Williams County, Ohio - The whole text, 1920 (part 1 of 12)

Chicago And New York

J. Arter Weaver. - When, in 1917, Judge Weaver was elected to preside on the bench of the Probate Court of Williams County, he had the distinction of being the youngest man, with one exception, ever elected to this office in the State of Ohio, and in Williams County only one other candidate of equal youthfulness has been called to this office - Hon. Charles A. Bowersox. Judge Weaver is a native son of this county and his eligibility for the important office of which he is now the incumbent was fortified by his having previously been graduated in the law department of the Ohio Northern University, and had been actively engaged in the work of his profession for a period of two years.

Judge Weaver was born at Montpelier, Williams County, Ohio, April 20, 1885, and is a son of Jacob F. and Hattie L. (Arter) Weaver, he having been but six days old at the time of his mother's death, and having then been taken into the home of his paternal grandmother, with whom he remained until her death, when he was four years of age. Again deprived of fostering care, the future probate judge was then taken in charge by his aunt, Mrs. Addie C. (Weaver) Gilcher, whose husband was a prosperous farmer southeast of Montpelier. There he remained until he was thirteen years old, and in the meanwhile he had attended school and also begun to gain experience in connection with farm operations. At the age noted he went to the home of his father, who had contracted a second marriage, and thus he was enabled to attend the public schools at Montpelier, where he was graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1905. In 1907 he was graduated in the law department of the Ohio Northern University, and in June, 1907, he was admitted to the bar of his native state. For two years thereafter he was engaged in the practice of his profession at Montpelier, and he then assumed active management of his father's farm, in Bridgewater Township. There he remained three years, at the expiration of which he became an exponent of agricultural industry in Center Township. He proved an energetic, progressive and successful farmer, but in 1917 he became the republican candidate for the office of judge of the Probate Court of Williams County, the majority which he received at the ensuing election attesting the popular estimate placed upon him in his native county. He assumed his official duties at the courthouse, in Bryan, and his administration of probate affairs has fully justified his selection for the office in which he is serving with marked efficiency and acceptability. The position is no sinecure, as may readily be understood, but Judge Weaver has naught of the attributes of a slacker, as proved by his herculean labors during his career as a farmer, as well as by his punctilious and careful service in his present office. He is influential in the local councils of the republican party, his Masonic affiliations include membership in the commandery of Knights Templar at Bryan, and both he and his wife are active members of the Church of God, at Ada, Hardin County.

Judge Weaver is of sterling German ancestry in both the paternal and maternal lines, but the respective families were early founded in Pennsylvania, the original representatives in Wayne County, Ohio, having come to this state from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Jacob F. Weaver, father of the subject of this review, was most influential in the civic and material development and advancement of Montpelier, Williams County, where, as a successful real estate dealer, he platted and improved four additions to the village, many houses having been erected and sold by him and one of the handsome homes thus built by him having been a fine stone house which he erected for his own use and which he and his wife occupied during the last two years of his life, his death occurring in December, 1917. This is one of the finest homes in Williams County. Mr. Weaver is survived by his second wife, whose maiden name was Martha McCrea, and their only child, Lisle M., was a member of the class of 1920 in the law department of the Ohio Northern University, and now practicing law in Bryan.

Curtis D. Gardner, vice president of the Farmers National Bank rjf Bryan, the judicial center of Williams County, was born and reared in this county, with whose history the family name has been prominently identified for nearly seventy years. Those influentially concerned in banking enterprise represent composite business more than any other class of workers, and their attitude can form public opinion to a greater extent in any community than can any other one agency. Mr. Gardner has not only become one of the prominent figures in banking enterprise in his native county, but continues as one of the representative factors in agricultural industry in this part of the state, his finely improved farm property being partly in Williams County and partly in Defiance County. Appreciative of the manifold advantages of this favored section of the Buckeye state, he is signally loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude and as one of the representative men of his native county he is entitled to special recognition in this history.

On the old homestead farm of his father, in Center Township, Williams County, Curtis D. Gardner was born March 2, 1852, a son of Moses and Jane (Taylor) Gardner, who were born and reared in Pennsylvania, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they came to Williams County, Ohio, within a short time thereafter. Their arrival in the county occurred in 1843, and the father secured a tract of unimproved land in section 33, Center Township. With characteristic vigor and judgment he set himself to the task of clearing away the timber on the land and making it available for cultivation. His first house was a log cabin of the true pioneer type, and, with increasing prosperity, he later erected the substantial frame house which is still standing on his old homestead, in excellent preservation. Here he continued to reside until his death, which occurred when he was about seventy-one years of age, and his widow passed the closing period of her life at Bryan, where she died at the venerable age of seventy-three years. Mr. Gardner developed and improved a valuable farm property of 540 acres and was one of the substantial and highly honored citizens of the county. His political faith was that of the democratic party, and while he had no ambition for public office he served a number of years as treasurer of Center Township, his election to this position having been a concrete testimony to the unqualified confidence and esteem in which he was held in the community in which he long maintained his home and to the social and material advancement of which he contributed his due share. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner became the parents of eight children, of whom four are living: Mary, the widow of Marion Brannon, died April, 1920; Curtis D. is the immediate subject of this review ; William H. resides at Bryan, where he is living virtually retired ; and Isaac E. is a resident of the City of Toledo, this state.

Curtis D. Gardner was reared to the sturdy discipline of the old home farm and in the meanwhile profited fully by the advantages afforded in the village school at Williams Center. He continued to be actively associated with the work of his father's farm until the time of his marriage, and he then began independent operations on a farm of eighty acres, in Farmer Township. Industry and good manage- ment brought to him cumulative success, and the most tangible evidence of this is that given in his ownership at the present time of a valuable farm estate of 280 acres in Defiance County, besides his fine farm of 160 acres in Center Township, Williams County. Though he continues to give his personal supervision to his farm enterprise, Mr. Gardner has given his financial co-operation in the furtherance of numerous institutions that have been influential in furthering the prosperity and progress of his home county. In addition to being vice president of the Farmers National Bank of Bryan he is a stockholder in the Union Trust Company of Bryan, is vice president of the Bryan Hardware Company, and a director of each the Bryan Motor Service Company and the Bryan Plumbing & Heating Company. In politics he is found aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the democratic party, but he has had no desire to enter the arena of so-called practical politics. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity he is affiliated with Bryan Lodge, No. 215, Free and Accepted Masons; Northwest Chapter, No. 45, Royal Arch Masons; Bryan Council, No. 101, Royal and Select Masters; and Defiance Commandery, No. 30, Knights Templar.

In 1874 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gardner to Miss Ida J. Mills, a daughter of the late Hugh Mills, of Williams County, and they have two children : Clarence is a representative buyer and shipper of livestock in Williams County; Laura J. was graduated in the high school, later attended a leading academic school in the City of Detroit, Michigan, and finally, after completing a course in pianoforte work, she was graduated in the celebrated musical conservatory of Oberlin College ; she is now director of Camp No. 19, at Asheville, North Carolina, where she is also director of music and has general supervision of the camp cafeteria.

Eliel T. Binns, who is now living virtually retired at Bryan, the judicial center of Williams County, was for forty years a representative merchant of this village, even as he has been loyal and progressive as a citizen. He was born at Leroy, Medina County, Ohio, September 16, 1850, and is a son of Samuel and Ellen (Taylor) Binns, both of whom were born in England, and in the same year, 1817. The parents were reared and educated in their native land, where their marriage was solemnized, and whence, in 1837, they immigrated to the United States and first established their residence in New York City, where the father found employment in the work of his profession, that of taxidermist, in which he was especially skillful and as a representative of which he was employed for a time by Phineas T.

Barnum, the great circus man. He remained in the national metropolis three years and then, in 1841, came to Ohio and established his home in Medina County. In England he had gained also a practical training in the tailor's trade, and at Leroy, Medina County, he opened a tailor shop, which he conducted until 1855. He was a man of marked intellectuality and studious habits, and his deep Christian faith finally led to his being ordained a clergyman of the Universalist Church, in the active service of which he continued during the remainder of his life. He held various pastoral charges, and his last ministerial incumbency was at Lyons, Fulton County, whence he removed to Fayette, that county, where he died in the year 1889, revered by all who had come within the compass of his kindly and benignant influence. He was a republican in politics and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. His wife survived him by several years and of their five children three are living - John W., a prosperous farmer near Fayette, Fulton County ; Sarah, the wife of Otis Ford, of Fayette ; and Eliel Taylor Binns, the immediate subject of this sketch.

