He continued in service until January, 1865, and then resigned his commission as colonel, but was brevetted brigadier general. After the war Colonel Neibling continued merchandising at Findlay and in 1865 was appointed by President Johnson postmaster of the city and was still in that office when his death occurred in February, 1869. Throughout his life he was a loyal democrat. Dr. William C. Neibling was born at Findlay April 11, 1851. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth A. Richards. He received a common school education, and was keenly interested in the great struggle over slavery which took place during his early boyhood. About the time he reached his majority he entered the service of the Freedman's Bureau under Federal control during the reconstruction days in the South, and taught country schools in Marengo County in the State, of Alabama. He was employed to teach the negro, and remained there during the years 1870 to 1872. His work as a teacher of the enfranchised slaves was highly commendable so far as its results upon the negro were concerned, but on account of taking up a friend's cause he aroused jealousy and enmity with certain elements in the South, and in spite of threats and abuse continued at his post until he was attacked by a party of the Ku Klux Klan. This mob overpowered him and gave him 150 lashes, leaving him nearly dead. On account of the injuries of this treatment he had to resign his school work, and for nearly four years was blind. He went to Colorado to recover his health, and then in 1875 returned to Findlay. Here he took up the study of medicine with Dr. J. C. Tritch, with whom he spent five years.. In 1887 he entered the Pulte Medical College at Cincinnati, where he was graduated M. D. in 1889. Since then he has been in active practice at Findlay. Doctor Neibling, who has never married, has devoted all his time and energies for many' years to the work of his profession, and has never refused the many opportunities offered by that service to do good to humanity. He has kept constantly in touch with the advantages made in medical knowledge and has taken post-graduate courses in both the New York Post-Graduate schools and the Chicago Post-Graduate School. For six years Doctor Neibling held the post of exalted ruler in the Findlay Lodge of Elks, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. W. E: HOUCK, manager of the Boss Manufacturing Company of Findlay, began business in that city about fourteen years ago with a very small factory, but built it up to a point of success where it attracted the attention of larger capitalists and it was soon incorporated in the Boss Manufacturing HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 759 Company, Mr. Houck's services going along and ever since representing an important part of the personnel of the Boss Company. Mr. Houck has become prominent because of his active participation in business and public affairs in Findlay. He was born in 1873 at Houcktown, in Jackson Township, of Hancock County. His birthplace was named in honor of his grandfather, Jacob F. Houck, who was the first settler there. Grandfather Houck came out of York, Pennsylvania, drove a wagon and team overland to Ohio, and was long an honored citizen of this part of Hancock County. The Houck family is of Swiss-German stock. Mr. Houck's parents were William and Elizabeth (Smaltz) Hauck. As a boy he lived an the farm, attended country schools and the Mount Blanchard High School, and beginning as a boy he spent seven years teaching in the country districts of Jackson Township. On giving up school work he spent a year selling granite and marble monumental work over Northwestern Ohio, and seeking more settled ways and opportunities he then located at Findlay in 1903. His first enterprise at Findlay was a small shop for the manufacture of cotton flannel gloves. He had a little capital and a small but efficient equipment and soon built up the industry to a point where it employed twenty-five persons. It was growing rapidly and on a sound basis, until Mr. Houck was induced to sell to the Boss Manufacturing Company. He has since been manager of this larger company and now has under his supervision from 350 to 450 workmen. The business has demands for its products far exceeding the supply, and for some time it has been impossible to secure enough operatives to man the various departments. The business is conducted in a splendid brick factory covering half a block in the city. The most up-to-date sanitary equipment has been installed and the comforts of the employes are well looked after. The goods of the Boss Manufacturing Company are sent all over the United States and Canada. Mr. Houck is also a stockholder in the American National Bank of Findlay. He is now owner of the 120 acre farm constituting the old homestead where he was born. In 1915 Mr. Houck was elected a member of the City Council of Findlay, and is one of the two democrats on the board. He is chairman of the light committee, chairman of the railway committee, and a member of the finance, the tax and the sanitary committees. Mr. Houck is a trustee of the Findlay Young Men's Christian Association, and was chairman of the committee which carried out the campaign for raising $40,000 for the institution. His activities are always characterized by thorough public spirit, and he is ready to sacrifice much for the permanent good of the city. Mr. Houck is also president of the building committee of the local lodge of Elks, which erected the beautiful Elks Home in Findlay at a cost of over $100,000. He is esteemed leading knight of Findlay Lodge No. 75, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the various degrees of Masonry and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Findlay Country Club, is a member and one of the stewards of the First Methodist Church, is a member and, trustee of the Findlay Board of Commerce, and in politics is a democrat. Mr. Houck was married in 1898 at Mount Blanchard, Ohio, to Miss L. Gail Grindle, daughter of D. H. and Elizabeth (Miller) Grindle. Mr. and Mrs. Houck have three children : Hugh H., aged seventeen ; Mary E., aged sixteen ; and Martha, aged four. JOHN CHARLES TRITCH, M. D. The most enlightened tenets of medical and surgical science find expression in the career of John Charles Tritch, M. D., a general practitioner of Findlay since the year 1879, a leading and progressive factor in many of the foremost medical associations in the country, and a potent influence in a number of movements which have advanced the interests of his native city. He was born at Findlay, September 25, 1857, a son of Parlee C. and Nancy (Shong) Tritch, and on both sides is of German stock, his ancestors having emigrated from Hesse-Darmstadt during the Revolutionary war and settled near Hagerstown, Maryland. The family has long been well known at Findlay, his grandfather having located in this city as early as 1830. The doctor's mother died in 1909, while his father still survives and makes his home here. John Charles Tritch received his early education in the grammar schools, and in 1874 was graduated from the Findlay High School. Like many another professional man, he began his career in the schoolroom, being for a time a teacher in the country schools of Marion Township, Hancock County, and in the meantime studied medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. W. M. Detwiler, of Findlay. Later he matriculated at the Cleveland 760 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO University of Medicine and Surgery, from Which institution he was duly graduated in 1879, and since that time has been continuously engaged in practice at Findlay. Doctor Tritch was not long in impressing his ability and learning upon the people of the city, and from the start his practice was a large and important one He belongs to the emancipated class whose mind is open to light and who sanction the beliefs of the past only in so far as they are in harmony with the greater progress and enlightenment of the present. As early as 1886 he performed an operation for appendicits, and in 1898 operated successfully for gunshot wounds of the abdomen. He takes time to investigate the new order of things and has the breadth of mind to judge wisely yet conservatively. Always a faithful student, he has taken special courses at Soho Hospital, London, England; the New York Post-Graduate Medical School, the New York Polyclinic, and the Blackwell Island Hospital. One might say that a great capacity for painstaking labor constitutes one of his chief mental assets, as well as a genuine liking for the enormous amount of work entailed by his supreme allegiance to a fascinating and inexhaustible science. Doctor Tritch is a valued member of the Hancock County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society, the Northwestern Ohio Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons, and has been frequently honored by his appreciative fellow-practitioners. He has been a delegate to the Ohio State Medical Society and is an ex-president of both the Hancock County and Northwestern Ohio societies. An occasional contributor to medical journals, he is considered an authority on a number of subjects connected with his profession, and his articles are always eagerly awaited by the profession. As an instructor he has given valuable aid to young physicians who are entering upon their careers. Doctor Tritch served as coroner of Hancock County from 1880 until 1884, and from 1887 until 1893 was a member of the Findlay Board of Education: He is a Chapter Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Elks, and in his political views is an independent democrat. In 1879 Doctor Tritch was married to Miss Lydia Wolf, daughter of Levi Wolf, a veteran of the Civil war, and to this union there have been born two