600 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY (deceased), Ruby and Rhoidy. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had three children—Dawn, Alvin (deceased), and Wayne. WILLIAM J. HUFFORD, a prominent citizen and a member of the board of trustees of Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, 'Ohio, was born in this township, February 12, 1856, and is a son of William and Nancy (Waggoner) Hufford. William Hufford was born in Greene County, Ohio, and was a son of Jacob Hufford, who, at one time, in its early history, lived in Sandusky Township, William being 18 years old when the family came to this section, where the remainder of his useful life was spent. He served as township trustee and for years was a director of the County Infirmary. In politics he was a Democrat. His death occurred in July, 1880. He married Nancy Waggoner and of their children, six yet are living, namely : Louisa, wife of John Roberts, of Washington Township; Mary, wife of Solomon Shively, of Hessville, Ohio; Catherine, residing in Sandusky Township; William J.; Virgil M., residing in Sandusky Township ; and Hettie, wife of Frank Michael, of Sandusky Township. The mother of the above family is now in her eighty-sixth year and is very highly esteemed as one of the pioneer mothers who so bravely faced so many early hardships. She is a consistent member of the German Reformed Church. William J. Hufford from youth up has been more or less engaged in agricultural pursuits. He settled on his present farm in 1894, a valuable tract of seventy acres, situated in Section id, Sandusky Township, and has resided here continuously ever since. Mr. Hufford is a practical farmer and cultivates his land carefully and successfully. On January 20, 1881, Mr. Hufford was married to Miss Sophia Shively, daughter of Henry Shively, of Fremont, and to this marriage were born eight children, namely : Sydney C., who is the wife of F. F. Fifield, residing near Shell, Wyoming; Sherman W., who resides in Sandusky Township; Edna, who is the wife of William Flocken, of Springfield, Ohio; Hazel, who resides at home ; Earl S., who is now deceased ; Arthur J. F., who lives in Wyoming; and Estella and Marian, both of whom live at home. Mr. Hufford is a Democrat in political opinions. DAVID HAWK, whose valuable farm of 125 acres is all situated in Green Creek Township, divided into three tracts, the part on which he lives containing eighty and one-half acres, all of which he developed and cleared from the forest ; he was born in his father's log house, in Green Creek Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, February 6, 183o, and is a son of David and Ellen (Huss) Hawk and a grandson of Conrad Hawk. It was the grandfather, Conrad Hawk, who was the pioneer into Sandusky County, bringing his family from Pennsylvania in wagons over the mountains until the present fertile section was reached. He was a good judge of land and secured a farm in Green Creek Township, and on this place the remainder of his life was spent. He was a man of peace and lived amicably with the Indians for his neighbors for a number of years. Of his large family David was the eldest and he was about eighteen years old when the family came to Green Creek Township. He continued to live in the same township until his death, in 1854. He married Ellen Huss and they lived into old age, and were the parents of fourteen children : David, John, Mary, Lewis, Noah, George, Charles, Elizabeth, Clement and Clara, twins. Cyrus. Alice, James and Eliza. Those still living are: David, George, Charles, Cyrus, Alice and James. David Hawk. the second, spent his boyhood days on the old home farm, helping according to his years and strength and irregularly attending the district schools. In 185o Mr. Hawk made the long journey to California and during the years he remained there worked at mining, meeting with the ordinary success that attends gold miners, and when he returned home bought forty acres of his present farm. To the original purchase he has added from time to time until he now has as much land as he can conveniently oversee. He has worked hard to clear, cultivate and improve it and in AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 601 his declining years can now enjoy the rewards so honestly won. Mr. Hawk was married September I, 1854, to Miss Mary Olive McIntire, a daughter of Oliver McIntire, who was an early pioneer from New York, coming to Sandusky County by team and boat, when Mrs. Hawk was not more than three years old. To this marriage five children were born, namely : Fred, who married Flora Short, is now deceased, and is survived by six children—Clyde, Maude, Bruce, David, Leslie and Leroy Theodore; Maria, Who is the wife of George Edward Atkinson, has one child, Mary Irene ; Oliver, who married Clara Cleveland; Ralph, who operates the home farm for his father, married Hettie McVey, and they have five children—Frances, Laura, Mary, Bernard and Helen ; and Laura, who is the wife of James Cleveland, has four children —Lee, Sidney, Ralph and Hugh. Mr. Hawk has given his children all the advantages in his power and has the satisfaction of knowing them all to be well settled in life. In politics he is a Democrat. COL. MYRON E. COX, junior member of the important business concern conducting the Cox Flour Mill and Grain Elevator, at Fremont, occupies also the responsible position of manager and is numbered with the enterprising and successful business men of this city. He was born in Wyoming County, New York, October 15, 1876, and is a son of William A. and Emma (Bailey) Cox. Colonel Cox accompanied his parents to Fremont in 1881. After his period of school attendance was over, he entered into the milling business with his father, who is the senior member of the firm, and his energy, foresight and business faculty have contributed largely to the success of the enterprise. The present plant was purchased in 188o and enlargement and improvement have taken place at intervals. The admirable Stevens roller system is employed and the capacity of the plant is 125 barrels a day. Work is continuous in order to supply the demand, and employment is given six workmen. Colonel Cox gained his military title honorably, having served as an officer in the 16th Regiment, O. N. G., during the Spanish-American War, gaining promotion from a lieutenancy, and at present is lieutenant-colonel of the 6th Inf., O. N. G. He is a popular fraternity men and belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Elks and the Royal Arcanum. His place of residence is No. 1111 Croghan Street. RUFUS M. KELLY, a well known citizen and formerly a trustee of Sandusky Township, has resided on his present farm of seventy-two acres, situated near Fremont, on the east side of the Sandusky River, since 1903 ; was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, on the homestead in Jackson Township, June 14, 1864. His parents were John and Susan (Overmyer) Kelly. The Kelly family is of Irish extraction and it is probable that the grandfather, Samuel Kelly, came from Ireland when, at a very early day, he established a general store in Crawford County, Ohio, near what is now the prosperous town of Bucyrus. John Kelly was born in Crawford County, where, in his earlier life he followed the carpenter trade, but later he engaged in farming in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, where he died June 3, 1884, when aged 54 years. He married Susan Overmyer, who was born in Sandusky County, and they had three children, the two survivors being: Rufus M. and Willis E. Rufus M. Kelly was 6 years old when his parents came to Sandusky Township, and here he grew to manhood. After the death of the father, his mother retired to Fremont and enjoys the comforts of a pleasant home on Holland Street. Mr. Kelly was married April 19, 1888, to Miss Libbie Andrews, a daughter of John Andrews, of Ballville Township, and four children have been born to them, namely : Anna M., John A., Robert J. and Thomas M. With his family Mr. Kelly belongs to St. Ann's Catholic Church at Fremont. In politics Mr. Kelly is a Democrat and has long been influential in his party in this section. He has served in the office of assessor of Sandusky Township and for seven years was a member of the board of trustees. He is interested in the public schools and in local improvements which give assurance of being of permanent value to his 602 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY township. He is a member of that great Catholic patriotic organization known as the Knights of Columbus. FRED NIEHAUSMYER, a representative citizen and successful agriculturist of Woodville Township, residing on his fertile farm of 120 acres, which is situated about two and one-fourth miles northeast of Woodville, was born on an adjoining farm, in Woodville Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, September 24, 1848, and is a son of John and Maria (Schaffer) Niehausmyer. John Niehausmyer was born in Germany and remained in his own land until he had fulfilled all thea laws of his country as to military service. With his little amount of capital he came to America and began working by the clay after he reached Sandusky County. He was an honest, upright, industrious man and in the course of time acquired a farm, in -Woodville Township, on which the rest of his life was -spent. He died at the age of 81 years. He married Maria Schaffer, also of German birth, and they had four children : Fred ; Harmon, now deceased ; Henry, and a daughter who died young. Fred Niehausmyer attended the country schools through boyhood and then began working by the day and for two years he was in the employ of F. Mierholtz, one year of F. Yeasting, and one year of J. Damschroder. In the meanwhile he had made plans for the future and then went to Toledo and, after working in that city for a year, bought a first class threshing machine and with it came to Woodville Township, being the first one to introduce a steam thresher in this section of Ohio. Mr. Niehausmyer followed threshing for thirteen years and is well known all through this section, having had all the contracts he could handle each season. Later, with his brother Harmon, he purchased the present farm and they operated it together, but when the older brother decided to marry he purchased the other brother's interest. He carries on a general farming line, raising good crops, some fine stock and considerable fruit. Mr. Niehausmyer married Miss Julia Sherman, of Wood County, Ohio, and they have had five children, namely : John, Minnie, Harmon, Henry and Louise, the last three of whom are deceased. Mr. Niehausmyer and wife are members of the Lutheran Church. In politics he is a Democrat. For many years he has belonged to the Masonic fraternity. HON. A. H. JACKSON, who served as a member of the 58th Congress of the United States, and from 1897 until 1901 as mayor of the city of Fremont, has been closely identified with the numerous inter- ests of this section since settling permanently at Fremont, in 1872. Mr. Jackson is one of the largest manufacturers of Sandusky County and is president of the Jackson Knife and Shear Company, of the A. H. Jackson Manufacturing Company and of the Fremont Suspender Company and owns a large amount of valuable real estate, including the Hotel Jackson. He was born May Jo, 1846, in Delaware County, New York, and is a son of George \V. and Roxanna (Ripley) Jackson. The parents of Mr. Jackson lived into old age. The father was a native of New York and the mother of Massachusetts. They had five children : Marian, George Herbert, Ellen, Clara and A. H. A. H. Jackson is a self-made man and although it is many years since he started out, a youth of seventeen, equipped with a common school education and some experience as a carpenter, but with little else, there are those who recall his early perseverance and enterprise through which he established a business which has developed into the great manufacturing concerns of this city and county. With a cash capital of about seventeen dollars, Mr. Jackson invested in a stock of notions, and in the disposal of them made enough to buy his first horse and wagon. He then filled his wagon with a stock of goods readily salable through the country districts; and thus began a line of merchandising that brought him large returns. He was and still is an excellent judge of the value of advertising, and as his means increased, he fitted up more wagons, making them attractive to HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 605 the eye and filling them with excellent goods. It is said that when his fine wagon, drawn by four high-stepping horses made a stop at any place, he could sell more goods than any other traveling salesman then on the various routes. One explanation was that his goods were reliable, and another that he thoroughly understood the art of merchandising. With his fine outfit he traveled through New England and also through the States of Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. His methods were so honest and his stock so excellent that his reputation preceded him and his second visit on any routes brought larger returns than the first one. In 1872 Mr. Jackson established his home at Fremont. In 1884 he gave up traveling, and embarked in the retail dry goods business in this city. He was not content, however, with simply merchandising, but, having kept in touch with changing fashions, especially in ladies' garments, he invented and put upon the market a superior kind of ladies' bustle and these were largely manufactured as long as there. was a demand for the article. From that initial manufacturing. Mr. Jackson embarked in the same line on a larger scale and now he is the head of some of the most important manufacturing concerns of city, county and State. He is president of the Fremont Suspender Company, manufacturing suspenders, hose supporters, etc., and of the A. H. Jackson Manufacturing Company, the largest plant of its kind in the world, with headquarters at Fremont and branch factories at Sandusky, Tiffin, Clyde and Bellevue, Ohio. This company manufactures ladies', misses' and children's fine muslin and flannelette undergarments. He is also president of the Jackson Knife and Shear Company, manufacturers of knives, shears and high-class razors. This is one of the largest plants of its kind in Sandusky County. Mr. Jackson has also been a prominent factor in the material development of Fremont, substantial brick structures in different parts of the city now bearing his name, one of these being the Hotel Jackson. His own residence and those he erected for his daughters are among the finest private residences of the city. Mr. Jackson married Miss Mary Sharp, of Fremont, and they have three daughters: Lulu, Nellie and Edith. While Mr. Jackson's business interests have been absorbing for many years, he has also given attention to politics and is a leading Republican of Sandusky County. His administration of civic matters while serving as mayor of Fremont for four years, celebrated an era of prosperity and during' his term as a Member of Congress, he faithfully represented his constituents. He is identified with the Masons. MOSES H. CROWELL, one of Sandusky Township's best known farmers and stock-raisers, has resided on his fine farm of eighty acres, situated in Section 17, for almost a quarter of a century. He was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, July 18, 1862, and is a son of Samuel Adam and Mollie (Dipman) Crowell. Samuel Adam Crowell was brought to Sandusky County from Virginia, by his parents, in his boyhood. The family settled in the dense woods, seemingly far from civilization, in the section through which now runs the Maumee Turnpike road in Sandusky Township. The grandfather of Moses H. Crowell, Samuel Crowell, spent his life in the effort to clear up a farm in the wilderness. His remains lie in the old Four-Mile House Cemetery in Sandusky Township. Samuel Adam, his son, grew to manhood in Sandusky Township and became one of the noted trappers and hunters of this section and many a deer as well as wolves and other wild animals fell before his trusty rifle. He was widely known. One of his sons, George, served in the Civil War and is now deceased. Moses H. Crowell was reared on his father's estate and went to school in Sandusky Township. He has been engaged in agricultural pursuits from boyhood and owns one of the' township's most valuable farms. On December 11, 1884, he married Miss Elizabeth Swint, who was born in Rice Township, Sandusky 606 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY County, December 16, 1862, being but a few months younger than her husband. Her father was Henry Swint, a prominent citizen of Rice Township. He was born in Germany and there `married Rosina Reinick and they were very early settlers in Rice Township. They were devoted members of the Catholic Church. In politics Mr. Crowell is nominally a Republican, but he has independent tendencies and in local matters frequently votes for the man irrespective of party. Both he and his wife belong to the congregation of St. Ann at Fremont. RALPH A. HUNSINGER, county recorder elect, of Sandusky County, who assumed the duties of this office in September, 1909, is one of Fremont's enterprising and educated young business men. He was born at Fremont, Ohio, April 4, 1880, and is a son of Henry and Julia (Heim) Hunsinger. Mr. Hunsinger belongs to one of the old pioneer families of Sandusky County. His father followed the carpenter trade for many years and was a well known and respected citizen. He married Julia Heim and they had four children. Ralph A. Hunsinger completed the public school course and in 1900 graduated 'from the Fremont schools, after which he prepared for business by taking a commercial course. Subsequently he learned the barber's trade, but had not much more than entered into business when he was made the candidate of the Republican party for the office of county recorder and was elected to the same in November, 1908. His success was somewhat notable, as he is one of the two members of his party who triumphed in that election at the polls, his opponent being Oscar Doncyson, whom he beat by a majority of thirty-three votes. Mr. Hunsinger married Miss Ethel B. Thomas, who is a daughter of Frank A. Thomas, now a resident of Cleveland, and they have three children, Harry, Paul and Eleanor. Their pleasant home is at No. 224 Morrison Street, Fremont. Mr. Hunsinger is identified with the order of Modern Woodmen. BYRON LINDSAY, a well known resident and successful farmer of Riley Township, Sandusky County, residing on his valuable farm of ninety-five acres, was born July 23, 1857, in Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and is a son of Eluther C. and Julia (Lantz) Lindsay. The parents of Mr. Lindsay both were members of old pioneer families of Ohio and the mother was born in Riley Township. They were