CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 375 GEORGE W. HERR. The name of Herr is one known throughout Seneca county, for here our subject has passed his entire life and here his parents resided for many decades. He was born on the farm on which he still resides, on the 12th of February, 1865, a son of George and Elizabeth (Shoeffer ) Herr. The father was born in Prussia, Germany, April 10, 1822, and in the place of his nativity he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1848 he crossed the Atlantic ocean to the United States, and after his arrival in this country he made his way to the Buckeye state, spending a short time in Chillicothe, and from there removed to Galion. At the latter place he was married, and there worked at his trade for about four years, on the expiration of which period, in 1852, he came to Seneca county, purchasing eighty acres of land where our subject now resides. Later he added to his original purchase an adjoining eighty acres, making his landed possessions to consist of one hundred and sixty acres. In 1891, however, he laid aside the active cares of a business life and removed to New Washington, where his death occurred about six weeks later. He gave his political support to the Democracy, but was never a seeker after the honors of public office, preferring to. give his time and attention to his business interests. He was a worthy member of the Lutheran church, and was highly esteemed for his many noble characteristics. His widow is still living, being now in her seyenty-third year, and is a resident of New Washington. Of their eight children four now survive, namely : Elizabeth, the wife of S. J. Kibler, of New Washington, Ohio; Susan, who makes her home with her mother ; George W., of this review ; and Louise, the wife of Frank Schoff, of Venice township. George W. Herr is indebted to the public-school system of Seneca county for his elementary education, and later he became a student in the New Washington high school. At the age of nineteen years he accepted a clerkship in the employ of Jesse Marquardt, a New Washington druggist, with whom he remained for about eighteen months, when he returned home and assumed the management of the old home farm. 376 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Soon after his marriage his parents left the old homestead and removed to New Washington, and since that time our subject has had entire control of the place: He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and his is one of the valuable and model homesteads of the township. He is progressive in his methods, is ever ready to adopt new and modern improvements and is recognized as one of the representative agriculturists of the community. December 9, 1891, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Herr and Miss Ida Buchman. She is a native of Bloom township, Seneca county, and a daughter of P. A. and Rose Ann (Brillhardt) Buchman, he a general merchant of Carrothers. This union has been brightened and blessed by the presence of two children,—Marie E. and Marion M. Mr. Herr gives his political support to the Democracy, and for three years he served as a director of the schools. The family are members of the Lutheran church, in which he has held the office of deacon. CHARLES OLMSTED. Charles Olmsted for many years has been an active factor in the financial circles of Fostoria through connection with both public and private interests. At the present time he is serving as city treasurer and his record in this direction is remarkable, for he has been the incumbent since 1870. No higher testimonial could be given of his efficiency and trustworthiness than the proof of their faith in him which his fellow townsmen give at each election. His name is synonymous with integrity in every community where he is known, and over the record of his public career and his private life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. His residence in Fostoria covers a period of almost half a century, and while he has prospered in his business undertakings the community has also been greatly benefited by his efforts in its behalf. Mr. Olmsted is a native of Sandusky county, Ohio. his birth having occurred in 1830. He is descended from good old Revolutionary CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 377 stock, his great-grandfather having served his country in the war for independence. The family was founded in New England at a very early epoch in our colonial history. Judge Jesse S. Olmsted, the father of our subject, was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and for a time resided in Albany, New York, whence he emigrated westward, taking up his abode in Lower. Sandusky, among the pioneer settlers of that portion of the state. He became quite prominent in public affairs in that portion of the state, and was honored with several public offices. He was associate county judge of Sandusky county, was also county treasurer and a member of the school board. One of the early merchants of Upper Sandusky, he carried on business there for many years and was an active factor in commercial circles. He married Azuba Ferguson, whose parents removed from New York to Ohio, becoming early settlers of Sandusky county. In the place of his nativity Charles Olmstead, of this review, spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and in the public schools he obtained his education, but from early manhood he has been a resident of Fostoria. Removing to this place in 1856, he established a dry-goods store and also carried on general business interests, dealing especially in grain. He was a member of the firm of Foster, Olmsted & Company, the senior partner afterward becoming the governor of Ohio. The dry-goods business was sold out in 1876, but the firm continued in the grain trade under the same firm name until 1890. Since that time Mr. Olmsted has given his entire attention to the banking business and to the management of the city's finances. In 1891 he established the Mechanics' Savings Bank Company, became its president and continued its conduct until 1899, when he sold to the Mechanics' Banking Company, of which he is one of the directors. He is a man of keen discernment in business, his judgment being rarely, if ever, at fault, and his efforts have been an element in producing business stability and progress in the city in which he has so long made his home. In Fostoria, in 1860, Mr. Olmsted was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Skinner, a daughter of the Hon. Morris P. Skinner, one of the early settlers of this place. Her father owned and operated a 378 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. farm and was prominent in public affairs. He was honored with election to the office of representative in the state legislature, was also county commissioner and was well known in public life, leaving the impress of his individuality upon public thought and feeling. Unto our subject and his wife were born two children : Jesse S.. of this city: and Mary A., the deceased wife of Frank Carroll, of Columbus. Every interest calculated to benefit the community—to promote its welfare along lines of material, social, political, intellectual and moral advancement—receives the endorsement and co-operation of Mr. Olmsted, and therefore he is accounted one of the most valued citizens of Fostoria. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree, and the basic principles of the order find exemplification in his helpful relations with his fellow men. For six years he served as a member of the school-board, and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend,—one who believes in keeping a high standard of intellectual improvement. In politics he has been a stanch Republican since the organization of the party. He was first elected to the office of city treasurer in 1870 and at each election since that time has received not only the united support of his party but also the ballots of many members of the Democracy. No trust reposed in him has been betrayed in the slightest degree, and he has made for himself an unassailable reputation in public office. His manner is genial and cordial and the qualities of an upright manhood haye won for Mr. Olmsted a position of distinction in Seneca county. JUDGE JOHN KAULL ROHN. One of the most talented and distinguished lawyers and jurists connected with the bench and bar of the Seneca circuit was Judge John K. Rohn, who, in a profession where advancement must depend upon individual merit and ability, gained a most prominent position. The profession of the law, when clothed with its true dignity, purity and CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 379 strength must rank first among the callings of men, for law rules the universe. The work of the legal proession is to formulate, to harmonize, to regulate, to adjust, to administer those rules and principles that underlie and permeate all government and society and control the varied relations of men. As thus viewed there attaches to the legal profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected in the life of the true lawyer, who, rising to the responsibilities of the profession, and honest in the pursuit of his purpose, embraces the richness of learning, the firmness of integrity and the purity of morals, together with the graces and modesty and the general amenities of life. Of such a type Judge Rohn was a representative and his career was one which reflected credit upon the bar of his district. It was on the 5th of April, 1859, that the Judge was born at the family home, two and a half miles east of Tiffin, on the North Greenfield road, on the farm now owned by Rev. Dr. Rust. His parents were Asia and Eliza (Kaull) Rohn. The father was born in Catasauqua, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1814, and was the youngest in the family of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, born unto Daniel and Catherine (Heiman) Rohn, the former of French lineage and the latter of German extraction. The mother of the Judge was born in Trexlertown, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1817, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Swartz) Kaull, and her father was the eldest in the family of six children born to John and Maria (Steininger) Kaull. Her mother was a daughter of Samuel and Mollie (Gregory) Swartz, the former of German and the latter of English birth. Asia and Eliza (Kaull) Rohn, the parents of the Judge, were reared and married in the Keystone state and in the spring of 1849 started for Ohio, arriving in Seneca. county three weeks later, making the entire journey by wagon. They settled on a farm two and a half miles directly east of the court-house on the North Greenfield road, and there resided for twenty-six years. In 1875, however, the father sold the old farm and purchased the home place which is still owned by the mother, near the Green Lawn cemetery. 380 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Early in life Judge Rohn became imbued with a strong desire to acquire a more advanced education than the public schools afforded and bent every energy to its accomplishment. His own labor made possible his collegiate course in Heidelberg College, which he entered in the fall of 1875. He pursued the scientific course and was graduated on the 19th of June, 1879. During the succeeding winter he engaged in teaching school in the Stickney district about two and a half miles east of Republic. He desired, however, to make the practice of law his life work, and, with a broad general knowledge to serve as the foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional learning, he began reading law in the office of the firm of Noble & Adams, attorneys of Tiffin, and was regularly admitted as an attorney and counselor at law by the supreme court of Ohio, October 2, 1882. In the spring of 1883 he established an office in Tiffin and soon he manifested ability that showed him capable of handling most important and involved litigated interests. Gradually he rose to prominence. In the preparation of cases he was most thorough and exhaustive; he seemed almost intuitively to grasp the strong points of law and fact, while in his briefs and arguments the authorities were cited so extensively and the facts and reasoning thereon presented so cogently and unanswerably that he left no doubt as to the correctness of his views and conclusions. His devotion to his clients' interests was proverbial and all who entrusted their interests to him had in him implicit confidence. He made a specialty of corporation law and was particularly strong in that branch of jurisprudence. His practice was very satisfactory and he had the gratification of receiving from the highest courts of Ohio decisions favorable to his clients. In 1896 Judge. Seney resigned from the bench of the circuit court and Governor Bushnell appointed Judge Rohn to fill the vacancy. He took his place upon the bench and served with marked ability, his decisions displaying marked judicial soundness, thorough knowledge of the law and ready adaptability of its principles to the points in litigation, together with marked impartiality and freedom from judicial bias. Owing to the heavy Democratic majority of the county he was not chosen at the next election and resumed the private practice CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 381 of law, having a distinctively representative clientage. He was thus engaged until stricken with the illness which terminated his life on the 15th of June, 1901. In connection with his profession Judge Rohn was connected with one of the most important industries of this part of the state, being a heavy stockholder in the National Machinery Company, of Tiffin. He was one of its incorporators, its secretary and a member of its board of managers. It was capitalized for three hundred thousand dollars and has paid from sixteen to eighteen per cent. annual dividends. The plant has been recently enlarged and the success of the enterprise was attributable in large measure to the wise counsel and efforts of Judge Rohn. His wife is now a member of its board of directors. He was also attorney for the Tiffin Commercial Bank and of the Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Railroad Companies, and also represented other corporations as their legal adviser. June 16, 1886, the Judge was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Schliff, of Springfield, Illinois, and unto them were born two daughters,—Helen Elizabeth and Margaret Louise. He found his greatest happiness in his home and he considered no personal sacrifice too great that would enhance the happiness or promote the welfare of his wife and children. Two months before his death he was informed by the physicians of the serious nature of his illness and at once began making preparations for his family, daily instructing his wife concerning his business affairs that she might know how to superintend her property interests. His keenest anxiety was that his wife and daughters should be well provided for, and Mrs. Rohn has displayed excellent business and executive ability in controlling her affairs. When the end came the funeral services were held by the Rev. J. P. Stratton and the interment made at Green Lawn. To his family Judge Rohn: left the priceless heritage of an unsullied reputation. He was a gentleman of innate culture and refinement, a lover of art and of the beautiful. He followed the injunction of Shakespeare, "Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice." He was ever affable, courteous and kindly, and was entirely free from ostentation or 382 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. display. He looked fully ten years younger than he was, for the years had fallen lightly upon him. Faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation, he commanded uniform regard, and from his friends he won love and esteem. CONRAD H. ZUTAVERN. There is no nation that has contributed to the complex makeup of our American social fabric an element of more sterling worth and of greater value in supporting and fostering our national institutions than has Germany. From this source our republic has had much to gain and nothing to lose. Germany has given us men of sturdy integrity, indomitable perseverance, higher intelligence and much business sagacity,—the result being the incorporation of a strong and strength-giving fiber ramifying through warp and woof. A man who may well look with pride upon his German-American origin is the subject of this review, who is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Seneca county, where he has passed his entire life, and: where he is personally recognized as a representative citizen, having attained a high degree of success through his operations in connection with the great basic art and science of agri'culture. Mr. Zutavern was born on the old homestead farm, in Bloom township, this county, the date of his nativity having been April 2, 1848. He is one of the eleven children born to Jacob FL and Margaret (Geiger) Zutavern, and of the number six are living at the present time, namely : Christina, the wife of Jacob Horn, of Michigan ; Lucinda, the wife of Conrad Lebold, of Venice township; Conrad H., the subject of this sketch ; Caroline, the wife of Benjamin Shelhorn, also of Michigan ; Amelia, the wife of Leonard Smeltz, of Kansas, Seneca county ; and Paul, a resident of Bloom township. Jacob H. Zutavern was born in Baden, Germany, whence he, as a lad of eight years, accompanied his parents on their emigration to America, the family settling in Tuscarawas CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 383 county, Ohio, where he was reared to maturity and where his marriage was solemnized. A year after this important event in his life he came with his wife to Seneca county, where he took up a pre-emption claim of one hundred and sixty acres, in Bloom township, the tract being heavily timbered. Here he erected the approved form of log cabin common to the pi0neer epoch, and then gave his virile strength and energy to the work of reclaiming the land for cultivation. His industrious efforts were prolific in ultimate success, and he eventually purchased forty acres of adjoining land and also became the owner of the farm of one hundred and four acres where his son, our subject, now lives, and also accumulated six hundred acres in Michigan. From these statements it may be gleaned 'that his success was pronounced and that he was an influential citizen, while his integrity of character and his kindly nature gained him a warm place in the confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. He lived to attain the age of sixty-eight years, his demise occurring in the year 1873. He identified himself with the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward continued a stanch advocate of its principles. He was a member of the Reformed church, as was also his wife, who suryived him by about eight years. He became one of the wealthiest men of Bloom township and his influence was ever given in support of all worthy enterprises and projects for the general good, so that he stood as a model citizen and as one who had made a large contribution to the development and progress of this section of the state. Conrad H. Zutavern, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on the old homestead and is indebted to the public schools of the locality for the early educational advantages which were his. In Williams county, Ohio, on the 24th of December, 1871, when twenty-three years of age, Mr. Zutavern was united in marriage to Miss Maria Smeltz, who was born in Venice township, Seneca county, where her father, Jacob Smeltz, was a pioneer settler, his later years being passed in Williams county. After his marriage our subject settled on his present farm, which he purchased of his father at that time. He has erected substantial buildings on the place, effected other improvements of the best order and 384 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. has made it one of the best farms in this section. At the time of this writing (May, 1902,) he is erecting an attractive residence in the town of Attica and it is his intention to retire from the more active duties of the farm and to make his home in that village. In politics he is a stanch Republican, but has had no predilection for public office. He and his wife are prominent members of the English Reformed church at Carrothers, in which he is an elder. They have no children. Mr. Zutavern has the highest standing in the community and is one of the honored and influential citizens of his native county. GEORGE DEISLER. The German fatherland has contributed a most valuable element to the complex social fabric of the American republic, which has gained much through this source, the element being one which has ever conserved the march of progress and stood for sterling manhood and womanhood. The honored subject of this sketch, who is one of the successful farmers of Seneca county, is a native of Germany, but has practically passed his entire life in America and is to be mentioned as a scion of one of the highly respected pioneer families. of Seneca county. Mr. Deisler was born in Prussia, Germany, on the 5th of February, 1825, being the son of Conrad and Anna C. (Brundt) Deisler, of whose seven children only two survive,—George, of this sketch.; and Conrad, who owns the old homestead and who is likewise a successful farmer of Venice township. The parents emigrated from the fatherland to the United States in the year 1833, and after residing for a brief interval in Wooster, Ohio, came that same year to Seneca county, where the father purchased sixty-six acres of land, upon a portion of which the present village of Carrothers is located. Here he continued to devote his attention to farming for many years,—until the spring of 1872, when he and his wife took up their home with their daughter, Mrs. Flechner, in Crawford county, where they passed the residue of their lives, each attaining the venerable age of CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 385 eighty-two years. The father of our subject was a stanch Democrat in his political proclivities and was a zealous member of the German Reformed church, in which he held various official positions. George Deisler was reared to maturity on the homestead farm, early beginning to aid in the work of reclamation and cultivation and having limited educational advantages as were implied in an irregular attendance in the primitive schools of the locality and period. Upon attaining his legal majority he apprenticed himself to learn the trade of carpenter, and after thus serving for a term of three years, secured thirteen dollars per month the last year ; he thereafter devoted his attention to the work of his trade for a further interval of above eight years, making nearly all the coffins used for the neighborhood. In 1854 he was married, and soon afterward he settled on the old homestead, to whose cultivation he devoted himself until the spring of 1858, when he purchased one hundred and fifteen acres of his present farm, in Venice township, to which he then removed. He has made the best of improvements on the place, to whose area he has added by the purchase of an adjoining tract of thirty and one-half acres, so that the fine farm now comprises one hundred and forty-five and one-half acres. The place is under a high state of cultivation and gives evidence of the careful management and progressive methods which have been brought to bear, the owner having ever commanded unqualified confidence and esteem in the community where he has lived from youth to advanced age, ever giving his aid and influence in support of all worthy enterprises and measures for the general good and standing as one of the world's noble army of workers. In politics Mr. Deisler has ever been a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and his devotion to duties of citizenship in the exercise of the right of franchise has been singularly marked, as is evident when we revert to the fact that in all the long years which have passed since he attained his legal majority he has on only two occasions failed to deposit his vote in support of the men 'or measures approved by his judgment. He has, however, never sought political office for himself. He is a devoted member of the Reformed church at ,Carruthers, in which for many years he served faithfully and efficiently in official position. 386 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. In November, 1854, Mr. Deisler was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Shade, who was born. in Columbiana county, Ohio, the daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Carrick) Shade, who took up their residence in Seneca county in 1835. The father of Mrs. Shade, Frederick Carrick, was a valiant soldier in the Continental army during the war of the Revolution. During a long and ideal married life of nearly half a century Mrs. Deisler continued as the deyoted and cherished companion and helpmeet of her husband, her summons to the "land of the leal" coming on the 29th of September. 1898, when she passed away in her sixty-ninth year. She was a woman of noble character and her memory rests as a benediction upon those who came within the immediate sphere of her influence. Mr. and Mrs. Deisler became the parents of eleyen children, and all are living, namely : Benjamin F., a farmer of Defiance county ; Lucinda, the wife of Gottlieb Hash, a farmer of Paulding county ; Joseph, a farmer of the same county ; George William, engaged in the insurance business in the city of Sandusky ; Sarah A., the wife of Daniel F. Smith, Bloom township ; James Samuel, a resident of Tiffin; Simon, a ditch contractor of Paulding county; Reuben, a resident of Toledo and a passenger fireman. for the Pennsylvania Railroad ; John H., of Williams county ; Catherine A., the wife of John M. Sponseller, who has charge of the farm of our subject, and who has three children,—Herbert J., Dora Fay and George Milton; and Harvey, a farmer of Paulding county. WILLIAM J. SMITH. William J. Smith, one of the best-known citizens of Seneca county, is a representative of good old Irish stock. His father, John M. Smith, was born in Londonderry, Ireland, August 10, 1826, but in 1837, when a lad of eleven years, he accompanied his parents, James A. and Elizabeth A. Smith, on their removal to America, the family locating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where the son, John M., grew' to mature years and learned the wagon-maker's trade. In 1847 he made the journey to CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 387 Seneca county, Ohio, where he decided to locate, and, sending east for his parents, they purchased the old John Smeltz farm east of Caroline. In 1849, however, John. M. Smith left his Ohio home for the gold fields of California, making the journey by way of Cape Horn, and after his arrival in the Golden state engaged in mining and fanning, in which he met with a reasonable degree of success. In 1853 he returned to his home in Seneca county, purchasing the James McKittrick farm, where he spent the remaining years of his life, having been called to his final rest on the 17th of April, 1898, his death resulting from the kick of a horse, living but two hours after the accident. From 1867 until 1880 he was a member of the Presbyterian church in Caroline, but in the latter year he united with the Reformed church, of which he remained a consistent member until his life's labors. were ended in death. His political support was given the Democracy, and for one or more terms he was the efficient justice of the peace of his township. As a companion on the journey of life Mr. Smith chose Miss. Mathilda Smith, and they became the parents of ten children, nine of whom still survive: James A., of Baldwin, Indiana; William J., of this review; Mary A., the wife of George Aylea. also of Indiana; Nancy J., the wife of James Clemens, of Carrothers, Ohio; Daniel H., a prominent farmer of Venice township; Samuel A., who also makes his home in this township, as does his brother, Thomas J.; Matilda A., the wife of Charles Armitage, of Reed township; and James H., of Venice township. William J. Smith, of this review, is a native son of Venice township, Seneca county, his: birth having here occurred on the 15th of September, 1857, and to its public-school system he is indebted for the educational privileges which he received in his youth. At the age of twenty-one years he began operating a threshing machine, later purchasing a new steam thresher, and for sixteen years he followed that occupation. hi 1892 he became the owner of his present home farm, consisting of eighty acres of rich and productive land, and soon after its purchase he abandoned his threshing operations in order to give his entire time and attention to the cultivation of his land. He is recognized as a man of executive ability and enterprise and is numbered among the leading citi- 388 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. zees of the community. He is liberal in his political views, but his preference is for the Democracy, and in his social relations he is a member 0f Attica Lodge, Na 367, F. & A. M. December 18, 1884, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Theodosia Sovereign, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Rufus and Nancy (Rodgers) Sovereign, natives respectively of Canada and Kentucky. Five children have blessed the union of our subject and wife, but the first born died in infancy, and the third in order of birth, Rufus, also died in childhood. The three surviving are Edith, John and Edna. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Reformed church. CHARLES L. WEININGER. One of the leading and representative farmers of Seneca county, Ohio, is Charles L. Weininger, who is a most highly esteemed and substantial citizen of Seneca township. The birth of Mr. Weininger occurred in Wyandot county, Ohio, May 6, 1846. He was a son of John and Catherine (Lane) Weininger. and a grandson of Adam Weininger, the latter of whom was a native of Germany. From that land he emigrated to the United States in 1815, at a date when this country began to make great strides in the direction of permanent commercial, industrial and particularly agricultural progress. Adam Weininger was just the type of settler needed in the lands offered by the government, in the state of Ohio. Honest, industrious, plodding and persevering, no physical task was too great for him to undertake in the hope of providing for the welfare of those dependent upon him, and soon his home in Fairfield county showed the effects of his activity. In 1826 he moved to Wyandot county, where he became possessed by some two thousand acres of land, and here he lived until his death, at the age of eighty years, being at that time one of the most respected men of his locality. His trade was that of blacksmith. His old home is now owned by the heirs of Jesse Badger. CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 389 John Weininger, who was the son of Adam and the father of our subject, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, and grew up on his father's farm, accompanying him to Wyandot county. He became a man of prominence in his locality, filled a number of the local offices with great efficiency and was a leading member of the Baptist church. His first marriage was to Catherine Lane, who was a daughter of John Lane, and they had five sons, viz. : Solomon and George, of Wyandot county; Joel, of Fostoria; Jackson, deceased; and Charles L., of this sketch. The second marriage of Mr. Weininger was to Mary Johnson, who still survives and is a resident of McCutchenville. After his first marriage he obtained one hundred and thirty acres of his father's farm, which was heavily timbered, erected here a log cabin and here his death occurred in April, 1891, at the age of eighty-one years. From 1832 to 1835 he kept a hotel, on the old plank road, one mile north of McCutchenville, during which time he became well known to the traveling public, those being the times when the country inn offered most welcome rest and entertainment for the passengers of the old "stage coach," of pleasant memory. At his death Mr. Weininger left an estate of six hundred acres. Our subject was reared on the old farm and received the best educational advantages offered in his locality. After finishing the common-school course he attended Heidelberg College, in Tiffin. In 1876 he was united in marriage to Miss Laura Welsh, who was a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and four children were born to this union, namely: Frank, at home; Herma, the wife of Paul Bigger; Dolly, deceased at the age of six years ; and. Welsh. Soon after his marriage our subject moved to his present farm, which he had purchased in 1867, and which is located in sections 35 and 36, in Seneca township, and comprises one hundred and forty-five acres of most excellent land, and the old home farm, which he also owns, contains one hundred and thirty acres. Here he carries on extensive operations in farming and stock-raising, being thoroughly equipped for both lines of activity in the way of modern machinery and permanent and substantial improvements. These have all been made by Mr. Weininger and reflect 390 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. credit upon his good taste and judgment. His home is one of the most comfortable to be found in the vicinity. Mr. Weininger is a sensible and well-balanced citizen, a leading member of the Democratic party, a good business man and one who keeps thoroughly abreast of the times. His children have been given excellent educational advantages, his daughter having become noted for her talents in drawing and music, in the convent school which she attended for four years, in Tiffin. He is highly respected in the township, and is justly considered one of the representative men. CHARLES D. GANGWER. There may be found in almost all American communities quiet, retiring men, who never seek official preferment or appear prominently in public affairs, yet nevertheless exert a widely felt and beneficent influence in the community, helping to construct or solidify the foundation upon which the social and political world rests. Such a man was the honored subject of this memoir, and he was ever found faithful to duty, under whatever aspect it presented itself, never sacrificing integrity and honor to personal expediency and so living as to command unqualified confidence and esteem as emanating from those with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. Not undue eulogy but rather simple