daughters: Mary Gail, a graduate of Smith College, who was a teacher of Latin in the Findlay High School until her marriage to Dr. Earl J. Thomas; and Martha Agnes, who is now a member of the junior class at Smith College. J. FRANK AXLINE has practiced law at Findlay more than a quarter of a century. He entered the profession with such equip- ment of natural talents, education, energy and ambition as to practically insure his success, and for a long term of years he has been recognized as one of the most resourceful and competent members of the bar of Hancock County. He is now senior member of the firm of Axline & Betts, with offices in the Ewing Building. Mr. Axline. was born near Berlin in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1866. His parents, John and Permelia (Wise) Axline, were farmers of that community, and on both sides the ancestry includes many interesting people. Mr. Axline represents a combination of Scotch, Irish and German stock. He grew up on the farm, attended school in Coshocton County, Ohio, and at the age of seventeen taught his first term, and for four terms continued that work in the country schools. He .spent one summer attending the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana, and gained his higher education in the Ohio Northern University at. Ada, where he was graduated A. B. in 1888. He also studied law, was admitted to the Ohio bar in December, 1889, and in 1890 was given his degree LL. B. by the Ohio Northern University. Mr. Axline located in Findlay in May, s, 1890. He was first in .practice with J. A. Sullivan as Axline & Sullivan, Mr. Sullivan retiring from the firm in 1891. Mr. Axline then practiced alone until the firm of Axline & Wetherald was formed, which lasted about one year, then for two years he was a member of the firm of Axline & Coons, and in January, 1900, Mr. Axline formed his present partnership with John E. Betts. The firm handles a large general practice, both in civil and criminal law. Mr. Axline is independent in politics. He is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, and for ten years, two terms, was a member of the state judicial tribunal of that order. He belongs to the Christian Science Church. In 1896 he married Miss Nellie Snyder, daughter of William Snyder. They have two children: Dorothy Kathryn and Dean Wise. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 761 O. W. HOERATH. While Mr. Hoerath is a young man very much devoted to his business he also has a deep sense of the obligation of citizenship and is one of the leading boosters of his home town of New Knoxville. If he were a practical politician, the fact that he is a democrat and living in a community where the republicans arc to the democrats in the proportion of three to one, he could hardly aspire successfully to public office. But not being a politician, and only a public spirited citizen, he was elected on the democratic ticket to the office of village clerk for seven consecutive years, and in 1913 was chosen mayor and is now serving his second term. He is also secretary of the Commercial. Club of the town. When he was quite young he started out to make his success in the world independent of outside help and with only such resources as he could command, and that he has done exceedingly well is the opinion of all who have followed his career. He was born at New Knoxville October 23, 1881, was educated in the public schools there and also the St. Marys High School, and he spent fourteen years working as a teacher. Giving up his profession as an educator, he went into the implement business, and later expanded his enterprise to the grain and elevator industry. The Detjen Grain Company, of which he is secretary, treasurer and general manager, is incorporated for $40,000, and carries on a very widely extended grain and elevator business and also handles a stock of implements. Mr. Hoerath is a son of John and Frederica (Snyder) Hoerath, both of whom are natives of Ohio. His mother died in 1883, and his only brother is Arthur, now city mail carrier at St. Marys. John Hocrath, who was born in 1850, had for many years followed his trade as a harness maker at New Knoxville and has been able to provide a good home and educational advantages to his family. After the death of his first wife he married Frederica. Schroer, and there are two sons by that union : Julius, an electrical engineer connected with the General Electric Company at Schenectady, New York, and Walter, who still lives at New Knoxville. John Hoerath is a member of the German Reformed Church and is a democrat in politics and at one time served as a member of the local board of education. On May 15, 1906, 0. W. Hoerath married Miss Ida Headpohl, who was born at Wapa koneta, Ohio. They have one daughter, Kathryn. Mr. and Mrs. Hoerath are members of the German Reformed Church. G. A. WINTZER. The Wintzer family has been closely identified with the industrial life of Wapakoneta sincc very early days in the history of that city. Such importance as the tanning industry has had in Auglaize County can be credited largely to the energy and enterprise of members of this family. G. A. Wintzer himself is a tanner by trade, and is now successfully established as a merchant in hides and tallow. He was born in Wa.pakoneta August 16, 1862, a son of Charles and Catherine (Frey-man) Wintzer. His father was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1834, and was brought by the paternal grandfather to Auglaize County in pioneer times. Charles Wintzer followed his trade as tanner and 'conducted the leading tanning business of Wapakoneta for many years. He was also active and influential in local affairs, served as a member of the board of education, and in the City Council, was a democrat in politics; and a member of the German Evangelical Church. The death of this honored old citizen occurred June 1, 1915. His wife, Catherine Freyman, was born in Bavaria., Germany, in 1825, and died in April, 1913. Her father, Andrew Freyman, came to Auglaize County in 1836, and was a. pioneer farmer. Miss Freyman married for her first husband Gottlieb Machetanz and by that union there were two children, Fred, a tanner at Canton, Ohio, and Mrs. J. W. Keuthan of St. Marys., Ohio. G. A. Wintzer is the second of three children. His older sister is Mrs. John Taeusch, wife of a. well known groceryman of Wapakoneta, and the youngest sister is Mrs. Katie S. Fisher, a widow. G. A. Wintzer grew up in his native city and had the advantages of the public schools until he was fourteen years of age. He then learned the tanning trade under his father, and was diligently occupied with that work until 1906. In that year he engaged in the hide and tallow business and about a year ago went into business for himself by buying out the interests of the other heirs in the establishment and now has one of the principal markets for hides and tallow in this section of Ohio. He is a. business man possessed of great energy, and his name stands for absolute integrity in all his dealings. Besides the 762 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO hide and tallow business he has stock in two business corporations in Wapakoneta. In 1891 he married Miss Emma T. Stone of Mount Vernon, Ohio. They became the parents of three children : Ruby, Carl and Norma. Carl is now associated with his father in business. The mother of these children died January 6, 1905. In June, 1906, Mr. Wintzer married Ida Frische, who was born on a farm in Auglaize County. The two children of this union, Mary and Anna, are both attending the local schools. Mr. Wintzer and family are members of the Evangelical Church, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. HiS public spirit has displayed itself in a special interest in the care of the local schools and .for fifteen years he served as a member of the board of education. In politics he is a democrat. R. A. RULMANN, M. D. In point of years of consecutive and continuous service Doctor Rulmann, of Minster, is now the oldest prac- ticing physician and surgeon in Auglaize County. His skill and ability in the profession, his fine character and standing as a citizen, have given him a position in the community such as any ambitious man might envy. He was born in Westphalia, Germany, January 19, 1860, a son of Herman B. and Augusta (Mueller) Rulmann. His father was born in Hanover in 1833, and the mother was born in Westphalia in 1837. She died in 1874. In 1864 the family came to the United States, first locating in New York. The father was a miller by trade, and moving out to Indiana he settled in Franklin County,. lived there for many years, and in 1896 came to Minster, Ohio, and bought the mill with whose operation he was identified for several years. At the time of his death he was living retired. By his first wife he had two children, Dr. R. A. and Herman B., the latter now an electrician living in Chicago. Herman Rulmann, Sr., married for his second wife Mary Hackman, and there are three children of that marriage: Antony, railway station agent at Paulding, Ohio; Frank, in the cigar business at Minster; and Belle, wife of Arthur Johnson, who is in the foundry at Minster. The parents were active in the Catholic Church, and the father was a democrat. Though he came to America poor he succeeded in life and did well by every member of his family. Doctor Rulmann received his early education in Oldenburg, Indiana. In 1881 he was graduated from the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati, and soon afterward located at Minster, where he has continuously practiced for thirty-five years. The profession of medicine represents to him not only a gainful occupation, but also an opportunity for service, and he has given the best of his skill and energies to a volume of professional work which has been practically without remuneration. He