farming people and among the most highly respected residents of this section. The father died in August, 1906. Of the large family born to Eluther C. and Julia Lindsay, the following survive : Charles N. and Byron, both residing in Riley Township; William H., living in Nebraska ; Herman, who owns and conducts a store at Vickery ; Clara J., wife of William Barr, residing in Riley Township; Frank, also of Riley Township ; Ida, wife of William Graves, of Townsend Township; Jesse, also of Vickery ; and Florence, wife of Roy Storey, living in Townsend Township. Byron Lindsay attended the district schools of the neighborhood during boyhood and then applied himself to work on the farm and has followed agricultural pursuits ever since. He has cultivated his own land in a careful and practical way and has prospered and is in the enjoyment of the rewards of his industry. Mr. Lindsay was married February 20, 1884, to Miss Clara J. Pearson, who was also born in Riley Township, and is a daughter of Jonas Pearson, now a resident of Vickery, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay have two children : Leona M., and Viola B., the latter of whom is the wife of William Cullins, of Townsend Township. In politics Mr. Lindsay is a Republican, but he does not seek office. He is a stanch friend of the public schools and an honest law-abiding citizen. He is a member of the order of Modern Woodmen, belonging to a lodge at Vickery, Ohio. GEORGE F. BECKMAN, general farmer, residing on his valuable farm of 120 acres, situated in Jackson Township, was born in Jackson Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, December 14, 1864, and is a son of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Kline) Beckman. The father of Mr. Beckman came to Sandusky County with his father, Klouse Beck- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 607 man, when he was 7 years old, settling on a farm of forty acres. Nicholas Beckman died June 13, 1905, when aged 76 years. His widow survives, her age being 67 years. They had four children : Emma J., George F., Charles E. and Myrtle M. Emma J. married Leroy Brubaker, of Jackson Township, and they have one son, Elmer. Charles married Elizabeth Smaltz, they reside in Washington Township, and have two children, Harry and Lulu. Myrtle married Henry Kaiser, they live in Sandusky Township, and have two children, Robert and Helen. When George F. Beckman reached manhood he purchased his present farm from his parents and has made many improvements here. The old log house in which he was born is still standing. He raises grain and all kinds of stock and is a practical and prosperous farmer of this section. Mr. Beckman married Miss Stella Krass, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Laughenbacher) Krass, of Riley Township, and they have five children, namely : Walter, born February 7, 1891; Mabel, born January 29, 1893 ; Bertha, born July 10. 1897; Dorothy, born November 17, 1901 ; and Clarence, born August 5, 1907. The father of Mrs. Beckman died when aged 84 years. but her mother still lives and ha:, passed her seventy-seventh birthday. They had seven children, Mrs. Beckman being the sixth in order of birth. The others were : Amelia, now deceased, who was the wife of John Bauman, of Riley Township, and left one daughter, also deceased; John, who married Lena Kline, had three sons; Emma, who married Fred Martin, of Riley Township, had nine children, some of whom have families of their own ; Lavina, who married William Kowalt, lives in Fremont and has one son ; Elizabeth, unmarried, who resides at Fremont ; and Rose, who married William Kowalt, after the death of her sister Lavina, resides at Fremont. Mr. Beckman and family are members of the Lutheran Church of Jackson Township. FRANK LINDSAY resides on a farm of seventy acres in Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio. and is one of the best known citizens of that locality. He was born in that township May 12, 1867, and is a son- of Eluther Cook and Julia (Lantz) Lindsay. E. C. Lindsay was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, and for many years carried on farming operations in Riley Township, where he died September 23, 1906. Politically, he was a Republican. He was married to Julia Lantz, who was born in Virginia and now resides at Vickery, Ohio. Of the children born to them, the following are now living: Charles N., of Riley Township ; Byron, of Riley Township ; William H., who lives in Nebraska; Herman, of Vickery, Ohio; Jeannette, wife of William Barr, of Riley Township; Frank, subject of this sketch; Ida, wife of William Gray, of Townsend Township ; Jesse, of Vickery ; and Florence, wife of Roy Storey, of Townsend Township. Frank Lindsay was reared on the farm in his native township and received a good common school education. He has always farmed and has met with good business results. His farm of seventy acres is adorned with a good home and substantial farm buildings, and is well improved throughout. He is a Republican in politics and has served for three years as a trustee of Riley Township ; at the present he is superintendent of roads in District No. 2. He has many friends and is very popular among his acquaintances. Mr. Lindsay was married to Clara Wright, a daughter of G. A. Wright, of Riley Township, and they became parents of five children, three of whom are living: Glenn C., Bertha B. and Ernest L. Those deceased are Virgil G., and one who died in infancy. Fraternally the subject of this record is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Vickery. MISS ELIZA KERNAHAN, one of Green Creek Township's most respected residents and a member of one of the old and reliable families of this section, owns, resides on and capably manages a valuable farm of 160 acres, which lies in this township on the east side of the Sandusky road. She was born at Skaneateles, Onondago County, New York, January 7, 1832, and is a daughter of Alexander and Hannah (Clapp) Kernahan. The Kernahan family originated in Scotland, but was driven by religious persecution to seek 608 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY refuge in the north of Ireland, and there Alexander Kernahan was born, in 1801. When about twenty years of age, he accompanied his older brother, Thomas, to America, and they settled in eastern New York, where the young men worked as farmers through the agricultural sections. Alexander prospered to such an extent that he was able to buy a farm in Livingston County, New York, on which he lived until 1854, when he sold it and moved to Ohio, in making the journey being able to take advantage of the railroad which had just been completed. Shortly afterward he purchased the land which is comprised in the Kernahan homestead, in Green Creek Township, took possession of it and here the remainder of his quiet, useful, exemplary life was spent. He reached the age of 75 years, dying June 3, 1876. In the state of New York he was married to Hannah Clapp. This estimable woman was born in Somersetshire, England, a (laughter of Ambrose and Hannah (Bartlett) Clapp, whom she accompanied to America when she was 16 years old. She lived into serene old age, passing away in September, 188o, when six months over 8o years. To Alexander Kernahan and wife were born five children, two of whom died in infancy. Of the three who reached maturity Eliza alone remains, James, who died in 1905, was aged 74 years. Ambrose, the youngest of the family, born in 1836, died in 1895. He married Elizabeth McKinney, who survives him and inherited a farm of ninety-eight acres in Green Creek Township. She is now a resident of Dansville, New York. Miss Eliza Kernahan was 2 years old when the family moved to Livingston County, New York, and she later accompanied her parents to Ohio, She attended the district schools, al- though not regularly, as she grew into a very capable woman and her services were in demand both in domestic affairs and on the farm, where, when necessity required she could be a very practical helper. After the death of her parents she helped her brothers operate the place and subsequently came into full possession of the property. She is an excellent manager and has always taken a deep interest in agriculture. Her father and brothers were Republicans in their political faith. The parents reared their children in the faith of the Presbyterian Church. HON. EDWARD LOUDENSLEGER, one of Fremont's most eminent citizens, formerly mayor and also postmaster, has been one of the makers of history in this city, to which he came in 1865. He was born in Seneca County, February 28, 1836, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Barger) Loudensleger. The parents of Mr. Loudensleger were natives of Union County, Pennsylvania, both of German ancestry, and in 1831 they removed to Seneca County, Ohio, where they lived until 1844, when they came to Sandusky County, and here the father subsequently bought a farn in York Township. This property, with the assistance of his sons, he cleared and improved and it remained the family home until 1863, when Daniel Loudensleger sold it and removed to a farm in Monroe County, Michigan. Following an agricultural life, he passed his remaining eighteen years there, dying February 28, 1881. His first wife had died while the family lived in Sandusky County. Later he married (second) a Mrs. Wagner. The children born to the first union were : Mrs. Mary Ann Brand. George, Edward, Mrs. Lovina Wagner, William, Mrs. Arminda Boyer, Matilda, Franklin, and two who died in infancy, To the second union were born. Daniel, Charles Wesley, Allen and a son, who died early. Edward Loudensleger, with his brothers and sisters and the children of neighboring farmers, attended school during about three months in the winter, and although many of them complained of the hardships attending the long walks over the uncleared country which they had to take in the most inclement season of the year, and avoided them as often as possible, Edward Loudensleger was neither a complainer nor quitter. He was too anxious to obtain instruction and supplemented what he secured in the log schoolhouse with evenings of home study and reading by the old fireplace, and in this HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 611 way prepared himself for school teaching. The outbreak of the Civil War led his ambition into new channels and on November 23, 1861, he found himself an enlisted soldier of Company A, 72d O. Vol. Inf., and very soon was on the memorable battle field of Shiloh. With his regiment he took part in the Siege of Corinth and accompanied it to Memphis. Tennessee. The exposure and malaria combined, prostrated many of the northern-born soldiers and he was among those who were not able to accompany their comrades when ordered to Vicksburg. As his condition through the remainder of the service, precluded active field duties, he was made use of in the commissary department and served on detached duty until he was honorably discharged, December 13, 1864. After the close of his military service, Mr. Loudensleger came to Fremont, with an idea of going into business, and while preparing for the same he erected a handsome residence and improved the land surrounding it to such an extent that he soon had an offer to dispose of it far beyond its initial cost. Mr. Loudensleger considers this the real beginning of his later extensive real estate dealings, and it determined him to turn his whole attention to a line of business which he was quick to see might be made one of material importance to himself, and as a second consideration might be very beneficial to the city, for his plans not only included the purchase and disposal of realty, but also the elaborate improvement of it. In 1888 he put up the Loudensleger Block, which remains the handsomest business structure in Fremont, while in every part of the city may be found pieces of property which have passed through his hands, and, in his many years of realty negotiations, he has added, improved and beautified many of Fremont's most desirable subdiyisions. He is interested in the H. B. Smith Building and Loan Company, of which he is secretary, He owns a large amount of valuable citv property, including his beautiful residence at No. 1206 Buckland Avenue. Mr. Loudensleger was married (first) in 1856, to Miss Emma Bellows, who died in 1859, leaving one daughter, Frances E.. who married Frank J. Tuttle, an attorney of Fremont. He was married (second) in 1862, to Mrs. Mary Jane (Stahl) Stevenson, who died in 1874. His third marriage was to Mrs. Nina A. (Stahl) Miller, and they have one daughter, Miss Nellie, who is a graduate of the Lake Erie Seminary, at Painesville, Ohio. Mr. Loudensleger has been a very active citizen, has faithfully performed exacting tasks as public duties, and has honorably filled the highest positions in the gift of his fellow citizens. In 1880 he was elected a member of the city council and during a part of his term served as president of that body, and when the mayor of the city died after serving out but one month of his term, Councilman Loudensleger was chosen to take his place. This appointment was made through no effort of his own, but he gave the city an administration that proved that if he had been sufficiently supported by the best class, Fremont would have been purged of an element that can well be spared from any law-abiding community. In 1891. President Harrison recognized Mr. Loudensleger's many services to the Republican party, by appointing him postmaster at Fremont, and this office he continued to most acceptably fill until the change of administration, in 1895, having as his assistant his stepson, Isaac Ticknor Miller, who is also a representative citizen of Fremont. Mr. Loudensleger has, at various times, served in other offices than those mentioned, with signal ability, and has been a member of many charitable hoards and commissions. In 1878 he was elected secretary of the Oakwood Cemetery Association and still fills that office. In his official duties connected therewith he has been associated with Dr. L. Q. Rawson, C. R. McCullough, the late Stephen Buckland, and Rutherford B. Hayes. He is a charter member of the Eugene Rawson Post and of Moore Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and has taken a very active interest in Grand Army work and legislation. Since 1867. he has been a 612 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY trustee of the First Presbyterian Church at Fremont and has always been a liberal supporter and promoter of its benevolent work. His business associates and his personal friends have, through these many years, been men of worth, many of distinction and among these may be mentioned two Presidents of the United States—Hon. James A. Garfield and Hon. Rutherford B. Hayes. In other fields, outside that of politics, Mr. Loudensleger has also been intimately associated with those who have worked for those higher ideals of civic progress than are denominated merely material. LENARD SCHWARTZ, who owns a flourishing farm of 111 acres on the west side of Hessville, and eighty acres on the south of that village, was born in Germany in 1849, and is a son of Christian and Margaret (Voelm) Schwartz. A full enumeration of his parents' family, including children and grandchildren, is as follows : Christian Schwartz, Jr., married Catherine Myers, and their children are Laura, Harmon, Louis, Emma, Bertha, Clarence, Anna and Daniel. Lenard is the direct subject of this sketch. Laura married Daniel Auxter, and they have seven children—Fred, Mary, Edith, Arthur, Martin, Harry and Lonnie. Rickey married Charles Thayer and has four children —Edward, Alice, Clayton and Edith. Henry married Elizabeth Minnick and her children are Alice, Harvey, Martin, Charles, Emory, Nellie, Clayton, Irvin and Melvin. Louise married Jacob Ansted and they have six children, namely : Perry, Elam, Horatio, Hattie, Clarence and Daniel. Lenard Schwartz, the subject of this sketch, in his boyhood attended the district schools and received a practical training along agricultural lines, of which he has taken good advantage since he took up the battle of life for himself. He is a progressive farmer, knowing how to utilize his land to the best advantage, and when he is not attending to the cultivation of the ground and the raising of crops he is busy making improvements or doing some other necessary work on the farm. His industry and perseverance have met with fitting reward and he is now numbered among the prosperous agriculturists of the township. Mr. Schwartz was married on January 23, 1879, to Louisa Schneider, a daughter of Christian and Sophia (Strock) Schneider. Her parents' family consisted of the following children : Charles; Louisa (now Mrs, Schwartz) ; Elizabeth, Louis, Christian, Jr., Sophia and Philip. Mr. and Mrs. Lenard Schwartz have become the parents of eight children, namely : William, who married Agnes Smith, and has a daughter, Odella ; John S., who married Dora Sanders, and has two children, Lloyd and Raymond; Edith, Lydia, Arthur, Mary, Hattie and Otto. Mr. Schwartz is a Democrat in his political views, and although he has never sought office, he has proved himself willing to assume public duties when called upon, and served the township acceptably for four years as school director. He and his family are consistent members of the Lutheran Church and all have proved themselves worthy and useful members of the community in which they reside. WILLIAM WEICHEL, who served four years as trustee of Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, is engaged in general farming and is the owner of a well improved farm of ninety-eight and one-half acres. He was born in Huron County, Ohio, May 24, 1849, and is a son of John A. and Wilhelmina Weichel, both natives of Germany. Upon emigrating to America, John A. Weichel first located in Seneca County, Ohio, and from there moved to Huron County, where he farmed many years. Late in life he moved to Erie County, Ohio, where he died in 1866. William Weichel was reared in Huron County until he was 17 years old, and attended the district schools. At that age he moved to Erie County, where he lived and farmed until 1883. He then located in Townsend Township, Sandusky County, where he resided until 1892, in which year he moved to Riley Township. He owns ninety-eight and one-half acres Of valuable land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation, and has met with much success in general farming. He has always AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 613 taken an active interest in the affairs of the township, and discharged his duties as trustee in a manner to win the highest commendation of his fellow citizens. He is a Democrat in politics. January 16, 1883, Mr. Weichel was united in marriage with Miss Fanny Hohlein, who was born in Sandusky County, and is a daughter of the late Lawrence Hohlein. The following are their offspring: Linda E., a teacher