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ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP.

DAVID AUCKER (deceased), was born in Bedford County, Penn., in 1805; at the age of eighteen, he came West; visited several counties in Southern Ohio ; farmed on shares in Pickaway County till 1834, and then came to what is now St. Joseph Township, Williams County ; erected a round-log cabin, and two years later brought on his family, and thus became one of the first permanent settlers of *e township. Money was scarce, the market for his produce—Defiance—was twenty-five miles dis- tant, and the food for the family was procured from the game of the forest and the products of the field ; the clothing was spun at home from flax and wool. However, he succeeded in building up a comfortable home of 200 acres, with very fair improvements. He was married, September 2, 1829, to Sarah Hoover, a native of Virginia, born in 1803, and daughter of Jacob and Mary Hoover, also natives of Virginia and of Irish extraction. Mr. Aucker was a Democrat and a man of extended influence. He was present at the organization of the township, and was then elected Trustee, and for a number of terms thereafter re-elected. Mr. and Mrs. Aucker were the parents of six children, and were spared to see them all grow to maturity. Their later days Were passed with their eldest son, Jacob, who now owns the old homestead. They took their farewell of earth in the years 1876 and 1881, aged respectively seventy-one and seventy-seven, sincerely mourned by the community which they had seen grow up about them. Jacob Aucker was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1831, and has experienced all the hardships incident to the development of a new country.

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A. D. AUSTIN is a son of the Green Mountain State, where he was born in Chittenden County in 1825, emigrating with his parents at a tender age to Geauga County, Ohio, and to De Kalb County, Ind., in 1844. In youth, he enjoyed ordinary educational advantages, and when fifteen years of age began for himself, working on the canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth ; here he worked for three seasons ; then at clearing for three years, when he spent two years in the eastern part of Ohio, manufacturing boots and shoes and running a steam-mill. He was married in Indiana, in 1850, to Miss Elizabeth Closson, daughter of Samuel and Mary Closson, formerly of Ashland County, Ohio, and of German descent ; seven children are the result of this union, six now living—three sons and three daughters—of whom one son and two daughters are married, and two are settled in good homes in Michigan. Mr. Austin was for a time in the hotel business in Hamilton, Ind., and, in 1857, took charge of the Arlington House in Edgerton for one year. He has also dealt in stock, and was in the mercantile line for seven years ; six years of this time he served as Justice of the Peace, during which he began reading and practicing law, which profession he has since followed, and by attending to business has acquired a competence for himself and family. Mr. Austin is a public-spirited, active worker in the Democratic cause. His parents are Solomon and Clarissa (Irish) Austin, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Vermont, and of English and Scotch descent.

JOHN H. BARR, proprietor of the Arlington Hotel, Edgerton, was born in Greene County, Ohio, in October, 1846, and is the son of Samuel and Margaret Barr, natives of Ohio, and of German and Irish extraction. The elder Mr. Barr was a pioneer farmer of Greene County, and there died in 1846, leaving his widow with one child, our subject, who was afterward reared at Lima, Ohio, receiving the advantages of the schools of that town. In November, 1864, he enlisted in Company F, Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, took part in a number of hard-fought battles, and November 2, 1865, was honorably discharged. On returning, he clerked for three years in a grocery store, then traveled as salesman, then became proprietor of the railroad restaurant at Lima, and in 1873 opened the Barnet Hotel in partnership with E. V. Brownell. He subsequently sold out and located at St. Mary's, Ohio ; there ran .the Decker House awhile, and in the spring of 1877 opened Barr's Hotel. In 1879, he sold out and came to Edgerton, rented the Crosby House, refitted and refurnished it, and christened it the Arlington., where he now entertains the traveling public in the most satisfactory manner. He was married, March 2, 1874, to Emma C., daughter of John and Ann (Readen) Mott, both natives of Ohio, and of French and German extraction.

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JOHN W. BOWERSOX is a native of Frederick County, Md., and was born January 10, 1808. He was reared a shoemaker and farmer till eighteen years of age, when he went out to work for two years as a journeyman shoemaker. Returning home, he remained a year, and then moved to near Gettysburg, Penn., where he opened a shop. In 1831, he married Miss Mary J. Breckenridge, a native of Maryland, and bora December 4, 1809. Soon after marriage, Mr. Bowersox moved to Stark County, Ohio, located in North Industry, and there followed his trade for seven years ; then he moved to this township and located on Section 5, in the fall of 1838 erecting a round-log cabin, which is yet standing. This farm, then in the wilderness, contained but eighty acres ; it now comprises 395 acres, a great part under cultivation and well improved. Mrs. Bowersox died March 1, 1866, aged fifty-eight years, leaving a family of four out of seven children—John Wesley, Mary E., Nancy Ellen and Charles A. Mr. Bowersox was formerly a Township Trustee, in which office he served several terms, and he has also served as Supervisor of Roads. Notwithstanding all the hardships and inconveniences of frontier life, Mr. Bowersox still speaks of the days of his first settlement here as the happiest of his existence. The forest then was full of game, and many were the deer and wild turkeys that fell at the crack of his rifle, and his sport was enlivened on one occasion by the slaughter of a bear, and on another by the death of a wild cat. His parents, Christian and Mary A. (Warner) Bowersox, were natives of Maryland, and of German descent.