enjoys a large practice, has served several years as president of the Auglaize County Medical Society, and is a member of the Ohio State Society and the American Medical Association. In 1881 Doctor Rulmann married Miss Belle Schmieder, who was born in Minster, Ohio, of an old family there, and died in 1886. Of her two children only one is now living, Albert II., who is employed in the automobile works at Flint, Michigan. In 1888 Doctor Rulmann married Josephine Vogelsang, who was also born in Minster. There are four children of this union: Dr. Clarence F., who attended medical college in Cincinnati, the Northwestern University Medical School at Chicago, and in 1915 was graduated from the medical department of the Ohio State University and has since been in active practice with his father ; Herbert H. and Oscar, who are in the billiard hall and restaurant business at Minster; Roy B., who is at home. The family are members of the Catholic Church. Doctor Rulmann as a democrat has served on the City Council and board of education, and so far as his busy professional career has permitted he has always closely identified himself with movements for the public welfare of the community. JOSEPH E. SCHMIEDER has been an active business man of Minster, Ohio, for nearly thirty years, is a prominent and well known insurance man, not only in this locality, but over the state at large, and is now serving as mayor of Minster. Hardly any other family has been so actively and influentially identified with this community from very early days. Minster was the home of the late Dr. J. P. Schmieder, who in his time was one of Ohio's foremost citizens. Doctor Schmieder, who was born in Germany, where his father died, his mother subsequently coming to this country and passing away at Minster at the age of ninety-two, was liberally educated in Germany, studied HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 763 medicine there, and on his immigration to America settled first in Tiffin, Ohio, and later in Minster. He was in active practice for many years, and his services were in special demand in the country surrounding Minster. He was almost a pioneer doctor, and had to travel almost night and' day through all kinds of weather, over roads that were never good, and carried his skill and patient sympathy to hundreds of families living in the remote rural districts. His services as a physician, valuable as they were, did not 'constitute the sum of his energies and worth. In 1849 he assisted in organizing the Minster Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and that company is still in existence and has had a most prosperous career of nearly seventy years. For a number of years he served as secretary. He was a member of the Catholic Church, and was a democrat in politics. Doctor Schmieder represented his home district in the State Senate, and was mayor of Minster for over thirty years, and also filled the office of justice of the peace. Governor Bishop 'appointed him one of the first trustees of the Ohio Mechanical and Agricultural Institute, and in that capacity he founded and inaugurated the development of a school which is -now the State University and an object of pride to every Ohio citizen. Doctor Schmieder showed splendid business judgment, was successful financially, and acquired much real estate in his home locality. For sixty years he owned the hotel building known as the Schmieder House. Doctor Schmieder married Josephine Grieshop, who died in 1870. They were the parents of ten children, and the four now. living are : George, who is serving as city marshal of Minster ; Joseph E. ; Pauline, unmarried and living at Toledo ; and Robert, a rural mail carrier at Minster. Joseph E. Schmieder attended the public schools of Minster and St. Marys College at Dayton, Ohio. His first occupation was the insurance business, and he has been steadily identified with that line of work. He is now secretary and treasurer of the Minster Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which his father helped to organize many years ago. The business of this company is widely extended, and Mr. Schmieder spends much of his time traveling throughout Ohio. He is also a director in the Minster State Bank and owns considerable property in Minster, including one of the business blocks. In 1892 he married Elizabeth Fredericks, who was born in Minster. She died in 1908, leaving one child, Velma, who is employed in her father's insurance office. In 1912 . Mr. Schmieder married Catherine Heimerdinger, a native of Cincinnati. To their marriage were born twins, on October 10, 1916, and they are. named Audrey and Constance. The family are active members of St. Augustine Catholic Church. Mr. Schmieder is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and politically is a democrat. For four years he represented his home district in the State Legislature, and has now filled the office of mayor of Minster for twelve years. For twenty years he was a justice of the peace. JOHN C. HALSEMA is one of the very successful educators in Northwest Ohio, and for the past three years has been superintendent of the public school system of Minster, in Auglaize County. He was born in New Bremen, Ohio, August 1, 1876, and represents some staunch Holland Dutch ancestry. His parents, John and Veronica (Dutmers) Halsema, were both born in Holland, and are still living. His father was born in 1840 and his mother in 1844. .The paternal grandfather, Julius Halsema, spent his life in Holland as a farmer. John and Veronica Halsema came to the United States in 1874, settling in New Bremen, Ohio. He is a watch maker and jeweler, and through his hard work and intelligent business management has provided well for himself and family. He and his family are Catholics, and he is a democrat. There were nine children, and. the five now living are: John C. ; E. J. Halsema, who graduated from the New Bremen High School and the Ohio State University, and is now district engineer for the Philippine government in the Philippine Islands ; Bernard, who is also a graduate of the New Bremen High School, took two years of technical work in the Ohio State University, and is now an electrician at Chickasha, Oklahoma ; Geciena is unmarried, lives at home and is a telephone operator ; Elizabeth is also a telephone operator at New Bremen, and a graduate of the Ohio State Normal College at Athens. John C. Halsema attended the public schools at New Bremen, graduating from high school in 1893, and has been actively identified with educational work since he was seventeen years of age. In the meantime he has carried on his studies privately and in higher institutions, was graduated from the 764 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO Ohio State Normal College. at Oxford in 1907, and in 1911 was awarded the A. B. degree by Miami University and in 1915 received the degree of Master of Arts from the Ohio State University. His has been a progressive career, his responsibilities increasing with his experience and his larger attainments. He spent some years in rural schools, Spent one year in the seventh grade of the public schools of New Bremen, was promoted from that position to principal of the New Bremen High School, where he served five years, and in 1913 he became superintendent of the Minster schools. He now has twelve teachers under him, and there are 450 pupils enrolled. Mr. Halsema is a member of the Catholic Church and a democrat in politics. He is also a member of the county examining board. He is unmarried. It should be recalled that in the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, the New' Bremen and Minster schools were awarded bronze medals for efficiency of their work, and thus for years these schools have enjoyed. a splendid standing and reputation in Auglaize County. HERMAN H. HOGE, of New Knoxville, is a man of many interests, and everyone of them is well looked after, and his success and prosperity are largely due to the fact that whatever he undertakes he carries out down to the last detail. Nearly all his life has been spent in Auglaize County, and he was born on a farm in Washington Township of that county September 7, 1869. His parents were Henry and Henrietta (Wellemeyer) Hoge. Both parents were born in Germany. Henry Hoge was born .August 10, 1833, and his father was also named Henry, and they came to Auglaize County in the early days. Henry, Jr., is still living, though past eighty-three years of age. His wife, who was born in 1843, died in 1910. They were married in Auglaize County. Henry Hoge has spent his life as a farmer and still lives on his farm of seventy-five acres, which has all the improvements, and though he started' life poor has found prosperity by the key of industry and is likewise a man of sound intelligence and widely read and informed. He is a republican voter and a member of the German Reformed Church. Of his eight children the four now living are Herman H.; Louis, who is principal of the Cen- tralized School at Valparaiso, Indiana; Anna, wife of William Kuck, a farmer in Auglaize County ; and Ernest, who lives at home with his father. Herman H. Hoge started life with only a district school education. He lived at home on the farm until seventeen and then started life as a carpenter. For nine continuous years he was employed by one man, and the following three years he did carpenter work and contracting on his own account. For a time he was connected with the Knoxville Hook Company, which he later purchased, and afterwards engaged in his present business as a general sawmill man and a dealer in pine lumber, lath and shingles. He has a well equipped mill, cutting native timber, and while he ships some stuff his main market is in and around New Knoxville. Besides his business .Mr. Hoge is owner of a nice tract of twenty acres of land in