in the public schools of Sandusky County; Emma M., wife of Elmer Z. Balsizer, of Riley Township; Charles W., of Riley Township ; Marcia F.; Minnie F.; and Mabel G. The family belongs to Grace Lutheran Church at Fremont. FRED R. FRONIZER, an able member of the Fremont bar and formerly prosecuting attorney of Sandusky County, may almost be counted as a native son, as his parents brought him to this section when he was only one year old and with it he has willingly been identified ever since. He was born in 1852, in the neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, and is a son of Henry and Mary ( Young) Fronizer. Mr. Fronizer comes of solid, honest German parentage and he was reared on his father's farm in Ballville Township, Sandusky County, where the latter settled in 1853. Of the eight children, Fred R. was the eldest, the others bearing the following names : John, Simon, Matilda, Lana, Susan, Katie and Joseph. Mr. Fronizer's assistance was given to his father until he was 18 years of age, when he took the maintenance of himself upon his own shoulders. From his youth he had been ambitious and he determined to educate himself with a view of entering upon the profession of law and making it his life work. Although little more than a boy, he secured schools to teach during the winter seasons and thus carried himself through a course in the Fremont Public Schools, the Normal School at Fostoria, Ohio, and came thus gradually nearer and nearer to the goal he had in view. After teaching the Woodville High School for two years, in the spring of 1874 he began the study of law, in the office of J. T. Garver, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1877. Possessing many of the natural qualities which a successful career at the bar demands, Mr. Fronizer has long been recognized as one of the effective members of his profession. He maintains his home in Ballville Township, and for many years has been a justice of the peace there. In politics, ever since reaching mature life, he has been closely identified with the Democratic party and on its ticket he was elected prosecuting attorney of Sandusky County, in 1887, serving in that responsible office for six years. Although many years have passed since he presided over a schoolroom, he has retained his interest in all matters pertaining to the public schools and has served in the office of county school examiner. Mr. Fronizer was married in Sandusky County, to Miss Isabella Boyer, who is a daughter of George Boyer, one of the substantial pioneer farmers at that time, in Washington Township. Mr. and Mrs. Fronizer have two sons, Irvin F. and Harry L. ALLYN B. SANFORD, one of Riley Township's most substantial citizens, excellent farmers and respected men, owns 238Y2 acres of land, 168 of which is his home, in Section 9, where he has lived since 1874. Mr. Sanford was born January 26, 1855, in Townsend Township, Sandusky County,. Ohio, and is a son of William B. Sanford, who was also born there, his father having been one of the early settlers. Allyn B. Sanford was 2 years old when he was brought to Riley Township and was reared here and obtained his education in the schools of his native county. He has devoted himself to agricultural pursuits almost entirely and is numbered with the practical and prosperous farmers of this part of the county. Mr. Sanford married Miss Mary Dalton, a daughter of the late Matthew Dalton, of Townsend Township, and they have three children : Frederick A., who lives at Fremont; Claudia M., who is the wife of Oliver H. Thompson, of Riley Township; and John L., who is engaged in farming in Riley Township. In his political views Mr. Sanford is a Democrat. In all that concerns the welfare of his neighbor- 614 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY hood, he has proven himself a worthy and useful citizen. BRYAN O'CONNOR, an honored and highly esteemed citizen of Hessville and owner of a fine farm of 250 acres in Washington Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, was born June 21, 1830, in Ireland, and is a son of Michael and Catherine (Fallahee) O'Connor. Bryan O'Connor is the only surviving member of a family of fifteen children born to his parents. He was reared in his native country and in 1852 came to America, first locating at Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio. During the Civil War he served two years as councilman at Fremont, and in 1865 removed to Washington Township where he was elected clerk of the township, filling the office for a period of seven years, after which he served as justice of the peace for two years, resigning, that office to become county commissioner, receiving the appointment from Probate Judge Fenwick Dickinson. The county auditor was Adam Hodes, and the recorder, John R. Conklin. He filled that office by appointment for thirteen months and was elected commissioner two successive terms. In 1858, Mr. O'Connor was united in marriage with Margaret Keefe, a daughter of Martin and Mary (Hartnett) Keefe, and a sister of Bridget Keefe, who was a Sister of the Blessed Sacrament in Cleveland. Mr. Keefe came to this country in 1848 and settled in Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio, where he died in 1857, the death of his wife occurring in 1859. To Bryan and Margaret O'Connor were born the following children : Catherine, who is the wife of Frank O'Farrell, of Fremont, and the mother of five sons, Albert; Francis B., Harry V., Edward, and Thomas ; Martini who married 'Rosa Noss, and they have six children—Frederick B., Mary, John, Margaret, William and Harry ; Michael, who lives at home; Mary, who is the widow of Dr. R. M. Durbin, of Woodville, and has three children, William 0., Margaret K. and Bryan W. ; and Margaret J., who lives at home. Mr. O'Connor and family are members of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church at Fremont. Ohio. WILLIAM W. HENSEL, whose home farm of 16o acres of fine land is situated in Section 17, Sandusky Township, and has ten productive oil wells, owns also a second farm of the same dimensions in Edwards County, Kansas. Mr. Hensel was born October 2, 1869, in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and is a son of Daniel and Sarah (Hetrick) Hensel. Daniel Hensel was born in 1825 in Sandusky County, Ohio, and is a son of Daniel Hensel, who came from Pennsylvania and settled in Ohio in early manhood, securing the land which is now owned by his grandson, William W. He was a hardy pioneer who settled in the deep woods and for many years lived remote from all public highways, clearing his land and in the meanwhile fighting the hard conditions which met the pioneer on every side. He lived into old age and left a goodly heritage. His son, Daniel Hensel, was reared on that farm and spent his life here until, in late years, he departed for Michigan, following the death of his wife, in November, 1907. They had five children, as follows : Frank, who is now deceased; Harriet, who is the wife of George Ulmer, of Elk Rapids, Michigan ; William NV.; Charles, who resides at Fremont ; and Myrtella, who is the wife of W. J. Wilson, of St. Louis, Michigan. Daniel Hensel owns an excellent farm of 189 acres in Sandusky Township, and at one time possessed more than Boo acres, all in Sandusky County. William W. Hensel was educated in the local schools and took an academic course at Fostoria, Ohio. He has devoted himself mainly to agricultural pursuits, farming and stockraising, and is also to some degree, interested in the oil industry. On August 8, 1894, he was married to Miss Adda S.. Wolfe. who was born in Sandusky Township, and is a daughter of the late Levi Wolfe. The Mother of Mrs. Hensel is a beloved member of the Hensel household. Mr. and Mrs. Hensel have one daughter, Mary W., who was born November. 9, 1898. The family attends the United Brethren Church. In his political views Mr. Hensel is inclined to be independent, generally voting for the man, who, in his judgment, is best qualified for the position sought. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 615 GEORGE W. HEBERLING, a veteran of the Civil War and a well known resident of Ballville Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, resides on a farm of thirty and one-half acres located about two miles south of Fremont. He was born in Washington Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, September 13, 1839, and is a son of George and Sophia (Spohn) Heberling, and a grandson of Jacob and Christina Heberling. Jacob Heberling came from the vicinity of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, to Perry County, Ohio, and after a short residence there moved to Sandusky County in 1832. He purchased a farm of 168 acres in Green Creek Township, on which he lived for a few years, and then moved to Fremont. He and his son, George, there engaged in the manufacture of brick, establishing the first brick yard in that city, but as there was little demand for their product they soon closed the plant. He then entered 160 acres of Government land in Washington Township, for which he paid $1.25 per acre. He erected a log house thereon and lived there the remainder of his days. George Heberling was born near Sunbury, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1805, and was married in Perry County, Ohio, where he lived a short time. In 1832 he moved with his family to Green Creek Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, where they lived on the farm with his parents for three years. After closing out their brick plant in Fremont, they accompanied his parents to the home place in Washington Township, eighty acres of which he inherited at his father's death. He lived a long and useful life, passing away September 7, 1886, aged nearly eighty-one years. His first marriage was with Miss Sophia Spohn, who was born in .1810 and died in 1843. They were parents of the following children : Elizabeth, who died at the age of 17 years; Solomon S. ; Isaac ; Mary, (deceased) wife of Andrew Roush ; George W.; and Christina, who died at the age of 13 years and 7 months. Mr. Heberling formed a second union with Margaret Fought, by whom he had one daughter, Frances, who married James Eynsley. George W. Heberling attended the public schools of his native township, and early turned his attention to farming, at which he continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. He first enlisted for three months' service and was stationed at Cleveland. When the company Was disbanded he returned home, and in August, 1862, enlisted for three years' service as a member of Company D, 3d Regiment Ohio Vol. Cav. He joined the regiment at Louisville, Kentucky, and participated in the battle of Perrysville and numerous other engagements. They also spent three months in pursuit of Morgan's raiders. He was seriously wounded in battle and was sent to the hospital at Nashville, and then at Columbus, Ohio, where he remained six months. He was then placed in the 2d Battalion of the invalid corps at Camp Dennison and served in the commissary department. He was mustered out June 28, 1865, and returned to the home place in Washington Township. Shortly after the war he purchased the eighty-acre farm of his father, who continued to live with him, and later he sold out and bought a one-half interest in a 100-acre farm in Green Creek Township. After 'farming that place three years he again sold out and moved to Fremont, where he purchased a residence property. He there embarked in the piano, organ and sewing machine business, which he carried on successfully for many years. After eighteen years' residence in that city, he purchased and for three years farmed a forty-acre farm in Ballville Township. He disposed of that property to good advantage and made a trip throughout the west with a view of buying a farm and settling down, going as far as California. Seeing nothing desirable he returned to Sandusky County and in 1887 purchased the farm on which he now lives. He has made all the improvements on this farm, which is now managed by his son. April 25, 1868, Mr. Heberling was married to Miss N. J. McMillen, who was born near Zanesville, in Muskingum County, Ohio, July 23, 1843, and is a daughter of William and Mary Ann McMillen, who moved to Sandusky County during the war in 1864. Three children were born to this union : Mary J., who died in infancy ; William H., who married Florence Hersey, and has two children, Robert H. and Julia E. ; and Nellie, who died at the 616 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY age of 3 years. Mr. Heberling takes an active interest in public affairs and has at times been called upon to act in official capacity, having served two terms as justice of the peace and some years as township assessor. ORRIN A. ROBERTS, whose death on Monday, January 11, 1909, removed one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Fremont, was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, July 16, 1824. In 1830, at the age of about six years, he accompanied his parents to Fremont, the trip being made by vessel. After arriving here the family proceeded to Tiffin, where, however, they remained but for the part of a year, returning then to Fremont, where the .elder Roberts purchased the Stage House, which then occupied the site of the present Wheeling depot, and engaged in the hotel business. Young Roberts acquired the rudiments of knowledge in the village schools. He then began industrial life by tending bar for Robert Caldwell in the old frame Western Hotel, located where the Masonic Block now stands. From this position he entered the dry goods and grocery trade, in which he remained for three years, afterwards serving an apprenticeship in the tin shop of John R. Pease, located at the east end of State Street bridge, opposite the present factory of the Hebrand Company. His apprenticeship lasted over two and a half years, during which time he worked from ten to fifteen hours per day. His pay, exclusive of board and washing, which were furnished him, was $30 for the first year, $40 for the second, and the last six months $30. He then entered the ranks of his trade as a journeyman, receiving $1 per day, for which pay he worked two and a half years, at the end of that time becoming a partner with Mr. Pease in the business. During these years he was gradually becoming more expert at his trade until he was recognized as a master mechanic; he was one of the workmen employed at the roofing of the present cupola on the court house, and in particular, the copper ball on the top is a creditable specimen of his handiwork. In 1853 Mr. Roberts sold his interest in the hardware business to John R. Pease and W. R. B. McLellan. About a month later he repurchased it, taking into partnership William B. Sheldon, with whom he was associated as its further proprietor until 1869. In that year they sold the store to C. M. Dillon, but retained the block, which had been erected in 1863, and which is now occupied by the Fremont Tea Store. During subsequent years Mr. Roberts gave his attention to the management of his real estate and other business interests, which were large and varied. In 1882 he, with other prominent business men, organized the Farmers' Bank, with a capital of $50,000, and he was elected and continued as its president until June 3o, 1904, when it went out of business. Both as working man and as capitalist Mr. Roberts was a man of great activity. His business life was practically contemporary with that of the city, and for more than half a century he was a familiar figure on the streets of Fremont, as he went about looking after his real estate or other affairs. He saw the growth of Fremont from its condition as a little struggling hamlet in his boyhood clays to that of a busy and prosperous city, to which prosperity he largely contributed and in which he had a notable share. Every church and every schoolhouse, together with a large majority of the business houses and residences. were built during his residence here. Though always thrifty and careful in his use of money, as one knowing its value from his early years, Mr. Roberts was not parsimonious, but could give with generous hand when appealed to on behalf of a worthy cause. His active business life ceased with the closing of the Farmers' Bank in June, 1904, and thenceforth, though his figure was daily seen on our streets, taking note of all that concerned the growth of the city and the prosperity and advancement of its business and commercial interests, he mingled in the busy scene rather as a specta- HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 619 tor than as an active participant, save for such attention as he still gave his real estate holdings. Up to his last year Mr. Roberts' health continued remarkably good, and his end came as a general breaking down of his system due to the infirmities .'of age, rather than from any specific disease. With his death was ended a worthy career, in some important respects typically American and well qualified for example—a career of humble beginnings, difficulties conquered, opportunities improved, and abundant success finally achieved, which was pre-eminently deserved. About the time that Mr. Roberts formed his partnership with Mr. Pease, he married, for his first wife, Harriet Hafford, and settled on the site of his late residence at No. 324 South Front Street. Mrs. Harriet Roberts died in 186r, and in 1869 Mr. Roberts contracted a second union, with Mrs. D. A. Strong, daughter of John S. Tyler, an old resident of Fremont. Mrs. Roberts still survives and, with her two sons and two daughters, occupies the old family residence at the location above mentioned. Mr. Roberts was a member, and vestryman for many years of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, at which his funeral services were conducted by Rev. Frank Roudenbush, and he was one of the church's most faithful attendants, never allowing the weather or any similar cause to interfere with his presence in his pew on Sundays and at the other church services. A man of Christian experience and moral rectitude, he set before him a high ideal of personal duty and lived up to it faithfully and conscientiously, hoping for no reward but a good conscience void of offence towards God and man. ROBERT W. SHERRARD, one of Fremont's leading business men, senior partner of the firm of Sherrard & Womersley, dealers in groceries, provisions and queensware, at No. 122 East State Street, was born in Ballville Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, December 21, 1849. Mr. Sherrard grew to manhood on the home farm and obtained his education in the township schools, later at Fremont and still later at the State Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, completing his studies at the Seneca County Academy, located at Republic, Ohio, which at that time was an institution of note. In the meanwhile he had taught many terms of school and his success in imparting knowledge gave indication that along that line lay a profession for which he was well fitted. However, in 1885, he turned his attention to merchandising, buying out the interest of John Ulsh, in the firm of Flagman & Ulsh. The present style of name has since been adopted and the business has been somewhat enlarged and still continues to be a leading one in its line at Fremont. On May 18, 1875, Mr. Sherrard was married to Miss Clara A. Karshner, who was born in Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, November 23, 1855. The family is an old one in Riley Township and her father and grandparents died there, the mother living with Mr. Sherrard. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Sherrard, after attending the Fremont High School, taught school for some time and was very highly esteemed throughout Riley and Sandusky Townships. Two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sherrard, both of whom are graduates of the Fremont High School and are prominent in social circles. The family home is situated at No. 409 East State Street, Fremont. Mr. Sherrard is a member of the Presbyterian Church, as is also his wife. In his political views he is a Republican and at different times he has consented to accept local office, but he is in no sense a politician, his large business claiming his whole attention. He belongs to the Odd Fellows and to several organizations of a beneficiary character. DAVID L. KARBLER, one of the trustees of Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, owns and resides upon a fine farm of seventy acres, and in addition to general farming operates a threshing machine and hay baler. He was born in Riley Township, December 13, 1864, and is a son of Adam and Christina (Diehr) Karbler. Adam Karbler was born in Germany and in boyhood accompanied his parents to the United States. They located first in Maryland and 620 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY later in Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, where Adam Karbler passed a greater part of his life. He died in the city of Fremont in the early nineties and is survived by his widow, who resides in that city at the age of 73 years. She too was born in Germany, David L. Karbler was reared in his native township and there received a public school education. He has followed farming from early boyhood and has prospered. He was for nine years a constable of Riley Township, and now is ,serving his first term as township trustee. Mr, Karbler was married to Susan Weiker, also a native of Sandusky County, and a daughter of Philip and Mary Weiker, who are deceased. Four children have been born to them, namely : Florence, Glenn, Edwin and Edna. The oldest of their children, Florence, died at the age of 6 years. Politically he is a Democrat, but is inclined to be independent in local affairs. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. HENRY SWINT, manufacturer, a member of the Fremont Tile and Brick Manufacturing Company (incorporated), a leading industry of Sandusky Township, was born in Rice Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, August 23, 1869, and is a son of Henry and Rosina ( Reinick) Swint and a brother of John Swint, one of the commissioners of Sandusky County. Henry Swint was reared on the home farm in Rice Township, on which his parents, both now deceased, settled at an early day, and he there followed an agricultural life until the spring of 1909, when he became identified with his present business enterprise, in which he is associated with Theodore L. Fuchs of Fremont and A. A. Nichols, of the same city. The business was founded by a Mr. Wolcott and later came into the possession of A. A. Reynolds, who conducted it for many years. The Fremont Tile and Brick Manufacturing Company (incorporated) succeeded A. A. Reynolds. The business is the manufacturing of drain tile and building blocks, and with the latest improved machinery and electric power, the plant turns out a very superior article. Mr. Swint is the manager of the plant, which, under the present conditions, is rapidly coming to the front as one of the important business concerns of the county. Mr. Swint married Miss Lucinda Crowell, who was born in Sandusky Township and is a daughter of Adam Crowell, and to this marriage have been born two children, Anna M. and Rella D. Mr. Swint and family are members of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church at Fremont. Mr. Swint is identified with the Knights of Columbus. In politics he is a Democrat. W. H. BASKEY, general farmer and thresher, residing on his valuable property in Green Creek Township, which contains seventy acres of fertile land, situated two and one-half miles east of Fremont, was born February 14, 1863, in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, Ohio. His parents are Frederick and Henrietta (Martzke) Baskey. Frederick Baskey and wife were both born and reared in Germany. Shortly after their arrival in America they came to Green Creek Township, where they still reside. They were among the early settlers. They have had six children : William H., Albert T., Charles F., Tracey and two who died young. William H. Baskey began to assist on the home farm in boyhood, being the oldest of the family, and as his father needed his help he had fewer chances to attend school than had many others. He has always been a man of industry, ready to turn to any occupation in the neighborhood that would advance his interests and thus he worked for a time in the tile factory and also became a thresher. He has continued in the threshing business about nineteen years and he also operates a portable sawmill. In 1892 he purchased his present farm and thus added to his responsibilities. He raises excellent crops and enough stock for his own use. On February 24, 1892, Mr. Baskey was married to Miss Louisa Zeigler, daughter of John and Mary Ann ( Jacobs) Zeigler, both of whom wereborn in Sandusky County. but their parents came from Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Baskey have two children : Earl F., born July 6, 1896; and Herbert E., born October 12, 1898. Mr. Baskey and wife are members of Grace Luth- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 621 eran Church at Fremont. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a man of social instincts and is a member of the Woodmen of the World, belonging to the lodge of the order at Fremont. CYRUS G. BOWERS, one of the leading and highly respected citizens of Lindsey, who has served continuously as postmaster of that village since April 12, 1898, was born July 20, 1858. He is a son of Cyrus and Catherine (Cathermine) Bowers, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Lancaster County, and the latter of Center County. They have a family of four children, as follows: James C., engaged as a wholesale butcher at Toledo, Ohio ; Mrs. J. H, Roush, a resident of Lindsey, Ohio; Mrs. Doctor Woland, of Fremont, Ohio; and Cyrus G., the subject of this record. Cyrus G. Bowers, Jr. was united in marriage with Maria Overmyer of Lindsey, Ohio, and their union resulted in the birth of the following children : Mabel, wife of George W. Overmyer, has three children, Grace; Fay, Helen Evangeline, and Mary Frances; Lulu May, married A. I. Naumann. and has two children (twins), Margaret and Lula Catherine; Harold, married Fern Sheldon and has one son, Lovell Sheldon Bowers ; Mark W. is attending school at Lindsey, Ohio. REV. WILLIAM A. BOWMAN, residing in his pleasant home at No. 1212 West State Street, Fremont, has been in the active ministry of the Lutheran Church for over forty years and for over twenty of these has been pastor of the Salem Lutheran Church of Sandusky Township, and also of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Rice Township, Sandusky County. Rev. Bowman was born in Reading Township, Perry County, Ohio, September 29, 1840, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Anspach) Bowman, and a grandson of George Bowman. The grandfather, George Bowman, coming from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1803, the year Ohio was admitted to the Union, bought a farm in the north-western part of Perry County (then Fairfield County). erected his log cabin, cleared his farm and began life in Ohio as one of the early pioneers. This farm was located on the Indian trail leading from Zanesville to Lancaster, Ohio. At that time but two log cabins were seen in Zanesville, whilst Lancaster was simply an Indian village. Reading and Somerset were not yet in existence. After these towns had been located and built up, the Bowman farm was one mile south of the former and three miles west of the latter. Somerset was the county seat of Perry County for many years and was the home of Gen. Phil. Sheridan. On this farm of the grandfather William A. Bowman was born and his parents lived there until 1845, when his father took charge of a tan yard at Bremen, in Fairfield County. From 1845 to 1848, during the Mexican War, the family lived at Bremen, William A. starting to school at this place and continuing to attend school after the family located at North Perry or Glenford, as it is now called. While securing his primary education, Mr. Bowman assisted his father both in the mills and on the farm Mr. Bowman owned at Glen-ford. From 1857 to 1858 he taught school at Glenford, and in 1859 he entered the Capital University at Columbus, as a student of divinity, entering the classroom on his birthday. During his six years of college life he took up all the leading branches of study that train the faculties and was especially proficient in some and so generally satisfactory that when he was finally graduated he was given the highest honors, being made valedictorian of his class. This period was thus divided, one year in the grammar school, three in the college proper and two in the theological department. He very early attracted attention by his talent for oratory and in 1861 was chosen by the faculty of the university as a special speaker at the commencement of that year, choosing as his subject "The Present Rebellion" and discussed the issues of the times with remarkable judgment for one of his years. The title of his graduation essay, in 1863, was "The Value of Time" and when he was chosen valedictorian of the class in theology, in June, 1865, he delivered a clear and logical discourse, in English, on "The Study of Theology." The brilliant young student was ordained August 23, 1865, at Germantown, Ohio, by 622 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY the officers of the Synod. Rev. C. Albrecht, who had been his old pastor in North Perry, installed him as pastor of Zion's Church, of Miami Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, October 1, 1865. For twenty-three years, Rev. Bowman continued in charge of Zion's Church, in addition to ministering to other churches under the general name of the West Carrollton charge.a He has also held responsible positions in his church body and for six years was visitator and later vice president of the English District of the Joint Synod of the Lutheran Church in Ohio. In April, 1888, he came to Sandusky County and since the latter part of that month has occupied his present relation with the two churches above mentioned. He was one of the founders, a member of the board of directors and the chaplain of the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical Association, which has a very large and representative membership. On September 28, 1865, Mr. Bowman was married to Miss Amelia Ernestine Coutellier, who was born at Paris, France, April 5, 1841, and accompanied her parents to America in 1848. Her father was Lucian Coutellier, who located first at Springfield, Illinois, in a residence then standing just across the street from the home of Abraham Lincoln. The families became acquainted in the social affairs of the village and even then they were impressed by the personality of the great Emancipator. In 1852 the Coutellier family moved to Columbus, where the father and sons were employed in the machine shops of the Panhandle Railroad. In the dark days that followed a decade and more later, they watched with interest the great career of their kindly old neighbor and when the funeral escort passed to his old home, in 1865, they were among the sincere mourners who accompanied it to Springfield from Columbus. To Mr. and Mrs. Bowman were born three children : Alfaretta E., married Clement L. Kimmel and they have two sons—Ralph and Bert; Amelia E., resting in the Carrollton Cemetery, south of Dayton, lived only three and one-half years; Lulu V. is the wife of Frank B. Finch, who is engaged in the photographic business in Fremont. In Mr. Bow- man's family conversation can be carried on in either German, French or English, while Mr. Bowman's mother tongue is the dialect of the Pennsylvania Dutch. JULIUS WALDE, vice president of the Bill Sales Book Company, of Fremont, Ohio, and associated with J. W. Worst in the ownership of the Clyde Cooperage Works, has been a resident of Fremont since 1881. He was born in Germany, May 18, 1848, and is a son of Mathias and Benedicta Walde, both of whom died in Germany. Julius Walde was reared and educated in his native land and there learned the cooper's trade. He performed his full term of military service, as had his father before him, who was a lieutenant in the regular army. Julius Walde has several valuable medals which were presented to him for his gallant services during the Franco-Prussian War, after the termination of which, he came to America. Mr. Walde located at La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he worked for four months in a brewery, and from there found his way to Chicago and was working in that city in a brewery, at the time of the great Chicago fire, in 1871. A strike in the brewery in which he was employed, led him to leave that city and he traveled on to Norwalk, Ohio, where he had an uncle, and there he worked as a cooper from November, 1871, until April, 1872, when he came to Fremont. Here he was employed for two years as a cooper, after which he went to Tiffin, Ohio, where he became foreman of a brewery and remained there for three years. When he returned he bought an interest in the Fremont Brewery and became its manager, and has been a resident of this city ever since, subsequently buying the brewery, which he operated himself until 1902. when he sold out to Cleveland parties. Later he became identified with his present business concerns and is numbered with the representative citizens. In 1874, Mr. Walde was married to Miss Mary Kammer, who was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, a daughter of Mathias Kam- HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 625 mer, and athey have had six children, namely : Mary, who married Frank Smith, resides in Fremont ; Joseph, who resides at Clyde; Maude, who married Dr. Henry Shefler, of Sandusky; Irene ; and Edward and Cletus, both of the latter being now deceased.. Mr. Walde and family enjoy a beautiful home, its situation being at No. 903 Birchard Avenue, one of the finest in Fremont. Mr. Walde is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the German Aid Society. ALBERT J. GIBBS is a well-known citizen of Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He conies of one of the pioneer families of the county, his grandfather, Jonas Gibbs, having located in Riley Township at a very early date. Jonas Gibbs and his wife Rachel came from Vermont and settled here in the woods. Among their children was Jason A. Gibbs, who was born in Riley Township and who was the father of the subject of this record. He was a prosperous farmer and influential citizen and lived a long and useful life, dying on the home place, January 9, 1905. He was married to Elizabeth Coonrod, who was born in Sandusky County, her parents having come from Pickaway County, Ohio, and they had four sons : Albert J. ; Burton, who lives at Clyde, Ohio ; Luther of Riley Township; and John, who lives at Norman, Oklahoma. Albert J. Gibbs was born on the home farm in Riley Township, December 15, 1847, and with the exception of a brief period spent in Carroll County, Tennessee, has always lived in this township. He has always farmed and engaged in stock raising and has 240 acres of good land, 104 acres of which constitutes his home place. He is recognized as a business man of ability and sound judgment, and enjoys high standing in the community. Politically, he is a Republican. Mr. Gibbs was first married to Miss Parmelia C. Wright of Riley Township, who died leaving one son. Burton P. He subsequently was married to Miss Mary S. Swarm, a native of Wood County, Ohio, and they have had the following children : Charles J. ; Willis A. ; Eulalia E. ; Reginald L. and Carroll F. JOHN W. ZILLES, who came to his present farm in Riley Township, Sandusky -County, in 1905, was born in Rice Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, February 8, 1873. His parents are Peter and Christina (Kline) Zilles. The first member of the Zilles family to settle in Sandusky County was the grandfather of John W., Casper Zilles. He was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and settled as a pioneer in Rice Township, where he subsequently married and reared a family. Peter Zilles was born in the little log cabin home of his parents in Rice Township and he continued to live there until the spring of 1908, when he moved to a place in Sandusky Township, near Fremont. He and wife are members of the Lutheran Church. The following members of their family survive : John W.; Frank, of Fremont ; Herman, of Toledo; Edward, of Ottawa County ; Ralph, of Fremont; Emma, wife of Edward Engler, of Rice Township ; Catherine, wife of Josiah Hetrick, of Fremont ; Lulu, wife of Charles Berner, of Fremont ; and Clara, who lives with her parents. John W. Zilles has been a farmer ever since he reached man's estate and is a very practical and successful one. He moved from Rice Township to Riley Township in 1897, and located on the Henry House. farm. Two years later he moved to the Louis Zeigler farm, where he remained five years. He then purchased his present farm of forty acres, on which he has since lived. On September 28, 1893, he was married to Miss Louisa Hetrick, a daughter of Jacob Hetrick, who once was a. prominent farmer in Rice Township, and the"), have a family of six children, as follows : Wilbur, Edna, Elizabeth, Orville, George and Hilda. Mr. Zilles and family belong to Grace Lutheran Church at Fremont. In politics he is a Democrat and at present he is serving in the office of constable of Riley Township. 