WILLIAM H. CARR is a native of Montgomery County, Ohio; was born July 18, 1830, the son of Robert S. and Hannah Karr, and at the age of five years came to this county with his parents. He received about six months' schooling in his youth, and at the age of seventeen started out on foot to see the world. He visited Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and then, in the spring of 1850, started overland for California; repeated the trip in 1852, and again in 1854, returning home two years later. On one occasion, he found himself at Portland, Ore., with only $50 in his pocket, but with pick and pan went to work, and at one stroke brought out a nugget worth $1,350, besides a number of smaller pieces of gold. Mr. Carr in his wanderings has seen all the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River, beside a number of the Eastern and Middle States ; also Chili in South America, Russian America, Australia, China, Japan, and the island of Cuba. He finally settled in St. Joseph Township, purchasing one of its oldest farms—that entered by Robert and Thomas Stewart July 4, 1834. In February, 1857, he prosecuted the lawsuit, at no small cost of time and money, to compel the establishment of a correct and legal survey of St. Joseph Township. He mar-

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ried, December 13, 1867, Anna M. Aucker, daughter of David and Sarah Aucker, and there have been born to him six children—Charles W. (deceased), Minnie J., Julia A., 0. E. W., Wilhelmina and Sarah L. Mr. Carr is an active politician in the Democratic ranks, and cast his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas. He owns 240 acres of fine land, improved with good and commodious buildings, and takes much delight in rearing blooded horses and thoroughbred cattle.

VOLNEY CROCKER is a native of New York ; was born February 8, 1818, and is one of the eight children of Samuel and Polly (Fordham) Crocker, natives of Vermont, and of English descent. This family went to live in Upper Canada in 1820, then moved to Lower Canada ; thence came to Stark County, Ohio, where Mr. Crocker worked at his trade of brick and stone mason until 1834, when they came to Williams County, and located on a piece of woodland near Williams Centre. Here they encountered all the hardships of pioneer life, living in their wagon until they could erect a cabin with puncheon floor and stick chimney. This served them as a home until their family was well reared, when they sold their farm, and retired to Williams Centre, where, at the age each of eighty-two years, they died in 1862 and 1865, respectively. Volney Crocker remained on the farm until his father had secured a comfortable home, and then began life on his own responsibility. He followed scoring and hewing timber for a few years, and in the winter of 1839-40 erected the first house in Bryan, which he inhabited while clearing off the public square and many of the streets of the village. The spring following, he began to learn carpentering, and followed this trade until 1842, when he was married to Mary McKean, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1821, the daughter of Joseph and Jane McKean. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Crocker began farming near Bryan in the woods ; then, in the fall of 1848, joined James Rowley in carriage-making in Bryan for a year ; then pursued the trade alone for six years; then exchanged his farm near Bryan fot the 112-acre farm in this township, on which he now lives, and took possession in June, 1856, having since increased it to 300 acres. In 1859, he made a trip to California, remaining there two years. He has had a family of five children, of whom four are still- living—Harriet, Mary J., Sarah A. and Frank. He is a Master Mason, is a Republican in politics, and has served five or six terms as Township Trustee.

J. E. DECKER is the soh of Isaiah and Calcine Decker, natives of New York, and of German and English extraction and was born in Huron County, Ohio, February 10, 1850. At the age of twelve, he was brought by his parents to Steuben County, Ind., where he was reared on a farm, attending school at intervals and securing a fair education. At the age of nineteen, he began farming on his own account, and November

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22, 1871, married Miss Margaret Keller, a native of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and daughter of Jacob and Hannah Keller, natives of the same State. The children born to this marriage were Mary E., Edith Maud, Dora A. and Myrtle. In 1874, Mr. Decker moved to La Grange, Ind., where he conducted a livery stable for about two years ; thence moved to Garrett, Ind., and thence, January 12, 1880, came to Edgerton, where he is engaged also in the livery business, owning a first-class establishment, and doing a thriving trade. He votes the Democratic ticket, and is an active and courteous business man.

