BIOGRAPHICAL. GENERAL RALPH P. BUCKLAND. Leaders of men in all ages have not only possessed rare natural and acquired abilities, but in almost every instance they have been launched into the stream of life under circumstances peculiarly favorable for their development, and have had to pass through severe trials and discipline preparatory to their life work, aptly illustrating that " There's a divinity that shapes our ends," or " There is a God in history." As a highly worthy example of American leaders who have left their indelible impress upon the pages of United States history we present the subject of this sketch. His ancestry, his natural endowments, his education, his environment and achievements, both in civil and military life, resembling in some respects those of his illustrious contemporaries, Lincoln and Grant, furnish valuable object lessons to young Americans, and are eminently worthy of a place in the local biographical record of the people of a historic locality. The ancestor from whom are descended the Buckland families in Sandusky county, Ohio, was a citizen of Hartford, Conn., in Colonial times, and was of English descent. His son, Stephen Buckland, of East Hartford, grandfather of our subject, was a captain-lieutenant in Bigelow's Artillery Company, raised in Connecticut during the Revolutionary war. This was an independent company, recruited early in 1776, and was attached to the Northern Department, where it appears to have been accepted as a Continental company. It was stationed during the summer and fall at Ticonderoga and vicinity. Stephen Buckland was commissioned captain-lieutenant of this company January 23, 1776, and was promoted November 9 to Maj. Steven's Continental Artillery. He was afterward a captain in Col. John Crane's Third Regiment of Continental Artillery, commissioned January I, 1777, and was detached with his company to serve with Gates against Burgoyne. He was subsequently stationed at various points, and was at Farmington in the winter of 1777-78. He was furloughed by Gen. Washington for five weeks, from October 30, 1778, and was on command at Fort Arnold, West Point, in 1779. He afterward became captain of a privateer which was captured on the second day of April, 1782, by the British brig " Perseverance, " Ross, commander, and was with his officers confined in the " Old Jersey " prison ship, where he died on the 7th of May, of the same year. His remains are probably now, with other martyrs of the prison ships, buried in Fort Green, Brook- 8 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. lyn, N. Y., near Washington Place, in that city. He had married a Miss Mary Olmsted, who was born September 27, 1774, and their children were Mary; Hannah; Stephen, who died in infancy; another child, also called Stephen, who also died in infancy; Betsey, and Ralph. Ralph Buckland, born July 28, 1781, son of Stephen, came in the year 1811 to Portage county, Ohio, where he served in the capacity of land agent and surveyor. In 1812 he removed his family in a one-horse sleigh from their home in Massachusetts to Ravenna, Ohio. His wife's maiden name was Ann Kent. Some few years after his death Mrs. Buckland married Dr. Luther Hanchett, who then had four children by a former marriage; six more children were born to them. Ralph Buckland served as a volunteer in Hull's army during the war of 1812. He was second sergeant in Capt. John Campbell's company, which began its march on the 4th of July, 1812, to join the regiment commanded by Col. Lewis Cass, at Detroit. After great suffering and hardship, because of the character of the country traversed, they finally reached the river Raisin, and were surrendered by Gen. Hull on the 16th day of August, as prisoners of war. Mr. Buckland returned to his home in Ravenna, "prisoner on parole," and died May 23, 1813. His children were: An infant daughter who died on the way west, and was buried at Albany, N. Y. ; Ralph Pomeroy, our subject; and Stephen, who for nearly forty years was a leading druggist at Fremont, Ohio. Ralph Pomeroy Buckland was born at Leyden, Mass., January 20, 1812. During his early life he lived with his stepfather and family on a farm, but the greater part of the time previous to the age of eighteen he lived with and labored for a farmer uncle in Mantua, excepting two years when he worked in a woolen factory at Kendall, Ohio, and one year which he spent as clerk in a store. In the winter he attended the country schools, and in the summer of 183o attended an academy at Tallmadge, Ohio, where he commenced the study of Latin. In the fall of 1831 he embarked, at Akron, Ohio, on board a flat-boat loaded with a cargo of cheese, to be transported through the Ohio canal, down the Muskingum, Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Natchez, Miss. At Louisville he secured a deck passage on the " Daniel Boone," and worked his way by carrying wood on board. At Natchez he found employment, and secured the confidence of his employers so far that at the end of a few months they put him in charge of two flatboats lashed together and loaded with 1200 barrels of flour for the New Orleans market. On this trip he served his turn with the rest of the crew as company cook. The voyage was successfully completed, and at the solicitation of his employers he remained in New Orleans, in charge of their commission house. Here, for a time, he was under the influence of companions who indulged in drinking, gambling and other vices, and was confirmed in his resolution to avoid the evils by the sudden death of a fellow clerk, a victim of dissipation. He saved his money, and spent his time in the study of the Latin and French languages, and in reviewing common-school branches. In June, 1834, Mr. Buckland started for Ohio, on a visit to his mother, leaving, New Orleans with the fixed idea of returning and making that city his future home. He had been offered several first-rate situations, but on arriving home his mother induced him to remain in the North. After spending one year at Kenyon College, he began the study of law in the office of Gregory Powers, at Middlebury, now a part of Akron, Ohio, and completed it with Whitlessy & Newton, at Canfield, being admitted to practice in the spring of 1837. During the winter of the previous year he had spent several months pursuing his studies in the office of George COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 9 B. Way, who was then editor of the Toledo Blade, and in whose temporary absence he acted for a few weeks as editor pro tem. Immediately after Mr. Buck-land's admission to the bar, with only about fifty dollars in his pocket, loaned him by his uncle, Alson Kent, he started in quest of a favorable location for an attorney. The failure of the wild-cat banks was what settled him in Lower Sandusky, for on arriving here he had not good money enough to pay a week's board, and was obliged to stop. He was kindly trusted by Thomas L. Hawkins for a sign, opened a law office, and soon secured enough business to pay for his expenses, which were kept down to the lowest possible point. At this date he was not only without means, but still owed three hundred dollars for his expenses incurred while a student, and for a few necessary law books; but he was confident of ultimate success, for eight months after opening up his law office in Lower Sandusky he went to Canfield, Ohio, and married Charlotte Boughton, returning with her the following spring. Being strictly economical, their expenses during their first year of married life did not exceed $300. His credit was good and his business steadily increased, so that at the end of three or four years he had all he could attend to. He was at that time slender in build and troubled with dyspepsia, but out-door exercise, gained in traveling on horseback to the courts of adjoining counties, during term time, cured him and gradually increased his weight and physical strength. In 1846 Rutherford B. Hayes became a partner with Mr. Buckland in the practice of law, and the partnership continued until Mr. Hayes removed to Cincinnati, three years later. He afterward had associated with him Hon. Homer Everett, under the firm name of Buckland & Everett, and still later James H. Fowler, the firm name becoming Buckland, Everett & Fowler, succeeded by R. P. & H. S. Buckland, R. P. & H. S. Buckland & Zeigler, and Buckland & Buckland. From his youth R. P. Buckland took an active interest in politics, and was a strong partisan, outspoken in his views. He was mayor of the village of Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), in 1843-45, and held other positions of public trust. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention in 1843 which nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor for the Presidency. Upon the organization of the party he became a Republican, and never wavered from his principles. In 1855 he was elected to the Ohio Senate as a Republican, and was re-elected in 1857, serving four years. He was the author of the law for the adoption of children, which was passed during his service in the Senate. Mr. Buckland's nature was intensely patriotic under the molding influences of his father and grandfather, who had been soldiers of the American Republic. Hence, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, in 1861, he threw his whole soul into the struggle.. His military record is a matter of history. Gen. Hayes said of him: " He was the best soldier of his age in the volunteer service." In October, 1861, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel by Gov. William Dennison, of Ohio, and given authority to raise a regiment for the three-years' service. In three short months the glorious Seventy-second Regiment, which he organized, was ready for the field. On January 10,1862, he was mustered into the United States service as colonel of the Seventy-second Regiment, 0. V. I., and two weeks later left with his regiment for Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio. In February he was ordered to report with his command to Gen. W. T. Sherman, at Paducah, Ky., and here the regiment was assigned to the Fourth Brigade, First Division, Army of the Tennessee, and Col. Buckland placed in command of the brigade. At the battle of Shiloh, the first week in April, 1862, the Colonel won en- 10 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. during fame as an heroic soldier and commander, and his brigade covered itself with glory. Buckland was not surprised at Shiloh, but was expecting an attack. His brigade and the Seventy-second Regiment were at the keypoint of the fight, on the extreme right of the attack, and withstood the fierce onset of the enemy on the morning of the 6th. When the brigade did fall back, it was done in perfect order, contesting every foot of the ground. On the 7th Buckland's brigade participated in the advance that swept the enemy from the field, and at night they rested in advance of the position they occupied on the 6th. Gen. Sherman always accorded to Gen. Buckland the highest praise for his bravery and coolness at Shiloh, and the splendid services rendered by his brigade. Had some other man been where Buckland was, the final outcome of the battle might have been far different. That Gen. Grant appreciated and recognized the military skill of Gen. R. P. Buckland is shown by his letter to Gen. Sherman, on November 10, 1862, in relation to operations in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. He writes: “I will not be able to send you any general officers, unless possibly one to take command of the forces that will be left at Memphis. Stuart and Buckland will both command brigades or even divisions as well as if they held the commissions which they should and I hope will hold." In battle Gen. Buckland was cool and fearless, but not reckless. He looked well to the comfort and health of his men on all occasions, and this made him loved and respected by the soldiers. On November 29, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, for his bravery at Shiloh, and on January 26, 1864, Gen. Sherman placed Gen. Buck-land in command of the District of Memphis, where his administrative abilities * War of the Rebellion, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Volume XVII, Part II, page 336. were exemplified and his integrity o. character clearly manifested. Here he promptly repelled an attack of Gen. Forrest, and put him to flight. While serving in the army, in the fall of 1864, Gen. Buckland was elected to Congress. He remained in command of the District of Memphis for the balance of the year, on January 6, 1865, tendered his resignation at Washington to the Secretary of War, and was duly mustered out of the service. On August 3, 1866, he was commissioned brevet-major-general, U. S. V., to rank from May 13, 1865, for meritorious service in the army. After an honorable career in Congress during the reconstruction of the Southern States, Mr. Buckland returned to Fremont, Ohio, where he resumed his law practice. During recent years his sons, Horace S. and George, were associat with him in the law firm of Buckland & Buckland, and relieved their father of the arduous work of the profession. Gen. Buckland's legal career was marked by the same thorough integrity, ability and success that characterized him in his en tire walk through life. To his example and influence the city of Fremont is in debted for much of its material prosperity in the matter of public improvements. He erected the first substantial three story brick building in that city, now known as Masonic Block. In 1853 he built the residence he ever after occupied, and it was at that time the finest dwelling in northern Ohio. Subsequently he built the three-story block at the corner of Front and State streets. He took an active part in securing railroads and manufactories for the city, and always stood in the front rank of citizens who worked for the upbuilding of Fremont. Gen. Buckland was a charter member of Eugene Rawson Post No. 32, G. A. R., Fremont, Ohio, and was its first com mander. He was a companion of the Loyal Legion, and a member of the S. A. J. Snyder Command, Union Veteran's. COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 11 Union; also belonging to the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and to other army societies. He was the life president of the Society of the Seventy-second Regiment 0. V. I., and was for a time president of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Society. He was for forty-five years a member of Croghan Lodge, I. 0. 0. F., and for many years had been junior warden in and an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fremont. Thus for more than half a century he had been a conspicuous figure in Fremont and northern Ohio. He was a pioneer settler, a distinguished lawyer, a gallant soldier, an eminent member of the Ohio State and the National Legislatures, and an enterprising and public-spirited citizen. He was an educated and courteous Christian gentleman, and his name and his accomplishments are indelibly stamped on the history of the city of Fremont and of the Nation. He will never be forgotten. His death occurred on Friday, May 27, 1892, when he was at the venerable age of more than eighty years. From the announcement of his death until after his funeral many flags floated at half-mast all over the city, and nearly all the business houses were closed. At his funeral the spacious residence, the grounds and the adjoining streets were thronged with people anxious to pay the last tribute of respect to the departed. The funeral discourse was delivered by Rev. S. C. Ayes, pastor of the Episcopal Church, Norwalk, Ohio, and was touchingly eloquent and sympathetic. At the close ex-President Hayes paid a fitting tribute to his life-long friend in a brief, concise and masterly manner. At the tomb in Oak Wood Cemetery, the Grand Army of the Republic conducted its impressive Blue service. Closely following. This event of worthy tributes of respect was paid by the various societies of the city among which were the Fremont Bar Association, the Union Veteran’s Union, the Sons of Veterans, the Sons of Veterans, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the city council of Fremont, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church. The children of Gen. R. P. and Charlotte Buckland were: Ralph Boughton Buckland, who died at Fremont, Ohio, in 188o; Ann Kent Buckland, wife of Charles M. Dillon; Alson Kent Buck-land and Thomas Stilwell Buckland, both of whom died in infancy; Caroline Nichols Buckland, who died at Memphis, Tenn., at the age of sixteen; Mary Buckland, who died at the age of six; Horace Stephen Buckland, attorney at law, just elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the