626 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY CHARLES H. CLAPP, who, in association with his wife, owns 107 acres of valuable farm land in Green Creek Township, which is beautifully Situated on the south side of the Maumee turnpike, two and one-half miles west of Clyde, Ohio, was born in the old log house on the Clapp homestead, in which his father formerly, in old days, ran a hotel, in Green Creek Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, November 7, 1849. His parents were Charles C. and Matilda (Seman) Clapp. Charles C. Clapp, father of Charles H., was born in England, November 30, 1812, and was seven years old when his parents brought him to America. They settled in the State of New York for a few years and then made their pioneering way into Ohio, coming directly to Sandusky County and to what is now Clyde but was then called Hammers' Corners. Mr. Clapp was a farmer at first. but later gave all his attention to drilling wells, at which he was very successful, drilling hundreds of them and was the first man to strike a full flow of water in this section of Ohio. He bought 300 acres of land in Green Creek Township, paying $5 per acre for some of it. It was heavily timbered land an.d the clearing of it was a gigantic task. He survived until August 12, 1883, dying at Clyde. On February 22, 1844, he was married to Matilda Seman, who was horn February 22, 1824, in New Jersey, and died June 3, 1899. To them were born the following children : Daniel, and Ernestine, both deceased; Charles Holmes; Seman J.; Horace; Arthur; and Robert Benjamin and an infant, both deceased. Charles H. Clapp remained at home with his parents until he was married. As opportunity offered, he attended the district schools through boyhood, but spent years in assisting his father clear the farm and get it under cultivation. He has always devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and has always lived in Green. Creek Township. He purchased his first twenty-seven acres of land from Judge Lemon, of Clyde. On December 16, 1872, Mr. Clapp was married to Miss Sarah J. Noggle, a daughter of Joseph Noggle, who was an old settler of Green Creek Township. They have had two children : Jesse. who died aged six years: and Della, who is the wife of Elmer McKinzie. Mr. and Mrs. McKinzie reside with Mr. and Mrs. Clapp. They have one daughter, Evelyn, In politics, Mr. Clapp is a Democrat. JOHN C. MICHAEL, a well known farmer and stock raiser of Sandusky Township, where he owns a fine farm of 15o acres, was born in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, October 19, 1852, and is a son of George and Catherine (Mathia) Michael, who came to America from Alsace, France, and established themselves in Sandusky County. John C. Michael grew to manhood in Sandusky Township and as the opportunity was afforded, attended school in his boyhood. He has always been more interested in agricultural pursuits than in any other occupation and has resided the greater part of his life ina his own township. However, early in the eighties, he went to Wood County and was there engaged in farming, in Portage Township, until 1901, when he returned to Sandusky County and settled on his present farm. While in Wood County, Mr. Michael was married to Miss Emma Mettei, who was born in Sandusky Township, Sandusky County, a daughter of Henry Mettei, who resides with Mr. and Mrs. Michael and is one of Sandusky Township's most venerable residents. To the above marriage have been born nine children. namely: John R., Eva, Edward H., William, Raymond, Clarence, Verna, Gladys and Lester. Mr. Michael is a firm friend of the public schools and is giving his family every advantage in his power to make them useful and respected members of society. He and his older sons are identified with the Democratic party. WILLIAM FOUGHT, owner of a general store at Havens Station, a fine residence property at Gibsonburg and a half-acre tract of land, on which he resides, in Jackson Township. was horn August 4, 1842, in Washington Township, Sandusky County. and is a son of Solomon and Maria (Dupler) Fought. Michael Fought, grandfather of our subject, established the Fought family in Ohio. Coming at a very early period from Pennsylvania to Sandusky County, where he entered land from the government in Washington Township AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 627 along the Big Mud Creek.. Here he passed the remainder of his life, living to an advanced age, He was the father of the following children: Paul, Michael, Solomon, William, Levi, Pally, Nancy and Sarah, Solomon Fought was a farmer by occupation and spent his entire life in Sandusky County, He first married Maria Dupler, who died aged twenty-eight years, leaving a family of six children : Frank, William, Sadie. Ann (died aged sixteen years), Emmeline and Elizabeth. Solomon Fought later married his former wife's sister, Julia Ann Dupler, and of this union were born Caroline, Matilda, David (deceased), Stephen, Douglas, Irene and Loretta. Solomon Fought died at the age of about fifty-four years. William Fought spent his boyhood days ona his father's farm in Washington Township and attended the local schools of this district. After leaving the parental roof he purchased the old Kruth farm of forty acres in Jackson Township and cultivated it for a period of fourteen years. He then sold the land and engaged in the flour and feed business at Gibsonburg for ten years, at one time also operating 'a laundry and notion store in that village. On September 30, 1904, he came to Havens Station, having purchased his present business from Mr. Rosenburger, which he has since continued to operate. His fine residence Property in Gibsonburg was purchased in April, 1887, from G. W, Burkhardt and has undergone many improvements since the time of his purchase. November 30, 1863, Mr. Fought was united in marriage with Harriet Imes, who was born October 6, 1845, and is a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Mooney) Imes. They are the parents of the following children : Mary Jane, is the wife of John Barman of this county, and has two children, Lulu and Forest ; Anneta, is the wife of Allen Kern, a resident of Sandusky County, and they have one child, Webb; Cora, married 0. B. Havens of Jackson Township and they have two children, Chatie, who married Granville Smith, and Orla, who married William Speller ; Charles, who resides in Illinois, married Maud Flinchbaugh, and has three children, Harry, Margaret and Charles W. Mr. Fought has served as a school director of this township, is a member and prominent worker in the Methodist Church of Fremont, Ohio, and was for twenty-five years class-leader of the church of Gibsonburg, of which he was also steward. BYRON RULE DUDROW was born near Green Spring, in Adams Township, Seneca County, Ohio, March I, 1855, and is a son of David W. and Mary J. (Rule) Dudrow, the former of whom was born October 25, 1825, in Frederick County, Maryland, a son of David and Elizabeth (Hines) Dudrow, also natives of Maryland. David W. Dudrow settled in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1845, becoming the owner of a large farm there, which he conducted up to the time of his death, prospering himself and assisting others to prosper. His life was an example of industry, integrity and unselfishness. On January 8, 1853, he was married to Mary J. Rule, daughter of Daniel and Jane (Gross-cost) Rule. Daniel Rule, grandfather of Byron R. Dudrow, was born October 28, 1801, on the banks of the Susquehanna River in Perry County, Pennsylvania. He was of Teutonic descent, while his wife, Jane (Grosscost) was of Scotch-Irish lineage. In the fall of 1824 he moved to Seneca County, Ohio, at which time the Seneca Indians lived on the Seneca Reservation, some of whom were red men of note, including the famous warrior chief Small Cloud Spicer, who at that time was a resident of the Sandusky valley. Daniel Rule's grandfather, Jasper Rule, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving under General Washington, and participated in the siege of Yorktown. Byron R, Dudrow received his elementary education at the common schools of his neighborhood, which was supplemented by courses of study at the high schools of Tiffin and Clyde, Ohio. In the autumn of 1872 he entered the preparatory department of Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, remaining there continuously until June, 1877. He gained one year upon his class, and did not attend College in 1877-8, but spent the time in reading law. On June 6th, 1878, at Berea, he graduated from Bald- 628 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY win University in the classical course, receiving the degree of, B. A, and on June 9, 1881, the degree of A. was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater. Byron R. Dudrow was united in marriage November 21, 1878, at Clyde, Ohio, to Mary Elizabeth Meek, a teacher in the Clyde public schools and daughter of Basil Meek. He commenced the study of law June 18, 1877, in the office of Basil Meek at Clyde, Ohio, and April 26; 1879, he was admitted to the bar by the District Court. He did not, however, at once enter into active practice, but served as deputy clerk of courts, with his father-in-law, Basil Meek, who had in 1878 been elected to that office. He commenced the practice of law at Fremont, Ohio, April 26, 1880. From r883 till 1888 he was associated as partner with 'Henry R. Finefrock. He practiced alone from 1888 until 1891, when he and Basil Meek formed the law firm of Meek & Dudrow, which continued until October, 1906, when Mr. Dudrow retired from practice temporarily, on account of ill health. J. W. Worst was part aof this time associated with Meek & Dudrow and the firm was then Meek, Dudrow & Worst. Mr. Dudrow was city solicitor of Fremont for a period of six years or three times, the duties of which he discharged with ability and to the satisfaction of the public, He has pursued the practice of his profession with zeal and success. He has been engaged in important cases, prominent among which was the defense of Mrs. Lizzie Aldridge, who was charged with the murder of her husband, John Aldridge, the trial occurring at Hastings, Nebraska, in May, 1889. She was acquitted. Of Mr. Dudrow's efforts in the case the Hastings (Neb.) Republican said : "Mr, Dudrow, of Fremont, Ohio, was an earnest and pleasing talker. Every word and action had power and weight that exerted an influence upon the jurors." The Adams County (Neb.) Democrat, also speaking of his able argument at the trial, said : "Of Mr. Dudrow, of Fremont, Ohio, it may be said that during the trial he won the good opinion and admiration of our people by his manly, eloquent and logical arguments to the jury and by the able manner in which he con- ducted the part of the case assigned to him." Politically, Mr. Dudrow is a Democrat. In his church relations he is a member of the First M. E, Church, of Fremont. He is a member of Croghan I. O. O. F. Lodge and Encampment; Knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Besides a handsome residence on Birchard Avenue, in Fremont, be owns a fine farm of over 300 acres in Townsend Township, Sandusky County, situated within its northern boundary on the south shore of Sandusky Bay. Mr. Dudrow is public spirited, ever ready to aid in promoting the best interest of his city and the public welfare. LEANDER BLOKER, who has been in business at Lindsey, Ohio, for a period of twenty-seven years, operates a planing mill and deals extensively in lumber and is also vice president of the German Banking Company of this place. Mr. Bloker was born in Ballville Township, Sandusky 'County, Ohio, March 11, 1849, and is a son of John and Eliza (Shisler) Bloker. The father of Mr. Bloker was born at Buffalo, New York, and died in Ballville Township, Sandusky County, February 15, 1859. He was a farmer and a cooper and came from Buffalo with his wife, in 1847. He married Eliza Shisler, who was born in Pennsylvania, and they had two sons: Leander and Frank. The latter was born in 1856, married Lucy Fought, and died in 1892. In 1865 the widowed mother of Mr. Bloker was married (second) to Daniel -Waggoner and they had one daughter, Ella, who married Samuel Knecht and lives at Chicago, Illinois, where he is an attorney for a bank. Mrs. Waggoner died at Lindsey, in 1881. Leander Bloker obtained his education in the public schools, after which, from 1866 until 1882, he worked at the carpenter trade, and then turned his attention to his present business, in the latter year entering into partnership with Mr. Wilson, under the firm name of Bloker & Wilson. This continued until 1893, when Mr. Bloker; bought Mr. Wilson's interest and continued alone HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 631 until June 15, 1907, when his plant was destroyed by fire. He has rebuilt and resumed operation under still better conditions and is one of the town's most energetic and enterprising business men. He handles a full line of all kinds of lumber and deals in window frames, sash, etc. He is a stockholder in the German Banking Company and vice president of the same. On January I, 1874, Mr. Bloker was married to Miss Hattie Box, a daughter of Nicholas and Rachel (Berry) Box. Mr. Box was married (first) to Mary Waggoner, and Mrs. Box was married (first) to Benjamin Foster, Mrs. Bloker has two full brothers, William and Frank, and one half-brother, Nicholas, and one full-sister, Ella, and one half-sister, Sarah. Mr. and Mrs, Bloker have three children, namely: Calvin, who was born April 4, 1875, married Clara Ulch, and they have two children—Lyda and Lucille, and they live at Lindsey; Carl F., who was born January 21, 1879, married Blanche Boyer and they live in Missouri and have two children—Margaret and Genevieve ; and Raymond, who was born November 19, 1893, and is a bright student in the Lindsey public schools. Mr. Bloker and family belong to the Evangelical Church. In politics he is a Republican and has frequently been elected to responsible offices in the town and has served most acceptably as a member of the council and both as school and town treasurer. THELISMER O. WIGHTMAN, owner of Riverside Park or Wightman's Grove, an attractive summer resort, situated in Riley Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, also owns a well improved farm of forty acres. He was born in Ottawa County, near Lakeside, Ohio, December 23, 1847, and is a son of Alphonso W. and Mary (Capman) Wightman, the former of whom was born in Massachusetts and the latter in Ohio. Thelismer O. Wightman attended school in Ottawa County until he was about fifteen years of age, when he accompanied his parents to Riley Township, Sandusky County, and later to York Township, Sandusky County, where he lived for a number of years. In 1873 he returned to Riley Township and in 1890 he settled on the farm on which he now lives. The valuable property known as Riverside Park has been developed and improved by Mr. Wight-man and made into one of the pleasantest summer resorts in this section. He has a number of comfortable cottages to rent for the season and has provided all kinds of entertaining amusements for residents or picknickers. Boating and fishing are popular features. Mr. Wightman married Miss Hattie Turner, who was born at Fremont, Ohio, and they have had five children, namely : Daisy M., who is the wife of Frank Nickle, of Rice Township; Addie M., who is the wife of Herman Betow; of Riley Township; and Harold E., Margery M. and Verna 0., all at home. Mr. Wightman and family belong to the United Brethren Church. In politics he is a Republican. He is an enterprising business man, one who is largely self-made, and he enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who have dealings or association with him, GEORGE FRANK KENAN, who manages his mother's farm of 120 acres, which is situated in Jackson Township, was born on this place, July 10, 1864, and is a son of George W. and Elizabeth (Posey) Kenan. Both the Kenans and the Poseys are old Ohio families, and on the maternal side, the great-grandfather was Major Micajah Posey, an officer in the Revolutionary War. He married Elizabeth Preston, who was of English birth, On the paternal side the great-grandfather was James Kenan, who was born in Ireland and died in 1858, in Jackson Township, Sandusky County. His wife was born in 1780 and they had eleven children. Silas Kenan, grandfather of George Frank, was born February 3, 1807, near Wheeling, West Virginia, and in 1815 settled in Perry County, Ohio, where he lived until 1835, when he moved to Jackson Township, Sandusky County, where he died in 1875, He married Barbara Overmyer, born February 20, 1802, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Overmyer, of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The children of 632 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY Silas and Barbara Kenan were the following: Hugh, who died in infancy; George W., father of George Frank ; Thomas J., born in 1829, married Jemima Housman, who died in 1864, and he was killed in a runaway accident at Fremont, December 31, 1864; Peter married Sarah A. Hodgson and they had one child, William M., who married Sylvia A. Powell ; Minerva, born in 1830, married William Jackson of Fremont and they had two children, Thomas and Charles; Mahala, born in 1832, married Thomas J. Eldridge of Indiana, a soldier in the Civil War; Francis, who married Eliza Straus and has four children—Ellen, Minerva, William 0. and Birchard; Mary Ann, who married Charles Robinson, of Michigan, has children named—Francis, Milo, Charles, Clifford, Howard and Minnie; Oscar, who is a farmer near Galesburg, Illinois, married Margaret Ickes and they have five children; and Caroline, born July 1o, 1847, married Daniel Condon and died July 25, 1871. George W. Kenan of the above family, was born in Perry County, Ohio, July 31, 1824, and died in Jackson Township, January 31, 1904. He started to work on a farm by the month when he was only ten years old and through economy, industry, and the exercise of good judgment became one of the wealthy men of his community. His first purchase of land in Jackson Township, was a tract of 18o acres. He then bought 122 acres in Scott Township which he leased to the Standard Oil Company. He was a Democrat in his political views and was a member of the Baptist Church for many years. On October 13, 1851, he married Miss Elizabeth Posey, who was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1832, a daughter of Isaac and Sabra (Preston) Posey. Her father was born near Philadelphia, in 1804, and her mother in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, in 181o. The children of the Posey family were: Sarah, Elizabeth, Sabra, Luther, Rachel, Hannah, Harriet, Belle, Susanna, Martha, Mary, John, David, Esther and William. The father died in 1858 and the mother, September 20, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Posey came to Black Swamp, Ohio, when Mrs. Kenan was two years old. The children born to George W. and Elizabeth Kenan were the following : Barbara, who died in infancy; Orrin, who married Angeline King, has two children, Frank and Lulu; Charles, who married Mary Cookson, has an adopted daughter, Fleeta; Lodema, who