DANIEL FARNHAM was born in Windham County, Conn., in 1811, the youngest of the seven children of Eli A. and Sally (Dimmick) Farnham, natives of the same State. The parents moved to Delaware County, N. Y., when Daniel was but three years old, and here he remained until twenty-four, lumbering on the Susquehanna River, hauling logs in the winter and studying at night to augment the six months education he had received at school. In 1835, he wandered West, and finally located in this county. He worked at jobs for four months, and then for four months clerked for P. C. Parker, an Indian trader. In 1836, he returned to Delaware County, N. Y., and in the fall brought back to Williams his mother and sister. The following spring, he began in the

forest to clear up a farm, building a pioneer cabin and cultivating the ground until 1840, when he removed to Edgerton and engaged in mercantile business, which has occupied his attention ever since. He started in life empty-handed, but, through his sagacity, integrity and general business talent, has acquired a competence, including a fine farm, many acres of other lands, as well as town property, and a controlling interest in the mercantile house at Edgerton, in which his son, Eli A., is his partner. Mr. Farnham was married, in 1840, to Miss Caroline Sawyer, daughter of Prescott Sawyer and the mother of eleven children, six of whom are living and all in good circumstances. Mr. F., one of the pioneers of the township, and of whom further may be read in the historical sketch of St. Joseph Township, was a Justice of the Peace for twelve years and County Commissioner. nine years ; his early experiences were interesting and varied, game in the beginning being the chief means of the family's subsistence ; his trips to the mill, for his first employer, were made by ox teams, the distance was about seventy miles, and the time consumed in going and coming about eleven days. Mr. F. was formerly a Whig, but is now a Republican.

ELI A. FARNHAM, the second child in the family of eleven of Daniel and Caroline (Sawyer) Farnham, was born in St. Joseph Township, March 28, 1843, and vs reared on his father's farm until eighteen years of age, attending school at intervals; he then enlisted in Company

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K, Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served about eight months, when he was taken sick at Shiloh and discharged on account of disability. After his return and his recovery of health, he entered his father's store, and became one of the firm, the copartnership still doing business. In 1877, he married Miss Emma Rathbun, of Lodi, Wis., and daughter of William and Jane Rathbun, natives of New England and of English extraction. Harry R. and Waldo C. Farnham are the offspring of this anion.

GEORGE FIX is a native of Alsace, and was born December 31, 1831. His parents, Henry and Sarah Fix, came to this country with their family in 1843, first settling in Wayne County, Ohio, and then roving to Centre Township, this county. Here the mother died in 1874, and then the father moved to Florence Township, and took up his residence with his son Martin. George Fix was reared in a new country, and, being the eldest of a family of eight children, the care of the home farm took up the greater portion of his time, and consequently his opportunities for an education were rather limited. At the age of twenty-three, with a purse of $125, he purchased eighty acres of land in this township —a part of his present farm. By hard work and pertinacious industry, he has increased his land to 130 acres, and replaced his log buildings with comfortable frame structures. January 31, 1862, he married Elizabeth Brown, a daughter of Nicholas and Catharine Brown, natives of Germany, who emigrated to America in 1837. To Mr. and Mrs. Fix have been born four children—Julia (deceased), Charles, Sarah and Nicholas. Mr. Fix has served his township two terms as Trustee, and has the full confidence of all his neighbors.

JACOB GEIGER was born in Baden, Germany, November 18, 1808, and was the son of Conrad and Catharine (Defenbach) Geiger, who same to America in 1819, and settled in Stark County, Ohio, and there ended their days. Jacob came over with his parents, and resided with them on their farm of 160 acres in, Stark, until the death of his father, when, being seventeen years of age, he began working out on his own account. November 18, 1830, he married Susan Andree, moved to Columbiana County, thence to Richland County, where he purchased eighty acres of land, and thence, in 1846, to this township, where he had entered 160 acres of forest land ten years previously. Here he erected a cabin and began clearing up his farm, on which he has ever since resided, adding to it, from time to time, till he now Owns about an entire section, a great portion of it well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Geiger had eleven children born to them, of whom five are still living—Catharine Halpert, in Missouri ; Elizabeth Miller, in Iowa ; Allen, in Defiance County, Ohio ; Sarah A. Dew, in Illinois, and Jonathan A., in this township.,.. Those

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deceased were named—Margaret Oberhauser, Priscilla, Lydia Ann, Jacob C., Henry P. and Conrad. Mrs. Susan Geiger died February 24, 1879, and June 15, 1880, Mr. Geiger married his present wife, Elizabeth Metzler. He is a leading member of the Disciple Church, and for three years has held the office of Township Trustee.

H. A. GRANBERY, editor of the Edgerton Herald, was born in New York June 21, 1858, and was the eldest of six children of his parents, John G. and Mary A. Granbery, natives of Virginia and New York. John C. Granbery was a Wall Street broker, of the firm of W. T. M. Warner & Co., and was stranded by a business failure in 1867, when he came West to repair his shattered fortunes ; located in Edgerton, and there formed a partnership with Webb & Lyman, afterward purchasing and managing the entire business, which proved highly successful so that he returned to New York in February, 1880, where he is now engaged in business. H. A. Granbery came to Edgerton in 1874, remaining in New York after the departure Of his parents, to avail himself of better educational advantages offered in the city, and after coming here attended school for two years, during which time, he in company with another student, published the first issue of his paper, August 14, 1875. With the single exception of six months' vacation, Mr. Granbery remained at his post until the suspension of the journal in the summer of 1882. His marriage to Miss Ada M. Mitchell occurred at Sturgis, Mich., in April, 1879. Mrs. Granbery is a daughter of H. H. Mitchell, of New Philadelphia, Ohio, and the mother of one child, Miriam.