Eliel T. Binns had the advantages of a home of distinctive culture and refinement and his early education was obtained in the public schools of his native state, including those of Fayette, Fulton County, and the Fayette Academy, he having been seventeen years of age at the time of the family removal to that county. In 1871, about the time of attaining his legal majority, he came to Bryan, where he found employment in a dry goods store, at very modest wages. He continued his clerical service about seven years and then, in 1878, here opened a modest dry goods establishment and engaged in business in an independent way. Effective service to patrons gained to him in the passing years a substantial and profitable trade, and he was one of the leading merchants of the city at the time of his retirement, in 1908. He has not been content, however, to become inactive, after so many years of earnest and productive enterprise, and he gives his attention at the present time to the general insurance business and the extending of financial loans on approved security. He and his wife are zealous and influential members of the Universalist Church at Bryan, and he is a member of its board of trustees. He is affiliated with the Bryan lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and at Defiance, judicial center of the county of the same name, he holds membership in Defiance Commandery, No. 30, Knights Templar, besides which he is affiliated with Zenobia Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the City of Toledo. He is a staunch supporter of the principles of the republican party, and though he has ever been liberal and progressive as a citizen he has had no desire for the honors or emoluments of political office. He is today one of the most respected and influential men of Williams County and has done much to advance the civic and material prosperity of Bryan. He has been for years the president of the Bryan Business Men's Association, is the owner of six rooms utilized by representative mercantile concerns of the city, and has erected and sold forty-five houses in Bryan. No one citizen has done more for the upbuilding of the town than has he, as he has been liberal in supporting the various manufacturing enterprises and other industries and active in securing new enterprises of this order for his home town. He was chairman of the county temperance committee which played a most important part in obliterating the liquor traffic in Williams County and was also influential in the furtherance of prohibition in the state. He was assistant chairman of the county committee which had charge of exploiting the first Liberty loan in Williams County incidental to the late World war, and was chairman of the committee which had charge of the promotion of the second and third Governmental loans in the county, his resignation from this position having occurred at the time when the fifth loan was projected, as he felt physically unable to carry forward this final campaign.

In 1882 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Binns to Miss Rhoda E. Lane, daughter of the late John Lane, who was a representative farmer in Defiance County. Mr. and Mrs. Binns have one daughter, Laura, a graduate of Vassar College, is now the wife of Leigh B. Lynch, of Pontiac, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Binns take much pride in the fact that they have three grandsons and one granddaughter. Mrs. Binns has been a leader in church and social activities in her home community.

F. M. Bruns. - The study of the life of the representative American never fails to offer much of pleasing interest and valuable instruction, developing a mastering of expedients which has brought about remarkable results. F. M. Bruns, well-known cashier of the Exchange Bank of H. F. Bruns, at Stryker, is a worthy representative of that type of American character and of that progressive spirit which promotes public good while advancing individual prosperity. Because of his business ability and public-spirited interest in the affairs of the community, he is held in high esteem by all who know him.

the former born in Germany on November 7, 1852, and the latter in Pennsylvania on April 11, 1856. Henry F. Brims came to the United States at the age of seventeen years and located first at Napoleon, Ohio, where he was employed at farm work. Subsequently be became a clerk for S. M. Heller & Company. Later he went into business on his own account at Florida, Ohio, and in 1884 he engaged in the dry goods business at Defiance, Ohio, in which he was very successful. In 1891 Mr. Bruns opened the Exchange Bank of H. F. Bruns at Stryker, of which he' is still sole owner, and which has through three decades stood as one of the strong and influential financial institutions of this section of the county. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and in politics he gives his support to the republican party. To him and his wife were born two children, F. M. and Marion. The latter graduated from the Stryker High School and was then for one year a student in the Martha Washington Seminary. She is now the wife of V. J. Silliman, of New York City. During the World war he held a commission as second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps, and is now assistant to H. I. Shephard, financial head of the Willys Corporation of New York City.

F. M. Bruns was reared and educated in Stryker, being a graduate of the high school. He was then a student in Phillips Exeter Academy and on the completion of his studies he entered his father's bank as assistant cashier, subsequently becoming cashier, which position he still fills. He is thoroughly qualified for the position and because of his business ability and his sterling qualities of character, he enjoys the respect and confidence of the entire community. The Bruns, father and son, have for years been prominent in the business and public affairs of the community and have been influential in supporting and advancing various enterprises of public benefit. H. F. Bruns is one of the directors of the Farmers National Bank of Bryan, having held that relation for more than twenty-five years. He is treasurer of the Bruns-Bowersox Land & Lumber Company and treasurer of the Stryker Boat-Oar & Lumber Company. F. M. Bruns took an active and effective part in the various war activities, especially as pertaining to the national loans, having served as chairman of Springfield Township for the first four Liberty loans and district chairman for Brady, Pulaski and Springfield townships in the Victory loan, as well as chairman of the United War Work campaign.

On December 30, 1908, Mr. F. M. Bruns was married to Ruth E. Royce, who was a graduate of the Stryker High School and later a student of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. They have one daugh- ter, Virginia Louise, born on May 29, 1911. Mrs. Bruns is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically Mr. Bruns is a republican. Fraternally, he is a member of Evansport Lodge No. 511, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is senior warden ; Northwest Chapter No. 45, Royal Arch Masons ; Bryan Council, Royal and Select Masters ; Defiance Commandery No. 30, Knights Templar ; the Toledo Consistory of the Scottish Rite (thirty-second degree) and the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Toledo, Ohio ; Lodge No. 432, Knights of Pythias, of which he is the keeper of records and seal for the past five years ; Stryker Lodge No. 611, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of Defiance Council No. 407, United Commercial Travelers. He has taken a healthy interest in everything pertaining to the activities of his community and is a popular member of the circles in which he moves.

Martin T. Hodson. - Because of the extent and quality of his usefulness, his commercial soundness and acumen, his public spirit and integrity, and his nearness to the fundamental requirements of citizenship, Martin T. Hodson, president of the Pioneer Banking Company, of Pioneer, Ohio, affords an encouraging example of success gained through the proper use of every-day abilities and opportunities. Of Mr. Hodson it may be said that his career is a response both to his early teaching and to the needs of his environment. He was born on a farm in Bridgewater Township, Williams County, Ohio, four miles southwest of Pioneer, December 10, 1855, and is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Stephenson) Hodson, the latter a native of near Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio.

Thomas Hodson was born in England, and after the death of his father accompanied his widowed mother to the United States at the age of nine years. Reared in Williams County, as a youth he went to Richland County, where later he was married, and in 1854 came to Bridgewater Township, this county, where he spent the rest of his career. As a young married man he worked by the month until he was able to purchase his first farm in Richland County, and after coming to Williams County continued his industrious and intelligent work to such good effect that he became one of the substantial men of his community. He was a reader and student, qualified as an attorney, and was frequently called upon to deliver public addresses and to speak for candidates during electoral campaigns. He was independent in politics, while his fraternal connection was with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined at an early day. He and

Mrs. Hodson were consistent members of the Christian Church. They were the parents of seven children, of whom one died at the age of thirteen years, the others reaching maturity, as follows : George and Job, who are residents of Montpelier, Ohio; Martin T. ; Mary, the wife of A. J. Bostetter, of Montpelier ; Sophia A., the widow of Henry Umbenhaur, of Toledo ; and Minnie H., the widow of George Letcher, of Berkeley, California.

Martin T. Hodson was reared on the home farm four miles southwest of Pioneer, and acquired his education in the district schools. When he was only fourteen years of age he began clerking in a general store, and three years later started in business on his own account at Pioneer. Commencing in a modest manner, he gradually developed his interests and increased his holdings. He installed a fine, clean and varied line of goods, charged reasonable prices and gave ample returns. The subterfuge of misrepresentation was relentlessly tabooed from his establishment, and in consequence he became thoroughly trusted and relied upon by the larger part of the town and surrounding country. Gradually, the farmers began to deposit money with him and this practice finally became so common that he was forced to open a private bank. Later he moved to the location of his present institution and took in two partners, J. A. Grant and Dr. George Young, and this was incorporated as a state bank in 1913, with Mr. Hodson as president; A. F. Young as vice president, and J. A. Grant, cashier; H. G. Young being secretary and the board of directors consisting of M. T. Hodson, Fred M. Hodson, A. F. Young, H. G. Young, J. A. Grant and A. Grant. Mr. Hodson is the owner of several farms and much town property, has a fruit farm in Cuba and is interested in a number of other ventures.

Mr. Hodson married Emma D. Eggleston, who was born in Madison Township, Williams County, Ohio, one mile south of Pioneer, and was educated in the schools of this place, in which she later became a teacher. To Mr. and Mrs. Hodson there has come one son, Fred M., born November 2, 1880, a graduate of the Pioneer schools and of the university at Ada in pharmacy, who is now associated in business with his father. He married Grace Sibley and they are the parents of two children: Catherine, born in 1911, and Phyllis, born in 1917. Fred M. Hodson is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Leland S. Houlton. - An esteemed and highly respected resident of Edgerton, Williams County, Leland S. Houlton was for many years actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. A native of Indiana, he was born, February 11, 1887, in Franklin Township, Dekalb County, Indiana, a son of Lewis and Rhoda (Martin) Houlton. His grandfather, John Houlton, was in very truth a pioneer of that township, he having been the first white man to locate in Dekalb County, Indiana, while his son Samuel, a half brother of Lewis Houlton, was the first white child born in Franklin Township.

