WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 575 "Received of James Smith $1.80, taxes on 160 acres of land. September 14, 1821." James Smith died about thirty years ago, never having removed from the farm which he entered from the government. Among his children was Adam Smith, father of the subject, who was a native of Pennsylvania, but who was brought to Ohio with his parents when he was but an infant. Adam Smith too followed farming during his life and died at the Canaan township homestead about forty-two years ago, at the age of forty-six years. He married Tabitha Barnes, who was a native of Canaan township, her family having removed to this state in about 1830, coming from West Virginia. Her death occurred about eleven years ago. By her union with Adam Smith, she became the mother of the following children : Cyrus D., the immediate subject of this sketch; James, of Silver City, Idaho; one that died in infancy unnamed ; Ada, who died at the age of twelve years; Mary, who died at ten years of age; Andrew, who lives on the old home farm in Canaan township; and Ella, who makes her home with her brother Andrew. Cyrus D. Smith spent his boyhood days on the parental farmstead and secured his education in the common schools of the township. At the age of twenty-two years, he went into the sawmill and lumber business at Creston, in which he was engaged about a year. Then going to Orrville, he went into the same line of business, which he followed for thirteen years, meeting with fair success the meanwhile. On the first day of January, 1893, he came to Wooster and entered upon the discharge of his duties as sheriff of Wayne county, to which position he had been elected in the autumn of the previous year, as the nominee of the Democratic party. Mr. Smith served two years in this position, giving the office his faithful and painstaking attention and retiring from it with the commendation of all. After relinquishing his official position, Mr. Smith engaged in the coal and transfer business in this city, in which he has since been continuously occupied, meeting with splendid success. While living at Orrville, he had given efficient service to his township as trustee and also served as a member of the Orrville city council. In every position in which he has been placed he has faithfully performed his part and has won and retains the high regard of all who have known of him and his work. In 1874 Mr. Smith married Sarah E. Whonsetler, who was born and reared in Canaan township, the daughter of Philip. Whonsetler. To this union five children have been horn, as follows : Frank E., deceased ; William M., who is associated with his father in business under the firm style of C. D. Smith & Son ; Charles C., who is the proprietor of the London Tea House and Grocery at Wooster; Maud, who is the wife of Fred Shook, of Alliance, this state; Edith, who is the wife of Wallace H. Smith, of this city. 576 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Politically, Mr. Smith is a stanch and uncomprising adherent of the Democratic party and gives it an active and influential support, being considered one of the wheelhorses of the party in this county: Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, which order he joined in 1885 and in which he has passed through all the chairs of the subordinate lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are well and favorably known and enjoy the warm regard of many friends. CONRAD RUMPLE BECKLEY. No man in recent years has left more indelibly the imprint of his sterling personality upon those with whom he came in contact in Wayne county, Ohio, than the late Conrad Rumple Beckley, whose life record has been closed by the fate that awaits all mankind. His influence still pervades the lives of those whom he knew, for his example both in a business and social way is worthy of emulating, as will be seen by a careful perusal of the following paragraphs. He was born about 1830 in Carroll county, Ohio, and he came to Wayne county about 1867 and was engaged in the dry goods business in Orrville for many years. For twelve or thirteen years he was in partnership in the mercantile business with H. H. Strauss and they succeeded in building up a large trade. He first worked as a clerk for a Mr. Bartholomew. Then in 1868 he and Mr. Strauss bought the interest of Mr. Bartholomew and conducted the business where Mr. Des Voignes is now located. In time they dissolved partnership and Mr. Beckley engaged in the grocery business for a few years. In 1884 he retired from business, following the death of his son, which sad event affected him very deeply. During the balance of his life—twenty-one years—he lived in retirement, dying March 23, 1905, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Beckley was a soldier in the Civil war, having been a member of Company D. One Hundred and Sixty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served very faithfully for a period of two years. He recruited volunteers for the Union army before joining its ranks himself. When he enlisted he was living at Minerva, Stark county, Ohio. Conrad R. Beckley was the son of John Beckley, a native of Pennsylvania, who married a Miss Rumple. Conrad R. Beckley was married at Minerva, Stark county, August 11, 1859, to Mary E. Graham, daughter of WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 577 James and Elizabeth (Seaton) Graham, natives of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Beckley was born near Minerva, Ohio, where her parents owned a large farm. Her father was also a miller, for many years occupying the responsible position of head miller at Hardesty's mill at Malvern, Carroll county. Mrs. Beckley's mother died while the family lived on the farm near Minerva, when the former was only two years old. To Mr. and Mrs. James Graham eight children were born, only two of whom are living in 1909. Mr. Beckley was married twice, first to Caroline Christener, by whom he became the father of two children, Mary Elizabeth, widow of Ross Hall, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, and Loren Edwin, who is living in San Bernardino, California. Five children were born to Mr. Beckley and his second wife, namely : Emma, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Ellsworth, who died when twenty-one years old, was. a very bright and promising youth, and his death deeply grieved his father, with whom he was connected in the grocery business ; Ann F. is the wife of Charles F. Hawk, of Cleveland, Ohio ; Nora B. is the wife of Charles A. Wolfe, of Washington, D. C.; Willard Karl lives in Akron, Ohio, where he has charge of the gents' furnishing department of O'Neill's store. Mr. Beckley was a Republican in politics, and in his church relations he was a Methodist, having taken a great interest in the affairs of the same, and he very faithfully served on the official board from the time he came to Orrville until his death. He was a very successful business man, courteous to his customers, obliging and always strictly honest in his dealings with his fellow-men. Although quiet and unobtrusive, he was a man of very pronounced opinions and courageous in his views. Being a very religious man, he was careful in rearing his children. He was generous and a good provider for his home, an indulgent father, a faithful husband and a most excellent neighbor, as well as a successful and prominent business man, his loss to the town greatly influencing all circles. That his life was exemplary is shown by the fact that he never used tobacco or liquors in any form,--in fact, he was free from the common vices that beset the pathways of men, and the young man standing at the parting of the ways whose fortunes are matters for the future to determine could do no better than take his life as a model in both a business and social way. Mrs. Beckley is an ardent advocate of temperance, as are also her children. She has been a member of the Methodist church since a little girl, very active in the work of the same, and she is held in high esteem by the local congregation and, in fact, all who know her. Her life has been one (37) 578 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. of mingled joy and sorrow, but happy and satisfactory in the main. Having been left without a mother's care when two years old, she was taken when five years of age by Dr. Levi Haldenman, of Minerva, by whom she was reared. She is a woman of