Putnam County, Ohio - Biographical sketches, 1915 (part 7 of 33)

Isaac Bracy was born on November 5, 1844, in Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, the son of John and Mary (Bedway) Bracy. John Bracy was born about fifty miles from Paris, France, in 1812, and came to America with John Steiner, who settled in Allen county in 1831. In return for the expense incurred by Mr. Steiner for his trip, he worked for him for one year after his arrival in this country. At the expiration of this year, Mr. Steiner entered eighty acres of land in Blanchard township, Putnam county, for Mr. Bracy, about one and one-half miles south of the present town of Gilboa. For this he worked two additional years for Mr. Steiner and then started out for himself on this eighty acres, in 1834. About this time he was twenty-four years old. He went to Wayne county, Ohio, and there was married to Mary Bedway, the daughter of Joseph Bedway and wife, who were pioneers of Wayne county and who, like Mr. Bracy, were natives of France. After his marriage, John Bracy settled on the eighty acres which he had entered and he and his wife took their wedding journey behind a yoke of oxen to their new-found home in the wilderness. This trip occupied several days, being over one hundred miles. They built a cabin, fourteen by eighteen feet, in the woods and for several years, they had nothing but ground floor and a stick chimney, built on the outside of the wall, for a fireplace. They started to clear the land and as fast as they cleared a little piece, they planted a crop. It is related that in those days of their early struggles and hardships, John Bracy was compelled to go on horse-back to Tiffin, Ohio, fifty miles, to mill with a twobushed sack of grain, the trip sometimes taking a week. At times when they ran out of meal, he would take corn on the cob and grate it on a home- made grater, consisting of a piece of tin with nail holes punched through it. This product was used to make bread. Mrs. Bracy spun her own flax, but later the flax was taken to an old woman by the name of Butler, who had a loom, and there the flax was woven into linsey cloth, which material had to serve for clothing for all members of -the family. After their first few years of privations and hardships, they succeeded, by dint of energy, in becoming quite comfortable and in that day were considered prosperous. From time to time, John Bracy added to his original land holdings until, Avhen he died in 1872, he owned four hundred acres. His wife died in November, 1865. To this union were born five children, Mary Jane, deceased, who was the wife of G. W. Devore, of Carroll county, and who had nine children, four daughters and five sons; Jerusha, who is the wife of Aurora Geisinger, of Blanchard township, and has two daughters and one son; Isaac, the subject of this sketch; John, who married Esther Harris, and who has two daughters and one son, and Violet, who died in infancy.

John Bracy was married a second time, in December, 1867, to Mrs. Sarah (Pence) Jones, of Putnam county, but formerly of Allen county.' To this union were born two children, one son and one daughter.

Isaac Bracy received his early education in the district schools of Blanchard township. He remained on the old homestead until he was eighteen years old, when he enlisted in the Twelfth Ohio- Volunteer Cavalry on September 7, 1863. He saw active service in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virgmia. He participated in the work of exterminating Morgan's raiders m Kentucky, which terminated at Mt. Sterling, June 11, 1864. After this he was engaged in scouting expeditions, raids and advance work after the western campaign. Among others, he served General Sherman. He was discharged at Lexington, Kentucky, July 3, 1865.

After the war, Isaac Bracy returned home and occupied himself with farming and bunching cattle. He was married to Mary A Crawfis on January 17, 1867, the daughter of Lewis and Mary Ann (Henderson) Crawfis, pioneers of Putnam county, Ohio. She died on July 28 1887 To this union were born eight children, Lewis J., who died in infancy; Charles, of Cabri, Saskatchewan, Canada, who married Pearl Conine and has two children, Reva and Kenneth; Wildy P., who married Nellie Miller and has three children, two boys and one girl; Carey, who married Ariowa Todd and has three children, Cloyd, Delia and Lena; May, who is unmarried and lives at home; Mate, who is the wife of D. U. McCullough and has four children, Leonard, Lawrence, Naomi and Dorothy; Isaac who is

After his marriage, Mr. Bracy rented the old home place from his. father for two years, and after this he purchased eighty acres, three miles north of Gilboa, and moved there in the spring of 1869. He sold out three years later and moved to the northern part of Riley township. Mr. Bracy ovras this farm of one hundred and twenty acres which was later cleared and improved by him. A little later, he bought the old homestead of his half-brother, though he continued to farm the place in Riley township until 1900, at which time he retired and moved to Gilboa, where he now resides.

Since his retirement, Mr. Bracy has spent his time, partly at his home in Gilboa and partly in traveling. Mr. Bracy has owned as much as three hundred acres of land and has made his money in raising, buying and selling stock, as well as in general farming. He has been a director in the bank at Gilboa and at one time owned a heavy interest in this bank.

Mr. Bracy is a Democrat, and throughout his life has been influential in the politics of his community. He has served as township treasurer for seven years and has also served twenty-three years as a member of the school board of Riley township. For six years he was trustee of Riley township. Mr. Bracy is a member of Ottawa Lodge No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons, and Gilboa Lodge No. 459, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

All values are based upon land. It is the inevitable beginning of all wealth and its productiveness is the source of all income and, in the inherent capabilities of the land to provide the necessities of life, lies the prosperity of the nation. Land investment is attracting more people today than ever before. Real estate is the best security of all. It shows the largest profit when selected carefully. More men have acquired a competence through wise land investments than in any other manner. Land values have grown rapidly within the last decade in this section of this great co.imtry. He who has possessed the foresight and acumen to secure land and to operate it wisely, tO' develop and improve it, has seen the wealth of his holdings grow until his farm not only pays him better dividends each year, but is worth far more in itself than when he took possession of it. J. C. Phillips is a striking example

J. C. PhiUips was born in Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, November 26, 1858, a son of EH and Mary (Fenstmocher) PhiUips. Eh Philhps was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, October 27, 1823, and died in 1895. He was a son of Samuel Philhps, who was a native of Wales and came to America when a boy.

Eli Phillips spent his boyhood in Coshocton, where he received his early When he was a young man he migrated to Wood county, Ohio. He was married about 1854 at Bowling Green, Wood county, to Mary Fenstmocher, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Fenstmocher. After his marriage he settled in Hancock county, near Findlay, where he remained about two years. He then located on the John Crawfis farm, near where Crawfis College now is, and retained that farm for about ten years. From there he -went to Lowell, Michigan, where he remained four years and moved to Ionia, near which location he remained until the time of his death in 1905.

Phillip Fenstmocher was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and came to Wood county, Ohio, during the early days. When Eli Phillips was a young man, he and his brother entered eighty acres of land each on the present site of Jersey City, Wood county. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Eli Phillips, as follow: Joseph D., born on January 20, 1856; Rachel, born on June 20, 1857, died on December 23, 1863 ; John, the subject of this sketch; George K., born on August 12, i860; Sarah, born on April 5, 1863, he died in 1912; Levi, born on March 19, 1865; Herman and Joshua, twins, born on September 23, 1867; Ensign, born on September 20, 1870; Eliza, born on May 25, 1874; Jason, born on July 12, 1877, and Chetro, born on January 18, 1880.

At the age of nine, J. C. Phillips moved with his parents to Michigan and remained there until he was nineteen years of age. He then returned to Putnam county, Ohio, where he worked on a farm for two years. When he was twenty-one years of age, October 11, 1879, he married Sarah E. Harris, a daughter of Stacy and Elizabeth (Knisley) Harris.

Stacy Harris was of Irish descent and was born in Licking county, Ohio. His wife was of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry and was born in 'Muskingum county, Ohio.

After his marriage, Mr. Phillips remained with his wife's people for one year. He then moved to Ionia, Michigan, where he remained nine months, and then returned to Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, where he has made his home since that time. For a time he farmed some distance southeast of Gilboa, Ohio, and, about 1893, he bought a part of the Hickey farm, a mile and a half southeast of Gilboa. His first purchase comprised forty acres, a farm which he has developed and enlarged until at the present time he owns one hundred and eighty acres. In all his farming operations hehas met with marked success.

Mr. Phillips is a life-long Democrat and has always taken an active part in the political affairs of his community. For twenty years he has been a. member of the school board and a supervisor, having conducted the affairs of his offices with marked ability and success.

Mr. Phillips is a member of Ottawa Lodge No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons; Gilboa Lodge No. 459, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Encampment No. 238, Independent Order Odd Fellows, of Bluffton.

Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Phillips have one son, Leonard, who married Pearl L. Harris, a daughter of Isaac and Rachel (Baker) Harris. Isaac Harris was born in Licking county, Ohio, and came to Putnam county at the age of five years. His wife was born in Putnam county, of German descent.

Mr. Phillips is a man of considerable prominence among his neighbors,, having always been found on the right side of any question of local importance, and always standing in favor of anything which he considered of benefit to the community. He is a man of energy, ability and unquestioned integrity.

Ulrich S. Steiner

Men who take an active interest in public questions, especially in religious affairs, adding their wisdom to the wisdom of the community and assisting by their counsel, are ever honored by the people for the good the}r do. Ulrich S. Steiner, a prominent farmer and evangelist of Putnam county, Ohio, is likewise one of its most representative citizens and a manwho has given much of his time to public service. He has been especially successful in religious work and is an organizer of religious affairs. Fewmen in Putnam county are better or more favorably known than Ulrich S. Steiner and few men more fairly deserve the respect and admiration of their fellowmen.

Ulrich S. Steiner was born on September 19, 1856, near Bluffton, Richland township, Allen county, Ohio, the son of John and Anna (Burkholder>

Steiner. John Steiner was born in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, January 23, 1792, and died on March 6, 1865, two miles west of Bluffton, in Richland township, Allen county. John Steiner was the son of Christian Steiner, who was the father of three children and who came to America in 1813, at the age of twenty-one, after a voyage lasting fifty days. He settled in Wayne county, near Orrville, where he remained for several years, and then moved to Richland township. Here he entered land from the government, and here he built a two-roomed log cabin with a center hall, to which cabin he later added one room, a frame structure, which served for his residence for several years, or until his son, John Steiner, built a story and a half brick house and frame structure. It was in this house that Ulrich S. Steiner was born. John Steiner's first farm comprised one hundred and twenty acres, but to this he later added three hundred and twenty acres. In the beginning, this farm was in a virgin state and heavily timbered, with a dense growth of large white oak trees. John Steiner cleared about threefourths of this farm, or about ninety acres, during his life time. In addition to other improvements he made on the old homestead, he built an immense barn, ninety by forty feet, with an addition of twenty by forty feet. This barn was constructed in 1857 and is in a most excellent state of preservation today. It is interesting to note that to duplicate this structure by contract today would ijrobably cost three thousand dollars. In those days when they obtained all of the timber on the grounds, it cost only seven hundred and ninety-two dollars.

John Steiner was first married to Mary Stauffer, of Wayne county, and by her he had eight children, one of whom, Ulrich, died in infancy. The seven who survived were: Christian, John, David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Samuel. By his second marriage, John Steiner was the father of six children, Elizabeth, Anna, Barbara, Ulrich S., Magdalene, deceased, and Daniel.

A very peculiar incident is related in connection with the life of the eldest son. Soon after his birth the child was bitten by a snake, while in bed with its parents, from the effects of which bite he died.

It was on this old homstead that Ulrich S. Steiner was born and spent his childhood days. At the age of eight years he had the misfortune to lose both parents, who died three days apart. After their death, Ulrich S. was taken to be reared by John S. Thur, who lived near Bluffton. Here he remamed until twenty-five years of age, at which time he was married. He had been teaching school for eight years prior to this time and had gained a splendid reputation as a teacher.

Mr. Steiner was married on October 13, 1881, to Susan Schumacher, who was born on December 21, 1861, in Richland township, Allen county. She is the daughter of Reverend Peter and Elizabeth (Suter) Schumacher. A complete history of this family is to be found in the sketch of Christian Schumacher, his brother.

After his marriage, Mr. Steiner farmed and taught school for two years, later devoting all of his efforts to farming. He located on a farm three and one-half miles northeast of Pandora, comprising eighty acres, which has been his residence since that time, with the exception of three years spent in Pandora in the study of the Word of God, which he still has in view. Mr. Steiner has been quite successful as a farmer and attributes this success mainly to the raising and selling of hogs.

To Mr and Mrs. Ulrich Steiner seven children have been born, Estella, the wife of A. J. Abigglen, who lives north of Pandora ; John Franklin, who married Madeline Hubscher and both are missionaries in south China, on the island of Hainan; Jesse Edwin, who married Priscilla Diller, and has two children, Esther Orvilla and Mabel Lavon; James Calvin, who is a student in Otterbein University; Martha Elizabeth, Oliver Ezra and Paul David, all of whom are at home.

Mr. Steiner is a Democrat but, though he is identified with this party, he is an independent voter and supports measures and men rather than party emblems. He is now engaged to a considerable extent in evangelistic work. Mr. Steiner is a member of the Missionary church of Pandora, of which his wife likewise is a member. He is one of the organizers of the local church and took charge of their first meeting. He is a man of clean. Christian character and of high ideals.

Charles R. Blauvelt

Among the men of sterling worth and strength of character who have made an impression upon the life of the locality in which they live, none has achieved a larger measure of popular respect and esteem than Charles R. Blauvelt, the cashier of the Farmers State and Savings Bank, of Continental, Ohio. Mr. Blauvelt is well known throughout this section of Putnam county ; in fact, he was born in Putnam county and has spent his whole life, or practically all of it, in this section. His life-long residence in one locality gives the people an opportunity to know every phase of his character, and that he has been true to life in its every phase is manifest from the confidence and regard in which he is held by those who know him. In a business way, he is a man of unusual attainments and has achieved a splendid success in business, and especially in banking. Mr. Blauvelt combines many of the traits so necessary to success in this day and generation.

Charles R. Blauvelt was born on May 25, 1878, at Belmore, Putnam county, Ohio. He is the son of Isaac E. and Hannah (Speaker) Blauvelt. Isaac E. Blauvelt was born in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1842, and was the of Abraham, Jr., and Louisa (Baldwin) Blauvelt. The family originally came from Holland. Abraham Blauvelt, Sr., came to New York during the American Revolution and founded the town of Blauveltville. He was the father of Abraham, Jr., who was the father of Isaac E. Isaac E. Blauvelt grew up in Franklin county, Ohio, and there married Hannah Speaker, a sister of Nimrod Speaker, whose sketch gives the family history. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac E. Blauvelt moved to Putnam county in 1857 and located on a farm one mile south of Belmore. There he farmed until recent years, when he moved to Belmore, where he now resides. He has been a lifelong farmer and has served as township trustee, on the board of education and has filled other local offices of trust and responsibility.

Charles R. Blauvelt grew up at Belmore and attended Muskingum College, after having completed a course in the public schools of Ohio. He left college in 1902 and then taught school at Belmore for five years. At the end -of this period he organized the bank at Belmore. It is a state bank and Mr Blauvelt served as cashier of this bank for seven years.

Mr. Blauvelt moved to Continental in January, 1914, having sold out his mterest m the bank at Belmore and having purchased an interest in the Farmers State and Savings Bank at Continental, of which he is now cashier Mr. Blauvelt was mayor of Belmore for seven years and also served on the school board for three years.

In 1901, Charles R. Blauveh was married to Loretta C. Jones, who was born at Greentown, Indiana, and who is the daughter of J. W and Elizabeth A. (Covalt) Jones, who still live at Greentown. Mrs. Blauvelt grew up at Greentown, where she graduated from the high school and from the normal academy. Her father was a miller, who moved to Belmore, where he en gaged m the milling business for some time, but subsequently removed to Greentown where he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Blauvelt have five children, Ralph E., Charles Frederick, Vaugh C, Elizabeth A. and Etta Cathryn

Mr H M ""S * '' r '"''"^'' °^ '^' Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Blauvelt are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are bnngmg up their family in this faith.

Although Charles R. Blauvelt is a comparatively young man, he has demonstrated, within a very few years, that he is possessed of that initiative and determination which is a certain guarantee of success in life. Mr. Blauvelt has not only been able to achieve a rather exceptional measure of success, but at the same time he has managed to retain the confidence and respect of his fellows, as is evident by the responsible positions of trust with which he has been charged. Few men in this section of Putnam county are better known than he, and few men are more deserving the respect of his fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Blauvelt are popular, socially, in Continental and admired by a large number of people.

Jonathan J. Darling

Jonathan J. Darling has attained pronounced prestige by reason of natural and acquired ability, and also because of his permanent and official position and high standing in the domain of private citizenship. He takes a - deep and abiding interest in everything that pertains to the material advancement of the town and township where he lives, and every enterprise intended to promote the advancement of Putnam county is sure to receive his hearty support. Jonathan J. Darling is rated as one of the progressive citizens of the community in which he lives, and the high respect in which he is held by all classes of people is a deserving compliment to an intelligent, broadminded and most worthy man. He is a successful farmer and has made farming pay him handsome returns.

Jonathan J. Darling was born in Riley township, Putnam county, on the old Darling homstead, on June lo, 1850, the son of Joseph and Sophia (Groff) Darling. His father was a native of Richland county, Ohio, and was born on July 9, 1818. He was the son of Jonathan P. and Catherine (Butler) Darling, natives of Virginia. Jonathan P. Darling was a soldier in the War of 181 2 and soon after the close of that struggle, located in Richland, county, Ohio. He lived here as a farmer until his death at the age of seventy-one. Jonathan P Darling was a devout Lutheran. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, Robert, Joseph, Rebecca, Squire,. Abigail, Vincent, Sophia, Aditha and John P. Vincent, who died after his marriage, leaving a wife and seven children. Aditha married Matthew Alexander and became the mother of a family. Joseph Darling, the father of Jonathan J., settled in Hancock county in 1843, and a little later in Riley township, Putnam county. He married Sophia Groff in 1840. She wasthe daughter of Joseph Groff, a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent. He was the father of eleven children, Elias, Polatus, Eli, Julia A., Sophia,, David, Emeline, Christina, Fiatta, Caroline and James. Seven children, were born to Joseph Darling and wife, Elias, who died of smallpox in Libby prison; Abigail, who married Volney O. Vanstronder, who died on January 25, 1885, leaving three children; Catherine E., who died young; Sophia A.,, who died in childhood; Jonathan, the subject of this sketch; Joseph and Sarah, both of whom died young. Mrs. Joseph Darling died on March 28, 1880. She was a member of the Methodist Protestant church. Joseph Dar- Hng^ was a man of considerable local influence. He served his township astownship appraiser and as township trustee, was a pillar in his church and an experienced and successful farmer and a man respected for his unswerving morality.

Jonathan J. Darling spent his childhood and youth on the old home place. He attended the district school, and, after completing the course here, took one term at the Ottawa Normal. Two terms he spent at Ohio- Northern University, at Ada, where he continued his academic studies. After finishing his education, he returned home and taught one term in the homedistrict. I-Je was a successful teacher, but soon took up farming for himself on his father's farm.

At the age of twenty-eight, on February 28, 1878, Jonathan J. Darlingwas married to May Youngkin, who was born at Gilboa, December 9, 1856,. and who is the daughter of Jerome W. and Mary Ann (Hall) Youngkin.. Mrs. Youngkin was the daughter of Samuel and Martha (Wamsley) Hall.. Samuel Hall was born on April 9, 1803, and died on March 25, 1896. Hiswife was born on September 30, 1805, and died in September, 1895. Botk Jerome W. and Mary Ann (Hall) Youngkin were natives of Putnam county. The Halls were pioneers in Putnam county.

After his marriage, Mr. Darling continued farming for about fifteeix years, or until 1893, when he moved to Gilboa and entered the hardwarebusiness, in which he continued for nine years. He then returned to thefarm, which has been his residence since that date. Mr. Darling has always, engaged in general farming and has been quite successful. At his father'sdeath he inherited eighty acres of the old homestead and has since added forty acres, making in all one hundred and twenty acres which he now owns.. To Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan J. Darling, five children have been born, Clmnie, Ettie, Jessie, Leo and Lena. Clinnie, who was born on February 27I 1879, is the widow of William Ross. One child. Vera, who resides at home^ was born to them; Ettie, who was born on December 20, 1881, is the wife of Edward L. Peckinpaugh, and has three children, Edward, Vilroe and They reside one mile south of Leipsic; Jessie, who was born on January 31, 1884, is the wife of Harry C. Laub, and has two children, Harold and Raymond. They reside near Milan, Michigan; Leo, who was born on July 30, 1890, died on February 12, 1893; Lena, who was born on October 4, 1893, is a student at Defiance College.

Jonathan J. Darling is one of Riley township's most successful farmers and is well and favorably known. He is a Democrat and served his fellow citizens as treasurer of Blanchard township for four years and made a creditable record. Mr. Darling attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Mrs. Darling and her daughters are members of this church.

Henry Sherman Ketner

An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and recognition for themselves and at the same time have honored the locality to which they belong, would be incomplete were there were failure to make specific mention of Henry Sherman Ketner. The qualities which have made him one of the prominent farmers of Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, have also won for him the esteem of his fellow citizens: His career is one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods.

Mr. Ketner was born on March 4, 1865, in Pleasant township, Putnam county, Ohio. He is a son of Andrew and Mary (Hall) Ketner, the former born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 181 1, and died in Pleasant township, Putnam county, Ohio. Andrew Ketner was married in Fairfield county, Ohio, to a Mrs. Pope, and came to Putnam county in an early day, probably soon after his marriage, settling in Blanchard township, in the southwest part of what is known as the Stover farm. Flere he entered forty acres of land from the government. He later rented a farm in the southeast part of Ottawa township, owned by a man by the name of Lutz. Later on, he purchased eighty acres in the northeast part of Pleasant township, and here he lived the remainder of his life. Before moving to Pleasant township, his first wife died, leaving four children, Silas, Sarah, Matilda and Sissy. After his wife's death, Andrew Ketner returned to Fairfield county, where he married Mary Hall, the mother of H. S. Ketner. ' Again he returned to

Putnam county, locating on his eighty-acre farm in pleasant township. The farm was covered with virgin timber at the time Mr. Ketner acquired it, and some of it was covered with water a part of the time, but in spite of these obstacles, Andrew Ketner set to work with a will, built a one-room cabin and a log stable, and with true pioneer spirit, proceeded to improve and. develop his farm. He later added a kitchen and bedroom to his cabin, and this house served as his residence for the remainder of his life. He succeeded in clearing about sixty-three or sixty-five acres of the land, and it was here that Henry S. Ketner and his brothers and sisters were born, there being six of them, as follow: James, deceased, who married Alice Fuller, also deceased, had two children, Martha, deceased, and May; Priscilla, the wife of Denton Snyder; Elias, who married Etta Hill, has five children, Victor, Zadell, Lena, Walter and Edith, who died at the age of five years;. Henry S., with whom this narrative deals; Sylvester, who married Alice- Guisinger; Charles, unmarried.

It was on the old homestead, in Pleasant township, that Henry Ketner was reared, and it was here that he attended the old Butler district school. At the age of fourteen, he left school to help his father clear the land and operate the home farm, where he stayed with his father and mother until he had reached his majority, and the following fall was married. Henry Sherman Ketner was married on August ii, 1887, to Nora Bracy, whowas born in Blanchard township, October 8, 1869, and who is a daughter of John and Sarah (Pence) Jones-Bracy. The latter was born on August 5, 1827, and died in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, May 28, 1896. She first married G. W. Jones, and to this union were born eight children, and after his death she was married to John Bracy, and to this union were born twochildren, Andrew Duff, who married Annie Harris, has four children, Minda, Howard, August and Harrietta; Nora, the wife of Mr. Ketner. The detailsof the Bracy family history are to be found in the sketch of Isaac Bracy, found elsewhere in this volume.

After his marriage, Mr. Ketner and wife located on the farm Mrs. Ketner received from her father's estate three and one-half miles northeast of Pandora, on which they have lived since that time. Mr. Ketner has always engaged in general farming and stock raising with a very commendable degree of success. He is a man of genial disposition and popular in the community where he lives.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ketner, Abigail Armeda, born on November 2, 1889, is the wife of Daniel Miller, and they have four children, Verax Gertrude, Glen Harold, Leona Lucile and Wayne Millard;

Sarah Gertrude, born on April 17, 1892, is the wife of Joseph Welty, and resides in Toledo, Ohio; Alvin Lee, born on January 14, 1895, is unmarried and living at home; Alta May, born on July 28, 1897, is unmarried and living at home; Kenneth Martin, born on February 24, 1906; Marguerite B., born on December 28, 1908, died on December 31, 1908.

Mr. Ketner is a Republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Gilboa, and is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopalchurch, as is also Mrs. Ketner. H. S. Ketner is one of the influential citizens Riley township. He is well and favorably known as a progressive farmer and a man who is entitled to the esteem in which he is held by his neighbors and fellow citizens.

Benjamin B. Hilty

The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are instructive as guides and incentives to others. The example they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity, strongly illustrate what it is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life. Apparently insurmountable obstacles have awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulant to carry them to ultimate renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem to almost justify the conclusion that self-reliance, with half a chance, can accomplish any reasonable Benjamin B. Hilty is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a splendid success. By a straightforward, commendable course, he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his community and earning the reputation of being an enterprising, progressive man of affairs, which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.

Benjamin B. Hilty was born in Richland township, Highland county, Ohio, March 8, 1850, on the old Hilty homestead. He is a son of Peter -and Elizabeth (Neuenschwander) Hilty. The family history of Mr. Hilty's parents is to be found in the sketch of Isaac Hilty, a brother of Benjamin B., found elsewhere in this volume.

At the age of twenty-three years, Mr. Hilty was married to Susannah Steiner, who was born on May 12, 1855, in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, a daughter of Peter and Barbara (Schumacher) Steiner. Susannah Steiner is a sister of Peter P. Steiner, whose life history is found elsewhere in his volume. Her mother was a sister of Peter Schumacher, the history of which family is to be found in the' sketch of Christian Schumacher.

To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin B. Hilty eleven children have been born, Samuel B., born on April 12, 1874, is unmarried and resides at Pandora; Helena B., born on June 10, 1875, died on July 3, 1905, at the age of twentyone; Albert B. and Clara, twins, born on November 30, 1876, Clara dying at the age of six months, while Albert married Elizabeth Welty, and they have four children; Edward, born on July 15, 1878, married Martha Sommers, and, they have four children; Mary, born on December 10, 1879, is the wife of John A. Sommers, and they have one child, and live at Pandora; Sarah, born on May 20, 1 881, is the wife of Albert A. Bury, and they have four children, and reside at Pandora; Cyrus and Willis, twins, were born on June 24, 1883, the former died at the age of two months, while Willis died at the age of twenty-one years; Lewis B., who died at the age of a few months, and Ellen, born on May 22, 1887, is the wife of Philip Amstutz. The mother of these children died on October 3, 1888. She was a member of the Mennonite church, a kind and faithful wife and a devoted mother.

After his marriage, Benjamin B. Hilty worked on his farm of seventyfive acres, on the old Ridge road, one and one-half miles east of Pandora. This farm had a two-room log house and a small frame barn on it at this time, and only about twenty acres of the land had been cleared. The land was covered with water for a considerable portion of the year. Mr. Hilty proceeded to clear up his land, and it was only by dint of untiring industry and perseverance that he succeeded. It was in this old log cabin that all his children were born, and it was here that Mrs. Hilty died. After her death, Mr. Hilty broke up housekeeping for a few years. The children were placed with neighboring relatives. Later, when they were grown older, Mr. Hilty gathered them together in a new frame building adjoining the old log house which he had built, and here he and his children again took up their residence. One month after coming together again, this house was destroyed by fire. Soon afterward Mr. Hilty built a larger frame house, containing eight or nine rooms. In addition to this improvement he built a large and commodious barn and other outbuildings, in keeping with the surroundings^ In addition to this he purchased a farm of seventy acres two miles north of Pandora, which he gave to his son. Along with his farming activities, Mr. Hilty has been operating a threshing outfit for the past seventeen years. About a year after his wife died, he engaged in buying and selling live stock a part of the time. He was associated in business with Samuel B. Krohn. At the end of two or three years he engaged in the manufacture of tile, which. business he continued for four years.

Before engaging in the live stock business with Samuel B. Krohn, Mr. Hilty made a trip to Switzerland, where he visited the scenes of his father'sbirthplace. It was after disposing of his tile business that he returned to his old business of threshing, in which line he is still engaged. Besides farming and his work along other lihe9> Mr. Hilty has been an extensive breeder of thoroughbred Belgian horses and has made a notable success in this business. Out of all his enterprises, Mr. Hilty has made considerable money and has a substantial competence for his declining years.

Mr. Hilty is a member of the Mennonite church, of which denomination Mrs. Hilty was also a member. He is a Democrat. He has served his township as supervisor and also as school director. He has always led an active life and is well and favorably known. He enjoys the respect of the community in general and, as a citizen of the township, his character and reputation are above reproach.

William W. Edwards

On what more fitting page can those beautiful words "In Memoriam" be arrayed than on a page of the history of the county in which the person in whose tribute the words are used lived so long and so usefully ; the county in which his manifold activities came to such ripe fruition, the county in which he was so well loved and throughout which he is so sincerely mourned ?' In arraying "In Memoriam" here to the memory of William W. Edwards, long one of the most active and prominent citizens of Putnam county, the biographer is conscious of a sense of peculiar fitness, the sense of doing the right thing in the right place. History is but biography in the mass, for it is the individual that creates the event, and the history of one's time is but the history, in the aggregate, of the individuals who contribute to the events of the period. Many who have lived and labored in the past in Putnam county left the impress of their individuality writ large upon the pao-e of their generation's achievements and their names are recalled with veneration and honored as they ought to be by those who, coming after them, have profited by the labors of their lives. These men did well the things which their hands found to do, and, having done their part, passed on, but their memories are as imperishable as the monuments their industry and energy .and painstaking care erected, and their names long will live in the annals of the community whose institutions they so earnestly wrought to perpetuate and in which they achieved so large a measure of success. Among this noble band it may be properly said that none was better known or more popularly regarded than he whose name the reader's eye has noted above, and it is a pleasure for the reviewer to set out a few of the salient points in his life, such points as relate to his public activities and which will be valuable as information to the present and coming generations.

In the biography presented elsewhere in this volume, under the name -of Joseph H. Edwards, the well-known banker of Kalida, the genealogy of the Edwards family is set out at some length, and repetition here may not be regarded by the reader as necessary. It will be sufficient to say, therefore, that William W. Edwards was born in Licking county, Ohio, December 19, 1847, the son of Thomas W. and Isabel (Huston) Edwards, the former of whom was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1823, the son of Walter Edwards, a native of Wales, who came to America with his parents when he was twelve years of age and located in Muskingum county, Ohio, where he -grew to useful manhood and where he reared his family, among his children being Thomas W., who married Isabel Huston, a member of one of the pioneer families of Licking county, Ohio, and who brought his family to Putnam county in the year 1864, he and his wife spending the rest of their lives in Union township, her death occurring in 1892 and his in 1905, he dying in the town of Leipsic, to which he had retired upon giving over the active life of the farm, some years before his death. The memory of Thomas W. Edwards and his good wife is still held precious in the community in which they so long lived, as they were, indeed, active in good works all their lives. That they possessed extraordinary strength of character is demonstrated by the force of character which they imparted to their children, their three sons, William W., John and Joseph H., who so long and so successfully were associated together in business in this county and its environs, having ungrudgingly attributed much of their success in life to the training they received under the careful charge of their parents. Of these sons, only Joseph H. now survives, the death of John having occurred in 1901. Two

Wilham W. Edwards was fifteen years of age when he came to Putnam county with his parents, and he spent the rest of his hfe in this county, growing to be one of the most useful and influential, as well as one of the wealthiest, men in the county. He died May 21, 1913, and was widely mourned, for he was a man who had inspired many warm and enduring friendships.

Though the schools in this county, in the days of his youth, were not what they are now, Mr. Edwards was an apt student and readily absorbed such learning as was afforded in the course at that time prescribed in the country schools, to which was supplemented the instructions received at home from his attentive parents. At the age of seventeen he began teaching school and continued this form of public service for several winters, his summers being occupied in assisting his father on the farm. Evincing, early in life, the peculiar aptitude for business which characterized his later and larger dealings, Mr. Edwards, as a young man, engaged somewhat extensively in the live stock business, in which he made a gratifying measure of success. At the age of twenty-three he formed a partnership with his brother John and I. N. Bushong, in the manufacture of staves, his brother, Joseph H. Edwards, later coming into the firm, at which time, in 1893, it was incorporated under the name of the Buckeye Stave Company, which not only owned mills at several points in this county, but at several points in the neighboring counties in Ohio and at various points in Michigan. The company also engaged in the banking business at Kalida and Continental, and eventually became interested in several other banks in Ohio and enterprises of one variety and another, all of which have proved highly successful. A more detailed account of the enterprises in which the Buckeye Stave Company is interested will be found in the historical section of this volume and in the biographical sketch relating to Joseph H. Edwards.

The Edwardses were largely interested in the Buckeye National Bank at Findlay, Ohio, and William W. Edwards was president of this institution at the time of his death. He also was very active in the affairs of the Nationaf Bank of Commerce at Toledo, Ohio, in which he was a heavy stockholder, his financial ability and high character giving him a position of virtual leadership in the affairs of that institution, he being the first vice-president of the bank. Upon his death, the board of directors passed a series of resolutions, whichwere beautifully hand-illuminated, bound and conveyed to the family of the deceased. In part, these resolutions said :

"Perhaps the most prominent trait of Mr. Edwards' character was theplain, old-fashioned virtue of honesty. And what more or what better could"

"Shrewd as Mr. Edwards was in all his business deals, and clearly as he saw what was to his own advantage in making them, and accurate as was his judgment of the men with whom he was dealing and the motives by which they were actuated, he never lost sight of the fundamental principle of honesty. He played the game fairly. His word was good.

"His other characteristics were akin to this fundamental trait. He was sincere. He had no patience with shams or false pretenses. One always knew that he meant what he said and said what he meant. He was not a man of many words or high-sounding phrases. His speech was simple and straightforward. One always feh that Mr. Edwards would not say one thing to one's face and another thing behind one's back. So, too, he had a high sense of honor in all trust relations. In these days of complex intercorporate relations, many young men engaged in large business affairs in which they occupy positions of trust, as officers or directors, are sometimes so blinded by their own self-interest as to sacrifice the interests of one set of beneficiaries to those of another set. Not so of Mr. Edwards. He never lost sight of the duty a director of a corporation owes to its stockholders. How wholesome and far-reaching the effect of such an attitude on his part was, no one can tell, for it was a source of strength to his associates who survive him.

"We need hardly speak of his aptitude for business. His success speaks for itself. He was, indeed, in many ways, an ideal of a man of affairs. He was industrious, indefatigable, painstaking, patient of details, losing sight of nothing of importance, and yet with a good sense of proportion. He was a keen judge of men and motives, a prime requisite to success in any business. And the faculty, his by nature, was developed by a long business experience, until his judgment in any business proposition was almost unerring. How we all grew to rely upon it !

"Last, but not least, we must refer to the kindliness which he showed m all his personal relations with his business associates. He was never censorious, even when things seemed to go the wrong way. And he was always quick to appreciate and ready to reward faithful service."

The following extract from the public press comments upon the death of Mr. Edwards also throws an additional ray of illumination upon the high character of the deceased: "Among the sons of men we sometimes find a kmg uncrowned. This man was such. Giant in the business and commercial world, he was yet, withal, a manly man. Son of the soil, inured to toil, fearing no task, neglecting no detail, he acquired the habit of accomplishing that which he undertook. He started at the bottom of obscurity. When his race was run, his life and influence had touched almost every field of endeavor. He made money helping others on their way. His business interests reached half the states in the Union. In many boards and groups of men, when fortunes were at stake, he spoke the final word. In affairs of the farm or city, his was the master hand. Men followed him without asking the reason why. Schools, churches, colleges and universities shared the contents of his purse and felt the magic power of his morally righteous life. Thousands will testify that William W. Edwards was their friend."

William W. Edwards was united in marriage, on May lo, 1888, to Carrie Donaldson, who was born at Grand Rapids, Ohio, where she resided until her marriage, except during the time she was engaged in teaching school during her young womanhood. She had prepared herself for teaching by a course of instruction in the college at Lebanon, Ohio, and was an excellent teacher. Mrs. Edwards continues to make her home at Leipsic, this county. By an eariier marriage three children, all of whom survive, were born to William Edwards, as follow : Lillian, who married Dr. B. J. Emory, of Defiance, Ohio; E. C, who is now vice-president of the Buckeye National Bank, of Findlay, Ohio, and vice-president of the National Bank of Commerce, at Toledo, Ohio, in which sound financial institutions this worthy son of his distinguished father is, in a measure, taking the latter's place; Maude, who married Fred Spencer, of Ottawa, this county.

To William and Carrie (Donaldson) Edwards were bom three children, all of whom survive, as follow: Ruth, the widow of Lawrence S. Lisle, who died on March 15, 1914, leaving a little son, Lawrence WilHam; Catherine, who is now attending Mt. Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, and William Donaldson, aged seventeen, a sophomore at Western Reserve College.

Christian Zimmerly

There is no earthly station higher than the ministry of the Gospel, and no life can be more uplifting or grand than that which is devoted to thi amelioration of the spiritual ills of the human race, a life of sacrifice for the betterment of the brotherhood of man, one that is willing to cast aside all worthy crowns and laurels of fame to follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene. It is not possible to measure adequately the height, depth and breadth of such a life, for its influence continues to permeate the lives of

Others through succeeding generations, so the power it has cannot be known until the "last great day when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." Add to such a life, which is being lived entirely without the consideration of any pecuniary compensation, that other high calling of tilling the soil, and, still further, the spirit and energy which typified the early pioneers, and the result must inevitably be a man whose citizenship is a source of pride to his community and a vast benefit to his county.

Christian Zimmerly was born in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, October 6, 1841, a son of John and Anna (Berner) Zimmerly. John Zimmerly was born in Lemoges, France, June 14, 1781, and died in Riley township, Ohio, July 21, 1855, at the age of seventy-four. His parents were both natives of France, and died when he was very young, at which time the children were taken by other families in the neighborhood and by them were brought up.

John Zimmerly came to America in 1832 or 1833, at the age of fiftyone years. He landed in New York, and from there came to Ohio, over the Erie canal and Lake Erie. He settled first in Wayne county, Ohio, where he stayed about a year, and then moved to Putnam county, Ohio, where he made his home for a time with John Diller, whose wife, Elizabeth, was Mr. Zimmerly's sister.

About a year later, Anna Berner came to America. Later she became Mr. Zimmerly's wife. She was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Gridley) Berner, both of whom were natives of France and lived near Dotariet, France. Anna Bemer was born in upper Alsace, France, April 4, 1801, and died in Wayne county, Ohio, March 23, 1895. She was three months making the voyage to New York, and spent two weeks on Lake Erie while finishing her journey to Ohio. While on the lake a storm was encountered which very nearly caused the entire party to lose their lives. After having .reached Ohio, she remained for a time in Wayne county before she finally came to Putnam county, where she lived in the family of Michael Neunschwander, one of Putnam county's first settlers, for whom she worked. She was married to John Zimmerly shortly afterward.

Mrs. John Zimmerly's father was Samuel Berner, an officer in Napoleon's army at the time of the famous and disastrous campaign and march into Russia. At that time, when about half of Napoleon's army had perished, as the results of cold and hunger, Samuel Berner and eleven of his comrades escaped and made their way back home, where Samuel Berner died a year latter, from the hardships which he had endured. During those times, Mrs.

After his marriage, John Zimmerly entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land, the deed for which was signed by President Marn" r""" -^u '""' """*"' ^^^ ''^^^ °^ ^^''^ '^' '^^7, at the city of Washington, U. L. Ihis farm, which lies about three and one-half miles southeast of Pandora, Ohio, has been in the family ever since that time It was on this old homestead that Christian Zimmerly, the subject of this sketch, was born A large portion of the farm, during its earlier days, lay under water, a fact which greatly added to the difficulties of its early improvement.

John Zimmerly and his wife endured all the hardest and bitterest experiences of the pioneers. Mr. Zimmerly was handicapped by a deformity one of his legs being shorter than the other, which made it difficult for him to work. His wife assisted him in the woods when the farm was being cleared and, working together, they were able to clear and prepare for cultivation enough of the land to gain a living. Mr. Zimmerly was a weaver by trade and was also able to earn a little money by doing work of that sort for his neighbors. In that manner they struggled on year by year, clearing a little more land each season.

To add to their difficulties during the early days, they were obliged to go to Perrysburg, Ohio, a distance of sixty miles, to have their grain ground in a mill. Later, they were able to reach a mill at Tiffin, Ohio, which was thirty miles away, and later still their milling was done at Findlay Ohio a distance of sixteen miles from their home. Finally, a mill was started'in Giiboa, Ohio, only six miles distant and later on mills were located still closer Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Zimmerly, they were Peter, John and Christian, the latter being the subject of this sketch.

Christian Zimmerly was bom on the homestead on October 6 1841 and played his part in the settling of that section and the development of the farm. From his early days he assisted his parents and brothers in the work of clearing the farm and of conducting the farm work. He tells an interesting story of one of his early experiences, which is illustrative of the occurrences m this section at that time. When he was a very small boy, he and his brothers went one day to bring in the cows. When they were found there was with them a magnificent buck deer. At the sight of the strange animal the little boys became frightened and lost no time in climbing a tree The faithful family dog, which had accompanied them, attacked the deer and seized the animal by the throat, after which followed a battle roval between the dog and the frightened stag. The commotion, together with the cries of the boys, attracted Isaac Cook, a neighbor, who came running to the scene and ended the battle by cutting the stag's jugular vein. Mr. Zimmerly has always retained a most vivid recollection of that experience, which made a deep impression on his boyish mind.

When Christian Zimmerly was fourteen years of age his father died, and the care of the homestead and of their mother was left to the threie brothers. They worked hard and improved the farm year by year, managing to keep abreast of their neighbors in the development work.

When Christian Zimmerly was twenty-eight years of age on May 28, 1870, he married Mary Welty, who was born in Riley township, December 20, 1849, a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Gerber) Welty, both of whom were natives of Berne, Switzerland, and who came to America early in life, having setled in Riley township, Putnam county. Previous to his marriage, Mr. Ziminerly had taught school for six years, a profession in which he continued for one year following his marriage.

After their marriage. Christian Zimmerly and wife made their home on the old Zimmerly homestead, and Mr. Zimmerly and his brother, John, bought from their brother, Peter, his share in the farm. These brothers then operated the farm in partnership for a period of eight years, when Christian Zimmerly bought his brother John's share and has since operated the farm independently. He has continued to clear and improve the land until he now has one hundred and sixty acres cleared and suitable for cultivation, including forty acres of native timber.

Christian Zimmerly, in 1874, was ordained a preacher ("cast by lot") in the Mennonite church and, in 1880, he was made a bishop. For fortytwo years he has preached to the members of that denomination, giving his services freely and without financial compensation of any sort. He has followed his ministerial calling in addition to his work as a farmer and has met with marked success in both.

He met with misfortune from fire in 1872, and lost the house which had been erected at the cost of such great effort. Later, in 1899, he met with a similar misfortune, at which time his large barn was burned.

Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Zimmerly, as follow: Sarah, now the wife of Levi Oberly; Caroline, the wife of Amos Augsburger; Mary Ann, the wife of Henry Habbigger; John, who is unmarried; David, who married Martha Lehman; Anna, the wife of Joshua Amstutz; Levina, the wife of William Habbegger; Paulina, the wife of Albert Lehman; Ardon, who married Amanda Lehman; Leonard who married Ida Mann, and Homer, who is unmarried and lives at home.

S20 Putnam County, Ohio

Mr. Zimmerly is a supporter of the principles of the Democratic party and has always taken an intelligent interest in the political affairs of hiscommunity, although he has never aspired to public office. He and Mrs. Zimmerly are both members of the Swiss Mennonite church, of which he is pastor.

Christian Zimmerly is one of the earliest settlers now living in the southwest part of Putnam county and is one of the county's best known and highly respected citizens. He is a type of the clean, high-minded citizen that, in many other sections, is all too fast disappearing. As a Christian minister, he is highly esteemed, and as a citizen and a man, there is no resident of the county who is more highly respected or better known.

Carleton P. Palmer

It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs that makes the real history of a community. His influence, as a potential factor in the body politic, is difficult to estimate. The example such men furnish, of patient purpose and steadfast integrity, strongly illustrates what is in the power of each to accomplish. There is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual way, to their achievements, in advancing the interests of their fellow men, in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of the community. Such a man is Carleton P. Palmer, the cashier of the Continental Bank, of Continental, Putnam county, Ohio, and, therefore, it is eminently proper that a review of his life be given among those of the representative citizens of this county.

Carleton P. Palmer was born on July 22, 1877, at Toledo, Ohio. He is a son of Paul B. and Stella (Donaldson) Palmer, the former of whom was born m 1847 at Toledo, Ohio, and who is a son of Nicholas Palmer and wife Nicholas Palmer was a native of Plymouth, England, and came to America m the early thirties, being a pioneer settler at Toledo, Ohio. His wife also came from Plymouth, England, with her parents, who built the first house on what IS now Summit street in the city of Toledo. It was a pioneer logcabin, built when Toledo was scarcely a promising village.

Paul B. Palmer was a teacher in the first business college in Toledo but followed agricultural pursuits most of his life. He is now livino- retired in the city of Toledo. During the active years of his life he was an influential citizen of his community and a man who enjoyed the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact.

Carleton P. Palmer spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, in the vicinity of Toledo. He was graduated from the Toledo high school with the class of 1896. After his graduation he engaged in the profession of teaching and became township superintendent of the schools in Richfield township, Lucas county, Ohio. He continued in this capacity until 1900, when. he came to Continental and took a place in the Bank of Continental. He began here as a bookkeeper, but a year or so later became cashier and has held this position since that time. Mr. Palmer has proved himself an able business man. He quickly grasped the details of the' banking business, and is naturally courteous and accommodating to the patrons of the bank. Nevertheless, he is firm, as one should be who handles money for others.

Mr. Palmer was married to Mae Edwards on November 19, 1908. Sheis the daughter of Joseph Edwards and wife of Leipsic, and to this union-. one son, Carleton Paul, Jr., has been born.

Mr. Palmer is a prominent Mason, having attained to the thirty-second' degree in that order, and is also a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Although a comparatively young man, he is one whose counsels are widely sought in financial and commercial transactions, and a man whohas easily taken foremost rank in the commercial life of Continental arid Monroe township. Mrs. Palmer is popular in Monroe township and active in many enterprises which call for the talent of women. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and contributes liberally to its moral uplift in the community.

Isaac S. Rickard

There are many excellent farmers in Van Buren township, Putnam county, Ohio, and among these may be mentioned Isaac S. Rickard, who hasbeen engaged in agricultural pursuits in this township since 1894. ' As a lad he was compelled to help support the family on account of his four elder brothers serving in the Union army, and the experience he gained in his youthhas been of invaluable benefit to him. Thrown early on his own resources he has developed a self-reliant spirit and a resourcefulness which has made him the prosperous farmer he is today. He is a man of high ideals and sterhng mtegrity and a great worker in the church.

Isaac S. Rickard, the son of Andrew Jackson and Hannah (Rockwell) Rickard, was born in Chautauqua county, New York, July 12, 1852 His father was born in New England and moved from New York to Medina Ohio, m 1854, but remained in that city only a short time. He then removed: with his family to a farm east of East Milan, in Erie county, Ohio, where he farmed for a time; His next move was to a farm west of East Milan, on which he lived until 1861. In that year he moved to Wood county, Ohio, located on a farm near Bowling Green, and lived here during the Civil War. Later, he settled on a farm east of Bowling Green and lived on this farm until the death of his first wife. A few years later he married Mrs. Porter, but there were no children born to his second marriage. To his first marriage there were born eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, Ellen T., the wife of Henry Gross, 'and has eight children; Zina, who married Martha Sopher, and has eight children; Jacob, who is married and has one child; George W., who married Phlena Sopher, and has four children; Orange J.,' who married Jeanette McDonald, and has nine children; Elizabeth, the wife -of WiUiam Sheets, and has five children, one of whom is deceased; Isaac S., of Putnam county; Phillip W., who married Julia Rathburn; John F., who married Emma Rathburn, and has one child, deceased; Lydia, who died at the age of nine, and Nathan B., who married Flora Taft, and has two children.

Isaac S. Rickard spent his boyhood days in Wood county, where he r^eived a limited education in the rude district schools. When the Civil War broke out, though he was only nine years of age, he began to take an active part in the support of the family, his four elder brothers having gone to the front when it became necessary for him to take part of the burden of the family support on his own shoulders. He remained at home until he was married, at the age of twenty, and then began working on a farm near Toledo, Ohio. During the twenty years which elapsed from the time of his marriage until he permanently located in Putnam county, he lived in several places. After working a short time near Toledo, he moved to Miami, Ohio, thence to Milan, in Erie county, and worked in the latter place for about nine years. His next change took him to Wood county, where he located four miles northwest of Milton Center, and where his wife died. After her death he moved to Milton Center, in which place he remained until his second marriage m the fall of 1893. In the following year he moved to Putnam county and located in Van Buren township, where he has since resided.

Mr. Rickard was first married on November 24, 1873, to Madora Jane Sheets, the daughter of Albert Sheets. She was born in Wood county, Ohio March 12, 1855, and spent her girlhood days in the same county. To this first union of Isaac S. Rickard were born four children, Melville, who married Julia Cuisno, died January 9, 1915, they have one daughter, Sadie- Fanny M., the wife of Hiram Cain, has two children, Emma, and Madora' deceased; Albert, who died at the age of nine, and one who died in infancy. The first wife of Mr. Rickard died in May, 1887, and on August 20, 1893, he was married to Mrs. Sarah C. (Simonds) Eastom, a daughter of Justice and Lourana (Morehead) Simonds. She was born near Gilboa, Putnam county, Ohio. There were no children to this second marriage.

Justice Simonds, the father of Mrs. Rickard, was born in New Hampshire, February 10, 1809, the son of Jonathan and Sophia (Sanborn) Simonds, who were of New England stock and natives of New Hampshire. When Justice Simonds was a small boy, his parents moved to Medina, Orleans county. New York, and here he was bound out to learn the trade of a millwright. In Orleans county. New York, the mother of Justice Simonds died, and, after growing to maturity. Justice Simonds moved from New York state to Putnam county, Ohio, where he continued to follow his trade as a millwright. Among other pioneer buildings, he helped to construct the Charles Harmon mill on the Blanchard river. Ju.stice Simonds was married in 1840 to Lourana Morehead, a daughter of Alexander Morehead. She was born on May 8, 1822, and died in July, 1895. Justice Simonds and wife were the parents of nine children, Sanborn, who died in infancy; George, who married Mollie Foltz, and died June 25, 1908; Sarah, the wife of Mr! Rickard; Jeanette, the wife of David Redding, who died in January, 1911; Elmira, the wife of Andrew Fike; Mary Ann, deceased, who was married, respectively, to Martin Wert, James Boyer and William Tuller ; Eliza, the wife of William Bryan; Louminda, the wife of Charles Farquharson; John, who died at the age of twenty-one.

After his marriage. Justice Simonds lived for several years on a farm near Gilboa, but, in 1860, removed to another farm three miles north of Leipsic, where he lived until his death, April 25, 1885. Sarah Simonds, the wife of Mr. Rickard, was first married to Frank Eastom, March 21, 1863, and to her first marriage one son, George, was born. He married Bertha Steffer, of Hamilton, Ohio, September 20, 1895, and now makes his home in Denver, Colorado. George Eastom and wife are the parents of four children, Frank, Helen and George are living, and Bertha is deceased. George Eastom is in the real estate and machinery business in Denver.

Mr. Rickard and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Rickard was ordained in the ministry of the Church of Christ, about twenty-five years ago, but has since transferred his membership to the Methodlist church. He has preached for four or five years, but has devoted the greater part of his life to farming, although he has always been very active in all church work. He is a man highly respected and honored in his community, where he has lived a life of usefulness.

Christian Davis

The specific history of the great Middle West was made by the pioneers, and it is not necessary to trace it back farther than a generation in order toreach the pioneers who were instrumental in founding this great territory. In fact, there are many men yet living who played important parts in the foundation and development of Ohio and neighboring states. Those pioneers who built their rude homes in the forests, which then covered this country, and turned the wilderness into broad stretches of fertile and cultivated fields, were hardy and industrious men of the finest type. To have established, or to have aided in the work which established, a home amid such surroundings, and to cope with the many privations and hardships which were the inevitable concomitants, demanded an invincible courage and fortitude, strong hearts and willing hands. All those were characteristics of the pioneers, whose names and deeds should be held in perpetual reverence by those who enjoy the fruits of their toil, and among that number is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, and who for many years has been numbered among the most prominent citizens of Putnam county.

Christian Davis was born in Monroe county, Ohio, April 8, 1843, ^ son of Michael and Catherine (Stauffer) Davis. Michael Davis, his father, was born in Pennsylvania in 1875. Little is known of his early life in Pennsylvania, except that he left there in the early days and came to Wayne county, Ohio. There he met the subject's mother, Mrs. Catherine (Staufifer) Lugibihl, to whom he was married.

Mrs. Davis was born in Basel, Switzerland, where she spent her youth and where she was married to Mr. Lugibihl. To that union w* born one daughter, Catherine. Shortly after her birth, Mr. Lugibihl died, and his wife and child came to America, where she entered the employment of Mr. Pixel, of Wayne county, Ohio, in which position she worked until her marriage with Mr. Davis.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Davis moved to Monroe county, where Michael Davis had purchased a small farm. There they lived for about ten years, when Mr. Davis died, at the age of forty-seven. Four children had born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Fannie, deceased, who was the wife of Anthony Sawin, and to whom three children were born; Rebecca, deceased, who was the wife of Andy Foy, to whom three children were born; John, who married Magdalena Moser, and to whom one son was born, and Christian, the subject of this sketch.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Davis moved to Putnam county and settled on forty acres of farm land one and one-half miles southwest of Pandora, in Riley township. This land she had purchased previous to moving to Putnam county, with money which she had earned and saved prior to her marriage to Mr. Davis. About five years later, when the subject of this sketch was nine years of age, Mrs. Davis was married a third time, her third husband having been Jacob Hipscher. Mr. and Mrs. Hipscher lived together until 1883, when Mrs. Hipscher came to live with her son. Christian, with whom she remained until her death in 1891, thus ending a useful and life.

At the age of nine years, Christian Davis left home and went to live with his uncle, Christian Basinger, where he remained for nearly two years. He then lived with Abraham Detwiler, with whom, also, he remained for two years. After having left Mr. Detwiler's home, the subject shifted for himself, working on the various farms and at various other occupations until he was twenty-six years of age. When he was about twenty years old, in 1863, he went with a friend, Henry Griswire, to Ontario, Canada, where they remained three years. From there the subject of this sketch went to Michigan, where he worked in the pineries for about a year.

When Mr. Davis was twenty-six years of age he married Elizabeth Schmitz, who was born in Baden, Germany, August 17, 1844, a daughter of Abraham and Christina Schmitz. After his marriage, Mr. Davis and Nick Shively erected a saw-mill in Riley township, which they operated for four years. At the end of that time Mr. Davis sold his share in the mill and bought forty acres of farm land, two miles west of Pandora, Riley township.

There was a small frame house and a barn on the farm when he settled there, in which he made his home. Later he purchased another farm of forty acres, which adjoined his original holdings on the north. He built a larger house on his new land, and still occupies it. Sometime after this he bought out the heirs of his mother's farm of forty acres, which he eventually sold. He still retains his farm of eighty acres.

To Mr. and Mrs. Christian Davis eight children were born, as follow : -Gideon B., who was born on August 28, 1869, and died in 1908; Katharina, who was born on March 19, 1871, and died 1893. She was the wife of Amos Gratz and the mother of one child, Clyde, who died when two years of age; Christina was born on May 28, 1872, and is the wife of Seth Basinger, to them three children, Ula, Clyde and Clitus, have been born ; Itha, born on -June 3, 1874, is the wife of Lawn Scheets and has four children,

Edna, Leila, Mahala and Evangeline; Emma, born on December 15, 1876, is unmarried and lives at home; Karolina, born on December 30, 1878, died on January 18, 1880; Elizabeth, born on June 30, 1880, is the wife of Rayton Core and has two children, Arlena and Raymond; Mina was bom yn September 20, 1883, and is the wife of Hiram Basinger.

Mr. Davis has always done general farming and has been very successful. A few j^ears ago he devoted considerable attention to the buying and feeding of cattle for market, a business in which he met with great success.

Mr. Davis is a supporter of the Democratic party. For several years he has served his community as a school director, and has also been for a number of years a supervisor, conducting the affairs of both offices to the complete satisfaction of the citizens.

Mr. Davis is one of Riley township's best-known citizens and is highly respected by all his neighbors. He is a man of many sterling qualities and of unquestioned integrity.

Guy R. Coit

It is not an easy task to describe adequately the career of a man who has led an eminently active and busy life and who has obtained a position of relative distinction in the community with which his interests are allied. Biography, however, finds a most perfect justification in tracing and recording the main point in such a life history. With a full appreciation of all that is demanded, and with a satisfaction that is keenly felt, the biographer undertakes to point out a few facts in the career of Guy R. Coit, a well-known real estate and insurance dealer, at Kalida, Ohio, and at present the mayor of Kalida.

Guy R. Coit was born in Vaughnsville, Ohio, in Sugar Creek township, November 20, 1880. Mr. Coit left Vaughnsville, Ohio, at the age of four years and grew up in Kalida, where he received his education. He worked at different occupations until 1903, when he started in the real estate business at that place. He is still actively engaged in this business. He is also engaged in the loan, and insurance business and has had a lucrative patronage from the time he started. Mr. Coit was cashier of the Peoples Banking Company at Kalida for about twenty months, and city clerk of Kalida during 1907 and 1908. He has been councilman for some years and is now mayor of Kalida, having been elected to this position in the fall of. 191 1.

of Jackson township, Putnam county, Ohio, and a daughter of John L. and Lydia (Sybert) Downing. John L. Downing, at present a stave jointer at Piggott, Arkansas, was born near West Cairo, AUen county, Ohio, February 21, 1859, and was married in 1877 at VaughnsviUe, Ohio, to Lydia Ana Sybert, who was born in 1857, near Bluff ton, Allen county, Ohio. ' John L. Downing was the son of John Downing, who was born near West Cairo,, Ohio, in 1820 and who died in 1861. John Downing married Rebecca Foster, who was born in 1823, in Allen county, Ohio, and died in 1864. They had the following children: John L., of Piggott, Arkansas; Mary C, of Winfield, Kansas, and Harrison, who died in infancy. John Downing was the son of Adam Downing, who was of Irish descent and a pioneer in this section of the country and who is believed to have fought the Indians. Adam Downing married Sarah Allen, who was of Welsh descent and a native of eastern Ohio.

Mrs. Lydia Ann (Sybert) Downing was the daughter of Barney and Effie (Long) Sybert, the former of whom died in 1861, and the latter in 1890. They were the parents of the following children: William, Ann, Chnt, George, Hobert, Henry, Benjamin, Louisa, Alice, Sarah, Lydia, Daniel and Hiram.

John L. and Lydia Ann Downing were the parents of the followingchildren: George, born in 1877, who lives at Piggott, Arkansas; Joe, borrb in 1880, who married Blanche Sellers, lives in Boynton, Arkansas, and has five children; Armena, Georgia, Lavern, Zelma and Mary; Mrs. Louisa Mack, born in 1882, who lives at Nimmons, Arkansas. She was married at Defiance, Ohio, in 1900, and has four children, Georgia, Russell, Jessie and Clarence; Mrs. Pearl Little, born in 1883, is married and has nine children, Jemima, Gladys, Hazel, Beulah, Vellam, Genevieve, Clayton, Edna and John - Grover, born in 1885, married Grace Palmondon in 1905, and has two children, his wife died in 1908; Mildred, who lives at Boynton, Arkansas, married Girty Strats and has one child, Viola; William Wallace, born in 1886, who lives at Maiden, Missouri, married Mary Jaunt in 1907, and has three children, Franklin, Leonard and Sherman; Effie, born in 1887, married Mr. Coit.

To Mr. and Mrs. Coit five children have been born, Guy, Dorland, Doyle, Fremont and Helen. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Kalida. He is also a member of the chapter and council. He is one of the leaders in the councils of the Republican -party in this section of

Ohio, and to him perhaps more than to any other man, the state leaders of the party look for a substantial vote from Putnam county. Mr. and Mrs. Coit are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Kalida, where he is a trustee of the church and has taught a Sunday school class for the past seven years. Mr. Coit's family are also members of this church. Guy R. Coit is a "mixer" and a man who attends strictly to his own business. He has a host of friends and is widely known throughout Putnam county. He is -known as a booster for all city improvements and, although he is progressive m spirit, he is a quiet man and a deep thinker. He is a man who has succeeded largely because of his capacity for devoting himself to details.

Peter A. Amstutz

The two most strongly marked characteristics of both the east and the -west are combined in the residents of Ohio. The enthusiastic enterprise which overleaps all obstacles and makes possible almost any undertaking in the comparatively new and vigorous western states is here tempered by the stable and more careful policies that we have borrowed from our eastern neighbors. The combination is one of unusual force and power. It has been the means of placing this section of the country on a par with the older east, and at the same time producing a reliability and certainty in business affairs which are frequently lacking in the west. This happy combination is also possessed, in a notable degree, by Peter A. Amstutz, for several years now the efficient cashier of the Farmers Banking Company of Pandora. He is too well known to the readers of this volume to need any formal introduction here, for his name is deeply fixed in the financial, commercial, professional and industrial history of this section of the state. Mr. Amstutz, himself,^ is filling a large place in the public affairs of his community. He is recognized as a man of strong and alert mentality, deeply interested in eveiything that pertains to the welfare of the community. He is a progressive and enterprising business man and a representative citizen of Riley township and Putnam county.

Peter A. Amstutz was born on February q, 1868, in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, the son of Abraham M. and Catherine (Hilty) Amstutz the former of whom was born on September 20, 1844, in Richland township,' Allen county, Ohio, and the latter was born on April 19, 1848, in Richland -^township, Allen county, Ohio.

stutz. John Amstutz was born in Switzerland and came to America in 1840 with his wife and three children. They settled in Richland township, Allen county, Ohio, near Bluffton. John Amstutz was a farmer in Switzerland and the Amstutz family was an old one in the community from which he came. It is related that the name Amstutz originated from a family by the name of Stutz who lived on a hill, the German prefix "am" meaning "on the," being prefixed' to the name Stutz and resulting in the final Amstutz, which means "on the hill." Another explanation of the name Amstutz is gi\'en, which says that Stutz means a "steep hill," or rather "a bluff" or "precipice." Perhaps a John Stutz lived at or near to this bluff or precipice, and, to distinguish him from other Johns, it was said that he was John Amstutz, meaning the John who lived by the precipice.

John Amstutz and his little family were fifty-two days on a sailing vessel in coming to America. They came directly to Allen county, where John Amstutz settled on a farm just north of Bluffton. After two years he removed to a farm one-half mile south of Columbia, later called Pendleton, and, still later. Pandora. Here he made his future home, clearing the land and draining it. He built an adobe house of mud and straw about 1855, a part of which is standing today. The mud and straw were mixed by oxen trained for the feat. In addition to being a faimer, John Amstutz was a minister in the Mennonite church and was an active minister until the time of his death. He was also a mechanic of considerable ability, and in the -early days he made spinning wheels for spinning both wool and cotton. After spending a most useful life, he died at a ripe old age, in 1858, on the old homestead south of Pandora.

John and Barbara Amstutz were the parents of five children, three of the eldest having been born in Switzerland, and the two youngest in Allen and Putnam counties. All lived to maturity. They were : Fannie, the wife of Jonas Amstutz, both deceased ; Marian, the wife of Abraham Bixter, both Christian, who married Barbara Schuhmacher, both deceased; Abraham, who married Catherine Hilty, the parents of Peter A. ; Peter M.,' deceased, who had three wives, Anna Light, deceased. Belle Sitlemeyer, deceased, and Mrs. Downing.

Abraham M. Amstutz spent his boyhood on the old homestead and here grew to manhood. He attended the common schools and at the age of twenty-two was married to Catherine Hilty, the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Neuensch wander) Hilty, both natives of Switzerland, who came to America in the early days. They settled in Richland township, Allen county, Ohio, four miles west of Blufifton. They were the parents of eleven children: Isaac, John, Barbara, Benjamin, Catherine, Noah, Mary (deceased), Sarah (deceased), Peter, Samuel and Elizabeth (deceased). The parents of these children spent the remainder of their lives on the old homestead in Allen county, and it was here that Mrs. Amstutz grew to womanhood, received her early education and remained until she was married. She was married in January, 1866, at the age of eighteen.

After their marriage they settled on a portion of the old John Amstutz homestead, south of Pandora. Here Abraham Amstutz pursued farming until he retired and moved to Pandora, in 1908. He has been a successful farmer and stock raiser. He is an ardent Democrat and was president of the township school board for a number of years. He is a man possessed of strong civic pride, of sterling integrity and is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens. He is also an active and consistent member of the Grace Mennonite church and was trustee in the old Swiss church. Abraham M. and Catherine Amstutz have had eleven children: Peter, the subject of this sketch; Barbara, the wife of Jacob Suter; John, who married Susan Basinger; Elizabeth, the wife of Elias Welty; Levina, the deceased wife of John Gerber ; Amos, who died in infancy ;_ Llewellyn, who first married Nona Lora and later Delia Suter; Albert, who married Malinda Gratz; Edwin, who died at the age of five years; Mary, the wife of A. J. Welty, and Selma, the wife of William Lugibihl.

Peter A. Amstutz was born on the old home place, south of Pandora, and lived there until 1891, when he was twenty-three years of age. Here he received his early education and here he lived while he was a student in the high school at Pandora and Crawfis College. During his boyhood he helped his father on the farm, and later taught school. When he was twenty-three years old he took a clerkship in a general store in Columbus Grove and held this position for six years.

Mr. Amstutz was married, at the age of twenty-four, on January 5, 1893, to Persis Basinger, the daughter of Jacob C. and Mary (Basinger) Basinger. She was born on November 19, 1870, in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio. Her people were pioneers of Putnam county. To this happy union six children have been born : Orpha E., who is a student at Ohio State University; William B., who is a student at Bliss College, at Columbus; Harley C, who is a student in the high school; Wendell H. and Margaret J.,' who are both at home and attending the graded school, and Roland, who died at the age of seven months.

year and then took a partner, the new firm becoming P. A. Amstutz & Company. This business was conducted with marked success until 1903, when Mr. Amstutz bought a farm in Richland township, Allen county, which he operated for one year. He then made a short stay in Petoskey, Michigan, after which he purchased an interest in the Pandora Hardware Company, in the fall of 1905. Mr. Amstutz controlled a half interest in this concern and withdrew from the active management of it in the fall of 1909. At this time Mr. Amstutz was elected cashier of the Farmers Banking Company, of Pandora, which position he still holds. Previously he had been a director of the bank, which position he still retains.

Peter A. Amstutz is a Democrat, and has served as township clerk for three terms. He was also clerk of the school board. He is a prominent member and one of the founders of the Grace Mennonite church. He has been secretary and treasurer of this congregation since its organization. Mr. Amstutz has been a successful business man and banker in this community for several years. He stands high in the vicinity in which he lives, and no better evidence of this fact is required than reference to the many positions of trust and responsibility which he has held and which he now occupies He IS an upright citizen, a good neighbor and a fine father. His character and mtegrity are above question, and it is to him that the best people of the community come for counsel and advice, which Mr. Amstutz is eminently qualified to give. He is present mayor of Pandora, his term to expire in 1916. He was president of the city council of Pandora for four years

Charles Fremont Alkire

Men who take an active interest in public questions are ever honored by their community. They are known as leaders, and by their helpfulness and counsel contribute materially to the public welfare. A man of this

Mn Alkire who is one of the most successful farmers of Putnam county IS descended from a hne of illustrious ancestors, men who fought in dfe early wars of th.s country and who did their part in their day and gene in Madison county, Ohio, December 25, 1826, and he was the son of William M. and Hannah (Osborn) Alkire. William M. Allaire was born on November 10, 1799, in Kentucky, and he was the son of Wilham and (More) Alkire. Wilham Alkire was born in 1751, in Germany, and married in 1778. He came to America prior to the American Revolution, settlmg in Kentucky. Here William M., his son, was born on November 10, 1799. William M. was a millwright by trade and served in the War of 1812. He came to Madison county when a young man and was married here on December 4, 1822, to Hannah Osborn, who was born in Virginia on August 11, 1804. She died on April 15, 1843, in that portion of Putnam county which later became a part of Allen county. William M. died at the home of his son, George W., north of Pandora, on January 25, 1886. He had come to Putnam county in 1834, when George W was eight years old, and later settled in the north part of Richland township, Allen county, entering land from the government, and passing through all the pioneer experiences common to his day and generation. After his wife's death, he traded his homestead for a store at Pandora, traded the store for eighty acres in Defiance county. Subsequently, he made his home with his son, George W., who was then living at Pandora.

George W. Alkire was reared as a farm boy and was one of six children, Edwards P. served in the Civil War and lived in Manistee county, Michigan,' Richard was a farmer m Putnam county; Madison an orange grower in Cahtornia; and John in Picqua county, Ohio, and Adam, of Riverside, California. George W. Alkire was married in 1851, to Miss Catherine Hart, daughter of John and Mary (Meng) Hart, both natives of Pennsylvania. John Hart came to Putnam county in 1842, entered land in the fall. He was three times married. He first married Mary Meng, three of whose children died in infancy, the others being, Mrs. Alkire, Elizabeth, Mrs. Dora Brown, Absalom, Samuel, John F and Margaret. Mary Menc^ Hart died in i866, after which Mr. Hart removed to Allen county, where he died m 1887. He and his wife were members of the Presbvterian church. George W. Alkire and wife were the parents of six children, 'four of whom were reared to maturity,. John A., of Valparaiso, Indiana; Charles Fremont of Putnam county; William H.. also of Putnam county, and Mary E the wife of James Preston. Mr. and Mrs. George Alkire were members of the Presbyterian church.

diaries Fremont Alkire remained in Pandora with his parents until he was seven years old, when they moved one and one-half miles north of Pandora. Here Charles Fremont spent his boyhood days on the old home place, alternating the summer and winter months between the district school and his father's farm, until, at the age of nineteen, when, with his brothers John and William, farmed the home place for one year. For the ensuing three years he and his younger brother, William, farmed it together, and for the next two Charles farmed the place alone.

About this time, on January 19, 1882, Mr. Alkire was married to Minerva Kellen, the daughter of John and Catherine (Joseph) Kellen. Mrs. Alkire was born on December 7, 1857. She died on December 19, 1882. One child, Mary C, was born to this union. She now resides with Mr. Alkire. After suffering the great misfortune of Mrs. AJkire's death, Mr. Alkire was joined again by his younger brother William and together they farmed the home place for two years. In the fall of 1885, Mr. Alkire was married to Maiy Mallahan, who was born in Hancock county, August 3, 1857, and who is the daughter of Charles F and Jane (Downing) Mallahan. Charles F. Mallahan died on December 30, 1877, just before he was to have taken the office of county commissioner, to which he had previously been elected. Charles F Mallahan's grandfather and John Downing were under the command of General Hull when he surrendered Detroit. They saw General Cass break his sword rather than to surrender it to the British. Charles F. Mallahan was born on September 26, 1818, in Fairfield county, Ohio. He was the son of Thompson and Sarah (Clymer) Mallahan, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter a native of Maryland. Thompson Mallahan died in Fairfield county in 1833, when Charles F. was fifteen years of age. Jane (Downing) Mallahan was born on January 25, 1817, in' Pike county, Ohio and was the daughter of John and Mary (Boiler) Downing, the former a native of Virginia.

After his second marriage, Mr. Alkire continued farming on the old home place for two years. In the spring of 1888, he moved to a farm of seventy-five acres, which was a part of the old Mallahan place in the northwest part of Riley township. Mr. and Mrs. Alkire moved into an old house on the place, where he immediately erected a new building. The place had an old log barn which served two years, which was supplanted by a smaller frame buildmg. He built a large and commodious barn in 1897, and since that time has added other improvements in keeping with the surroundings

By this -second marriage three children have been born, Charles G was born on October 19, 1887, and died on August 27, 1888; Clifford M was born on February 17, 1891 ; Ralph M. was born on August 29, 1898 Clifford M. and Ralph M. are both unmarried and live at home.