the town corporation of New Knoxville, was at one time a director of the local telephone company, has served two terms as a member of the town council and one term as a member of the board of health, and is now a member of the cemetery board. He is independent in politics, and is on the board of trustees of the German Reformed Church. On March 19, 1893, he married Mary Oelrich, who was also born in Washington Township of Auglaize County. Mr. Hoge is a hard worker on general principles, but he has found special delight in work and in getting ahead in the world for the sake of his children. He and his wife have been blessed with thirteen, twelve of whom are living and all at home. Arthur, the oldest son, is a graduate of St. .Marys High School, spent one year in the Columbus Commercial College, and is now employed as bookkeeper for his father. The other children at home are Gustav, Rebecca, Marcella, Bertha, Esther, Joel, Olga, Ella, and Oscar and Oliver, twins. Albert died January 21, 1917, and was buried January 24, 1917, aged nine months and eight days. JOHN N. GUTMANN. One of the long established mercantile houses of Auglaize County is that which is now being conducted at Fryburg by John N. Gutmann, and which was founded by his father many years ago. The Gutmann family is one which is well known and highly respected in this county, where its members have been substantial, solid and reliable people, and John N. Gutmann, as proprietor of the establishment, is proving himself a worthy representative of the name. Mr. Gutman has passed his entire life in HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 765 the community in which he now resides. Here he was reared and educated and here he has become known in business circles. He was born at Fryburg, Auglaize County, Ohio, March 31, 1863, and is a son of Nicholas and Mary (Manger) Gutmann. His father, who was born in Bier, Germany, in 1816, came to the United States as a young man and located at Fryburg, Ohio, as one of the early settlers of this small but prosperous community. Soon after his arrival he founded a mercantile business, which grew with the passing years, as it was conducted along lines of fairness and honorable dealing and it attracted trade from all over the countryside of a rich farming locality. Mr. Gutmann continued to conduct this business throughout the remainder of his life, and was still at its head at the time of his death, in 1879. At that time it was taken charge of by his wife, who conducted it until advancing years made it advisable for younger shoulders to take up the responsibility. Nicholas Gutmann was a democrat in politics, although not a politician. He belonged to the Catholic Church, and in that faith the children were reared, sand Mrs. Gutmann also belongs to that church. She was born in Pennsylvania, October 24, 1829, and was a young woman when she came to Fry-burg, where she still resides, having reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Gutmann became the parents of ten children, of whom seven are still living : George, who is a bricklayer of Indianapolis, Indiana ; Joseph N., a prosperous citizen of Springfield, Ohio, who is now living in retirement; Mary, who is the wife of Joseph Kunstle, a. farmer of Auglaize County ; Jahn N.; P. G. N., who conducts a general store and is the express and general freight agent at Gutmann, Ohio; Louisa, who is single and resides at Wapakoneta; and Hannah C., who is the widow of Pete Lear and resides at that place. John N. Gutmann was educated in the district schools of the vicinity of his boyhood home and the graded schools at Lima, and his first business experience was gained in his father's store. His entire business life has been identified with this business, and March 25, 1913, he became proprietor of the store when he bought the interests of his mother. Mr. Gutmann is continuing to conduct the enterprise along the lines that made it successful under its former management, and now has a trade that extends over a wide territory. He carries an up-to-date stock of goods, attractively arranged and well chosen in regard to his customers' needs. Mr. Gutmann was married in 1903 to Miss Agnes Elizabeth Gerstner, who was born near Fryburg, Ohio, daughter of George Gerstner, a native of Bier, Germany, who came to the United States when seven years of age. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gutmann : Norma, Lourena, Hannah, in school ; and William Joseph and Dorothy, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Gutmann are members of the Catholic Church. He is a democrat in politics. HENRY WIEDEMAN is one of the men who have made a splendid success as farmers, business men and citizens in Auglaize County, and is now living retired at New Bremen, with a good home, children who have already taken independent places in the world, and with the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. Mr. Wiedeman was born in New Bremen March 17, 1847, and has spent almost seventy years of his life in that community. His parents were Fred A. and Minnie (Shoemaker) Wiedeman, both of whom were natives of Prussia, Germany. They were married in their native land, came to the United States in 1845, and the mother. died in 1849, when her son, Henry, was two years of age. The father was a tailor in Germany, also served the regular term in the German army, and after following his trade for a time in New Bremen bought a small farm and was busied with it and his trade the rest of his life. By his first marriage he had four children, and Henry Wiedeman is the only one now living. Fred Wiedeman married for his second wife Marie Stroh, and of that union there were twelve children, nine now living. The parents were Lutheran Church people, and in politics Fred Wiedeman was a democrat. After a brief education in the public schools of New Bremen Henry Wiedeman found work as a boatman an the canal between Toledo and Cincinnati, and followed that employment for six years. He then worked in the woolen mills at New Bremen for six years, and having been careful and thrifty he was able to make an investment in forty acres of raw land, without any improvements. On that land he started to make a home; He built a house, gradually extended the area of cultivation, and gave the best of his energies and abilities to the management of the farm for thirty-seven years. His property has 766 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO increased in quantity as well as in value, and he now owns 130 acres of well improved land. He has also a substantial brick home near New Bremen, where he has lived since retiring from the farm in 1907. Mr. Wiedeman was married in 1869 to Miss Catherine Ellerman, who was born on a farm in German Township of Auglaize County. Three children were born to their union. Gustav is now renting his father's farm. Annie is the wife of Fred Schwaberow, in the woolen mills at New Bremen. Emil is a renter on his father's farm with his brother, Gustay. The mother of these children died in 1905, after thirty-six years of married life. In 1907 Mr. Wiedeman married Miss Lena Stroh, who was born in Washington Township of Auglaize County. Mr. and Mrs. Wiedeman are members of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and he has been very prominent in that organization since early manhood. He has served as trustee and president of the church council. Politically a democrat, he has at different times been honored with positions of trust and responsibility. In 1897 he was elected trustee of German Township, and. filled the office six consecutive years. Subsequently for four years he was a director of the county infirmary, and in the fall of 1915 was again elected trustee of German Township. He has always been influentially identified with party politics in this section. E. G. CONRADI, editor of Stern des Westlichen Ohio, a German paper of 1,100 circulation, and of the New Bremen Sun, which has a weekly issue among English speaking subscribers of 750, is one of the prominent newspaper men of Northwest. Ohio, and represents a family that has been long identified with New Bremen and has furnished several notable names to the professions. Mr. Conradi is president of the Home Printing Company, and has succeeded in building up a very large newspaper and job printing establishment, making it one of the leading commercial institutions of the city. Mr. Conradi was born at New Bremen October 12, 1872, a. son of Carl and Gertrude (Bruetsch) Conradi. His father was born in the famous Hartz Mountains of Germany in 1817, while the mother was born in Bavaria in 1839. They were married in Auglaize County, and the father died in 1891 and the mother in 1900. Carl Conradi came to the United States about 1840, locating in Auglaize County. A shoemaker by trade, he bought a small farm of thirty acres in that county, and combined to profitable advantage his work as a shoemaker with his agricultural operations. He was a republican in politics. Carl Conradi was twice married, and was the father of nine children, seven of whom are still living. Minnie is the wife of Joseph Poppe, who lives on a farm three miles north of New Bremen; Louis, who occupies the old homestead a mile east of New Bremen; August, who is a farmer 11/2 miles east of New Bremen ; Edward, who has gained distinction as a leading southern educator and since 1909 has been president of the State College for Women at Tallahassee, Florida. Louise is the wife of J. W. Kuest, a retired farmer of New Bremen ; the sixth in age is E. G. Conradi ; the youngest is Albert, who is a scientist and educator and is now occupying the chair of state entomologist in the State Agricultural College at Clemson, South Carolina. E. G. Conradi grew up on the farm, attended the district schools and the New Bremen High School, and like some of his brothers also became active in school work, spending eleven years as a teacher. He then engaged in the newspaper business and since taking charge of the Germa.n and English papers at New Bremen has not only developed a successful business property but has also given his papers a widely extended influence over this section of Ohio. In 1894 Mr. Conradi married Ida Boesel, who was born at New Bremen, daughter of Jacob Boesel. Her father was a well known banker and merchant at New Bremen, served two terms in the State Legislature, and was a prosperous and prominent citizen of Auglaize County. Mr. and Mrs. Conradi are active members of Christ Church. Politically he is a democrat, and for two terms filled the office of mayor of New Bremen and for one term was a member of the board of education. ARTHUR J. ROGERS, now superintendent of the Findlay plant of the National Refining Company of Cleveland, is a thorough master of the oil refining business. Some years ago he was engaged not unsuccessfully in the insurance business in Ohio. He gave up a "white collar job" to enter the boiler rooms of a refining plant and went through all the grades of the service until he has become technically familiar with practically every process and an expert in every detail. The HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 767 success of such a man is of the most substantial character. Mr. Rogers was born at North Baltimore, Ohio, August 22,. 