AUGUSTE GUILLAUME is a native of Switzerland, and was born in 1815, the son of Francis L. and Mary Guillaume, who came to America in 1834 and located in Holmes County, Ohio, on a piece of woodland. A few years later, Francis died, and the widow, with her children, came to this township in 1851, where she soon after also departed this life. Auguste, on arriving in St. Joseph Township, purchased eighty acres of wild land, which he has long since redeemed from the forest, and he now owns a well-improved farm of 120 acres. He wag married in 1842 to Julia Gianque, a native of Switzerland, and daughter of Joseph and Susan M. Gianque, who came to America in 1840, and settled in Holmes County, Ohio, where they reared a family of nine children, besides clearing up a forest farm. Auguste Guillaume learned the blacksmith's trade when young, and for thirty years was actively engaged in that business in connection with farming. There have been born to him seven children, of whom three only are still living—Christina, Edward A. and Mary. He is an enterprising and patriotic citizen, and much interested in home improvements. In the fall of 1863, he contributed $55 toward clearing

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his township from the draft for soldiers, and has always been liberal in assisting worthy undertakings.

F. X. HERRMANN was born in Alsace in 1828, and when grown to manhood came to this country with his parents, Joseph and Catharine Herrmann, who located in Seneca County, Ohio. A few years after his arrival, Mr. Herrmann married Catharine Stagmire, and then moved to this township, settling on eighty acres of woodland three miles east of Edgerton. He worked and improved this farm until 1865, when he sold out and purchased his present farm of 145 acres, now highly cultivated and improved, chiefly by his own hands. His wife died in the spring of 1869, and some fourteen months later Mr. Herrmann married Magdalena Miller, who, with himself, is a member of the Catholic Church. By these marriages he became the father of fifteen children, of whom thirteen are yet living—Elizabeth, Louise, Magdalena, Catharine, Frank J., George, Mary, Josephine, Annie, Helene, Clara, Leander and August. Mr. Herrmann is no aspirant for office, and to a great extent shuns politics, although formerly his proclivities were Democratic, which led to his casting his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce.

STREPER HINKLE is one of the nine children of Joseph and Magdalene (Streper) }Tinkle, and was born in Northampton County, Penn., February 8, 1814. He assisted his father in a flouring-mill and attended school until his sixteenth year, when he was apprenticed to a blacksmith, for whom he worked about four and a half years. In 1836, he came to Hicksville, Ohio, worked at his trade eighteen months, took a trip through some of the Western States, returned to Hicksville, and was there married, January 1, 1840, to Eliza Barker, of De Kalb County, Ind. He followed blacksmithing till about 1850, when he began farming on land purchased in 1838, and seven years later he sold out and came to this township, bought a farm on Section 2, and remained there until April, 1863, when, in company with three of his neighbors, he started overland for California. He returned after an absence of twenty months, sold his farm and bought .his present one of 100 acres, which is under a good state of cultivation and well improved. To Mr. Hinkle there have been born eight children) three only of whom are now living—John, Anna M. and Edward. He has served several terms as Township Trustee, and has always been foremost in enterprises tending toward the advancement of home industries.

DANIEL J. HUNTER is a native of Defiance County, Ohio, and was born in 1828. His parents, William and Lucy (Gardner) Hunter, in the fall of 1829 crossed the country with an ox team to St. Joseph County, Mich., and located near Sturgis. Here, within a few years, the father died, leaving a widow with six small children. In 1849, Mrs.

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Hunter sold the farm 'and moved to this township with her family, and bought the farm on which Daniel J. Hunter now lives. Daniel had been reared to all the hardships of a pioneer life, and was of great assistance to his mother on the farm, devoting the greater part of his time to its care, the neglect even of the limited educational advantages given by the schools of his early days. April 9, 1854, he married Miss Elizabeth Jennings, daughter of Peter and Catherine Jennings, and born in

f Carroll County, Ohio, in 1829, and to this marriage there were born six children—Peter J., William. J. (deceased), Sarah C., George W., Mary P. and Della J. Mr. Hunter is a Republican in politics, but was formerly a Whig, having cast his first vote for Gen. Scott.

HENRY KAHN, a native of Germany, was born in 1852, and is the son of Leopold and Rosa Kahn. At the age of sixteen, Henry came to America and engaged in clerking at Waterloo, Ind., where he remained two years ; thence moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits for six years, and then made a visit to his native land. On his return to this country, he located at Edgerton, where he opened a fine business room, now filled with a well-selected stock of dry goods and clothing. Mr. Kahn was married, Minh 1, 1882, to Annie Straus, of Ligonier, Ind., and daughter of F. W. Straus. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and an Odd Fellow, and is recognized as being an enterprising and upright business man.

