Crawford County, Ohio - The whole text, 1902 (part 10 of 22)

L. M. Smith

L. M. Smith, the well-known business manager of the Crawford County Xews. was born in Lykens township, Crawford county, September 1, 1868, his parents being Frederick and Lucy Ann (Shupp) Smith. The father located in this county when a young man, in 1840. He was a native of Saxony, Germany, and on coming to America first took up his abode in Columbus, Ohio, whence he came to this county. He did contract work on the national pike and afterward purchased a quarter section of land in Lykens township, which he brought under a high state of cultivation. He first married Christiana Tipman, of Saxony, German v, who died in 1846, leaving four children, namely: Louis F., of Lykens township, who has served as justice of the peace and notary public; John F., a resident farmer of the same township; Adolph G., a contractor living in Aurora, Illinois: and Clara, now the wife (if Joseph Laipply, of Lykens township. After the death of his first wife the father married Lucy Ann Shupp, a daughter of Michael Shupp, a native of Pennsvlvania and a pioneer of Crawford county. She was born June 3, 1830, and the children born of this marriage are: Cornelius, who is living in Bncyrus ; Matilda, deceased ; Catherine, the wife of Jacob Meek, of Holmes township; Frederick, who is engaged in business at Lemert, Ohio; Henry, a farmer of that place; Lucy Ann, deceased; Jefferson I., of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume; Emma J., wife of Abraham Scheifer, of Lykens township; L. Melancthon; and Serepta, wife of C. H. Flickinger, of Holmes township. The father of this family was a very prominent and influential citizen of Crawford county, and from 1862 until the time of his death served as justice of the peace. His rulings were strictly fair and impartial and his counsel was sought far and wide in law matters. He was also township clerk for many years and during a greater part of the time was a member of the school board and actively promoted the educational interests of his community. He was also a leading member of the Grange and was an active and progressive citizen. He died December 3, 1877, at the age of sixty-one years, and his wife passed away in 1891, when also sixty-one years of age.

L. M. Smith, of this sketch, spent the days of his childhood upon the home farm and in the district schools of the neighborhood acquired the rudiments of his education. He was only nine years of age at the time of his father's death, and at the age of sixteen he was forced to start in life on his own account. For several years he acted as a salesman in a general store belonging to bis brother Lemert. and the practical business training which he there received has proven of value to him in his later career. Realizing the importance of education and feeling its lack in his own life he determined to add to the knowledge he had previously acquired and therefore entered the high school at Bucyrus. At a later date he also pursued a commercial course in the Ohio Business College, at Mansfield, and was graduated in that institution in 1888.

After leaving school Air. Smith rilled important positions with a. large manufacturing establishment and with the Adams Express Company until 1 891, when he became connected with the journalistic interests, becoming an equal partner in the New Washington Herald in conjunction with his brother. J. I. Smith, deputy count}' auditor, lie successfully managed the Herald until September, 1898, when, being desirous of locating in the county scat, he purchased a half interest in the Crawford County News, of which he is the business manager. He is a conscientious and far-sighted business man and his executive ability is manifest in bis capable control of the business affairs of the News office. Prosperity has attended the undertaking, owing in no

In New Washington, Ohio, in 1892, was celebrated the marriage of L. M. Smith and Miss Bessie Sexauer, a daughter of C. Frederick and Mary ( Zeigler) Sexauer. Her paternal grandparents were Christian and Caroline Schindler) Zeigler, both of whom were natives of Baden, Germany. They to America in 1827, locating in Sulphur Springs. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Sexauer married J. G. Kinnger, who opened a wagon shop at Sulphur Springs, Ohio. He was joined in the industry by his stepson, C. F. Sexauer. Together they carried on business for a number of years. The wife of C. F. Sexauer is a daughter of Dr. G. L. Zeigler, who was a prominent physician in pioneer times. Mr. Smith is a member of the Knights -of Pythias lodge and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

P. S. - Since the foregoing sketch of Mr. Smith was penned, the Bucyrus Publishing" Company, a stock company, was organized. The new organization purchased the Daily and Weekly Foriim and the Semi-Weekly News, and combined the two newspapers. Stock in the new company was offered for sale to the public, many leading Democrats of the county taking stock. Such was the popularity of Mr. Smith that he, also being a stockholder, was, upon the organization of the company, elected a director and the treasurer and business manager, a position he is ably filling at this writing.

Joseph W. Holmes

As the prosperity or progress of a nation is the result of the aggregate endeavor of its individual citizens, so the history of a nation is the record of the aggregate achievements of its people. Biography thus becomes the very inundation upon which must rest all general history of mankind. The importance of making permanent record < f the life work of men who are worthy Mich distinction cannot be overestimated. Colonel Joseph W'illiam Plolmes is one who has attained distinction in connection with public affairs in Craw- :ord county and in the military service of his country, where he won the title by which he is now known. At present he is living- retired, enjoying a well merited rest. His lite history closely associates him with the progress and advancement in this portion of Ohio, and therefore he well deserves honorable mention in this volume.

(Renne) Holmes. The father was a native of England, his birth occurring near the city of Boston, in Yorkshire. When a young man he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, and here met and married Miss Renne, who was a native of the Empire state. The wedding was celebrated, however, in the old Bay state, where they resided for a few years, after which the father started on a return trip to> England to settle up an estate there, and on his homeward journey was lost at sea. The mother had one brother who served in the war of 1812 and afterward became a pioneer settler of Springfield, Illinois, where many of his descendants are still living.

Colonel Holmes pursued his education in the schools of his native city and spent much of his youth upon a farm, but, not desiring to follow agricultural pursuits as a life work, he learned the trade of cabinet-making. After attaining his majority he made his way to Albany, Xew York, and at different times resided at New Lebanon Springs, Chatham Four Corners, where he was engaged in business as a cabinet-maker and undertaker. While residing at Lebanon Springs he was united in marriage to Miss Alary Lord, a daughter of Joseph Lord, but she did not long survive their marriage. She died leaving one daughter, Mary Josephine, who is now the wife of Ernest S. Cooper, a merchant traveler residing in Toronto, Canada.

Colonel Holmes continued his residence in the Empire state until 1862, when, the country having become involved in war over the slavery question and the right of the southern states to secede from the Union, he enlisted in response to the president's call for troops, joining the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Xew York Infantry at Niagara Falls, in 1862. This was afterward changed to the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery and was commanded by Colonel Peter A. Porter. Mr. Holmes was mustered into the service as captain of Company E, Eighth Regiment of New York Heavy Artillery, for three years, on the 22d of August, 1862; was appointed major 011 the 19th of June, 1864, and became lieutenant colonel on the 14th of January, 1865. He served in the Second Brigade, Second Arm}- Corps, of the Army of the Potomac, and acted as commander of the regiment and also of the battalion, much of the time, for Colonel Porter was killed at Cold Harbor while making a charge upon a masked battery and the senior major was there wounded, so that Colonel Holmes was left to command the battalion. When the start was made for the James he also commanded the battalion. The regiment numbered nineteen hundred men. On the 18th of June, 1804, in front of Petersburg, his promotion first came to him on the field of battle, in recognition of his coolness and braverv under fire and in return for his services in preventing a panic in the line in front of his command. With fixed bayonet he ordered his troops to gather the panic-stricken line into place until their officer could get the men once more under control. This prevented a great disaster to the Union troops. The aide at division headquarters praised this as one of the most prompt acts he had ever witnessed in an emergency. Colonel Holmes participated in the battles of Spottsylvania Court House from the 1 7th to the 21st of May, 1864; Harris House, May 19: North Anna. May 22 to 26; Totopiitomy, May 2j to 31 ; Cold Harbor, June 3; the movement before Petersburg from the 15th of June until April, 1865; the assault on Petersburg, continuing from the 15th to the 19th of June, 1864: Weldon Railroad, June 21 to 2^; Deep Bottom, July 27 to 29; Strawberry Plains, August 14 to 18; Reams' Station, August 25; Boyington Plank Road, October 2/ to 28; Dahney Mills, February 25 to 2j ; the attack on the works at Petersburg, March 2^: Appomattox, from the 28th of March to the 9th of April; White Oak Road, March 29 to 31 ; the fall of Petersburg, on the 2d of April ; the battle of High Bridge, April 7 ; the engagement at Appomattox, on the Qth of April; and many others of lesser importance. On account of the close of the war Colonel Holmes was mustered out of service on the 5th of June, 1865. In .1863 he had been made provost marshal at Fort McHenry, serving there until the month of May, 1864. The Colonel was ever found at his post of duty as a faithful defender of the old Mag, and his own bravery and loyalty inspired his men to deeds of valor in many an attack upon the Rebel works or the troops in the field.

