Wayne County, Ohio - Chapter 23: Towns of the County, 1910 (part 3 of 11)

Robert S. Appleman was born at Maysville, Wayne county, Ohio, September 7, 1850, and he is the son of William and Sarah J. (Simpson) Appleman. The Appleman family is thought to be of German origin, though the Ohio family of this name came directly from Pennsylvania. The subject's paternal grandfather, Permenas Appleman, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, and his death occurred about twenty years ago, at which time he w^as seventyeighty years old. During his younger years he followed the pursuit of agriculture, but later for a number of years he ran a dry goods store at Eredericksburg. William Appleman, the subject's father, was born in Wayne county, near IMaysville, and during his active years confined his attention to farming, in which he was fairly successful. He spent all his life in Wayne and Holmes counties. He was a strong Presbyterian in religious belief and an ardent and active Republican in politics. During his younger days he taught school several terms and was considered a good teacher. He passed away about fourteen years ago at Shreve, where he had lived in retirement about eight years, his age at death being about sixty-six years. He married Sarah J. Simpson, who was born near Millersburg, Holmes county,' Ohio. Her father, Robert

Simpson, was a native of the north of Ireland and emigrated to America with his parents when a young man, settling in Holmes county. Later he removed to near Haysville, AVayne county, where he spent his remaining years. Sarah J, Appleman died about ten years ago, at the age of seventy years. By her union with William Appleman. she became the mother of the following children: Robert S., the immediate subject of this review; John R., who died at one year of age; W. S. is a farmer and lives near Shreve, Holmes county ; S. A. is engaged in the sewing machine business at Mansfield, Ohio.

The subject of this sketch remained during his boyhood years on the home farm, securing a fair education in the common schools of his home community. At the age of eighteen years he began the study of music, for which he had early exhibited a decided talent and to which he had given much attention during the years prior. He engaged in the teaching of music, both instrumental and vocal, and in this work he achieved a pronounced success, following it exclusively for twelve years. He then went into the piano business at Shreve, and later at Loudonville, and in 1898 he came to Wooster and opened a general music store, which he still conducts. He handles pianos, organs, phonographs and other musical instruments, and in connection also carries a large and carefully selected line of vocal and instrumental music. The store, which is located on South Market street, is the headquarters for music-loving people and Mr. Appleman has from the start enjoyed a liberal patronage.

Mr. Appleman has twice been married. In 1873 he married Julia L. Lind, of near Paint Valley, Holmes county, Ohio, and to this union were born five children, namely: Edwin C., deceased; William H., of Seattle, Washington; Louella, the wife of J. PL Van Horn, of near Loudonville, Ohio ; C. Earl, who is associated with his father in the music liusiness ; Jeanette, who died at the age of two and a half years. Mrs. Appleman died in 1887 Loudonville and in 1889 Air. Appleman married Annilda P'redrick. a daughter of J. P. Eredrick, deceased, a former resident of Loudonville. To this last union have been born four children, as follows: Martha, at home; Fred, deceased; Ralph S. and Joseph A., 1)0th at home.

Fraternally Air. Appleman belongs to the Free and Accepted Alasons. the Knights of Pythias and Order of American Yeomen, and in the Pythian order he has passed the chairs. In politics he is a I'rohiliilionist. The subject and his wife are active members of the h'irst Presbyterian churcli. lie has always taken an earnest interest in religious matters and while a resident of l.oudonville was for sixteen years an elder in the cluirch, ha\-ing also occu- pied other church offices there and at ShreYC. In their home Mr. and Mrs. Appleman practice a generous and kindly hospitality, finding greatest pleasure in intercourse with congenial friends. They are highly respected because of their sterling qualities of character and their friends are in number as their acquaintances.

Charles Wesley Bolex

This gentleman opened an office in AVooster in 1908 and was soon recognized as an energetic and far-sighted business man. He decotes his attention to western iiiYestments, his long experience in mining enterprises hauing given him a knowledge of mines and mining attained by few.

Mr. Bolen was born in Lhiion City, Indiana, October 21, 1868, and is the son of John Wesley and Mary (Straider) Bolen, an old and influential family of that place. He received his education in the common schools of L nion City, also spent a short time at Ada L'niversity. He was only a small hoy when his mother died and he became self-supporting early in life, earning his first money shining shoes. He later worked in a brick-yard, sawmill and as a section hand on the railroad. AAdiile attending school he drove a delivery wagon for a grocery store mornings and evenings and on Saturdays. Being ambitious to obtain an education, he let nothing stand in his way, and his efforts were crowned with large success in due course of time. He taught one term of school and later clerked in a grocery store, and while thus engaged began reading law in the office of ex-Gov. Isaac P. Gray, and later with Theodore Shockney. He was admitted to the bar and for six years devoted bis attention to his profession, which extended over four counties in Indiana and Ohio, during which time he won an enviable reputation as an earnest, able and painstaking lawyer. His friend. Governor Gray, being appointed minister to Mexico by President Cleveland, interested Mr. Bolen in mining in Mexico, and for a period of five years he operated in the copper mines of Mexico and Arizona. He was very successful in making investments in mining properties and for several years maintained an office in Columbus, Ohio, also one in Denver, Colorado, later adding the AAffioster office, and his name has become familiar to the mining world during the past few years. He is a principal stockholder of the Stoughton Mining and Alilling Company, also a stockholder in the North Star jMining, Milling and Transportation Company, the Colusa Mining and Milling Company, the Ohio

Quartz Hill Mining Company, all in Colorado: and the Golden Chief Mining- Company, of Rhyolite, Nevada. All of these are being operated, Mr. Bolen owning five hundred thousand shares in them.

The domestic life of .Mr. Bolen began in 1892, when he married Jessie H. Starbuck, a lady of culture and refinement and the representative of an honored and influential family. This union has been graced by the birth of two children. Edward and Uda.

Mr. Bolen is a splendid specimen of well-rounded, symmetrical!}' devoloped, virile manhood, with a commanding presence and a strong personality, being six feet in height, having a keen eye and a dignity of bearing, moving among his fellows as one born to leadership. He is companionable, genial, a hale and hearty spirit, whose presence inspires good humor. AAhth duties that would crush the ordinary man, he has his labors so systematized that he experiences little or no inconvenience in doing them. He is a ^'igorous as well as an independent thinker, a wide reader, and he has the courage of his convictions upon all subjects which he investigates. His career as an attorney and in business has been strikingly original and fearless, prosecuting his researches after his own peculiar fashion, and, measured by the accepted standard of excellence, his career, though strenuous, has been eminently honorable and useful, and his life fraught with good to his fellows and to the world.

O. C. Williams, who is engaged in the livery business in Wooster, ranks among the more enterprising and progressive business men. The prosperity of any community, town or city depends in a large measure on its commercial activity, its industrial interests and its trade relations, and therefore the real upbuilders of a town are those who stand at the head of the leading enterprises. Mr. Williams has, by his progressive methods and enterprising spirit, been a definite factor in the advancement of Wooster's business interests.

d'he subject was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on the 19th of January. 1861. His father, Stephen R. Williams, was a nati\e of Pennsyhauia, born February 17, 1817, but has lived in Holmes county since he was two years old. and, what is more notable, has lived all these years on the same farm. Ills antecedents were Welsh. On April 30, 1830, Mr. Whlliams married

Jane Hague, who was born in this country, March 5, 1822, but whose parents were born at The Hague, Holland. Stephen R. Williams owns a splendid farm of two hundred and fifty acres and, despite his advanced age, he still maintains an active supervision over its operation, being still in vigorous health and as strong mentally as when in his physical prime. On April 30, 1910, he and his wife celebrated their seventieth wedding anniversary. To their union were born the following children : Rev. Albert B., of Mount Vernon, Ohio; Nancy, the widow of Lewis Everhard, deceased; Mary, the wife of George W. Burkett, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Ruth, the wife of Rev. J. T. H. Stewart, of Welcome, Ohio; W. V., of Winfield, Kansas, where he was in the hardware business for twenty-two years, but is now in the real estate business; and O. C., the subject of this sketch. Three sons, James, Aaron and John, are deceased.

O. C. Williams was reared on the parental farmstead in Holmes county and remained there until 1884. In that year he went to Harper county, Kansas, and engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he continued for twelve years, meeting with fair success. He then returned to his native state and went to farming in Holmes county, in which he was occupied for about ten years. On May i, 1905, he came to Wooster and took charge of his present business, that of liveryman, in which he has been very successful. The barn was established in 1887 by his brother-in-law, Lewis Everhard, now deceased, and is a large and commodious structure, capable of accommodating one hundred and fifty head without undue crowding. This barn bears the distinction of being the first ten-cent barn in the state of Ohio and the second in the LTnited States. It is run on practically the European plan, every horse getting an enclosed stall. The barn is equipped with a ladies' waiting room and toilet, as well as other conveniences, and from the start the institution has met with the approval of the public, it being accorded a liberal and constant patronage, especially by the farmers, by whom it is duly appreciated.

On June 20, 1895, Mr. Williams was married to Mary Alice Wishard, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Wishard, the family being of sturdy Scotch ancestry on both paternal and maternal lines. Mary Wishard was born in Danville. Hendricks county, Indiana, and received a good education in the public schools of her native state, the high standard of which is a matter of national reputation. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born two children, Horace M'illiams, born Eebruary 5, 1897, and Elizabeth Jane, born October 15, 1908.

Eraternally, Mr. AVilliams is a Ereemason, belonging to the lodge at Millersburg, Ohio, With his wife, he is a member of the Christian church.

to which they both gi\e a loyal and generous support. In politics he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, though he has no inclination for public office. Mr. Williams has many friends in Wooster, where his character as an honorable and upright man is well known. He is pleasant and agreeable in manner, and both he and his estimable wife delight to offer the hospitality of their pleasant home to their many friends.

William Herbert Bliss

The record of Mr. Bliss is that of a man who by his own unaided efforts worked his way from a modest beginning to a position of definite standing in the business circles of Wooster, where he is now engaged in the grocery business. His life has been of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods which he has followed have won for him the unbounded confidence of his fellow citizens.

Mr. Bliss was born at Bloomville, Seneca county, Ohio, on the i6th of March, 1869. His paternal grandfather, who was a native of New York state, was a successful merchant there, and met his death by accidental drowning after removing to Ohio. The subject's father, Edson P. Bliss, was also born in the state of New York and was brought to Ohio when a baby, his parents settling in Seneca county. After receiving his education and reaching years of maturity, he engaged in the dry goods Inisiness, and was so engaged for twenty-nine years. During the first years he was a business partner with Henry IM. Elagler, of Standard Oil fame. klr. Bliss died in November, 1886. He married Elizabeth Killey, who was born in Maryland and who died when the subject of this sketch was but four years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Bliss the following children were born: IMelvin O., of Bloomville, Ohio; Malcolm E., also of Bloomville: Ginnela, who is the wife of Clinton C. Leyda, ticket agent at Shreve, Ohio; the subject of this sketch is the youngest of the family.

William H. Bliss spent his boyhood in Bloonn-ille, and attended the ])ublic schools, graduating in due time from the Blooimille high school. Desiring to secure a more comjilete education he then entered Heidelberg Lhuhersity, at Tiffin. Ohio, where he remained two years, and then spent two years in W'ooster University. In 1888 ]\Ir. Bliss located in Wooster and established himself in the grcx'ery business in 1895. Erom a modest beginning, his busi- ness has grown until it is now of large proportions and realizes to Mr. Bliss a handsome annual net income. He carries a large and well-selected stock of everything nsnally to be found in an np-to-date grocery and his efforts to please his customers have been rewarded by constantly increasing business.

On the 6th of October. 1895, Mr. Bliss was united in marriage to Lillie May Siegenthaler, daughter of Albert J. Siegenthaler. of Wooster, where she was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are interested in advancing its work in the community. In politics Mr. Bliss is a Republican, but takes no very active part in public matters, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business interests. He is Democratic in his tastes and has made many warm personal friends since locating in WMoster, who esteem him because of his sterling cjualities. He is a self-made man and is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this character. iMr. and Mrs. Bliss have a pleasant home at No. 55 East Larwill street.

William L. Long

In the daily laborious struggle for an honorable competence and a solid career on the part of a business or professional man there is little to attract the reader in search of a sensational chapter; but to a mind thoroughly awake to the reality and meaning of human existence there are noble and imperishable lessons in the career of an individual who, wdthont other means than a clear head, strong arm and true heart, directed and controlled by correct principles and unerring judgment, concjuers adversity and finally wins, not only ])ecnniary independence, but, what is far better, the deserved respect and confidence of those with whom his active years have been mainly spent. To this latter class belongs the subject of this sketch, who is recognized as one of the leading contractors and builders in \\''a}me county.

Mr. Long was born in Wooster on the 8th of October, 1871. His parents are Jacob and Sarah (Ketker) Long, the former of whom was born in Paradise, Wayne county. Ohio, where he was reared to the life of a farmer Subsequently he was employed as a stone mason, and later lived at Cleveland, Ohio, in retirement, having removed to that city in 1905, his death having occurred recently. His widow is now making her home wdth her son. Jacob Long had lived in Wayne county all his life up to the time of his removal. His family is of German extraction, his father, Barnhart Long, having been a native of the Fatherland. He came from Germany in young manhood, settling first at Goshen, Indiana, but removing to Wayne county, Ohio, in an early day. He was an expert gunsmith and a highly respected man. His death occurred in 1901. The subject's mother was born in Toronto. Canada, but in young girlhood was brought to the Cnited States by her parents, who settled in Wayne county, where she lived all her life up to the time of her removal to Cleveland. Jacob and Sarah Long were the parents of the following children, thirteen in number: Shannon, deceased; Dora, the wife of Irwin Stevens, of Cleveland, Ohio; William L., subject of this sketch; Jennie, the wife of Edward Gibbons, of Columbus, Ohio; Ethel, the wife of Clem Langell, of Cleveland, Ohio; Alice, wife of Hugh McAnnaney, of Fort Lupton, Colorado; David, of Cleveland; Earl, who died at the age of twentyfive years; Goldie, the wife of Charles Smith, of Cleveland; Karl, of Cleveland; Frank, of Wooster; Hazel, wife of Charles Wheaton, of Columbus, Ohio; Nellie, deceased.

Though the subject of this sketch was born in the city of Wooster, he went to live with his father on a farm at ten years old, and worked there until fourteen years old. His parents were poor, and his father was compelled to support his large family by day labor. After the father rented the little farm out from the city and moved there, things did not materially brighten, as the land was poor and the combined efforts of father and l)oys could not make it produce enough to keep the family in comfort. William liecame discouraged at the outlook and told his father he was going to WToster and hunt work, that he might pro\'ide his mother with money^ as she had not seen a ten-dollar bill since they had moved to the farm. The boy soon found employment, and, being possessed of a rugged constitution and a willing disposition, he was soon enabled to command fair wages. He first learned the stone-mason's trade and then that of a brick mason, in both of which he Ijecame a proficient workman. By thrift and economy he was enabled to save money and in i8gi he went into the contracting business on his own account. In this line he has achieved a success far beyond his early dreams and has built u|) a Inisiness second to none in this section of the state. He has accumulated considerable material wealth, being worth, at a conservative estimate, fifty' thousand dollars, all of which has been gained by hard work and the exercise of sound judgment. Mr. Long constantly employs a large number of workmen and has performed some of the largest building contracts ever let in this county. *\mong the buildings constructed by him, the following may l)e mentioned : The Wayne county jail, the university chapel, part of the Kauke hall, the Severance hall, the university power house, the addition to the b'rick Libi-ary at the uni\ersity, the llolden hall, these including the princijial buildings at Wooster Uuiver- sity, the Wayne County Building and Loan Association building, the Gerstenslager Buggy Company factory, Wooster high school building, J. M. Gitner's garage, the Wooster brush company's new factory, and many other of the best class of buildings in the community, besides a large number of the best residences. Everything Mr. Long undertakes is done well and he has long had an enviable reputation because of the Cjuality of his work. His property interests include a beautiful home, in which he takes a justifiable pride. He also bought a fine piece of farming land, and his father and mother lived on this place for a while, but subsec|uently moved to Cleveland, where so many of their children were living. Mr. Long is also a stockholder in the Wayne County National Bank and in the Gerstenslager Buggy Compan}y both of them leading institutions of their kind in this city, and a splendid farm of one hundred and forty acres located two and a half miles east of Wooster.

In 1 894 Mr. Long was united in marriage to Elizabeth I. Whitcomb, a daughter of David Whitcomb, and born in Haysville, Ashland county, this state. To this union four children have been born, namely: Edna V., Hugh J., Donald, and one that died in infancy unnamed. Their home, on Pittsburgh avenue, is a charming place, where all visitors meet with a hearty and spontaneous welcome and where the latch-string ever hangs on the outside. In his social relations, Mr. Long is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Eellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a stanch Republican and takes an active interest in the success of his party, but though frecjuently importuned to accept nomination for public office, he has steadfastly refused to do so, preferring to devote his attention to his business interests and his family, to which he is devoted. However, he is giving effective service as a member of the board of public safety. Nevertheless he is essentially alert and public-spirited in his attitude and his interest in all that conserves the public welfare is unabating. Because of his courteous manners, genial disposition and genuine worth, he has won and retains a host of warm personal friends. Since above was written IMr. Long's father died. His mother makes her home with her son.

Albert Gerlach

Among the enterprising citizens of Wooster, Ohio, is Albert Gerlach, rvho is engaged in the meat business, managing one of the oldest, best known and extensive shops in the city, while he maintains a very comfortable home here, and the }^ears of his residence have but served to strengthen the feeling of his fellow citizens, for he has shown what rightly directed principles, coupled with honesty and industry, can accomplish toward definite success. As the name indicates, this family is of German origin. Frank C. Gerlach, father of the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, was a native of the province of Prussia; when a young man he joined a large colony of Germans and they came to the United States, most of them locating in Ohio, young Gerlach making his way to Wooster, where he decided, to remain, finding that Wayne county offered exceptional inducements for a man of his temperament. He engaged in the meat business, thus founding the well known establishment of which the subject is now the manager and owner. He was a successful business man and built up a very lucrative trade here. He took considerable interest in local politics and at one time served in a very creditable manner as township trustee. He lived in Wooster continuously until his death, in March, 1885. Frank Gerlach married Johanna Kaltwasser, a native of Prussia who came to America when a young woman. She died on December 27, 1909. She was a kindly, generous and honest lady whom everybody respected. By her marriage with Frank Gerlach she became the iTtother of four children, Albert, Will, Frank, Jr., and Julius.