gracious, generous, pleasant demeanor and loved by a host of warm personal friends. Her cozy home is on East Market street. CHARLES KRICK. The life of this well known citizen shows what industry, good habits and stanch citizenship will accomplish in the battle of acquiring property and making himself generally useful in his community. A worthy descendant of an excellent ancestry, Charles Krick has established a reputation for honesty and fair dealing in Union township, Wayne county, where he was born March 15, 1873, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Worth) Krick, a detailed account of whose lives will be found on another page of this work under the sketch of Jacob Krick. Charles Krick was the next to the youngest child of a family of eight children, four boys and four girls. He was reared on the old Krick farm in East Union township and here received a good common school education, working on' the farm during the summer months. When he reached maturity he began casting about for a life work and decided that the free life of the farmer was the most independent and attractive; consequently, being a hard worker and a good manager, he now has a good start, being the owner of fifty-three acres of excellent land known as the Jacob Swinehart farm, located in section 9, East Union township, where he carries on general farming and stock raising and enjoys a comfortable income. His place is in an excellent state of improvement in every respect. Mr. Krick was married on March II, 1903, to Daisy Warters, daughter of J. W. Warters, of Apple Creek, this township. She was born in Wooster township and reared on the home farm, receiving a common school education in her native vicinity. She applied herself well and became enabled to teach school, which she did very acceptably for some time. She also attended school at Apple Creek and later took a. normal course. To Mr. and Mrs. Krick three children have been born, namely, Mabel and Mildred, twins, born January 14, 1905 ; Ruth, born January 4, 1907. Mr. Krick is a member of the Presbyterian church at Apple Creek, this WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 579 township, and politically lie is a Democrat, and has taken some interest in local party affairs, having served as a member of the county central committee and also as an election judge. He is a young man of thrift and he and his wife enjoy the friendship and good will of all their neighbors. SAMUEL S. AMES. The gentleman to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith directed is among the foremost business men of Wooster and has by his enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way to the industrial and commercial advancement of the city and county. He has in the course of an honorable career been most successful in the business to which he has directed his attention, and he is well deserving of mention in the history of Wayne county. Samuel S. Ames was born in East Union township, Wayne county, Ohio, about six miles east of Wooster, on the 6th day of November, 1842. He is descended from sturdy Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, and his paternal grandfather, John Ames, was a native of the Keystone state, born in Lancaster county. The subject's father, John Ames, was also born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in about 1821, settling on a farm in East Union township, Wayne county. There he bought land, which he improved and maintained at a high standard of excellence, and on this place he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1857. He married Sarah Stauffer, also a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and whose death occurred in 1884. To John and Sarah Ames were born children as follows : Nathaniel, deceased ; Susan, deceased ; Davis, who is living at Girard, Illinois; Lydia, the wife of Stephen Elly, of Lucas county, Ohio ; the subject of this sketch is the next in order of birth ; Eli, of Elkhart county, Indiana. Samuel S. Ames remained with his parents until he was fifteen years of age and in the meantime secured what education he could in the country schools of his native township. He was reared to the work of the farm, but, believing he could make greater advancement -in other lines of employment, he went to work at the carpenter's trade, with the intention of mastering the details of that trade. In 1866 he came to Wooser and worked at the trade until 1872, when he commenced contracting on his own account. He has been continuously engaged in this line of business since, a period of nearly 580 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. forty years, and during this time he has erected many of the best business houses and residences in this city and county. He is painstaking and accurate in his work and anything entrusted to him may be depended on as being done right. He employs at times a large force of men and has successfully handled a number of large contracts. In 1870 Mr. Ames was united in marriage to Martha W. Watson, the daughter of Donald and Christiana (McPherson) Watson, the former of whom was born in Scotland in 1800. To. Mr. and Mrs. Ames have been born two children, namely, John W. and Chalmer, the last named being deceased. Mr. Ames has taken a commendable interest in local public affairs and has served efficiently as a member of the city council of Wooster, rendering definite and satisfactory service to his constituents. In politics he is a Republican and is active in support of the party. In matters fraternal he is also interested, being a member of the time-honored order of Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has taken the degrees up to and including that of Knight Templar ; he has also been a member of the Knights of Honor since 1875. In every avenue of life's activities in which he has engaged, Mr. Ames has performed well his part and has richly earned the high esteem which is accorded him in the community where he has so long resided. ROBERT J. SMITH. A most exemplary citizen and an honored hero of the war of the Rebellion is Robert J. Smith, who conducts a successful coal and transfer business in the city of Wooster, Ohio. During his army career he was ever found faithful to the duties imposed upon him, thus winning the confidence and high regard of his comrades and superior officers, while in his business life and social relations he has ever manifested the same justice, integrity and reliability, because of which he has won and retains the high regard of all who know him. R. J. Smith is a native son of the Keystone state and is of Irish antecedents. His birth occurred in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on the 16th of August, 1847, and he is the son of John M. Smith, also a native of the same county. In his native county, the father lived his entire life, following the honorable pursuit of a tiller of the soil, and there he died in 1901. in his eightieth year. He married Nancy Matthews, also a native of Westmoreland county, and her death, in her eightieth year, occurred two years WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 581 before that of her husband. They were the parents of the following children : Hiram M.. who lives in the state of Colorado ; Robert J., subject of this sketch; William M., who resides in Kansas ; Jennie (Mrs. Johnson), residing at Greensburg, Pennsylvania ; James H., of Seattle, Washington; Edward J., who resides at the old family homestead at New Florence, Pennsylvania ; Sarah Agnes, also residing at New Florence; Thomas Watson and Mary Ellen are both deceased. The subject's paternal grandfather, Robert Smith, came to America from Ireland in 1801. He had married before emigrating and on arrival here he and his wife settled on land in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, which he cultivated for many years, dying at a ripe old age. Robert J. Smith remained on the home farm with his mother until he was twenty-six years old. Then, feeling that larger opportunities for an -ambitious man lay farther to the west, he came to Wooster, Ohio, arriving here in 1874. He here engaged in the milling business, in connection with which he also dealt in ice, and these two industries he successfully carried on until 1894. In that year he sustained a heavy loss in the destruction of his Mill by fire, but he at once went to work to recoup his finances and engaged in the coal and ice business, which he continued