Leland S. Houlton was born and brought up on a portion of the original homestead which his paternal grandfather entered from the Government, and was educated in the rural schools of his native township. He still owns one hundred and nine acres of the old home farm, which is mostly under cultivation.

Mr. Houlton married Jessie Hathaway, a daughter of Dr. Calvin Hathaway, who was actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in Edgerton for a full half century. Beginning the study of medicine in the College of Medicine at Ann Arbor, Michigan, Calvin Hathaway subsequently entered the Cincinnati, Ohio, College of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He entered the United States Army service as surgeon in the Civil war in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after the war located in Edgerton, Williams County, Ohio, and having won the well-deserved reputation of being one of the most skillful and able physicians in this part of the state, built up a large and highly remunerative practice. For four years Doctor Hathaway was a member of the United States Pension Board at Toledo, Ohio, and of the board at Bryan, Ohio, for twenty-six years. During the Civil war, the doctor served as a surgeon in the Union Army, gaining an experience in medicine and surgery that was of much value to him in his professional career. A man of good business ability and judgment, he accumulated considerable wealth.

Dr. Hathaway married Harriet E. Hutchenson, and of their union four children were born, as follows : Paul and Azalia both died in infancy: Lodema, a graduate of the Edgerton High School, and of Hillsdale College, died in Edgerton, Ohio, in March, 1898; and Jessie, now Mrs. Houlton. The doctor was a republican in politics, and a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Mrs. Houlton was educated in Edgerton, being graduated from its high school with the class of 1896, after which she taught school one term. For two years thereafter she held a responsible position in the Farmers National Bank of Bryan, and then returned to her home in Edgerton. At the present time Mrs. Houlton, who has inherited to a marked degree the business ability and tact of her father, is assistant cashier of the Farmers Commercial Bank at Edgerton, and one of its directors. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Houlton, Calvin H. Houlton, died in infancy.

Henry W. Ellis. - In the career of Henry W. Ellis, of Bryan, there is presented a lesson for the youth of any land, something to be found in it of a nature encouraging to the young aspirant who, without friends or fortune, is struggling to overcome obstacles in his efforts to establish a comfortable competence. Mr. Ellis has trod the difficult self-made road to success. When he entered upon his career he was forced to depend solely upon his own resources. Today, after thirty years of connection with the insurance, loan and real estate interests of Williams County, he is rightly accounted one of the leading business citizens of his community, and may look back with pardonable pride over a business record, substantial though modest, which stands without a blemish.

Mr. Ellis was born at Fayette, Fulton County, Ohio, November 30, 1861, a son of Philip and Anna (Holden) Ellis, natives of Lincolnshire, England, where they were reared, educated and married. The parents came to the United States in 1856 and located at Fayette, Ohio, subsequently going to Lyons, where both died, the mother in 1871. They were members first of the Methodist Episcopal Church and later of the LTnited Brethren Church, and Mr. Ellis became a republican in politics after coming to this country. Of the four children in the family, three are living: John T. and William O., residents of Seattle, Washington ; and Henry W. of Bryan, Ohio.

Henry W. Ellis was only ten years of age when his mother died, and when he was sixteen years of age left the paternal roof to make his own way in the world. He had attended the public schools of Fayette and subsequently managed to complete a four-year term at the Fayette Normal and Business College, which formed his preparation for business affairs and gave him a good practical education. When he was about nineteen years of age, he taught his first term of school, and for the ten years that followed devoted himself to the work of the educator. In 1885 he removed to Stryker, where he continued to be a teacher until 1890, then giving up educational work to adopt the business of life insurance and mortgage loans for the LTnion Central Life Insurance Company, which he continued to follow there until 1892. That year saw Mr. Ellis' arrival at the county seat of Williams County, which has been his home ever since. Here he has developed a large and lucrative business in the line of insurance, loans and real estate, and maintains well-appointed offices in the First National Bank Building. As a realtor, Mr. Ellis has handled much city and country property and has been the medium through which a number of large and important deals have been consummated. He is accounted an expert as to values, this adding to his equipment for the loan department of his business, and few men are better known in the insurance field, he being the representative of some of the leading companies of the country at Bryan. Mr. Ellis is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Bryan, the Williams County Telephone Company, the Bryan Pattern and Machine Company, and the Bryan Realty Company. In 1912 he erected a modern home at the corner of Maple and Lynn streets, which is one of the attractive and comfortable residences of Bryan. Mr. Ellis also takes an interest in fraternal work, being past chancellor of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and a former member of the grand lodge of the state. In politics he is a republican, but public life has not attracted him and he confines his interest in political matters to that taken by every good and public-spirited citizen. With his family, he belongs to the Universalist Church, and is a member of the board of trustees thereof. In 1888 Mr. Ellis was united in marriage with Miss Allie Kintigh, who was born near Stryker, Ohio, and educated in the public schools of that place. They are the parents of three children : Frances, a graduate of Bryan High School, who spent two years at Oberlin College, married Ross O. Stine, of Bryan, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and has one son, William : Charles W., a graduate of the Bryan High School and the University of Wisconsin, served twenty-one months in the United States Army, being nine months overseas, and was a non-commissioned officer ; he married Miss Agnes S. Grady of St. Louis, Missouri, and has one son, James W. : and Virginia, who is attending the Bryan public schools.

C. H. Boone. - The life history of him whose name heads this sketch is closely identified with the history of Montpelier, Ohio. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of success attained by those only who devote themselves indefatigably to the work before them. He is of a high type of a business man and none more than he deserves a fitting recognition among the men whose genius and abilities have achieved results that are most enviable and commendable.

C. H. Boone, proprietor of the Boone Lumber Company, at Montpelier, Ohio, was born near Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, on December 29, 1849, and is the son of Thomas and Anna (Criss) Boone. These parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared to maturity and were married. Eventually they came to Ohio, settling near Wooster, where they engaged in farming and where they spent the remainder of their lives. They were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Boone gave his support to the republican party. They were parents of the following children : W. S., of Montpelier, Ohio; Elizabeth, the wife of E. D. Pinkerton, of Wooster, Ohio ; C. H., the subject of this sketch ; Ruth A., deceased ; Joseph N., of Akron, Ohio ; Mattie, the wife of Dr. Bucher, of Wheatfield, Indiana; Lucy, the wife of George Getts, of Massilon, Ohio.

C. H. Boone was reared on the paternal farm near Wooster, Ohio, and secured a good practical common school education. After his marriage, which occurred in 1876, he lived on a farm in Wayne County for five or six years, and then went into business in Akron, Ohio, but in 1882 sold out there and came to Williams County. Locating at Montpelier, Mr. Boone went into the sawmill business, to which he later added the lumber yards, and he has been identified with this business continually since. For seven years he was associated with his brothers, under the name of C. H. Boone & Company, but at the end of that time he acquired sole ownership of the business and is still so conducting it. He is ably assisted in this work by his sons, and the combination has been one of peculiar efficiency. The Boone lumber yards are well stocked with all kinds of lumber and building stock and their trade covers a wide range of surrounding country.

In 1876 Mr. Boone was married to Alice Clippinger, who was born in Dalton, Ohio, and their union has been blessed by the birth of four sons, namely: R. A., who is secretary of the Boone Lumber Company; L. L., who is manager of the company; R. C, treasurer of the company, and W. S., who is connected with the Goodyear Rubber Company, at Buffalo, New York. Mrs. Boone is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Boone is a member of the Knights of Pythias, being a past chancellor of his lodge and a member of the Grand Lodge. Politically, he has been a lifelong supporter of the republican party and for fourteen consecutive years he served as a member of the Montpelier Council. While he has carried on a special line of business in such a manner as to gain a comfortable competence for himself, he has also belonged to that class of representative men of affairs who promote the public welfare while advancing individual success, and he has so ordered his life as to gain the unlimited confidence and esteem of the entire community.

Joseph Burkhart. - A prominent and prosperous agriculturist, and an extensive land holder, Joseph Burkhart, of St. Joseph Township, is widely known as proprietor of Twin Elm Farm, which consists of 260 acres of land, twenty acres of which lies in Dekalb County, Indiana. He also owns another farm of 240 acres in the same township, and is carrying on general farming and stock raising most successfully. A son of George Burkhart, he was born, May 12, 1858, in Crawford County, Ohio, where he lived until twelve years of age.

Born and educated in Pennsylvania, George Burkhart came to Ohio in early manhood, locating in Crawford County, where he ran a sawmill for a few seasons. .Moving to Bucyrus, in the same county, he took charge of a furnace. He subsequently invented the old Excelsior reaper, the first one that had a patent dropper, and traveled on the road selling the machines. Coming to Williams County with his family in 1869, he spent his remaining years on a farm in St. Joseph Township. He was a democrat in politics, and a member of the Evangelical Church, with which he was prominently identified. He married Roxanna Songer, who was born in Pennsylvania, and as a child came with her parents to Ohio, locating in Crawford County. Of the children born of their marriage, seven are living, as follows: Joseph, the special subject of this sketch; Sarah, wife of Solomon Suffel, living near Montpelier, Williams County ; Samuel F., engaged in farming in St. Joseph Township ; Frank, of Edgerton ; Ida, wife of Chester Isenhood ; Anna, wife of John Richmond ; and Sophia, the eldest child of the parental household, wife of Daniel Mowery, of St. Louis, Missouri.