married Michael Mowery, has three children—Charles, Lewis and Webb; Marshall, who married Carrie Smith, and they have one child, Arthur; Lorena, who married Elijah Voorhees, of Seneca County; and Frank, The youngest son has always remained on the homestead and takes care of his mother's interests. He is a successful farmer and respected citizen of Jackson Township. He married Miss Clara Havens and they have two children, Erma E. and Ada. Like his late father, he is identified with the Democratic party. DANIEL KARBLER, a representative citizen whose principal business is that of a contracting stone mason, is also engaged in farming on a tract of twenty-six acres in Riley Township, on which he lives. He was born in that township, February 15, 1867, and is a son of Adam and Christina (Diehr) Karbler, both natives of Germany. Adam Karbler was quite young when brought by his parents to the United States, and lived in the State of Maryland for a time before coming west to Sandusky County. Ohio. He settled on a farm in Riley Township and became one of the substantial men of that community. For a brief period prior to his death, he lived in Fremont, where his widow is now living at the age of 73 years. He was a Democrat in politics, whilst. religiously, he was a member of the Lutheran Church at Fremont. Daniel Karbler was reared on the home farm. in Riley Township, and received a common school education. He then turned his attention to farming, which he has followed during a greater part of his career, but in recent years he has met with considerable success as a contractor in stone masonry. He is a man of ability in his line and enjoys high standing, in the community. Politically, he is a Democrat. January 25, 1898, Mr. Karbler was married to Miss Ida Seward, a native of Sandusky AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 633 County, and a daughter of John Seward of Fremont, Their children are Ruth, Ruby and Herbert D. Religiously, the family attends the Lutheran Church at Fremont. In fraternal affiliation, he is a member of the Maccabees. JOHN SNYDER, who is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Sandusky County, his home being in Washington Township, is numbered among the native sons of that county, where he was born May 25, 1846. His parents were James and Elizabeth (Fought) Snyder. His father was born in Berkeley County, Virginia, December 15, 1800. He was in his early life one of the hardy and exemplary young men who sought early a home in the wilds of the western country, which was then principally inhabited by wild animals, savage beasts and venomous reptiles. His father was a millwright ; also the owner of a large grist-mill, and his vigorous and reliable son, James, was the miller. This was his principal occupation until he arrived at the age of 23 years. Having never attended school, except about two months, in all his life, he had at that time a very limited knowledge of books, and nearly everything else, save what his father as a millwright had taught him. The thrilling stories of western hunters and adventurers, which he had frequently heard, had inspired within him a desire to emigrate westward, and to obtain for himself satisfactory knowledge as to the truth of these statements. The necessary arrangements were soon made and in the spring of 1825 he bade adieu to the home of his childhood with all its endearments, and came, in company with his brother-in-law, Andrew Miller, in a two-horse wagon to the central part of Ohio, where he spent about two years in different parts of the state, working at times for a shilling a day. He then concluded to return home and visit his father's family and friends. With but a few dollars jingling in his pockets, and with no friend to accompany him save his rifle, he set out on foot for his father's home in Virginia. There was a long and dreary road stretched out before him; but his determination, supported by his physical strength, was more than, equal to the task. He accomplished his journey in safety, subsisting principally upon what game he killed along the way. He remained at home a few months, and again set out on foot, and came to Perry County, Ohio, where be soon after married Elizabeth, a daughter of Michael Fought, with whom he lived peaceably and happily from that time until his death, which occurred July 20, 1876. He came to this county in 1830, and in Washington Township entered eighty acres of government land, upon which he built what he called a snug little log cabin. He was now surrounded on all sides by large forests extending for many miles in every direction. The tall and stately trees prevented even the sun from shining down upon the little log cabin which he had built. The hungry wolves and other wild animals would come at night and howl and bark around his door, as though they craved him for their prey. It was not long, however, until he had cleared away a spot of ground upon which to raise some corn, which was the only grain that he could raise for a number of years. Thus he obtained for himself and family a scant living, for a few years subsisting chiefly upon corn bread and wild game. His neighbors were few and far away, and, being as poor as he, could therefore give him but little or no assistance. He would frequently carry a bushel of corn to mill all the way to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), eight miles through the mud and water, and return the same day, and then take mush and milk for his supper. He was firm and determined in everything he undertook. Patience, perseverance and hard labor procured for him and his companion a comfortable and pleasant home which has been their enjoyment for a number of years. His companion died September the 17th, 1881, aged 72 years, 6 months and 16 days, a grand and heroic woman, no work being too laborious for her to do for the comfort of the family. There were eleven children in the family : Eliza Ann, wife of Philip Kluts, a Jackson Township farmer; she was the eldest of the family of children, was born in Perry County, Ohio, February 7, 183o, and died in Sandusky County, May 12, 189o, aged 6o years, 3 months and 5 days; she was 634 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY a faithful member of the United Brethren Church; her hope was very bright, and she requested her friends to meet her in heaven, Sarah, wife of Joel Dershem, a farmer, was born January 5, 1832, died January 25, 1895; she was a faithful member of the Methodist Church, and her prayers were turned to praise before her spirit took its flight. John Snyder, the oldest of the boys, a highly respected citizen was born September the 8th, 1833, and died May 7, 1903; in religious belief he belonged to the Reformed Church. William Snyder was born March 9, 1836, and died February 14, 1837, aged 11 months and 15 days. James Snyder, a farmer, was born March 17, 1838, and died January 26, 1863, aged 24 years, To months and 9 days. Levi Snyder, a farmer in Sandusky County, was born March 12, 1840, is in church belief a Methodist. Samuel Snyder is living in Fremont a respected citizen, was born January 9, 1842. Noah Snyder, by occupation a restaurant man, lived in Fremont. He was born March 7, 1844, died July 4, 1905. John Snyder, the seventh son, is the subject proper of these lines, and will be more fully referred to presently. He was born May 25, 1846. Elizabeth, became the wife of Jackson King, a Sandusky County farmer, and afterwards she was the wife of Samuel Lay, was born June 1, 1848. Emma, the youngest, is the wife of James Seagraves, a farmer living in Michigan; she was born. January 4, 1853. The children are worthy representatives of that class which constitutes America's best citizens, and they owe it all to the training they received under the parental roof. John Snyder, after finishing the work of the rural school, attended college at Oberlin, Ohio, and Adrian, Michigan, for some time and became a successful teacher, after which he was successfully engaged in agriculture. On October 2, 1873, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Mahala Cookson, a daughter of William Cookson, one of the leading farmers of Sandusky County. She was also a successful teacher, and they have one child, Mabelle, born September 25, 1884 ; she is at present engaged in teaching school and music. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are widely known throughout the community, and have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances who esteem them highly for their sterling worth. In religious belief they are Methodists. HENRY F. SETZLER, treasurer of Sandusky Township and one of its enterprising business men, conducts a grocery store at Storey Prairie, in the outskirts of Fremont, Ohio. He was born at Fremont, September 5, 1865, and is a son of Philip and Clara (Gottron) Setzler. He was educated in St. Joseph's Parochial School at Fremont and later enjoyed the broadening influences of travel. For some years he was engaged in the express business, which necessitated travel through the West, in connection with the Union Pacific Railroad, and later he went to Europe. In 1892 he established his present business at Storey Prairie and has become one of the leading men of Sandusky Township. In politics he is a Democrat, and on the ticket of that party he was elected township treasurer and is serving in his second term. He has also served as assessor and is land appraiser. In 1892 Mr. Setzler was married to Marie Blaess, who was born in Schwetzingen Baden, Germany, and they have two children : Anna M., and Frantz. Mr. Setzler and wife are members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Fremont, and he is an active member of the Knights of Columbus. ALVIN ANDERSON, 1800-1893. Mr. Alvin Anderson was born July 28, 1800, in the State of New York. His parents were of Scotch descent and had in them all the elements of this sturdy people ; strength of mind, endurance, courage and religious zeal. He was married in 1820, to Miss Harriet Baldwin, of Newark, New Jersey, and in the spring of 1839, Mr. Anderson moved with his family from Honeoye, Ontario County, New York, to Bellevue, Ohio. He settled on a farm and one-half miles east of Bellevue, where by his great industry and intregity he became one of the leading farmers of Huron County. He was interested in education, contributing largely to institutions of learning, especially AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 635 the ones at Lima, New York, and Berea. and Delaware, Ohio. He educated his children, giving them the advantages of the best schools and colleges, and was always interested in the education of others. Mr. Anderson was zealous in his own church—a loyal Methodist—but not only charitable to other denominations, but also liberal in his gifts to them. His father's house was a home for preachers, and so was his own home and many times the gospel was preached there and souls were converted to Christ under his own roof. He was the first to organize a Methodist class in Bellevue, and the names on that class book are as follows : James Anderson, wife and daughter ; Alvin Anderson, his wife Harriet, and daughter Ada-line, who became the well known and beloved Mrs. J. B. Higbee. This class was organized in 1839, and their preaching place was in the stone schoolhouse which stood on the site of the West Main Street school building. They afterwards fitted up a room in an old block on Main Street which stood near the present site of the post-office. Here they worshipped until 1845, when the society built the brick church on Center Street, now owned by the German Lutheran Society. Mr. Anderson gave from memory the names of the preachers from the first up to 1852 to the historian of Sandusky County, which were as follows : Wilson. Camp, Pierce, Hill, Cooper, Fast, Start, Worden, Spafford, Fant, Pounds, Breakfield, Thompson, Morrow, Cables. Mr. Anderson was a leader in all church work, and had much to do in building up Methodism in this community. He was a steward in the church fifty years and the records show that he was present at every quarterly conference but one. He labored zealously and ardently for the cause of Christ, and was very active in the construction of the commodious church which stands on Main Street, and in which Mr. Anderson's funeral services were conducted. In 1870 Mr. and Mrs. Anderson celebrated their golden wedding. After living together sixty-two years, Mrs. Anderson died in 1882. After her death Mr. Anderson lived alternately with his daughters, Mrs. J. B. Higbee, of Belle- vue, Ohio, and Mrs. Basil Meek, of Fremont, Ohio. He died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Basil Meek, 1126 Birchard Avenue, Fremont, Ohio, Sunday, March 5, 1893, aged 92 years, 7 months and 5 days. The funeral was held Wednesday afternoon at the Methodist Church, conducted by the pastor, Rev. M. J. Keyes, who was assisted by Rev. Persons, of Galion; Rev. Albritton, of Fremont, and Rev. Gallimore, of Norwalk, the latter delivering the funeral sermon. The remains were laid to rest in Bellevue cemetery. Three children, Mrs. Meek, and two sons, J. E. Anderson, of Daytona, Florida, and A. C. Anderson, of New Bremen, Ohio, survived. Thus closed the earthly life of a useful and good man. His pilgrimage was a long one, beginning with the century. What revolutions and changes in the nation, in politics, in art, in science, in learning, in civilization, and society ! Twenty such lives would reach back to the death of Christ. He lived under the administration of every president except Washington up to the time of President Cleveland's second inauguration. Mr. Anderson could prattle the English language when Ohio became a state. He was 12 years old when Congress declared war against Great Britain ; was a young man 16 years when Bishop Asbury died ; was born eleven years before the immortal Bishop Simpson, who, twenty-five years ago, dedicated the Methodist Church of Bellevue. He lived to see the church grow from a class of eight to a membership of over three hundred, and friends and patrons more than four hundred more. In 1844 Bellevue circuit had seventeen appointments and Bellevue paid $40 per acre for her share. He lived to see it become one of our leading stations, raising in money annually more than $2,500 for all purposes. Who would despise the day of small things, and who can measure the influence of a good man who for over seventy years was in active service for God, humanity and country ? What wise counsels, what ardent prayers, what testimonials, what gifts of money, what visitations to the sick ! Nearly three generations came and went, but were all influenced by his life. Surely we can say, "How blest the righteous when he 636 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY dies." "God ordereth the steps of a good man." And may his mantle fall upon the young and middle aged men that hundreds may be as useful in their day and generation as was he in his: What a living monument of Christ's gospel, and what a burning and shining path and evening sunset, as contrasted to the dark and misty way of selfishness, lust and sin which ends in shame, and goes down in night ! In the days of the renaissance they transported pillars from the old to the new cathedrals. Surely he was a pillar in the church and hath entered into the fulfillment of John the Revelator : "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God." PETER MILLER, who is engaged in agriculture on a tract of 240 acres, of which 224 acres are located in Jackson Township, and sixteen acres in Scott Township, is a native of Medina County, Ohio, having been born there April 24, 1840, son of Peter and Katherine (Albright) Miller. Peter and Katherine Miller, parents of the subject of this sketch, were both natives of Germany, and Peter Miller came to the United States at the age of twenty-one years, locating in Medina County, Ohio, where he resided for many years, engaged in farming. Later in life he moved to Sandusky County and settled on the farm now owned by his son Peter in Jackson Township. He married Mrs. Katherine Albright, a widow, and to them were horn the following children : Mary, Peter, Christina and Augustus, the last mentioned being now deceased. Mrs. Miller was the mother of three children also by her first marriage, namely, Coonrod, Katherine Rechter, and John Rechter, all of whom are now deceased. Peter Miller, Sr., died on the present farm of his son, the subject of this sketch, having attained the advanced age of eighty-seven years ; his wife passed away at the age of seventy-four. Peter Miller, of the present generation, passed his boyhood days on his father's farm in Medina County, Ohio, and attending district school as he found opportunity. In 1864 he accompanied his father to San dusky County and operated his present farm on shares with his father, who had purchased it, for a period of six years. He then purchased the property and has since made most of the improvements thereon, having erected all the buildings now standing, including two houses and a barn. A portion of his farm lies in Millersville, which village was named after his father. Mr. Miller was married, February 6, 1866, at Tiffin, Ohio, to Lucy Bihn, a daughter of Andrew and Anna Mary (Link) Bihn, of Seneca County, Ohio. Of this union have been born nine children, as follows : Augustus, Catherine, Hubert, Mary, Joseph, Lucy, Anna, George and Leo, the last mentioned of whom is deceased. Augustus, a resident of Tiffin, Ohio, married Emma Grine, and has seven children—Marie, Peter, Albert, Stella, Loretta, Urban, Arthur, and Catherine Helena (deceased). Catherine married Anthony Foos, of Jackson Township, and has nine children—Lucy, Agnes. Rosie. Catherine, Alfred, Clement, Leo, Lewis, and one that died when a week old. Hubert, who is a resident of Jackson Township, married Josephine Walby, and their children are : Edmond, Walter, Vincent (deceased), Celeste. Alfred and Herman. Mrs. Miller has one sister, Katherine, who is the widow of Marcus Zirger and the mother of twelve children, namely : Louis, Frances, Anna, Otto, Ida, Lucy, Tillie, Lea, Clara (deceased), Albert, Edward and Millie. Mr. Miller and his sons without the assistance of any company or professional oil operators, have drilled eight oil wells on the farm, all of which have proved good producers. He and his family are members of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Millersville. TAYLOR FULLER, president of the People's Bank at Clyde, Ohio, of which he was one of the founders, owns a large stock farm in York Township, Sandusky County, and is an honored veteran of the Civil War. Mr. Fuller was horn March 29, 184o, in Townsend Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and is a son of HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 639 William and Emma M. (Levisse) Fuller, and a grandson of Jason Fuller, who was a native of Connecticut. William Fuller was born January 23, 