When hostilities had ceased Colonel Holmes returned to Niagara Falls and entered the railway service. He was afterward at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Kent, Ohio, and in [$65 entered the service of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, at Galion, Ohio, with which he remained for nineteen years in charge of the car department. In 1884 he went to Peru, Indiana, in the service of the Wabash Railroad Company, and afterward to Big Springs, Texas, on the Gould railroad. Subsequently he returned to Peru, Indiana, and was later transferred to Butler, Indiana, having charge of the car department. When the shops were destroyed by fire he went to Allegheny, on the Pittsburg & Western Railroad, where he was made general foreman in the car department, acting in that capacity most acceptably until ill health forced his retirement in 1890. Mr. Holmes then returned to Galion, where he has since resided, one of the valued and honored residents of this place. His long continuance in the railroad service is a proof of his fidelity to duty and his faithful performance of all work entrusted to his care.

Colonel Holmes was united in marriage, in 1862, in Niagara Falls, New York, to Miss Emily Parsons, a native of that place. They now have one son, -Charles Parsons, who pursued his education in the public schools of Galion and afterward entered the railroad service, being foreman in the machine shops of the Big Four Railroad at Linclale, Ohio, and at the present time is employed in the Erie Railroad at Cleveland, this state. The family are Presbyterians in religious belief, and the Colonel is a stanch Republican, having that party since attaining his majority. Since 1846 he has been a valued and loyal representative of the Masonic fraternity, having joined the order at Chatham Four Corners, Xew York. He now belongs to the blue lodge, chapter, council and commandery, and has attained the Thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He passed all the chairs in the subordinate lodge and was one of the organizers of Galion Lodge, No. 414, F. & A. M. He also belongs to the Grand Arm}- of the Republic, and in 1884 served as commander of the post in this place. His life has been open to his fellow citizens, and no suspicion of any doubtful practice in business has ever been attached to it. It has been clean in every way, and his influence has ever been for what is honest, for everything that is elevating, for everything' that conserves the interests of the city, for everything that is sound in finance, for that is true and everything that is right.

Jacob H. Petri

For more than a quarter of century Jacob Henry Petri has been numbered among the merchants of Galion and is to-day the leading dealer in men's furnishing goods and clothing. He also conducts a general merchant tailoring establisment, and through the long period of his association with -commercial interests in the city he has enjoyed a large and constantly increasing patronage. A native of Germany, he was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, and is a son of John and Elizabeth ( Yeater) Petri, the former a farmer by occupation. In the year 1866 the subject of this review bade adieu to the fatherland, and, with a determination to seek his fortune in the new world, crossed the Atlantic to the United States. He had pursued his education in the public schools of Germany, but aside from his education had little to aid him in -starting nut in life on his own account.

Ohio became the scene of his labors, and he took up his abode in the city of Akron, whence he came to Galion in 1872. Here for two and a half years he was employed as a cutter in a merchant tailoring establishment and then, with the capital he had acquired through his industry and economy in former years, he began business on his own account, opening- a merchant tailoring establishment. Success crowned his efforts and in about three years he increased his business by adding a line of ready-made clothing, hats and caps; and so successfully has been his adventure that to-day he has one of the finest and best stocked gents' furnishing stores in Gabon. As the years have passed he has enjoyed an excellent trade, for his workmanship in the one department is reliable and the line of ready-made clothing which he carries is just what it is represented to be. His business methods are in harmony with the strictest ethics of commercial life, and his well known honesty and fair dealing have gained for him a liberal share of the public patronage.

Mr. Petri was united in marriage to Miss Margaret B. Byrider, of Akron,. Ohio, and unto them have been born the following named : Edward \Y '., who is engaged in business with his father; Otto G., who is also in the store; Laura, Estella and Florence, who are at home. Mr. Petri is a valued and consistent member of the German Lutheran church of Gabon, in which he has served as trustee through the past twenty years.

He takes quite an active interest in public affairs, doing all in his power to promote the substantial development and upbuilding of the community. For four years he was a member of the city council and for six years was trustee of Polk township, while for three years he occupied a position on the board of equalization. In 1901 he received the nomination for county commissioner on the Democratic ticket. In the positions which he has filled his fidelity to duty has been most marked and commendable and has been the salient feature which has caused his retention in office. He is public spirited in an eminent degree : national progress and local advancement are causes both dear to the heart of this adopted and thoroughly loyal son of the republic. His devotion to the country is above question, and no native son of America is more true to her institutions or more faithful to his duties of citizenship.

William Linn

It is generally conceded that the state of Ohio has a type of citizenship which is not surpassed by that of any other state in the Union. From its farming communities have come men of world-wide fame. Crawford county is particularly favored and among the representatives of old and honored^ families is William Linn, whose ancestors were among the early settlers.

William Linn was born in Holmes township, Crawford county, on July ly, 1835, a son of William and Sophia (Veivle) Linn, who reared a family of eight children, four of whom still survive, these being : William, of this sketch ; Caroline, the wife of Augustus Cronenbaugh, of Ada, Ohio ; Julia, the wife of Louis Holker, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Louis, of Williams count)', Ohio. The father and mother were born in Bavaria, Germany, and married there, where two children were born. In the spring of 1834 they emigrated to America, landing in Xew York City, after a voyage of thirty-five days, and coming then to Ohio, spending six months in Massillon, where Mr. Linn worked at his trade of shoemaker. The}' then came to Crawford county and settled on thirty acres of land, nearly all of which was covered with timber, on the Sandusky pike road, in Holmes township. Mr. Linn immediately set to work clearing' his land and built a log cabin and settled down to hard and laborious work. Later he purchased eighty acres, which is now owned by our subject, and an additional eighty acres, which is now the property of Henry Leimenstoll. The father lived and died on the thirty-acre farm, on March 30, 1895, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. His political choice of party had been that of Democracy. A faithful member of the German Lutheran church, he was valued for his man}- excellent qualities.

Our subject was reared on the farm and found much to do while still a lad. His school facilities were limited, but his natural ability enabled him to learn quickly when he had the oportunity. In 1856 he married Miss Leah Fralick, a native of Holmes township, in this county, the daughter of Jacob Pralick, one of the early settlers of this count}". Then Mr. Linn located on his present home farm, which was covered with timber except some fifteen acres, upon which was erected a log cabin. Game was plentiful, squirrels, wild pigeons and wild turkeys were abundant. Mr. Linn set about industriously to clear his land and paid his father a stipulated sum yearly up to the time of his death. A number of additions have been made to the original tract, and now Mr. Linn owns five hundred acres of some of the very choicest land in Crawford county.

A family of seven children, two boys and five girls, blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Linn, these being: Washington G., a farmer of this township; Lafayette, a farmer of this township; Allie J., the wife of T. W. James, of Holmes township : Lucy A., the wife of Charles S. Sp< ire, of I [< >lmes township ; Melissa, at home; Laura J., the wife of George Heilerman, of Marion county ; and Clara D., the wife of Welmer Sawyer, a manufacturer of soft drinks in Bucyrus, Ohio.

Mr. Linn is a stanch Republican, although he was born and bred a Democrat. Slavery in the old party caused him to join the Republicans. For many years he has been a consistent member of the German Lutheran church, and is one of the most highly esteemed men of the county.

Daniel Babst

Daniel Babst was born at Elkirch, a little village near Strasburg, France, .March n. 1810. and at the time of his death had reached the advanced age of eighty-three years, one month and nine days. His father, Jacob Babst. was an officer in the French army, holding a commission from Napoleon I. His mother was of a wealthy and distinguished family of Great Hoffstaater, near the city of Berne, Switzerland. Her father was one of two staatsrather representing the canton of Berne in the stamde-rath of Switzerland, an elective body corresponding to our United States senate.

The youth of Daniel Babst was passed amid the stirring events following the time of Napoleon I, a vivid impression of which he ever retained, especially the return of Napoleon's straggling army from Waterloo. His home being broken up by the death of his mother he resolved to come to America, and landed in New York city in the summer of 1832. Some years later he was followed by the members of his immediate family. In his later years he was fond of relating to his grandchildren his hunting" experiences on the present site of Central Park; Hoboken, New York's populous suburb, comprising only truck farms. During his three years' residence in the city he was a frequent witness of the heartless persecution of the embryo Abolition Association, a fact which accounts for his subsequent anti-slavery activity. In 1835 he removed to Massillon, and from there to Canal Fulton, one of the most considerable towns on the Ohio canal, then the only direct connection between the lakes and the Ohio river. At Canal Fulton he was married to Margaret Yost in 1841, which union was blessed by seven children, five of whom, and the aged mother, survive him; the children being Mrs. C. F. Frank, Jacob Babst and Daniel Babst, Jr., of this city, Mrs. William Ritter, of Mansfield, and Thomas P. Babst, of Topeka, Kansas.

Previous to his removal to Crestline, he made an extended prospecting tour through the west and northwest, spending several days at the present site of Chicago, then a mere hamlet, presenting no very attractive inducements to a prospective citizen. Crestline was one of the most important railroad towns in the State and presented advantages to Mr. Babst. which resulted in his re- moval here in 1852, coming on the first passenger train of the old Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, the present Pennsylvania main line. Possessing considerable wealth he made extensive purchases in real estate, building and opening the American House, the present Billow block. In 1858 he built his beautiful home south of town, where he resided with his aged wife until the time of his death. In 1871 he founded Babst Banking House with his son, Jacob Babst, cashier. In 1878 he retired from all active business in favor of his s< us Jacob and Daniel Babst, Jr. In the business life of Crestline there has been no important enterprise which has not felt the influence of his energy and vigorous business ability.