second sub-division for the Fourth Judicial District of Ohio (he married Miss Elizabeth Catherine Bauman, of Fremont) [a more extended account of Judge H. S. Buckland is found elsewhere in this volume]; and George Buckland, an attorney at law, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who married Grace Huntington, daughter of J. C. Huntington, of Cincinnati. The General's grandchildren are the children of his daughter, Mrs. C. M. Dillon, viz. : George Buckland Dillon, who died in infancy; Mary Buckland Dillon; Ralph Putnam Dillon, a graduate of the Case School, Cleveland, Ohio; Kent Howard Dillon, a student of the same school; Charlotte Elizabeth Dillon, a student at the Lake Erie Seminary, Painesville, Ohio; Edward Boughton and Edwin Dillon (twins), who died in infancy, and Charles Buckland Dillon. Gen. Buckland's son, Ralph Boughton Buckland, was a man of more than usual force of character. At the breaking out of the war he enlisted in Capt. Tillotson's Company of the Eighth 0. V. I., ninety-day-men, and went with that company to Cincinnati. Upon his return his father would not permit him to re-enlist, but required him to remain at home to look after the family and his varied interests there, which Ralph did nobly until the close of the war, when he went South to look after plantations which his 12 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. father had purchased. The venture not proving profitable, the plantations were sold and he returned to the homestead in the North, where he died in 1880. He never married. Caroline Nichols Buckland died of. congestive fever, at Memphis, Tenn., May 21, 1864. She had gone down to Memphis in company with her mother and little brother George, to visit her father, who was then in command of the District of Memphis. A few days before the time for their return North, Carrie was taken suddenly ill with the dread disease, and died after an illness of only three days. On Sunday evening, after services at the house, Carrie began her last journey, surrounded by the Seventy-second Regiment 0. V. I., which by its own request acted as escort. She was only fifteen years and eight months old, and was probably the only young girl who had a military funeral during the war _Of the Rebellion. She was brought home, and now lies buried in Oak Wood Cemetery, Fremont, Ohio. The following lines were published in the Memphis Bulletin at the time of her death: LINES ON THE DEATH OF MISS CARRIE BUCKLAND. How still she lies amid the flowers, And night itself seems dead; The city sleeps; no sound we hear Save the lone sentry's tread. The slender fingers slightly clasp Pale flowers, sweet and white ; All pure and lovely as yon moon Of cold and silver light. The soft, luxuriant, pale brown hair Waves in the evening wind; Yet in that marble, changeless face No wave of life we find. The fair face looks like peaceful sleep, The lips full as in life; Yet the red blood has ceased to flow— Ceased has life's busy strife. A broken lily-bud; no eye Of earth may ever see How gloriously it blooms above, Flower of Eternity. Were death but an unchanging sleep, How sad would be this night; But there's a land beyond the grave— A home of living light. Memphis, June 18, 1864. The Memphis Bulletin said of her: " Three weeks ago she arrived with her mother from Ohio. With all the attractions of her sixteen summers about her, an amiability that won every heart, a fascination of manner whose gentle influence, wherever she appeared, awakened interest and admiration, and a kind and genial sympathy that captured affection, she was everywhere a favorite, and her company was sought and valued wherever she became known. " Fresh as the spring whose charms at the moment deck every hill and meadow, she enjoyed her advent to new scenes, welcomed with youthful zest the appreciative regard of the new circle amid which she was introduced, and rejoiced once more to join her honored and happy sire, himself proud of the sweet blossom Providence had vouchsafed as the treasure of his life—when death plucked the flower in the very youth of its loveliness, and stamped the fleeting charm with the impress of immortality." OSCAR J. DONCYSON, of Fremont, Sandusky county, is a native of the same, having been born March 14, 1862, a son of Christian and Marie Magdalen (Engler) Doncyson. The German spelling of the name was Danzeison. Christian Doncyson was a native of Dentzlingen, Baden, Germany, born December 11, 1812, son of Bernhardt and Anna (Hugin) Doncyson, who were also natives of Baden. His mother died in Dentzlingen in 1813, during the Napoleonic war, and in 1815 his father married, for his second wife, Miss Christina Stribin. Christian Doncyson was educated in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen became a member of the Evangelical Protestant Church. He learned the trade of baker, at which he labored two years, and then worked in a brewery at Emmendingen, at the age of twenty-one com- COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 13 mencing to serve in the Second Regiment of Baden Dragoons at Mannheim. After thirteen months' service he was honorably discharged, at the request of his father, who had decided to emigrate to America. The Doncyson family left their home in Baden June 30, 1834, and after a tedious journey of nineteen days arrived at Havre, where they took passage for America. The company consisted of Bernhardt Doncyson and wife, their sons John and Christian, George Engler and wife, and their children—Marie Magdalen (afterward wife of Judge Doncyson), Mrs. Christian Shively, Mrs. Catherine Ochs, George Engler, Andrew Engler, Henry Engler and Mrs. Rosina Longenbach. After a voyage of thirty-seven days they reached New York, from which city they proceeded by canal-boat to Buffalo, thence on the steamer " Harrison " to Portland (now Sandusky City), and by boat to Lower Sandusky. Bernhardt Doncyson bought eighty acres of wild land in Sandusky township, near the mouth of Little Mud creek, where he followed farming about twenty-three years. His death occurred February 1, 1867, and that of his wife in July, 1867. Christian Doncyson assisted his father in farm work until 1836, when he found employment, as a baker, with Fred Wise, who occupied a wooden building on the site of the Star Clothing House, Fremont. He next worked a few months with Fred Boos, a baker, at Sandusky City, and then went to Manhattan (now Toledo), Ohio, where he plied his trade, and where, on February 7, 1837, he married Marie M. Engler. Returning to Sandusky county he again assisted his parents on their farm until 1838, when he hired out to John Stahl to manage a bakery in a building then belonging to Mrs. S. A. Grant, near the west end of State street bridge, Lower Sandusky. Here he remained until 1844, when he and George Engler jointly bought out John Stahl's grocery, and con ducted the business together for several years. In 1853 Mr. Doncyson erected a three-story brick building on ground which he afterward sold to the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company, and carried on a grocery and provision store for upward of twenty years. In 1883 he built a fine brick mansion on the corner of Croghan and Wayne streets, which he occupied as a family residence during the rest of his life. He held various offices of honor and trust in his community, having been treasurer of Sandusky township from 1846 to 1862, county infirmary director from 1867 to 1878, probate judge from 1878 to 1884, member of the city council of Fremont two terms, and of the city board of education twelve years. He was quiet and unassuming in manner, but proved a faithful and obliging official. During the last ten years of his life he lived partly retired from business, serving occasionally as deputy clerk for Hon. E. F. Dickinson and Hon. Joseph Zimmerman. He was for many years a member of Fort Stephenson Lodge, F. & A. M., and worshipful master of the same. The children of Christian and Marie M. Doncyson, all born in Sandusky, were: Christena, wife of Leonard Adler, a butcher on East State street, Fremont; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Charles Geisen, a brewer; Lucy A., who married Herman J. Gottron, a marble dealer (both now deceased); Henry G., a soldier of the Civil war, who served in Company K, One Hundredth Regiment 0. V. I., married Miss Carrie Brown and is living at Topeka, Kans., where