until 1907, when he sold the ice business, since which time he has confined his attention to the coal and transfer business. He has been fairly successful in his business affairs and is today considered one of the substantial business men of Wooster, where he has been identified with business interests for so many years. During recent years he has been assisted by his son Robert, who is an able and efficient business man. It would be unjust to complete this sketch without making specific mention of the service which Mr. Smith rendered to his country in the hour of its extremity. In February, 1864, he enlisted in the Fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Cavalry and thereafter took part in a number of severe engagements, one of the most sanguinary of which was the battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. He was with General Grant in all his campaigns up to White House Landing, and at the battle of St. Mary's church, June 26, 1864, he received a severe gunshot wound in the left leg. From the effects of this wound he was confined in hospital until August of the following year, when he was discharged and returned to his home. Because of his military service, Mr. Smith is now an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic. On the 28th of December, 1868, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Elizabeth H. Pollock, who was born and reared in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. To this union were born three children, namely : Arnett Pollock, who died at the age of two years ; Thomas Watson, who died at the age 582 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. of seventeen years, and Robert H., who is associated with his father in business. He married Vina L. Mackey and they have two children, Elizabeth H. and Lucy. Mr. Smith is an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of the Republican party and has taken a somewhat active part in public affairs. On that ticket he was elected mayor of the city of Wooster, serving from 1898 to 1902, and he was also trustee of Wooster township for fifteen years, being re-elected continuously for eleven years. In religion, he belongs with his wife to the United Presbyterian church and they are faithful attendants and generous supporters of that society. ROBERT S. APPLEMAN. The life history of him whose name introduces this review is closely identified with the commercial life of Wooster and Wayne county, of which he is a native son. His business career, was begun in this county, and during the subsequent years he has been constantly allied with local interests. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a commensurate degree of success. He is of the highest type of business man, and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among those whose enterprise and ability have enabled them to climb the ladder of success. Robert S. Appleman was born at .Maysville, Wayne county, Ohio, September 7, 1850, and he is the son of William and Sarah J. (Simpson) Appleman. The Appleman family is thought to be of German origin, though the Ohio family of this name came directly from Pennsylvania. The subject's paternal grandfather, Permenas Appleman, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, and his death occurred about twenty years ago, at which time he was seventy-eighty years old. During his younger years he followed the pursuit of agriculture, but later for a number of years he ran a dry goods store at Fredericksburg. William Appleman, the subject's father, was born in Wayne county, near Maysville, and during his active years confined his attention to farming, in which he was fairly successful. He spent all his life in Wayne and Holmes counties. He was a strong Presbyterian in religious belief and an ardent and active Republican in politics. During his younger days he taught school several terms and was considered a good teacher. He passed away about fourteen years ago at Shreve, where he had lived in retirement about eight years, his age at death being about sixty-six years. He married Sarah J. Simpson, who was born near Millersburg, Holmes county, Ohio. Her father, Robert WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 583 Simpson, was a native of the north of Ireland and emigrated to America with his parents when a young man, settling in Holmes county. Later he removed to near Maysville, Wayne county, where he spent his remaining years. Sarah J. Appleman died about ten years ago, at the age of seventy years. By her union with William Appleman, she became the mother of the following children : Robert S., the immediate subject of this review ; John R., who died at one year of age; W. S. is a farmer and lives near Shreve, Holmes county ; S. A. is engaged in the sewing machine business at Mansfield, Ohio. The subject of this sketch remained during his boyhood years on the home farm, securing a fair education in the common schools of his home community. At the age of eighteen years he began the study of music, for which he had early exhibited a decided talent and to which he had given much attention during the years prior. He engaged in the teaching of music, both instrumental and vocal, and in this work he achieved a pronounced success, following it exclusively for twelve years. He then went into the piano business at Shreve, and later at Loudonville, and in 1898 he came to Wooster and opened a general music store, which he still conducts. He handles pianos, organs, phonographs and other musical instruments, and in connection also carries a large and carefully selected line of vocal and instrumental music. The store, which is located on South Market street, is the headquarters for music-loving people and Mr. Appleman has from the start enjoyed a liberal patronage. Mr. Appleman has twice been married. In 1873 he married Julia L. Lind, of near Paint Valley, Holmes county, Ohio, and to this union were born five children, namely : Edwin C., deceased ; William H., of Seattle, Washington ; Louella, the wife of J. H. Van Horn, of near Loudonville, Ohio ; C. Earl, who is associated with his father in the music business ; Jeanette, who died at the age of two and a half years. Mrs. Appleman died in 1887 at Loudonville and in 1889 Mr. Appleman married Annilda Fredrick, a daughter of J. P. Fredrick, deceased, a former resident of Loudonville. To this last union have been born four children, as follows : Martha, at home ; Fred, deceased ; Ralph S. and Joseph A., both at home. Fraternally Mr. Appleman belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and Order of American Yeomen, and in the Pythian order he has passed the chairs. In politics he is a Prohibitionist. The subject and his wife are active members of the First Presbyterian church. He has always taken an earnest interest in religious matters and while a resident of Loudonville was for sixteen years an elder in the church, having also occu- 584 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. pied other church offices there and at Shreve. In their home Mr. and Mrs. Appleman practice a generous and kindly hospitality, finding greatest pleasure in intercourse with congenial friends. They are highly respected because of their sterling qualities of character and their friends are in number as their acquaintances. CHARLES WESLEY BOLEN. This gentleman opened an office in Wooster in 1908 and was soon recognized as an energetic and far sighted business man. He devotes his attention to western investments, his long experience in mining enterprises having given him a knowledge of mines and mining attained by few. Mr. Bolen was born in Union City, Indiana, October 21, 1868, and is the son of John Wesley and Mary (Straider) Bolen, an old and influential family of that place. He received his education in the common schools of Union City. also spent a short time at Ada University. He was only a small boy when his mother died and he became self-supporting early in life, earning his first money shining shoes. He later worked in a brick-yard, sawmill and as a section hand on the railroad. While attending school he drove a delivery wagon for a grocery store mornings and evenings and on Saturdays. Being ambitious to obtain an education, he let nothing stand in his way, and his efforts were crowned with large success in due course of time. He taught one term of school and later clerked in a grocery store, and while thus engaged began reading law