Never seeking political advantage, he always adhered tio the principles represented by the Whig and later by the Republican parties, his single political service being that of delegate to the national Whig convention of 1848. His outspoken and strong convictions on the slavery controversy are matters of local history well known to many of our citizens active in those violent times. In his retirement no picture of family love could be brighter than that presented by this aged couple, living in their beautiful home, surrounded by children and grandchildren. Fifty-two years of constant companionship had taught them the joys of love and contentment, easing life's cares by the confidence of mutual steadfastness, and to the immediate friends and family the fading outline of this happy devotion will ever be of blessed memory and a perpetual inspiration to ndelitv and love.

Among the younger representatives of the dental fraternity in Crawford county is Dr. Frank Cloud McGaughy, of Gallon, who has already attained a success which many an older practitioner might well envy. He is a native of Chesterville, Ohio, and a son of Hugh P. McGaughy, one of the early settlers of the state, who was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1838. His paternal grandfather was William McGaughy, of Gettysburg, who in pioneer days came with his family to Ohio, casting in his lot with the early settlers of Morrow county. Hugh P. McGaughy was only fifteen years of age at the time of the removal. The family located upon a farm, and there he was reared to manhood. After attaining his majority he was joined in wedlock to Miss Hannah Bonar, a native of Morrow county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Clarissa (Lewis) Bonar, the latter of Knox county, Ohio.

The Doctor spent his youth in Chesterville and at the usual age entered the schools of that city, pursuing his studies there until he had completed the high-school course. Wishing to- devote his life to professional labors he resolved to join the dental fraternity and became a student in the dental department of the Ohio Medical College, in which he was graduated with the class of 1897. On the 1st of July, 1898, he took up his abode in Galion, where he has since remained, and already he has won an enviable place among the representatives of his chosen calling, having a large patronage, which is constantly increasing. His methods are modern, his workmanship excellent and his knowledge of the principles of the science of dentistry is comprehensive and exact. Socially the Doctor is connected with the Knights of Pythias lodge. He is a young man of genial disposition, unfailing courtesy and genuine worth, and these qualities have rendered him very popular.

Christian F. Eise

Christian Frederick Eise, a well-known resident of Gabon, was born in the city which is still his home, his natal day being July 30, 1859. His parents, Frederick and Catherine (Poister) Eise, are both now deceased. The father was a railroad carpenter and was a well known and highly respected citizen of his community, giving special aid to the work of advancement and the moral interests of his county. He labored earnestly in the church and Sundayschool and his life was a potent influence for good. Both he and his wife were natives of Germany, becoming residents of Gabon in 1856. and there remaining until called to their final rest.

In the public schools of his native city Christian F. Eise pursued his education, becoming familiar with both the German and English languages. His desire for newspaper work led him to serve an apprenticeship in a newspaper office in Indianapolis before his graduation at school, which event occurred in 1874. Throughout his entire business career he has been identified with journalistic work. In 1879 he began the publication of a paper in West Milton, Ohio. A year later he was appointed a historian of county histories and in 1881 he established the Bainbridge Courier, at Bainbridge, Ohio, continuing as its editor and publisher until 188^. He was then employed in the government printing office at Washington, D. C, for a year, and afterward about eight years in the office of the Galion Inquirer. In 1891 he established the Galion Daily Leader, with which he is still connected. This is a wide-awake and enterprising journal and now has a good circulation, whicb makes it an excellent advertising medium. It is devoted to local interests and to the dissemination of general news, and is a journal which would prove creditable in almost any city. In the year 1887 Mr. Eise was elected city clerk of Galion and his faithfulness and ability, as well as the confidence reposed in him by his fellow men, is indicated by the fact that he held the. office continuously for eight years. He also served as health officer, has been a member of the county election board and has held other important political positions.

Mr. Eise was united in marriage to Miss Zetta Lois Norton, a resident of Yellow Springs, Ohio, the wedding being celebrated in 1881. They now have one child, Florence Norton, a young lady of eighteen years. Socially Mr. Eise is connected with the Independent Order of Foresters, with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics and with the Daughters of America. He is likewise connected with Galion Tent, Knights of the Maccabees, and has served as a delegate to the great camp. Both as a public citizen and as the publisher of one of the leading papers of the county Mr. Eise contributes in large measure to the general welfare by supporting all movements calculated to prove of public benefit.

Jacob D. Firstenberger

Throughout the greater part of his life Jacob D. Firstenberger was a resident of Galion and was long an active and honorable factor in the business interests of the city. His death occurred on the 4th of December, 1900, and the community thereby lost a valued resident, whom they had learned to respect and honor for his upright career and fidelity to principle. He was born in this city in 185 1. and was a son of Christopher Firstenberger, a native of Germany, who believing that he might find better opportunities for advancement in the new world crossed the Atlantic and took up his abode in Galion. Here in the public schools our subject acquired his education, gaining a good practical knowledge which served him well in his business career. His first independent venture was as a clerk in a grocery store in Marion, and later he was employed in Pittsburg, but in 1874 he returned to Galion, establishing a grocery store on his own account and successfully conducting the same until his life's labors were ended. He carried a carefully selected stock of staple and fancy groceries and his business methods commended him to' the public patronage. He was fair in his dealings and in his career demonstrated the truth of the old adage "honesty is the best policv."

In Marion county, in 1876, Air. Firstenberger was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Dutt, a native of that county and a daughter of Michael and Catherine ( Meily) Dutt. Her father was a grocer and took up his abode in Marion county at an early day, coming to this country from Germany in his youth. Mrs. Dutt was a daughter of William Meily, of Marion, a brother of Henry Meily, father of Mrs. Senator Brice and Mrs. General Or. Mrs. Firstenberger still survives her husband and is yet living in Galion, where she has made her borne since her marriage and where she has many warm friends.

In public affairs Mr. Firstenberger always took a very active and unselfish interest, doing everything in bis power to promote the measures and movements which be believed would prove of general good. In politics be was a Democrat, served as assessor for about six years, was a member of the board of equalization for three years, was elected to the office of trustee of Polk township in 1895, was re-elected in 1898, and during the last three years of liis service in that capacity he served as the president of the board. When sixteen years of age he was confirmed in the German Reformed church and was ever afterward a consistent member. He enjoyed the uniform confidence and esteem of all throughout the county by reason of his irreproachable official career and as a business man and citizen.

William H. Sheckler

William H. Sheckler is a well-known resident of Bucyrus, where he has served as pension attorney for fourteen years, while since 1896 he has occupied the position of justice of the peace. He is a native of the city which is yet bis home, bis birth having occurred July 13, 1847. The family is of German lineage, the grandfather of our subject having been born in Baden, Germany, near Heidelberg. Hugh Sheckler, the father, was born in Bedford count)', Pennsylvania, in the year 1818, and there resided until 1847, when he came to Bucyrus and engaged in business as a wagon-maker. He was thus identified with the industrial interests of the city for a number of years, and later in life be located on a farm one mile north of the town, where he engaged in the dairy business, meeting with creditable success in the undertaking. He was a well-known and respected cutizen, faithful to the obligations of both public and private life. His death occurred in 1888, when he had reached the psalmist's span of three score years and ten. His wife bore the maiden name of Susan Cheney and was also a native of Pennsylvania, although her parents were born in Holland.

William H. Sheckler is indebted to the public school system of Bucyrus for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. He was about sixteen years of age when he entered the military service of his country, enlisting in February, 1864, as a member of Company E, Thirty-fourth Ohio Infantry (known as the First Ohio Piatt Zouaves), in which he remained until the close of the war. The regiment was assigned to the Army of West Virginia, and he participated in the campaign of the Shenandoah valley under General Phil Sheridan. January 11, 1865, he was captured, with the balance of his regiment, at Beverly, West Virginia, and in Libby prison spent two months and was then exchanged. When hostilities had ceased and the stars and stripes were planted in the capital of the southern Confederacy he returned to his home in Bucyrus, where he has remained continuously since. For fourteen years he has been notary public and for a similar period has been pension attorney, representing the interests of the soldiers who fought for the preservation of the Union and were thereby somewhat unfitted for the duties of a. business career. In 1896 he was elected justice of the peace on the Republican ticket for a term of three years. In the meantime his political views changed and became an adherent of the Democracy, so that in 1899 ne was rnade the candidate of that party for the same office, in which he was re-elected. He is strictly fair and impartial in the discharge of his duties, his decisions being based upon the facts in the case and the law applicable thereto. In 1870 Mr. Sheckler married Ida Reed, who died in 1873, leaving one child, a daughter, Fairy.

In 1877 Mr. Sheckler was united in marriage to- Miss Sarah Steele, a daughter of William Steele, who came from Pennsylvania to Bucyrus. She died in 1883, leaving no children. Air. Sheckler holds membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Grand Army Post, of Bucyrus, in which he is serving as commander. The high esteem in which he is held, not only in official circles, but among all his acquaintances, speaks better than words can do concerning his character as a man and a citizen, one in whom his town and county have a just pride.