1876, a son of Joel and Catherine (Peters) Rogers. His maternal grandfather, .Bassett Peters, was a pioneer in the real estate and insurance business in Ohio and he laid out and largely built the town of North Baltimore. Mr. Rogers' paternal grandfather, John L. Rogers, was a son of John R. Rogers of Maryland, a planter and slave holder. The Civil war coming on, the six sons of John R. Rogers disagreed as to the slavery question and the war. Three sons, including the father decided with the Union, while the other three fought with the gray uniform of the Confederate soldier. Joel Rogers was born near North Baltimore, Ohio, on a farm. Arthur J. Rogers acquired his early educa- tion in the North Baltimorc public schools, attending high school and in 1898 finishing a commercial course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. He soon, afterward entered the insurance firm of B. L. Peters & Sons, the senior member of which was his grandfather. 'He was in practical charge of the office for several years, and in 1901 bought the entire business. It was prospering, but after he had continued it for several years he came to Findlay in 1904 and went to work as a fireman in the boiler rooms of the National Refining Company. From fireman he was soon promoted to other responsibilities, and step by step he advanced under he was made superintendent of the plant in 1909. His all around experience and ability were called upon in 1914-15 to superintend the erection of the refinery of the Canadian Oil Company at Petrolia. The Findlay plant of the National Refining Company employs 125 men and the plant manufactures every product which can be made from the crude petroleum of the Lima district. Mr. Rogers is one of the hardest working men about the plant and is an enthusiast on the oil business. He is a member of the Findlay Commerce Club. For years Mr. Rogers has found his delight and recreation in hunting wild game, and as a sportsman he has traversed all the better sporting grounds of this country and Canada. In politics he is a democrat, is a member of the Episcopal Church, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, in which he is a past chancellor commander, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Tribe of Ben Hur. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have one child, Janice Meredith, who was born April 16, 1902. B. BORNHORST. To make an article a little bit better than other people can make it, and to keep steadily at it for a long period of years, constitutes a notable and really useful service to the world. It has been the ability to make shoes and boots of the very highest quality that has constituted B. Bornhorst's principal service as a citizen of Minster. Beginning as a shoemaker on the bench, he has been in business now steadily at one location for over thirty-six years, and he had brought his product to such a high standard that the Bornhorst shoes are now made and sold all over the United States. He has proved especially skillful in the making of shoes for crippled and deformed people and his skill has been at the basis of a large and increasing business. He is not only one of the oldest merchants but also considered one of the most wholesome and worthy citizens of Auglaize County. Mr. Bornhorst was born on a farm 4 ½ miles southwest of Minster, Ohio, September 28, 1851, a son. of Joseph and Catherine (Brandewine) Bornhorst. His paternal grandparents, spent all their lives in Germany, while the maternal grandfather, Anton Brandewine, came from Germany to Auglaize County, Ohio, in 1827, mingling with the earliest settlers of that locality. He became a farmer and spent the rest of his days here. Joseph Bornhorst was born in Dingla, Germany, in 1817, and died January 14, 1900. His wife was born at Neckeisen., Germany, in 1824, and died in 1884. They were married in Auglaize County. Joseph came to America at the age of sixteen, locating in Auglaize County, and as a poor youth he found employment on the canal until he was able to buy eighty acres of land. He bought more land and owned a well improved farm of 1.60 acres at the time of his death. He and his wife were active members of the Catholic Church and he was a democrat, being a man highly esteemed for his wide information and knowledge of many topics. He and his wife had ten children, seven, of whom are still living: The oldest is B. Bornhorst ; Joseph, a farmer at St. Marys ; Frank, who lives on a farm near Minster ; Mrs. Westerheide, on a farm near Minster ; Clayman, a farmer in Shelby County ; Mrs. Lizzie Osterloh, on a 768 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO farm near Minster ; and John, who runs the home farm. B. Bornhorst grew up on a farm, gained his education in the district schools, and also attended night school. Part of his early youth was spent in Brown and Highland counties, and at the age of sixteen he left the farm and came to Minster to learn the trade of shoemaker. He learned it well, and from his savings he opened a boot and shoe business, handling a general stock supplied him by shoe manufacturers, but still concentrating his best efforts on his custom made shoes. After two years he joined in partnership with Henry Luckman, and they were together for two years. Since then he has been proprietor of the store and has been located in one building for thirty-six years. On April 29, 1875, Mr. Bornhorst married Miss Josephine Sprahe, who was born in Minster and died at their home in that village in 1894. Five children were the fruit of their union : Louis, who is a saloon man at Minster; Francis, in the store with his father ; Charles, also in his father's store ; Nora, who makes another employe in the business; Carrie, wife of Anton Frieroth, a brewer at Minster. ha 1895 Mr. Bornhorst married for his second wife Kate Sautman, who was born in Minster. They have three children, Lavina., Marie and Edith. The family are all members of the Catholic Church, while Mr. Bornhorst has remained true to the political training of his youth and is active in the democratic party. He served as township treasurer three years, and for a period of twenty-five years has been treasurer of the Minster Loan and Savings Company. FATHER EUGENE GRIMM. One of the devoted priests of the Catholic Church in Northwest Ohio is Father Eugene Grimm, who has given all his years since early childhood to the work of the ministry, and is one of the constructive leaders in his denomination in this state. For many years he has been in charge of St. Augustine's Church at Minster. Father Grimm was born in Germany September 14, 1864, a son of Aloysious and Magdalena Grimm, both of whom died in Germany. From early childhood he was destined for the ministry of the Catholic Church, and his early education was directed accordingly. He studied in Germany, and afterward at Carthagenia, Ohio, and on completing his classical and theological studies was ordained priest on March 17, 1889. Since then Father Grimm has given more than a quarter of a century to the work of the church. His first charge was at Granbury, Ohio, and then for 1 ½ years he was pastor of St. Sebastian Church at St. Sebastian, Ohio, and later was for eleven years at Rensselaer College, Indiana, as a teacher of classics. In 1903 he came to the spiritual and administrative superintendence of St. Augustine's parish at Minster in Auglaize County, and in the past thirteen years has strengthened that church, has increased the membership and influence of the various church organizations, and personally he stands as high among the citizens of all classes as he does among his parishioners. C. H. DICKMAN is secretary and manager of the Kramer & Dickman Creamery Company of Minster. This is one of the largest business concerns of the kind in Northwest Ohio, and its history furnishes an important part of the record of general agricultural activities in Auglaize County. For a number of years Mr. Dickman had been in the employ of the old and well known citizen and business man of Minster, J. B. Kramer. Then in 1888 these two men became associated in a co-partnership for the purpose of making high grade butter by the gathered cream system. While J. B. Kramer furnished much of the capital, the active men in the business were Mr. Dickman and John T. Kramer, son. of J. B. Kramer. Mr. Dickman became manager, and young Mr. Kramer became the butter maker. The industry began in a small building on the site of