1799, at Hawley, Massachusetts, and was a son of Jason and Philinda (Taylor) Fuller. He was fifteen years old when his parents moved to Livingston County, New York, and he remained at home until his mother died, two years later, when he started out, as the pioneer of the family, into the wilds of Huron County, Ohio, where his father had secured an option on land, in Milan Township, and there awaited the coming of his father, sister and brother two weeks later. William Fuller continued to reside in Milan Township until 1824, his father having died on the pioneer farm in 1819, one which he had never completed purchasing. For this reason, William Fuller made preparations to move to Sandusky County, and bought forty acres in Green Creek Township, on which he settled in the spring of 1824. In 1834 he bought wild land in Townsend Township on which the remainder of his life was passed. Through prudence and hard work he acquired a large amount of land and was able to rear his family in comfort and assist his sons to establish themselves in life. William Fuller was married (first) in 1819, to Mehetable Botsford, who died in August, 1826. In 1831, in Livingston County. New York, he was married (second) to Cynthia Havens, who died in 1835, and in the same year he was married (third) to Marcia M. George, who died in 1836. Mr. Fuller's last marriage was to Emma M. Levisee, who survived him. She was born March 24, 1818, and was a daughter of Aaron and Anna (Lyon) Levisee, and a granddaughter of James Levisee, who was born in Connecticut. Thomas Lyon, maternal great-grandfather of Taylor Fuller, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, being a captain, and participated in the battle at Bennington, Vermont. To the last marriage of William Fuller three children were born, Taylor, James and Albert. Taylor Fuller was reared on his father's farm in Townsend Township and attended the district schools as opportunity offered. When the Civil War was precipitated he had just reached his majority and the patriot blood of his old New England forefathers made him feel that disunion, was impossible and aroused the enthusiasm that carried him into the army in August, 1862. The moth Ohio Vol. Inf. Regiment was organized at Toledo and there he became a member of Company K, and he continued in the service, a true and faithful soldier until he was mustered out at Greensboro, North Carolina, June 20, 1865. During this time he had seen service in Virginia and Tennessee prior to the Atlanta campaign, in which his regiment was engaged continuously, and upon its triumphant return to Tennessee, fought at Columbia, Franklin and Nashville. After the defeat of General Hood, at the latter place, the regiment, of which Mr. Fuller was then an officer, was sent to Wilmington, North Carolina, and after the capture of that city moved to Goldsboro and soon was mustered out at Greensboro. Although ever at his post of duty, and that was often one of great danger, Mr. Fuller escaped all serious injury and was able to return home and resume the avocations of peace. Two years later he married, in the meanwhile having purchased a farm in Townsend Township, and after some years he disposed of that property and settled on his present one in York Township. .He has carried on general farming in York Township ever since and it is largely through his enterprise that the grade of stock raised in this section is so high. For a number of years his farm has been noted for its first class live stock. Mr. Fuller was married December 3, 1867, to Miss Lina E. Stone. She was born April 15, 1843, in Seneca County, Ohio. They have one son, Dermont E., who fills the position of cashier of the People's Bank at Clyde. In politics Mr. Fuller is identified with the Republican party and never fails to perform every duty of a good citizen, but he aspires to no political office. He is a member of Eaton Post, G. A. R. HENRY BAKER, who carries on general farming in Green Creek Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, owns sixty-two acres of excellent land, the home farm, situated on the east side of the Green Spring and Maumee Turn- 640 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY pike roads. Mr, Baker was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, seven miles east of Circleville, June 14, 1834, and is a son of John B, and Mary (Gephart) Baker. John B, Baker was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, but the Baker family came originally from Germany. Three brothers, Abraham, George and Jacob, all German farmers, came to Maryland at an early day and from there the grandfather of Henry Baker subsequently Moved with his family to Ohio, settling in Pickaway County. Although John B. Baker was a little boy at the time, he remembered the long journey made in wagons. He grew to manhood in Pickaway County and there was married to Mary Gephart. In 1841 they moved to Sandusky County and settled in Jackson Township, seven miles west of Fremont, this being his second pioneering trip made in great covered wagons. Again the home was to be developed from the great woods. It requires a large amount of effort to build any kind of a house and as Mr. Baker had no tools to work with except a broad-axe, it was quite a feat to construct from the green logs the little one-room cabin. A floor of hewn logs made the interior dry and a clapboard roof kept out the storm. Then began the daily toil to clear the land and when it was well under way he sold it. John B. Baker acquired three farms, each containing eighty acres, which he bought for $7 an acre. He then moved to Green Creek Township and settled on the present George Hawk farm and there his remaining years were spent and his death came when he had reached his seventy-seventh year. His widow lived some years longer, being over eighty years old when she died. They had a family of eleven children : Leonard, Eli, William, Catherine, Henry, Mary, John, Jacob, Abraham, Rebecca, and an infant. Henry Baker was seven years old when his parents came to Sandusky County. He helped his father clear the Jackson Township land and just as soon as old and strong enough, began to perform farm labor. He obtained his education in an old log schoolhouse near by, where the pupils sat on rough hewn logs, supported by pegs driven through for legs. He remained at home until his marriage and for several years following it and then purchased his present farm from his father. The old log house in which he was reared he replaced by a substantial frame one, but he can remember awakening many winter mornings, in the old place, finding snow on his bed which had sifted through the logs. Mr. Baker has always been a farmer and is numbered with the good managers of his section. On December 9, 1860, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Elizabeth Hawk, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Tillotson) Hawk. She was born and reared in Green Creek Township. To this marriage seven children were born, all of whom survive, and through whom Mr. and Mrs. Baker have become grandparents of a large and intelligent family : Ella married August Young and lives in Green Creek Township with their seven children, Hazel, Henry, Bessie, Jay, Esther, Herbert and Ernest ; Ralph, who married Lavina McKelvey, lives in Sandusky Township, and they have two children, Frank and Jennie ; George, who resides at Toledo, Ohio, married Matilda Rice, and they have five children, Hazel, Robert, Walter, Margaret and Ivan ; Burton, who lives in Norwalk, Ohio, married Anna Goughtsletter, and they have one child, Mabel ; Ada, who married Bert Ferguson, residing in Ballville Township, has three children, Grace, Rollin and Mary; Arthur, now a resident of Idaho, who served in the Philippine Islands ; and Chester, who married Margaret Ferguson, resides at home and manages the farm for his father. Mr. Baker and family are members and supporters of the Lutheran Church. In politics he is a Democrat and at various times he has served in the local offices, such as school director and supervisor. Mr. Baker stands as one of the representative men of Green Creek Township. PROF. ALOYSIUS MENKHAUS, professor of music, and organist of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, of Fremont, Ohio. has been organist continually of this church since September, 1876. He was born in Osnabruck in the Kingdom of Hanover, but which is now a Province of Germany, June 21, 1856, son of Gerhard and Caroline (Averbeck) Menkhaus. Gerhard Menkhaus was a teacher in the schools AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 641 in Osnabruck (Hanover) and he died in 1874. When the subject of this sketch was two years old. his mother died, and he was reared by a step-mother, whose maiden name was Anna Jansen. She died in 1873. Thus young Aloysius attended school in Osnabruck, and while yet a small boy showed marked evidence of musical talent, which he was encouraged to develop. He made the piano and organ his chief studies, also studying the violin to some extent. In particular he studied harmony and the theory of music. His first teacher was Joseph Feldmann, of whom he took lessons for several years. He then studied under Prof. Weilerswist for several years and afterwards under Dr. Bernard Klein, a very distinguished teacher and composer, who was himself a pupil of the great composer, Johannes Neppomuck Hummel, and organist and director of music at the cathedral at Osnabruck. Professor Menkhaus often played at the cathedral as substitute of Dr. Klein. During the time that Professor Menkhaus was Studying under Dr. Klein he was also taking a literary and teacher's course which included general school and music teaching at the college, connected with the cathedral at Osnabruck. He studied with Dr. Klein until he was eighteen years old; then he taught music, physics, geography and German grammar. He also studied Latin from the age of twelve to sixteen. He had private pupils and also taught in classes. He was thus engaged' in Schapen, a college town in Hanover, where he remained until May, 1876, when he came to America. In Germany teachers are required to give but six weeks' military service, except in the event of war, and about this time Professor Menkhaus was drawn to serve in the army. He had just received an invitation from an aunt, Mrs. Sophia Menkhaus, of Delphos, Ohio, to come to America, and as his parents had died and all his relatives were in America—four of his uncles being in Cincinnati—he decided to come to America. After arriving here, he remained in Delphos until September, 1876, at which time he secured his present position as organist at St. Joseph's Church, in Fremont, Ohio. He is also choir director of St. Joseph's Church choir; besides he has taught music, piano and organ, in Fremont and vicinity since 1876. Professor Menkhaus was married November 7, 1878, to Mary Ann Hochenedel, daughter of Anthony and Anna Mary (Weber) Hochenedel. The Hochenedels are among the most prominent families of the county, Mrs. Menkhaus' parents were natives of the Province of Alsace-Lorraine. She herself was born and reared in Sandusky County, Ohio. Professor Menkhaus and wife are the parents of six children, Joseph, Eda Louise, Rosa Mary, Otto Paul, Leona Marie and Marie Clara Columbia. Eda Louise, the eldest daughter, is the wife of W. S. Finley. She is a talented musician, having studied since a child under her father, and until her marriage, August 21, 19o9, she was a prominent member and clerk of the Matinee Musical Club of Fremont. Professor Menkhaus resides and has his studio at No. 1125 Buckland Avenue. He and his family are all members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, of Fremont. HUGH HAVENS, a leading citizen of Jackson Township, residing on his finely improved farm of 200 acres, a part of which was the old homestead, was born one mile north of his present home, in Jackson Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, October 8, 1835, and is a son of Henry and Sarah (Imes) Havens. The parents of Mr. Havens came to Jackson Township in 1831, accompanied from Franklin County by the Imes and the King families, who were all kindred. They all took ,up government land, Henry Havens securing 16o acres ; Hugh Imes, 240 acres, and Samuel King, who was an uncle of Henry Havens, 160 acres, Henry Havens was born in New Jersey in 1809; he was brought to Franklin County in childhood and died in Jackson Township in 1853. He married Sarah Imes, who died in her thirty-seventh year. They had the following children : W. J. and aHugh; Mahala, now deceased, married G. W. Shawl; Birchard; Orra, who married (third) M. Rinebolt ; Mary J., now deceased, who married Charles Can; and a babe that died unnamed. Hugh Havens has seldom been out of his native township, where he obtained his edu- 642 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY cation in the old log schoolhouse and learned to be a good farmer on his father's land. On May 2, 1864, he enlisted for a term of z00 days of service in the Civil War, becoming a member of Company H, 169th Regiment, and during this period was stationed at Fort Ethan Allen. He was honorably discharged at Cleveland on September 4, 1864. He was a member of the Moore Post, G. A. R., at Fremont, which has since been disbanded. By the terms of his father's will he received 120 acres of land and he subsequently purchased the remaining land he owns from Mr. Naugle and Mr. Whitmore. He follows general agriculture and his highly cultivated land gives rich returns. He has a fine residence and substantial and attractive farm buildings. On April 15, 1856, in Riley Township, Sandusky County, Mr. Havens was married to Miss Anna C. Daub, who is a daughter of Henry and Catherine Daub, and they have the following children : John, Sophronia J., Emma, Birchard, Ida E., Sarah M. and Hugh. John died when aged twenty years. Sophronia J. married C. E. Mitchell and they live in Jackson Township and have had nine children, Verna, William, Carl, Effie, Clyde, James, Fern, Ada and Emma (deceased). Emma E. married W. A. Overmyer, a popular school teacher in this township, and they have four children, Ella, Ora, Oliver and Lewis. Birchard S. was married (first) to Mary J. Inks, who left seven children, Bernice, Harry, Elma, Merrill, Webb, Claud and Mamie. His second marriage was to a sister of his first wife, the Widow Cookson, who at that time had four children, Pearl, James, Fern and Margaret. Ida E. married Chester Hite, and at her death left one child, Pearl. Sarah M. was the second wife of Chester Hite, and they have two children, Edna and Ella. Hugh was married (first) to Marcella Hufford, who died when their infant son, Ora, was but six days old. The child was reared by his grandparents until the death of the grandmother, when he was returned to his father, who, in the meanwhile, had married Mrs. Wagner. The latter had one daughter, Bertha. Mr. Havens has been quite an active citizen, taking a hearty interest in educational and other public matters in the township and he has served as township trustee and for eight years as township clerk. He also served as assessor for three years. CHRISTOPHER STREETER, deceased, came to Sandusky County one of the pioneers of 1837, and for many years was a prosperous farmer in York Township, in 1882 retiring to Clyde, where his death occurred September 22, 1906. Mr. Streeter was born April 9, 1815, at Heath, Franklin County, Massachusetts, and his parents were David and Sylvia (Roach) Streeter. The Streeter family is one that was established in New England in colonial days, and the immediate ancestors of Mr. Streeter lived and died in Massachusetts. Farming was the occupation to which Christopher devoted himself until Ile reached manhood, but his marriage and the birth of a son, brought the desire to establish a home for his family and provide generously for its future. Conditions in Franklin County at that time were not favorable enough to cause him to invest in lands in his native place, hence, with wife and little one, he started for what was then the far West. In conveyances that to modern eyes seem primitive, but were then deemed safe and adequate, the little family journeyed to York Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, where Mr. Streeter secured wild land and started immediately upon its clearing and improvement. To his first purchase he added and again added as he continued to prosper, until he acquired 300 acres of most excellent land. For many years he toiled here, tilling the soil and raising stock, and yearly adding to his improvements. As he prospered himself he aided in the prosperity of the neighborhood, contributing of his time and means to the founding of schools and churches, to the building of highways and to the making and carrying out of laws for local government. When, in the long course of years, Mr. Streeter began to feel that younger shoulders should assume the responsibilities he had so long carried, he divided his land among his sons, establishing each on a farm of 100 acres. In 1882 he removed to AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 643 Clyde, where he had erected a comfortable home. Mr. Streeter was married (first) December 3, 1835, to Miss Louisa Canedy, who died December 26, 1851. There were four sons borna to that marriage, namely : Edward, born 1839; and Alonzo and Lorenzo, twins, born June 25, 1837; Albert, born September 29, June 25, 1842. Lorenzo died September 3o, 1851, but the three other sons still survive. Mr. Streeter is survived by a number of grandchildren, each son having married at maturity. Lydia, Lucy, Charles, Ira and Levi, are Edward's children; Mina, George, Alice and Mabel, are Albert's children ; and Wallace, Rowland, Elmer, Clarence, Nora and Lena, are Alonzo's children. Mr. Streeter was married( second) February 2, 1853, to Miss Henrietta Clark, who is a daughter of the late Henry Clark. For many years Mr. Streeter was a consistent member of the Adventist Church. In his early political life he was a Whig, but identified himself with the Republican party on its organization. His first presidential vote was cast for Gen. William Henry Harrison. Mr, Streeter spent the evening of life in the midst of the quiet surroundings befitting it, the center of an affectionate family and esteemed by many friends. CHARLES F. WILL, whose fine farm of 100 acres lies in Jackson Township, on the line road about four miles east of Fremont, is a leading citizen and representative farmer of this part of Sandusky County. He was born March 5, 1858, in Washington Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Shuck) Will. The parents of Mr, Will were born in Germany, grew to maturity there and married. In 1851 they emigrated to America and during the first year lived at Monroeville, Ohio, but in the spring of 1852 they settled in Washington Township, Sandusky County, where George Will bought eighty acres of farm land. In 1862 he sold that farm and