Fulton Township (part 22 of 34)

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Clifton are: John L., of Amboy: Mabel, wife of Frank Estel, of Fulton; Harold, Marjorie and Helen. Mr. Clifton has been trustee of Fulton and a member of the Township Board of Education. He is a republican and a member of Berry Grange at Ai. It only required a short residence in Wauseon to convince Mr. Clifton that farming suited him better than butchering and shipping livestock.

Perpy Core. While the grandfather, David Cole, came from Paulding county to Fulton county in its early history, the parents of Perdy Cole. of Fulton Township, are natives of Fulton county. He is in the third generation of Coles and was born August 25, 1875, a son of Simon and Julie E. (McCaskev) Cole, the McCaskevs having come from Michigan. The mother is a daughter of Jonathan and Catharine McCaskev. of Lenawee county. The grandparents were all early residents of Fulton county. ; a farm in Fulton. He died there in 1884, but Mrs. Cole still lives at the old homestead. Their children are: Anna, wife of John Shrock, of Elwood, Indiana; Miles, of Monroe, Michigan, and Perdy, who is the youngest of the family, at the old homestead. For a time he was away and returned and now owns the old farm of seventy acres, with sixty acres under cultivation.

In August, 1899, Mr. Cole married Alta Trumbull, of Lucas, county. She is a daughter of Rufus and Alice Y. (Files) Trumbull. Their children are: Luida, Lawrence, Arthur, Julia (deceased), Ernest, Oliver, Russell, Robert and Earl. Mr. Cole attended district school and Mrs. Cole attended high school in Springfield. They belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and he votes with the republicans. A nephew, Carl Trumbull, was in the navy sixteen months and made seven round trips to France in the convoy service in the World war.

Mr. Cole found duties and responsibilites ready at hand when he reached mature years, and the outstanding feature of his career is the fidelity with which he has discharged his obligations and the industrious and intelligent management he has displayed in the handling of the old homestead. His name is properly associated with the most progressive element in the farming district of Fulton, Township.

Hariey J. MIuier is a well-known resident of York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, and a prosperous and representative farmer of the county, and comes of a family which deserves a good place in the history of the district. His grandparents were pioneer settlers of a section of Fulton county; in fact, they were in the section of York Township before it even was part of Fulton county. The Miller family was the second white family to take up residence in York Township, and John Miller, grandfather of Harley J., has the distinction of having been a member of the first jury formed in Henry county, Ohio. in which county York Township then was. John and Rebecca (Wright) Miller, the pioneer, entered government land in the section, and lived upon it for the remainder of their lives, clearing it gradually and enduring resolutelv and cheerfully all the privations of pioneering life. George Miller, son of John and Rebecca (Wright) Miller, and father of Harley J., was born in Seneca county, Ohio, and came with his parents when they took up government land in York Township, and there he lived for the remainder of his life. He married Ellen Leist, daughter of David Leist, and after marriage settled on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in section 10, of York Township, where they lived for very many years. and raised a large family. Mrs. Ellen (Leist) Miller was a good mother and of a kind-hearted, hospitable nature, and she had manv friends of long standing in the township. She died in June. 1897. Her husband, however, lived for another twelve vears, until November, 1909, he being then seventy-one vears old. Their children were: Mary, who married H. C. Milev, of Finley, Ohio; Stanton, who died at the age of forty-two years; Harlev J., of whose life more will be written; Charles, who now lives in Henry county. Ohio; Luey, who married Charles Whiteman. of Napoleon, Ohio; Blanche, who married Louis Spiess, of Swan Creek Township.

Harley J., son of George and Ellen (Leist) Miller, was born in the parental homestead, section 10, of York Township, Fulton countv, in February, 1876, and in due course attended the district school of the township. Even as a boy he manifested earnest purpose, and after passing through the district school he matriculated at the Fayette Normal School. He was not, however, able to stay in that school for more than five months. Returning home, he devoted himself wholly to farm work, associating with his father in the operation of the home farm. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years old, when he married, and soon thereafter took upon himself the responsibility of independent farming. At the outset he rented a farm, continuing as a tenant farmer for three years, when he was able to purchase a small farm, one of thirty-five acres, in section 9 of York Township, only twelve acres of which had been cleared. He managed to prosper, notwithstanding the small acreage, and in course cf time was able to acquire aditional acreage, until he was the owner of a well-balanced agricultural estate of eighty acres, of which twenty-seven acres are in timber, but useful in pasturing. Mr. Miller has applied himself diligently to agriculture, and. by skillful farming has reached a comfortable state, having a good property which yields very satisfactory returns. He has always been prudent in his farming, following the general line, and has had much success in stock raising, cattle, hogs and horses.