Coming with the family to Williams County in 1869, Joseph Burkhart was educated in the district schools, and after finishing his studies spent many years on the home farm, remaining with his parents until twenty-five years old. Choosing the free and independent occupation to which he was reared, Mr. Burkhart has met with no failures in his undertakings, at the present writing having title to 400 acres of choice land, from which he reaps bountiful harvests, the rich soil responding readily to his methods of culture.

15, 1866, a daughter of George Casebere, and granddaughter of John and Nancy (Smiley) Casebere, who settled in Williams County, Ohio, in 1840. George Casebere was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1832, and died in July, 1896. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Kinsely, was born in Canal Dover, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, November 2, 1835, and died in 1893. Four children were born of their union, as follows: Lee Casebere, of Bryan, Ohio; Solomon, of Butler, Indiana; Marshall, deceased; and Aletta, now Mrs. Burkhart.

Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart have three children, namely : Ora Glenn, born July 5, 1885, married Ethel Spaulding; Earl Lyston, born August 22, 1888, is single, and lives at home ; and Arthur Dale, born February 11, 1890, who was graduated from the Edgerton High School, and the Fort Wayne Business College, married Jette Kimball. Mr. Burkhart is a democrat in politics, and Mrs. Burkhart, true to the religious faith in which she was reared, is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Samuel F. Burkhart, brother of Joseph Burkhart, was born in Crawford County, Ohio, near Bucyrus, June 6, 1862, and at the age of seven years came with his parents to Saint Joseph Township, where he acquired his early knowledge of books, and became acquainted with the various branches of agriculture. Finding farming both agreeable and profitable, he turned his attention to agriculture when young, and has now 180 acres of land in his home farm, and is managing it with exceptionally good results. He has accumulated considerable property, in addition to the farm which he now occupies having formerly had title to sixty-five acres nearby, and is a stockholder in the Farmers Commercial Bank of Edgerton.

Mr. Burkhart married Lena Landel. and they have three children, namely : Charles, a graduate of the Edon High School ; Oscar, a graduate of the Edgerton High School, is now, in 1920, a sophomore in the University of Illinois, at Urbana ; and Raymond, a student in the Edgerton High School. Mr. Burkhart is a prominent and useful member of the Evangelical Church, in which he is an elder, and is an active worker in the Sunday School, which he has served as superintendent. He is a steadfast democrat in politics, and has served as a member, and as president, of the local school board.

William M. Kurtz has spent all his life in Northwestern Ohio, is a successful farmer in St. Joseph Township, and is a veteran of the threshing business. He- owns a large acreage and a valuable

Mr. Kurtz, whose home is a mile and three-quarters southeast of Edgerton, was born in Milford Township, Defiance County, Ohio, March 24, 1871. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Kurtz, were natives of Germany and were married in that country. His father was born in Wuertemberg, January 8, 1831. At the age of twenty-six he took his wife and son to Australia, and lived in that country for five years. Returning to Germany, they remained only a few months and in 1862 emigrated to the United States and located in Defiance County. They bought a farm three and a half miles south of Edgerton and Jacob Kurtz cleared up his land and improved it and remained a resident there until his death. They were reared as Lutherans, but in Ohio became Methodists. The mother died in 1879.

William M. Kurtz was one of eight children and grew up on the home farm near Edgerton, attended district schools, and was a factor in the parental establishment until he married and established a home of his own.

January 23, 1898, he married Martha M. Fisher, who was born in Center Township of Williams County, February 3, 1878, daughter of Michael and Mary (Laufer) Fisher. Her father was born April 12, 1830, was brought to the United States from Germany in 1840 and the family were pioneers in Williams County. In the Fisher family were fourteen children named Jacob, George M., Mary E., Anna M., John Z., Caroline, Henry E., Frederick, David, William M., Albert C, Charles F., Martha and Victoria C. Mrs. Kurtz was reared on a farm and acquired a district school education.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz rented the farm where they now live, and in 1902, as a result of their joint thrift and energies were able to buy the land. They now have a valuable place of 120 acres, and their improvements are of the best. Mr. Kurtz has operated a threshing oufit for twenty-eight years, and is one of the oldest men in that business and as such is widely known. He is a democrat in politics, a member of the Farm Bureau, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mrs. Kurtz is a member of the Pythian Sisters.

They have two children : Arvilla A., born March 4, 1904, now attending high school ; and J. W. Russell Kurtz, born January 3, 1914. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Kurtz is one of its trustees.

Wesley Casebere. - Owning a farm of ninety-four acres, Wesley Casebere, of Edgerton, Williams County, is still actively engaged in work upon which the health, wealth and general prosperity of our nation is largely dependent. A son of William Casebere, he was born, July 12, 1848, in Troy Township, Dekalb County, Indiana.

In 1790 two brothers named Casebere emigrated from Germany to the United States, one of them settling in Pennsylvania. A descendant of that Casebere, one John Casebere, married, and in 1814 located in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, at Canal Dover, and from his nine children all of the Ohio Caseberes are descended. The eldest son, alsonamed John Casebere, was born in Pennsylvania, October 24, 1798, and in 1814 came with his parents to Canal Dover, Ohio. In 1821 he married Nancy Smiley, a daughter of George Smiley, and in 1839, having entered land in both Ohio and Indiana, moved to Troy Township, Dekalb County, Indiana, where he resided until his death, September 2, 1881. He had previously learned the blacksmith's trade, and specialized in the making of cow bells. In 1841 he erected a second cabin, and in that cabin the first school opened in that district was taught, ten out of its sixteen pupils having been Caseberes. His wife died May 4, 1870, several years before he did.

One of a family of twelve children, William Casebere went with his parents to Troy Township, Indiana, from Canal Dover, Ohio, and assisted his father as well as a boy could in clearing and improving a homestead. He began life for himself as a farmer in that township, but finally removed to Canada, where he spent the later years of his life. He married Harriet Moore, who was also of pioneer stock, and on the farm which he owned and occupied his children were reared.

Brought up and educated in his native township, Wesley Casebere began life for himself as a youth, and for eight years worked as a farm laborer for Daniel Farnham, a prominent agriculturist of St. Joseph Township, Williams County. Industrious and enterprising, he wisely saved his money, and after his marriage bought his present farm, and in its improvement has taken great pleasure, his work having also proved quite remunerative.

Mr. Casebere married Mrs. Medora (Williams) Geiger, who was born in Licking County, Ohio, in 1847, and came with her parents to Williams County, Ohio, in 1856. She received excellent educational advantages, attending the public schools and the Newville Academy, after which she taught school a few terms. She married Jacob Geiger, who died in early life, leaving her with one daughter.

Alberta Geiger, who became the wife of W. D. Bratten, of St. Joseph Township. Mr. and Mrs. Casebere have one child, E. E. Casebere, of St. Joseph Township, who married Clara Watson, and has one son. Mr. Casebere is a republican in politics. His son, E. E. Casebere, is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and both he and his wife belong to the Order of the Eastern Star.

Frank C. Flickinger. - One of the best known citizens of Williams County, a former county commissioner, F. C. Flickinger has always shown a serious sense of responsibility both to himself and his fellow men, and his material accumulations would offset in only a small measure his large and varied service.

Mr. Flickinger was born in Wayne County, Ohio, October 12, 1874, a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Weidrich) Flickinger, the former a native of Wayne County and the latter of Allen County, Indiana. Both parents were active members of the United Brethren Church. Daniel Flickinger was a democrat, interested in political affairs, and at one time was roadmaster in Northwest Township of Williams County. He died August 14, 1914, and his widow is still living in Northwest Township. They had two sons, F. C. and Herman, the latter a farmer on the old homestead.

F. C. Flickinger was seven years of age when his parents moved to Williams County and here he acquired a public school education, supplemented with a teacher's course at the Tri-State College at Angola, Indiana. He received his degree Bachelor of Pedagogy. Mr. Flickinger has devoted his entire adult life to the profession of teaching, and almost altogether in Northwest Township. While it could not be said that he has gained wealth from a profession that is notoriously underpaid, he has contrived to manage his affairs in the intervals of school work in such a manner as to achieve the ownership of a good farm, consisting of 150 acres, and is known as a successful breeder of Duroc hogs and white Leghorn chickens. He has always been active in democratic politics, served eight years as township clerk of Northwest Township, and for two years was a valued member of the County Board of Commissioners. He is also a member of the Township Board of Education.

March 15, 1899, Mr. Flickinger married Nettie Ricketts. They have four children: Zola and Cleon, both graduates of the Montpelier High School ; Gaython, who has completed the common school work, and Gladys attending the grade school. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Flickinger is a past master of the Grange.