ROBERT S. KARR (deceased), was born in Franklin County, Penn., in 1780, and by trade was a blacksmith. In the war of 1812, he enlisted under Gens. Scott and Brown, and during the latter part of the struggle was detailed as a spy, and at Queenstown Heights had his right forearm shot half away by a musket ball. He was 'discharged at Fort Vincennes in 1816, and at this point he fixed his dwelling, and opened a blacksmith shop. Shortly after, he married Hannah Drill, of Vincennes, and of French descent, and to this union eight children were born, of whom five still survive. Soon after his marriage, he moved to near Fort Harrison, thence to Dayton, and thence, in 1833, to this county ; entered land on Section 14, in the fall, and the February following moved his family to what is now known as St. Joseph Township, being one of the first settlers, and the first, and, for a long time, the only, blacksmith in the township. He was at the organization of the township, and was several times elected Township Trustee. Mr. and Mrs. Karr died respectively in 1856 and 1874, aged seventy-four and seventy-six years.

JOHN KISSINGER is a native of Lancaster County, Penn., and was born in 1809. In February, 1834, he married Mary Cassler, daughter of Samuel and Catharine (Young) Cassler, natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent. In 1836, he moved to Stark County, Ohio,

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where he worked in a distillery till the fall of 1852, when he removed with his family to this township, and located on the eighty-seven acre farm, where he now leads a retired life. At first he and family lived in an old log schoolhouse on this place, and underwent many privations, but eventually overcame all obstacles, and he now possesses as comfortable a home as there is to be found in the township. His children were eight in number, of whom six are still living—Anna, Maria, Rosanna, Barbara, Henry and Samuel. The last named was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1846, and has now the management of the homestead. He married, in September, 1866, Miss Caroline Richart, daughter of John and Wilhelmina Richart, both natives of Germany, and to this union there have been born two children—Estella and Clarence. Samuel Kissinger is the present Secretary of Grange Lodge, No. 1082.

SOLOMON LIND (deceased) was born in Pennsylvania in 1795, and was reared a farmer and miller. He married Nancy Moore, who bore him twelve children, of whom three sons and four daughters are yet living —Sarah, Juliann, Mary J., John B., William, Solomon and Adelaide. The family came to Stark County, Ohio, in 1829, and for six or eight years Solomon engaged in milling, after which he purchased a farm and mill near Louisville, he and his sons working the farm, and hiring help to run the mill. In the summer of 1847, he moved to this township, and late in the fall purchased eighty acres of land on Section 10. Here he began, with the assistance of his sons, to open up a farm, but was taken by death the year following, at the age of fifty-three. In 1870, his widow followed him at the age of sixty-seven. The homestead was willed to her two younger sons, William and Solomon, who continue to occupy and improve it.

JOHN LONG, a native of Stark County, Ohio, was born May 9, 1832. His parents, John and Catharine (Lantz) Long, were natives of Alsace, and came to America in 1822, locating in Stark County, where they passed the remainder of their lives, dying at the ages of eighty-one and seventy-two, respectively, parents of nine children. ,John Long, our subject, was reared a farmer, and received the education usually given in the primitive log schoolhouses of his youthful days. When he reached the years of manhood he went out to work on his own account, and with his hard-earned savings came to this township in May, 1853, and purchased the eighty-acre farm which is now a part of his homestead. In 1859, he returned to Stark County and married Margaret, a daughter of Philip and 'Margaret Long, of French extraction. Returning to his farm, he worked diligently until he had cleared it from the wilderness, and by degrees added to it until it now comprises 173 acres, well improved and cultivated. Here Mrs. Long died May 18, 1880, aged forty-

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four, leaving a family of seven children—Emma L., Louetta, Jennie, Myron, Hiram, Harvey and Alma. In politics, Mr. Long is a Green-backer ; he is also a member of the society of Grangers.

M. C. McGWIRE, station agent at Edgerton, was born January 1, 1850, in Dover, N. H.; is the son of Martin McGwire, and came to Edgerton in 1855, and was here reared. From 1861 to 4g§63, he worked on a farm, and then for one year was news agent ow the Like Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company; then for a short period attended school at Toledo; then took a three-year course in telegraphy, secured a situation as night operator for the railroad company, and at the expiration of four months became its day operator and agent, which position he still holds. Mr., McGwire began a poor boy, but was industrious, affable and economical, and has succeeded in acquiring a comfortable property. He established a telegraphic institute in 1870, in the business portion of the town, which is connected with his office at the railroad depot. He has sent out over one hundred practical operators, many of whom are filling first-class positions. Mr. McGwire was married, August 10, 1871, to Clara Thornburgh, who was born in ,Philadelphia in 1850, and is the daughter of Benjamin Thornburgh, one of the pioneers of Defiance County. Mr. McG. is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is the father of two children--Sylva and Myrta.