Albert Gerlach was born in Wooster, Ohio, March 29, 1861. and he has lived here all his life. He received a very practical education in the local schools, and when a mere boy assisted his father in the meat business. Pie very naturally decided to follow in the latter's footsteps and follow the same line of work'for a livelihood : this he has done in a manner that stamps him as progressive, alert and honest in all his dealings with his fellow men, having been taught by his honored parents the old-time adage that, ''Honesty is the best policy." His father taught him the "ins and outs" of the meat business and gave him a share in the shop, which he is still managing in the same systematic and careful manner as always characterized the methods of the elder Gerlach, having not only been able to retain the old trade but also a constantly growing new list of good customers. By his thrift and al)le management he has won large success, accumulating a substantial competency and ranking with the progressive business men of Wooster.

Mr. Gerlach has never assumed the responsibilities of the married state. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics he is a Democrat, but not a partisan. His church membership is with the Fnglish Lutherans, of which he is a liberal supporter ami iu which congregation he is held in high fa\'or.

Daxiel S. Stout

Daniel S. Stout needs no introduction to the citizens of Wayne township. Wayne county, for his long and eminently useful life has been spent here, with the exception of his sendee in the army, for he was one of the loyal sons of the North who sacrificed so much for succeeding generations, undergoing the trials and privations, to say nothing of the dangers to life and limb, during the Stormy days of the early sixties. To such as he all honor is due. As indicated, Mr. Stout was born in Wayne township, this county, near iMadisonburg, August 2, 1839. He is the son of Daniel Stout, a native of Berks county, Pennsyhania, who married Catherine Oberlin, a native of Lancaster county, that state. He came as a single man to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1825. with his parents. His father was Matthias Stout, who married Susan Gable, a native of Pennsylvania. They came to Wayne county, Ohio, and purchased a small place near Madisonburg, on which Mr. Stout lived until his death, his widow surviving and dying -in Illinois.

Daniel Stout, father of Daniel S., of this review, was educated in the common schools. His father, Matthias, was a well-educated man and a teacher of German for some time. Daniel learned the bricklayer's trade, which he followed for several years, devoting the latter part of his life to farming. He first secured land in Mercer county, Ohio, and in 1854 or 1855 he bought seventy-four acres w'here the subject now resides in Wayne township. There was an old log house on the place at that time, but he improved the place. His first wife died in 1882 and he married a second time, his last wife being Rebecca Aultman, a native of Orrville, Ohio. Daniel Stout was the father of thirteen children by his first wife and three by his second. Those living by his first wife are, Daniel S., subject of this sketch: Jacob O.. of Lima, Ohio; Simeon, a bricklayer at Mechanicsburg, this county; Susan E., living at home; Catherine, also at home; James 1'., of St. Marys, Ohio; Anna B., living at home. The following are the children by Daniel Stout's second marriage: Cora, living at East Palestine,

Ohio; Isa, of Orrville, Ohio; the other child by this marriage is deceased. Daniel Stout held the office of trustee of his township, also other offices within the gift of the people. He was a Democrat and a memljer of the Lutheran church. His death occurred on May 3, 1896.

Daniel S. Stout, of this review, received only a common school education, and he lived at home until he -was twenty-two years of age. when he enlisted his services in defense of the flag during the Civil war. serving with credit for a period of four years. His enlistment occurred in October, 1861, in Company B, McLaughlin's Sc^uadron. which was organized at Mansfield, Ohio. The regiment was sent to the Big Sandy river in eastern Tennessee and was in that valley for one year ; thence they ascended the Ohio river and returned to the Big Sandy river country : spent two months in Covington, Kentucky; then went to Knoxville, Tennessee, and were there when the place was besieged by Longstreet. Mr. Stout then went home on thirty days' furlough, after which he returned to Lexington, Kentucky. In Ma'rch, 1864. he went across Tennessee to Georgia and took part in the Atlanta campaign and was captured on July 31st, sent soon afterward to prison at Anderson- \-ille. also sent to the Florence prison, and after five months he was paroled and exchanged. Then he came home again on a thirty-day furlough, returjring to his command in North Carolina, remaining with the same until his discharge in November, 1865, after which he came home. Three of his brothers were also in the Lhiion army, John, of the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, became a captain; Jacob, who became a second lieutenant in the company with Daniel S., served three and one-half years, and he, too, was taken prisoner; William was also in the same company with the subject of this review and died in Mellon prison, Georgia.

business at Mechancisbnrg, this county; but after spending two years there he went to Jackson county, Missouri, where he remained for two and onehalf years, then returned to Ohio, locating in Creston, Wayne countv, and was engaged in the butter and egg business for two years. Since that time he has been on the old homestead, where he is carrying on general farming very successfully, having a nice home and a well-managed place. He has been a trustee of Wayne township for two terms, also served as school director. He votes the Democratic ticket. The Stout famih' are supporters of the Evangelical Lutheran church of Wayne township.

Elmer S. Landes

Men iiossessed of genius, of l)usiness capacity, force and intelligence need no factitious introduction to the jniblic attention. The positions of honor, influence and ])ower in commerce, in statesmanshi]), in fact in an\- Held of pul)- lic activity, are not always occupied by men of the greatest resources or the highest character, intellect or ability. Men who possess the best and most \-aluable attainments, and who are qualified for the highest service, pass quietly along, almost unrecognized, unhonored and unsung. An accident frequently thrusts elaborations and exalted position upon an individual, or the independence of accumulated wealth, although he may be too small to fill the measure of his luck. He who makes himself strong, and a factor, - a living, acting, ac- i complishing entity in his community, - wdrether a young man or not, who j prise, energy and judgment, is a greater and more valuable citizen than he who goes "whistling to the air" in perfumed hammocks, knitted and woven ' by the deft spiders of circumstance.

The beginning is more than doing a thing in time. It orders a continuance. It implies action, choice, purpose, courage, self-reliance, progress.

Some lives are diligent but unproductive, because they swing down into the easiest place and go around, but never up and forward. Others appropriate all their strength in pretense in appearing, not being. We conjecture that with Mr. Landes the only sane philosophy of life comes through action.

The subject of this sketch is a native of Wayne county, as indigenous to the soil as its wild flowers or its forest trees, and was born in Madisonburg, Wayne township, October 24, 1867. He is a son of Thomas Allen and Martha Jane Landes, of AVayne towmship, both of wdiom w'ere born the same year, 1846, in this township; his mother was also born at Madisonburg, where she has lived continuously since her birth, or for sixty-three years.

His parents were united in marriage in 1866, and to this wedded union four children, three sons and one daughter, w'ere born, all of w'hom, save the daughter, are living. His ancestral stock, both on the paternal and maternal line, is strongly interfused with the old territory blood, albeit on the latter or on the mother's side there is a healthy interjection of the red blood of the Celts, the irrepressible Mishenaw that lives immortally in song and eloquence, and who has glorified many a battlefield from Drogheds to Boyne AAHter.

His father was an upright, industrious citizen, the owner of considerable real estate which he cultivated, in connection with which he engaged in training, a quite profitable vocation, and such other work as came within the range of his ability and equipment to perform, his sons materially assisting him in his farm work and other fields of labor in which he may have been engaged.

But during these earlier years of strenuous exertion the parents did not overlook or neglect the matter of education of their children, making certain their attendance upon the country or the village school. After the career with his father on the farm in trading, digging and drilling wells, etc., had ended at the age of nineteen, he entered the Smithville Normal School, of Prof. P. A. Palmer, and here he studied for two years, making rapid progress in faithfulness and efficiency of work. With his elementary ec|uipment and receiving his certificate, he launched his little bark on the mixed waters of pedagogy, conducting his first school, in Zinn district, Wayne township. He subsequently pursued this as a vocation for a period of thirteen years, four as superintendent at Madisonburg, etc., serving as instructor one year in the preparatory department of the Wooster University, under Professor Dickason, the last four of his thirteen years' experience in the schoolroom being employed as superintendent of the Dalton school. During the period of his highly successful service at Dalton, he was granted, in consideration of his qualifications and merit, an eight-year certificate by the county examining board, the first one covering that period of years ever issued to an applicant. He took the initiative, as the first of the younger teachers of Wayne county, to incorporate into or communicate to his system of instruction and plan of studies the normal aspect or the features of the normal, thereby aiming to qualify and fortify such of the scholars as were desirous and ambitious of becoming teachers for the scrutiny and inquisitive ordeal of examination, supplementing this course of study with suggestive thoughts and processes of best method of school government. That this idea, in greater part, original with Mr. Landes, was an inspiring success and operated to the best advantage of all, requiring no other or more precise demonstration than in the fact that, at the termination of his first year at Dalton, of an attendance of but little in excess of fifty pupils, twenty of them obtained certificates as teachers and entered the pedagogical field. We know of no better commentary, no higher or more significant words of commendation that could be pronounced to accent and emphasize these practical and vital, but unadvertised and unheralded, achievements of the school room.

Abandoning the phalanx of the teachers, he removed and settled in Wooster, in August, 1907, and at once embarked in the realty agency business to which he has since exclusively devoted his time and attention. He found soon after he had opened office in the city that this department of business was measuraldy in an inanimate, stagnate condition, or in other words, was not being vigorously pushed along the lines especially as he conceived were the proper ones along which to prosecute it, having in view, as a matter of course, the compensations that might accrue to him personally, and that wider and broader consideration as to how Wooster might lie benefited, how far its sleepy energies might be animated, how a spirit of investment of pur- chase and sale might be stimulated, how far an impulse toward the growth and development of the city of Wooster could be encouraged and verified, through an aggressive and vigorous ''agency" such as he but recently established.

We do not hesitate to say that the experiment he instituted has proven a success so far as Mr. Landes is concerned, and equally so as to the measure of stimulas of life it has imparted to healthier action in real estate, a better understanding and definition of values, and a more determined and decisive ambition on the part of business men of Wooster and the citizens in general, to stand by Mr. Landes and stand by each other in the laudable and praiseworthy ambition and purpose of purchasing property, erecting new buildings conforming to the laws of permanence, taste and beauty and exerting themselves to the very utmost toward the growth, development and expansion of the beautiful city of Wooster, mak'ing it not only a city of attractive homes, but a cit}^ of business, a mart of trade, factories, mills, the theater of manufacturers, with both hands outstretched toward capital, enterprise and genius, beckoning them to come, join us, keep us, in the great scheme of development.

Mr. Landes has performed a worthy and commendable part in this direction. He was one and the foremost in organizing the "Boosters' Club," now merged in the Board of Trade, of which he is an active member, and perhaps he and Mr. John Schnltz accomplished more than came from any other source, in formulating the plans and methods of procedure that secured the location in our midst of the Gerstenslager carriage works. So consummate was the organization of this club that in the days of the canvass for the amount stipulated as the consideration for the transfer of the carriage works to Wooster, one thousand two hundred dollars more than the sum required was subscribed by the liusiness men and other enterprising citizens of that city. As a consequence of the enlargement of his business operations, wLich have contributed so directly and substantially to the growth and improvement of our city, inspiring new enterprises and giving fresh momentum to those already contemplated, or in process of development, his brother Clarence came to Wooster within the past two years, forming a partnership with him, his business having assumed such proportions that assistance on his part became necessary.

Clarence Landes is an elder brother of the subject of this sketch, a native of Wayne county, educated in Wayne county and a former teacher in the schools of Wayne county, with an experience in this vocation of eight years, and a business man in Wayne county for a number of years prior to his coming to Wooster. He had for fonr years been engaged in the hardware trade in the flourishing \-illage of Doylestown, where he had 'built up a fine business, the reputation of a gentleman of integrity, honesty, straightforward, upright life, possessing excellent qualities as a man of business, cliaracterized by the individuality, self-reliance, quiet assertiveness, enterprise, judgment and alert executive tact of his brother. He is a man of family, has come to Wooster to stay, make it his home and help make it one of the hustling, progressive and most beautiful inland cities of northern Ohio.

During the last few years IMr. Landes has also written and published two most valuable books accordant to and in the manner of the "Our Educational Service,'' the first issued in 1901, entitled "Outlines in L^nited States History," the second under the caption of "The New Practical Orthography," in a total of one hundred and ninety-four pages. The first volume embraces a succinct historv of political parties, from the time of the Whig and Tory organizations, the Federal, and Anti-Federal, Democratic, Anti-Masonic, Free Soil, Barnburners, Hawkeyes, Republicans, etc. ; with a chronological record of our territorial acquisitions from the Revolutionary period to Hawaii and our armed contention with Spain, within the last decade. It is a work that cannot fail to be a most valuable and helpful assistant to student and teacher, and, as the author aptly says in the preface, its object being "to introduce plans by which the acquisition of a thorough knowledge of the history of our country may not only be an interesting but a pleasant task."

"The New Practical Orthography" is a text 1)Ook for use in public schools, grammar schools and lower grades in high school, the later editions of these works being issued from the press of the New Publishing Company, of F. A. Owen, Dansville. New York. This little volume supplies a very evident demand in that, as the author most pertinently says, "it furnishes a practical treatise on orthography, sufficiently elementary for the country schools, the grammar school and the lower grades in the high school, and at the same time comprehensive enough to give a fair knowledge of the principles of orthography."

Mr. Landes is a Republican of the pronounced type, who emphasizes his patriotism, party fealty and genuine Americanism on all proper occasions, never obtrusive, however, in promulgation of his political opinions .or predilections, belie\'ing that in a free country, such as this, each mau has a right to his own views and may act in pursuance thereto in affairs ])olitical. moral and religious and all matters of government. He is now seiu'ing his second term as chairman of the Wayne county Republican executive committee and assisted materially in shaping and directing the congressional cani])aign of the late Hon. M. L. Smyser in 1907. .Mthough he is a \'igilanl and active member of his party, he is not an office seeker - in fact, is without aspirations in that direction, the exception to this being in 1905, when his party nominated him for county auditor, in which contest he was far-away and ahead of his ticket, but went down in the "Herrick landslide" of that year.

Mr. Landes has only fairly attained the midway division of the average acting working life with the reasonable assurance and promise before him of more working, compensating tomorrows than tested and exhausted yesterdays. He is largely a self-made man, believes in work, education and attention to business in hand, the mutual responsibility and interdependence of man and their responsiliility to state, and this is manifest in his spirit of progress and enterprise. He believes that whatever be your choice in life's great work, you must grasp this truth. You are a product and investment yourself, if you will, of the state and to it you owe some returns. Eveiy taxpayer has contributed to your present advancement. The nation has found out that ignorance is a menace, and that its safety and protection is in the trained and educated minds of its citizens, through the village schools, the normals, academies and colleges. It is true that freedom has its obligations and liberty its restrictions and no man, a product of our American institutions, has any moral right to engage in anything that could not help another while at the same time it affords him a livelihood and the means of increasing his fortune. His experiences and labor as a teacher were adjusted along these parallels of mental usefulness, and so are his exertions in the realty business at this time, in his several allotments of property, of building sites and at present with more than forty lots for sale of his own and the prospects of a dozen houses being built in the immediate future. The secret of the success of Mr. Landes is imbedded in a fixed purpose that differentiates from choice or desire, in that it is as constant as the needle to the pole and as certain. He recognizes the unchangeable ecjuation : Attention plus service and sacrifice equals success. Like the lens, it concentrates the rays of mental powers upon the point to be attained and then Wanamaker, the clerk, becomes the merchant prince, and Edison, the newsboy, the wizard of the world.

Mr. I.andes is of medium height, dark hair and eyes, firmly and compactly built, and sound as the pillars in the Sistine chapel. He is sociable, agreeable and companionable, guards well his thoughts and words, his ears a sanctuary from the name of his absent and a locked secret of his present friend. Neither of these can miscarry in his trust. He undertakes without rashness and performs with fixed resolution, well-balanced and floats steadily. He is generous and liberal. His business career is forward, yet he has the silent nerve to confront opposition or failure and would see under the frown of defeat the smile of victory. - By Ben Douglas.

John Hoavard Beecher Hanford

Success has 1)een worthily attained by J. H. B. Hanford, who is today accounted one of the prosperous business men and substantial citizens of AA^ooster, AAHyne county, Ohio. To his energy, enterprise, careful management and keen discernment his present station in life is attributed. He started upon his career as an independent factor at the bottom of the ladder and is now the proprietor of one of the best business concerns in the city, occupying a conspicuous place in the front rank of her successful citizens.

Mr. Hanford was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, on July 4, 1867, therefore he celebrated his natal day on the anniversary of our national independence. His parents were Samuel M. and Rebecca (Finley) Hanford. The former, who was born in Noble county, Ohio, was a farmer by profession and shortly after the close of the Civil war he removed to Guernsey county, where he continued his farming operations. He was also for a while engaged in mercantile pursuits, but subsecjuently relincjuished that and returned to the farm. During the great gold excitement of 1849 he caught the fever and went to the Pacific coast, spending eight years in Oregon and California. His death occurred when he was seventy-seven years old. He had a brother in the Union army who at the battle of Gettysburg was wounded twentyseven times. Rebecca Finley Hanford was born in Guernsey county, this state, and her death occurred in 1879. Her mother's family name was Morris and she was related in direct line to Robert Morris, one of the immortal signers of the Declaration of Independence. To Samuel and Rebecca Hanford the following children were born: Angeline, deceased; Estella, deceased; Viola is the wife of Elmer Secrest, of Chaseville, Noble county, Ohio; Eliza is the wife of Noah Davis, also of Chaseville: Charles F., of Cambridge, Ohio; J. H. B. is the immediate subject of this sketch; Cora, the wife of Ray Larrick, of Pleasant City, Ohio; Anna L., the wife of C. L. Starr, of Pleasant City, Ohio.

J. H. B. Hanford was reared on the home farm and secured a fair education in the common schools of his home township. AAdieu old enough he assumed his share of the labors of the farm and continued to make his home with his parents until 1890. He was then variously employed until about 1893, when he engaged in the furniture business at Pleasant City, where he continued with fair success until K]04. In that year, desiring a wider scope for business, he came to AAMoster, and on IMarch 8, 1905, he bought a half interest with H. B. Christine, furniture dealer, and in Hecember of the same year he liought his partner's interest, since which time he has been sole pro- prietor. The business has steadily grown and is now the largest furniture store in AVooster. Mr. Danford occupies three floors and a basement, each thirty-two by one hundred and seYenty-five feet in size, and the stock carried is in every respect up to date, being carefully selected and well displayed. In connection with the general line of furniture and household furnishings, Mr. Danford also carries on an undertaking business. In this line also he is very successful, being himself a licensed embalmer. He is accommodating and painstaking and is one of the most popular funeral directors in the county.

On November 14. 1895, Air. Danford married Florence Blake, who was liorn at Stockport, Alorgan county, Ohio. She is of distinguished lineage, tracing her paternal ancestry to Commodore Blake, the noted English na\'al commander, and on the maternal side she is related to Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Air. Danford is a director in the Pleasant City Telephone Company, of Pleasant City. Ohio. Socially he is a member of the Free and Accepted Alasons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In religion, he and his vife are active members of the Alethodist Episcopal church, of which Air. Danford is one of the trustees. He is a Republican in politics, though not in any sense an ofilceseeker, and he ever manifests a public-spirited interest in local affairs, giving his aid and influence for the furtherance of all measures for the general good. Because of his high personal character Air. Danford enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who know him.

John N. Boor

The founder of this family was Alichael Boor, who came from Germany about the middle of the last century and located in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, aliout 1754. He was one of the pioneer farmers of that region and died there while the state was still an English colony. He left a son named Nicholas, born January 27, 1792. who went to Frederick county, Virginia, in middle life and spent seven years in that part of the country. In 1854 he came to AA'ayne county. Ohio, where he farmed until his death, in 1874. AA'fliile in Pennsylvania he followed the business of teamster and freighter. He married Catherine Boyer, who was born February 2, 1793. and died July 2. 1855. children liy this union were: AA^illiam, Alaria,

Elizabeth (deceased), Catherine (deceased), Polly, Susan, Susanna; Adam and Jacob are deceased; Alary is still living; David and Louisa are deceased; George, who li\es in Aledina county, Ohio, ser\ed three years in the Civil war in Company C. Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

John N. Boor, the twelfth child of this large family, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. July i8, 1834. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years old, and then took charge of a threshing machine, which he conducted for nine years, two of these on his own account, and was very successful in this line of work. He served as constable from 1859 to i860 in this and in 1862 in Canaan township, but resigned. He was captain of a militia company.

Mr. Boor's war record is one of which his descendants .may well be proud and it forms one of the principal chapters in his life history, for he was one of the patriotic sons of the North who left the pleasures and opportunities of home and business to render service for the Union. On April 23, 1861, in response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, he enlisted in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment Ohio \'olunteer Infantry, and served four months. In January, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company D, Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, of which William D. Hamilton u as colonel, and so interesting and praiseworthy was the record of this regiment that a detailed account of its operations is deemed advisable here, for it was noted for its continued action and dash and fight. It was first organized in Camp Zanesville in 1862, and was then but one battalion, four companies, commanded by Mr. Hamilton, who was then a major, this gallant officer having been a captain in the Thirty-second Regiment of Ohio Infantry. It was not until September, 1863, that Captain Proctor, of the Eighteenth United States Infantry, mustered in the Second and Third Battalions. In the fall of 1862 the First Battalion was put into shape and until January remained in Ohio, and was drilled, but without horses. Later they were mounted and crossed over into Kentucky, and kept watch on the ro\'ing bands of Confederates, and at Pine Mountain Gap, June i6, 1863, thev had their first liattle. It was not to be expected that men under such a leader would acquit themseh'es badly, and on that day the Ninth Ohio Cavalry liegan to make history for itself, to do honor to the state from which it came, and to render \aluable service to the country it was organized to defend. It engaged in sixty-four battles and skirmishes. It was not until the spring of 1864 that the entire regiment was together, the .se\eral battalions meeting at Pulaski, 'rennessee. two of the l)attalions ha\'ing made a very gallant charge against Roddy's entire brigade of Confederates, who tied l;efore tlie gallant (Dhioans. C)n .Inly 10. 1864, the Ninth took part in Rousseau's great raid through .\lal)ama, riding through the garden of the South, where no I'niou soldier had ever been before, skirmishing for fourteen davs, fighting, tearing u]) railroad-^, burn- ing mills, factories and cotton, working clay and night destroying the resources of the enemy, - in fact, they reserved only three hours daily for rest and sleep. Rarely in the history of warfare was there such riding as this. It was a most successful raid, but it has never been given its rightful place in history. Rousseau found Sherman's army at Marietta, Georgia, and the Ninth took part in the great Atlanta campaign. A battalion under Major Bowles led the advance of the memorable flank movement when Sherman threw invincible columns to the right, which soon ended the great campaign. On the memorable march to the sea the regiment was conspicuous and was a part of the army under that gallant leader. General Kilpatrick, and did heroic work. In July, 1865, the survivors of the regiment returned to their homes, and it is safe to say that none of those who are living today but feels proud of the fact that he belonged to a regiment with such a splendid record.

Following is a list of the battles and skirmishes in which the regiment engaged in 1863 : Pine Mountain Gap, Big Creek Gap, Waltzburg, all in

Kentucky; Knoxville, Powell Valley, both in Tennessee; pursuit of Morgan, siege of Knoxville; following were consecutive in 1864; Florence, repulse of an attack on Decatur, Center Star, Courtland Road, Rousseau's raid, Coosa River, Ten Islands, Talladega, Stone's Ferry, Lochapoka, Auburn, Chesaw Station, all in Alabama, with part of Rousseau's raid in Georgia ; siege of Atlanta, East Point, Georgia; Chattahooche river, pursuit of Wheeler, pursuit of Forrest, all in Alabama; Jonesboro, Lovejoy, Bear Creek Station, IMacon, Griswoldsville, Milledgeville, Oconee River, Waynesboro, Louisville, Rocky Creek Church, Brier Creek, Ebenezer Creek, siege of Savannah, all in Georgia; Campbellsville, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee; Arnold's Plantation, Altamaha Bridge, March to the Sea, Georgia; Taylor's Creek, Barnwell, Williston, Aiken. Blackville, Gunter's Bridge, Winnsborough, South Carolina ; Lexington, Broad River Bridge, Phillips' Cross Roads, Rockingham, Salem Grove, iMonroe Cross Roads, Fayetteville, Taylor's Flole Creek, Averasboro, Bentonville, Faison's Depot, Smithfield Railroad, Raleigh, Morrisville, Chapel Hill and Bennett House, all North Carolina.

This splendid regiment was mustered out at Lexington, North Carolina, July 20, 1865, and discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, August 2d following. The regiment was attached to the Second Brigade, Cavalry Division, Twentythird Corps, until March, 1864. Ordered to Athens, Alabama, and attached to the cavalry command. Dodge's left wing. Sixteenth Army Corps, until iMay, 1864, then it was attached to Kilpatrick's Second Brigade, Third Division, with which it remained until June, 1865.

Thus it will be seen that Mr. Boor saw some strenuous service, and according to his comrades he was always ready for duty and never swen'ed from danger or a difficult task. Following is a roster of his comrades in Company D : Emerson Benson, W. J. Boden, James Boileau, Joseph Burgoon, Levi Bowers, William Barkimer, David Baker, S. N. Cook, D. i\I. Dougherty, John Double, Harrison H. Dodd, George Fisher, Abraham Felger, David R. Houser, L. H. Hughes, William Herron, William Henderson, John Hill, Henry Heck, Lewis H. Immel, Jacob Johnson, John W. Kurtz, J. A. Kister, Timothy Lyne, Byron McKenzie, John Moore, Joseph Marshall, B. Mitchelson, George Morrison, W. A. Nichols, J. A. Petty, Cornelius Pettit, John Rhodes, William Santell, James Singre, Joshua Stotsberiy, John A. Strauss, James A. Smith, Thomas C. Smith, John Sparr, J. A. Switzer, Justus F. Watson, Sam F. Wireman, Sam S. Wyre, Joseph C. Wheeler, Henry Wells.

Mr. Boor was taken prisoner on October 2, 1864, in Georgia and was held at Macon for two weeks, and at Millen, Georgia, for six weeks. He also saw the inside of prisons at Savannah and at Florence, South Carolina. February 27, 1865, he was paroled and put on a boat at Wulmington, North Carolina, eventually reached Annapolis, Maryland, from which place he went to Columbus, Ohio, where, after a furlough of thirty days, he was discharged on June 15, 1865. IMr. Boor enjoys the distinction of having participated in the first engagement of the Civil war, the battle of Philippi, West Virginia, on June 3, 1861, and he and a comrade captured the first armed prisoner.

In 1869 Mr. Boor built a steam saw-mill on his place in WTyne township, this county, which he conducted without intermission for thirty }-ears, doing a very large business and becoming widely known as a mill and lumber man. In 1878 and 1879 he served as township assessor, was elected ai>- praiser in the latter year and served one term. In 1884 he was again elected assessor and in 1890 was re-elected land appraiser. In the fall of 1895 he was elected infirmary director and served very acce])tabl}- in this, as in his former public capacities, for a period of six years. He has always been acti\'e in jiolitics on the Democratic side. He has long been a member of the United Brethren church at Madisonburg, Ohio, and was one of the organizers who built the structui'c in 1876. I'he congregation started w ith about thirty members and now has seventy or more. i\Ir. Boor was trustee Irom 1873 to 1908, and he always took a great deal of interest in religious work. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Gi\en Post. No. 133.

at Wooster, and ranks high among his old comrades, as well as among the citizens of the county generally. He has been successful in business, prominent in politics, and one of the factors in developing his part of the county.

On March 13, 1862, Mr. Boor married Elizabeth C. Carl, who was born in Ashland county, Ohio, February 16, 1841. She is a daughter of Philip and Otilla ( Bush ) Carl, who came from Germany and were early pioneers of Ashland county. He died in 1844 and his widow married Philip Beck, but both are now deceased. Four children ha^'e been born to Mr. and Mrs. Boor, named as follows: George Clement, born January 23, 1863, is a druggist in Rocky River. Ohio, and married Adeline Wagner; Edwin Nicholas. born September 3, 1866. is electrician for the Cleveland. Columbus & Southwestern Electric Company, married Ora Hershey and has two children, Ruth and Helen ; Dr. Seymour C.. born July 7, 1868,^ was educated at Cle\'eland and Baltimore, married Amanda Gingery and li\'es in Burbank. Ohio ; Effie Gertrude, born February 10, 1872, married F. O. Miller, a farmer of Wayne township, and has three children. Marie. Harold and Gladys.

Isaac N. Hohgh

County auditor from 1903 to 1909 and for many years an educator of wide repute. Isaac N. Hough is a native of WMyne county, Ohio, born in Chester township on July 12, 1849. He springs from an old and well known Pennsylvania family that figured in the early history of various parts of the Keystone state, but for many years the name has been a familiar sound in northern Ohio, his father, David Hough, moving with his parents to Wayne county when but six years old and spending the remainder of his life on the family homestead in Chester township. By occupation David Hough was a tiller of the soil, which useful and honorable calling he follo\ved for many years with gratifying success. He was a man of high character and eminently respectable social standing, wielded a strong influence for good among his neighbors and friends and was long esteemed one of the leading citizens. He departed this life at the age of si.xty years, one month and one day, and left to his posterity the memory of noble deeds and high ideals and a name unstained by the slightest suspicion of dishonor.

Mary Showalter. wife of David Hough, was also of Pennsylvania birth and, like her husband, came to Ohio in early life and spent her youth and young womanhood in the county of AMyne. She combined many noble qual- ities of mind and heart, which were reproduced in her offspring, and ended her earthly course in the year 1895, esteemed and honored by all who knew her.

The children of David and Mary Hough, eleven in number, are as follows: Lucy, wife of Edmund Keyser, of Wooster, Ohio; Daniel, who lives in Cass county, Missouri; John, deceased; William, of Belding, Michigan; Matilda, deceased, who was the wife of George W. Forbes, of Cle\'eland, Ohio; Sarah Jane, who is unmarried and lives in the city of Wooster; Isaac N., the subject of this review; James A., deceased; Margaret W., who married J. W. Crummel, of Apple Creek, this state; Ida A., wife of C. B. Burchfield, also a resident of Apple Creek, and Clara M., who was basely murdered some years ago in the city of Mansfield, Ohio.

Isaac N. Hough is descended from sturdy and eminently honorable ancestry and inherits to a marked degree many of the sterling qualities of his antecedents. He was reared in close touch with nature on the farm and grew' to the full stature of well-rounded manhood under excellent home influences, learning while still young those lessons of industry and thrift which make for success in material matters and the principles of morality and probity which constitute such important parts of every symmetrically developed character. Lender the wholesome discipline of farm labor he laid broad and deep the solid foundations iqion which his subse(|uent career as an educator and public spirited official rests and to this rugged school of experience attributes much of the success whicli has made him an influential factor and recognized leader among his fellow men. At the proper age he entered the district school of his neighborhood, where his progress was commendable, and he later attended Smithville Academy several terms, in which he made rapid advancement in the higher branches of learning. Leaving the latter institution wdth a well disciplined mind, he engaged in teaching and during the thirty years ensuing de\'Oted his attention very closely and comscientiously to that useful and nol)le work, attaining, in the meantime, much more than local repute, as an educator. It is a fact worthy of note that Mr. Hough's long ex])erience as a teacher was confined to a very small area of Wayne county. All of his thirty winter and twenty-two summer schools, with the exception of four terms, were taught in four districts, his fre(|uent retention for long periods of service in the same place bearing eloquent testimony to bis ability as an instructor and to his great personal po])ularity with ])upils and patrons.

under A. B. Peckinpaugh, and continued in that capacity until 1902, when he was nominated for the position by the local Democracy and triumphantly elected in the fall of that year. Being familiar with every detail of the office and obliging in his relations with the public, he discharged his duties in such a capable and satisfactory manner that he was chosen his own successor in 1905. As an official he was industrious and painstaking and his loyalty to the people's interests as custodian of one of their most important trusts has earned .for him the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow men as a public seiu'ant and sterling worth as an intelligent, broad-minded and progressive citizen.

Mr. Hough was united in marriage on the loth day of March, 1887, with Lillie A. Martin, of Wooster, daughter of John Martin, a well-known resident of the city, the union proving mutually happy and resulting in the birth of six children, of whom two are deceased, Howard E,, the first born of the family, died in infancy; Waldo O., the second in order of birth, was graduated from the city high school at the early age of sixteen and then entered the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, where he completed the full course and attained to high honor as a student. On graduating from the latter institution he became bookkeeper for the Gerstenslager Buggy Company of M'ooster, but two years later resigned the position to enter the Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, After one year he had to give up college work on account of his father's illness. He is now assistant state examiner of county records. He is an exceptionally intelligent young man and, actuated by a laudable ambition to succeed, has before him a promising and brilliant future. Beulah M., the oldest daughter, like her brother, is much to study and literature and is one of the brightest and most intelligent young ladies of the city in which she lives. She, too, made a remarkable record as a student, completing the high school course when she was but fifteen years of age, being the youngest person ever graduated from that institution. Later she took a full course in bookkeeping, stenography and typewriting in the business college at Wooster, served as first de])uty auditor under her father, and is now in the Citizens National Bank. Blanche I., the second daughter, sustains the high reputation of her brother and sister, being an ambitious student and standing among the first of her classes in the city high school. The fifth in order of birth died in infancy, the next being a daughter, Clara M., a bright and interesting young lady who is prosecuting her studies in the high school, where she has already achieved a creditable record.

Mr. Hough is proud of his children and has provided them with exceptional educational advantages, which, to their credit, they fully appreciate. They heartily second all of his efforts in their behalf and thus far have fully realized his ardent hopes and high expectations, proving, as already indicated, remarkably intelligent and ambitious and giving promise of future honor and usefulness in whatever stations in life they may be called to fill. i\Irs. Hough is a lady of fine mind and beautiful character whose refining and elevating influence has contributed much to the moral discipline as well as the intellectual advancement of her offspring. She has been an able and judicious counsellor to her husband, assisting him in all his efforts, encouraging him in his aspirations and presiding over his home with the grace and dignity characteristic of the intelligent and broad minded American housewife of today. The entire family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and are deeply interested in the various lines of religious work under the auspices of the organization, besides giving their assistance and influence to all enterprises and movements for the general welfare of the community.

James Lloyd Gray

A due measure of success invariably results from clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life, but in following out the career of one who has attained success by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic indi\'iduality which has made such accomplishments possible. Such attributes were evidently possessed by James L. Gray, for many years prominent in the commercial and industrial life of the city of WYoster and he succeeded in leaving the indelible imprint of his personality upon the lives of all with whom he came into contact. He was born in klilton, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1832. His father was of Scotch and his mother of German ancestry. They came to Penmsylvania in what historians are jileased to call "an early day," the mother dying there when her son, James T... was a small child, consequently he was reared by his uncle. Samuel Blain. who li\ed on a farm near the birthjflace of the subject.

When sixteen years of age, Mr. Gray began life for himself, first obtaining a position as clerk on a steamboat that plied the waters of the Mississippi, for the life of a riverman in those days was a fascinating one and appealed very strongly to the boyish imagination of the subject. This life he followed for three years, during which time he had occasion to ascend and descend all the navigable rivers tributary to the Mississippi, one of the most notable and interesting trips being to the Yellowstone Park in quest of furs.

But finally, tiring of life on the river, Mr. Gray returned to his home town, Milton, Pennsylvania, and served an apprenticeship in the saddler's trade, after which he located at New Brighton, Pennsylvania. There he met and afterwards married Eunice Magaw, a native of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and soon after his marriage he brought his young bride to Wooster, ^Vayne county, Ohio, where he at once engaged in business, and eventually became one of the leading business men of the county.

i\Ir. Gray was one of the loyal sons of the North who sacrificed the pleasures of home and opportunities of business to aid in suppressing the rebellion, enlisting in 1864 in Company E, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and ser\ed with credit in the famous Army of the Potomac, having been in the quartermaster's department a part of the time. After the war he returned to Woster and for a time was superintendent of the Home mills. In he began dealing in coal, lime and builders' supplies, which business grew until it reached very large proportions and which he continued until his death, which occurred on June 8, 1886, at the age of fifty-four years.

i\Ir. and IMrs. Gray were the parents of the following children : Charles ]\I. Gray, a well-known resident of Wooster, Ohio; Mrs. Cora B. Plummer, deceased; Mrs. Emma E. Orr, deceased; Mrs. Eunice Jeffries, of Charlotte, North Carolina; William L. Gray, a resident of Wooster.

James L. Gray was a man of pleasing disposition, honorable in public and private life, and he merited the high esteem in which he was universally held. He was a loyal Republican, taking a very active interest in political affairs. He served as a member of the volunteer fire department, which in his day was an imjiortant factor in the life of Wooster. Eraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor, and he also be longed to the Grand Army of the Republic. He was one of the pillars of the English Lutheran church, having served as a member of the building committee in the erection of the Tabernacle on North Market street.

John Meier

Admired and respected for his general intelligence, as well as for his sterling qualities as a neighbor and a citizen, no man in the town of Fredericksburg stands higher in public esteem than the worthy individual, the salient facts of whose life and character are herein set forth.

John Meier is a native of the little republic of Switzerland, having been born at Brngg, in the canton of Aargan, on the first clay of September, 1831. He received some education in his native land and also attended school one term after coming to the United States. He learned the trade of shoemaking in his youth, at which he became an expert. In 1853 he determined to try his fortunes in the New World, and accordingly set sail for the United States, landing in due time at the port of New York. From there he went to Cleveland, Ohio, remaining there from June to November.- in which month he located in Saltcreek township. Holmes county, Ohio, which was his home during the following six }'ears. During this time he was employed at his trade of shoemaking. Locating then at Fredericksburg, YHyue county, he remained there three years, working at the shoemaker's bench, and at the end of that time he moved onto the farm which he now occupies and that has been his home continuously since. The farm, which is located in section 23, is a splendid piece of rural land, about seventy acres of it being in cultivation. The improvements on the place are complete and substantial and all things about the farm indicate thrift, industry and general prosperity, the property being now considered a valuable one. In i860 Mr. Meier went to Switzerland for his two brothers, and in 1862 he sent for his parents and family and they made their home here with him until their deaths, a nnniber of years ago. After coming to the farm, Mr. Meier also carried on the occupation of shoemaking to some extent, more as a matter of accommodation than necessity, but be bas relinquished that work, being now too old for steady, hard work. In his first coming to Ohio he met with some ]jeculiar and occasionally exciting experiences. The country was extremely wild and at that time there were yet many Indians in the northern part of Ohio, the town of Frederickslmrg being an important trading post. Bridges were ])ractically unknown and roads were feu' and far I)etween. the common routes for tivu-el lieing simple trails through the dense forests. iMassillon was the nearest town of any consideralile size, and the early settlers were compelled to endure hardships and incoiweniences little ai)preciated at the present day.

In 1861 Mr. Meier was united in marriage to Matilda Merilat. a sister to Captain Merilat and a daughter of Da\'id Merilat. She was a nati\-e of Switzerland and at the age of se\-enteen years was l)rongbt to this count r\- by her ])arents. In In's native land l)a\id Merilat was a school teacher, but after coming to tins countiA' he became a prominent and successful farmer of Wayne count}'. To .Mr. and Mrs. Meier ha\e been born eight children, biief mention of whom is made as follows : Sophia married first Charles Fletcher, later Charles Hipp, is the mother of five children, and lives at Marion, Ohio ; Ida is the wife of Jacob Barnes, of near Nashville, Holmes county, and is the mother of nine children; Fannie is the wife of Hiram Sanderson, of Saltcreek township, and is the mother of four children ; Mary is at home : Mfilliam, at home ; John, who married Sadie Kane, lives in Saltcreek township and has one child, IMatilda ; Emma married Eugene Rouhier, of Stark county, and they have six children; Charles, who married Maria Fellows, lives at Garretsville, and they have one child.

In politics Mr. Meier is a Democrat and has always taken a wide-awake interest in public affairs, though not a politician. However, he has during his long life here served his fellow-citizens acceptably in a number of local offices. In religion he is a member of the Reformed church at Mount Eaton. He is widely known and has the respect and confidence of a large circle of friends. His long and busy life is drawing to a close, but when he finally passes over the ri\er it will be with the knowledge that his life has been well and honorably spent.

David Myers

The true spirit of progress and honorable achievement has been manifest in the career of the well known and highly esteemed citizen whose name introduces this sketch and who, since discontinuing the strenuous life which was characterized by such signal success, has been living in honorable retirement in the city of Wooster. His life has been one of fulness and completeness of vigor and inflexible integrity and while engaged in the vocation to which in the main his attention has been devoted, he accomplished great and lasting good for the material progress of various cities and communities and at the same time failed not to reap the reward which his industry and skill so richly deserved.

David Myers is a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and a descendant on the paternal side of a long line of sturdy German ancestry, which was first represented in America by his father, Daniel Myers, who came to this country from AVurtemberg about the year 1814 and settled in AA^ilmington, Delaware. After spending a few years in that city he removed to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, thence when a young man to AAMyne county, Ohio, where in 1828 he married Martha DeWese, who was born and reared in the county of Columbiana, this state. In his younger days Daniel Myers was a cooper.

but in after life he became a farmer, which vocation he followed until his death, in 1873. Mrs. Myers survived her husband five years, departing this life on the home farm in Chester township in 1878. She sprang from an old and highly respected family, that figured actively in the early history of eastern Ohio and, tracing her ancestry further hack, it appears that several of the DeWese family were soldiers in the Revolutionary war and that two of Mrs. Myers' brothers served with distinction in the war of 1812. By reason of this connection with the struggle for independence, three of Mr. Myers' daughters hold membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution, a patriotic society composed of female descendants of the soldiers of that war. Daniel and Martha Myers were parents of eight children, of whom five are living at the present time, viz : Mrs. Rebecca Reichard, whose home is in Iowa near the town of Knoxville; David, of this review; Mrs. Elizabeth Berkey, of Ashland county, Ohio; John, a resident of Chester township, Wayne county, and Mrs. Anna Powers, who lives in the city of Wooster.

David Myers was born December 16, 1833, spent his childhood and youth on the family homestead in Chester township where he early became familiar with the practical duties of the farm and learned to appreciate the true dignity and worth of honest toil. In the free, outdoor experience of wood and field he grew up strong and rugged and well fitted for the active career upon which he subsec|uently entered and while still a young man he began to formulate the plans for his future course of action. In a little log school house not far from the parental home he obtained a fair knowledge of such branches of learning as were then taught and, having early manifested decided predilection for mechanical work, he liegan, ere attaining his majority, to learn the trade of a carpenter, in which he soon acquired much more than ordinary efficiency and skill. Having mastered his craft, he worked at the same for some time in a subordinate capacity, but, actuated by a laudable ambition to extend his operations, he afterwards became a contractor and it was not long until the high reputation of his work caused a wide demand for his services.

Without following in detail Mr. Myers' long and eminently honorable career as a contractor and builder, suffice it to state that from the beginning he was animated by a desire to excel and that during his acti\ e years he erected many buildings in various cities of his own and other slates which still stand as monuments to his superior mechanical skill, .\mong the more notable public edifices under his diiTction in Wooster are the Methodist Episcopal church, the City Hall, a number of the university buildings, the Overholt residence.

pronounced the finest private dwelling in the city, besides many others, to say nothing of numerous structures throughout the country. His fame as a mechanic extending far beyond the limits of his own county, he contracted for a number of buildings in New York City and Brooklyn, including residences, churches, halls and various other public edifices, and later did much work in his line in several eastern and central states and throughout the northwest. The beautiful and imposing, Methodist Episcopal church at Duluth, Minnesota, one of the finest and most attractive temples of worship in the state and representing a cost of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, was erected by him, as were also similar edifices in Burlington, Iowa, Monmouth, Illinois, New Rochelle, New York, and in many other cities and towns, all of which bear evidence of a high order of architectural skill and efficiency of workmanship, bespeaking a thorough mastery of the builder's art.

Mr. Myers was in Iowa when the country became disrupted by the late Civil war and, being loyal to the government and its institutions, he did not hesitate when the call came for volunteers to help put down the rebellion. Enlisting in the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry in i86i, he was soon at the scene of action, rendering valiant service for the Union and during his three years at the front his conduct under all circumstances was that of a brave and gallant soldier who shrank from no danger and was ever ready to go where duty called. He shared with his comrades the vicissitudes and fortunes of war in a number of noted campaigns and battles, including Corinth, where he served under General Belknap, and won promotion to a lieutenancy by meritorious conduct while under fire at Pittsburg Landing, luka, siege and capture of Vicksburg and numerous other engagements, receiving at Corinth a painful wound in the arm, which, however, did not long incapacitate him from service.

-A.t the expiration of his period of enlistment, which included three of the most strenuous years of the war, Mr. Myers was discharged with an honorable record and, returning to civil life, resumed contracting and building, which he followed with success and profit until 1886, when he discontinued active labor to spend the remainder of his days in retirement. By industry, judicious management and wise economy he amassed a handsome competency, amply sufficient indeed to enable him to spend the future free from anxiety and care and, being thus fortunately situated, he is enjoying that rest which he has so well earned and the many blessings which have come to him as the result of his many years of endeavor.

in marriage with Elizalieth Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, of Somerset county, Pennsyh'ania. M"hen hue years old she was brought to Ohio by her parents and at the celebration of her nuptials was living in Wayne county, where she had made her home for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Myers had five children, namely: Viola, deceased; iMartha, who married ex-County Clerk David Mussleman, of Wooster; John, assistant cashier of the Wayne County Bank; Blanche, wife of John Ames, chemist of the Ohio Experiment Station at Wooster, and Miss Claude IMyers, who is still with her parents.

Mr. Myers manifests a commendable interest in all matters pertaining to the progress of the city of his residence and the good of the people and keeps in touch with the times on the leading cpiestions and issues of the day. He is a director of the Wayne County National Bank, and in addition to a beautiful home on Beall avenue and other property in Wooster, owns a fine farm in the county to -which he gives much personal attention. Fraternally, he holds membership -vsdth the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Royal Arcanum orders and politically wields an influence for the Democratic party. The Methodist church holds his religious creed, and with his wdfe and certain of his children he is a regular attendant of the congregation worshiping in Wooster, also a liberal contributor to its support and to the various lines of work under its auspices. His son John and daughter VIrs. Ames subscribe to the Presbyterian faith, both being acti\-e and consistent members of the church of that denomination in Wooster. Personally i\Tr. Myers stands high in the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and fellow citizens and is regarded as one of the enterprising and well-to-do men of the city in which he resides. Courteous and kindly in his relations with others, an influential factor in the business world and ready at all times to assist laudable measures for the general welfare, he has lived to high and noble ends and the future awaits him with bounteous rewards.

Thomas Arthur Graven. M. D.

Of high academic and professional attainments and holding worthy prestige among the successful medical men of Wooster, where he has been actively engaged in the practice of his ])rofession since 1904, Dr. Thomas .\rthnr Graven occupies a large ])lace in the esteem of his fellow citizens and merits S])ecific notice in a work devoted to the re])resen(ative men of his adopted city and county. He was born January d. r8yi. in Holmes county, Ohio, where his paternal ancestors settled in an early day and figured prominently in the development and progress of that part of the state. The Graven family is of German origin and in the old country were originally known by the name of Gravenstein. The first member of the family to emigrate to America appears to have been the Doctor's great-great-grandfather (given name unknown), who settled near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, A son, John Graven, born October 5, 1758, in Germany, was four years old when he came to America, locating at Philadelphia. He grew to maturity on the family estate near that place, married Rebecca Randall, who was born in that city in the year 1762, and about the year 1816 migrated to what is now Holmes county, Ohio, where he secured land, developed a farm and in due time became a public spirited and praiseworthy citizen. He was a conspicuous figure in the pioneer history of the above county and there spent the remainder of his days, dying on February 22, 1833, on the land he had purchased from the government. His wife survived him until 1848, on March 6th of which year she. too, was called to her final reward. She and her husband were Quakers. Among the children of John and Rebecca Gra\'en was a son by the name of Thomas, who was born December 2, 1805, in Philadelphia, and who subsecjuently became a manufacturer of powder, in connection with which he also had important agricultural interests in Holmes county, Ohio, where he removed with his parents when about eleven years of age. Elizabeth McKelvey, who, on October ii, 1838, became the wife of Thomas Graven, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, September 12, 1818. and belonged to one of the old and highly esteemed families of that part of the Keystone state. She bore her husband nine children, and departed this life September 9, 1893, at Holmesville, Ohio, where her husband, on December 12, 1871, also breathed his last, after a continuous residence of fifty-five years.

Marion Graven, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Graven, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, Eehruary 4. 1847, young manhood, December 31, 1868, married Sarah Jane McCulloch, whose birth occurred near Holmesville on the 17th day of January, 1851. Mrs. Graven's father, David (McCulloch, was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1808. and died in Holmes county, Ohio, Eehruary 25, 1892, after living on the same farm for a period of eighty years. He filled many important offices of trust and was a member of the school board and a justice of the peace. His parents were Hugh and Elizabeth (Gibson) McCulloch, the former born in Eife county, town of Leven, Scotland, in 1759, and the latter born in county Down, Ireland, in 1770. Hugh McCulloch came to America in 1780 and taught school in Pennsylvania and later in Ohio, having been a well educated man and a teacher of some note before leaving his native land. His wife came to

America with her parents in 1788, on account of religious persecution, and married in 1793. She joined him in Pennsylvania in 1788 and on April 14, 1811, he moved to the new settlements in Holmes county, Ohio, where, at various times, the settlers were obliged to take refuge in a block house on account of the hostility of the Indians. Mrs. iMcCulloch died iMarch 18, 1814, and her husband on the 6th of January, 1836. Hugh iMcCulloch served in the war of 1812, under Generals A'leigs and Shane, participated in a number of battles and minor engagements and earned an honorable record as a brave and gallant soldier. He ivas a man of wide intelligence and varied attainments, did much to popularize and disseminate the cause of education among the settlers of Holmes county, and his memory is still cherished by the people of the community in which he spent so many years of his life.

iMarion Graven followed agricultural pursuits all his life, owning nearly four hundred acres of splendid farming land. Pie was successful in his business affairs and stood high in the esteem of all who knew him. He was a prominent and active member of the Presbyterian church, in which he was an elder for twenty-four years, and he was a member of the Presbyterian general assembly which met at Saratoga, New York, in 1894. He was a Republican in politics and took an intelligent interest in public affairs, though not in any sense a seeker after public office. His death occurred January 9, 1903, at his home in Loudonville, Ohio, where he had moved with his family in 1901.

Marion and Sarah Jane Graven reared a family of three children, the oldest of whom is Dr. Thomas Arthur Graven, of this review. David Homer Graven, the second in order of birth, was graduated from the Ohio State University when a young man, having taken the full course in the law department, and in 1900 he received the degree of Master of Arts from the Northwestern Ohio University at Ada. For some time he gave his attention to the legal profession, but for some years past he has been cashier of the First National Bank at Loudonx ille, where he makes his home. John Elmer Graven, the youngest of the family, was graduated from the P'uiversity of Yhiosler with the class of 1899. ivent to Harvard Law School and afterwards went to Texas, where his death occurred on April 15, 1900. The mother of these children is still li\'ing and resides at Loudonville, where she has many warm friends who have learned to ])ia'ze her for the sterling cpialities of mind and heart which she inherits from a long line of sturdv Scotch- Irish ancestr\-.

In the year in which Dr. 1'homas .\rthur Graven was horn ( 1871) his parents changed their residence to Perrvsville, in the counl\' of Ashland, but in 1883 they returned to llohues countv, where the future phvsician and surgeon received his early educational training. 1 le made ra])id progress in his studies and it was not long until he was (pialified to teach, which u.seful calling he followed in connection with agricultural pursuits until taking up the study of medicine, for which he had long manifested a decided preference. In due time he yielded to this predilection by entering Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated May 15, 1900. He immediately thereafter located at the town of Mohican, Ashland county, where he soon built up a lucrative practice and earned an honorable reputation as a capable and progressive physician and surgeon. After four years' successful practice at the above place. Doctor Graven decided to locate in a larger and more inviting held, accordingly, in iMarch, 1904, he opened an office in Wooster, where his abilities soon won recognition, as his continuous advancement and eminent professional success abundantly attests, he being at this time one of the leading physicians of the city with an extensive patronage which is steadily growing in magnitude and far-reaching influence. Doctor Graven is a close and critical student, who keeps in close touch with everything relating to his calling and, although younger than many of his contemporaries, he already stands well to the front among his professional brethren of Wooster and A'ayne county, and, judging by his past achievements, his friends and the pul)lic in general predict for him a bright and promising future.

Doctor Graven, on September 26, 1895, was happily married to Tamzon h'inney, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, December 13, 1875, the daughter of Thomas D. and Lois ( Numbers) Finney. To this union has been born one son, Marion Finney Graven, born November 9, 1901, a bright and intelligent boy who gives promise of a brilliant future. Doctor and Mrs. Graven occupy an important place in the social life of their adopted city and have many warm friends and admirers in the society circles to which they belong. They are both members of the First Presbyterian church at Wooster. In politics the Doctor is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and in the election of 1908 he was his party's candidate for coroner of WHyne county. Doctor Graven is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to Ebenezer Lodge, No, 33, at AToster, and also the chapter of Royal Arch iMasons. He also holds membership in Lodge No. 42. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Lodge No. 22, Knights of Pythias, both at Wooster. Dr. Graven owns a beautiful home at North Beechev, corner of Larwell street.

James Meier

To a great extent the prosperity of the agricultural sections of our great country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy perseverance and the wise economy which so prominently characterizes the foreign element that has en- tered largely into our population. By comparison with their ''old country'' surroundings, these people have readily recognized the fact that in America he the greatest opportunities for the man of ambition and energy. And because of this many have liroken the ties of home and natir'e land and have entered earnestly into the task of gaining in the Xew A'orld a home and a competence. Among this class may be mentioned the late James Meier, who, by reason of years of indefatigable labor and honest effort, not only accjuired a well-merited material prosperity, but also richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he was associated.

James Meier was born in Switzerland, that small, rugged country that has sent so many enterprising and valuable citizens to the great Republic of the West, his birth occurring in the year 1836, in Brugg, canton of Aargau, and there he grew to manhood and was educated in the common schools. He was a member of an honored and hard-working family and when a mere lad began learning the shoemaker's trade, at which he soon became an expert and which he successfully followed for a period of thirty-seven years. Being thus skilled, a good judge of leather goods and always honest in his work, his output was eagerly sought after and he was always very busy at his bench.

His brother, John Meier, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this book, came to America, and, finding conditions favorable here, returned home in i860 and upon coming liack to the Bhiited States, James IMeier and another brother accompanied him, their parents following them later, making their home in Wayne county, Ohio, until their deaths.

James Meier located four and one-half miles south of Wooster, where he became very comfortably established, ha\'ing a neat home and acipiiring a good little farm in Franklin townshi]) which he worked to advantage in connection with shoemaking, having made many valuable improvements of his seventy-eight acres there. The farm is now operated by his widow and children and yields them a \ ery comfortalile income.