G. W. Burt

G. W. Burt, who fills the important position of station agent for the Big Four Railroad Company at Gabon, and for the American Express Company, has occupied these positions for more than a quarter of a century. He is a native of what at the time of his birth was Marion county, Ohio, but is now

Morrow county. His father, Ebenezer Burt, took up his abode in Marior. county in 1820. removing to Ohio from Greene county, Pennsylvania. There he died when our subject was only two and a half years of age, passing away in 1835. His vvife bore the maiden name of Sarah Hernard and resided in Greene county, Pennsylvania.

During his youth, Air. Burt of this review, pursued his education in the public schools. He entered the railroad service in 1852, and has since been one of its representatives. In 1855 he secured a situation as telegraph operator and clerk at Shelby, Richland county, Ohio, and was there located during the period of the Civil war. After various removals he came to Gabon in 1874 and has remained here continuously since, covering a period of twentyseven consecutive years. He is one of the most trusted and reliable employes of the company, very careful and painstaking in the discharge of his duties and loyal to the trusts reposed in him. Socially he is identified with the Masonic Order and has attained the Thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, belonging to Cleveland Consistory. In his political affiliations he is a Republican.

Johx C. Schieber

Among the old and highly esteemed farmers of Holmes township is John Christian Schieber, who came here when this locality was still covered with its native growth of timber. His birth was in Germany, a country which has contributed many excellent citizens to America, and he was born September 27, 1828. He was a son of Gottleib and Alagdalena (Brosie) Schieber, the former of whom was born in Y\ urtemberg, Germany, in 1794, and the latter in the same place, in 1802. In 1832, with their rive children and a large party of neighbors and friends, they emigrated to the United States. They had some section in the state of Ohio as their destination, and came by way of the lakes as far as Sandusky. A former neighbor by the name of Fred Feichtner had located some years previously in Crawford county, and the Germans determined to find him, if possible, and follow his advice in the matter of locating homes of their own in this county. With this end in view, Gottleib Schieber, with several of his fellow emigrants, left their families in Sandusky and set out on foot to find their friend, although their knowledge of his whereabouts was very vague. However, after a long and wearisome trip, they found him, most comfortably located in Liberty township near Broken Sword. The appearance of the surrounding country pleased them, and after a short visit they started back, on foot, as they came. At Sandusky they procured teams and

Mr. Schieber bought a tract of forty acres from J. Caris. and soon after this he entered forty acres and gradually added more until his farm consisted of one hundred and ten acres. This constituted the homestead where the children were born and where they grew, to maturity. The children numbered nine in all, their names being : Christopher, Gottleib, Fredericka, Christian, Jacob, Catherine, John, Abraham and Mary, the survivors being our subject; Catherine, the widow of Christian Brown, of Sandusky township; and Mary, the wife of Solomon Shupp, of Nebraska. The father of our subject died in 1870, but the mother survived until 1893, when she had reached her ninety-first year. In early life he was a Democrat, but the issues of the Civil war made him a Republican, though in his later years he returned to the Democratic part}-. For many years he was a leading member of the Lutheran church, and was one 1 »f the highly esteemed citizens of the county.

John Christian Schieber, the subject of this sketch, was reared in the pioneer home and received but few educational advantages because good school privileges were not obtainable at that time and place. He possessed an abundance of natural intelligence, was energetic and industrious, and by the time he had reached his majority understood all of the demands of an agricultural life. In February, 1852, he was married to Miss Leah Hershberger, who was born in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of Jacob Hershberger, who came to Crawford count}- about 1848. A family of children grew up around our subject and wife, viz. : Samuel, of Oklahoma; Amanda, the wife of Emanuel Haller, of this township; Jacob, of this township; Joseph, of Chicago, Illinois; Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel Mack, of this township; Matilda, at home; Charles, the farmer on the home farm; and Ida, at home.

After marriage our subject settled on a farm of eighty acres located in Liberty township, which he purchased of his father, and here he erected a hewed-log house and a round-log barn, some six years later replacing the latter with a substantial frame barn. This land was all heavily covered with a native growth of timber with the exception of nine acres, and it required fourteen years of industry to redeem the whole tract from the forest. In 1866 our subject sold this farm and purchased the farm which he now occupies. At one time he owned three hundred and twenty acres, but has retained but one hundred and sixty, which is admirably managed by his son Charles.

the leading members of the Methodist church, to which his estimable wife also belongs. During his long life in the township he has seen many changes and has done his share in the development of the county, and now enjoys the esteem of the whole community.

Charles E. Kimerline

The medical profession is ably represented in Crawford county, Ohio, and one of the best known members there is Charles Edward Kimerline, of Lykens village, who as a physician of wide and accurate knowledge has won an enviable professional success and stands deservedly high in the esteem of his fellow citizens.

Charles E. Kimerline, M. D., was born at New Washington. Ohio, July 4, 1S71. a son of Lewis J. Kimerline. a well known citizen of that town. He was graduated at the public schools of New Washington, in 1889, and received the degree of bachelor of science at the Ohio Normal University, in 1892. From 1893 to 1896, he was a student in the medical department of the Western Reserve University. After his graduation from that institution with the degree of medical doctor, he located at Lykens village, where he entered upon the practice of his profession to which he has since given his undivided attention. He has became favorably known throughout the surrounding country and has a satisfactory and constantly increasing practice. In politics he is a Democrat and wields a recognized influence in local affairs, but he is not an office-seeker nor in the ordinary sense of the term a practical politician, but his public spirit is such that he is a useful and helpful citizen ready at all times to further all worthy objects. He was married June 24, 1897, to Miss Fairy Scott and the)- have a daughter whom they have named Mary Scott. He is a member of the German Lutheran church.

C. P. Frank

Among the representatives of railroad interests residing in Crestline is Mr. Frank, who occupies the position of foreman of the copper shops for the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Company. He was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, January 21, 1839. His father. John G. Frank, was a native of Muelhausen. Germany, was there reared and learned the tanner's trade. In 1835 he came to America, locating in Butler county, Pennsylvania, at the little town of Saxonburg, where he carried on tanning and farming. There he died in 1870, at the age of seventy years, his birth having occurred in 1800. He was a member of the German Lutheran church and a man of the highest respectability. He wedded Mary Schneider, also a native of the fatherland. She had previously been married and was the widow of Carl Haulm. By her first husband she had five children, and by the second marriage she became the mother of five children.

C. P. Frank, the eldest son and the second number of the family, was reared in his native county until seventeen years of age and acquired his education in the common schools, which he attended for about three months each year. When a youth of seventeen he began learning the coppersmith's trade at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, serving an apprenticeship of four years, after which he entered the employ of the firm of Prior, Harbeck & Company, of Cleveland, Ohio, .where he continued for nine months. On the expiration of that period he went to Galion, becoming an employe of the old Bee Line Company, with which he continued for four years. The year 1863 witnessed his arrival in Crestline, where he has since made his home. Here he engaged with the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, working at his trade as a journeyman. The business at that time was small but has continually increased in volume and importance, and he has remained steadily with the company in the position which he now occupies with the exception of one year when he was granted a leave of absence. Pie has been foreman of the company for thirty-six years and is one of its oldest and most reliable employes, carefully superintending the department of which he has charge, the workmanship being of a high grade.

On the 4th of February, 1862, Air. Frank was united in marriage to Miss Fllen A. Keen, a native of Germany, but when three years of age was brought to America by her parents, the family locating in Crawford count}-, where they were early settlers There her girlhood days were passed and the common schools afforded her her educational privileges. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Frank have been born six children: John E., who resides at Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson county. Ohio, is agent for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company; Mary M. is the wife of Dr. I. \\". Larkworthy, of Ottawa, Ohio; Willard A. is a machinist employed by the Erie Company at Galion; and Frederick G. is with, his father, working at the trade of coppersmith. Nellie C. and Alice J., two daughters of the family, died in earlv childhood. In his political views Mr. Frank is an earnest Republican, giving an unfaltering support to the principles of his party. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic Order and for a number of years has affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He and his family belong to the Presbyterian church, in which he has long been a trustee. Faithful to duty and the trusts reposed in him in business life, he is also recognized as a public spirited citizen and a man of true worth of character.

William Hood Critzer

.Mam- people give music the highest rank among the fine arts. It has not the limitations of sculpturing or painting, it is not bounded by form, color or :size, and therefore leaves much greater play to the imagination. It reaches man only through the sense of hearing aiM exercises over him an intangible power the more strongly felt because indescribable. From the remotest ages it has administered to man pleasure, has given enthusiasm to the soldier on the field of battle, brought comfort to the sorrowing and heightened the happiness of the joyful. It appeals to and touches all classes of people as no- other art does, and. in fact, is the only universal language. The musical taste and culture of Crawford county has largely been promoted through the efforts of Professor William Hood Critzer, who is director of music in the public schools of Gabon, Mount Gilead and Crestline, having thus been connected with the -esthetic education of three towns since 1891.