David J. Mettler. - While his youth was one of struggle and lack of advantages, David J. Mettler has found his way to a comfortable success, and for a number of years has been one of the influential and successful farmers of Williams County. His place is known as the Hickory Grove Farm, comprising 120 acres located a half mile west of Cooney, and he also had forty acres a half mile east of that town, which he sold to his son.

His maternal grandfather, William Adair, was one of the notable pioneers of Williams County, settling in this densely wooded section in 1848. He bought four parcels of land each containing eighty acres, at what is now Union Corners. Later he lived in the west part of the township and he died in Steuben, Indiana.

William Mettler and his wife Miriam were both natives of Morrow County, Ohio, where he was born August 19, 1834, and she on July 20, 1836. William Mettler was killed when thrown from a horse December 11, 1862, about three months after the birth of his son David. He had three children : Melvin C, now of Coldwater, Michigan ; David J. and Marcelina D., wife of H. S. Ely, of Montpelier. The widowed mother did a noble part by her small children after the death of her husband and managed to keep them together. She worked out for about twelve years in order to support them. Later she became the wife of J. B. Neer, but had no children by that union.

David J. Mettler lived for three years with his uncle John McCannch, and after that with his aunt, Mrs. Ferguson, until her death in 1874. Much of his boyhood was spent among strangers, and while he managed to attend the district schools he expended much of his youthful strength working out by the month and by the day.

On January 1, 1885, Mr. Mettler married Miss Wilda Moss, a native of Allen County, Indiana, where she lived to the age of twelve when her parents removed to Columbia, Ohio.

After his marriage Mr. Mettler rented a farm for four years and then established a modern stock of general merchandise at Cooney and subsequently was in business as a merchant at Columbia until about 1907. He then sold out and invested his modest capital in the farm where he now lives. This is a valuable property, and represents his accumulations above that needed for the support and rearing of his family. Mr. Mettler had the misfortune to lose his good wife on February 12, 1918. They w:ere the parents of four children: Win- fred, a farmer in Northwest Township; Harley, who is a graduate of the Fort Wayne Business College and is also a farmer in Williams County; Dale of Northwest Township; and Waity, wife of Charles Lash.

Mr. Mettler is a democrat in politics and for four terms, eight years, served as treasurer of Northwest Township. He also took the census in 1920. For several years until he resigned he was a member of the County Central Committee representing Northwest Township. He is also actively identified with the various farmers' organizations, and lends his support to every movement for the benefit of his community.

Grant S. Kintigh. - Steadily through a period of over thirty years Grant S. Kintigh has been a sustaining factor in the agricultural activities of Northwest Township, has achieved the success represented in the ownership of a good farm, and has played a worthy part in local citizenship.

Mr. Kintigh, whose farm home is a mile east and a half mile south of Cooney, was born in Northwest Township September 16, 1868, son of William and Susanna (Shaffer) Kintigh, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The parents were married in Williams County and first lived on a farm in Springfield Township, but for many years were honored residents of Northwest Township where both of them died. They were members of the United Brethren Church and the father served as superintendent of its Sunday School. A republican in politics, he was honored with the office of justice of the peace. In a family of nine children, one died in infancy and six are still alive: William C, of Camden, Michigan; Mary, wife of Joe Murray of Bryan, Ohio; Howard of Camden; John of Pioneer, Ohio; Elmer, whose home is in Kansas, and Grant S.

Grant S. Kintigh grew up in his native township, and acquired a very thorough education, beginning in the district schools and finishing with courses in Hillsdale College and in the Tri-State College at Angola, Indiana. For about five years he devoted his talents and time to educational work, and since then has followed farming with good results. His farm comprises 120 acres, and he has also worked with his fellow farmers in improving marketing and other conditions. He is a member of the Farmers' Co-operative Association at Montgomery, Michigan.

They have two talented children : Ruth is a graduate of the Hillsdale High School, attended the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing, and has a record as a teacher. Paul is a graduate of the Hillsdale High School, taught school one year and is now a student in Ferris Institute at Big Rapids, Michigan.

The family are members of the Presbyterian Church and of the Grange. Mr. Kintigh is identified with the republican party and for four years served as township clerk.

Franklin Knecht, who lives five miles northwest of Montpelier in Florence Township was ten years old when his parents came to Williams County. He was born July 9, 1855, in Crawford County. He is a son of John G. and Mary (Fouser) Knecht, the parents both born and brought up in Germany. They were married and three of their children were born in Germany. The father was a farmer in Germany. In 1845 they emigrated to the United States and settled in Crawford County. It was twenty years later that they removed to Williams County. They bought eighty acres of land in Superior Township and ended their days on it.

The Knechts were members of the German Lutheran Church and thirteen children were born to them, although A. D. 1920, only six of them are among the living: Gottlieb, Catharine, Sofia, Lewis, Franklin and William. They all had common school advantages, and Franklin who relates the family history remained at home until he was twenty-one years old when he married Barbara Knoblich who was born in Florence Township and had always lived in Williams County. Their children are : William D., with the Wabash Railroad and living in Montpelier; Harvey, of Florence Township, and Iva, the wife of Charles Custer.

The Knechts of this generation are members of the United Brethren Church, and Franklin Knecht is Sunday school superintendent. Mr. Knecht is a democrat and for four years he was the assessor in Florence Township. He was a member of the local school board for five years. He is a member of the Edon Farmers' Co-operative Association, and is interested in all farm organizations looking to the welfare of the rural community. Besides being a farmer Mr. Knecht is a carpenter and contractor, and in addition to making all the improvements on his own farm he has built many houses and barns for others. He operated a sawmill on the farm when there was more timber in Williams County.

William Henry Shinn. - In the largest and best sense of the term, William H. Shinn is distinctively one of the representative men of his day in Williams County, and as such his life record is entitled to a distinctive place in the annals of his county. As a citizen he is public-spirited and enterprising to an unwonted degree; as a friend and neighbor, he combines the qualities of head and heart that win confidence and command respect; as a legislator, he exhibited elements of statesmanship which won for him not only the esteem of his colleagues, but also the commendation of his constituents, while as an attorney, possessing a comprehensive grasp of the philosophy of jurisprudence, he occupies an enviable position at the bar of his county. He realized early that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on accomplishment. Because of this he has won for himself a place of prominence and honor as one of the world's honored army of workers, his life and labors being worthy because they have contributed to a proper understanding of life and its problems.

William Henry Shinn was born in Northwest Township, Williams County, Ohio, on March 19, 1867, son of Aaron and Henrietta C. (Speaker) Shinn. He is descended from sterling old Colonial stock, the Shinn family dating its beginning in America back to a time prior to the coming of William Penn, when John Shinn, a Quaker and a native of England, left his native land in order that he might enjoy freedom of religious belief and practice. It is an essential truth that the final causes which shape the fortunes of individual men and the destinies of states are often the same, and when they inspire men to the exercise of courage, self-denial, enterprise, and call into play the higher moral elements ; lead men to risk all upon conviction, faith - such causes lead to the planting of great nations and great peoples. Thus it was with those hardy people who, for the sake of their consciences, courageously came to a new and practically unknown world, braving all for the sake of posterity, and we today are enjoying the fruits of their sacrifices and courage. John Shinn settled in Burlington County, New Jersey, where he established a home and reared a family, and there the family has been continuously represented to the present day. All of the name in America are said to be direct descendants of the brave pioneer, John Shinn. In Burlington County, Aaron Shinn, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1803. In early manhood he came to Ohio, eventually locating in Williams County, where he followed his trade, that of blacksmith, establishing the first shop of that kind in Northwest Township. Here he met and married Henrietta C. Speaker, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, and here his death occurred on January 16, 1867, at the age of sixty-four years, about two months before the birth of his son, the subject of this review.

William H. Shinn received his early educational training in the district schools, where his attendance was necessarily more or less irregular. During the summer months he hired out for work on neighboring farms, while during the winter he did chores for his board in the neighborhood of the school which he attended. In January, 1883, when not quite sixteen years old, he went to Montpelier and became an apprentice at the printing trade in the office of the Montpelier Enterprise. He was ambitious and while working at his trade he applied himself assiduously to his books, so that at the end of two years he was able to pass an examination and secured a certificate to teach school. He taught in Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan, and at the age of twenty years he became the editor of the Montpelier Democrat, occupying that position about eighteen months. From 1890 until November, 1893. he was the publisher of the Democrat at Newaygo, Michigan, and during his brief residence there he quickly gained public appreciation, rilling several local offices, among them being school inspector, deputy county clerk, village clerk, justice of the peace and township clerk. In June. 1894, Mr. Shinn removed to La Grange, Indiana, and purchased the La Grange Democrat, which he published until February, 1896. In the spring of the following year he entered the employ of a publishing house as a writer, maintaining this relation until 1912, during which period he resided in Indiana. While residing there, in 1900, he became the democratic nominee for state senator, but was defeated at the ensuing election.

In August, 1912, Mr. Shinn returned to Williams County and purchased the Montpelier Enterprise, the office in which he had originally learned the printing trade, and he conducted this paper with marked success until September, 1916. In November, 1913, he was elected mayor of Montpelier, and two years later was re-elected to succeed himself, holding the office until January 1, 1917, when he resigned that office in order to take his seat in the Legislature, to which he had been chosen. At the primary election of 1914 the democrats of Williams County chose him as their candidate for representative from this county, but he was defeated at the November election. In 1916 he was again nominated, without opposition, and at the election he was successful, receiving a plurality of 102 votes over his opponent, the Hon. Frank M. Money, who had been the successful candidate two years before.

As a member of the Legislature, Mr. Shinn took a prominent and leading part in securing the passage of a number of important bills. Upon the organization of the House, he was made chairman of the committee on Constitutional Amendments and the Initiative and Referendum, and was given membership on the following committees : Cities, Fees and Salaries, Liquor Traffic and Temperance, Privileges and Elections and Taxation and Revenues. He introduced the Anti-Spotters railroad bill and the Injunction and Abatement (anti-vice) bills, both of which were enacted into laws. He was also the author and secured the adoption of the resolution submitting to the people an amendment to the State Constitution whereby the double taxation of real estate may be prevented. This amendment was subsequently ratified by the voters by a majority of more than 108,000 and is now a part of the organic law of the state. Upon his retirement from the Legislature, Mr. Shinn opened a law office in Montpelier and has since been engaged in the practice of that profession, in which he is meeting with splendid success.

On Christmas Day, 1891, Mr. Shinn was married to Zoe Thomas, at Montpelier, and they have a son, William Thomas, who was graduated from the Montpelier High School with the class of 1919, and is now a student in the Ohio State University at Columbus, preparing for the practice of law. The beginning of Mr. Shinn's career was characterized by hard work and conscientious endeavor, and he owes his rise to no train of fortunate incidents or fortuitous circumstances. It has been the reward of the application of mental qualifications of a high order to the affairs of business, combined with keen perceptions and mental activity that enabled him to grasp the opportunities that have presented themselves. This he has done with success and, what is more important, with honor. Because of his success and his sterling qualities of character, he enjoys to a marked degree the confidence and good will of all who know him.

William Felger. - In insurance circles of Williams County there is no name better known than that of William Felger. While he has not been indifferent to the opportunities offered for advancement in other lines of endeavor, notably that of farming, Mr. Felger has been first, last and all the time an insurance man, and at the present time, in addition to being the representative at West Unity for a number of leading companies, is secretary of the Brady Township Fire Insurance Association.

Susanna (Herman) Felger. The father was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and as a young man went to Wayne County, Ohio, where he married a native of that county. In 1848 he went to California, where he remained about three years, during which time he saved $800 in gold, and, returning to Ohio with this sum, invested it in a tract of eighty acres of land in Brady Township, Williams County. There he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the active period of his life, but finally retired and moved to West Unity where he died two years later, his widow surviving him eight months. He was a democrat in politics, and he and Mrs. Felger were consistent members of the Reformed Church. They were the parents of six children : William ; Conrad, a resident of San Diego, California; Frank, of Fayette, Fulton County, Ohio; Simon, a farmer of Mill Creek Township, Williams County ; John, a resident of West Unity; and Sarah, the wife of David Laser, an agriculturist near Pioneer.

William Felger was reared on the old home farm in Brady Township, and in his boyhood and youth assisted his father in the work of the home property while securing his education in the public schools of West Unity and the Smithville (Ohio) Normal School. Later he took a course in the Wooster Business College, then starting to teach day school and penmanship, which he followed for several years. As an agriculturist he became the owner of ninety-five acres of land in Jefferson Township, in addition to which he possesses a fine home at West Unity. In young manhood Mr. Felger became interested in insurance matters and began as a local agent for several of the large companies. Meeting with gratifying success in this field, he increased the scope of his efforts and his patronage has constantly grown larger, until at the present time he is local representative for the Home Insurance Company of New York, the Fidelity Phoenix of New York, the Fidelity Casualty Company of New York, the Great American Indemnity Company of Mansfield, Ohio, the Ohio Windstorm Company of Columbus and the Cleveland National of Cleveland, Ohio. In January, 1907, Mr. Felger became secretary of the Brady Township Fire Insurance Company, a position which he has retained to the present time. The affairs of this institution are in a flourishing condition, and much of its prosperity is directly traceable to Mr. Felger's ability and industrious efforts. He is likewise a notary public and is largely interested in the handling of real estate. From 1885 to 1901 he was agent for various express companions at Orrville. A democrat in politics, Mr. Felger has taken an active part in local affairs, and has served one term each as township clerk of Brady Township and as mayor of West Unity, displaying capability along executive lines. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Superior Lodge, No. 179, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Knights of the Maccabees, and he and Mrs. Felger are members of the Order of the Eastern Star, and of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Felger is a stockholder in the Farmers Commercial and Savings Bank.

Mr. Felger married Sarah Billman, of Wayne County, Ohio, and they had three children: Edmund J.,' of Akron, Ohio; Charles H., of Hillsdale, Michigan ; and Mabel V., a graduate nurse at the Toledo Hospital. Mrs. Felger died June 28, 1904, and Mr. Felger later married Ina L. Miller. They have had no children.

Fred Planson. - A fine representative of the enterprising and prosperous agriculturists of Williams County, Fred Planson is actively engaged in his free and independent calling in Springfield Township, where his well improved and productive farm is located. A son of the late Peter Planson, he was born, April 29, 1883, on the farm adjoining the one he now owns and occupies.

A native of Williams County, Ohio, Peter Planson was born in Lockport, Brady Township, where he acquired when young a thorough knowledge of the various branches of agriculture. Industrious and thrifty, he accumulated some money, and when ready to begin the battle of life on his own account bought 130 acres of land in his native township, but subsequently moved to Springfield Township, where he carried on general farming a number of years. When ready to give up active work, he removed to Stryker, and there spent the later years of his life. A stanch republican in politics, he took much interest in local affairs, and rendered acceptable services as trustee of Springfield Township. Religiously both he and his wife were members of the Baptist Church at Stryker.

Peter Planson married Frances Recine, who was born in France, and as a girl came with her parents to Lockport, Ohio, where she was married. Of the nine children born of their union, eight were living in 1919, as follows: Herman, of Springfield Township; Emiel ; Ida; Charles; George; Nora, wife of James Roux; Sylvia, and Fred.

Obtaining a practical education in the district schools, Fred Planson began in boyhood to do the chores usually falling to the lot of a farmer's son, and, naturally following in the footsteps of his ancestors, chose farming for his life occupation. Settling on land adjoining his father's, he has been very successful in his agricultural labors, his farm of seventy acres being under a good state of cultivation, yielding each year bountiful crops of the cereals common to this region. He is a steadfast republican in politics, and a valued member of the Baptist Church at Stryker, of which he is a trustee.

Mr. Planson married, November 24, 1904, Alice E. Peugeot, who was born and educated in Brady Township, Ohio, and into the household thus established four children have been born, namely: Ethel, born August 18, 1906; Emerson, born August 21, 1908; Charlotte, born July 28, 1914; and Lucille, whose birth occurred November 14, 1917.

Walter S. Tomlinson, breeder of Holstein Friesians and a farmer upon an extensive scale, owns one of the best stock farms in Defiance County, which is located three-fourths of a mile southeast of Williams Center, Defiance County, Ohio. He was born at Bryan, Ohio, on June 16, 1843, a son of Giles Hawkins Tomlinson.

The Tomlinson family is traced back to 1600, when George Tomlinson was married to Mariah Hyde in January of that year, at Saint Peter's Church, England. Their son, Henry Tomlinson, born in Derby, England, came to the American Colonies in 1652, and died at Stratford, Connecticut, in 1681. Jonas Tomlinson, the son of Henry Tomlinson, married Alice Hannak and lived on Grant Hill, Derby, Connecticut, where he died in 1693.

Isaac Tomlinson, son of Jonas Tomlinson, was born in 1687, married Patience Taylor in March, 1712, and died in 1754. Their son, Noah, who was born in 1727, was married on July 2, 1747, to Abigail Beers, and lived and died at Derby, Connecticut. In 1749 Noah Tomlinson became the father of Daniel Tomlinson, and he served as an officer in the American Revolution. In 1774 he married Susanna Hotchkiss, and died near Marbledale. Connecticut. His son, Abijah Tomlinson, was born in 1780, and he married Betsey, a daughter of David and Ruth (Hawkins) Tomlinson, in 1805, and died at Marbledale, Connecticut in 1862, aged eighty-two years. His wife died in 1875, aged ninety-two years. To them were born the following children : Ruth, George, Giles Hawkins, Daniel, Charles, Eliza, Agnes and Nancy, Giles Hawkins surviving them all.

In 1842 Giles H. Tomlinson was married to Eunice Ensign, a daughter of Oren and Nancy Ensign, and a sister of Oscar, Henry, Dwight, Frank and Elbridge Ensign, all of whom were at one time or another residents of Farmer Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Tomlinson began their married life in a log house which was located just north of the Eaton property at Bryan, and in it their eldest son, Walter S., was born. Later removal was made to the old Carter building which stood on the present site of the Farmers National Bank. In 1848 Mr. Tomlinson moved his family to Williams Center, and there his wife died in 1854, and in 1856 he was married to Electa, a daughter of Lyman and Mary Anna (Baker) Hemenway. In addition to the sons, Walter S., Dwight, Oren and Frank Abijah, born of his first marriage, Mr. Tomlinson had by his second marriage the following children: Mrs. Ida Hoffman, who lives at Williams Center, Ohio; Mrs. Betsey Blanch Gardner, who lives at Bryan, Ohio; William, who lives at Lima, Ohio; Charles, who lives at Barlow, North Dakota; and Irwin, who remained with his parents on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Tomlinson celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary on April 28, 1906.

Giles H. Tomlinson was a highly educated men, and for a time was a teacher of mathematics, and among his pupils were the Goodrich brothers who later attained to a world-wide celebrity as manufacturers of rubber goods. He was a merchant in the village of Marbledale, Connecticut, for a time, but came to Ohio, and while at Columbus, became acquainted with the Mr. Bryan for whom Bryan is named, and was induced to come to Bryan to superintend the construction of the courthouse. Owing to the failure of Mr. Bryan, Mr. Tomlinson was involved in a long and costly lawsuit which left him but little means, but he settled at Williams Center and established himself in a small way as a merchant. From that beginning his business interests multiplied and expanded until at one time he was one of the wealthiest men in Williams County.

With the outbreak of the war between the states he was far- ' sighted enough to see that the demand for foodstuffs would be greatly increased, and he went into the beef and pork packing business, and secured army contracts. While he lost on these contracts, he built up a business of large proportions.

For over forty years Mr. Tomlinson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Williams Center, and when the church edifice was in process of construction he contributed every seventh dollar until the necessary amount was raised. Every legitimate interest of his community received his hearty support and he was in the best and broadest sense of the word public spirited. His death occurred at Williams Center, Ohio, on July 23, 1906, and his funeral services were held in the church his benefactions had helped to build. -His widow survived him.

Walter S. Tomlinson was reared at Williams Center and attended its schools and academy. After completing his studies he taught school for fifteen terms, but in 1899 began to turn his attention to agricultural matters. He had 225 acres of land and set out to operate it just as a banker would conduct his financial interests, systematically and expertly. His farm now comprises 700 acres and it is equipped with as fine buildings and machinery for the several purposes for which they are required as can be found in the state. He has operated his land so as to pay him a fair dividend each year on his investment, and feels certain that anyone who went about the matter as he has done could accomplish the same results. He values his farm and improvements at $100,000. His herd sires are Ona Clothilde DeKol Pontiac Hartog No. 189146 and Royalton Ormsby Second No. 186457, and he has about sixty-five in his herd of registered Holsteins at present. Mr. Tomlinson has been a valued contributor and editor of the Ohio Farmer, and is a writer of authority on hogs, sheep and dairy cattle.

Mr. Tomlinson was married to Emily Lane of Williams County, Ohio, and they had two children, namely: Eva, who is the wife of Prof. W. H. Bender of Des Moines, Iowa, a graduate of the Ohio State University, is now occupying the chair of agriculture in the Iowa State University, his duties taking him all over the state to the different high schools where he gives special instruction on agriculture to the pupils ; and Orla L., who is deceased. Professor and Mrs. Bender have four children, namely: Walter D., who is an extensive farmer of Washington Township, Defiance County, Ohio ; Marian, who is the wife of Myron Lankworthy, is a teacher in the Bryan High School; Roger T., who is a resident of Des Moines, Iowa; and Eunice, who is attending the Iowa State University. The first Mrs. Tomlinson died on December 10, 1905. In 1908 Mr. Tomlinson was married to Loretta Coy, widow of Albert Coy, who was born in Melford Township, Defiance County, Ohio, on January 24, 1853. She was educated in the Bryan High School and taught school for two terms prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Tomlinson are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. Well known in Masonry. Mr. Tomlinson belongs to Bryan Lodge No. 215, Free and Accepted Masons, and is also a' Chapter Mason, and he and his wife belong to the local chapter of the Eastern Star. In politics Mr. Tomlinson is a republican.

Ohio Volunteer Infantry, enlisting on August 26, 1861, and he remained in the service until the close of the war. He belongs to Evans Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at present, but formerly belonged to Lew Bowker Post No. 725, Grand Army of the Republic, at Farmer Center, and served it as commander. Without any question Mr. Tomlinson is the leading breeder of Holstein cattle in this part of the state and has been largely instrumental, through his own efforts and results and his writings, in awakening and maintaining an interest in registered cattle of this strain, which has brought about a most remarkable improvement in the herds and increased the prestige of this locality for dairy production.

George W. Custar of Florence Township, three miles northeast from Edon, was born October 12, 1859, in Superior Township. He is a son of John and Lydia (Tumbleson) Custer. They were natives of Columbiana County and after their marriage they came to Williams County, locating on a farm four miles southwest from Montpelier. They were members of the United Brethren Church and being a good singer Mr. Custar was very active in affairs of the church and community. He always served the church in some official capacity, and since there were thirteen children the Custar family helped to increase the church attendance. Those living are : Jacob, Martin, George, Edgar, John, Samuel, B. E., Amanda and Amelia.

George W. Custar was reared on the farm in Superior Township and educated in the common school, remaining at home with his parents until he was twenty-one years old. On July 4, 1883, Mr. Custar married Lillie McCamis, a daughter of John and Louisa (Hare) McCamis, the father born in Morrow County and the mother in London, England. She was a young woman eighteen years old when her parents came to the United States and settled in Williams County. They settled on the farm where Mr. Custar now lives and they were members of the Christian Union Church in the community.

Mr. and Mrs. Custar have two children : Pearl M., born April 15, 1886, is the wife of S. D. Lovejoy of Superior Township. Their children are : Paul F., Roger M., Lyle L. and Doyle D. Lovejoy. John J. Custer, born October 2, 1889, married Jennie Shaull, and they have one child, Fern P. Custar. As in the older generation of the family, G. W. Custar is active in the United Brethren Church, and for four years he has been Sunday school superintendent. His vote is cast with the republican party.

Levi MILLER.-The name of Miller is associated with some of the progress.ve farming done in Williams County, and one of the expert agriculturists bearing it is Levi Miller, who owns his fine farm of 282 acres, which is located five miles north and three miles west of Montpeher. He was born on the farm he now occupies on April 29 185/, a son of John H. and Elsa (Gardner) Miller. John Miller was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in 1831, and his wife was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1833. While still a boy he was brought to Wayne County, Ohio, where he was reared, and he was married in Richland County, Ohio. In the fall of 1855 he came to Williams County and located on the farm in Bridgewater Township which remained the homestead, and there he died on December 9 18/6, his wife having died there in February, 1873. They were very active members of the Church of God. In politics Mr. Miller was a democrat. He and his wife became the parents of the following children: Silas, who is a carpenter and contractor of Montpelier Ohio ; Levi, whose name heads this review ; Wilda, who is the wife of George Canfield, lives in Bridgewater Township; Louisa who is deceased, married M. J. Kurtz; John, who is also deceased, married Laura Champion ; Elsie, who married John Jackson ; and Grace who married Reynold Koch, of Denver, Colorado.

wuLeVl Mi'ler ^ Spent his entire Hfe in Bridgewater Township. W hen he was seventeen years old he lost his parents, and he left off attendance at the log schoolhouse in the neighborhood and began working by the month. After four years he left the farm work and was employed in other lines. He was very industrious and saving and by the time he was thirty-two years old he was able to buy his father's homestead from the other heirs, and later added 122 acres. Here he has been engaged in farming ever since and has a fine property

On December 25, 1888, Mr. Miller was married to Eva C. Hunter who was born in Northwest Township on September 12, 1859 a daughter of Edwin and Margaret (Kunsman) Hunter, natives 'of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Seneca County, Ohio, respectively, who were married in Northwest Township, Williams County, Ohio, in 1854. Mr. Hunter was killed by a kick from a horse in 1871, but his widow survived him and still lives in Northwest Township. Mrs. Miller was educated in the common schools of her native township. Mr. and Mrs. Miller became the parents of four children, namely : Mary B., who is the wife of George Messner, lives in Northwest Township- Ralph, who married Sarah A. Owen; Clarence E, who is unmarried] lives at home; and Flava, who is at home. Mrs. Miller belongs to the Presbyterian Church, but Mr. Miller is not connected with any religious organization. He is a democrat and belongs to the Farm Bureau at Montpelier. In addition to his agricultural interests, Mr. Miller is a director of the Montpelier National Bank. All that he owns today Mr. Miller has made himself and deserves great credit for this, as many left as he was would not have had the courage and initiative to forge ahead and accomplish so much.

David Shaffer. - One of the careful agriculturists and respected citizens of Pulaski Township, Williams County, is David Shaffer, a man whose history furnishes a splendid example of what may be accomplished through determined purpose, laudable ambition and welldirected efforts. Starting in life at the bottom of the ladder, he has steadily worked his way upward, winning success in his chosen field of endeavor and gaining the public confidence, which he has retained through careful "hewing to the line" in all the relations which he has sustained with his fellow men.