the present main plant in Minster. The first butter was made December 10, 1888, and only fifty pounds were churned the first day. In 1895 a new system was adopted when the firm began using the whole milk instead of the gathered cream. That was the plan of operation for ten years, and after 1905 a return was made to the gathered cream system. In a short time after the plant began receiving the whole milk, the average weekly receipts arose to. 250,000 pounds. There also followed a rapid expansion of the business. In August, 1895, a building was erected at McCartyville and machinery installed fer skimming the milk. In 1896. another skimming station was started northwest of New Bremen, and this. station soon became a lively center of the milk industry. HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 769 In 1898 the firm bought the creamery at New Knoxville and thoroughly remodeled it and this subsequently became one of the busiest departments of the company's activities. In September, 1900, the company bought the John Barhorst Creamery in Loramie. Less than about twelve years the Summit City Creamery, as the business was known, had reached out and expanded so as to cover nearly all the territory around Minster. The company now has a capital stock of $15,000, and for the past ten years its annual products have been around and above 500,000 pounds of the very finest creamery butter. This butter is marketed all over Western Ohio and also in New York City, and bears a standard brand, the XXX, which purchasers readily identify and which brings the contents of the package the highest market price. A few years ago the company also installed a refrigerating system, and the equipment is the latest standard of the Frick Refrigerating machinery. A great many of the patrons of the company also use the smaller De Laval cream separators. Besides butter making the company also handles a large amount of poultry, maintaining a dressing plant at Minster and shipping the products to. New York City. The company has been shipping butter to New York City since 1888. This has been a wonderfully prosperous business, has been built up from small beginnings; it reflects the business energy and integrity of several well known local citizens, and besides their share in the prosperity attending the growth and `development of the business a splendid farming community has been given an immense impetus toward diversified industry and increased prosperity through this organization, whose headquarters are at Minster. C. H. Dickman, who throughout has been the guiding business manager of the concern, was born at Minster November 22, 1862, a son of C. H. and Mary Angeline (Kramer) Dickman. His grandfather, C. H. Dickman, was a native of Germany, was a pioneer settler in Minster, Ohio, and a cabinet maker by trade. The maternal grandfather, Bernard Kramer, was a carpenter and also a native of Germany. Mr. Dickman's parents were both natives of Minster. His father died there on January 14, 1899. He was a well known stock buyer in the early days, also a farmer, and subsequently became identified with a flouring mill and later was in the Star Brewing Company of Minster. He was a democrat in politics, and for a number of years served as city marshal of Minster. All the family are members of the Catholic Church. C. H. Dickman, Sr., and wife were the parents of twelve children. The ten now living are : C. H. Dickman ; Mary, wife of Henry Rakel, of Cincinnati ; Catherine, wife of August Luckman, a shoe merchant at Minster; Agnes, wife of John Rolfing, who is employed at the creamery at Minster; Bernard, a resident of Minster; Josephine, wife of Fred Goeke, a representative of the Star Brewing Company ; John, a steam engineer living at Chicago.; Joseph, a steam fitter living in California; Rose, wife of Antony Kramer, who is connected with the creamery business ; and Charles, a printer living in Chicago. C. H. Dickman received his early education in the public schools of Minster, and at the age of fifteen began learning the cigar maker's trade. Thus it will be seen that he early became dependent upon his own resources, and his success in life can be attributed to the fact that he has not only worked hard but has made intelligent use of his opportunities. After working at his trade a little more than two years he found other employment, and in 1880 he took a job driving a huckster wagon for J. B. Kramer and was in his employ for 71/2 years. Then for six months he was in the produce business at Montrose, near Sedalia, Missouri.. Returning to Minster in 1888, he became associated with his former employer under the firm name of Kramer & Dickman, in the creamery business, and has now given upwards of thirty years to the development of an industry which vitally touches the welfare and prosperity of hundreds of farmers in the neighborhood around Minster. He is also one of the directors of the Minster State Bank. On January 29, 1890, Mr. Dickman married Miss Agnes Deiters. She was born on a farm east of Minster, and died April 26, 1891. Both her children are now deceased. For his second wife Mr. Dickman married Miss Elizabeth Brinker, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Of their nine children seven are living: Della, bookkeeper for the Auglaize Cooperage and Lumber Company ; Leonora and Marie, both at home ; Walter, deceased ; Lavina, Genevieve and C. H., Jr., all at home; Frederick, deceased ; and Bernadetta, at home. The family are active members of the Catholic Church, and Mr. Dickman is connected with the Knights of Columbus. Politically he is a democrat, served two terms on the Village council, one 770 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO term as village clerk, and for thirteen years has had active membership on the local school board. P. F. WEAMER, M. D. Possessing in generous measure the qualities which make for personally popular as well as financially successful physician and surgeon, Doctor Weamer has an established reputation as an earnest, cautious and painstaking medical man in Mercer County. He has been in active practice at Coldwater since 1895, and outside of his profession his name is associated with business interests and with civic affairs. He was born in Union City, Randolph County, Indiana, June 5, 1866, a son of Francis and Theresa (Plaindealer) Weamer. His parents were both natives of Bavaria, Germany, where they grew up and married. Soon after their marriage they started for the United States and arrived in Union City, Indiana, October 12, 1852. Francis Weamer was a tanner by trade, having acquired that skill in the old country, and besides following that occupation in Indiana he also owned a farm and town property. He died in Union City in 1906 and his wife in 1893. Their four children are : Theresa Nicholas Schwagel of Dayton, Ohio ; Frank, a farmer in Montana; Joseph and Dr. P. F., twins, the former a manufacturer of butter tubs at Coldwater, Ohio. Both parents were members of the Catholic Church, and the doctor's father took an active interest in democratic politics. His early youth spent in Union City, Doctor Weamer received his early education in the grammar and high schools there and from that time forward began making his own way in the world. Like many successful men in the profession he went through a period of association with school work. For eight years he taught in Darke County, Ohio. In the meantime he was reading medicine with Doctors Reynard and Reynard at Union City, having them as his preceptors for about two years. He then spent two years in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, and in 1893 graduated from. the Wooster Medical College at Ohio. His first practice was then at Macedon in Mercer ,County, but after two years he removed to Coldwater and long since his reputation as a skillful physician was thoroughly established. In October, 1887, Doctor Weamer married Anna M. Van Kirk, a daughter of Lorenzo D. Van Kirk, of Fort Recovery, Mercer County. By this marriage Doctor Weamer had' five children: F. Gillum of Fort Recovery ; Joseph, who died as the result of an accident ; Johanna, wife of Earl Reed of Lima, Ohio; Mary B., who is connected with a gift shop business at Dayton ; and Theresa, living at Lima. In 1907 Doctor Weamer married Alice Wysong, who died in 1909. On June 28, 1911, he married for his present wife Florence IL Spinger, daughter of Levi Spinger of Montezuma, Mercer County. Doctor Weamer owns considerable town property in Coldwater, including his own modern residence and a number of other dwelling houses there and one at St.. Henry, Ohio. He is an active member of the Mercer County and Ohio State Medical Societies, and has served as village health officer. He is medical examiner for several insurance companies, including the New York Life, the Union Central, Ohio National and Civic Mutual. In polities he takes a rather independent stand, though his views incline toward the democratic principles. WILLIAM ARTHUR MARKER Of Van Wert has had an active experience as a newspaper man, also as a county and state official, and is now a member of the Eighty-Second General Assembly of Ohio. He was born in York Township of this county February 16, 1881. His father Peter Marker was born in Prussia, July 25, 1849. The grandfather, a farmer, died in Germany in early life. The grandmother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Miltenberger, was left a widow with one son, and in 1854 she came to America to join her brothers, Frederick, William ana Peter Miltenberger in Harrison Township of Van Wert County. Subsequently she married Jacob Profit, a farmer of York Township. She outlived him. ,and spent her last days with her son Pete? Marker. By her second marriage she reared two children William and Dorothy, the latter becoming the wife of Edgar Eckhart. Peter Marker was five