he is employed in the pension office; John R., a grocer of Fremont, who married Farry Kent; Herman W., an architect, of Fremont, married to Amelia Hidber; George E. , a liveryman, of Fremont; Oscar J., whose name introduces this sketch; Ella, widow of Jesse Schultz, who was a teacher; and two sons and one daughter who died in infancy. Judge C. Doncyson died at his home in Fremont, Ohio, June 14, 1893, and was 14 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. buried with Masonic honors, in Oakwood cemetery. His wife preceded him to the grave May 18, 1892, at the age of seventy-two. Oscar J. Doncyson, the subject proper of this sketch, spent his youth in assisting his parents and attending the public schools of his native city, Fremont. At the age of eighteen he entered on life for himself as clerk in a grocery store. In 1886 he established a grocery and provision store on his own account; but two years later he sold his grocery stock, and became an employe in the county auditor's office, where he served as deputy for a number of years. He had previously assisted his father in the office of probate judge. In religious connection he is a member of Grace Lutheran Church; socially he is affiliated with the German Aid Society of Fremont. BASIL MEEK. The subject of this sketch was born at New Castle, Henry Co., Ind., April 20, 1829. He came of Anglo-Saxon ancestry, his paternal great-grandfather, Jacob Meek, having come from England to Virginia, whence later he moved to North Carolina, finally settling in Maryland. His maternal great-grandfather, James Stevenson, a native of Pennsylvania, but moving to North Carolina and finally settling in Tennessee, served as a soldier during the war of the Revolution, and held a commission as captain in that war. His paternal grandfather, John Meek, moved from his native State of Maryland to Pennsylvania when the father of the subject of this sketch, whose name was also John, was a small boy; but after a few years' residence there, he, in 1788, removed with his family and all his effects to Kentucky, settling at New Castle, Henry county, in that State, where he died in 1803. He had been the owner of slaves, but in his will manumitted the last one he owned. John Meek (father of Basil), a farmer, was born in 1772, near Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City), in the State of Maryland, going with his father first to Pennsylvania and thence to Kentucky where he grew to manhood, and at New Castle, Ky., July I, 1792, was married to his first wife, Miss Margaret Ervin, who bore him nine children—six sons and three daughters—their names and dates of birth being as follows: William, May 29, 1793; Joseph, March 3, 1795; Sarah, 1797; Mary, 1800; Jeptha, November 3, 1803; Jesse, May 27, 1806; Elizabeth, August 9, 1808; John (date lost); and Lorenzo Dow, May 29, 1812. These all married and raised families. Of them, Sarah was married at Richmond, Ind., to John Smith, son of one of the founders of that city, and Joseph married Gulielma, a sister of John Smith. Mary became the wife of Rev. Daniel Fraley, a pioneer Methodist preacher of Indiana. The last surviving one, Elizabeth, was the wife of Rev. John Davis, a local Methodist minister, who died at Wabash, Ind. ; she died at Stratford, Ontario, Canada, in 1893, aged eighty-six years. John Meek, about 1812, moved from Kentucky to Wayne county, Ind., and settled at Clear Creek, on a farm now embraced within the limits of the present city of Richmond. Here his first wife died while Lorenzo D. was a small boy. He continued to live there some years, and then moved to New Castle, Henry Co., Ind., where in 1827, he married Miss Salina Stevenson, daughter of John Stevenson; she was only twenty while he was fifty-five years old at the time. There were six children born to him of the marriage—four sons and two daughters--of whom are now living the subject of this sketch, and Capt. James S., who was born August 17, 1834, now living in Spencer, Ind. ; Laurinda, born June 2, 1831, now the wife of Stephen Clement, of Newton Iowa; Cynthia J., born November 29, 1836, now COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 15 the wife of Jesse Clement, of Scandia, Kans. One of the sons died in infancy; the other son, Thomas J., born January 15, 1843, died in early manhood. The mother of these died at the home of her son, Capt. James S. Meek, at Spencer, Ind., in 1883, aged seventy-six years. In the year 1832 John Meek returned to Wayne county, and there resided until 1841, when he removed with his family to Morgan township, Owen Co., Ind., then a very new and unimproved section of the State, with but very limited school or other privileges. Here he died in 1849, and was buried in Pleasant Grove Cemetery, in that township. Basil Meek was only twelve years old when his father settled in Owen county, and, having no opportunity of attending any of the higher educational institutions, his school education was limited to that of the common schools of that comparatively new country; but being naturally inclined to study, he improved every opportunity that was afforded for self improvement, and to none of these is he more indebted than to a few years' residence at the falls of Eel river—Cataract village—in the cultured family of Alfred N. Bullitt, Esq., in whose store he served as clerk. This was a Kentucky family from Louisville. Mr. Bullitt was a man of fine abilities, a graduate of Yale and had been possessed of what was in his day a large fortune in Louisville which through some misfortune he had lost, and having an interest in a large tract of land, which included the " falls," he removed to Cataract village with his accomplished family in 1846, and there kept a general store. To his valuable library of rare books, the subject of this sketch had access; which, together with the friendly interest of Mr. Bullitt and his family, awakened in him a desire, and supplied the opportunity for a higher and better education than could be obtained short of college. While residing at Cataract village, December 23, 1849, he was united in marriage with Miss Cynthia A. Brown, daughter of Abner Brown, of Morgan township, the result of this union being four children, namely: Minerva Bullitt; Mary E. ; Lenora Belle, and Flora B. Of these, Minerva B. died at Clyde, Ohio, November 22, 1869, in the eighteenth year of her age; Flora B. died in infancy; Mary E. is the wife of Byron R. Dudrow, attorney at law of Fremont; and Lenora Belle is the wife of L. C. Grover, farmer, near Clyde. The mother of these died in Spencer, Owen Co., Ind., in August, 1861. On September 3o, 1862, Mr. Meek married Miss Martha E. Anderson, daughter of Alvin and Harriet (Baldwin) Anderson, of Bellevue, Ohio. By this marriage there are two children, namely: Clara C., wife of Dr. H. G. Edgerton, dentist, of Fremont, Ohio, and Dr. Robert Basil, a brief notice of whom follows. Our subject's grandchildren are: Robert Basil Grover, Mary B., Rachel, Dorothy and Henry Meek Edgerton. In 1853 at the age of twenty-four Basil Meek was elected clerk of the circuit court and moved from Cataract to Spencer, the county seat of Owen county. He was re-elected without opposition in 1857, serving two terms of four years each. During these eight years he devoted such time as could be spared from his official duties in studying law, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with Hon. Samuel H. Buskirk, of Bloomington, and practiced law at Spencer for about two years. In 1864 he removed from his native State to Sandusky county, Ohio, making at first his home on a farm which is now within the village of Clyde. In 1871 he became a member of the Sandusky county bar, and formed a partnership with Col. J. H. Rhodes in the practice of law at Clyde. This partnership continued for four years, after which he practiced alone until February 10, 1879, when he entered upon his duties as clerk of courts, to which office 16 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. he had been elected at the previons fall election by a large plurality, running ahead of his ticket in his own village and township 284 votes. In the fall of 1879 he removed with his family to Fremont, where he now resides. At the close of his term he was re-elected clerk of courts by a majority of 1,100 votes, and served six years in all. On retiring from this office he resumed the practice of his profession, with