David Shaffer was born on October 30, 1861, on the farm which he now owns and operates, and he is the son of David, Sr., and Mary A. (Smith) Shaffer. These parents were born in Maryland, and were reared and married in that state, living there for a time after their union. They came to Crawford County, Ohio, and, sometime later, located in Williams County, where they spent the remainder of their lives, engaged in farming pursuits. They became the parents of eight children, of which number six are now living, namely : Michael P., of West Unity, this county ; Silas, of Pulaski Township ; Mary, the wife of Henry Updyke, of West Unity; David, the subject of this review ; Charles, of Bryan, and Cora, the wife of Henry Fifer, of Toledo, Ohio. David Shaffer, Sr., was a democrat in his political views and was a member of the Reformed Church.

David Shaffer, Jr., remained during his youth on the home farm and attended the district school. When about twenty-five years of age, he started out on his own account and has been successful in his efforts. With no one to materially assist him, he has gradually forged ahead during the years and is now the owner of 284 acres of splendid farming land, all of which he has acquired through his persevering labors, and this land he is cultivating with good judgment and excellent discrimination, so that he is enabled to realize good returns for his labor. In addition to general farming, he also gives some attention to the raising of live stock, in which also prosperity has attended his efforts. Besides his farming interests, Mr. Shaffer also owns an interest in the Farmers Grain Elevator at Pulaski. He is public spirited and gives his support to every measure which promises to advance the material, civic or moral interests of his community.

Mr. Shaffer was married to Dana Rosendaul, a native of Pulaski Township, and they are the parents of two sons, Dale V., a traveling salesman, who married Ethel Faulk and lives at Akron, Ohio, and Fay, who is farming in Pulaski Township.

Mr. Shaffer is a stanch supporter of the republican party. Genial and unassuming in his manner, nevertheless he possesses to a marked degree those qualities of mind and character which have gained for him the confidence and good will of all who know him. a jQjorn

John S. Ingram. - On the first of September, 1919, John Sherman Ingram entered upon the discharge of his official duties as county recorder of Williams County, his election to this responsible post having taken place on the fifth of November of the preceding year, and the majority which he received in this election having emphatically attested to the high esteem in which he is held in his native county.

Mr. Ingram was born on his father's farm, in Florence Township, near the village of Edon, this county, and the date of his nativity was February 6, 1865. He is a son of James and Mary (Sheridan) Ingram, the former a native of County Antrim, Ireland, and the latter of the State of Pennsylvania. James Ingram was five years old at the time of the family immigration to the United States, and after remaining for a brief time in Wayne County, Ohio, his parents came to Williams County, where his father engaged in farming and where both parents passed the remainder of their lives. James Ingram received his youthful education in the schools of this county and after his marriage he settled on a farm in Florence Township, where he long continued as a successful exponent of agricultural industry in the county and where he died when about seventy years of age, his wife also having passed away when seventy years of age. He was a republican in politics and was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Of the five children three are living in 1920: James W., of Montpelier, this county; Harriet M., the wife of William Eddy, of Eaton Rapids, Michigan ; and John S., of this review.

On the old farm of his father, in Florence Township, John S. Ingram early gained a full quota of practical experience in connection with productive industry, and in the public schools he received his youthful education He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm until he had attained to his legal major- ity, when he entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of telegrapher. He became a skilled operator, and as such was employed for varying intervals at different stations on the line of the Wabash Railroad. He continued his active service as a telegrapher until 1912, when he engaged in the restaurant business at Edon, one of the attractive villages of his native county. There he continued in this line of enterprise until his election to the office of county recorder, as noted in the opening paragraph of this sketch. He and his wife still maintain membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Edon, though his official duties involved his establishing his home at Bryan, the county seat. At Edon Mr. Ingram is affiliated with the lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor, and in politics lie is a stalwart in the local ranks of the republican party.

November 21, 1890, recorded the marriage of Mr. Ingram to Miss Laura A. Gonser, and of their five children four are living: Ethel, -who was graduated in the high school at Edon, is the wife of Monte Dewier; Leona, likewise a graduate of the Edon High School, is a talented musician, a former director of an orchestra in the City of Lexington, Kentucky, and now directing an orchestra in Richmond, Virginia ; Adaline is a teacher, and Isabelle, a high school student.

George J. Wise. - It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and success in the vocation to which he has applied his energies. But biography finds justification, nevertheless, in tracing and recording such a life, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is then with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such a record as has been that of George J. Wise, a farmer of high standing and influence in Pulaski Township.

George J. Wise, whose fine farm is located on the Napoleon road in Pulaski Township, about four miles east of Bryan, was born in Seneca, Ohio, on the seventh day of October, 1856, and is the son of Charles and Christina (Karier) Wise. Charles Wise was born in Germany, whence he came to the United States in 1848, landing at New York City. He first made location in Crawford County, Ohio, where he bought a home and lived for a time, but eventually they came to Williams County, locating east of Bryan, in Pulaski Township. He applied himself to farming pursuits there until 1870, when he moved to Bryan and there spent the rest of his days. He was a minister of the United Brethren Church and a republican in his political views. He became the father of three children, all of whom are dead but the subject.

George J. Wise was a boy of thirteen years when the family came to Williams County and he secured his educational training in the common schools of Pulaski Township. He has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, in which he has met with a gratifying degree of success, owing to his persistent industry and his practical intelligence in the direction of his affairs. He is the owner of sixty acres of well improved land, which is maintained at a high state of cultivation, and the general appearance of the place indicates the owner to be a man of good judgment and excellent taste. In addition to the cultivation of the land, Mr. Wise has also met with considerable success in the raising of live stock.

In 1881 Mr. Wise was married to Ella Baker, who was born in Richland County, Ohio, and to them were born three children, namely : Vergie, the wife of Earl Newcomer, of Pulaski Township; Nell E., the wife of Guy Schaefrer, and Oliver C, who is referred to in a later paragraph.

Politically, Mr. Wise has always given his support to the republican party, and has consistently thrown his influence in favor of every movement having for its object the betterment of the community along any legitimate line. He has played a noticeable role in the general progress of the locality in which he lives and can look back over a career well spent and know that he has the good will and hearty esteem of all who have come into contact with him.

Oliver C. Wise enlisted on May 29, 1918, in the United States, service, and on August 24th was assigned to the quartermaster's department at Camp Johnson, Florida. On September 10th he was transferred to Motor Truck Company No. 506, of Motor Supply Train No. 422. He left Camp Johnson for Camp Upton, New York, on- September 16th, and on the following day he left Camp Upton for embarkation. He landed at Glasgow, Scotland, on September 29th, went to Ronssey, England, on the following day, arrived at Southampton on October 1st and at La Havre, France, on October 2d. He arrived at LeMans on October 6th and at Nantes on October 11th. From that time on he saw service of various kinds at different places; in France, locating at St. Nazaire on January 10, 1919. Returning home on July 30, 1919, he received an honorable discharge, with the rank of corporal.

Clifford Clemens, the present efficient deputy sheriff of Williams County and former city marshal of Bryan, the judicial center of this county, claims the county as the place of his nativity and is a representative of one of its old and highly esteemed families. He was born in the little Village of Williams Center, on May 30, 1868, and is a son of Ephriam and Mary (Lane) Clemens, both natives of Crawford County, this state, and both young folk at the time of the removal of the respective families to Williams County, Mrs. Clemens having been eight years old when her parents came to this county. Ephriam Clemens gained his rudimentary education in Crawford County and was a lad of fourteen years when his parents'came to Williams County and established their home on a farm near Bryan. He was a carpenter in this county, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death and where both were earnest members of the United Brethren Church at Williams Center. Mr. Clemens was one of the loyal young men who represented this county as a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in later years he vitalized the more gracious associations of his military career by maintaining active affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic, his political allegiance having been given to the republican party. Of the three surviving children the subject of this sketch is the youngest; Stella is the wife of William Imes, and Nora is the wife of Charles Brown.

The childhood and early youth of Clifford Clements were marked by the associations of the home farm, and his early educational discipline was received in the public schools of Williams Center. At the age of eighteen years he learned the barber's trade at Bryan, and thereafter he conducted a barber shop at Lima, Allen County, for twenty years. In 1904 he returned to Bryan and here engaged in the work of his trade, in which he continued until his election to the office of city marshal, in which he served four years, his original election having occurred in 1913 and his re-election in 1915, having given him the largest majority ever received by any candidate for municipal office at Bryan. He finally resigned the office of marshal and thereafter he served as probation officer at Bryan until June 11, 1919, when he resigned, to accept oppointment to his present position, that of deputy sheriff. Mr. Clemens is a staunch supporter of the principles of the republican party, is affiliated with Bryan Lodge, No. 221, Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife are members of the Pythian Sisters, in which Mrs. Clemens has not only passed the official chairs of the local organization but also served a number of terms as district deputy.