Personally Mr. Miller is a man of strong principle, upright and God-fearing. He has been a church worker throughout his manhood vears, and has maintained an active interest in Sunday school work. He is an active member of the Christian Union Bethel Church, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school of that church for many years. In very many ways he has shown himself to be characteristically strong - in his manhood occupations, in his private life, and in his political activities. He has for years been a stanch prohibitionist, and was fearless in its advocacy long before it became of popular interest.

In February. 1897, he married Sophrona, daughter of Christian and Charlotta (Schlegel) Biery, of a well-known York Township familv. His wife is also a native of York Township, and they have both taken active part in almost all phases of the affairs of that community, in which they are both well regarded as good neighbors and reliable, useful citizens.

MicuHaELt W. Harms, an enterprising and respected farmer of York Township, Fulton county, has to his eredit much pioneering work, although not in Fulton county; and he has in American history greater credit for himself, in that, although himself of German birth, he sent both of his- sons into the fighting forces of the United States to do their utmost for America in the recent war with Germany. He has during his life shown a commendable public spirit, has actively interested himself in educational matters, and has taken part in civic administration.

Michael W. Harms, was born near Berlin, Germany, in the vicinity of Greisvalt, on April 4, 1859, the son of John and Augusta (Mever) Harms. He was only an infant when his parents came to the United States, and settled at Homestead Falls, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, two years later moving into Henry county, Ohio, where John Harms died in February, 1919, and where his widow still resides. Their son, Michael W., was not able to obtain much academic schooling in his youth. The primitive facilities of the country schools in the section of Henry county in which he lived were all that were possible to him, and from the age of 'eleven years his time was practically given to farming occupations, he even as a boy working for monthly wages on neighboring farms. He con-

206 HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY tinued so employed until he was twenty-one years old, when he married, and took upon himself the responsibilities of independent farming. He bought a forty acre tract in Freedom Township, Henry county, where they lived for several years. It was all in timber, but eventually he cleared it, and sold the farm to advantage. He then purchased another farm of fifty acres in Freedom and Ridgeville townships, Henry county, the house and buildings being in the latter township. Four years later he sold the farm, and bought a third timbered property in Freedom Township, and there the family lived for many years, eventually, however, selling it, and moving to a nearby farm of eighty acres, where they lived for three years, which brought them to the time when they came into York Township, having sold their eighty-acre farm in Freedom Township, and purchased a well-improved farm of seventy acres in section 17 of York Township, Fulton county. There the family has since lived, and there Mr. Harms has had good success in general farming, dairying, and stock raising. Characteristically Mr. Harms is a man of abundant energy. His father was among the pioneers of Henry county, and he has himself cleared three forty-acre tracts of timber land, thus bringing into fertility a substantial acreage of wild land. When the family first went into Henry county there were no roads at all, everything was wilderness, heavy virgin timber. The condition of that county in these days is a testimonial - to es pioneering spirit of such men as Michael W. Harms and his father.

Politically Mr. Harms is a democrat, and he has followed local affairs interestedly. He has served his community as supervisor of roads, and has also been school director. Religiously he is a Congregationalist, a consistent Christian.

' In December, 1880, he married Ida E. Lindley, who was born in Ridgeville Township, Henry county, Ohio, December 12, 1859, daughter of Josiah B. and Nancy (Durkee) Lindley, who were born in Lorain county, Ohio. She comes of an old colonial Vermont family, her grandparents, Owel and Betsy E. (Terry) Durkee, having been born in that state. Michael and Ida E. (Lindley) Harms are the parents of four children: Maude, who married Ezra Rychener, of Clinton Township; Mabel, who married Frank Hoffman, of Freedom Township, Henry county, Ohio; Ralph M., who has applied himself to the many duties of the home farm, is a veteran of the World war, and gave good service in France with an artillery unit, eventually receiving 'honorable discharge; and Raymond, also now at home, and also a veteran of the World war, his war service being in the naval forces, and he is vet in reserve subject to eall. This is a creditable service to the nation by one family, representing as it does all that they could possibly have served.

THEOPHILUS AESCHLIMAN, a well-to-do retired farmer, now living in York Township, and well-known in German Township, comes of one of the old families of the county.