F. R. Fronizer as partner, until he was appointed, by President Cleveland, postmaster at Fremont. He took charge of this office September 1, 1886, and served until March 1, 1891, a period of four years and six months. In this office he took much interest, and devoted his entire energies in rendering an efficient and highly satisfactory service to the public. It was during his term and through his efforts that the free-delivery system was extended to this office, and put into very successful operation under his management and that of his son, Robert B., who was his first-assistant postmaster. On April 1,1891, he became associated with his son-in-law, Byron R. Dudrow, in the practice of the law in which he has since been engaged, and is senior member of the law firm of Meek, Dudrow & Worst. As a lawyer he is careful and painstaking in the preparation of his cases, and in their presentation he is clear in statement and forcible in argument. As an advocate he believes in his client, making his cause his own and serving him with a warmth and zeal which springs only from a conviction of the justness of his client's cause. Mr. Meek has been a member of the board of education since April, 1894, and also clerk of that body. As a member of this board he was influential in the reorganization of the high school in 1895, in creating the principalship, adopting new courses of study and supporting other measures tending to advance the interests of said schools, and establish therein methods of instruction both modern and practical. He was also active in making free Kindergartens a part of the public school system of the city, and is chairman of the standing committee on Kindergartens. Politically he has all his life been a Democrat, loyally supporting the measures and candidates of his party, and cheerfully working for the promotion of its principles, serving on several occasions as chairman of the County Executive Committee, with acceptability to his party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been such since 1857. As a lover of truth and freedom of thought and action, himself, he is not only resolute for what he believes to be the truth, but is tolerant of all who are seeking the same of whatever name . or creed. ROBERT BASIL MEEK, M. D., son of Basil and Martha E. (Anderson) Meek, was born at Clyde, Sandusky Co., Ohio, January 14, 1869. His paternal ancestry is given in the foregoing sketch of his father. On his mother's side he is of Scotch descent. The Andersons were Covenanters, and during the persecutions waged against their faith in Scotland they emigrated to the North of Ireland. From here David Anderson, the great ancestor of this family line, about the year 174o, with a colony of Scotch Presbyterians, who brought with them a minister and schoolmaster, came to this country and settled first in Massachusetts; later in Lawrence county, N. Y. Among his children was a son named John, then a small boy, who here grew to manhood and married Elizabeth McCracken, who also was of this colony. John Anderson had five sons—David, Samuel, Joseph, James and John —all of whom were soldiers of the Revolutionary war, fighting for their country. James Anderson married Betsy Dodge, and several children were born to them, COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 17 one being Alvin Anderson, who married Harriet Baldwin. Among the children of Alvin Anderson was Martha E. Anderson, who married Basil Meek, and is the mother of the subject of this sketch, Robert B., who, when he was ten years old, moved with his parents to Fremont, Ohio, where he completed his elementary and high-school education. In 1887, while his father was postmaster at this place, he was appointed first assistant, and served as such until September, 1890, rendering very efficient and satisfactory service to the public, among whom he was universally popular. During 1890-91 he pursued a scientific course at Adelbert College, Cleveland, Ohio, preparatory to entering upon the study of medicine. In 1891 he entered. the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland, where he remained two years; then became a student in Wooster Medical College, in that city, taking his senior course therein, and graduating in the spring of 1894. During his three-years' course in the medical college he spent his vacations in the office of his able and skillful preceptor, -William Caldwell, M. D., of Fremont. In the summer of 1894 Dr. Meek opened an office in Fremont and entered upon the practice of his profession. In the spring of 1895 he was chosen one of the city physicians of the board of health. He is a member of the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association. In August, 1895, he went to Europe to further pursue his medical education, and is now (1895) in Vienna, Austria, where he is devoting his time to study in the clinics of the large hospitals, and in taking special courses under the instruction of eminent professors in that great medical center of the Old World. He expects to return home during the summer of 1896, to resume his practice in Fremont, in which he was meeting with very flattering success when he gave it up, temporarily, to go abroad. Dr. Meek is a young man of fine natural abilities, and with his medical education received at home, and the rare opportunities he is now enjoying abroad for further equipment, it is safe to predict for him a useful and a successful career in his chosen profession. ROBERT S. RICE, M. D., was born in Ohio county, Va. (now W. Va.), May 28, 1805, and died in Fremont, Ohio, August 5, 1875. At the age of ten he came to Ohio with his father's family, who located in Chillicothe, Ross county, the family in 1818 removing from that place to Marion county, and in 1827 our subject settled in Lower Sandusky. He worked at his trade as a potter until about the year 1847, when, having long employed his leisure hours in the study of medicine, he commenced practice. Although he labored under the disadvantages of limited educational opportunities in his youth, and of not having received a regular course of medical instruction, his career as a physician was quite successful, and he numbered as his patrons many among the most respectable families in his town and county. Dr. Rice was a man of sound judgment, quick wit, fond of a joke, and sel dom equaled as a mimic and story teller. He was a keen observer, and found amusement and instruction in his daily intercourse with men by perceiving many things that commonly pass unnoticed. His sympathies were constantly extended to all manner of suffering and oppressed people. He denounced human slavery, and from an early period acted politically with the opponents of that institution. He also opposed corporal punishment in schools, and favored the humane treatment of children. He was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and was deeply religious. In early years, when preachers were few in this then new country, he often exhorted and preached. His public spirit was shown 18 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. on many occasions. He was colonel of the First Regiment of Cavalry Militia organized in Sandusky county, and also general of the first brigade. He assisted in running the line between Ohio and Michigan, near Toledo, Ohio, the dispute in regard to which led to the bloodless " Michigan war." He served several terms as justice of the peace, and one term as mayor of Lower Sandusky. On December 30, 1824, Dr. Robert S. Rice married, in Marion, Ohio, Miss Eliza Ann, daughter of William and Mary (Park) Caldwell, born near Chillicothe, 'Ohio, March 19, 1807, and who died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1873. They had seven sons and two daughters: The first two were sons who died in infancy; William A. was born in Fremont, Ohio, July 31, 1829; John B. was born June 23, 1832; Sarah Jane, February 20, 1835; Robert H., December 20, 1837; Alfred H., September 23, 1840; Charles F., July 23, 1843; Emeline E., January 14, 1847. Of this family Sarah Jane died June 20, 1841, and Emeline died September 19, 1859. JOHN B. RICE, M. D., was born in Fremont (then Lower Sandusky), Ohio, June 23, 1832, son of Robert S. and Eliza Ann (Caldwell) Rice. During his boyhood he attended the village schools, and learned the printer's trade in the office of the Sandusky County Democrat, where he worked three years. After