justice is done to the memory of such' a man when perpetual record is made concerning his life and accomplishment, and this the writer would attempt in this simple tribute to one who stood "four-square to every wind that blows," who attained definite success in temporal affairs and who was one of the representative farmers and honored citizens of Seneca county during the major portion of his long and useful career. Mr. Gangwer was of stanch German lineage and was himself a native of the old Keystone state of the Union, having been born in Allentown, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of December, 1836. He was reared and educated in his native town and when seventeen years of CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 391 age began an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade, becoming an expert in the same and continuing to follow this vocation in Allentown until he had attained the age of twenty-eight years. Then he came to Seneca county, Ohio, and located in Tiffin, where he passed one winter, after which, in 1859, he took up his abode on the fine farm where his widow now resides, in Pleasant township, five miles north of Tiffin. The place was practically unreclaimed from the forest wilds, and the only improvement of note was a small log house of the pioneer type in which they lived fourteen years. He cleared the greater portion of the place and brought the land under effective cultivation, having laid hundreds of rods of tile and converting what was originally almost a swamp into one of the best farms of the community. As the Years passed and prosperity attended his assiduous and well directed endeavors, Mr. Gangwer made the best of permanent improvements on his homestead, including in 1869 the fine brick residence where his widow now lives, the same being commodious and of attractive architectural design, and standing as one of the beautiful homes of the county. He devoted his attention to diversified agriculture and to the raising of high-grade stock ; and since his death his widow has superintended the management of the farm, showing marked executive capacity and profiting by the experience of her long and grateful association with her honored husband. The farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres, all of which is available for cultivation except seven acres, which are yet covered with native timber. In politics Mr. Gangwer supported the Democratic party and its principles, and his. religious faith was that of the Reformed church at Fort Seneca, of which he was an elder for years and of which his widow also is still a devoted member. On Whitsunday of 1858 Mr. Gangwer was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Gensenlither, who was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1840, the daughter of Jacob and Lena Gensenlither. Mr. and Mrs. Gangwer became the parents of four children, namely: Annie M., the wife- of William Dutrow, of Tiffin; Caroline, the wife of John W. Coy, a capitalist of Washington, D. C. ; Henry, who is successfully engaged in farming near Columbia City, Indiana ; and Jane, who became 392 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the wife of Rev. S. W. Seaman, a clergyman of the Reformed church at Columbus, Ohio, and died July 7, 1901, at the age of thirty-five years. She left two children,—Eveline and Karl. She was educated in Heidelberg College, where she was a classmate of her husband, whom she afterward married when twenty years of age. All the children have been educated at Heidelberg College, and Henry was a teacher in the county ten years. Since Mr. Gangwer's death Mrs. Gangwer has taken into her family a young girl named Louisa Holsinger, who has become a valued companion. Mr. Gangwer died December 7, 1898, in his sixty-second year. He had an uncle named Thomas Gangwer, who was a saddler by trade, was a cripple and came to Seneca county with his brother James, the father of the subject of this sketch, some five years previously to the latter's arrival. Charles D. came to care for his uncle, who in return for the care gave him eighty acres of land. Thomas set up a shop on the farm, where he worked as long as he was able, for during the last five years of his life he was almost helpless. During the ten years of his life here he was tenderly cared for by Charles D. and his wife. The parents of our subject continued to reside upon this farm until their death, the mother dying in 1876 and the father fifteen years later. JAMES P. MOURER. James P. Mourer is a well-known attorney of Fostoria who has attained to a leading position at the Seneca county bar, although he has been in practice here only about eight years. He is numbered among the native sons of the city, his father being John J. Mourer, who was born in Alsace, France, and who, on emigrating to the new world, about 1864, took up his abode in Fostoria. Here he established a clothing store, which he successfully conducted for a number of years, dying in 1898, at the age of forty-six. He married Catherine Knissel, who was born at Kaiserslautern, Germany. At the usual age James P. Mourer entered the public schools, con- CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 393 tinuing his studies until he had completed the high-school course. He was then matriculated in Fostoria Academy, and when his literary education was completed he began to prepare for the practice of law, reading in the office of Brown & Guernsey. He also attended the law department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, being admitted to the bar in 1894, since which time he has been engaged in practice in this city. Gradually his patronage has increased and to-day he is enjoying a large and remunerative clientage. His preparation of cases is most thorough and exhaustive; he is said to grasp intuitively the strongest points of law and fact, while in his briefs and arguments the authorities are cited so extensively and the facts and reasoning are presented so cogently and unanswerably as to leave little doubt as to the correctness of his views or conclusions. No detail escapes him; every case is given its due prominence and the cause is argued with such skill, ability and power that he rarely fails to gain a verdict. Mr. Maurer was united in marriage to Miss Alberta Chance., of Fostoria, a daughter of Henry Chance, and they have a pleasant home and enjoy the highest regard of many friends. In politics he is a Republican, and while he has firm belief in the principles of the party he has never sought or desired office, preferring to devote his entire attention to his law practice. He represents a number of corporations engaged in the development of the oil fields, and has a large share of practice in connection with the most important cases tried in the courts of this district. HON. GEORGE E. SENEY. If "biography is the home aspect of history," as Wilmott has expressed it, it is entirely within the province of true history to commemorate and perpetuate the lives and character, the achievements and honor of the illustrious sons of the state. High an the roll of those whose efforts have made the history of jurisprudence in Ohio, a roll of fame appears the name of George E. Seney, who for more than a third of a - 25 - 394 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. century has been numbered among the legal practitioners of the state. No man has ever been more respected in Seneca county, and none has ever more fully enjoyed the confidence of the people, who, recognizing his merit, have rejoiced in his advancement and the honors to which he has attained. He is a lawyer of the highest rank, learned in his profession and a most persuasive and powerful advocate; and, though nearly forty years have come and gone since he quit the bench for the bar, Judge Seney is yet engaged in the practice of law and maintains his place as a foremost representative of the legal fraternity of this great commonwealth. Respecting the ancestors of Judge Seney and his kindred, by blood and by marriage, much may be said. His father, Joshua Seney, long a resident of Tiffin, was born in Maryland and reared in the city of New York, where he was educated for the legal profession. He was a graduate of Columbia College and the University Law School and soon thereafter was in the war of 1812, as an aid-de-camp on the staff of a commanding general. He was the private secretary of Albert Gallatin, then secretary of the United States treasury under President Madison. At Uniontown, Pennsylyania, he began the practice of law and won distinction at the bar. He was the law partner of Andrew Stewart, an eminent lawyer and a politician of national fame. While a resident of Uniontown, he declined the appointment of United States judge for the western district of Pennsylvania, tendered him by Andrew Jackson, then president of the United States. After his removal to Tiffin he gaye no attention to the practice of law. Twice he was elected treasurer of Seneca county and later and for years was the clerk of the supreme court of Ohio, by the appointment of its judges. The late Judge Lang, who for many years knew Mr. Seney intimately and well, in his history of Seneca County, says: "If Joshua Seney's industry had been equal to his capacity, he would have been very successful as a lawyer. He had a natural aversion to anything that looked like labor. He was all politician.; and a more shrewd and far-seeing politician than him Seneca county never had in any party. .He was unselfish, and sought no office for himself. When he liked a person who aspired to office, he did all in CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 395 his power to aid him. Raised in the lap of wealth and luxury, he knew nothing about labor, or the value of money. He had very little taste or application for the practical part of life. His language was chaste and polished, and his manners peculiarly his own. He was perfectly at home in an office, and discharged every trust with ability and fidelity. He was treasurer of Seneca county, for two terms, and clerk of the supreme court for many years. He wrote a fine hand, and his records are spotless. He had a large, well developed head and expressive countenance, a black eye, a pleasant voice, and his hands were so small as to attract attention. He was finely educated, knew the theory of the law, but had no ambition to practice it. He was a great student and reader, and few men were better posted on good literature. He was not a good public speaker; but, as a forcible writer he excelled." The maiden name of the mother of George E. Seney was Ann Ebbert, and she was a daughter of George Ebbert, a prosperous merchant of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. This lady was much more than an ordinary woman. Domestic in her tastes, she lived a quiet and unostentatious life, abounding in good deeds. She was born and reared in Uniontown and liberally educated at the female seminary in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and soon after her graduation became the wife of Joshua Seney. She was a lady of great practical sense, and had strong religious convictions. Prior to her marriage she was an active and influential Christian worker in her native town, and in Tiffin, where she lived twenty-two years a wife and twenty-six years a widow, she was held in the highest esteem. In her the poor and deserving had a valued friend, and at the bedside of the sick and dying she was a frequent and welcome visitor. To her four daughters and three sons she was an indulgent and loving mother, and to her husband a most devoted wife. George Ebbert, the father of Ann Ebbert, and his wife, Sarah Wood, were born, reared and married in Philadelphia. Their parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and in Philadelphia accumulated wealth and held high social position. Upon his marriage George Ebbert removed to Uniontown, where he established a mercantile business, which he conducted with marked success for forty years. In many respects 396 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. he was a model man, sound in judgment, successful in whatever he undertook, kind in heart and generous in hand; and this is also to be said of his wife, who was a model as a wife, mother, neighbor and friend. The paternal grandfather of George E. Seney was the distinguished jurist and statesman of Maryland, Joshua Seney. For three successive terms he represented his native county in the Maryland house of delegates, and later the colony of Maryland in the last continental congress. He was a member of the electoral college which re-elected George Washington president of the United States, and was chief justice of the courts in the third judicial district of Maryland. In the first and second congresses, under the constitution of the United States, he was a. representative from the state of Maryland, and was elected to the third congress, but died before it convened. Upon the marble stone at the grave of this eminent man is inscribed these words : "From the Commencement of the American Revolution, at various periods of his life, he filled with ability some of the highest stations, and discharged with integrity some of the most important duties to which his native state could appoint him ; preserving through the whole a character, both private and public, unstained by a single vice." The wife of this eminent citizen of Maryland was Frances Nicholson, a daughter of James Nicholson, a distinguished commodore of the navy in 1776, and whose father, Francis Nicholson, was, prior to the Revolutionary war, the colonial governor of Maryland. Another daughter of Commodore Nicholson was the wife of Albert Gallatin, who was the secretary of the United States treasury under Presidents Jefferson and Madison, a senator in congress from the state of Pennsylvania, also envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Great Britain, to France, to Russia, and to the Netherlands. Another CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 397 of the commodore's daughters was the wife of Colonel William Few, who was a member, from Georgia, of the convention that framed the constitution of the United States and later a senator in congress from that state; and another the. wife of John Montgomery, who was the mayor of Baltimore and later a representative in congress from Maryland. A son of Commodore Nicholson was a member of congress from Maryland, and another son was. a captain and later a. commodore in the United States navy. John Seney, the paternal great-grandfather of George E. Seney, was born in Maryland, and there was eminent as a lawyer and in public affairs. In the Revolutionary war he was the captain of a militia company organized for the defense of the colonies and later was. in command of a regiment of which he was the colonel. Near the close of the struggle he was elected to represent his native county in the Maryland house of delegates, and was re-elected for nine successive terms, in two of which his distinguished son, Joshua Seney, was a representative. He was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of Maryland, preparatory to her admission into the Union of the states, and later was a member of the convention called by the people of Maryland to ratify or reject the constitution of the United States. At the first election of electors for president and vice president of the United States he was chosen an elector for the state of Maryland, and in the electoral college voted fcr George Washington for president. George E. Seney was born in Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, May 29, 1830, and when less than two years of age his parents remoyed to Tiffin, where his years have been near three-score and ten. With a good common-school education, he was at the Norwalk Seminary for three years, when its principal was that eminent scholar and divine, Rev. Edward Thomson, D. D., late a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal church. Later, and for two years, he was employed as a clerk in a Tiffin dry-goods store. At the age of eighteen years he was in the city of New York, purchasing a stock of books and stationery for a book store, which he and an uncle opened and conducted in Tiffin. In this store he remained for a year or more, and afterward, for a time, assisted 398 - CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the auditor and the treasurer of Seneca county in the assessment and collection of taxes. With a desire to be a merchant, he, through a relative in the east, secured a position in a wholesale dry-goods store in St. Louis. To this his parents were opposed, for they desired him to be a lawyer. To please his father and mother he entered the office of Luther A. Hall, Esq., of Tiffin, to study law, with the understanding that if at the end of three months he preferred the place open for him at St. Louis, neither parent would object. Years afterward, when he was well established in his profession, Mr. Hall, in speaking of him, said: "The first day George was in my office, he and the law fell in love, and they have been loving ever since." Certainly neither he, his kindred, nor his friends have had occasion to regret that he entered professional, instead of commercial, life. Two years of study prepared him for admission to the bar, and in 1851 he commenced the practice of law as a partner of his preceptor, Mr. Hall. This copartnership continued for less than three years ; and, upon its dissolution and until his election as judge, he practiced law alone. When the law firm of Hall & Seney dissolved, of the eighteen practicing lawyers in Seneca county several were of marked ability and had been long at the bar, but from the beginning Judge Seney 'had a liberal share of the legal business. His clientage grew, both in volume and in importance and at the end of four years, when he became judge, his practice compared favorably with that of lawyers of twice or even thrice his years and experience. At the bar he had made the reputation of a studious, methodical and reliable lawyer and an able and effective jury advocate. At the age of twenty-seven years, George E. Seney was elected judge of the third judicial district of Ohio, for the constitutional term of five years. He was made the candidate of his party for judge by the unanimous vote of a. convention composed of many representative Democrats, a number of whom were lawyers. The voting strength of the two political parties in the district was about equal, but at the election Judge Seney had a majority of one thousand and six over the Re- CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 399 publican candidate, General John C. Lee, then a practicing lawyer at Tiffin. After the election of Judge Seney, and before his term of office commenced, he declined the appointment of United States district attorney for the northern district of Ohio, tendered him by President Buchanan. The third judicial district was composed of twenty counties, in each of which three term's of the common-pleas court and one term of the district court were held in each year,—the former by one of the five district judges and the latter either by three of these judges or by two and a judge of the supreme court of Ohio. In several of these counties Judge Seney held terms of the common-pleas court, in other counties parts of their terms; and, either with two of the district judges, or with one and a judge of the supreme court, held a term of the district court in sixteen of the twenty counties of the judicial district. The judges holding these courts during these five years were Josiah Scott, Thomas W. Bartley, Milton Sutliff, William Y. Gholson and Jacob Brinkerhoff, of the supreme court, and Mathias. C. Whitney, William Lawrence, Alexander Latta, Josiah S. Plants and George E. Seney of the common-pleas court ; and of these ten judges Judge Seney is the sole survivor. The first court held by Judge Seney was at Perrysburg, then the county seat of Wood county; and the first lawyer to address him in a cause was the Honorable Morrison R. Waite, then a practicing lawyer at Toledo and later the chief justice of the supreme court of the United States. In this connection it may be remarked that Judge Seney was on.e of the committee appointed by congress to accompany the remains of Chief Justice Waite from Washington to Toledo and to be a pallbearer at his funeral. Upon the bench., Judge Seney presided with dignity, courtesy and strict impartiality. So marked was his knowledge of the law and his ability to apply it to the points at issue that his decisions were valued as the considerate judgment of a sound lawyer and an upright and just judge. While on the bench he prepared and had published what is known to the legal profession as Seney's Ohio Code, which was republished in 1874. Among lawyers this work is highly