years of age when brought to America by his mother. They came in a sailing vessel, and were nearly six weeks on the sea battling with the winds and waves. He is still living near Grand Rapids, Michigan and well remembers being held up to look upon the sea during a terrific storm and having seen the sharks following the boat during the calm upon the ocean. As a boy Peter Marker attended the district schools of Harrison Township and in early manhood HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 771 bought a farm in York Township. He cleared this farm and by careful cultivation made of it one of the best improved in that part of the county. This farm was his home until 1907, when he sold it and moved to Ionia County, Michigan, where he now resides. He married Sarah P. Sprain, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her" fatherAugustus Sprain was of German ancestry, was a molder by trade, followed his occupation at Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but subsequently bought a farm in York Township, which he occupied until his death. His wife Amanda Koonkle was of Welsh ancestry and stood in the relationship of third cousin to the late King Edward of England. She is still living at Ohio City. Peter Marker and his wife reared children named William Arthur, Jesse F., John P., Frederick A., Mabel E., wife of Eugene Hunter, and Amanda E., wife of John Cottrel. William Arthur Marker spent his early life on the farm in York Township. He was educated in the common schools and at the Ohio Northern University at Ada. On leaving school he became city reporter for the Van Wert Times, and was subsequently advanced to city editor and also acquired part ownership and became editor and business manager of this publication. In 1911, selling his interest in the Times, Mr. Marker accepted the position of chief statistician in the office of the State Industrial Commission. In 1913 he was appointed secretary of the State Department of Public Works by Gov. James M. Cox and from that was promoted in July, 1914, to the position of chief clerk in the State Banking Department. Later he became a departmental examiner in the State Auditor's office but in 1915 resigned this position on account of ill health. He served as deputy probate judge during 1916 and at the November 'election the same year was elected county representative. He was an active member of the legislature and was author of a number of important bills, chief among them being the library law making possible extensive library facilities to sections of rural Ohio to which they had theretofore been practically denied. He also fathered a bill practically placing mutual insurance companies on a par with stock companies. On November 29, 1905, he married Miss Alice Mae Smith, who is also a native of York Township, Van Wert County. Her grandparents Edward and Elizabeth (Coil) Smith were New England people, and among the very early settlers of York Township where they spent their last days. Edward Smith was a member of the Second. Ohio Heavy Artillery and fought in many of the bloodiest battles of the Civil war. He received an honorable discharge soon after the war. Henry Smith, father of Mrs. Marker, was a farmer in York Township until his death at the age of forty-seven years. He married Miss Emma Alice Waltz, who was born near Camp Chase, now West Columbus, Ohio. She died October 20, 1912, at her home in York Township. Her father, Josiah Waltz was a native of Van Wert County and a member of the Eighty-Eighth Ohio Infantry. He was given his honorable discharge in July, 1865, returning to Van Wert County where he bought 120 acres of land and became a very successful farmer. He married Sally Ann Dustman, who still lives. Josiah Waltz is dead. Mr. and Mrs. Marker have two children, Virginia Elizabeth, aged eight and Alice Evelyn, aged three. Mr. Marker has been active in polities, having been a delegate to a state democratic convention and a member of the central committee before he was of age. He cast his first presidential vote for Alton B. Parker and has always been a very active democrat. He is a member of the First Methodist Church, Van Wert and is fraternally affiliated with Van Wert Lodge No. 251, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Modern Brotherhood of America. JESSE A. BOWDLE is one of the best known stockmen of Northwestern Ohio. He made a reputation in that industry before he became a banker at Waynesfield. He has been cashier of the Farmers Commercial Bank of that town since the institution opened its doors to business on November 1, 1914. The bank has a capital stock of $25,000 and its deposits average $50,000. It was intensive study and enthusiasm for the stock raising branch of farming that started Mr. Bowdle on his way to success. He did not inherit a fortune, and as a young man he had to make some close calculations and watch every point of expenditure until he established himself on a firm basis. He was born near Lima, Ohio, March 18, 1869, a son of Thomas H. and Martha E. (Crabb) Bowdle. His grandfather Jesse L. Bowdle, who was born near Chillicothe, Ohio, moved to Hardin County and afterwards to Allen County, where he spent his last years. 772 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO He was a farmer in the main, but was also a local preacher of the Methodist Church. The Bowdles are of French descent originally. Mr. Bowdle's maternal grandfather, Washington Crabb, was born near Mount Sterling, in Pickaway County, Ohio, and in 1865 bought land in Allen County, where he spent the rest .of his days. Thomas H. Bowdle was born in that portion of Hardin County which is now Auglaize County on January 11, 1841, and still occupies the old home farm in Allen County, being over seventy-five years of age. His wife was born. in Pickaway County May 24, 1845, and died January 11, 1916. They were married in Allen County in November, 1866. This they traveled life's journey together for almost half a century. Thomas H. Bowdle began life as a farmer, but in August, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company B of the Fifty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He remained in the army for nearly four years, until being mustered out and given his honorable discharge in May, 1865. He rose from the ranks to captain of Company C, and few of the surviving veterans have a longer and more honorable record of service. He was at the battle of Shiloh, took part in the Vicksburg campaign, was in many of the movements in Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia, marched with Sherman to the sea, was in the Carolina campaign, and was also one of that noble army that marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in the City of Washington for the grand review. His command was then sent west to Arkansas, and in that state he received his honorable discharge. He is a republican in politics, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and both he and his wife were reared in the Methodist Episcopal Church, though they were not active members. To their marriage were born four children : Alma C., widow of A. R. Sidner, and the mother of two children ; Jesse A. ; Orpha, wife of James W. Schooler, a farmer near Lima; and R. Merle, who occupies the old home farm in Allen County. Jesse A. Bowdle acquired his early education in the public schools of Allen County. His first occupation was teaching, and he spent fifteen years in that work in the public schools, chiefly in Allen County. He had one term in the Valparaiso College in Indiana. Since leaving the school room he has concentrated his best energies on farming and has been particularly successful in the raising of thoroughbred Durham cattle. At the present time, in addition to his interests as a banker, he owns' and conducts three separate farms, comprising 233 acres. His efforts as a stockman extend also to horses, sheep and hogs, and he keeps only the better grades of all stock, his cattle being all thoroughbred. On November 10, 1904, Mr. Bowdle 'married Miss Cordelia E. Horn. Mrs. Bowdle was born in Union Township of Auglaize County, daughter of John Horn, one of the early settlers of the county. To their union have been born four children : John T., Laurel E., Alice L. and Grace E., the two older now in school. Mr. and Mrs. Bowdle take a very active interest in the Methodist Protestant Church. He is affiliated with the Masonic' Order and in politics is a republican. HON. EDWARD C. STITZ has been engaged in successful practice as a lawyer at Van Wert for over a quarter of a century. He is an able lawyer, has shown himself proficient as an administer .of public trust, and on November 7, 1916, was elected judge of. the Court of Common Pleas for this district. Judge Stitz was born at Dayton, Ohio. His father, August Stitz, was born in Germany, in 1844, and the grandfather, John Stitz, was also a native of Germany. John Stitz learned the trade of stone cutter. About seventy years ago he immigrated to America, accompanied by his wife and only .child, lived for several years in Philadelphia and then moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he 'continued to follow his trade until his death, at the age of seventy-eight years. John Stitz married Mary Schrann, who died when about eighty years of age. There were five children : August, Gideon C., Elizabeth, Anna and John. August Stitz as a youth learned the trade of shoe maker, worked at that occupation in Dayton until 1872, and then removed to Van Wert, where for many years he conducted a custom shoe shop. He is now living retired, and has enjoyed a modest share of prosperity. He married Susannah Betcher, also a native of Germany. She was eighteen years of age when she came to America with her father, and she crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel that was forty days in