in the office of ex-Gov. Isaac P. Gray, and later with Theodore Shockney. He was admitted to the bar and for six years devoted his attention to his profession, which extended over four counties in Indiana and Ohio, during which time he won an enviable reputation as an earnest, able and painstaking lawyer. His friend, Governor Gray. being appointed minister to Mexico by President Cleveland, interested Mr. Bolen in mining in Mexico, and for a period of five years he operated in the copper mines of Mexico and Arizona. He was very successful in making investments in mining properties and for several years maintained an office in Columbus, Ohio, also one in Denver, Colorado, later adding the Wooster office, and his name has become familiar to the mining world during the past few years. He is a principal stockholder of the Stoughton Mining and Milling Company, also a stockholder in the North Star Mining, Milling and Transportation Company, the Colusa Mining and Milling Company, the Ohio WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 585 Quartz Hill Mining Company, all in Colorado ; and the Golden Chief Mining Company, of Rhyolite, Nevada. All of these are being operated, Mr. Bolen owning five hundred thousand shares in them. The domestic life of Mr. Bolen began in 1892, when he married Jessie H. Starbuck, a lady of culture and refinement and the representative of an honored and influential family. This union has been graced by the birth of two children, Edward and Uda. Politically, Mr. Bolen is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. Bolen is a splendid specimen of well-rounded, symmetrically devoloped, virile manhood, with a commanding presence and a strong personality, being six feet in height, having a keen eye and a dignity of bearing, moving among his fellows as one born to leadership. He is companionable, genial, a hale and hearty spirit, whose presence inspires good humor. With duties that would crush the ordinary man, he has his labors so systematized that he experiences little or no inconvenience in doing them. He is a vigorous as well as an independent thinker, a wide reader, and he has the courage of his convictions upon all subjects which he investigates. His career as an attorney and in business has been strikingly original and fearless, prosecuting his researches after his own peculiar fashion, and, measured by the accepted standard of excellence, his career, though strenuous, has been eminently honorable and useful, and his life fraught with good to his fellows and to the world. O. C. WILLIAMS. O. C. Williams, who is engaged in the livery business in Wooster, ranks among the more enterprising and progressive business men. The prosperity of any community, town or city depends in a large measure on its commercial activity, its industrial interests and its trade relations, and therefore the real upbuilders of a town are those who stand at the head of the leading enterprises. Mr. Williams has, by his progressive methods and enterprising spirit, been a definite factor in the advancement of Wooster's business interests. The subject was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on the 19th of January, 1861. His father, Stephen R. Williams, was a native of Pennsylvania, born February 17, 1817, but has lived in Holmes county since he was two years old, and, what is more notable, has lived all these years on the same farm. His antecedents were Welsh. On April 3o, 1830, Mr. Williams married 586 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Jane Hague, who was born in this country, March 5, 1822, but whose parents were born at The Hague, Holland. Stephen R. Williams owns a splendid farm of two hundred and fifty acres and, despite his advanced age, he still maintains an active supervision over its operation, being still in vigorous health and as strong mentally as when in his physical prime. On April 3o, 1910, he and his wife celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary. To their union were born the following children : Rev. Albert B., of Mount Vernon, Ohio ; Nancy, the widow of Lewis Everhard, deceased ; Mary, the wife of George W. Burkett, of Lincoln, Nebraska ; Ruth, the wife of Rev. J. T. H. Stewart, of Welcome, Ohio ; W. V., of Winfield, Kansas, where he was in the hardware business for twenty-two years, but is now in the real estate business; and 0. C., the subject of this sketch. Three sons, James, Aaron and John, are deceased. O. C. Williams was reared on the parental farmstead in Holmes county and remained there until 1884. In that year he went to Harper county, Kansas, and engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he continued for twelve years, meeting with fair success. He then returned to his native state and went to farming in Holmes county, in which he was occupied for about ten years. On May I, 1905, he came to Wooster and took charge of his present business, that of liveryman, in which he has been very successful. The barn was established in 1887 by his brother-in-law, Lewis Everhard, now deceased, and is a large and commodious structure, capable of accommodating one hundred and fifty head without undue crowding. This barn bears the distinction of being the first ten-cent barn in the state of Ohio and the second in the United States. It is run on practically the European plan, every horse getting an enclosed stall. The barn is equipped with a ladies' waiting room and toilet, as well as other conveniences, and from the start the institution has met with the approval of the public, it being accorded a liberal and constant patronage, especially by the farmers, by whom it is duly appreciated. On June 20, 1895, Mr. Williams was married to Mary Alice Wishard, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Wishard, the family being of sturdy Scotch ancestry on both paternal and maternal lines. Mary Wishard was born in Danville, Hendricks county, Indiana, and received a good education in the public schools of her native state, the high standard of which is a matter of national reputation. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born two children, Horace Williams, born February 5, 1897, and Elizabeth Jane, born October 15, 1908. Fraternally, Mr. Williams is a Freemason, belonging to the lodge at Millersburg, Ohio, With his wife, he is a member of the Christian church, WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 587 to which they both give a loyal and generous support. In politics he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, though he has no inclination for public office. Mr. Williams has many friends in Wooster, where his character as an honorable and upright man is well known. He is pleasant and agreeable in manner, and both he and his estimable wife delight to offer the hospitality of their pleasant home to their many friends. WILLIAM HERBERT BLISS. The record of Mr. Bliss is that of a man who by his own unaided efforts worked his way from a modest beginning to a position of definite standing in the business circles of Wooster, where he is now engaged in the grocery business. His life has been of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods which he has followed have won for him the unbounded confidence of his fellow citizens. Mr. Bliss was born at Bloomville, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 16th of March, 1869. His paternal grandfather, who was a native of New York state, was a successful merchant there, and met his death by accidental drowning after removing to Ohio. The subject's father, Edson P. Bliss, was also born in the state of New York and was brought to Ohio when a baby, his parents settling in Seneca county. After receiving his education and reaching years of maturity, he engaged in the dry goods business, and was so engaged for twenty-nine years. During the first years he was a business partner with Henry M. Flagler, of Standard Oil fame. Mr. Bliss died in November, 1886. He married Elizabeth Killey, who was born in Maryland and who died when the subject of this sketch was but four years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Bliss the following children were born : Melvin 0., of Bloomville, Ohio ; Malcolm E., also of Bloomville ; Ginnela, who is the wife of Clinton C. Leyda, ticket agent at Shreve, Ohio ; the subject of this sketch is the youngest of the family. William H: Bliss spent his boyhood in Bloomville, and attended the public schools, graduating