this he spent two years in study at Oberlin College, subsequently taking up the study of medicine, and graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Michigan in 1857, soon after which he associated himself with his father in practice at Fremont. In 1859 he further prosecuted his studies at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and at Bellevue Hospital, New York City. On returning home he resumed his practice. On the breaking out of the Civil war Dr. Rice was appointed assistant surgeon of the Tenth 0. V. I., and served with his regiment under the gallant Col. Lytle, through the early battles in West Virginia. On November 25, 1861, he was promoted to surgeon, and assigned to his home regiment, the Seventy-second 0. V. I., which first felt the shock of battle at Shiloh. Through the long years of the war Dr. Rice served with conspicuous bravery and devotion. He was, on different occasions, assigned to duty as surgeon-in-chief of Lauman's and Tuttle's Divisions of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and of the District of Memphis, when commanded by Gen. R. P. Buckland. To the members of the Seventy-second regiment and Buck-land's Brigade he was as a brother. None of the thousands of soldiers who came under his care can ever forget or cease to bless his memory. He was always cheerful, sympathetic, and watchful for the interests of his comrades. After the Rebellion Dr. Rice returned to Fremont, and resumed the practice of his profession. His skill in medicine and surgery was unsurpassed, his practice was large, and he was called in consultation all over this section of the State. There are few capital operations in surgery that he had not performed many times. Dr. Rice was a member of the county, district and State medical societies, and for several years lectured in the Charity Hospital Medical College, and the Medical Department of the University of Wooster, at Cleveland; his topics were military surgery, obstetrics, etc. He contributed extensively to the medical journals of the country, and was everywhere recognized as one of the able men of his profession. He was one of the founders of the Trommer Extract of Malt Company, and was connected with other enterprises; he served on the city board of health, and was a member of the board of pension examiners; and he was ever ready, with his means and influence, to aid in any project for the prosperity' and welfare of the community. In 1880 Dr. Rice was nominated for COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 19 Congress by the Republican party of the Tenth District, composed of the counties of Erie, Hancock, Huron, Sandusky and Seneca, and was elected by the handsome plurality of almost 1,400 votes. He served with ability in the XLVIIth Congress, receiving the commendations of his constituents and the esteem of his political associates of both parties, and was renominated for the XLVIIIth Congress, but declined the nomination, resuming the practice of his profession and the management of the Trommer Extract of Malt Works. In his demeanor Dr. Rice was simple and unostentatious. He was always the friend and defender of the poor, the weak and the oppressed. No one ever approached him for charity and was sent away empty. No one ever sought his advice in hours of trouble that did not receive full sympathy and generous counsel. No one has done more than he to aid worthy veterans in obtaining their hard-earned pensions, and for his services in their behalf he took no pay. Possessed of an attractive physical development, sound judgment and rare common sense, the versatility of his knowledge and the magic charm of his wit and humor made him the central figure around which all were delighted to gather. He always carried his good humor with him, and it became contagious. He was the master of the story-teller's art, and often left the memory of a rollicking story, a hearty laugh or an appropriate joke to do its good work long after he had taken his departure on his daily rounds. The affection in which he was held by all tells the story of his life, and is that life's best eulogy, as the remembrance of it will be his most fitting epitaph. Dr. Rice was received into the communion of St. Paul's Episcopal Church; was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Loyal Legion and of the Masonic fraternity. He died January 14, 1893, and was buried in Oakwood cemetery. On December 12, 1861, Dr. Rice married Miss Sarah E., daughter of Dr. James W. and Nancy E. (Justice) Wilson, of Fremont, Ohio, and the children born to this union were: Lizzie, born. September 18, 1865, and Wilson, born July 2, 1875. ROBERT H. RICE, M. D., was born in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio, December 20, 1837, a son of Dr. Robert S. and Eliza Ann (Caldwell) Rice. In his youth he attended the village schools, and was for several years employed as clerk in the store of O. L. Nims. He afterward attended school at Oberlin Col lege about two years, and then commenced the study of medicine with his father and brother, John. Later on he attended medical lectures in the Medical. Department of the University of Michigan, and graduated from that institution in March, 1863, on his return to Fremont engaging in the practice of medicine with his father, his brother John being then in the army. He soon acquired a very extensive practice, which, later, in partnership with his brother, Dr. John B. Rice, he prosecuted with untiring zeal, and he has been eminently successful in his profession. In 1872-73 Dr. Robert H. Rice, spent a year in Europe, during which time he traveled extensively over the continent, Great Britain and Ireland, devot ing some time, in the medical schools of Paris and Berlin, to the study of his profession. His knowledge of the German and French languages, which he had acquired by his own efforts, and for which, he has a great fondness, enabled him to derive unusual pleasure and advantage: from his travels abroad. On his return home he resumed his practice, and soon, after entered into the establishment of the Trommer Extract of Malt Works at. Fremont, Ohio. Being possessed of a kind, sympathetic and generous nature, he has won a high place in the esteem of those with whom his professional rela- 20 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. tions have brought him in contact. Dr. Rice has for some years taken considerable interest in agricultural pursuits, having greatly improved and reclaimed a large tract of land by means of a steam-pump apparatus used to remove surface water whenever required. He aided in the organization of the Sandusky County Medical Society, of which he has been secretary since its organization, and he is also a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association. He has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity for nearly thirty years, and has repeatedly served as presiding officer of that body. Dr. Robert H. Rice was married June 14, 1865, to Miss Cynthia J. Fry, daughter of Henry and Abigail (Rideout) Fry, and their children are: Henry C., Anna and Ada. WILLIAM A. RICE was born in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont); Ohio, July 31, 1829, a son of Dr. Rcbert S. and Eliza Ann (Caldwell) Rice, who were among the early pioneers of Sandusky county. Nearly all his life was spent in Fremont, Ohio, where he was widely known and universally respected. For twenty-five years he was one of the leading dry-goods merchants of that city, retiring from business in 1883. He was a member of the Protestant Methodist Church, an unostentatious and consistent Christian. Socially he was a member of Croghan Lodge I. 0. 