moved to Seneca County, where he bought another farm on which his wife died. After that domestic affliction, he returned to Sandusky County and took up his residence with his son in Riley Township, where he remained until he died, aged seventy-five years. He had survived his wife a long time, she being but forty-five at the time of her demise. Of the family of eleven children, the following survived infancy : Jacob, deceased;. Peter, who lives at Buffalo, New York; Henry, who died when a soldier in the Civil War; Philip, who lives in Montana; Christina, who married Henry Ingler, lives in Sandusky. Township; Minnie, who married Peter Hettrick, lives in Rice Township; William, who lives at Toledo, Ohio; and Charles F. Charles F. Will remained at home until the death of his mother, when he accompanied his bereaved father to the home of his eldest brother in Riley Township. His schooling was mainly obtained in Seneca County and his training for work was done under his brother's direction. In 1891 he purchased his present farm, to which he moved in 1895. Its former owner was Josepha Cookson. It required a large amount of improving and all the present substantial buildings standing were erected by Mr. Will. He carries on general agriculture and raises both grain and stock. On January 5, 1886, Mr. Will was married to Miss Amelia Longanbach, a daughter of. Martin and Rosina Longanbach, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Will have two daughters : Estella, born November 3o, 1886; and Esther, born November 3, 1896. They are very attractive young ladies, residing at home. Mr. Will and family are members of the Lutheran Church at Fremont. He has always taken an interest in public matters in his township, assuming the duties of good citizenship when called upon, and has very acceptably served on the School Board and as road superintendent. CLARK R. CLEVELAND, owner of 128 acres of fine farm land in Green Creek Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, was born April I. 1836, in an old log house on his father's farm in Green Creek Township, Sandusky. County, Ohio, and is a son of James and Jeanette (Rathbun) Cleveland. James Cleveland was born in the eastern part of the United States, and when a boy came with his parents, Clark and Eumenia (Down- 644 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY ing) Cleveland, to Sandusky County, Ohio, the family locating in the timberlands of Green Creek Township, where the parents subsequently died. James was reared in this township and assisted with the clearing of the land on which his father located. At an early age he started out in life for himself, following agricultural pursuits, at which he met with uninterrupted success, having at the time of his death 400 acres of fine farming land. He married Jeanette Rathbun, a native of Green Creek Township, and they reared a family of ten children : James, deceased; Eliza, the deceased wife of Jack Harris ; Clark Rathbun, subject of this record; George, a resident of Clyde, Ohio; Lucinda, married H. Taylor, both deceased; Chaplin, resides on part of the old homestead farm in Green Creek Township; Sarah, is the wife of Charles Sackrider, of Green Creek Township; Mary, widow of George Crosby, of Green Creek Township, married Ellen Stark; John, deceased; and Charles, deceased. Clark R. Cleveland was quite young when his parents moved from the old log house into the new building which his father erected after having earned the money for same by grading one mile of the turn pike road. Here our subject was reared. Both he and his brother James greatly assisted the father with the work, they being the oldest of the sons. A great deal of their wheat was taken to Venice, where they received fifty cents per bushel for same. Mr. Cleveland remained at home until the time of his marriage in 1861, after which he operated one of his father's farms until he purchased his present land, which is in three tracts and was bought from time to time. Mr. Cleveland started in life entirely upon his own resources, and his success is due to much hard work combined with good business management. Mr. Cleveland was married in 1861 to Sarah Herl, who died leaving the following children : Clara, married Oliver Hawk, of Clyde, Ohio; Mary, is the wife of John Shipman, of New Washington ; James, married Laura Hawk, and resides in Seneca County, Ohio; Addie, is the wife of George Neikirk, of Clyde, Ohio ; Clarence, who is a resident of Ballville Town ship, married Tine Huss; Irvin, a resident of Clyde, married Mirna Livengood, a daughter of our subject's second wife; Herbert, married Hattie Hufford, and assists his father on the farm. Mr. Cleveland's second marriage occurred in 1896 with Alma (Andrews) Liven-good, widow of Harvey Livengood, and a daughter of Garry Andrews, a pioneer of Sandusky County, Ohio. She was the mother of two children by her first marriage, namely : Mirna, who married Irvin Cleveland, son of our subject ; and Ada, who is the wife of Samuel Purcell. In politics Mr. Cleveland is a Democrat and has served two terms as township trustee. COL. WILLIAM E. HAYNES was born at Hoosick Falls, New York, on the 19th clay of October, 1829. He moved with his parents to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont) in 1840. Early in life he learned the printing business on the "Sandusky Clarion," now the "Sandusky Register," and later was engaged on the "Cleveland Plain-Dealer" and other papers. During the years of 1848 and 1849 he was engaged on Lake Superior as clerk of a steamer. Returning to Fremont in 1850 he engaged in mercantile pursuits, becoming a member of the firm of John P. Haynes & Son. Colonel Haynes was married to Maria H. Harmon, of Fremont, Ohio, February 8, 1855, and has three children, all residents of this city : Julia M. Haynes. William P. Haynes, cashier of the Fremont Savings Bank, and Geo. W. Haynes, an attorney and at present assistant cashier of the Fremont Savings Bank. In the year 1855 he was elected auditor of Sandusky County and served two terms in that capacity until 1860. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was among the first to respond to the call to arms, enlisting on April 16, 1861, in the 8th Regiment O. Inf., being, commissioned a captain. He served with that regiment in Western Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley and the Army of the Potomac until November, 1862, when he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 10th Ohio Cavalry and served with honor and distinction in the Army of the Cumberland until 1864. HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY - 647 At the close of the war he returned to Fremont and in 1866 was appointed by President Andrew Johnson collector of internal revenue for the Ninth District of Ohio, which position he held until March 4, 1867. In the year 1866 he again entered mercantile life, becoming a member of the firm of Haynes & Engler, extensive dealers for many years in grain and farm produce. In 1873 Colonel Haynes retired from the firm of Haynes & Engler to become the cashier of the Bank of Fremont. He was associated with the late F. S. White in the Bank of Fremont and later in the firm of White & Haynes until 1888, when he became vice-president and manager of the Fremont Savings Bank. Colonel Haynes has always taken an active interest in the political affairs of the state and in the success of the Democratic party, of which he has been a life long member. He served many years as a member of the council of the city of Fremont and was president of the Fremont Water Works Board during its construction. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1880, that nominated General Hancock for President, and also to the Chicago convention in 1884, and represented Ohio on the committee that notified Cleveland and Hendricks of their nomination by that convention. In 1884 he was appointed by Governor Hoadly a member of the first board of trustees for the Toledo Asylum for the Insane and served during the construction of that institution from 1884 to 1888. He was appointed by Governor William McKinley as a member of the board of trustees of the State Institution for Feeble-Minded Youth ; was re-appointed by Governors Nash, Bushnell and Herrick and is now serving as a trustee for that institution. He was nominated without solicitation as the Democratic candidate for representative for the Ninth District of Ohio, composed of Lucas, Erie, Ottawa and Sandusky Counties to the Fifty-First Congress, receiving a majority of 1,148 votes in the district over Hon. Jacob Romeis, Republican nominee. He was unanimously re-nominated and elected to the Fifty-Second Congress, receiving 2,056 votes in the district over Hon. James M. Ashley, Republican nominee, During the Fifty-First Congress he was a member of the committee on banking and currency and in the Fifty-Second Congress was member of the committee on rivers and harbors as well as chairman of the committee on the alcoholic liquor traffic. As a member of the committee on rivers and harbors, Colonel Haynes was instrumental in securing large appropriations for the benefit of the rivers and harbors of this district. His congressional district having been changed he declined a re-nomination to the Fifty-Third Congress and returned to Fremont to devote his time to his banking and other interests. In 1894 he was again honored by his party by being nominated for representative for the Thirteenth District of Ohio, composed of Erie, Sandusky, Seneca, Crawford, Wvandot and Marion Counties, to the Fifty-Fourth Congress, but on account of business engagements and other causes declined to accept the nomination. Colonel Haynes was selected by the late Sardis Birchard as a member of the board of trustees of Birchard Library and has been president of the board for many years. Colonel Haynes has been for many years a member of the Loyal Legion. Colonel Haynes has served as president for many years of the Fremont Savings Bank, one of the oldest and strongest banking institutions of the city and to which he gives his personal attention. He has always been a large contributor to all the public enterprises of the city and county, both of time and money and no citizen has done more to aid in the building up and caring for the material interests of Fremont and Sandusky County than Colonel Haynes. LOUIS F. NICKEL, a representative citizen and substantial farmer of Rice Township, whose whole life has been usefully spent here, was born April 12, 185o, in Rice Township, Sandusky County, Ohio, and is a son of Fred- 648 - HISTORY OF SANDUSKY COUNTY erick and Margaret (Glasser) Nickel, both natives of Germany. Julius Glasser, the maternal grandfather of Louis F. Nickel, was born in Germany and came to Sandusky County and settled in Rice Township about 1830, long before the Indians had left this section. In 1840 Frederick Nickel came also and he purchased land on which his father-in-law had first settled. Frederick Nickel became one of the reliable and responsible men of his section and lived long and usefully in the neighborhood in which he first settled, his death occuring in February, 1903. His religious faith was Lutheran and he was a consistent supporter of the church. In politics he was a Democrat all his life. There are five survivors of his family of children, namely : Minnie, who is the wife of John Longanbach, of Clyde, Ohio; Louis F. ; Julius C., who lives in Rice Township ; William P., whose home is at Fremont; and Amelia, who is the wife of John Kline, of Rice Township. Louis F. Nickel has followed agricultural pursuits all his life, residing on the old family farm, situated in Section r, Rice Township, until his marriage, and then purchased his present home farm, which consisted of about sixty acres. After the death of his parents he purchased' the old homestead of seventy-two acres from the other heirs, making in all 132 acres. Mr. Nickel is a man of good judgment in business affairs, which quality has been recognized by his fellow citizens, and accordingly he has been frequently elected to important township offices and has served in these with the utmost efficiency. For twelve years he was a trustee of the township, during which period a large amount of public work was done and many matters of the greatest importance to this section came before the board. He has always taken an interest in the Sandusky County Agricultural Society, serving on its board of directors and for five years was the president of this body. On May 8, 1878, Mr. Nickel was married to Miss Caroline Smith, a daughter of Frederick Smith, one of Sandusky Township's well known citizens, and to this union have been born six children : Elizabeth H., wife of Charles Lamalie, of Rice Township : Frank E. and Reuben, both of Rice Township ; Edna, wife of Andrew Fraver, of Seneca County, Ohio; Warren W., of Sandusky County; and Ruth, now deceased. In politics Mr. Nickel is a Democrat. With his family he belongs to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rice Township. WILLIAM G. ESTILL, a leading business man of Clyde, Ohio, conducting one of the city's important mercantile enterprises, was born April 3o, 1864, on his father's farm near Dover, New Jersey. His parents were A. L. and Mary Estill, both of whom died in New Jersey. William G. Estill was one of a family of four children and was eight years old when he was left an orphan. He then came to Ohio and made his home with his grandfather, in Delaware County. He was given school advantages and graduated with the class of 1882, from the Delaware High School. For about one year he worked in a tea and coffee store at Delaware and then spent a year in a book store at Westerville, going then to Columbus, where another year was passed and in the fall of 1885 he reached Clyde. He secured employment as a clerk with Wilder Brothers, a firm then conducting a grocery business at Mr. Estill's present stand, on Main Street, and after four years of faithful and honest effort, he was admitted to partnership, the firm name being changed to Wilder Brothers & Estill. The new firm soon showed a progressive spirit, establishing a kraut factory, which was conducted in addition to the grocery business for some time, when Mr. Estill sold out his interest in the new venture to Wilder Brothers. Mr. Estill then, in association with William Wilder, son of A. J. Wilder, continued the grocery business and for five years the firm style was The Wilder, Estill Company. On February 1, 1900, Mr. Estill bought all outside interests and has been sole proprietor ever since. He carries a complete stock of groceries, staple and fancy, china, lamps, etc., and has a trade that covers a large territory. He has additional interests and is a director in the American Sign Company at Clyde. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 649 On December 30, 1887, Mr. Estill was married to Miss Jennie Wickwire, a daughter of Seba and Mary (Gale) Wickwire, who were early pioneers of York Township. To this marriage four children have been born, namely : Seba H., Mary, Alice and Clara. The son is his father's able assistant in the store. Mr. Estill has never permitted his own business interests to cause him to forget or neglect his duties as a good citizen. He has been particularly active as a member of the Board of Education, to which he was elected in 1902. To his earnest efforts, in association with Judge S. S, Richards, may be attributed the success attending the building of the handsome public library at Clyde, a structure in which every resident takes pride. In politics Mr. Estill is a Republican, and fraternally he is an Odd Fellow. VALENTINE GEPHART, who has devoted the greater part of a long and busy life to agricultural pursuits, is one of Jackson Township's most respected citizens and he resides on his valuable farm of sixty-three acres, it being a part of the old Gephart homestead. He was born January 23, 1838, in Fairfield County, Ohio, and is a son of Peter and Mary ( Baker) Gephart. The great-grandfather bore the name of Valentine Gephart and he came to Pennsylvania from Germany, settling in Berks County, where his son, Johannas Gephart, was born November 15, 1776.a The latter came in early manhood to Ohio, settling first in Montgomery County and later moving to Fairfield County. On March 31, 1839, he settled on the farm which has ever since been the Gephart homestead, in Jackson Township, Sandusky County, his son Peter purchasing it from George Phillips, who had entered it from the Government on May 2, 1826. The present owner has the old deed which bears the signature of John Quincy Adams, who was then President of the United States. The original purchase was of, eighty acres and to that Peter A. Gephart added twenty more. Peter Gephart, father of Valentine, was born June 26, 1814. and died March 30, 1858. He married Mary Baker, who was born January 19, 1812, and died February 14, 1888. They had six children : a babe that died, Valentine, Rebecca, Sarah, Josiah and John. The parents of Mr. Gephart brought him to the present farm when he was a babe of fourteen months and with the exception of a few years this has been his home ever since. In his boyhood he attended the district school near his home, but when very young began to give his father a helping hand on the farm. His only absence was during three years when he lived in 'Washington Township and three more years during which he engaged in farming in Sandusky Township. Mr. Gephart has long been identified with all that concerns the best public interests of his township, and at different times has served acceptably as constable and as road supervisor, On August 22, 1869, Mr. Gephart was married to Miss Mary E. Hufford, who died January 7, 1907. She was a daughter of Jacob and Rebecca Hufford, of Sandusky County. The two daughters of this marriage now have families of their own. The elder, Elta A., is the wife of Edward Shawl, a prosperous farmer of Jackson Township, and they have four children, Ethel M., Lucy E., Willis V. and Fern C. The younger, Ida R., married Orven Hiett, who was born December 19, 1865, They have one daughter, Laura L. Mr, and Mrs. Hiett reside on the homestead. WILLIAM SPRIGGS, undertaker and dealer in furniture, at Clyde, Ohio, has been a resident of Sandusky County all his life and was born on the old Barney Kline farm, one and one-half miles west of Bellevue, Ohio, November 18, 1861, and is a son of John W. and Catherine (Feese) Spriggs. John W. Spriggs was born in England and after he had some knowledge of books, learned the mason's trade, and as he was large and strong for his age of sixteen years, was given some particular work to do. His methods did not please his employer, who was of the nobility, and this led to a serious misunderstanding and caused the youth to determine to seek his fortune in America. He had no money for his passage and he took desperate chances when he managed to stow himself away in a com-