in due time from the Bloomville high school. Desiring to secure a more complete education he then entered Heidelberg University, at Tiffin, Ohio, where he remained two years, and then spent two years in Wooster University. In 1888 Mr. Bliss located in Wooster and established himself in the grocery business in 1895. From a modest beginning, his busi- 588 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. ness has grown until it is now of large proportions and realizes to Mr. Bliss a handsome annual net income. He carries a large and well-selected stock of everything usually to be found in an up-to-date grocery and his efforts to please his customers have been rewarded by constantly increasing business. On the 6th of October, 1895, Mr. Bliss was united in marriage to Lillie May Siegenthaler, daughter of Albert J. Siegenthaler, of Wooster, where she was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are interested in advancing its work in the community. In politics Mr. Bliss is a Republican, but takes no very active part in public matters, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business Interests. He is Democratic in his tastes and has made many warm personal friends since locating in Wooster, who esteem him because of his sterling qualities. He is a self-made man and is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this character. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss have a pleasant home at No. 55 East Larwill street. WILLIAM L. LONG. In the daily laborious struggle for an honorable competence and a solid career on the part of a business or professional man there is little to attract the reader in search of a sensational chapter ; but to a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and meaning of human existence there are noble and imperishable lessons in the career of an individual who, without other means than a clear head, strong arm and true heart, directed and controlled by correct principles and unerring judgment, conquers adversity and finally wins, not only pecuniary independence, but, what is far better, the deserved respect and confidence of those with whom his active years have been mainly spent. To this latter class belongs the subject of this sketch, who is recognized as one of the leading contractors and builders in Wayne county. Mr. Long was born in Wooster on the 8th of October, 1871. His parents are Jacob and Sarah (Ketker) Long, the former of whom was born in Paradise, Wayne county, Ohio, where he was reared to the life of a farmer. Subsequently he was employed as a stone mason, and later lived at Cleveland, Ohio,, in retirement, having removed to that city in 19o5, his death having occurred recently. His widow is now making her home with her son. Jacob Long had lived in Wayne county all. his life up to the time of his removal. His family is of German extraction, his father, Barnhart Long, having been a native of the Fatherland. He came from Germany in young manhood, WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 589 settling first at Goshen, Indiana, but removing to Wayne county, Ohio, in an early day. He was an expert gunsmith and a highly respected man. His death occurred in 1901. The subject's mother was born in Toronto, Canada, but in young girlhood was brought to the United States by her parents, who settled in Wayne county, where she lived all her life up to the time of her removal to Cleveland. Jacob and Sarah Long were the parents of the following children, thirteen in number : Shannon, deceased; Dora, the wife of Irwin Stevens, of Cleveland, Ohio ; William L., subject of this sketch ; Jennie, the wife of Edward Gibbons,. of Columbus, Ohio ; Ethel, the wife of Clem Langell, of Cleveland, Ohio ; Alice, wife of Hugh McAnnaney, of Fort Lupton, Colorado ; David, of Cleveland ; Earl, who died at the age of twenty-five years ; Goldie, the wife of Charles Smith, of Cleveland ; Karl, of Cleveland ; Frank, of Wooster ; Hazel, wife of Charles Wheaton, of Columbus, Ohio ; Nellie, deceased. Though the subject of this sketch was born in the city of Wooster, he went to live with his father on a farm at ten years old, and worked there until fourteen years old. His parents were poor, and his father was compelled to support his large family by day labor. After the father rented the little farm out from the city and moved there, things did not materially brighten, as the land was poor and the combined efforts of father and boys could not make it produce enough to.keep the family in comfort. William became discouraged at the outlook and told his father he was going to Wooster and hunt work, that he might provide his mother with money, as she had not seen a ten-dollar bill since they had moved to the farm. The boy soon found employment, and, being possessed of a rugged constitution and a willing disposition, he was soon enabled to command fair wages. He first learned the stone-mason's trade and then that of a brick mason, in both of which he became a proficient workman. By thrift and economy he was enabled to save money and in 1891 he went into the contracting business on his own account. In this line he has achieved a success far beyond his early dreams and has built up a business second to none in this section of the state. He has accumulated considerable material wealth, being worth, at a conservative estimate, fifty thousand dollars, all of which has been gained by hard work and the exercise of sound judgment. Mr. Long constantly employs a large number of workmen and has performed some of the largest building contracts ever let in this county. Among the buildings constructed by him, the following may be mentioned : The Wayne county jail, the university chapel, part of the Kauke hall, the Severance hall, the university power house, the addition to the Frick Library at the university, the Holden hall, these including the principal buildings at Wooster Univer- 590 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. sity, the Wayne County Building and Loan Association building, the Gerstenslager Buggy Company factory, Wooster high school building, 3. M. Gitner's garage, the Wooster brush company's new factory, and many other of the best class of buildings in the community, besides a large number of the best residences. Everything Mr. Long undertakes is done well and he has long had an enviable reputation because of the quality of his work. His property interests include a beautiful home, in which he takes a justifiable pride. He also bought a fine piece of farming land, and his father and mother lived on this place for a while, but subsequently moved to Cleveland, where so many of their children were living. Mr. Long is also a stockholder in the Wayne County National Bank and in the Gerstenslager Buggy Company, both of them leading institutions of their kind in this city, and a splendid farm of one hundred and forty acres located two and a half miles east of Wooster. In 1894 Mr. Long was united in marriage to Elizabeth I. Whitcomb, a daughter of David Whitcomb, and born in Haysville, Ashland county, this state. To this union four children have been born, namely : Edna V., Hugh J., Donald, and one that died in infancy- unnamed. Their home, on Pittsburgh avenue, is a charming place, where all visitors meet with a hearty and spontaneous welcome and where the latch-string ever hangs on the outside. In his social relations, Mr. Long is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a stanch Republican and takes an active interest in the success of his party, but though frequently importuned to accept nomination for public office, he has steadfastly refused to do so, preferring to devote his attention to his business interests and his family, to which he is devoted. However, he is giving effective service as a member of the board of public safety. Nevertheless he is essentially alert and public-spirited in his attitude and his interest in all that conserves the public welfare is unabating. Because of his courteous manners, genial disposition and genuine worth, he has won and retains a host of warm personal friends. Since above was written Mr. Long's father died. His mother makes her home with her son. ALBERT GERLACH. Among the enterprising citizens of Wooster, Ohio, is Albert Gerlach, who is engaged in the meat business, managing one of the oldest, best known and extensive shops in the city, while he maintains a very comfortable home here, and the years