Professor Critzer is numbered among Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in Pike township, Fulton county, in 1857. and his parents being William and Amelia ( Mathews) Critzer. His father was a native of Fredcrick, Maryland, being born July 17, 1810; the mother, of Wheeling, West Virginia, was born August 4, 1824. The grandfather of our subject was Jaci b Critzer, who was born in Maryland, October 10, 1780. He was a stone-mas< m and followed contracting throughout his life. He was married to Elizabeth Beckenbough, October 9, 1803. His good wife died August 20, 1821. and he passed away January 20, 1831. On the maternal side Mr. Critzer*s ancestry can be traced back to Charles Hood, his great-grandfather, who erected the first of the Ellicot mills in Maryland just after the close of the Revolution and was a very prominent factor in the substantial upbuilding of that portion of the state. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Elzc Mathews, was a. resident of West Virginia, but at an early day came to Ohio, locating in Franklin county, near Columbus. He brought with him his slaves whom he had owned in the south, and here gave them their freedom. The father of our subject was reared at Frederick, Maryland, and earlv in life began teaching school, which he followed for several rears, and after his marriage, accompanied by his young bride, emigrated to Fulton county, Ohio, where they shared the trials and hardships of frontier life. Here he cleared his land and followed farming for many years, when eventually he sold his farm and moved to Delta, Fulton county, where he engaged in the milling business as buyer and seller of grains. While here he was elected mayor, and had the honor of being the first mayor of Delta. Subsequently he removed to Ai, Fulton county, where he purchased a drug store, which he successfully conducted throughout the remainder of his life, dying October 29, 1874. In his political views he was a Republican.

Professor Critzer's love of music was early manifest. From his boyhood he displayed exceptional fondness for the art, and when a youth of twelve, after much coaxing, he persuaded his father to buy him a flute, which he learned to play unaided. When sixteen years of age he began his preliminary training in vocal culture, under the direction of W. H. Leibe, of Kansas City, Missouri, and afterward studied under the direction of Dr. George A. Veazie, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and his later preceptors were James M. McLaughlin, of Boston, and Dr. Lowell Mason, of the same city. He completed his studies in the Detroit Conservatory, where he was graduated in 1890. He had made possible the continuation of his musical education through the work which he had done as a teacher. .He was conductor of music in the Northwestern Normal Collegiate Institute, in Wauseon, Ohio, in 1887, but previous to this time he spent from 1885 to 1887 as musical director in the Fayette Normal Music and Business College. He gave private instructions as opportunity offered, and while in Detroit he conducted the St. George's boy choir and" was preceptor in the Central Methodist Episcopal Sabbath-school. In 1891 he accepted the position of musical director in the public schools of Galion, Mount Gilead and Crestline. In the first named he has charge of four school buildings, giving instruction to the pupils of the various departments ten days each month. He spends four days in Mount Gilead and four days in Crestline, and under his leadership the schools have made rapid and commendable advancement in music, the high school of Galion having a reputation unexcelled by any similar institution in the state. Professor Critzer is also choir master of four choirs, that of the Methodist Episcopal church, the German Reformed church, the English Lutheran church and the United Brethren church. He is also conductor of the Galion Choral Society, of seventy-five voices. The work undertaken by the high school of Galion is of a very high and classical order. In the year 1900 they gave a rendition of Haydn's '-Creation," with

Professor Critzer was united in marriage to Miss Cora M. Nobbs, of Fulton county, a daughter of James and Ann ( Fetterman ) Nobbs, her parents being among the pioneer settlers of Fulton county, coming from England to this state. The Professor and his wife now have rive children, - Edna, Ruth. Walter Eugene, Paul and Marjorie .May. The family is one of prominence in the community, occupying a leading position in social circles, where culture and intelligence are received as the passport into good society. The Professor is a member of Masonic Lodge Xo. 414, in Gabon, the Order of Foresters and the Tribe of Ben Hur. His influence in the two cities of Crawford county and the county seat of Morrow county with which he is connected is incalculable, but is certainly very far-reaching and very beneficial. To no other citizen is the advancement of musical taste so justly accredited, and through his dissemination of the knowledge of the art he has added greatly to the enjoyment and happiness which should form no small part of life.

Among the leading attorneys of Gabon is R. C. .Tracht, who, though a young man, has gained distincti< n as a member of the bar by reason ot qualifications that always insure success. Endowed by nature with strong mentality and developing his powers through study and close application, he is now occupying a position in the legal fraternity that many an older lawyer might well envy.

He is numbered among the native sons of Crawford county, his birth having occurred in Jefferson township in 1866. He is of German-English lineage, and his family is one of a group of pioneers who have made Crawford one of the foremost counties in the great northwest. In his boyhood he attended the public schools in his native township and later became a student in the Roanoke Seminary, in Roanoke, Indiana, his studies there being supplemented bv a course in the United Brethren Normal Academy at Fostoria, Ohio. In 1883 he began teaching school, and for five years successfully followed that profession, being recognized as a teacher of exceptional ability. In the fall of 1888 he matriculated in the Ohio Norma] University at Ada, Ohio, where he was graduated in July, 1892, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. On the 7th of December, [893, lie was admitted to the bar. and his pr< gress has been marked and rapid in his professional career. Fie is a stu- dent, earnest and discriminating, and his knowledge of legal principles is profound and comprehensive. Thorough preparation well tits him for the contests of the courtroom, where he has won many victories for his clients. A careful and conscientious counselor and an able advocate, he holds his professional integrity as a sacred trust.

Mr. Tracht was married to Miss Myrtle Gledhill, a daughter of Joseph Gledhill, of Jefferson township. Our suhject and his wife hold membership in the English Lutheran church, and in his political views he is a stalwart Democrat. He possesses exceptional oratorical ability and power, and through the past live years has delivered many political addresses which in their effective eloquence have wrought good for the party. He has been honored with a number of local offices, and in 1898 he was a prominent candidate for nomination for prosecuting attorney, but was defeated by a small vote. His education and his success are due to his own efforts. His own labor provided him with the means of continuing his more advanced study, and since entering upon his professional career his thorough understanding of legal principles, combined with the utmost fidelity to his clients' interest, have insured him continued advancement.

The name of McCracken has been so long closely connected with the history of Crawford county that representatives of the family need no special introduction to the readers of this volume. James McCracken, the father of him whose name introduces this review, was the first mayor of Bucvrus. and through many years took a leading part in the work of public progress along the lines of material, intellectual and moral advancement.

He was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, July 16. 1800. a son of James and Rachel ( Kelly) McCracken, both of whom were natives of Ireland. After arriving at man's estate the former came to the new world, the date of his emigration being about 1790. The Kellys, however, came to the United States before the Revolution, and the great-grandfather of our subject served as a quartermaster in the American army during the struggle for independence. Being captured, he was placed on an English prison ship in Xew York harbor, where he was incarcerated for some time. James Mc- Cracken, Sr., located in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, upon a farm seven miles from Greensburg. He was married in that state to Miss Kelly, and in 1807 removed to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he made his home for about nine years. In 1816 lie went to Wayne county, taking up his abode near Wooster. In that year his wife was drowned in Killbuck creek. The children of their family were: James, the father of our subject; Thomas and Nathaniel, who lived and died in Columbiana county; John, who became a resident of Crawford county; Mrs. John Moderwell, who died in Crawford county, where her husband served as sheriff; Mrs. Josiah Scott, who also died in this county and whose husband was a judge of the supreme court of Ohio and for twenty years practiced law in Bucyrus and in Hamilton ; and Mrs. Hattie Adair, of Wayne county, Ohio.

James McCracken, the father of our subject, accompanied his parents on their removal to this state, residing first in Columbiana and afterward in Wayne county. From Wooster, Ohio, he came to Bucyrus, in 1825. He was a wheelwright by trade, and for some years engaged in the manufacture of spinning-wheels at this place. A recognized leader in public thought and action, he took a very prominent part in public affairs and had marked influence in shaping the policy of the county and promoting its interests. On the incorporation of Bucyrus, in 1832, he was elected its mayor. For many years he served as justice of the peace, discharging his duties in a strictly fair and impartial manner, and from 1840 until 1844 he served as postmaster of the county seat. He married Miss Ruth Marquis, a daughter of William V. Marquis, who came to Crawford county in 1829, settling on a farm two miles south of Bucyrus. Her mother bore the maiden name of Mary Park and was a native of Washington county. Pennsylvania. Her father was killed by the Indians soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. From Belmont county, Ohio, the Marquis family came to Crawford county, but the father of Mrs. McCracken was a native of Virginia, born in Winchester, where his people lived during the Revolutionary days. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McCracken was blessed with eight children, who attained to years of maturity. Portia A., the eldest, died in Bucyrus. William V., who married Juliet Mason, of Tiffin, Ohio, died in New York City. He was a soldier in the Civil war, serving as captain of a company in the One Hundred and Twentythird Ohio Infantry and remaining at the front for two and a half years. Joseph Kelly, who was orderly sergeant in the Eighty-sixth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, married Miss Ella A. Davis and is living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Alexander McBride, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, married Miss Augusta F. Van Fleet, of Pennsylvania. Augusta N. is librarian of the Memorial Library, of Bucyrus. Harvey Marquis, who married Catherine Freeman, of Fort Wrayne, Indiana, is now living in Louisville, Kentucky.

Charles W., the youngest of the family, is yet a resident of Bucyrus. The children were all educated in the schools of this city. The sons are mostly connected with railway business, and in politics are Republicans. The father of the family died in Bucyrus in 1875. at the age of seventy-five years, and in his death the community lost one of its most valued and reliable citizens

Charles Wallace McCracken, whose name introduces this review, is a civil engineer, and has followed his profession all over the county. His marked skill and ability in that line and his efficiency have won him a liberal patronage. From 1886 until 1890 he was state canal commissioner, having been appointed to that office by Governor Bushnell.

The subject of this notice, the senior member of E. M. Freese & Company, manufacturers of clay-working machinery and appliances at Galion, Ohio, was born in Medina county, this state, September 23, 1845, a son °* Harlow and Almira (Morton) Freese, the former a native of Lee, Massachusetts, and the latter of Pittsfield, that state. Harlow Freese was a son of B. W. and Clarrissa (Beaumont) Freese, who removed from Lee, Massachusetts, when Harlow was eight years of age, in 1818, and located in Brunswick, Medina county, Ohio, becoming the owner of about one thousand acres of land, then an unbroken wilderness, and engaged extensively in farming.

Harlow Freese grew to manhood in Brunswick and there married Almira Morton, continuing his residence there during his life and following the occupation of a farmer, and was an exemplary man and an estimable citizen. To Harlow and Almira (Morton) Freese were born two children (sons), E.. M. and M. L. Freese. The last mentioned died about twenty years ag< k Harlow Freese died in 1890, at the age of eighty years, and Almira, his wife, in 1887, at the age of seventy years.

E. M. Freese obtained a practical education in the public schools near his home. Early in life he developed a decided love of mechanics, and following his inclinations he became, at the age of twenty, a machinist's apprentice at the works of Turner Parks & Company, manufacturers of grain-cleaning and sewer-pipe machinery at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where during the succeeding four years he gained much proficiency in mechanical work. He then entered the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Crestline. Ohio, where he was employed until 1881. Here, by the exercise of industry and economy. he accumulated the means with which to engage in a small way in the nianu- facture of clay-working machinery at Plymouth, Ohio. Beginning with two partners, he successively purchased the interests of each and became sole owner of the business in i 890, and has continued the same up to the present time. By the advantage of natural mechanical genius and persistent and industrious effort, he was able to greatly improve the machinery used for the manufacture of building, street-paving and fire brick, and for terra-cotta, fire-proofing and drain tile, and was largely instrumental in this way in revolutionizing these industries, which have had a wonderful growth in the United States, the value of clay products now ( 1901 ) amounting to about one hundred million dollars yearly. Conservative methods soon placed the venture upon a firm footing and the business was constantly increased in extent and larger facilities became necessary, and in 1891 the works were removed to Gabon, Ohio, where they are permanently located, occupying extensive and commodious buildings erected for the purpose and equipped with modern machinery and appliances especially suited to this class of manufacture and with many conveniences not usually found in other works of this kind. The machinery manufactured here is sold in all parts of the United States and in some foreign countries, and is noted for originality of design, the economy of its operation and the superiority of the wares it produces.

Familiarity with all details of the manufacture and sale of the variety oJi machinery in this class now manufactured, and painstaking and conscientious attention to the demands of the trade, on the part of the subject of this sketch, have developed a large and prosperous business which is destined to continue to flourish.

John Rexroth

There is much in the life history of John Rexroth that is worthy of emulation. He possessed a determined, resolute character that was well balanced by sound judgment and upright principles, and throughout his business career he not only won prosperity but also gained for himself that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches, thus leaving to his family a priceless heritage.

Mr. Rexroth was born in Bucyrus, on the 10th of May. 1835, and died on his farm two miles south of the city. May 8, 1895, when sixty years of age, lacking two days. Fie was the son of John X. and Anna M. (Wirtman)

Rexroth. The father was born in the village of Erbach, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, November 6, 1800, and in his native land attended school between the ages of six and fourteen years, after which he learned the trade of blacksmithing, following that pursuit in his native country until thirty years of age, when he came to the United States. He landed at Baltimore after a voyage of six months, being shipwrecked twice on the way. In Baltimore he met and married Anna M. Wirtman, the wedding being celebrated on the 1st of March, 1831. The lady was born near Carlsruhe, Baden, and came to America about the same time her husband made the voyage - the only one of her family to seek a home in this country. Immediately after their marriage they removed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where they remained for a little more than a year, and in 1833 they came to Bucyrus. The father followed his trade until 1855. In the meantime he resided in Winchester from 1839 until 1849. He accumulated property rapidly, but by going security for others he lost nearly all that he had made with the exception of his home. He was reared a Lutheran but when he came to Bucyrus he united with the Evangelical Association - a society which did not prosper, however, and he afterward joined the German Methodist Episcopal church. He remained a devoted Christian up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 15th of June, 1867. He was the father of ten children, nine of whom reached years of maturity, namely: Adam, deceased; Catherine; John, deceased; Daniel; Elizabeth, deceased: Sarah; David; Margaret; and Lydia, deceased.

John Rexroth was only three years of age when his parents removed from Bucyrus to Winchester, where ten years of his youth were passed. He attended school there for three months each year, and in 1849 he again became a resident of Bucyrus, where he continued his studies in the winter season until 1854. and throughout the remainder of the year he assisted his father in the blacksmith shop. About this time, however, his father met with reverses in financial life and our subject and his brother rented farming land and by farming and teaming supported the family. In 1857 the family exchanged town property for eighty acres of land lying just south of Bucvrus, to which they removed, remaining there for some time, after which they took up their abode upon another farm near by. That continued to be their home until after the death of the father in 1867, when they returned to Bucyrus.

Thus far John Rexroth had been a member of his father's family, but on the 18th of December, 1867. he was united in marriage to Miss Maggie S. Frey, a daughter of John Martin and Magdaline (Lininger) Frey, who were natives of Germany and came to America in 1853, settling in Plymouth, Ohio, whence they removed to Bncyrns. They spent their last days, however, in the home of their daughter, Mrs. Rexroth. She was born in Germany and was a little maiden of six summers when her parents came to the United States. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rexroth were born the following children: Charles F., a farmer of Bucyrus township, who was born October 1, 1868, and married Catherine Keiffer ; John Jay, who died when about three years of age; Lillian Iona, born Jul)- 5, 1875; Royal A., born December 8, 1877; Clyde N., born September 15, 1879; and Elva May, born July 8, 1881. After his marriage Air. Rexroth removed to the farm upon which his widow yet resides and began the cultivation of the land .He became one of the largest agriculturists and stock raisers of the county and his landed possessions were extensive. For years his flock of sheep outnumbered almost every other in the county and this branch of his business proved to him a profitable industry. For a number of years he successfully conducted his business affairs and year by year his capital increased, but one cold night a few months before his death his home was destroyed by fire, and the ex^ posure which he endured brought on a severe cold, which eventually terminated his life. His was a useful career, and in business affairs steady advancement attended his earnest and well directed efforts, so that he left his family in comfortable circumstances. In politics he was always a Republican, and in religious belief he was a Methodist, belonging to the church in Bucyrus. A straightforward business man, a faithful friend, a devoted husband and father and an earnest Christian, in his death the community lost one of its valued representatives.

Dr. Miller, who occupies an enviable position as a member of the medical fraternity in New Washington, was born November 16, 1864, in what was known as the Half Way House, located midway between Tiffin and Republic, in Clinton township, Seneca county, Ohio. His parents were Peter and Lovina (Robenalt) Miller. The father was born September 16, 1833, in Ontario county, New York, and was a son of Daniel and Anna ( Bergstresser) Miller, both of whom were of German descent and were probably natives of the Empire state. With their family they removed to Seneca county, Ohio1, in 1837, locating in Scipio> township. Subsequently they removed to Lincoln township, where they spent their remaining days. The father of our subject was reared under the parental roof and in early life learned the trade of a cooper. As the family located in the midst of the vast wilderness, he also did his share in the work of reclaiming the wild lands for purposes of civilization, cutting away the trees and preparing the fields for the plow. On the 2d of March, 1854, he was united in marriage to Miss Lovina Robenalt, a native of Clinton township, Seneca county, and a daughter of Solomon and Catherine (Powell) Robenalt, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, but were of German descent. Coming to Ohio in 1829, they took up their abode in Seneca county, where they remained until called to the home beyond. The grandfather of our subject died in 1863, at the age of sixty-two years, and his wife, long surviving him, passed away in 1881, at the age of eighty years.