He is the son of Christian and Fannie (Frv) Aeschliman, who were pioneer residents in German Township. Christian Aeschliman was born in Switzerland, but his wife was of French birth and ancestry. They came to America, and for a while lived in Wavne county Ohio, and eventually entered a tract of government land in German

Township, Fulton county. It was all in timber, and the surroundings were wild. There was an old log cabin upon the place, and it had evidently been used as a stable, but in that hut Christian Aeschliman and his wife had to make their abode for a while. He was a typical pioneer, and resolutely applied himself to the great task of clearing his property of timber. Eventually he owned 160 acres, most of which he cleared, and upon which he erected adequate out-buildings, and a commodious, comfortable residence. He died in about 1886, but his wife lived a widowhood of more than twenty years, her death not coming until the fall of 1909. They were the parents of twelve children: Pollie, now deceased ; Katie, deceased ; Joel, deceased; Leah, who married David Krepf, and now lives in Schuyler county, Missouri; Jonathan, deceased ; Rebecca, now living in Clinton Township, Fulton county; Nathaniel, also of Clinton Township ; Levina, who married Andrew Vonier, of Jasper county, Missouri; Theophilus, regarding whom more follows; Emmaline, who now lives in Schuyler county, Missouri; Eli, now a resident in Wauseon, Ohio; and Eliza, who married Christian Summer, but is now deceased. Eli and Eliza were twins.

Theophilus, ninth child of Christian and Fannie (Fry) Aeschliman, was born in German Township, Fulton county, Ohio, on April 17, 1861, and was reared under somewhat primitive conditions that obtained in the township at that time. He attended the district school, and after leaving school took good part in the work of the home farm. He was almost twenty-two years old when he married, and for two years thereafter he and his wife lived in the log cabin on his father's property. During that time he worked for wages, but at the end of two years, he joined his brother Eli in purchasing a farm of eightv acres, to the southward of Archbold Village, Fulton county. The brothers jointly farmed the acreage for four years, and then sold the property to advantage, Theophilus soon afterward going with his wife into Missouri, with the intention of buying a farming property in Schuyler county, of that state. They were only there for a few weeks, however, and did not purchase a property. Instead, they returned to Ohio and to Fulton county, taking up residence on the old Aeschliman homestead, in German Township. Theophilus farmed the property for seven years, and then went to Chesterfield, Ohio, where he purchased a partly improved farm of one hundred acres. He greatly improved the property during his occupancy of it, bringing all excepting twelve acres under cultiva- - tion. In the fall of 1906 he sold the farm to good advantage, and returned to his native county, buying an improved farm of eightytwo acres situated in section 19 of York Township, upon which property he has since lived. During the last decade he has made extensive improvements, remodeling the barns and outbuildings. The dwelling is of brick. He experienced good success in general farming, and maintained a high degree of productivity, holding steadily to the farm management until 1917, when he decided to take things somewhat less strenuously than he formally had. He rented the farm to his son, which condition has held to the present, to mutual satisfaction, but he has continued to live on the farm.

Theophilus Aeschliman on April 10, 1888, married Fannie Vonier, who was born in France, the daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Guyman) Vonier, who settled in German Township, Fulton county, in about 1872, and continuing to reside there until their deaths. Mrs. Vonier died September 15, 1884, but Andrew Vonier lived to reach the venerable age of ninety-two years, death not coming to him until 1914. To Theophilus and Fannie (Vonier) Aeschliman were born five children: Jemima, who married Aaron Klepfenstine, of Clinton Township, Fulton county: Mary, who married Henry Richer, of the same township; Enos, a successful farmer, also of Clinton Township; Lucinda, who married Samuel Richer, of Clinton Township; and Benjamin, who rents his father's farm in York Township, and is cultivating it with good success.

The Aeschliman family in its three generations of Fulton county residence has appreciably aided in the development of the agricultural land in the county. ~

Joun M. Rasuuey, a successful and respected farmer of York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, has spent all his life in the county, and is one of its representative agriculturists. All his associations have been with Fulton county, and the Rashley family goes back to the early days of the county. His grandparents, both paternal and maternal, were pioneers of German Township of Fulton county and so also were the grandparents of his wife, who comes of the well-known Rychener family.

John M. Rashley was born in German Township, Fulton county, September 4, 1870, the son of Joel and Susan (Yost) Rashley. The Rashley family was originally of French ancestry, the American progenitor being David Rashley, grandfather of John M. He was born in France, and married Sophia Herman, coming early to the United States. They were for a while in Wayne county, Ohio, and came with other adventurous pioneers through the wilderness into Fulton county, settling in German Township, and the greater part of the life of David Rashlev was spent in pioneering occupations in that township, where he died. Their son, Joel Rashley, was born in German Township, and eventually married Susan Yost, the Yost family being also among the pioneer families of German Township. He died in the township in 1879, but his widow Susan (Yost) Rashley, is still living, and in comparatively good health. She remained in German Township until 1910, but the last ten years she has spent in comfortable circumstances in the city of Wauseon. Joel and Susan (Yost) Rashley were the parents of five children: Sarah, who lives with her mother in Wauseon; John M., of whom further; Mary, who is the wife of Jonas B. Snyder, of Clinton Township; Lydia, who married Joel King, of Gorham Township; and Samuel, who died in infancy.