J. C. MORTLAND, M. D., is a native of the Keystone State, having been born in Paris, Washington County, May 23,1835. His parents, Robert and Jane Mortland, were natives of Ireland, and reared a family of ten children. J. C. spent his early life on a farm in educating himself and teaching ; the latter he followed three years. He studied his profession for three years with Dr. D. A. Arter, of Carrollton, Ohio, afterward attending lectures at Ann Arbor, Mich., and graduating at Bellevue Hospital College, N. Y, in 1871. Dr. Mortland began the practice of medicine in this vicinity in 1864, and in 1869, established himself in the drug business in connection with his practice, and by strict attention to business has made a success of his undertaking, and built up a large practice. His spirit of enterprise has not been confined to his own affairs, as he has served two years as Town Treasurer, and has always lent his aid and sympathy to all projects for the public good. Dr. Mortland was united in marriage in 1872 to Miss Anna K. Snider, of this place, a daughter of Mr. John Snider, who is a native of Germany. Dr. and Mrs. Mortland are parents of two children, viz., Arthur and Elvie.

J. H. NEWMAN is a native of Germany ; was born in 1814, and emigrated to this country in 1847. His parents were poor, his education was limited, and his success in life is entirely due to his own ex-

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ertions. Upon his arrival here, he stopped in Wisconsin for a year, from there he went to Toledo, remaining a year, where he was employed on public works, after which he went to Michigan, near Adrian, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. While there, in 1852, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Wilson, a native of New York, and one daughter was the result of this union. In 1857, Mr. Newman and family removed to this county, end purchased his present farm of 100 acres, to which he has added another eighty, and after many privations and much hard labor, has succeeded in bringing its present valuation to over $12,000. He has also served his neighbors in till capacity of Township Trustee and School Director to their entire satisfaction. In 1861, Mr. Newman had the misfortune to lose his wife, and the second Mrs. Newman, to whom he was married in 1862, was a Miss Sarah White, of New York. She is the mother of two children, one son and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Newman are both active members of the Presbyterian Church.

FRANCIS A. SANDERS was reared a farmer in Prussia, where he was born in 1825, and where, until 1840, he worked upon the farm of his parents, Anthony and Mary Sanders. In the last-named year, the family came to America and located in New York, where the parents died in 1852 and 1874 respectively. Francis A. Sanders, late in the fall of 1868, came to this township and settled on his present farm of 250 acres, which is improved with good, commodious buildings with all the modern conveniences, all gained through his own industry and energy. The years 1879 and 1880 he spent in Saline County, Kan., whither he went to recover his shattered health, in which he happily succeeded. He married, in 1849, Miss May L. Siever, who bore him five sons and one daughter, as follows Frank T. (deceased), John C., Joseph, William A., Martin D. and Mary A. Mrs. Sanders died in the early part of 1867, and in the lattere part of the same year Mr. Sanders married Miss Anna Kernhof, who, as was his former wife, is a native of Prussia. Mr. Sanders, who is a strong temperance man, is master of four distinct trades, learned in his earlier days. He is a strong anti-secret society man, and, with his wife, is a member of the Catholic Church.

CHRISTOPHER SCOTT is a native of Ohio, and a son of William and Sarah (Kirkendall) Scott, who had their residence in Wayne County until 1855, when they moved to Hicksville, Defiance County, where Mrs. Scott died. Mr. Scott then came to Edgerton, where he ended his days in the fall of 1862. Christopher Scott lived upon his father's farm until his marriage, in February, 1844, to Naomi Franks. He then came to this township and bought eighty acres of woodland on Section 35, which he paid for by parting with his team and all the money he had, leaving

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himself with nothing but his hands and an ax with which to make a living for himself and wife. He prospered, however, and has since owned 770 acres in this part of the country—mostly in this county—the greater portion of which he has given to his children. He is now owner of 360 acres in this county, and 1,000 in Texas. He has been one of the most enterprising farmers of this region, and with his own hands has cleared up over two hundred acres of wild 19€1. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are parents of nine children, viz.: William and Peter, residing in Kansas ; Martha Lambshiar, Sarah Newman, Frank, Manoat, Julia, Nancy and Lucretta Yoder. William Scott enlisted as a private in Company F, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the late war, and at the end of three years was mustered out a Sergeant ; and Peter, the next son, served one year, near the close of the war. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are members of the Methodist Church, and in politics he is a stanch Republican.