0. F., for thirty years, and a member of Fremont Lodge K. of H. He was a successful business man, a public-spirited citizen, a loving husband, father and friend. He died at Fremont, Ohio, April 24, 1893. On October 8, 1858, William A. Rice married Miss Juliet M. Moore, of Ballville township, by whom he has four children, two of whom are deceased. A son, Dr. James M. Rice, lives with his mother on the farm homestead, and a daughter, Mrs. Hattie E. Bates, resides in Illinois. JAMES M. RICE, M. D., was born November 5, 1859, at Fremont, Ohio, a son of William A. and Juliet M. (Moore) Rice. His boyhood and youth were spent at the Fremont city schools, helping his father in his dry-goods store, or working with other hands on his father's farm near the city. In the years 1879-80-8i, he attended achool at the Adrian (Michigan) College, and, returning to Fremont, studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. J. B. Rice, about one year, after which he attended the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, one year, and then took a course in the Medical Department of the University of Louisville, Ky., from which he graduated, March 13, 1894. Shortly after this he opened an office for the practice of medicine, in the same room formerly occupied by Dr. J. B. Rice, opposite the City Hall, in Fremont, Ohio. LORENZO DICK, the popular ex-sheriff of Sandusky county, was born in Erie county, N. Y., May 15, 1838, a son of Jacob and Catharine (Vogel) Dick, who were natives of Lorraine, France, married there, and emigrated to America, locating in Erie county, N. Y., where the father died at the age of forty, and the mother when eighty years old. Our subject grew up in Erie county, N. Y., and there learned the trade of cabinet-maker. In 1858 he removed to Fremont, Ohio, where he followed his trade for several years with success. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted, at Fremont, Ohio, October 15, 1861, in Company H, Seventy-second Regiment, 0. V. I. The regiment was assigned to the first brigade, first division, Fifteenth Army Corps. Mr. Dick was elected orderly sergeant by the men of his company, November 18, 1861. He veteranized January 1, 1864, at Germantown, Tenn., entering the same company as first lieutenant. He had been commissioned second lieutenant, April 6, 1862, at the COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 21 battle of Shiloh, for meritorious conduct. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, siege of Corinth, Champion Hills, Jackson, Black River, the siege of Vicksburg. and numerous other engagements. The first move of the regiment after veteranizing was to Paducah, Ky., where they drove out the enemy, and then to Memphis, Tenn. They soon after started on the Guntown expedition, and here they encountered the enemy, who had their lines drawn up in the shape of a horseshoe, and into this trap the Union boys were led. Lieut. Dick and about thirty men of his company were taken prisoners, and were first sent to Andersonville, whence Lieut. Dick was sent to Macon, Ga., where he remained until the first of September. While in prison, Mr. Dick was commissioned captain, but did not know of the promotion until he reached home. He was sent to Charleston, S. C., as prisoner, and placed in a building called the " Workhouse," which was under fire from the Union guns. At the end of three weeks he was sent to Columbia, S. C., thence to Raleigh, N. C., thence to Wilmington, N. C., thence to Annapolis, Md., where they were paroled and sent home on thirty days' furlough. Owing to severe exposure in the field and privations during his prison life, Mr. Dick contracted rheumatism and other physical disabilities. He was honorably discharged, May 15, 1865. For some years past Mr. Dick has been engaged in the restaurant and grocery business in Fremont, receiving a liberal patronage. He was nominated for county sheriff by the regular Democratic caucus, and elected in 1889; served two terms, his last one expiring January 1, 1894. At the spring election held on the first Monday in April, 1895, Mr. Dick was elected mayor of the city of Fremont, Ohio, which position he now holds. He is a member of the Eugene Rawson Post, No. 32, G. A. R., of which he has recently been elected commander. He has for many years been a member of Fort Stephenson Lodge, F. & A. M., is a member of Humbolt Lodge, K. of H., and of the German Mutual Aid Society. At Fremont, Ohio, April 4, 1864, Lorenzo Dick married Miss Catharine Renchler, who was born in Germany, September 27, 1841, a daughter of John and Mary (Eisenhart) Renchler. The names and dates of birth of the children born to this union are as follows: Lorenzo, Jr., January 9, 1865, died January 24, 1873; Charles F., October 25, 1866, died at the age of twenty-seven years; Jacob, May 9, 1869; Katie, August 6, 1872; George, March 4, 1876; Gertrude, December 12, 1882, died in infancy. GEORGE SLESSMAN, sheriff of Sandusky county, Ohio, was born June 27, 1853, in Adams township, Seneca Co., Ohio, a son of John M. and Mary (Freymoth) Slessman, natives of Germany, who came to America when young, and after their marriage, which took place in Huron county, Ohio, settled on a farm in Seneca county, which they made their permanent residence, The father of our subject was born in 1806. By trade he was a wagonmaker, but he followed farming in Seneca county, and died in 1862; the mother is still living on the old Slessman homestead, six miles south of Clyde. They were the parents of eight children, four of whom are living, namely: Barbara, deceased wife of Charles Drumm, a farmer of Erie county, Ohio, who had two children, one living, Lizzie, and one deceased; John, a farmer, who married Phyan Peters, of Seneca county, and had seven children; Catharine, who died in 1885, and who was the wife of Jacob Trott, a farmer of Seneca county, by whom she had five children; Mary, who married Samuel Swartz, a farmer of York township, Sandusky county; Margaret, who married Herman Baker, a 22 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. farmer of Seneca county, and had five children (he died in 1894); Samuel, who died in childhood; Henry, who died in childhood; and George, our subject. George Slessman grew to manhood on his father's farm, and attended the public schools. In 1872 he married Miss Clara E. Whiteman, who was born October 16, 1852, a daughter of A. G. and Mary (Myers) Whiteman. A. G. Whiteman was born in Ohio, August 25, 1808, and died February 8, 1869; his wife was born in Virginia February 8, 1811, and died November 30, 1878. He was a Republican, and they were both members of the Free-will Baptist Church. Our subject, after marriage, settled on the Slessman homestead, where he dealt in live stock for about nine years. He then moved upon a farm in Sandusky county, one mile south of Clyde, where he engaged in farming, also buying and shipping live stock, and running a meat-market in Clyde, for about eight years. He then sold out and went into the grain business in Clyde, with which he is still connected. Mr. Slessman has for some years been recognized as one of the efficient men of the Republican party of Sandusky county. In November, 1893, he was elected to the office of sheriff of the county, on the Republican ticket, and entered upon the discharge of his official duties January 2, 1894. He has an honorable standing in society circles, being a member of the Knights of Honor, Royal Arcanum and Knights of Pythias. In religious connection he is a member of the Lutheran Church. To George and Clara Slessman were born children as follows: Lena, Allen, Martin, Frank, Mary, and two who died in childhood—Charlie and Leta. EDWARD LOUDENSLEGER. — Among the honored pioneer citizens of Fremont, Sandusky county, the more prominent of whom find place in this volume, none enjoys to a greater extent the confidence and esteem of the community at large than the gentleman whose name is here recorded. He is a native of Seneca county, Ohio, born February 28, 1836, of Pennsylvanian ancestry, proverbial for their healthy vigor and traditional probity and virtue. Daniel Loudensleger, his father, was of Union county (Penn.) birth, where he was reared to manhood and married to a Miss Barger. In 1831 he and his young, wife moved to Seneca county, Ohio, lo cating in Flat Rock, Thompson township, until 1844, in which year they came to Sandusky county, making a new home in York township, with by no means favorable prospects, having a large and helpless family of children to support. For several years Mr. Loudensleger main tained them by renting farms, which he worked; but as the children grew up to, usefulness, they prevailed on their father to purchase a farm (which he did), the boys promising to remain at home, and assist in the clearing up and improving of same—and it was in the performance of this duty that our subject learned his first lessons of industry and privation. Accordingly, with the assistance of the sons, the father paid for and improved his farm, which, in 1863, he sold, removing then to Monroe county, Mich., where, on a farm, he passed the rest of his days, dying February 