John M. Rashley, son of Joel and Susan (Yost) Rashley attended the district school nearest to his home, but was only nine vears old when his father died, and he being the onlv son responsibilities soon developed upon him. He was not very old when he undertook the whole management of the farm, and he continued to be the mainstay of his mother even after he had married. He was twentythree years old when he married, but he and-his wife continued to live on the family property, which he kept in good cultivation. In the following year they all moved into York Township, to a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, situated in section 18 of that township, his mother having some time previously purchased the property. There they all lived, a loyal united family, until 1910, when his mother went to live in the city of Wauseon, leaving the farm in the management of her son. During the years from 1898 to the present John M. Rashley has made much improvement in the farm; has brought it into a high state of cultivation, and has erected adequate modern buildings, including a comfortable and substantial residence, constructed of concrete blocks. He has purchased eighty acres from his mother, and acquired an additional forty acres from William Orndorff, and in the spring of 1919 he purchased about forty-six acres situated in section 19 of York Township, all the acreage being improved land, so that his recent farming has been upon an extensive scale. He has lived a steady, praiseworthy life of industriousness, and has prospered, having had invariable success in general farming, dairying, and stock raising. He 1s a man of strong religious spirit and Christian principle, and has consistently supported his church. He is a member of the Reformed Mennonite Church, and a deacon. He has given generous support to many local projects of public consequence to the community, and uring the war was one of the stalwart, whole-hearted workers in his district for the national cause, subscribing to the extent of his resources to the war funds. _ On July 22, 1894, he married Nancy Rychener, who was born in German Township, Fulton county, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Eckley) Rychener, who also were both born in that township, and belonged to pioneer families of that neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Rashley are the parents of six children, five of whom are living. The children, in order of birth, were: Leva, who married Chalmer Shaffer, of York Township; Vernon, who is at home; Daniel, also at home; Bertha, also with her parents; Edwin, who died in November, 1917, at the age of seven years, and John. The family is well-regarded in York Township.

THomMaAs Crinton WarpDLEY, who is among the representative farmers of Fulton county, comes of a family three generations of which have had residence in Fulton county. His family is of record in York Township in its early days, and he himself has lived all his life in the Wardley homestead in York Township, upon which he was born. The Wardley homestead is in section 17, of York Township, and many of the older residents in the vicinity will remember Thomas Wardley, father of Thomas C., who died thirty-four years ago.

; Thomas Clinton Wardley was born June 29, 1867, in York Township, the son of Thomas and Jane (Kane) Wardley, and grandson of Thomas and Mary Wardley. The family is of English origin, both paternal and grandparents, of Thomas C. having been born in that country. They appear to have early come to America, and for a while to have lived in New York state, for their son Thomas, father of Thomas C., was born in Palmyra, Wayne county, of that state, but they eventually came into Fulton county, and to York Township, where their son, Thomas married Jane Kane, who was of Trish descent, born in Londonderry, Ireland, daughter of Thomas Kane, also a pioneer settler in York Township. After they had married, Thomas and Jane (Kane) Wardley settled in section 17, of York Township, their farm being in a wild' state, and eighty acres in extent. This land Thomas Wardley gradually improved, clearing the whole acreage, and adding considerably to his estate before he died; in fact, in his later years in the township he owned 225 acres, most of which he cleared. He died in March, 1886, and his wife survived him by only two years, her demise occurring in April, 1888. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Thomas Clinton is the only surviving son. The children in order of birth were: Mary Olivia, who died at the age of eighteen years; Anita, who married F. D. Morse, and now lives in Angola, Indiana; Lou, who married N. H. Johnston, of York Township ; Charlotte, who married Joseph Rupp, of Delta, York Township; Sophia, who married George Pocock; Thomas Clinton, of whom more 1s written ; Henry, who died in infancy. -

Thomas Clinton Wardley attended the district schools of his native place, and while still in school took upon himself the execution of many of the minor tasks of the home farm operation, and as he grew became conversant with most of the operations of agriculture. He appears, however, to have preferred to enter commercial life, and presumably with that object took the course at the Business College at Chatham. He, however, was only eighteen years old when his father died, and the operation of the home farm developed upon him. He took the responsibility manfully, and has steadily and industriously farmed it ever since. He became entirely responsible for the extensive farm before he was twenty-one vears old, for his mother died in 1888. He manifested commendable steadiness and strength of purpose in his early manhood, and added steadily to his possessions by skillful farming. He was thirty-two years old when he married, and he and his wife have since marriage lived on the old Wardley homestead of eighty acres, which with fifteen acres additional, is his property.

He has had good success in general farming, and has reached a comfortable independence. Politically Mr. Wardley is a democrat, although he has not given great heed to national politics, excepting great issues such as that culminating in the recent war, during which . he manifested by his actions a whole-hearted patriotism, but in local matters, he has taken a close interest for many years, and had he so wished might have gained election to office in the local administration. He and his wife have been hberal in support of local projects of civic, social or church importance, and are recognized as worthy, responsible and open-hearted neighbors.

His wife, whom he married in November, 1899, was Lou J. Burr, born in Benzonia, Michigan, daughter of Horace and Betty (Goodrich) Burr, both of whom were born in Huron county, Ohio. Mrs. Wardley is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Epwarp A. BurnwRer, a well-regarded and well qualified undertaker of Archbold, is junior partner of the firm of Buehrer Brothers, furniture dealers and undertakers, of Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, successors of Gype and Buehrer Brothers, which firm was one of the first to be established in its line in Fulton county, which is an interesting historical fact. He also has interesting place in Fulton county history by reason of the association of his family with the county in its early pioneer days. He is widely known throughout the section of the county that his undertaking 'firm serves, and has good professional credentials, being a graduate of the Barnes School of Embalming and Sanitary Science, Chicago.

He was born on the homestead of the family, near Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, the son of Martin and Mary (Fisher) Buehrer, the former for the greater part of his life a successful business man of Archbold, where he still resides. The Beuhrer familv is of Swiss origin, but has been resident in America for some generations. The first of the family to have record in Ohio was Jacob, grandfather of Edward A., who was an early settler in Lucas county, Ohio, and eventually entered government land near Archbold, Fulton county. There he lived for the remainder of his life, entering strenuously into the clearing of his land. There his sons and daughters, five in all, were raised. Martin, son of Jacob, and father of Edward A., was nine years old when his parents came into Fulton county, and he and his brother and three sisters spent most of their young days on the home farm near Archbold. About four years after the birth of Edward A., Martin Buehrer and his wife came into Archbold, and thereafter to the present that town has been their home. He was independently established in good business, as a furniture dealer and undertaker, very soon after moving into Archbold. Martin Buehrer has throughout his life manifested commendable public spirit, entering actively into public movements that concerned the community, and doing his best to promote the interests of the town.

Edward. A., son of Martin and Mary (Fisher) Buehrer, was educated in the public schools of Archbold. He had elected to take up a commercial career, and with that object became a student at the Davis Business College, at Toledo, Ohio, eventually graduating therefrom, Returning to Archbold, he associated with his brother, Jacob J., taking employment in a clerical capacity, with Gype and Buehrer, of which firm his brother was one of the principals. Two years later, in 1909, he'went to Chicago, and there took the course at the Barnes School of Embalming and Sanitary Science, the diploma of which he ultimately secured, thus qualifying as professional aid to his brother in the extensive undertaking practice of the firm. After obtaining his diploma, however, he took further post-graduate work in undertaking, and for six months was in Wauseon, Ohio, with the firm of Gould and Company. When he returned to Archbold he did not at once resume business associations with his brother in the undertaking business, for he saw advantage in becoming connected with the manufacturing firm which traded as the Ohio Art Company. For three years Edward A. Buehrer was identfied with that enterprise, and at the end of that period he purchased an interest in the furniture and undertaking business of Gype and Buehrer, with which he has since been connected. A disastrous fire in 1913 caused him to temporarily take outside employment, but eventually he returned to Archbold, and is now doing an active business in the town and neighborhood. When he left Archbold in 19138, he entered the employ of Milner & Company, of Toledo, Ohio, as assistant manager of the furniture department and as such he continued in the employ of that firm for three years, and for a further six months was buyer and manager for the same house. Then followed two years in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as manager of the Martin Haller Furniture Company, after which he returned to Archbold.

Politically Mr. Buehrer is a republican. Fraternally a Mason, he belongs to the Superior Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of West Unity, and to the Wauseon Chapter. By religious conviction, he is a Methodist, a member and a. good supporter of the local church of that denomination.

In 1908 he married Meade daughter of Daniel and Anna (Roth) Siegel, of Archbold. They have two children: Alice Elizabeth, who is now nine years old; and Virginia Ann, who is in babyhood. Mr. and Mrs. Buehrer have during their lives entered much into the ehurch and social movements of Archbold, and have many friends.

Ina O. Bourautn, a partner of the well-known tile manufacturing firm of Bourquin Brothers, of Archbold, and one of the consequential men of affairs of that section of Fulton county comes of a family which for three generations has had residence in Fulton county.

He was born in German Township, Fulton county, Ohio, in 1875, the son of Charles and Martha (Klopfenstein) Bourquin, and grandson of James Bourquin, the American grand-ancestor of the Bourquin family, or rather of the branch to which Ira O. belongs in America. The family is of record in earlier centuries in Alsace, France. James Bourquin was born in that province of France, and there followed the trade of cabinet making. He came with his wife and some of his children to America early in his manhood, and_ after a short while spent in Williams county, Ohio, he came into Fulton county, settling about three miles to the west of Archbold, acquiring a tract of land in that neighborhood, and for the remainder of his life living there. The family homestead eventually became the property of Charles, the father of Ira O., and was his place of abode and labor for the greater part of his life. In fact, it is only within recent years that Charles Bourquin has rested from his seasonal tillage of the parental acreage and taken up residence in the town of Archbold, where in declining years he might take life less strenuously than formerly. Charles Bourquin is still in comparatively good health, is in the emjoyment of adequate means for his material comfort and well-being, and by his long life of worth-while industriousness and production has gained a worthy reputation among those that know him well. There were four children born to Charles and Martha (Klopfenstein) Bourquin, of whom Ira O. was the third-born.

Ira attended the district school nearest to his home regularly until he was eighteen years years old, but long before he had closed his schooling he had been in the habit of doing much work upon the home farm. When he was eighteen years old, however, he appears to have evinced an inclination for commercial life, for he then entered the general store of E. J. Claire of Archbold, where he worked for two years as aclerk. His younger brother, Emerson, had also entered merchandising business, and eventually the brothers, having some financial capital and a comprehensive knowledge of the grocery business, joined their resources and acquired the business of Mr. Claire, for whom Ira had worked. The Bourquin brothers for three years or so thereafter were independently established as grocers in Archbold, conducting their trading under the name of Bourquin Brothers, and having gratifying success. Eventually, however, they became cogni- _ zant of another business opportunity that promised greater success, and in order to pursue it they sold their grocery and entered upon their new enterprise, that of tile manufacturing. They purchased thirteen acres of land upon which were clay deposits of proved value, and immediately formulated plans to enter extensively into tile making. Their property is on the outskirts of Archbold, and during the years from 1906, when they acquired the land, to the present the brothers have developed an appreciable business for their manufactured building tiles and other clay products. Their business sphere is of wide range, and also locally, and in the surrounding country, the brothers do a substantial degree of trading in coal. The tile plant finds employment constantly for thirteen men, so that in all the Bourquin brothers have developed a helpful industry for Archbold.

adhere closely to his business affairs he has been a public-spirited resident. He is interested in all things that pertain to Fulton county, and to Archbold, and has been instrumental in furthering more than one project of public character. His private life is estimable, and as a business man he has good place among the responsible citizens of Fulton county. In 1903, he married Ethel, daughter of Robert S. and Elizabeth (Tedrow) Blair, of Archbold. They have five children: Wave Orville, who was born in 1906; Charles Robert, born in 1908; Gladys Elizabeth, born in 1910; Gladwin Emerson, born in 1912; Edwin Merritt, born in 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Bourquin have many almost life-long friends in Archbold, connected with which place the two families have been for so long a time.

JorL Rupp was born near Archbold forty-four years ago, and for more than twenty years has been a responsible business man of that town. For eighteen years he was senior partner of the firm of Rupp Brothers, dry goods merchants, and since 1914 has been one of the partners in the successful Peerless Glove Manufacturing Company of Archbold, a manufacturing enterprise which is becoming a consequential industry to the town of Archbold. Joel Rupp is the senior partner, and the product of the factory finds ready market throughout the United States, and has encouraging prospects of substantial expansion. As a business man, Mr. Rupp has good standing in the county, and in his personal life he has also gained enviable standing in Archbold, being of estimable character. He is an earnest Christian, a deacon of his church, and superintendent of the Sunday school, these connections evidencing his general character and his worth in church work.

He was born on the family homestead near Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, Julv 16, 1876, the son of Jacob and Catherine (Frienberger) Rupp, who are classed among the pioneers of the district. The Rupp family is of Swiss origin. Jacob Rupp, father of Joel, was born in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, but came to America in his early manhood. He was of sturdy character, and resolute purpose, and settled cheerfully to pioneering work on virgin timber land, near Archbold, and before his death in 1884 had cleared and brought into profitable cultivation a good acreage. He married in Archbold, and all the twelve children of Jacob and Catherine (Frienberger) Rupp were born on the homestead he had won from the wilderness. Mrs. Rupp lived a widowhood of forty-two years, her decease not occurring until 1916. Of their twelve children eight are living, Joel being the third youngest son born to them.

Joel was a boy of industrious habits, and after attending public school in Archbold until he had reached the age of sixteen years he assisted his brothers in the operation of the home farm. As a matter of fact, he had been undertaking many tasks in connection with the farm long before he had closed his schooling. He was only eight years old when his father died, and his mother having a large family to rear and the farm being the only substantial means of subsistence,-Joel had been in the habit of working industriously on the farm during the long summer vacations while he was still a young boy. He remained with his mother, assisting his brothers in the farm work, until he was nineteen years old, and then seeing an opportunity and wishing to gain higher academic education he became a student at the High School of Archbold, attending high school for two years, concurrently doing much farm work. When he was twenty-one years old he entered commercial life, securing the position of clerk in the dry goods store of F. J. Dimke, Archbold. About a year later he and a friend, William Rice, joined resources and purchased a one-half interest in the business of Mr. Dimke, the trading thereafter being conducted under the firm name of F. J. Dimke and Company. Two years later a reconstruction became necessary, owing to the death of Mr. Rice. In the consequent negociations Emanuel Rupp, brother of Joel, joined in acquiring the whole business from Mr. Dimke, and thereafter for eighteen vears the brothers conducted the business under the trading name of Rupp Brothers, giving good service and prospering well. The brothers handled that business very creditably, and became generally wellregarded in the town. In 1914 they joined Otto Waldvogel, a wellknown Archbold resident, in forming the Peerless Glove Manufacturing Company. The enterprise began in an inauspicious manner, the partners with commendable recognition of their responsibility preferring to build the industry upon a solid, if slow, base. Two years later Mr. Waldvogel sold his interest to Mr. D. J. Mockler, a man of much business experience and a hard worker, and since that time the Rupp brothers and Mr. Mockler, have devoted almost all their joint energies and thought to the development of the company's trading. The expansion of business up to the present, has been very satisfactory, and their manufactured product is shipped to all parts of the United States. It is a promising industry of Archbold, being capable of almost unlimited expansion. Upon the present volume of business the factory affords constant employment to twenty-two Archbold people, so that even in its present state of development, it is not an inconsequential manufacturing industry of the borough and county. It isin the hands of good executives, whose main interest it is, and the advancement should be appreciable as the years ass. Mr. Rupp's interest in the community of Archbold is well known. He has upon many occasions demonstrated his desire in practical ways to further the interests of the place, and although he has not taken public office he has given good assistance to many local causes. He has been especially active in church work. He is a member of the Missionary Church, and has for years been one of its deacons, and his interest in the Christian guidance of the young people of his church is seen in his service as superintendent in the Sunday school. In this work he shows the unselfishness of his nature, and also the strength of his religious convictions. ]

In 1899 Mr. Rupp married Anna Rice, daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Waldvogel) Rice, of Archbold. Mrs. Rupp is active in church work, and during the recent war did much war work in Archbold in connection with the local Red Cross and other home activities, financial and personal.

Epwin Anprew Morsacu, M. D., of Archbold, one of the leading physicians of Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, and continuing a professional connection with that community begun by his father, Dr. Andrew J. Murbach, sixty years ago, is a medical man of worthy repute in the county, and of distinct qualifications. Holding the baccalaureate degree of Heidelberg University, and the medical degree of the University of Michigan, Dr. Murbach has undertaken much post-graduate research in special branches of medical science in some of the leading European centers of medicine, and has had much hospital practice in addition to an almost continuous practice in Archbold since 1897, and a strenuous period as a military surgeon in United States Army hospitals during the World war recently ended. Dr. Murbach is one of the founders of the Wauseon Hospital, which has had rapid developments since its establishment in 1907. -

Edwin Andrew Murbach is a native of Archbold, Fulton county, born in the town on December 15, 1869, the son of Andrew J. and Elise (Tanner) Murbach. The Murbach family is of Swiss origin, although three generations have been resident in the United States. Dr. Murbach's father and grandfather were both born in the town Goechlingen, canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and both came to the United States, settling on farming land, then practically in its wild state, about six miles to the northward of Swanton, Swan Creek Township of Fulton county. At the time they came into Fulton county, Andrew J., father of Edwin A., was about sixteen years old. His father applied himself resolutely to pioneering tasks, and during his lifetime cleared quite an extensive tract of Fulton county timber land, being thus among the pioneer settlers of the county. His son Andrew J., however was not far beyond majority when he resolved to qualify for entrance to professional life. He pursued medical studies assiduously, and became a medical student at the Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, eventually, in 1863, graduating, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He became established in good general practice of medicine in Archbold and for forty years continued to actively follow his profession, becoming widely known throughout Fulton county. He died April 28, 1900, his widow, Elise Tanner, died December 29, 1919.