After his marriage Peter Miller and his wife began their domestic life upon a small farm in the eastern part of Clinton township. He there built a log cabin and a log shop, and of evenings and on rainy days when he could not work in the fields he followed coopering-, but in good weather he worked upon farms, and thus in two years he was enabled to pay for his property. He purchased the Half Way House, which he used as a residence. He continued his coopering business and resided there until 1805. when he exchanged his property for a dwelling in Tiffin, and in that city he followed his chosen trade for three years. On the expiration of that period he purchased the old Robenalt homestead and removed to the farm, which is located four miles east of Tiffin. For five years he resided in the old pioneer log house and then purchased an adjoining farm, upon which he erected a modern and commodious brick dwelling, making one of the handsomest homes in the county. He continued coopering until within the past ten years, but now gives his entire attention to the management of his extensive farming interests. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and for twelve years he served as trustee of his township, called again and again to that office by his fellow townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability. He is one of the influential men in his district, and wherever known is held in high regard. Socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Seneca Lodge. Xo. 35, of Tiffin.

In 1887 Mr. Miller was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 28th of February of that year. She was an active and earnest member of the Lutheran church, to which Mr. Miller also belongs, being one of its liberal supporters and zealous advocates. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children, of whom six are yet living, namely: Franklin P., of Morris, Ohio ; Orlando A., who is living near Lawton, Michigan ; Daniel

\\\, who makes his home in Clinton township, Seneca county, Ohio; Alice V., wife of Otto F. Swander, of "West Lodi, Ohio; Burton R., of this review; and Anna May, wife of N. R. Heaton, of Clinton township, Seneca county.

! )r. Miller pursued his education in the country schools until he had mastered the common English branches of learning and later became a student in the Milan Normal, the Fostoria Normal and in Heidelberg University, at Tiffin, Ohio. He attended the country schools, however, until he was twenty years of age, and then successfully passed an examination entitling him to teach in the country schools. On his twenty-first birthday he began educational work, and followed teaching for five terms, during which period his salary was steadily increased, and when called to the Tiffin schools he received twenty-five cents more per day than an}- other teacher in the township. In the autumn of 1890 he began teaching as principal of the fourth school district in Tiffin, where he remained for four years. Determining to make the practice of medicine his life work, he began reading under the direction of Dr. H. K. Hershiser in the summer of 1894. and during the two succeeding vacations he was a student in the office of Dr. H. B. Gibbon. He entered the Starling Medical College, at Columbus, in the fall of 1894. and in the autumn of 1895 matriculated in the Ohio Medical University, where he was graduated on the 6th of April, 1897. Immediately afterward he took up the practice of medicine, which he has since followed with good success.

Soon after his graduation Dr. Miller was married, on the 21st of July, 1897, near Lawton, Michigan, to Miss Myrtle M. Hooper, a daughter of George and Jennie E. (Laughlin) Hooper. Her father was born May 20, 1842, in Brooklyn, New York, and was of English parentage, and on the 1st of November, 1865, he was united in marriage to Jennie E. Laughlin, whose birth occurred in Berlin township, Erie county, Ohio. She was a daughter -of Milton Laughlin, whose grandparents were natives of Ireland and came to America with their family of eleven sons, settling in Georgetown, Pennsylvania. The date of their emigration is unknown, but it must have been over a century ago.

John Laughlin. one of the eldest children of this family, married Elizabeth Hoak. and after a few- years joined the party of adventurers who left Walnut Creek, Pennsylvania, for the Huron river. Subsequently he removed from the bottom lands of the river to Milan, then an Indian village, where he resided for two years. He became greatly attached to the Indians and they to him. He was an excellent hunter and they admired his dexterity. His children played with the Indian children, and when his little son Benjamin was taken ill he was doctored by the Indian medicine man, and when he died was buried by the Indians after their custom. In 18 10 Air. Laughlin built a small log house on lot 8, which has since been known as the Laughlin place, and there he removed with his family. One of his six children, Henry, sucsumbed to fever and was buried on the high bank of Huron river. The family had a desperate struggle to get along, owing to the unhealthful climate and pioneer conditions. While living there news of Hull's surrender was received, and the settlers, expecting the Indians to rush down upon them, fled for safety. Mr. Laughlin and his family started for the old home in Pennsylvania, and on horseback and on foot made their way through the almost interminable forests. Scon after reaching their destination Milton Laughlin was horn, the date of his birth being Christmas of 1813. After two years, however, the family returned to Ohio, and in 1814 a log cabin was erected, in which the grandfather resided until his death. The family experienced all the hardships and difficulties of pioneer life. Corn was pounded into meal in a mortar made in a stump hollowed out by fire. Milton Laughlin was reared amid such surroundings and became a hard-working, persevering and determined man, yet rather silent and of undemonstrative habits. The other members of the family were Katy, Henry, John, Nancy, Benjamin, Anna, Betsey and Belinda. On the 28th of November, 1837, Milton Laughlin married Mary B. Krom, of Wilkesbarre, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, but formerly of Xew York city. He arranged with his father to pay some of the latter's debts, and in return he was to receive a part of the old homestead. He worked on his farm during the summer and in the winter season was employed in the ship-yard at Milan. He aided in sawing the timber for the docks on the canal and often made four dollars and forty cents per day, although the average wages paid were only one dollar and a half per day. His efforts were admirably seconded by his wife, and by perseverance, industry and attention to business he accumulated a handsome competence and gained the title of West Berlin banker. The children born of his marriage are as follows: Ransom F., who was born June 9, 1839, married Sarah Springer on the 8th of August, i860, and now resides in Milan township; Nancy L., born June if), 1842, was married April 14, 1868, to William Squire, of Milan, and died April 19, 1875; Jane E.. born January 23. 1843. married George Hooper on the 1 st of November, 1865, and resides in Ohio, near Tiffin; Frank AW, born February 5, 1849, enlisted in the Union army and died in the service in South Carolina, March 2, [865; Willis M., born June 29, 1859, was married August 8, 1880, and resides on the old homestead; Bertha E., born March 14, 1868, was married June 24,

1890. In the spring of 1883 Mr. Laughlin removed with his family to Milan, where he resided until his death, which occurred October 16, 1884, when he was seventy-two years of age. In early life he united with the Methodist church and was ever a consistent Christian.

After the marriage of George Hooper and Jennie E. Laughlin they removed to Milan, in 1866, and on the 19th of August, 1873, went to Van Buren county, Michigan. Subsequently they became residents of Allegan county, that state, and in the spring of 1875 returned to Ohio, locating in Berlin township, Erie county. In 1877, however, they again went to Michigan, spending the winter in Lawton, and in the spring took up their abode upon a farm in that state, where they continued until the fall of 1900, when they located in Seneca count}-, Ohio. Mr. Hooper was a member of the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry during the Civil war and served for three years and eight months. He was taken prisoner November 14, 1864, when on the march of Sherman to the sea, and was incarcerated in the prison at Florence, South Carolina, but after three months was paroled at Goldsboro>, North Carolina. On the 26th of February, 1865, he was sent to> Camp Chase and there discharged. He now owns and operates an eighty-acre- farm, which is highly improved. For five years he served as a justice of the peace and was also school director for several years. In politics he is a Republican. He belongs to the Methodist Protestant church, has served as class-leader and has been quite prominent in church work.

Dr. Miller, whose name begins this review, is a stanch Democrat, and in the spring- of 1893 was elected treasurer of Clinton township, receiving the highest vote of any candidate on the ticket. In 1895 he was re-elected with an increased majority of over one hundred votes. He was vice-president of the Seneca County Teachers' Institute in the term of 1894, and was unanimously chosen president in the terms of 1895-6. In 1896-7 he was city school examiner, but resigned in order to remove to. New Washington, and on the 5th of August, 1897, he began practice in this place. In 1894, before bidding final adieu to the profession of teacher, Dr. Miller succeeded in bringing about the adoption of township supervision of the schools in Clinton, his native township, the first to adopt such in Seneca county, four other townships of the county having adopted the same plan of supervision. He is the present health officer for New Washington. He also' enjoys a large private practice, and his business is steadily increasing. He has been correspondent for the Tiffin Advertiser, the Tiffin News, the Tiffin Tribune, the Tiffin Times, the Bloomville Independent, the Crawford County News, the Crawford County

Forum, and at the present time sends his communications to the last named. In 1893 Dr. Miller visited the World's Fair in Chicago'. Socially he is connected with Pickwick Lodge, No. 175, K. P., of Tiffin; Cranberry Lodge, No. 441, I. O. O. F. ; and Rex Tent. No. 229, K. O. T. M., while he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a leading part in Sunday-school work. Both are members of Horace Mann Commandery, No. 14, and the order of the Red Cross. The Doctor and his wife are ardent supporters of educational and other means of advancing intellectual and moral development. He is president of the New Washington Lecture Association.

Jacob F. Schafer

Not many of the older citizens of Chatfield township, Crawford county, Ohio, were born at their present places of residence. Jacob Schafer has this distinction. He is a son of Jacob Schafer, Sr., and was born February 2\, 1862, in his father's house on the farm on which he now lives.

Jacob Schafer, Sr., the son of Adam Schafer, was born in Hoheinod, Germany, and was brought to America by his father. The elder Schafer settled in Bloom township, Seneca county, Ohio, and from there removed to Chatfield township, Crawford county, with his son, Jacob Schafer, the father of the subject of this sketch. About the time of their arrival they bought about forty acres of wild land, and later they bought forty acres more, on which stands the residence of the subject of this sketch. Adam Schafer died pn this property, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife was Catharine Fox, also a native of German}-.

Jacob F. Schafer, who is the immediate subject of this sketch, was the tenth in order of birth of a family of eleven children. Mary, the eldest, became the wife of Gottlieb Knecht. Valentine lives in Chatfield township, Crawford county, Ohio. Lucy married Philip Schemp and lives in Seneca comity. Catharine is the wife of Peter Regula, of Carothers, this state. Gertrand married Emanuel Lutz. Caroline is the wife of Peter Reidle. Adam lives at Chatfield, Crawford county, Ohio. Martha married William Lutz, of Chatfield, Crawford county, Ohio. Lizzie married Wiliam Seafort, of Cranberry township. Sophia died in infancy. At one time the father of these children owned three hundred and forty-six acres of land. At his death, which occurred December 23, 1898, he owned one hundred and ninety-nine acres. He was a man of influence in his township and a member of the Lutheran church.

The subject of this sketch was reared to the life of a farmer boy of all work, and received as good an education as the common schools afforded. He was married, in 1885, to Miss Caroline Lanehart, and they have seven children, named as follows: Erna, Albert, William, Loretta, Clara, Marie (who died October 2j, 1898) and Delverta.

Air. Schafer owns seventy-nine acres of land in his home farm and another farm of forty acres, and is a successful general farmer. He and all the members of his family are identified with the Lutheran church. Politically he is a Democrat, and while he is influential in public affairs he has never been a seeker of public office. His public spirit has impelled him to ally himself with many movements which he has believed promised to improve the condition of his fellow citizens.

Moses Pugh

When the tocsin of war sounded and it was known that rebellion in the South had threatened the disruption of the Union men from all walks of life offered their service to the government. From the work shop, the fields, the school-room and the offices they flocked to the standard of the nation and followed the stars and stripes to the battle-fields of the South. Among the number was Moses Pugh, and well may he lie proud of the military record he gained when wearing the blue uniform; he fought for the principles of liberty, justice and an undivided country.

Crawford county may well be proud to number him among her native sons, for he has ever been a man worthy of the respect and confidence of all. His birth occurred in Lykens township, April 6, 1843, and he represents one of the pioneer families of this portion of the state. His great-grandfather was one of the leading citizens of Mansfield, Ohio, and erected the first brick chimney built in that place. For several years he conducted a hotel there. His grandparents, Muses and Christina Pugh, were both natives of Virginia and the former was a farmer by occupation. When the country became involved in the second war with England he joined the service and loyally aided in its defense. His father, Aaron Pugh, was bora near Wheeling, in a little hamlet known as Pughtown, in Hancock count}-. West Virginia, on the 13th of April, 1813. At that time, however, the district was a part of the Old Dominion, the division into two states having not yet been made. Upon the home farm the days of his boyhood and youth were spent and in 1837 he came to Ohio, entering from the government forty acres of wild land in Lykens township, Crawford county, and in the midst of the forest he built a log cabin. On his arrival here his personal property consisted of an ax and with this he cleared a small patch of ground. After some months he returned to Virginia and brought his parents, his brothers and sisters to the new Ohio home. On his second arrival he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Lykens township, upon which the grandfather settled and made his home until his death, while the father of our subject took up his abode upon his forty-acre farm, there residing until the spring of 1862,. when he sold that property and came to Cranberry township, purchasing three hundred and twenty acres of land, where his son Moses is now living. He also owns a hundred and twenty acres and a farm of fifty acres in Huron county, which he had purchased a year previous, and later he bought one hundred and sixty acres near Crestline. He died December 22, 1888, and then was ended a long and useful business career, wherein he won success as the result of his energy and enterprise. His grandfather was a Virginian slaveholder, but freed his slaves prior to the war. His father was a stalwart Democrat, but Aaron Pugh became an ardent Republican and gave to the party his earnest support. He held membership in the Christian church and while residing in Lykens township served as trustee.

He married Miss Mary Jackson, who was born in Hancock county, Virginia, January 13, 181 7, and was a daughter of William and Sarah Jackson, who took up their abode in Crawford count}- about the time the Pugh family was founded within its borders. Mrs. Pugh, the mother of our subject,, died January 7, 1885. She had been a member of the Presbyterian church in early life and afterward joined the Freewill Baptist church. By her marriage she became the mother of eight children, six of whom are yet living, namely: Elizabeth, the widow of J. W. King, of Chicago Junction, Huron county, Ohio; Moses, of this review: Alanson and Anson; twins, the formerliving in Columbus Grove, Putnam county, Ohio, while the latter lives in Cranberry township, Crawford county: Albert B., of Xew Washington, Ohio;, and John C, who is living in Deshler. Ohio.

The duties of the school-room, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the home farm occupied the attention and energies of Moses Pugh prior to his eighteenth year. But the war spirit of his grandfather asserted itself when the country called for troops and he responded to her need of loyal soldiers, enlisting on the 14th of September. 1861, as a member of Company H, Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was in the Army of the Potomac until October 14, 1863, and at the time of Rosecrans' defeat was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland and participated in the engagements of Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Burnt Hickory, second battle of Bull Run, Chancellorsville, Antietam, Gettysburg', Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Rocky Face Gap, Kenesaw Mountain, Resaca and the siege of Atlanta. He was also with Sherman on the march to the sea. aided in the capture of Bentonville, the siege of Savannah, and took part in the grand review in Washington, where the loyal troops who had accomplished their task of preserving the Union, marched in victorious battle array before the stand upon which stood the president of the nation. He was then mustered out July n, 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky. Air. Pugh had been three times wounded in the battle of Bull Run, and was wounded in the right leg at Stephenson, Alabama, after which he lay in the convalescent hospital for three weeks and four days. This injury caused the amputation of the limb in 1893. He entered the service as a private and was mustered out a second lieutenant, being commissioned by Governor Brough. He participated in every engagement of his command, and was never absent from his regiment, save the time he lay in the hospital.

When the war was over and the country no longer needed his services Mr. Pugh returned to his home and resumed the duties of civil life. On the 26th of July, 1866. he was united in marriage to Miss Martha Johnston, a native of Cranberry township, Crawford county, and a daughter of Jacob and Alary (Reed) Johnston, the former born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1819, and the latter born in Stark county, Ohio, April 10, 1 81 7. The Johnstons originally came from Albany, New York,. The Johnston and Reed families both came to Crawford county about 1836, and her father entered from the government one hundred and sixty acres of land. He died March 4, 1882, and his wife died May 8, 1853.

Jacob Johnston was for years a prominent man in public affairs, ever supporting all measures for the general good. He was a strong Republican in politics, and an ardent and active member of the Protestant Methodist -church. , The marriage of Air. and Airs. Pugh was blessed with six children, as follows: Gertrude L., who is now the wife of H. H. Carpenter, of Richmond township, Huron county; Effie I., Alary Jane, Senate A., Logan H. and Burdett W., all at home.

After his marriage Air. Pugh took his bride to a farm of eighty acres about one mile north of his present home, and which he had purchased of his father with money saved during his army service. There he erected a plankhouse and began clearing and improving his land, but after seven years he sold that property and purchased eighty acres one mile west of his present residence. There he lived for two years, when he traded that property to his father for one hundred and sixty acres of the old homestead and took up his abode thereon, his father removing to the town. This he sold in 1899. Mr. Pugh now owns seventy-four acres in his home farm and is a well known and energetic agriculturist. He and his wife hold membership in the Freewill Baptist church, in which he has served as clerk and trustee and has also held other offices. In politics he is a stanch Republican and is a member of the New Washington Grange. Xo. 1485, Patrons of Husbandry, and of Creglow Post. No. 178, G. A. R., of Attica. In manner he is very genial and jovial and his many excellent qualities have gained him mam- friends among those with whom he is associated.

P. F. Lantz is prominently connected with the journalistic interests of Crawford county, and though a young man. he has manifested a marked ability m the business control as well as in connection with the literary work of the Herald, which he is now editing and publishing at New Washington

He was born in this town February 9, 1878. and at the usual age entered the public schools, where he pursued his studies until graduation, in June 1895. He then began earning his own living, spending the f. lowing year as a salesman in a grocery store. Not content, however, with the educational advantages which he had already enjoyed, he spent the spring of 1896 as a student of the Ohio Normal University, at Ada, Ohio. In 1897 and 1898 he was employed as a drug clerk in Dayton. Kentucky, and on the expiration of that period he returned to his home in the fall of 1898 and entered the office of the New Washington Herald as a typographer. In September of the following year he purchased the paper, which he has since successfully conducted and under his management the circulation has increased and its influence has been extended. He is a wide-awake, progressive and enterprising young man, and his labors in behalf of the best interests of the city are effective and beneficial.

John Keil

John Keil is now living a retired life in Bucyrus. A fact of which due recognition is not usually accorded in connection with the development of the west is that to no foreign element is progress due in so large a measure as to those who have had their nativity in and trace their lineage to the great empire of Germany. Among those who left the Fatherland and identified themselves with American life and institutions, who have pushed their way to the front and are a credit alike to the land of their birth and that of their adoption is John Keil. He came to Bucyrus in 1854 from the country of his birth.