making the voyage. She is now seventy-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. August Stitz reared three children : Henry E., Edward C. and Arthur. Judge Stitz has lived since childhood in Van Wert, was educated in the public schools, graduating from high school in 1888. He HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO - 773 took up the study of law in the offices of Alexander and Dernell, and by strict application to his work was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1891. He at once set up in active practice, and has been steadily and successfully identified with the Van Wert bar for over twenty-five years. Besides his present office he filled the position of city solicitor for three terms. He has also been mayor of Van Wert. Judge Stitz was married in 1897 to Miss Lucy M. Jackson. She was born in York Township of Van Wert County, daughter of James and Almira (Faulkner) Jackson. Mr. and Mrs. Stitz have six children : Susie, Donna, Kenneth, Miriam, Dean and Mildred. Judge Stitz cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison, and has' been a straightforward republican ever since. He is affiliated with Van Wert Lodge No. 251, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with Marion Encampment, No. 61. Mrs. Stitz is a member of the local lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah. The family are alll members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Van Wert. HENRY STEFFENS. For more than forty years Henry Steffens has had his home in Henry County. Now in his seventy-fourth year, he can look back upon many substantial accomplishments and has the satisfaction of having acquired a liberal competence and having provided well for his children, giving each a good start in life. He himself came 'to Northwestern Ohio with very little of this world's goods, and none of the older residents have spent their years more industriously and more uprightly, and has deserved a greater share of public esteem. Mr. Steffens was born in Hanover, Germany, February 15, 1843, a son of Minik and Rebecca (Bruhns) Steffens. They were substantial farming people of Hanover, members of 'the Lutheran Church, and spent their lives there. His father died at the age of eighty-one. He had given three years to the military service of his empire. Henry .Steffens himself, after being reared and acquiring a common school education, served three years in the army and spent nine months and three days in the army of the empire during the Franco-Prussian war. For a number of years he followed the sea as a mariner, and for several years after the Franco-Prussian war was on a government mail vessel between Vol. II-8 Bremen and New York City. He saw service both on the Bremen and Donau steamships. In 1874 Mr. Steffens, leaving the service of his native country, came to America and located at Napoleon. Immediately after his arrival he married Miss Johanna Lindemann. She was born in Altenburg, Germany, November 3, 1838, and 'she came to America on the same vessel with her prospective husband. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Steffens lived at Okolona, where he spent one year as a workman with the Wabash Railroad. He then turned to farming, buying forty acres in section 24 of Freedom Township. For this land he paid $1,540. After clearing it up and making many improvements, he bought twenty acres more. Mrs. Steffens died on the old homestead in Freedom Township in November, '1914. Both she and her husband were active members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Steffens now lives retired with his son, John H. Steffens, at the home on North Ridge Road in Freedom Township. He is still hale and hearty and has made his life count for a great deal. Politically he is a democrat. Of his children the first born, Henry, died in infancy. John H., the oldest of the living children, was born May 21, 1876. Henry and Minnie, twins. born August 11, 1878, Henry. dying June 15, 1901, unmarried, while Minnie is the wife of Fred Meyers of Toledo and has a son, Ernest ; Sophia, born May 17, 1881, is the wife of Herman Twieful of Napoleon, and they have a daughter, Edna. John H. Steffen, the oldest son of Henry Steffens, grew up in Freedom Township, received his education in the local schools and the high school at Ridgeville' Corners, and since reaching manhood has applied himself industriously and successfully to the work of farming. He is a thrifty and progressive citizen and in 1904 he located on his forty acre homestead in section 17 of Freedom Township. He has his land well improved with large barns and he and his family enjoy the comforts of a substantial ten room house. On September 9, 1909, in the Lutheran Church of Williston, Ohio, he married Miss Caroline M. Oberhaus. Mrs. Steffens was born in Allen Township of Ottawa County, Ohio, September 22, 1879, was reared and educated there and in the Martin High School, and is a daughter of John and Eleanore (Hansen) Oberhaus. Her father was born in Lucas County, Ohio, and her mother near Hamburg, Germany. Her mother was 774 - HISTORY OF NORTHWEST OHIO eighteen years of age when she came to America. Mr. and Mrs. Oberhaus became farmers in section 17 of Allen Township in Ottawa County, where her mother died February 22, 1909, at the age of fifty-four. Mrs. Steffens' father is still living, making his home at Toledo, and is now eighty-two years of age. He was a democrat and both parents were members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Steffens' father lost his parents when he was only eight years of age. Mr. and Mrs. John H. Steffens are the parents of two children: Frederick, born in. December, 1902, and now in the eighth grade of the public schools ; and John F., born January 7, 1904, and now in the fifth grade of the public schools. They also have a foster daughter, Ella May Klein, who was born May 18, 1906. HERMAN J. HAHN. The business' of farming nowadays is so highly specialized and so much of a profession that it is not strange to find a man engaged in it who might otherwise have found success in vocations that formerly represented more of the character and intellect of the nation. A man of this type is Herman J. Hahn, of Henry County. Mr. Hahn is not only a very progressive and successful farmer, but has also shown unusual inventive ability. He has a genius for mechanics, particularly applied mechanics, and his name is quite well known in Northwest Ohio now as the inventor of a combined corn cutter, husker and silo filler. This is a very intricate piece of machinery, but has been used with great satisfaction. It is drawn about over the fields by horse power, but the machinery itself is operated by a gasoline engine. The machine. can cut, husk and bind the fodder at the rate of five acres per day, even where the corn is very heavy. The cost of the operation is less than 50 cents an acre, while it usually costs $8.00 per acre to husk the corn by hand. The machine drops the corn in two-bushel piles, and it can be so adjusted as to cut the stalks into small pieces and save and bind the tops for "top fodder," leaving the residue on the ground to be plowed under. The machine can also be adjusted for use as a fodder binder and is particularly adapted to the filling of silos. Mr. Hahn has his home on section 4 of Napoleon Township. He represents some of the fine old Hanovarian German stock in Henry County. His grandparents spent all their lives on a farm in Germany and were members of the Lutheran Church. His parents were Herman and Margaretha (Mahnke) Hahn, both natives of Hanover. While they still lived in Hanover two children were born, Anna and Elizabeth. In 1868 the little family set out on a vessel bound from Brenen to New York City and from there came directly West to join themselves with many other people from Hanover in Henry County. The father located in Napoleon Township, and bought forty acres of wild land in section 4. He subsequently bought another thirty acres, and setting himself earnestly to the task of developing and clearing this tract, he lived to see it converted into a smiling and prosperous farm. That farm is now owned by his son, Herman. The father erected the large barn, 40 by 60 feet, which still stands there, and also gave the farm its fine home, a ten room residence fitted up with all the modern conveniences. The' soil is a rich black loam, and is capable of growing practically every crop put into it. For years the farm has been noted for its good stock and its thrifty management in every detail. Herman Hahn, Sr., died here April 4, 1912, at the age of eighty years and six months. His widow passed away in January, 1916, aged eighty-five years. Both were prominent early members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and he was twice an official in that society. Politically he was a democrat. Of the children, Anna is the wife of Henry Bostleman, a farmer in Adams Township of Defiance County, who had three children by a former wife, and they have two sons and two daughters. Elizabeth is still unmarried and lives on Washington Street in' the City of Napoleon. Mary is the wife of John C. Rohn, a prominent Henry County family elsewhere referred to. Henry is a farmer in Napoleon Township and 'by his marriage to Anna Quill has several children. Emma, now deceased, married William Dahnbostle, who with their six children lives in Adams Township of Defiance County. Herman J. Hahn, the youngest of the family, was born on the old homestead that he now owns on April 16, 1874. While he grew up he not only gained familiarity with the various tasks of farming, but also attended the public schools. Farming has been his real vocation in the world, and after the death of his father he acquired the old homestead in 1912. In 1906 he married Catherine Haase, who was born in Napoleon Township December 8,