EDWARD SLATER had his birthplace in Richland County, Ohio, November 21, 1833, and was one of a family of fourteen children born to Samuel and Margaret Slater, natives of Virginia and of Dutch descent. They both came to Ohio when quite young; were married in Richland County, where they remained until August 19, 1834, when they removed to this county, locating on land entered the previous year. They were among the earliest settlers, and in their log cabin home—with puncheon door and floor and stick chimney ; with limited means, and struggling for dominion over the crude and inanimate forces of nature—became but too familiar with all the details of pioneer life ; but the refining influences of time assisted in the transformation of the home of the red man to that of civilization, which they were permitted to witness before their death. Mr. S. died in 1850, and Mrs. S. in 1877, aged respectively fifty-one and seventy-seven years. Edward Slater was but an infant when his parents came to this county, and his childhood and youth were spent in his forest home, with the education and fun generally found in the pioneer schoolhouse. Like Adam, he tilled the soil, until 1864, when he responded to his country's call and enlisted in Company D, Tenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, with six of his brothers. One of their number, Samuel, sleeps at Bowling Green, Ky., where he died from typhoid fever. Edward S. was with Gen. Kilpatrick, and " marched to the sea ; " in a cavalry charge near Macon, Ga., was struck by a cannon ball, which carried away his right foot, necessitating the amputation of the limb below the knee; he was transported 200 miles by ambulance, and remained for months in the hospital, when he was able to return home, and received his discharge June 16, 1865. After his return, he acted as mail-carrier between Edgerton and Camden City, Mich., for a year, when he adopted die profession of photography, studying with Spud Arnold, and afterward purchasing his

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establishment at Edgerton, where he has since continued in business, and by diligence and economy has ac aired a competence. Mr. Slater has been twice married ; his first wire, Fanny H. Snow, died in 1870, after ten years of wedded life, leaving one child—Ella. The present Mrs. Slater was Miss Julia M. Stone, of Defiance, Ohio, to whom he was married July 21, 1872.

JAMES STULLER was born in Carroll County, Ohio, in January, 1836, the eldest of the nine children of Henry and Nancy Stuller, who came to this county in 1852, and settled in Florence Township, near Edon, on timber-covered land, which was transformed, however, by the united labor of father and sons, into a comfortable home. Here the father died in 1864, aged fifty-seven years. James Stuller acquired a fair education in his youth, and at twenty-one began life on his own responsibility. He began by working at jobs until he had made enough to buy a small farm, which he cultivated until 1878, when he moved to Edgerton and purchased the Arlington House, which he conducted in good style for nearly two years ; he then rented out the hotel, and has since carried on a feed and livery stable, and is doing an extensive and satisfactory business. In 1858, he was married to Phoebe A. Foster, a native of Ohio, who has borne him five children—William, David (deceased), Abigail, John and Almira. In 1862, he served two months in the army, as a drafted man, and February 22, 1865, enlisted; serving until the October following, when he was honorably discharged. In politics, he is a Republican, and has served as Constable for seven years.

JAMES B. TAYLOR, M. D., was born in Salem, Columbiana Co., Ohio, January, 1821. His parents were natives of New York, and of Scotch and English descent. James attended the public schools, and assisted his father in his wagon shop until he became a proficient at the business. In 1841, he was married to Miss Sarah P. Hall, a daughter of Dr. Edward Hall, a native of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch descent. Twelve children have blessed this union, but six—three sons and three daughters—surviving. One son is a sewing-machine agent, and the two elder are both able physicians. Soon after Dr. Taylor's marriage, in connection with his daily labor, he began the study of his chosen profession, but his failing health obliged him to discontinue these arduous duties, and he traveled with a wagon, selling goods, for four years. He then engaged in the lumber business until 1853, when he removed, overland, to Steuben County, Ind., locating at Angola, where he followed mercantile pursuit's for three years ; thence to Hamilton, in the same line, and in 1862 beginning the active practice of medicine in Newville, Ind., after further pursuing his studies at Ann Arbor, Mich.; he suffered the loss of his drug store and contents, by fire, while at this place, and, after fourteen

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years' practice, removed to Edgerton, where he acquired a large practice and a fine home. He is a strong worker in the Temperance cause, a stanch Republican and a public-spirited, enterprising citizen.

WESLEY TERPENING, a native of the Empire State, was born in Cayuga, 1833. His parents were among the first settlers in Michigan, coming there when he was but two years of age. They located near Adrian, on a farm, with their family of eight children. They were natives of Pennsylvania and Canada, respectively, and of Dutch and Scotch extraction. After finishing his education, Mr. Terpening began work on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, where he was engaged for one year, when he purchased land near Adrian, Mich., for a home. In 1853, he was employed as contractor on the Air Line division, and worked in that capacity for four years, running from Toledo west to Waterloo, Ind. He afterward was engaged in business as merchant, stock-dealer and landlord, having charge of Edgerton's first hotel. He was foreman of grading work on the Canada Southern Railroad, between Edon and Montpelier, and in 1875 contractor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, since which time he has been engaged as contractor and builder. He has made a success of life, and is owner of a fine farm of 100 acres, town property in Edgerton and a quarter-section of land near Worthington, Minn. Mr. Terpening has enjoyed the confidence of his fellow-men, serving as Township Assessor for five years, and Councilman for several terms. He was married, May 17, 1857, to Miss Mary A. Curtis, a daughter of David and Charlotte Curtis, natives of New York, and of English, French and Scotch extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Terpening are parents of five children—three sons and two daughters.

JOHN L. TERPENING, Postmaster at Edgerton, is a native of Cayuga Co., N. Y., and wad born March 7, 1835, the fourth child of Peter and Lovina Terpening. He was brought to Lenawee County, Mich., when but a child, and there reared on a farm till sixteen years old, when he began the apprenticeship as jeweler with Ellridge Conant, at Hudson, Mich. He did not serve his apprenticeship in full, but bought eight months of his time from his employer for $125, engaged with another jeweler in the town, and a year later bought out the store and conducted it for a year or more, and then, in the spring of 1858, removed to Edgerton; where he established the first jewelry store in the town, which he still manages. He received his' appointment as Postmaster in 1870. He had been employed as enrolling officer for the drafts during the late war, and performed his duty impartially, fearlessly and to the satisfaction of the people. He has also served as Township Clerk for five years, and as a member of the School Board. He was married in October, 1857, to Georgiana Calwell, a native of Connecticut, born September 30, 1841,

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and daughter of Orson and Mary Calwell, and to this marriage have been born two children—Minnie E. and John L. (the latter deceased). Mr. Terpening is a Knight of Honor, a stanch Republican, and has served the people in various offices for twenty or more years to the entire satisfaction of his party and the general public.

JAMES WARBURTON is a native of England, and was born September 25, 1822. At the age of eighteen, he parted with his parents, Abraham and Ann Warburton, his two brothers and a sister, and came to America, locating in Medina County, Ohio, 1841, since when he has been but once out of the State—on a visit to Indiana and Michigan. He began working in a flouring mill at $12 per month, and thus became a miller. Two years later, he moved to Cuyahoga, and thence to Summit County, where he married Miss Diana Salter, who was born in England, but had been a resident of this country since six years of age. Here he remained until 1873, when he came to this township and settled on a 240-acre tract he had purchased about 1850, and which he had caused to be so improved as to become one of the very good farms in this township. Mrs. Warburton died in 1860, leaving five small children—Albert H. Mary E., Alice A., Frank S. and Lizzie J., now all married and in good circumstances. Mr. Warburton remained a widower until December 9, 1879, when he married Mrs. Mary A. Morse, a native of Canton, Ohio, who has borne him two children—Hannah (deceased) and Ida. Mr. Warburton has led a strictly temperate life, and his success has been greatly due to this fact. He arrived in this State wholly exhausted of means, but through the virtues of sobriety, industry and economy has been enabled to go into retirement and await the close of his useful career on earth in peace and comfort.

ADAM WEITZ, son of Joseph Weitz, is a native of Germany, and was born in 1810. He was reared a Catholic and taught the weaver's trade in the old country ; served his six allotted years in the army there, and at the age of twenty-seven emigrated to America, locating in Portage County, Ohio. He began work on the canal ; attended school one winter and acquired a knowledge of English, and then went to learn the stonecutter's trade. His temperate habits and industry soon gained for him a position of overseer; and for twenty-four years he followed this trade. In 1846, he bought his fpm in this township ; went to work at stone cutting, hired help to clear away the forest trees; built a small frame house, yet an adjunct of his present and soon. was the owner of as comfortable a home as there is in the township. In 1839, he married Elizabeth Yeager, a native of Pennsylvania, and to this marriage have been born eleven children—nine now living—Daniel, Harriet, Lovina, Lucina, Joseph, Wesley, Thomas, George and Frances. Mr. Weitz has

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proven himself to be one of the most energetic citizens of St. Joseph Township, and was largely instrumental in causing the new survey to 'be made, which permanently fixed the legal boundaries of St. Joseph. Formerly he was a Democrat, and cast his first vote for James K. Polk, but in 1856 changed his political views, and cast his vote for John C. Fremont for President, and thenceforward became stanchly Republican. He is now a Protestant in religion, and, with his wife, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

PHILO B. WILLIAMS was born in Licking County, Ohio, February 5, 1829. His parents, Gilbert and Catherine Williams, were natives of Vermont and New York respectively, and of English and French descent. They removed to De Kalb County, Ind., adjoining St. Joseph Township, in this county, in 1840, when the country was new and unsettled, and for ten years worked at subduing the forces of nature and improving and cultivating their land, when they returned to. Licking County, Ohio, and thence to Iowa, where the father ended his days, leaving the mother with seven children. Philo B. assisted his father in his early pioneer labors, receiving but slight educational advantages. At that time the trip to Defiance t o dispose of their produce required three or four days, efforts almost forgotten in these days. He returned with his parents, in 1850, to his native county, and was joined in wedlock, September 29, 1853, with Miss Julia Hastings, a native of Licking County, and daughter of William and Susanna (Skeels) Hastings, natives of New Hampshire and Vermont, and of English and Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had a family of five children, four surviving, viz., Madora, Arthur, Josephine and Eunice. The family returned to Edgerton in 1855, where Mr. Williams has been engaged as carpenter and joiner, and later at farming and lumbering. He has acquired a fine home of forty-three acres, besides village property in Bryan and Edgerton. Mr. W. enlisted in Company K, Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861, and participipated 1n active service under Sherman at Pittsburg Landing, Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Corinth and Atlanta, and received an honorable discharge in 1864.