of his residence have but served to strengthen the feeling WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 591 of his fellow citizens, for he has shown what rightly directed principles, coupled with honesty and industry, can accomplish toward definite success. As the name indicates, this family is of German origin. Frank C. Gerlach, father of the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, was a native of the province of Prussia; when a young man he joined a large colony of Germans and they came to the United States, most of them locating in Ohio, young Gerlach making his way to Wooster, where he decided to remain, finding that Wayne county offered exceptional inducements for a man of his temperament. He engaged in the meat business, thus founding the well known establishment of which the subject is now the manager and owner. He was a successful business man and built up a very lucrative trade here. He took considerable interest in local politics and at one time served in a very creditable manner as township trustee. He lived in Wooster continuously until his death, in March, 1885. Frank Gerlach married Johanna Kaltwasser, a native of Prussia who came to America when a young woman. She died on December 27, 1909. She was a kindly, generous and honest lady whom everybody respected. By her marriage with Frank Gerlach she became the mother of four children, Albert, Will, Frank, Jr., and Julius. Albert Gerlach was born in Wooster, Ohio, March 29, 1861, and he has lived here all his life. He received a very practical education in the local schools, and when a mere boy assisted his father in the meat business. He very naturally decided to follow in the latter's footsteps and follow the same line of work for a livelihood ; this he has done in a manner that stamps him as progressive, alert and honest in all his dealings with his fellow men, having been taught by his honored parents the old-time adage that, "Honesty is the best policy." His father taught him the "ins and outs" of the meat business and gave him a share in the shop, which he is still managing in the same systematic and careful manner as always characterized the methods of the elder Gerlach, having not only been able to retain the old trade but also a constantly growing new list of good customers. By his thrift and able management he has won large success, accumulating a substantial competency and ranking with the progressive business men of Wooster. Mr. Gerlach has never assumed the responsibilities of the married state. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics he is a Democrat, but not a partisan. His church membership is with the English Lutherans, of which he is a liberal supporter and in which congregation he is held in high favor. 592 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. DANIEL S. STOUT. Daniel S. Stout needs no introduction to the citizens of Wayne township, Wayne county, for his long and eminently useful life has been spent here, with the exception of his service in the army, for he was one of the loyal sons of the North who sacrificed so much for succeeding generations, undergoing the trials and privations, to say nothing of the dangers to life and limb, during the stormy days of the early sixties. To such as he all honor is due. As indicated, Mr. Stout was born in Wayne township, this county, near Madisonburg, August 2, 1839. He is the son of Daniel Stout, a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, who married Catherine Oberlin, a native of Lancaster county, that state. He came as a single man to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1825, with his parents. His father was Matthias Stout, who married Susan Gable, a native of Pennsylvania. They came to Wayne county, Ohio, and purchased a small place near Madisonburg, on which Mr. Stout lived until his death, his widow surviving and dying in Illinois. Daniel Stout, father of Daniel S., of this review, was educated in the common schools. His father, Matthias, was a well-educated man and a teacher of German for some time. Daniel learned the bricklayer's trade, which he followed for several years, devoting the latter part of his life to farming. He first secured land in Mercer county, Ohio, and in 1854 or 1855 he bought seventy-four acres where the subject now resides in Wayne township. There was an old log house on the place at that time, but he improved the place. His first wife died in 1882 and he married a second time, his last wife being Rebecca Aultman, a native of Orrville, Ohio. Daniel Stout was the father of thirteen children by his first wife and three by his second. Those living by his first wife are, Daniel S., subject of this sketch ; Jacob 0., of Lima, Ohio ; Simeon, a bricklayer at Mechanicsburg, this county ; Susan E., living at home ; Catherine, also at home ; James F., of St. Marys, Ohio ; Anna B., living at home. The following are the children by Daniel Stout's second marriage : Cora, living at East Palestine, Ohio ; Isa, of Orrville, Ohio ; the other child by this marriage is deceased. Daniel Stout held the office of trustee of his township, also other offices within the gift of the people. He was a Democrat and a member of the Lutheran church. His death occurred on May 3, 1896. Daniel S. Stout, of this review, received only a common school education, and he lived at home until he was twenty-two years of age, when he enlisted his services in defense of the flag during the Civil war, serving with WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 593 credit for a period of four years. His enlistment occurred in October, 1861, in Company B, McLaughlin's Squadron, which was organized at Mansfield, Ohio. The regiment was sent to the Big Sandy river in eastern Tennessee and was in that valley for one year ; thence they ascended the Ohio river and returned to the Big Sandy river country ; spent two months in Covington, Kentucky ; then went to Knoxville, Tennessee, and were there when the place was besieged by Longstreet. Mr. Stout then went home on thirty days' furlough, after which he returned to Lexington, Kentucky. In March, 1864, he went across Tennessee to Georgia and took part in the Atlanta campaign and was captured on July 31st, sent soon afterward to prison at Andersonville, also sent to the Florence prison, and after five months he was paroled and exchanged. Then he came home again on a thirty-day furlough, returning to his command in North Carolina, remaining with the same until his discharge in November, 1865, after which. he came home. Three of his brothers were also in the Union army, John, of the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, became a captain ; Jacob, who became a second lieutenant in the company with Daniel S., served three and one-half years, and he, too, was taken prisoner; William was also in the same company with the subject of this review and died in Mellon prison, Georgia. After his army career, Daniel S. Stout launched into the butter and egg business at Mechancisburg, this county ; but after spending two years there he went to Jackson county, Missouri, where he remained for two and one-half years, then returned to Ohio, locating in Creston, Wayne county, and was engaged in the butter and egg business for two years. Since that time he has been on the old homestead, where he is carrying on general farming very successfully, having a nice home and a well-managed place. He has been a trustee of Wayne township for two terms, also served as school director. He votes the Democratic ticket. The Stout family are supporters of the Evangelical Lutheran church of Wayne township. ELMER S. LANDES. Men possessed of genius, of business capacity. force and intelligence need no factitious introduction to the public attention. The positions of honor, influence and power in commerce, in statesmanship, in fact in any field of public activity, are not always occupied by men of the greatest resources or the (38) 594 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. highest character, intellect or ability. Men who possess the best and most valuable attainments, and who are qualified for the highest service, pass quietly along, almost unrecognized, unhonored and unsung. An accident frequently thrusts elaborations and exalted position upon an individual, or the independence of accumulated wealth, although he may be too small to fill the measure of his luck. He who makes himself strong, and a