28, 1881. In his political sympathies he was a Jacksonian Democrat, and in religious faith he was an adherent of the Evangelical (formerly known as the Albright) Church. His wife, who was also of Pennsylvania birth, born in the same locality as he, passed from earth in Sandusky county, when the subject of these lines was a fourteen year-old boy. They were the parents of ten children, of whom the following brief mention is given: Mary Ann married John Brand, and now lives in Columbia. City, Ind. ; George is a farmer and stock raiser at Blue Hill, Neb. ; Edward is the subject of this sketch; Lovina married, COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 28 Daniel Wagner; William was a farmer until recent years, and is now in the produce business at Rockwood, Mich. ; Arminda married a Mr. Boyer, and is living near Delta, Ohio. ; Matilda died at the age of eighteen years; Franklin, a painter by occupation, resides in Churubusco, Ind.; two died in infancy. For some years after the death of the mother of these, and until after the marriage of his eldest daughter, Mr. Loudensleger remained a widower, and he then married a widow lady, Mrs. Wagner, by whom he had four children, viz. : Daniel, who lives Qn the old homestead in Michigan; Charles Wesley, who resides in the same Locality; Allen, a minister of the United Brethren Church. and living near his brothers; the youngest child died when five years old. The education of the subject proper of this article was limited to such as was acquired at the common schools of his boyhood, consisting of three months' attendance in the winter seasons, many of the scholars, our subject included, having to travel long distances through frozen swamps, and cross running streams by jumping from one chance-fallen tree to another; yet, notwithstanding all these difficulties and obstacles, the lad succeeded, by natural acumen, and persistent study, in securing sufficient education to enable him to teach in the public schools of the county. As an illustration of his fidelity to his parents and home, it is worthy of record that the salary he earned during his first term of school he freely and filially handed over to his father. In 1848 Mr. Loudensleger saw Fremont for the first time, and he well remembers it as an essentially " wooden town," composed for the most part of small unpainted frame buildings; and little did he then dream that he would ever see the place in its present advanced condition, much less that he himself would play such an important part "in its development and progress as the tide of time has proven.  - 2 - On November 23, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Seventy-second Regiment 0. V. I., which was attached to the army of the Tennessee, and the first battle he took part in was Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, April 6-7, 1862, after which the regiment participated in the siege of Corinth, and was then stationed at Memphis, Tenn. , where it lay till the fall of 1862. It was then ordered to Vicksburg, but our subject, being invalided in the hospital, could not accompany it, and as a consequence was placed on detached duty in the Commissary Department, in which he served until mustered out of the army at Columbus, Ohio, December 13, 1864, the term of his enlistment having expired. Mr. Loudensleger's domestic history; sad, it is true, in some particulars, has been strongly interwoven with his life, which has always been pacific in the extreme, and which has been made the more noble by many self-sacrifices. He has been thrice married: first time, in 1856, to Miss Emma Bellows, a native of New York State, who died in 1859, the mother of one child, Frances E., now the wife of Frank J. Tuttle, an attorney at law of Fremont, Ohio (she has two children: Howard and Florence). Mr. Loudensleger's second marriage, which occurred after his enlistment in the army, was with Mrs. Mary Jane Stevenson, nee Stahl, who unfortunately was soon grievously stricken with consumption, and during her husband's absence with his regiment was well nigh at the point of death. Obtaining a furlough, Mr. Loudensleger returned home and took his wife back with him to Memphis, Tenn. , where she remained a couple of winters, her health thereby improving to such an extent that she became a much stronger woman than she had been for several years. When her husband received his discharge they returned to Memphis, Tenn., for the winter, then coming north to Fremont, and Mr. Loudensleger, having no special vocation, concluded to 24 - COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. purchase a lot whereon to build a home, later to look around him for some suitable business in which residence. The residende he built, and the good taste he exhibited in the beautifying of it, etc., attracted such general attention that he soon received many offers from bidders for the property at advanced prices. Selling this house and lot accordingly, he proceeded in the same way with a second and even third residence, before he moved into any as a permanent home for himself and family; thus in this unexpected manner was laid the foundation of his future vast real-estate business in Fremont, where for years he has been recognized as one of the leading dealers and improvers of city property. The handsome block which bears his name, erected in 1888, and situated in the business center of Fremont, is acknowledged to be one of the finest in the city, and he still owns and deals in a considerable amount of property. A short time after their return to Fremont from Memphis Mrs. Loudensleger's health again gave way, and Mr. Loudensleger subsequently made many trips with her to the balmy South, sometimes at heavy expense, being absent from home and business entire seasons; but he never complained, and when his wife at last, in 1874, succumbed to the dread disease that clung so cruelly and tenaciously to her, he had left at the least the consciousness of having done for her all that lay in human power. He started anew, a poorer man than when he thee home from tne war, and entered with renewed vigor and resolution into the insurance and real-estate businesses. His third wife, a sister to his second, was Mrs. Nina A. Miller, who, by her first husband, had a son, Isaac T. Miller, whom Mr. Loudensleger reared as his own; he is now deputy postmaster under his stepfather, and married to Miss Libbie Setzler, by whom he has one child, William. By his present wife Mr. Loudensleger has one daughter, Nellie, who is in her seventeenth year, and now attending Lake Erie Seminary, at Painesville, Ohio. Mr. Loudensleger has filled many positions of trust in his city, and is highly esteemed in business and social circles for his sound judgment and unquestioned integrity. In 1875 he was chosen one of the trustees of Oakwood Cemetery, in 1878 was elected secretary of same, and has served in that incumbency ever since. His associate trustees were Gen. R. B. Hayes, Stephen Buckland, C. R. McCulloch and Dr. L. Q. Rawson. In his political affiliations he has always been actively identified with the Republican party, and his influence therein has ever been felt for good. In 1880 he was elected a member of the city council, and in the second year of his term was chosen president of the same. At that time the mayor in office died, only one month of his term having expired, and the council chose Mr. Loudensleger to fill the vacant chair, into which he was accordingly installed. He pursued the course represented by the policy on which his predecessor had been elected, a policy known in the main as the " Law and Order " movement, and his administration was remarkable for the stand he took against the saloons, many of them being so obtrusively open on Sundays that he issued a proclamation to the effect that all such establishments should be closed on the Sabbath. This proclamation was respected, and to all intents and purposes its requirements were complied with under Mr. Loudensleger's wise jurisdiction; but as soon as he retired from office some of the saloons were again thrown open. He also caused the city to be purged of all manner of " fakirs " et hoc genus clime, thereby protecting not only the merchants but the citizens in general. On September 19, 1881, occurred the death of President James A. Garfield, the funeral on the 26th, and Mayor Loudensleger issued the following proclamation: