Fulton County, Ohio - Biographical sketches, 1905 (part 12 of 15)

FREDERICK A. SLATER, who is engaged in the harness business in the village of Lyons, claims the old Green Mountain State as the place of his nativity, having been bom in Essex, Chittenden county, Vermont,' on the ioth day of August, 1843, and bring a son of Augustus and Laura D. (Littlefield) Slater, both of whom were bora and reared in Vermont Ezra Slater, father of Augustus, was bora in Connecticut and was one of the early settlers of Essex township, Chittenden county' Vermont, bring a farmer by yocation and having for many years served as justice of the peace. Daniel Littlefield, maternal grandfather of Frederick A Slater, was a native of near Springfield, Massachusetts, and was likewise one of the pioneers and v influential citizens of Chittenden county, Vermont, having represented his district in the State legislature several terms. Augustus Slater was a successful farmer in Vermont and was held in the highest esteem as a citizen, having served several years as selectman of his town. Frederick A. Slater was reared in his native township of Essex and after leaving the common schools was a student in Essex Academy. On the ioth of September, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, Thirteenth Vermont volunteer infantry, serving as fifer and taking part in the battle of Gettysburg and other engagements of minor order. He received his honorable discharge on the 21st of July, 1863, at the close of his term of enlistment On the 24th of the following December, he again tendered his services in defense of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company I, Sixth Vermont volunteer infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, receiving his honorable discharge on the 26th of June, 1865, in Washington, D. C. After the close of his military career Mr. Slater learned the harnessmaker's trade, and in 1870 he took up his residence in Lyons, where he has since maintained his home and where he has built up an excellent business *in the line of his trade. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, serving as township clerk for eighteen years, still holding the office, and he is affiliated with Baxter Post, No. 238, Grand Army of the RefHiblic, in Lyons. April 10, 1867, Mr. Slater was united in marriage to Miss Cynthia Chappell, daughter of James G. and Eliza (Butts) Chappell, of Morenci, Lenawee county, Michigan, and they have had right children, six of whom are living. Laura D. is the wife of F. H. Fanand, of Essex Junction, Vermont; Mervin W., of Columbus, Ohio, is a printer by trade ; James W., of Adrian, Mich., is a machinist by trade; Edith Ann is the wife of W. C. Kelley, erf Morenci, Mich.; Carlos B. is at home with parents; and Roy N. lives at home with parents and is in the printing business.

ABRAM HOLMES SMITH, senior member of the Delta Milling company, is one of the early settlers of Fulton county, and during his residence of fifty-seven years has witnessed the phenomenal growth and prosperity of his adopted county with feelings of pride. He was born in Reed township, Seneca county, O., February 2, 1832, and is a son of Elijah and Delano (Holmes) Smith, .the former being a native of New York and the latter of Maine. The parents were married in Sdpio township, Seneca county, in 1829, the wife dying at the age of nineteen, when Abram was an infant three days old. Elijah Smith remained a resident of Seneca county until 1838, when he removed to Crawford county, and coming to Lucas county in 1847, he located on a farm four miles southwest of Delta. Here he resided until 1870, when he removed to Wauseon and there died two years later, aged sixty-five years. Two children were born to father's first marriage, Abram being the only surviving one. Elijah Smith and second wife were the parents of two children: E, J. Smith, a farmer living on the old homestead, and Mrs. Mary K McComb, of Ogden Center, Mich. Abram Holmes Smith attended the district school until 1849, after which he spent one school-year at the Republic Academy, Seneca county, an institution under the management of Professor Harvey, subsequently Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Ohio. Farming in season and teaching during the winter months constituted the work of Mr. Smith until 1869, when he removed to Wauseon and there engaged in the manufacture of carriages, operating a plant employing from eight to ten mechanic:. As this business venture did not prove profitable he abandoned it and served as an employee of Lyon, Clement & Greenleaf in the milling business for seven years. In November, 1889, he formed a business partnership with W. H. Lambert, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work, and together they purchased the Delta mill of Charles Cullin. In 1900 this plant was destroyed by fire. Since that time a new mill has been erected and incorporated, the capitalization being twenty thousand dollars, of which Smith and Lambert own ninety per cent. The mill has a capacity of seventy-five barrels per day and employs nine persons. In political views Mr. Smith has been a Republican since the organization of the party and he cast his first vote for president for Gen. John C. Fremont. He has held the offices of cleric, trustee and treasurer of York township, derk of Clinton township and of the school-board while a resident of Wauseon. For twenty-one years he served as one of the school examiners of Fulton county. With his wife he is a member of the Congregational church, but as this denomination is not represented at Delta, he worships with the Presbyterian church, being one of the ruling elders. In 1855 he was wedded to Miss Clotilda I. Tremain, a native of Seneca county, who was born in 1835 and came to this locality when one year old. Her father, Warren Tremain, was the first justice of the peace of York township, many years before the organization of Fulton county. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have had four children. They are : Eva A., now Mrs. Bates of Bellview, O; W. L., a merchant of Delta; Delana and Adda having died in infancy.

IRA SMEDES is the owner of one of the fine farm-estates of Amboy township, and is a business man of energy and progressive ideas, liberal in his views and commanding the regard of all who know him. He was bom in what is West Camp, Greene county, N. Y., on the loth of February, 1850, a son of Benjamin I. and Susan (Buckman) . Smedes, both natives of the old Empire State and representatives of pioneer families of that commonwealth. The lineage on the paternal side traces back to the sturdy Holland-Dutch stock, and the original American progenitor was Peter Smedes, grandfather of our subject This worthy ancestor was a native of the dty of Amsterdam, Holland, and was a man of advanced intellectual attainments, having long followed the vocation of school-teaching and having been resident of Greene county, N. Y., for many years, his death there occurring. The maternal grandfather, Ira Buckman, lived for a long period of years near Lockport, K. Y., a carder of wool by vocation. Benjamin I. Smedes came with his family to Fulton county in 1854, purchasing eighty acres of land in Section 15, Amboy township, and developing the same into a rich and productive farm, the property being a portion of the present estate of his son Ira. He was a man of sterling character and much ability, ever commanding the confidence and esteem of the community in which he lived and labored for so many years. He died on the old homestead, November 4, 1904, in his eighty-fifth year, his wife having passed away April 9,

1886, at the age of sixty-three years. They became the parents of three children, one of whom died in early childhood, arid Ira is now the sole survivor. His sister, Priscilla, became the wife of Ahram H. Van Vlierden, and her death occurred in 1901. Ira Smedes was reared to maturity on the present homestead, and while his early educational advantages were only such as were offered in the common schools of the locality, he has ever been a close student of good literature and an intelligent observer of men and affairs, and he is known as one of the bestinformed men in the county, having a fine library of 300 volumes and finding his greatest pleasure in the companionship of his home and his books. In 1871, when twenty-one years of age, he left the parental roof and went to Missouri, where he was employed in railroad work until the spring of 1872, when he returned home. In 1873, however, he again went to Missouri and re-entered railroad work, in the capacity of brakeman, and in January, 1874, he went to Texas, as brakeman on the line of the International and Great Northern railroad. In June of the same year he was promoted to the position of conductor, serving as such until the spring of 1876, passing the ensuing year at his old home, in Fulton county. In the spring of 1877 went to Montana, which was still considered on the frontier of civilization, and there he took up a ranch of 160 acres on the Yellowstone river, within a day's ride of the famous battle-field where the gallant Custer and his men were practically massacred by the Indians. Mr. Smedes remained in Montana five years, within which period he devoted a considerable portion of his time to hunting big game, living a free and untrammeled life and encountering his quota of hardships and dangers. In 1881, in company with T. A. Clark, formerly of Bucyrus, Ohio, he killed 940 buffaloes, forty antelope and twelve deer in one hundred days, the two men skinning the entire number of animals and hauling the hides forty miles to market In 1882 Mr. Smedes returned once more to Fulton county, where he has since been engaged in farming, having had his full quota of more adventurous experiences. He owns his father's old homestead of eighty acres and an adjoining tract of the same area, nearly all being under cultivation and being of superior quality, and the improvements are of excellent type throughout. In politics he is a Republican, taking a deep interest in matters of public import and keeping in close touch .with the issues of the hour. He is affiliated with the following Masonic bodies: Swanton Lodge, No. 555, F. & A. M. ; Lyons Chapter, No. 175, R. A. M. ; Wauseon Council, Na 68, R. & S. M. ; Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; and with Tyenobia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the same city. He is also a member of Metamora Lodge, No. 874, I. O. O. F.; Landers Tent, No. 421, Knights of the Maccabees of the World; and Berry Grange, No. mi, Patrons of Husbandry. He is also a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 588, K. of P. September 30, 1883, Mr. Smedes was united in marriage to Miss Louise Gttgen, daughter of Christian and Barbara (Ries) Ottgen, of Amboy township. They have no children. An incident occurred in Mr. Smede's life, in 1874, while a brakeman on the International and Great Northern R. R., which caused his promotion to conductor. At a siding two oven-topped cars of Texas cattle were ordered by the conductor to be taken into the train. Mr. Smedes objected, claiming they were unsafe. However, his objection was overruled and the cars taken. Soon after starting with them, the train running down grade 50 miles an hour, the cattle broke down one of the doors and before Mr. Smedes could prevent it two steers jumped out. He then fought the cattle back until the next stop and was completely exhausted when relieved. It was a piece of "dare-devil" work that he would not pass through again for all the money you could place before him. Mr. Smedes, at the outbreak of the Cuban war, believing that Colonel Roosevelt's regiment would certainly go to the front, wrote to

Colonel Roosevelt, setting forth the fact that he had put in five years in the saddle on the frontier, and earnestly desired to enlist in his regiment Colonel Roosevelt immediately replied, saying he could not accept his services, as the quota for his regiment was already filled. Mr. Smedes prizes the reply solely because he is the only person in the locality who has a communication signed by the president personally.

ALBERT H. SMITH, a well-known and highly-esteemed member of the agricultural community of Fulton township, was bom on die old homestead, where he now resides, on the 27th of February, 1857, and is a son of Frederick and Margaret (Nort) Smith. The former was bora in Germany in 1821, and was a son of Frederick Smith, Sn, who with his family emigrated to America in 1831, when his son, Frederick Smith, Jr., was a lad, ten years of age. Frederick Smith, Sr., on coming to Ohio, first settled in Tuscarawas county, but later came as a pioneer to Fulton county, where he engaged in fanning and where he spent the remainder of his life, dying at an advanced age on the old homestead, now owned b|$r his grandson, Albert H. Smith. Frederick Smith, Sr.'s wife was also a native of Germany and was about eighty years of age at' die time of her death. Here Frederick Smith, Jr., grew to manhood on the form in Fulton township and followed fanning until 1882, when he and his wife removed to S wanton, where both are happily spending their declining years. They Beaune the parents of five children, namely: George, who is a retired former, residing in Holland, Lucas county; Albert H., who is the immediate subject of this review ; Edward, who is a prosperous former of Fulton township; Charles, who is engaged in the drug business in Swanton, as a member of the firm of Price & Smith ; Margaret, the wife of Edward Ott, of Toledo; and Louis, who died in infancy. Albert H. Smith has passed his entire life on die old homestead form, and his educational advantages were those afforded in the public schools of the locality. He has won success in connection with die great fanning industry, and his place is one of the model farms of die county. He devoted considerable attention to the raising of live-stock of superior grades, and also to dairying, and he is held in high esteem in the community which has represented his home from the time of his both. He is a stanch advocate of the principles of die Democratic party,' and Mrs. Smith and their children are members of the Mtthodist Episcopal church. April 13, 1882, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Delilah Snyder, daughter of Jonas and Susanna (Hostetter) Snyder, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania; where they were married. Shortly afterward they came to Ohio and located in Fulton township, this county, where both died at the age of sixty-two years, Mr. Snyder having been a representative former of die township. Mr. Snyder and wife became the parents of seven daughters, namely: Minerva, who became the wife of

Albert Stillwell, both being now deceased ; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Hiram Toland, of Forest, Hardin county; -Emma, who married Albert Robinson and is now deceased; Alice, who is the wife of Watson Gardanier, of Fulton township; Isabel, who is the wife of

Peter Shaffer, of Amboy township; Delilah, who is the wife of Mr. Smith, of this sketch; and Cora, who is the wife of Manasses Sipe, residing near Manchester, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of four children, of whom three are living. Frederick G., born September i, 1884, is now a teacher in the public schools of S wanton. He was graduated in the high school of that place and later attended the normal schools at Ada, Ohio, and Angola, Ind. He still remains at the parental home when not engaged in the work of his profession. Leo C., born April 18, 1885, left the S wanton high school at the beginning of his senior year and then entered the Davis Business College, in Toledo, where he took a commercial course. He passed the winter of 1904-5 in the far West and is now assisting in the work of the home farm. Hope Isabel, bom September 13, 1892, died at the age of ten years, and Edna Susanna, the youngest of the children, was bom March 17, 1894.

GEORGE W. SMITH, proprietor of the leading meat-market of Metamora, and also a buyer and shipper of live-stock, is an able and popular business man and has passed his entire life in Fulton county, with the exception of about one year. He was bom in Pike township, October 28, 1867, and is a son of Rufus and Elizabeth (Slocum) Smith. The father was born in Northampton, Mass., in 1822, and was for many years engaged in the hotel business in his native State, where his marriage was solemnized, his wife being a native of Washington Co., N. Y. In 1862 they came to Fulton county and located in Pike township, where the father developed a fine farm of fifty acres, upon which he still resides, being held in unqualified esteem in the community. His devoted wife passed away on December 23, 1897. Their children are: Allister, Alice (wife of Henry Gifford), Alfred, Albert, Frank, Charles, Edward, George W. and Sumner. George W. Smith was reared to manhood on the home farm, and to the public schools of his native township he is indebted for his early educational advantages. He remained identified with the work and management of the home farm until 1892, when he located in Amboy township, where he was successfully engaged in fanning and stockgrowing until the autumn of 1903, when he removed to Toledo. In June, 1904, he came to Metamora and purchased the meat-market which he has since successfully conducted, catering to a large and representative trade, and he also does a profitable business in the buying and shipping of stock, especially cattle. In politics his proclivities are indicated by the stanch adherence he accords to the Republican party, and, fraternally, he is affiliated with Lyons Lodge, No. 622, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. October 27, 1892, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Blain, daughter of Marion and Eleanor (Moore) Blain, of Amboy township, and a granddaughter of Charles and Rachel (Bartholomew) Blain, natives respectively of Onondaga and Montgomery counties, N. Y. They came to Fulton county prior to 1845, and the grandfather died in 1902, aged eighty-four years. He reared six sons and three daughters, and four of his sons and two of his sons-in-law were Union soldiers in the

Civil war. The father of Mrs. Smith enlisted in the regular army in 1865, serving three years on the western frontier. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two sons - Dallas, bom August 17, 1893, and Florence, bom November 10, 1897, both attending school.

GILBERT SMITH, a retired farmer and highly; respected citizen of Swanton, is a native of Seneca county, N. Y., where he was born on Tuly 7, 1846. He is a son of Colwell and Jane (Waldem) Smith, both natives of Seneca county. Colwell Smith was a farmer by occupation, having, followed that calling with unusual success for many years. In i860 he removed from New York State to Lenawee county, Mich., where he and his wife continued to reside until his death in April, 1905. He was eighty-six years of age at the time of his death, and his widow is now eighty-three years old, and resides in Senica, Mich. Of the eight children that were bora to this venerable couple all are still living - certainly a happy as well as a remarkable state of affairs. They are: George W., the eldest, express agent at Sterling, 111., who served three years during the Civil war in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York infantry, was wounded at Petersburg, Va., June 16, 1864, and discharged from the service because of that disability; Gilbert, the subject of this sketch; Jones, a laborer, residing near Adrian, Mich.; Thomas, a farmer of Lenawee, Mich.; Howard, of Seneca, Mich.; Coe, a resident of Morenci, Mich.; Jennie, the widow of Frank Van Dom, a resident of Adrian, Mich., and Irvin, who resides at Seneca, Mich. All are married and have families. Gilbert grew to manhood in his native county and received his education by attending the public schools. On December 26, 1863, at the age of a little past seventeen, he enlisted as a private in Company C of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York infantry (the same regiment in which his brother served), and was assigned to duty with the. Second Army Corps in the Army of the Potomac, sharing the honors of that grand old army in the suppression of the Rebellion. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Poe River, Nye River, Spottsylvania, North Ann and Cold Harbor. In the last named engagement he received a wound which not only disabled him from further active service in the army, but has practically unfitted him for the arduous duties of life. The wound was received while making a charge to dislodge the Confederate sharp-shooters, who were concealed in the trees and elsewhere and were harassing the command on the firingline. While the charge was successful, it was made at a fearful cost to the forty brave volunteers who participated in it. A minie-ball entered on the right side of Mr. Smith's body and, striking the fourth rib, passed out on the right side of the spinal column, just "grazing it." The wound was identical with that which cost the life of President Garfield. After being in Stanton Hospital at Washington, D. C., until the fall of 1864, Mr. Smith had recovered sufficiently to enable him to perform light duty, and he was detailed as an orderly in the hospital, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. On June 8, 1865, he received his final discharge. After his return to his parental home in Seneca county, N. Y., he accompanied his parents to Lenawee county, Mich., the following year. After his marriage he came to Swanton and located on a farm half a mile south of the village, where he made his home for twenty-four years. Since December, 1904, he has been a resident of Swanton. Owing to the severity of his wound, he receives a liberal pension from the National government. In politics he is an uncompromising Republican. .The only public office that he has filled is that of assessor of Swan Creek township. He is actively identified with Quiggle Post, No. 289, Grand Army of the Republic, and is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church. On February 19, 1870, he was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Fannie ML Hinkley of Lenawee county, Mich., daughter of Samuel and Sarah Hinkley, natives of Massachusetts. To this union there were born the following children: Herbert L., Floyd D., George W. and Stella. All are married, Stella being the wife of Lloyd Mizer, of Swanton. Mrs. Smith died on September 19, 1901. On December 13, 1902, Mr. Smith was married a second time, the lady of his choice being Miss Myrtle A. Jackson, the daughter of William H. and Harriet R. (Geer) Jackson, formerly of Swan Creek township, but now of Colton, O. William H. Jackson enlisted as an officer in the Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry and served throughout the Civil war. To William ft. Jackson and wife the following children were bom: James E., Myrtle A., Moses W., Chester D., and Susan E. Of these James E. and Susan E. are deceased. Chester D. served in the Spanish-American war, being a member of Company C of the Sixth Ohio volunteer infantry.

HIRAM B. SMITH, a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Swan Creek township, is a native of Milan, Huron county, O., bom February 16, 1862. fte is the son of John and Bertha Jane (Barber) Smith, both natives of the State of New York. Their family consisted of three sons and one daughter, deceased, as follows: William, a resident of Swanton; Alfred, who is on the farm with his brother Hiram; Hiram B., and Susan, who was the wife of Theodore Little of Swanton, where she died, leaving two daughters. Hiram B. Smith accompanied his parents to Fulton county when he was a child of four years. Here he grew to manhood, was educated and has since resided. He began his life career as a farmer, in which he has been more than usually successful. His home farm is one of the bestimproved farms in Fulton county. The buildings are new and modem, including a large double-barn, built in 1901, and capable of holding thirty-five head of stock and sixty tons of hay. It is a handsome structure and modem in all of its appliances. In addition to the home estate and adjoining it Mr. Smith owns a tract of eighty acres of well improved and valuable land. In political views he is a Republican, but in religious matters he is not identified with any religious body. The maiden name of the lady whom he married, on July 24, 1881, was Miss Evlyn Kyper, a daughter of Cyrus and Cynthia M. (Spaulding) Kyper, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Fulton county. Cyrus Kyper removed to Ohio and located in Fulton county in pioneer days. Here, in sight of his daughter's present home, he owned a large tract of land and was quite prosperous in agricultural pursuits. He died at the age of forty-two years, and is survived by his widow who still resides on the old homestead. The family comprises a son and a daughter, the former, William by name, being a teacher at Angola, Ind. To Hiram

C. , principal of the Lyons, O., public schools, who was educated at Delta high-school, Oberlin college and the Angola, Ind., Normal, and married .Miss Chlqe Putnam of Fulton township; Hazel Grace, a young lady at home; Eva Maude, a student of the public schools, and Fred Dana, an infant six months old, the pet of the family. The grand-parents of Mrs. Smith were natives of Maine, Mr. Smith is a genial, companionable gentleman, whose hospitality is unbounded, in which he is joined by his amiable wife. Their beautiful modern home is the central attraction in the community, where it far excels all rivals and evinces the public spirit and progressiveness of the owners.

WALTER SMITH. - The fair land of hills and heather claims this venerable and honored citizen as a native son, and he is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Fulton county and is to-day numbered among the prominent farmers and influential citizens of Royalton township. He was bom in Roxburghshire, Scotland,, on the 26th of May, 1826, and is a son of John and Margaret (Scott) Smith, who immigrated to America in 1842 and who took up their residence in what is now Royalton township, Fulton county, Ohio, in the same year. The old homestead farm is now owned by Adner Frantz and wife. John Smith cleared a portion of his farm and became one of the influential and popular citizens of the county. He died in 1859, at the age of forty-eight years, and his wife passed away some years later. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom accompanied them to America: Betsey became the wife of James Cuthbert, Jane married Alvin Hamlin, James was the next in order of birth, Margaret became the wife of A. M. Williams, and the other children were Catherine, Walter and William S. The subject of this review is now the only survivor. Mr. Smith secured his educational training principally in his native land, and was about sixteen years of age at the time when he came with his parents to Fulton township, and during the long intervening years he has continued to be a resident of Royalton township, honored as a citizen of liberal views and marked public-spirit and as a man of the highest integrity in all the relations of life. He grew to manhood on the home farm and during his entire independent career has continued to be associated with the agricultural interests of the county in whose development and progress he has materially assisted. In 1855 Mr. Smith located on his present farm, which has thus been his home for a half-century, and he has developed the same into one of the finest places in this section. His landed estate comprises two hun- dred acres - eighty acres in Royalton township, eighty in Chesterfield township, and forty acres in Lenawee county, Michigan, the homestead being all in one body, however, the Michigan portion being in the adjoining township of Seneca. Mr. Smith reclaimed this entire farm from the wilds, and in view of the conditions which are in evidence to-day, bespeaking all of thrift and prosperity, he has no reason to feel that he has been denied a due reward for his many years of toil and endeavor. In politics Mr. Smith gives his support to the Democratic party. May 25, 1856, stands as the date of the marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Eleanor H. Smith, daughter of Charles D. and Jane B. (Helmes) Smith, of Royalton township, and they have four children: Edwin J., Charles E., William M. and Walter Scott, all of whom are well established in life, honorable and useful citizens in their respective fields of endeavor. Mrs. Smith's parents were both natives of Orange county, New York, and were numbered among the pioneers of Fulton county, Ohio, having taken up their residence in Royalton township about 1835. The father secured one hundred and twenty acres of government land, reclaiming the same to cultivation, and there he and his wife continued to reside until their death. Of their eight children six attained maturity, namely: Eleanor H., wife of the subject of this sketch; Martin;

Louisa, wife of John Atkinson, of Delta, Ohio; Lotan, a resident of Royalton township; Margaret, wife of Dr. Selah W. Moulton; and Charles B., a resident of Royalton township.

JONATHAN SNELLBAKER, who is now living practically retired in his attractive little county home, in Swan Creek township, is a member of one of the pioneer families of Ohio, and it was his to render valiant service in defense of the Union during the War of the Rebellion, so that he has upheld the honors of the family name in the annals of the State. The original progenitors of the Snellbaker family came from Holland and settled in Pennsylvania, in the Colonial era, and from that State representatives came to Ohio in an early day. John Snellbaker, a great-uncle of the subject of this review, was one of the early mayors of the city of Cincinnati, in which city his son became chief of police, about a quarter of a century ago, having been killed while in office. Jonathan Snellbaker was born near Boliver, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, August 13, 1842, and is a son of Jacob and Christina (Hess) Snellbaker, the former of whom was born in Tuscarawas county and) the latter in what is now Morrow county. From the latter county they removed to Hancock county about sixty years ago, and in 1863 they came to Fulton county. The father bought a farm two and one-half miles east of Delta, but in 1865 he took up his residence in Wauseon, later removing to the little village of Westbar, where both he and his wife died, the former at the age of seventy-nine and the latter at the age of sixtytwo years. Jacob Snellbaker learned the cooper trade in early life and followed the same as a vocation for a time, but the greater* portion of his active career was given to agricultural pursuits. Of the six children in the family all are living except the elaest, EK, Who died in March, 1899, in JFulton county, where he had resided for more than forty years; Sarah Ann, widow of Henry Snyder, resides at Sand Lake, Mich.; Jonathan was the next in order of birth; Martin is proprietor of the Lincoln hotel in Delta, this county; John, when last heard from by his Ohio relatives, was in the employ of the Clover Leaf railroad, at Warren, Ind.; and Kate is the wife of a Mr. Bostwick, residing in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Jonathan Snellbaker was reared on the homestead farm, fourteen miles west of Findlay, Hancock county, secured his early education in the common-schools of that locality, and it may be said that he has ever found the great basic industry of agriculture his field of labor, and through the same he has gained a competency. In 1862 he subordinated all personal interests to go forth as a Union soldier, enlisting as a private in Company C, Eighty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and with which he served four months, having enlisted for a term of one hundred days. He received his honorable discharge and returned home, but on the 22d of February, 1864, when the integrity of the Union still hung in the balance, he enlisted as a member of Company G, Tenth Ohio Cavalry, with which he continued in service until the close of the war, receiving his honorable discharge, at Lexington, N. C., on the 27th of Tuly, 1865. He was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and in the memorable "march to the sea," having been continuously on the march from die 14th of November, 1864, until the 5th of the following April, when the command reached Mount Oliye, N. C., .when they started in pursuit of Johnston, being at Greensboro, N. C., at the time of that famous general's surrender, and they there learned of the surrender of General Lee's army, in Virginia. The Tenth Ohio Cavalry is on official record as having done about the last fighting of the Civil war. Mr. Snellbaker escaped wounds, but was injured in line of duty, in recognition of which fact lie was granted a pension about twenty years ago. On the, 15th of September, 1862, he was captured at Harper's Ferry, but was soon paroled. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Snellbaker located on a farm, which he still owns, one and one-half miles west of his present home, and there he continued to. be actively engaged in general farming until 1892, when he purchased ten acres of land where he now lives, here erecting an attractive modern residence and other good buddings, and in this pleasant home he has since live practically retired. His other place comprises forty acres of excellent forming land, wellimproved and under a high state of cultivation. Politically, Mr. Snellbaker is a stanch Republican, and, fraternally he is a popular comrade* of Quiggle Post, No. 289, Grand Army of the Republic, at Swanton. Both of his sons are members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On the 23d of February, 1864, the day after his second enlistment, Mr. Snellbaker was united in marriage .to Miss Nancv Snider, who was. born arid reared in Hancock county, and they have six children: Herma is the wife of Daniel Moughler and they reside on the previously-mentioned farpi of her father, west of his present home; Miriam resides in the city of Qeveland; Park is a farmer of Swan Creek township and resides in the village of Swanton; Dency is the wife of Frank Potts, of Cleveland; Frank is a telegraph operator and railroad employe at Garrett, Ind.; and Nora is the wife of Peter Grube, a farmer near Butler, Ind.

HENRY B. SNYDER, head of the well known Snyder Grocery Company, of Delta, is a native of Hancock county, Ohio, having been born there on September 6, 1855. He is the son of David and Sophia (Gasman) Snyder, who came to Fulton county in 1861 and are now residents of Delta. David Snyder was born in Bolivar, Ohio, and was during his productive years a farmer by occupation. He and his wife, a native of Maryland, are both advanced in years. They are the parents of nine children, only five of whom are now living. Their names are: Henry B.; Ella, now Mrs. Rowan of Denver, Colo.;

David and Emerson, both of* the Snyder Grocery Company; Mary, still at home: Drusilla (deceased), Samuel (deceased), Elmer (deceased), and Dora (deceased). Of the deceased the first three died at the threshhold of mature life and the fourth at the age of three years. Henry B. Snyder was educated in the public schools of Hancock and Fulton counties, but a large share of his business qualifications was acquired in the school of "experience." He grew to manhood on his father's farm and began his commercial career as a clerk in a dry-goods store, after which for a number of years he was engaged in various commercial ventures which finally culminated in the establishing of the Snyder Grocery Company, with his brother Emerson and his son Frank as partners. This business is one of the largest and best-managed in Delta and enjoys a liberal patronage. Henry B. Snyder is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the order of Knights of Pythias. In political affiliations he is a Republican and wields a potent influence locally in the counsels of the party. Though in no sense an office-seeker, he has held various offices within the corporation and is at present a member of the village council. On January 21, 1879, he was wedded to Miss Nora A. Fishbaugh, a sister of a former partner in the marble and granite business. Three children have been born to these parents. They are : Frank A., Clarence H., and Pearl E., the latter being the wife of Charles Longnecker, owner of the Delta electric light plant. The children have all enjoyed excellent educational advantages and are well known and popular.

JOHN A. SPAULDING, a representative farmer and stock-growei of Fulton township, was born on the fine farmstead which he now owns and operates, one mile west of the village of Swanton, on the 20th of October, 1869, and this old homestead was likewise the birthplace of his father, Dexter Spaulding, who died in 1873, at the age of thirty-three years. Dexter Spaulding married Miss Minnie Cowls, who was born in Lorain county, this State, and who still resides on the old home place. She is now the wife of George Hollis, John A. Spaulding having been the only child of her first marriage, and she has^one son, Otis, by her marriage to Mr. Hollis. John A.

Spaulding was reared on the farm and secured his educational discipline in the public-schools of this locality. He inherited one hundred and sixty-six acres, to which he has since added a one-half interest in 160 acres in Monclova township, and he is also known as one of the most progressive farmers and stock-raisers of Fulton county. A considerable portion of the land which he has thus accumulated has been or is covered with good timber, and for the past five years he has devoted special attention to cutting off the timber and manufacturing the same into lumber and railroad ties, which he has handled upon a somewhat extensive scale, particularly in the handling of railroad ties. His farm lands are given over principally to the raising of the various cereals best adapted to the soil and climate of this section. For the past year he has been carrying through 3. contract in the removing of rock from the bed of ten-mile creek, this work bein^ done for the purpose of opening an adequate waterway. In politics Mr. Spaulding is a Republican, and fraternally he is identified with Swanton Lodge, No. 588, Knights pf Pythias, with the uniform rank of the same, and his religious views are in harmony with the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church, which he and his family attend. On the nth of February, 1887, Mr. Spaulding was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Hepfinger, of Fulton township, who was born and reared in this county, being a daughter of Jacob and Margaret Hepfinger, both of whom were born in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding have five children, namely: Viva, Lena, Margaret, Dexter and Minnie. Reverting to the genealogy of the subject of this review, it may be said that the Spaulding family was founded in New England in the Colonial era, and from the State of Maine, in 1829, Africa Spaulding, father of Dexter S., came to Fulton county, locating in the midst of the forest, on a portion of the homestead farm now owned by his grandson, and he was one of the earliest settlers and most influential pioneers of this section. He was one of the organizers of Fulton county, and was for a number of years engaged in the fur-trade with the Indians, having been very successful in his business operations, which included extensive real-estate transactions, as the early records of the county clearly indicate. He was well-known through Northwestern Ohio and lived to the age of four score years. His son, Dexter, was likewise prominently identified with the civic and material progress of this locality, but his life was cut short in the very prime of his manhood. The Cowls famiiy originally came from the Isle of Man, John Cowles, grandfather of Mr. Spaulding, having come to America in 1850, and having previously followed a sea-faring life. He was a soldier in the Union ranks during the entire progress of the Civil war, and he passed the closing years of his life in Fulton township, being about forty years of age at the time of his death, leaving a wife and four children: Minnie, Rosa, Lillie and John. Two died in infancy, Minnie and Lillie still living. His wife lived until March 7, 1905, her age being seventy-four years.

JOHN W. ROSEBOROUGH, a prominent lawyer and an exemplary citizen of Elmira, was born on a farm about one mile east of the present site of West Salem, Wayne county, Ohio, on July 3, 1829. This farm was formerly owned by Samuel Hartman, but is now the property of John Repp. Mr. Roseborough is the son of John and Jane (Ewing) Roseborough. His paternal grandparents were William and Susannah (Johnson) Roseborough, the former born in the northern part of Ireland, about 1760, and the latter in Pennsylvania, about 1770. On the maternal side his grandparents were Samuel and Jean (Neal) Ewing, the former a native of Scotland. Jean Neal was the daughter of John and Susie (Sharp) Neal. John Neal having been killed in the Revolutionary war, his widow, a woman of fearless disposition and untiring zeal and industry, conducted the home farm with unusual success and reared her large family in the most satisfactory manner. William Ewing, a son of Samuel and Jean Ewing, and grandfather of John W. Roseborough, was born in Sherman Valley, Pa., November 7, 1775. He married Miss Agnes White, the daughter of James and Judith (Bird) White, and the aunt of the late Samuel White of Bryan. She was bom in Sherman Valley, Pa., December 8, 1775. John W. Roseborough was reared in his native township and was educated in the common schools of the day. On February 4, 1838, his father died, leaving the mother with five children, four sons and one daughter. TTie eldest son having died before his father, John W., then in his ninth year, was the eldest of the living children. In June, 1846, he began to work at the blacksmith trade with Samuel Caskey, on the Cleveland pike, six miles north of Wooster, at which trade he worked until January 1, 1848, stopping during the three, winter months to attend school. After working one month as journeyman in the spring of 1848, he quit the trade and entered school at Mechanicsburg, Fulton county. This summer school was conducted by William C. Downing, a medical student, six feet and four inches tall, and a man of superior ability as a teacher. Here he first began to study English grammar and geography, using Kirkham's grammar and Ofney's geography as text books. Having secured a teacher's certificate he taught the Felger district, Chester township, during the winter of 1848-49, the term consisting of four months of twenty-four days each. By way of compensation he "boarded around" and received twelve dollars per month. Some of the pupils who attended that school, fifty-two. years ago, now live in and near West Unity. The following summer he attended for five months the Vermillion institute at Hayesville, where he studied algebra and philosophy in addition to the common branches, and then taught the New Pittsburg village school. He next attended school at the academy in Wooster, where the Hon. John Brinkerhoff, the noted civil engineer and mathematician, was one of the professors. This distinguished man died at Wooster, in December, 1900, aged eighty-seven years. Here Mr. Roseborough first studied latin and .geometry. After teaching one term m Fraidchn township he again became a student of this school. His next school was forP a term of six months near Mt Hope, Holmes county. After his marriage to Miss Rebecca C. McCullough, one of his former pupils, he settled in Stark county, where he taught several terms of ^^ iiear Canton. In .1853 he began the study of law under Hon. Alexander Bierce, a learned and able attorney of Canton, and on May 21, 1855, he was admitted to the bar as a legal practitioner. The removed to Fulton county, where he has since resided. By his wife, who died February 5, 1872, he had twelve children, four sons and eight daughters, all of whom, except three daughters, are now dead^Demosthenes H., the eldest son, was killed by a horse on July 4.1866. when twelve years old. Cicero E. G., a college graduate and a brilliant young lawyer, had just located at Wauseon, when he was stricken down* by consumption. , John G. W., a promising student, ^ed of the same disease at the age of twenty-two years, and William C. S., aged twenty years, and excellent teacher and popular clerk, was the third Zn to succumb to that insidious disease. The three sons were devoted Christians and ardent Prohibitionists, Cicero having served two years assuoerintendent of the Methodist Sabbath School. One daughter, JennTwas poisoned by her husband, E. S. Btydenburg, on May 24, Ji^3 at Eld6ra, la., and died five days later. The trial resulted n toe conviction of the accused, who is now serving a llfe'se"*!!?^Vnd^5 su.e Prison twicerielected. His administration was noted for the ful and successful enforcement of the liquor laws. Up to 1854 he acted -.1 . Tvmocratic party, but owing to its pro-slavery leaning he rejudgft three tmws for ^ounerf in his mittee that built the present fine new church edifice, receiving liberal aid from the wide-awake woman's society. For fifty years he has corresponded freely for the newspapers, writing on moral, social, religious, educational and political topics. After the death of his first wife, in 1877, he married Miss Mary C. Stuller, of Edon, Ohio, with whom he still lives at Elmira. When eighteen years old he was menaced with lung trouble and at once determined to resist the progress of the disease by all the means in his power. By a life-long practice of walking and standing erect and by regular and persistent lung expansion he has cured himself effectively of that dread destroyer, consumption. He is now in the enjoyment of excellent health, and, excepting mere office-work, has practically retired from law practice.

FRANK SPENCER, one of the representative farmers and popular citizens of York township, is a scion of one of the pioneer families of Fulton county, his grandfather, Rev. Uriah Spencer, having come from the State of New York and located in York township, this county, in 1835. He was a man of marked intellectual attainments, and was a zealous member of the clergy of the Methodist Episcopal church, though he followed various other vocations in the pioneer community, including that of farming. He wielded much influence in public affairs in the early days, and he served as auditor of Fulton county and in other positions of trust. He was twice married and became the father of several children, all of whom are now deceased except Martha and Emma, the former being a resident of California and the latter of Michigan. William Spencer, son of Rev. Uriah Spencer, was born near Canandaigua, Ontario county. New York, and was reared to maturity in the old Empire State, where he received a common-school education and where he was engaged in farming and teaming prior to his immigration to the wilds of Fulton county, Ohio, whither he accompanied his honored father. In 1837 he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Donaldson, daughter of James Donaldson, another of the sterling pioneers of York township and a veteran of the War of 1812. Mrs. Spencer taught the first term of school in York township, this being after her marriage, in her own house. William Spencer became a prosperous farmer and highly-honored citizen of York township, where he continued to reside until his de<fth, which occurred in 1889, and his cherished and devoted wife wa$ summoned to the life eternal in 1891, both having been consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They became the parents of eleven children: Ellen, who remains on the old homestead; George, who is deceased; Jane, who likewise remains on the old homestead, she and her elder sister never having married; Wilson, who is a resident of Bowling Green, Ohio; Ann, who is deceased; Marion, who died in childhood; James, who is a farmer of York township; Andrew, Alice and Mary, who are deceased; and Frank, who is the youngest of the family. Frank W. Spencer was born on the old homestead farm, in York township, on the 23d of June, 1861, and here he has ever since continued to reside, being now the owner of a fine farm of eighty acres. He secured his education in the public schools of his native township, has been identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present, and he has well upheld the honors of the name which he bears. He exercises his franchise in support of the principles and policies of the Republican party. In 1894 was solemnized the marriage of Frank Spencer to Miss Armena Fowler, daughter of William Fowler, another of the pioneer settlers of York township. No children have been born of this union.

SYLVESTER I.' SPRING represents a family which was founded in Fulton county more than a half-century ago; it was his to render valiant service as one of the Fulton county men who went forth in defense of the Union when rebellion threatened its integrity; and he is now one of the prominent and influential farmers of Dover township, being also a valued member of the board of directors of the county infirmary. Mr. Spring was born in Portage county, Ohio, August 9, 1840, and is a son of Milton and Eunice A. (Hall) Spring. His father was bom in the State of Massachusetts, June 9, 1806, and at the age of twenty-one years he came to Ohio, locating in Portage county, where, on the 5th of November, 1834, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eunice Au Hall, who was born in that county, on the 19th of March, 1810, her parents having located in that county at a tin** when the white families within its borders did not number more than seven. In 1854 Milton Spring came with his family to Fult6n county, locating in the village of Tedrow, where he followed the carpenter trade during the remainder of his active career, and at/ one time he was a member of the State militia. Both* he and his wife wen* very earnest and active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, which had only five members in Tedrow at the time when thev located there, and they assisted in building tma numerous' and pro^perou^congr^ation, with the settling and development of the town and sifrrounding country. Milton Spring died, June 23, 1888, at the age of eighty-two years, and his father lived to the venerable age of ninety-five years, longevity being characteristic of the family. Mrs. Eunice A. (Hall) Spring was summoned to the eternal life on the 24th of September, 1864. Of the five children in the family the following is a brief record: Sarah E., born July 31, 1835, died April 28, 1859; Ellen "M., bom November 26,* 1836, is the wife of Barney

H. Anderson, of Spring Hill, this county; Sylvester I. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Cornelius M., born December 13, 1842, is a resident of Wauseon ; and Nial C.,' bom March 28, 1847, resides in Tedrow. Sylvester I. Spring passed his boyhood days in the little village of Tedrow, receiving such advantages as were afforded in the local schools, and being employed at farming and carpentry until the time of the Civil war. August 7, 1862, he enlisted in Company

I, Sixty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, which was assigned to duty in the campaigning about the city of Norfolk, Va*. His command took part in a number of spirited engagements, including numerous skirmishes. The first sjrirmish was at Blackwater, Va., and the regi- ment thereafter was in service at Newbern, N. C. ; Hiltonhead, S. C. ; St. Helena island and Folly island, which last was captured; and then the regiment assisted in the taking of Morris island, in which locality they remained nearly all summer, and in the autumn of 1863 they assisted in an attack on Fort Wagner and in the siege of Fort Sumter. After a furlough of thirty days, which he passed at home, Mr. Spring returned to Virginia, taking part in the engagement of Bermuda Hundreds, and being in sight of General Lee's command at the time of his surrender. Mr. Spring was always found at the post of duty, and his military record is without blemish. He received his honorable discharge on the 3d of July, 1865. He then returned to his home in Fulton county, and in 1866 he rented a farm in the eastern part of the county, where he remained until 1869, when he purchased forty acres near Tedrow, where he was actively engaged in farming until 1882, when he sold the property and purchased his present welfimproved homestead, which was practically in its primitive condition when he secured the same. Much of the land was still covered with timber and underbrush, and the buildings consisted of a log house and a barn of the same order. He has brought the farm, which comprises ninety-five acres, under effective cultivation, and the attractive residence, large, modern barn, good fences, and well-tilled fields all bespeak good management and unequivocal thrift and prosperity. Mr. and Mrs. Spring are prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Ottokee, in which he is class leader and trustee and also assistant superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Patrons of Husbandry, and his political allegiance is given to the Republican party. He has been a member of the school board for twenty years, served a number of years as road-supervisor, and one term as trustee of Dover township, and he is now serving his second term as infirmarydirector. March 13, 1864, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Spring to Miss Ruby S. Godden, who was born in Tenterden, Kent county, England, on the 16th of January, 1842, being a daughter of William and Mary (Bennett) Godden, who came to America in 1850, remaining for a time in Syracuse, N. Y., and then coming to Cleveland, Ohio, where they remained two years, then passing two years in Medina county, and in 1854 they came to Fulton county. William Godden was born, September 10, 1820, and he followed the tanning business until he came to Fulton county, where he engaged in farming. He died on his farm, near Delta, this county, October 12, 1902. His wife, who was born November 27, 1820, died February 20, 1897. They became the parents of five sons and seven daughters, and of the number six are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Spring became the parents of nine children: Watson F., born July 28, 1866, married Nellie Sprague and is a farmer of this county; William Milton, born February 16, 1868, died July 7, 1891; Walter O. was born August 14, 1869; Mary E., July 26, 1871; Flora A., March 18, 1873; Dora E., July 29, 1875; Virgil S., August 25, 1877; James Garfield, January 29, 1880; and Cornelius S., February 28, 1883.

JOHN STAIR, one of the honored pioneer citizens and representative farmers of Amboy township, was born in Richland county, Ohio, June i, 1832, a son of William and Sarah (Miller) Stair. The father was born and reared in Pennsylvania and in the pioneer days came to Ohio and settled in Richland county, and in 1836 he located in what is now Fulton township, Fulton county, this section being then practically an unbroken forest wilderness. He secured one hundred and twenty acres of government land and in course of time, through herculean labor, he developed a good farm, finding its cultivation a source of adequate income. Both he and his wife died on the homestead, arid their names merit a high place on the roll of the sterling pioneers of the county. They became the parents of four children: Josiah (deceased), was a resident of Fulton township; Melinda is the wife of Joel Witt; Elizabeth is the wife of Daniel Kline; and John is the immediate subject of this sketch. John Stair was reared under the influences and labors of the pioneer era in this locality, and his youthful days were filled with "ceaseless toil and endeavor," and such were the exigencies of time and place that his educational advantages were very limited in scope. He was one of the valiant sons of the Buckeye State who went forth in defense of the Union when its integrity was menaced by armed rebellion. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company H, One Hundredth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he proceeded to the front, ever ready to discharge the duties which were assigned to him. At Limestone, Tenn., he was captured by the enemy, on the 8th of September, 1863, and was taken to the historic Libby prison, in Richmond, Va., being shortly afterward transferred to Belle Isle, from which place he received his parole, on the 13th of March, 1864. He rejoined his regiment in the following September, having been confined in the hospital at Camp Chase, in Columbus, Ohio, for some time after his release from the Confederate prison, and in the battle of Franklin, Tenn., it was his misfortune again to fall into the hands of the enemy. He was taken to Columbia, that state, and thence sent to Andersonville prison, where he was held in duress more than five months, his release coming only when the war ended and victory crowned the Union arms. He received his honorable discharge, in the capital city of his native State, in June 1865. After the war Mr. Stair returned to Fulton county, being engaged in farming in Fulton township during the greater portion of the interim until 1879, when he located on his present farm, in Amboy township, where he has been successful in his agricultural and stock-growing enterprise, being one of the honored citizens of this community and county. He is a Republican in politics. In i86r Mr. Stair was married to Miss Cevillia Wicks, daughter of Daniel and Harriett Wicks, of Lucas county, and they have two children: Emeletta, who is the wife of Thomas Livingston; and Mary E., who is the wife of Hudson Treadway.

art of agriculture, which represented his vocation throughout life, and the old homestead farm is still in the possession of his widow, the same being located in Fulton township and being one of the valuable farms of the county. Mr. Stair was born in Franklin county, Pa., December 17, 1823, and was a son of William and Sarah (Miller) Stair, both of whom were likewise natives of the old Keystone State, the former having been born August 17, 1800, and the latter December 26, 1793, and both passed the closing years of their lives in Fulton county, the death of the father occurring January 9, 1848, and that of the mother on the 15th of September, 1850. They came to Ohio and located in Fulton county in 1835, having been numbered among the earliest settlers in Fulton township, having located on the farm now owned by Mrs. Josiah Stair, widow of the subject of this memoir. Josiah Stair was about twelve years of age at the time of the family removal from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and he was reared to manhood on the homestead farm of which he eventually became the owner and upon which he was residing at the time of his death. He continued to maintain his home consecutively in Fulton county during the long intervening years, save for a period of three and one-half years passed in California, whither he went i,n 1852, at the time when the memorable gold excitement was at its height. On the 30th of March, 1848, Mr. Stair was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Witt, who was born in Springfield, Hamilton county, Ohio, being a daughter of John and Ann (Heller) Witt, who came to Fulton county in 1844, and were numbered among the pioneers of Fulton township, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Further reference to the family is made elsewhere in this work, in the sketch of Mrs. Clarissa A. Witt, widow of Horatio Witt, who was a brother of Mrs. Stair. In the autumn of 1848 Mr. and Mrs. Stair located on the homestead farm where the latter now resides, the place being at that time still the property of Mr. Stair's father. Josiah was the eldest of five children, the others being: Mary Belinda, born March 15, 1825; Ann Elizabeth, born October 19, 1826; Margaret, born February 4, 1829; and John, born June 1, 1832. The last named is the only one of the number now living, and he is a well-known farmer of Amboy township, this county. Josiah Stair gave his attention to the reclamation and improvement of the farm of one hundred and twenty acres, of which he eventually became the owner, and he was known as one of the reliable, energetic and progressive farmers of the county, upright and honorable in all the relations of life and commanding the uniform confidence and esteem of the community which was his home during practically his entire adult life. In his death, which occurred on the 8th of February, 1897, the county lost one of its honored pioneer citizens, and in the immediate community his death was felt as a personal bereavement. In politics Mr. Stair was a stanch Republican, and he served in various local offices, including that of township trustee. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Stair has continued to reside on the old homestead, which is endeared to her through long association, and the farm is under the management of her foster son, Jonas Wicks, concerning whom in- dividual mention is made in the article following. For nearly twenty years Mrs. Stair's eye-sight has been affected, and during the last decade the affliction has become so definite that she has been able only to distinguish between daylight and darkness. Notwithstanding this infirmity, she shows her intrinsic power of character by bearing the affliction with equanimity and patience, not permitting it to dampen her genial and gracious temperament, being exceptionally genial and companionable, and her life is brightened by pleasant home environments and by the loyal devotion of a wide circle of appreciative friends. She is far from being helpless, her general health being excellent, and she is able to perform many of the customary household duties with as great facility as one not afflicted with blindness, idleness , and supine ease having no place in her composition. She is fortunate in having the true filial devotion of her foster-son and his wife, Mr. Wicks having passed practically his entire life in the Stair home, as will be noted in the following sketch. Mr. and Mrs. Stair had no children of their own.

JONAS WICKS, one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township, where he has for many years resided upon and had the management of the Josiah Stair homestead, besides owning an excellent little farm of his own, is a veteran of the Civil war, in which connection he showed the same determinate loyalty and fidelity that have characterized his course in all the other relations of his life. He was born in Wayne township, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 8th of February, 1844, and is a son of Daniel and Harriet (Farner) Wicks, both natives of Pennsylvania, where the former was born, May 24, 1810, and he died in 1879. The wife was born September 14, 1819, in Somerset county, Pa., and she died, in Fulton county, Ohio, on the 5th of March, 1897, having been resident of Lucas county at the time of her husband's death many years previously. They settled in Fulton county about 1852, and were residents later of Lucas county, the father having been a farmer by vocation. Following is a brief record concerning their children : Cevillia, wife of John Stair, was born April 25, 1842, and they reside in Fulton township; Elizabeth, born August 25, 1845, 1S the wife of George Surbeck, and they reside in Kansas; Christopher, born September 3, 1847, 1S a resident of Lucas county, where he and those previously mentioned were bom, the other children being natives of Fulton county; Esther, born June 8, 1849, 's the wife of Pari Houser, of Lucas county; Lucy, born June 20, 1852, is the wife of Dr. Hale, and they reside in Wayne county; John Emerson and Emma, twins, were born May 8, 1854, the former being now a resident of Swanton, Fulton county, and the latter is the wife of George Higgins, of Bryan, Williams county; Sarah, wife of Enoch Huftile, died in Swanton, at the age of seventy years, having been the oldest in order of birth, and Jonas, subject of this sketch, was the third child. Jonas Wicks was reared to manhood in Lucas county, receiving a good common-school education and early becoming inured to the sturdy duties of farm work. August 7, 1862, he manifested his intrinsic loyalty to the Union by enlisting as a private in Company H, One Hundredth Ohio volunteer infantry, which was assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps of the Western Army, and he continued in active service until the close of the war, participating in the various engagements and manouvers in which his command was concerned and receiving his honorable discharge at Greensboro, North Carolina, on the 20th of June, 1865. He was with Sherman on the ever memorable march from Atlanta to the sea, and his command returned into North Carolina to intercept Hood. Mr. Wicks received a slight wound in the head and incurred physical disabilities which have well entitled him to the pension which he receives from an appreciative government. After the war Mr. Wicks returned to Ohio and on the 1st of April, 1867, he entered the employ of the late Josiah Stair, and he has ever since resided on the old Stair homestead, employed in various capacities, and having been for a number of years manager of the farm. Mrs. Stair always considers him "her boy/' and ties of deep affection have bound him to both Mr! and Mrs. Stair during an intimate association of nearly two score years, Mrs. Stair maintaining that in all this period no unpleasant word has ever passed between them, and mutual sympathy and helpfulness have ever been in evidence. In politics Mr. Wicks has been a stalwart Republican from the time of attaining his legal majority, though he was reared in the Democratic faith. He is affiliated with Swanton Lodge, No. 528, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Fulton Encampment, No. 197, of the same order, in Delta, having passed the official chairs in both bodies, and he is also an appreciative member of Quiggle Post, No. 289, Grand Army of the Republic, in Swanton. He owns a small and well improved /arm in Fulton township and a good residence property in the village of Swanton, but practically his entire mature life since the war has been passed on the Stair farm, which he manages with consummate ability and discrimination. April 28, 1889, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Wicks to Miss Catherine Murbach, who was born in Lucas county, Ohio, being a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rudy) Murbach and a sister of Caspar and Jacob R. Murbach, both of whom are individually mentioned in this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Wicks became the parents of three children, all of whom died in infancy.

RIAL CLARK STANDISH, a representative' farmer and honored citizen of Royalton township, is a representative of one of the old and prominent families of Fulton county, where he has passed his entire life and where he has been continuously identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present. He comes of historic old Puritan stock, as is evident when it is stated that he is of the seventh generation in line of direct descent from Miles Standish, the historic pilgrim who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, on the first trip of the good ship Mayflower, and one whose life is so beautifully depicted in the poem of the gentle New England bard, Longfellow. . Rial G Standish was bom on the old Standish homestead, in Royalton township, this county, on the 23d of March, 1862, being a son of Clark and Harriet (Smith) Standish. Detailed record con- cerning the family is given in the sketch of William H. Standish, appearing immediately subsequent to this one, so that it is not necessary to canvass the data again for the present article. Mr. Standish was reared to manhood on the home farm, and was afforded such advantages as were to be had in the public schools of the locality. He has never severed his allegiance to the great basic industry of agriculture, and his thorough familiarity with all details of farm work, as well as with the local conditions of soil and climtae, has been so supplemented by energy and good judgment that he has been most successful in his independent operations, being the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and ninety acres, in Sections 18 and 19, Royalton township, and forty acres of the same was a part of the bid homestead on which he was bom. In politics Mr. Standish is an uncompromising Republican, taking an intelligent interest in public 'affairs, particularly those of a local nature, but having no ambition for public office. He and his wife are members of the Universalist church at Lyons, Ohio. September 10, 1884, Mr. Standish was united in marriage to Miss Adeline Ross, daughter of Edward and Betsey (Disbrow) Ross, of Chesterfield township, and they have five children: Clark E., Austin C., Louis C., Donald M. and Mabel V.

WILLIAM HENRY STANDISH is one of the leading agriculturists and stock-growers of Fulton county, being proprietor of the Royalton Stock Farm, at Lyons, and his lineage is of distinguished order, bespeaking the deepest Americanism, since he is in the eighth generation of direct descent from Miles Standish, the Puritan, who came over in the historic Mayflower, in 1620, landing at Plymouth Rock, and whose namd figures so prominently and pleasingly in the annals of Massachusetts and in the idyllic poem of the illustrious New England bard, Longfellow. William Henry Standish was bom in Royalton township, this county, May 17, 1864, and is a son of Clark and Harriet (Smith) Standish. The father was bom in Sempronius, Cayuga county, N. Y., December 22, 1826, being a son of Rial Standish, who came with his family to Ohio in 1831, locating in Huron county, where Clark Standish was reared to manhood. April 14, 1850, Clark Standish married Harriet Smith, of that county, and shortly afterward they came to Fulton county and took up their abode in Royalton township, making the trip to this county with an ox-team. Clark Standish took up a tract of government land in Section 18, the same being covered with* a dense growth of timber, and with the passing of years this place was developed into a productive and well-improved farm. He retained his residence on the homestead until the spring of 1889, when he removed to the city of Wauseon, where he lived retired until his death, December 18, 1898, at the age of seventy-two years. His first wife, Harriet (Smith) Standish, died on October 4th, 1873, and of their eight children seven are living: Phoebe is the wife of Orin Ranger, of Carson City, Mich.; Viola is the widow of Andrew Disbrow and resides in Lyons, Ohio; Miles P. remains a resident of Royalton township; Charlotte is the wife of Frank A. Cambum, of Royalton township; Rial C. is men- tioned in the preceding memoir: William H. is the immediate subject of this review; and Orin C. resides in Wauseon. For his second wife Clark Standish married Minerva A. Camburn, who survives him, as does also their adopted daughter, whose maiden name was Anna Wheeler and who is now the wife of Frederick Bredee, of Grand Rapids, Mich. Mr. Standish was a man of distinct individuality and great strength of character, unbending in his integrity and direct and unyielding in his views, but animated by a strong sense of justice, so that he ever commanded respect and confidence, though somewhat reserved in nature. He reared a large family of children, giving them good advantages, and acquired a competency through earnest and well-directed personal effort. He was an uncompromising foe of the liquor traffic, never having tasted intoxicating liquors, and in this respect his four sons have followed his worthy example. His religious faith was that of the Universalist church. The fine farmstead now owned by his son, William H., subject of this sketch, was the one on which he settled when he first came to the county. After reclaiming a portion of this place he sold it to his brother andi purchased a farm adjoining on the south, clearing and developing the latter with the aid of his sons and there remaining until his removal to Wauseon, as already noted. William H. Standish has resided in Royalton township from the time of his birth to the present, has always been identified with agricultural pursuits, and his educational advantages in youth were those of the public schools of the locality. His farm is finely improved and practically the entire area is available for cultivation, but for the past fifteen years he has utilized the place more particularly for the breeding of fine Holstein cattle, his stock being registered and of the highest type, and he has been particularly successful in this branch of his farm enterprise and has done much to advance stock interests in this section of the State, being one of the representative breeders of the Holstein cattle in Northern Ohio, and he has exhibited his stock at state and county fairs in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, and at the present time he has, undoubtedly, as fine a herd of Holsteins as can be found within the border of the Buckeye State. He came into possession of the old homestead, of ninety acres, in 1894, and most of the improvements of permanent order were made by him, including a large and substantial barn which, in design, equipment and facilities is unexcelled by any in the township. The attractive and commodious residence was erected prior to his coming into possession of the farm. Mr. Standish is recognized as one of the most progressive farmers and stock-growers of the county, being a man of fine business talent and a citizen of utmost loyalty and public spirit. He and his wife are members of the' Universalist church, and in a fraternal way he is identified with the Knights of the Maccabees. In politics he is a stanch Republican, he served two terms as trustee of Koyalton township, and his name has also become prominent in nominating conventions in connection with candidacy for important county offices. He is not, however, a "practical politician,99 and has never offered subsidies for the sake of securing official preferment. He is a valued and active member of the Fulton

County Agricultural Society, with which he has been identified for the past decade. July 12, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Standish to Miss Caroline A. Campbell, daughter of George \Y. and Flore A. (Van Dorn) Campbell, the former of whom is deceased, and the mother is now the wife of Dr. J. H. Waddell, of Wauseon, where she herself is engaged in the practice of medicine. Mr. and Mrs. Standish have one son, George W.

JACOB GOTTLIEB STIRIZ, one of the sterling pioneer citizens of York township, is a native of Germany and possesses those characteristics which have made the true German type so valuable an element in the complex make-up of our republic. He was bom in Lauffen-on-Neckar, Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 20th of April, 1849, and is a son of Jacob Gottfried Stiriz and Elizabeth (Rueckle) Stiriz, both of whom were likewise native of the kingdom of Wurtemburg. In 1852 they left the fatherland and immigrated to America, being accompanied by their two children, the elder of whom, Christina, is now the wife of Jacob Krauss, of Pettisville, Fulton county, where her husband is engaged in the mercantile business and is also postmaster. The family came to Fulton county and located at Luke's Comers, in Fulton township, where they remained about eight years. In 1857 the father purchased a farm of eighty acres east of the present homestead of his son, Jacob G., subject of this sketch, and there he continued to reside until 1865, when he sold the property and purchased two hundred acres in York township - the present fine homestead of him whose name introduces this paragraph. The devoted wife and mother died on this homestead, on the nth of August, 1889, and her husband later returned to his fatherland, where he died in 1893, at the age of seventy-nine years. He crossed the Atlantic six times in one year, having been restless and unsttled after losing his loved companion. Jacob Gottlieb Stiriz has been a resident of Fulton county for a full half-century, and within this long period he has not only witnessed but has been closely identified with the civic and material development and progress of this most attractive section of the old Buckeye State. His parents were in most modest circumstances when they came to America, and all that is represented or has been in the practical accumulations of the family has been the result of frugality and hard and unflagging effort. Mr. Stiriz thus appreciates to the full the dignity of honest toil and also the advantages which the years have brought and the opportunities which he has been able to give his children and which he was personally denied in his own youth. He is, however, a man of broad information, having been a reader of the best standard literature and having kept in intelligent touch with the questions and issues of the hour, and he has been well-trained in both the German and the English languages. He has at all times held the respect and confidence of the community in which he has so long maintained his home, has served in various township offices, and he has been a member of the school board for the past fifteen years. In national affairs he is an adherent of the Democratic party, but in local matters he is not constrained by strict partisan lines. He and his famliy are zealous members of the German Lutheran church, as were also his honored parents. It may be said, in passing, that his father served six years in the cavalry arm of the German army. The family came to America in a sailing vessel, arriving in the port of New York city fortynine days after embarking, and the first three years were passed m Buffalo, N. Y., and they came thence to Toledo by boat on Cake Erie, then overland to -their destination in Fulton county. Mr. Stiriz has one of the finely improved farms of the county and enjoys that prosperity and independence which are the just reward of years of persistent and well-directed effort. July 27, 1876, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Hermann, a daughter of John Matthias Hermann and Barbara (Barth) Hermann, both of whom were born in Bavaria, Germany, where the former died, May 24, 1869. His widow came to America with her six children in 1875, and located on a farm near Pettisville, Fulton county, where she died, March 26, 1902. Her six children were George, John, Margaret, Maria, Barbara, and Christina, and all are resident of Fulton county with the exception of Maria, who is deceased. To Mr: and Mrs. Stiriz were bom seven children: Gottfried, who is associated in the work and management of the parental homestead, married Miss Olga Seible and they have two children, Walter and Helen; Mary is the wife of Rev. Justus Kaufmann, pastor of the Lutheran church in Mt. Clemens, Mich., and they have one child, Huldah; Louise, Amelia and William remain at the parental home, and Frederick and Karl died in infancy.

CHARLES E. STRONG, one of the prominent farmers and honored citizens of Pike township, is a member of one of the sterling pioneer families of the Buckeye State and is a representative of stanch New England stock. He is of the eighth generation in direct descent from John Strong, who was born in Taunton, England, in 1605. This worthy ancestor removed to London and later to Plymouth, England, from which latter place he set sail for America on 4he 20th of November, 1630, in the ship "Mary and John," commanded by Captain Squab, and the passenger list numbered one hundred and forty persons. The vessel arrived at Nantasket-Hdl, Plymouth colony, Massachusetts, on Sunday, May 30, 1630, and there, in the following December, John Strong was united in marriage to Miss Abigail Ford. He died April 14, 1699, leaving eighteen children, fifteen of whom had children at the time of his death : there were one hundred and fourteen grandchildren and thirty-three greatgrandchildren. The direct line of descent is traced to the subject of this sketch through Jedediah Strong, son of John, the founder of the family in America. Jedediah Strong was bom May 7, 1637, and on the 18th of November, 1662, he was united in marriage to Freedom Woodward, who died in May, 1681. On the 19th of the following December he married Abigail Stebbins, who died} July 16, 1689. In January, 1691, he married Mary Hart Lee, who died October 10, 1710. Jedediah Strong lived with his first wife for a period of nine- teen years, with his second wife seven years, and with his third nine years, and notwithstanding his three marriages he lived thirtythree years as a widower and sixty-one years unmarried. During the years 1677-8-9 he was paid eighteen shillings a year for blowing the trumpet to summon the people to church on Sunday. He died May 22, 1733, leaving fourteen children. His son, Jedediah Strong, Jr., was born, August 7, 1667, and on the 8th of November, 1688, was united in marriage to Miss Abby Ingersoll who was born August 24, 1663. He was a farmer in Northampton, Massachusetts, until 1696, when he removed to Lebanon, Connecticut, where there were but four white families settled at the time. He was killed by Indians, at Wood Creek, New York, October 12, 1709, leaving eight children. His son Ezra, the next in line of direct descent, was born November 2, 1702, and on the 12th of January, 1730, was married to Miss Abigail Caverly, who was born in 1715. Ezra Strong was a farmer at Lebanon, Connecticut, where he died March 7, 1785, his wife passing away in 1788: they became the parents of twelve children. Philip Strong, son of Ezra and Abigail (Caverly) Strong, was bom, February 9, 1735, and in 1757 or 1758 he married Rhoda Payne, who was born in 1739, and he died September 13, 1789, having been a farmer and drover by vocation and having been one of the first settlers at Warren, Litchfield county, Connecticut. His wife died November 10, 1825. It is a matter of record that in her younger days she was a woman of prodigious strength, and that she raised a large tub of clear water to her mouth and drank to the health of her betrothed, asking him to return the compliment: she became the mother of fifteen children. The next in line of descent to the subject of this review was Stephen Strong, who was born at Warren, Connecticut, January 28, 1770. February 3, 1792, he married Lydia Hine, who was born January 3, 1775, a daughter of Daniel and Lydia (Beecham) Hine, of New Milford, Connecticut. He died December 8, 1852, his children having been eight in number. His son, Stephen Hine Strong, was bom August 8, 1804, and was married, on the 14th of January, 1830, to Therza J. Everett, who was born in Warren, Connecticut, February 25, 1807. She died January 6, 1878, and his death occurred in 1898. They became the parents of ten children, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are here entered: Francis Marion, November 5, 1830; Flora J., July 7, 1832; Abbie M., May 10, 1834; Charles E., subject of this review, October 24, 1835; Edwin H., August 3, 1837; Mary A., March 20, 1839; Elijah M., January 3, 1841 ; William H., October 17, 1842; Stephen A., January 19, 1845; and Frederick, January 24, 1848, his death occurring on the 21st of the following April. -Charles E., Edwin H., Elijah M. and Stephen A. were all in active service as Union soldiers in the Civil war. Charles E. enlisted in Company E, First Ohio Light Artillery, and remained in service until the close of the war, having taken part in the battles of Stone River and Nashville and in more than fortv skirmishes. He received his honorable discharge on the 9th of July, 1865. Charles E. Strong was bom in Warren township, Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the 24th of October, 1835, and two years later, in 1837, his parents immigrated to Ohio, settling in Medina county and passing the re- mainder of their lives in this State. Charles was reared to the strenuous discipline of the pioneer farm, and has ever followed agriculture as his life vocation. He continued resident of Medina county until 1874, when he came to Fulton county and located on the farm which is now his home. He has made excellent improvements on the place and it is now one of the attractive and valuable rural farms of the county, comprising eighty acres of land, all available for cultivation. Mr. Strong is a stanch Democrat in his political adherency, and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Grange. On the 19th of September, 1865, Mr. Strong was united in marriage to Miss Helen M. Graham, who was bom in Medina county, Ohio, on the 3d of September, 1846, being a daughter of Alanson and Jane (Stephenson) Graham, of English and Irish descent, respectively. Mrs. Strong was summoned to the life eternal on the 18th of January, 1896, and is survived by two of her three children. Effie L., who was bom February 5, 1867, was married, on the 16th of December, 1885 to John A. Gay, and she died December 21, 1891. Elwin G., born September 22, 1869, is now a resident of North Dakota. Orlo F., the youngest of the children, now has charge of the operation of the homestead farm. He was born on this farm, on the 18th of May, 1875, was educated in the public schools, has continuously been associated with his father in farming operations, and he now devotes considerable attention also to the dairying business. On the 4th of February, 1899, Orlo F- Strong was united in marriage to Miss Edna C. Allen, who was bom in Fulton county, on the nth of September, 1879, being a daughter of Charles E. and Sarah J. (Smout) Allen, both of whom were likewise born in this county, the former on the 22d of October, 1850, and the latter on the 9th of May, 1854: They still reside in Royalton township, where Mr. Allen is a prominent farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Orlo F. Strong became the parents of two children, of whom the elder is deceased. Eva Helen, born February 25, 1901, died on the 17th of March, 1902. Charles A. was born August 22, 1902.

ELIJAH M. STRONG - In connection with the preceding sketch, dedicated to Charles E. Strong, brother of Elijah M., is given a specially complete genealogical record, and by reason of this fact it is not necessary to re-enter the family history in the present article, since ready reference mav be made to the on'e mentioned. Elijah M. Strong is one of the representative farmers of Pike township, where he has a well improved estate of 120 acres, devoted to diversified agriculture and stock-growing. Mr. Strong was born in Medina county, Ohio, on the 3d of January, 1841, and is a son of Stephen H. and Thirza J. (Everett) Strong. He was reared to manhood in his native county, in whose common schools he secured his early educational training. He was but twenty years of age at the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, but he forthwith signified his loyalty and patriotism by tendering his services in defense of the Union. In 1861 he enlisted as a member of Company E, First Ohio Light Artillery, with which he served three years, seeing much of the strenuous duty of the soldier and taking part in many skirmishes and a number of important battles. He received his honorable discharge on the 2d of September, 1864, having made a record which stands to his perpetual honor. In March, 1866, Mr. Strong came to Fulton county and located on the farm where he now resides. His farm was in the midst of a tract of virgin forest, three milest square, and his original residence was a board shanty of primitive order. He has reclaimed his land to cultivation and has made the best of improvements throughout, including the erection of an attractive residence and other good buildings. As a young man he was engaged in teaching in the district schools at intervals, for a period of ten years. In politics Mr. Strong is a stanch Republican, in 1890 he served as land-appraiser, and he was incumbent of the office of township trustee several terms. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has been identified with the Grange from the time of its organization. He is one of the influential, zealous and prominent members of the United Brethren church at Winameg, Ohio, and is particularly active in the work of the church, contributing liberally of his time and means to the support of the organization and its various collateral benevolences. His wife also is a devoted member of the same religious body. In 1869 Mr. Strong was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Sindel, who was born in Fulton county, in 1851, being a daughter of John and Harriet Sindel, honored pioneers of the county. Mrs. Strong died in November, 1888, and in 1893, Mr. Strong married Mfs. Mary E. (Cately) Dinius, widow of Samuel Dinius. She was born and reared in Fulton county and is a daughter of Judge S. H. Cately, deceased, of Delta, Ohio. Sh$ had three children by her first marriage, and they were reared and Educated by herself and her second husband, and they also rearecLMiss Estella Converse, a daughter ol Mr. Strong's sister.