factor,—a living, acting, accomplishing entity in his community,—whether a young man or not, who makes himself felt as a progressive personality by his tact, foresight, enterprise, energy and judgment, is a greater and more valuable citizen than he who goes "whistling to the air" in perfumed hammocks, knitted and woven by the deft spiders of circumstance. The beginning is more than doing a thing in time. It orders a continuance. It implies action, choice, purpose, courage, self-reliance, progress. Some lives are diligent but unproductive, because they swing down into the easiest place and go around, but never up and forward. Others appropriate all their strength in pretense in appearing, not being. We conjecture that with Mr. Landes the only sane philosophy of life comes through action. The subject of this sketch is a native of Wayne county, as indigenous to the soil as its wild flowers or its forest trees, and was born in Madisonburg, Wayne township, October 24, 1867. He is a son of Thomas Allen and Martha Jane Landes, of Wayne township, both of whom were born the same year, 1846, in this township; his mother was also born at Madisonburg, where she has lived continuously since her birth, or for sixty-three years. His parents were united in. marriage in 1866, and to this wedded union four children, three sons and one daughter, were born, all of whom, save the daughter, are living. His ancestral stock, both on the paternal and maternal line, is strongly interfused with the old territory blood, albeit on the latter or on the mother's side there is a healthy interjection of the red blood of the Celts, the irrepressible Mishenaw that lives immortally in song and eloquence, and who has glorified many a battlefield from Drogheds to Boyne Water. His father was an upright, industrious citizen, the owner of considerable real estate which he cultivated, in connection with which he engaged in training, a quite profitable vocation, and such other work as came within the range of his ability and equipment to perform, his sons materially assisting him in his farm work and other fields of labor in which he may have been engaged. But during these earlier years of strenuous exertion the parents did not overlook or neglect the matter of education of their children, making certain their attendance upon the country or the village school. After the career with his father on the farm in trading, digging and drilling wells, etc., had 595 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. ended at the age of nineteen, he entered the Smithville Normal School, of Prof. P. A. Palmer, and here he studied for two years, making rapid progress in faithfulness and efficiency of work. With his elementary equipment and receiving his certificate, he launched his little bark on the mixed waters of pedagogy, conducting his first school, in Zinn district, Wayne township: He subsequently pursued this as a vocation for a period of thirteen years, four as superintendent at Madisonburg, etc., serving as instructor one year in the preparatory department of the Wooster University, under Professor Dickason, the last four of his thirteen years' experience in the schoolroom being employed as superintendent of the Dalton school. During the period of his highly successful service at Dalton, he was granted, in consideration of his qualifications and merit, an eight-year certificate by the county examining board, the first one covering that period of years ever issued to an applicant. He took the initiative, as the first of the younger teachers of Wayne county, to incorporate into or communicate to his system of instruction and plan of studies the normal aspect or the features of the normal, thereby aiming to qualify and fortify such of the scholars as were desirous and ambitious of becoming teachers for the scrutiny and inquisitive ordeal of examination, supplementing this course of study with suggestive thoughts and processes of best method of school government. That this idea, in greater part, original with Mr. Landes, was an inspiring success and operated to the best advantage of all, requiring no other or more precise demonstration than in the fact that, at the termination of his first year at Dalton, of an attendance of but little in excess of fifty pupils, twenty of them obtained certificates as teachers and entered the pedagogical field. We know of no better commentary, no higher or more significant words of commendation that could be pronounced to accent and emphasize these practical and vital, but unadvertised and unheralded, achievements of the school room. Abandoning the phalanx of the teachers, he removed and settled in Wooster, in August, 1907, and at once embarked in the realty agency business to which he has since exclusively devoted his time and attention. He found soon after he had opened office in the city that this department of business was measurably in an inanimate, stagnate condition, or in other words, was not being. vigorously pushed along the lines especially as he conceived were the proper ones along which to prosecute it, having in view, as a matter of course, the compensations that might accrue to him personally, and that wider and broader consideration as to how Wooster might be benefited, how far its sleepy energies might be animated, how a spirit of investment of pur- 596 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. chase and sale might be stimulated, how far an impulse toward the growth and development of the city of Wooster could be encouraged and verified, through an aggressive and vigorous "agency- such as he but recently established. We do not hesitate to say that the experiment he instituted has proven a success so far as Mr. Landes is concerned, and equally so as to the measure of stimulas of life it has imparted to healthier action in real estate, a better understanding and definition of values, and a more determined and decisive ambition on the part of business men of Wooster and the citizens in general, to stand by Mr. Landes and stand by each other in the laudable and praiseworthy ambition and purpose of purchasing property, erecting new buildings conforming to the laws of permanence, taste and beauty and exerting themselves to the very utmost toward the growth, development and expansion of the beautiful city of Wooster, making it not only a city of attractive homes, but a city of business, a mart of trade, factories, mills, the theater of manufacturers, with both hands outstretched toward capital, enterprise and genius, beckoning them to come, join us, keep us, in the great scheme of development. Mr. Landes has performed a worthy and commendable part in this direction. He was one and the foremost in organizing the "Boosters' Club," now merged in the Board of Trade, of which he is an active member, and perhaps he and Mr. John Schultz accomplished more than came from any other source, in formulating the plans and methods of procedure that secured the location in our midst of the Gerstenslager carriage works. So consummate was the organization of this club that in the days of the canvass for the amount stipulated as the consideration for the transfer of the carriage works to Wooster, one thousand two hundred dollars more than the sum required was subscribed by the business men and other enterprising citizens of that city. As a consequence of the enlargement of his business operations, which have contributed so directly and substantially to the growth and improvement of our city, inspiring new enterprises and giving fresh momentum to those already contemplated, or in process of development, his brother Clarence came to Wooster within the past two years, forming a partnership with him, his business having assumed such proportions that assistance on his part became necessary. Clarence Landes is an elder brother of the subject of this sketch, a native of Wayne county, educated in Wayne county and a former teacher in the schools of Wayne county, with an experience in this vocation of eight years, and a business man in Wayne county for a number of years prior to his coming to Wooster. He had for four years been engaged in the hardware trade WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 597 in the flourishing village of Doylestown, where he had built up a fine business, the reputation of a gentleman of integrity, honesty, straightforward, upright life, possessing excellent qualities as a man of business, characterized by the individuality, self-reliance, quiet assertiveness, enterprise, judgment and alert executive tact of his brother. He is a man of family, has come to Wooster to stay, make it his home and help make it one of the hustling, progressive and most beautiful inland cities of northern Ohio. During the last few years Mr. Landes has also written and published two most valuable books accordant to and in the manner of the "Our Educational Service," the first issued in 1901, entitled "Outlines in United States History," the second under the caption of "The New Practical Orthography," in a total of one hundred and ninety-four pages. The first volume embraces a succinct history of political parties, from the time of the Whig and Tory organizations, the Federal, and Anti-Federal, Democratic, Anti-Masonic, Free Soil, Barnburners, Hawkeyes, Republicans, etc. with a chronological record of our territorial acquisitions from the Revolutionary period to Hawaii and our armed contention with Spain, within the last decade. It is a work that cannot fail to be a most valuable and helpful assistant to student and teacher, and, as the author aptly says in the preface, its object being "to introduce plans by which the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of the history of our country may not only be an interesting but a pleasant task." "The New Practical Orthography" is a' text book for use in public schools, grammar schools and lower grades in high school, the later editions of these works being issued from the press of the New Publishing Company, of F. A. Owen, Dansville, New York. This little volume supplies a very evident demand in that, as the author most pertinently says, "it furnishes a practical treatise on orthography, sufficiently elementary for the country schools, the grammar school and the lower grades in the high school, and at the same time comprehensive enough to give a fair knowledge of the principles of orthography." Mr. Landes is a Republican of the pronounced type, who emphasizes his patriotism, party fealty and genuine Americanism on all proper occasions, never obtrusive, however, in promulgation of his political opinions or predilections, believing that in a free country, such as this, each man has a right to his own views and may act in pursuance thereto in affairs political, moral and religious and all matters of government. He is now serving his second term as chairman of the Wayne county Republican executive committee and assisted materially in shaping and directing the congressional campaign of the late Hon. M. L. Smyser in 1907. Although he is a vigilant and active 598 - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. member of his party, he is not an office seeker—in fact, is without aspirations in that direction, the exception to this being in 1905, when his party nominated him for county auditor, in which contest he was far-away and ahead of his ticket, but went down in the "Herrick landslide" of that year. Mr. Landes has only fairly attained the midway division of the average acting working life with the reasonable assurance and promise before him of more working, compensating tomorrows than tested and exhausted yesterdays. He is largely a self-made man, believes in work, education and attention to business in hand, the mutual responsibility and interdependence of man and their responsibility to state, and this is manifest in his spirit of progress and enterprise. He believes that whatever be your choice in life's great work, you must grasp this truth. You are a product and investment yourself, if you will, of the state and to it you owe some returns. Every taxpayer has contributed to your present advancement. The nation has found out that ignorance is a menace, and that its safety and protection is in the trained and educated minds of its citizens, through the village schools, the normals, academies and colleges. It is true that freedom has its obligations and liberty its restrictions and no man, a product of our American institutions, has any moral right to engage in anything that could not help another while at the same time it affords him a livelihood and the means of increasing his fortune. His experiences and labor as a teacher were adjusted along these parallels of mental usefulness, and so are his exertions in the realty business at this time, in his several allotments of property, of building sites and at present with more than forty lots for sale of his own and the prospects of a dozen houses being built in the immediate future. The secret of the success of Mr. Landes is imbedded in a fixed purpose that differentiates from choice or desire, in that it is as constant as the needle to the pole and as certain. He recognizes the unchangeable equation : Attention plus service and sacrifice equals success. Like the lens, it concentrates the rays of mental powers upon the point to be attained and then Wanamaker, the clerk, becomes the merchant prince, and Edison, the newsboy, the wizard of the world. Mr. Landes is of medium height, dark hair and eyes, firmly and compactly built, and sound as the pillars in the Sistine chapel. He is sociable, agreeable and companionable, guards well his thoughts and words, his ears a sanctuary from the name of his absent and a locked secret of his present friend. Neither of these can miscarry in his trust. He undertakes without rashness and performs with fixed resolution, well-balanced and floats steadily. He is generous and liberal. His business career is forward, yet he has the silent nerve to confront opposition or failure and would see under the frown of defeat the smile of victory. —By BEN DOUGLAS. WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO - 599 JOHN HOWARD BEECHER DANFORD. Success has been worthily attained by J. H. B. Danford, who is today accounted one of the prosperous business men and substantial citizens of Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio. To his energy, enterprise, careful management and keen discernment his present station in life is attributed. He started upon his career as an independent factor at the bottom of the ladder and is now the proprietor of one of the best business concerns in the city, occupying a conspicuous place in the front rank of her successful citizens. Mr. Danford was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, on July 4, 1867, therefore he celebrated his natal day on the anniversary of our national independence. His parents were Samuel M. and Rebecca (Finley) Danford. The former, who was born in Noble county, Ohio, was a farmer by profession and shortly after the close of the Civil war he removed to Guernsey county, where he continued his farming operations. He was also for a while engaged in mercantile pursuits, but subsequently relinquished 'that and returned to the farm. During the great gold excitement of 1849 he caught the fever and went to the Pacific coast, spending eight years in Oregon and California. His death occurred when he was seventy-seven years old. He had a brother in the Union army who at the battle of Gettysburg was wounded twenty-seven times. Rebecca Finley Danford was born in Guernsey county, this state, and her death occurred in 1879. Her mother's family name was Morris and she was related in direct line to Robert Morris, one of the immortal signers of the Declaration of Independence. To Samuel and Rebecca Danford the following children were born : Angeline, deceased ; Estella, deceased ; Viola is the wife of Elmer Secrest, of Chaseville, Noble county, Ohio ; Eliza is the wife of Noah Davis, also of Chaseville; Charles F., of Cambridge, Ohio ; J. H. B. is the immediate subject of this sketch ; Cora, the wife of Ray Larrick, of Pleasant City, Ohio ; Anna L., the wife of C. L. Starr, of Pleasant City, Ohio. J. H. B. Danford was reared on the home farm and secured a fair education in the common schools of his home township. When old enough he assumed his share of the labors of the farm and continued to make his home with his parents until 189o. He was then variously employed until about 1893, when he engaged in the furniture business at Pleasant City, where he continued with fair success until 1904. In that year, desiring a wider scope for business, he came to 'Wooster, and on March 8, 1905, he bought a half interest with H. B. Christine, furniture dealer, and in December of the same year he bought his partner's interest, since which time he has been sole pro-