Their son, Edwin Andrew, as a boy attended the Archbold elementary public school, and later passed through the high school of Archbold. He wished to also enter professional life, and with that ultimate object became an undergraduate of Heidelberg University, graduating therefrom in 1890, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then proceeded to the University of Michigan, enrolling as a medical student, and in 1894 graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Then followed a valuable interneship of one year, during which time he was house surgeon of the University Hospital, an appointment gained by competitive examination, and valuable to the young doctor in its wide scope of clinical opportunities. After leaving the hospital he returned to Archbold, and for a year or so was associated with his father in practice. He, however, desired to undertake further research in internal medicine and surgery, and for that purpose went to Europe in 1896, and took a post-graduate course at the Royal University, Vienna, Austria, probably the leading medical center of Europe. He passed a year in valuable post-graduate work in Europe and upon his return to the United States, and to Archbold, he immediately entered general practice, associating with his father until the latter's death in 1900, and from that time until 1913 attending to the medical needs of most of the families that formerly had been served by his father. In 19138, his younger brother, C. F., entered into professional partnership with him, which arrangement has since held. During the last decade Doctor Murbach has been able to undertake much post-graduate research, notwithstanding his extensive practice, and he probably will continue his studies until he finally closes his professional labors altogether. He had a wide practice as a military surgeon in 1918, and would have enlisted earlier had he not been held in the county from June, 1917, until July, 1918, by professional duties of military connection, Doctor Murbach during that period being surgeon on the Fulton county Selective Draft Board. In July, 1918, he was commissioned by President Wilson in the grade of captain of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army, and was ordered to active service at Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, where he took a six-weeks' course in military surgery. After graduation he was ordered to Fort Des Moines, Iowa, for service in the United States General Hospital, No. 26, where he remained for five months, the Armistice of November, 1918, making it unnecessary, in fact almost impossible, for an army surgeon stationed in the United States to get assignment to overseas duty. Doctor Murbach received honorable discharge from the United States Army on January 6, 1919, soon afterward resuming his private practice.

Professionally Doctor Murbach has a good place among Fulton county physicians, and is well-regarded in the profession. He belongs to many medical organizations, including the state and county societies, and he has an enviable professional reputation among the residents of Archbold and that part of the county. His practice is a wide one, and marked by much care in diagnosis, and yet with a confidence that comes from knowledge and experience. Doctor Murbach was one of the founders in 1907 of the Wauseon Hospital, being joined by his brother-in-law, Dr. J. V. Fauster, in that undertaking. The hospital has more than doubled its capacity since it was established, and is now under the supervision of the Wauseon Business Men's Club. It is equipped with an up-to-date operating room.

During his more than two decades of busy professional practice in Archbold Doctor Murbach has shown commendable public spiritedness. He has been a good supporter of local institutions and movements of community interest. He has been especially interested in educational matters, and for twenty-years has been a member of the school board. Politically he is a republican by religious conviction he is a member of the Reformed Church; and fraternally has been somewhat prominent in the functioning of local Masonic bodies, being a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, Wauseon lodge, and belongs to the Commandery and Shrine.

C. F. Mursacn, M. D., a well-regarded physician and surgeon of Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, is continuing with his brother a practice of medicine in Fulton county begun by their father, Dr. Andrew J. Murbach, sixty years ago. He is a native of Archbold, where his father practiced for forty years, and is of a family which is placed among the pioneers of Fulton county. Doctor Murbach specializes in surgery, and his medical qualifications include graduation in medicine from the University of Michigan and post-graduate studv of surgerv at the Harvard Universitv, medical department,

Dr. C. F. Murbach was born in April,1885, the son of Dr. A. J. and Elise (Tanner) Murbach, and grandsor of the first Murbach of record in Fulton county. The family is of Swiss origin, and both father and grandfather, were born in Goechlingen, canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. They were early settlers in Fulton county, and more regarding the early connection of the Murbach family with

History-Of Fulton County 217

Fulton county is contained in the article written for this edition of county history regarding the life of Dr. Murbach's brother, Edwin A. The homestead of the Murbach family is in Swan Creek Township, but for sixty years the family has been resident in Archbold, with the development of which took place it has been somewhat closely associated. Dr. C. F. Murbach attended the public schools of Archbold, eventually graduating fromthe Archbold High School. He was fifteen years old when his father died, and at that time was in high school, and had planned to eventually study medicine. Fortunately the family was well circumstanced financially, and he was able to take the requisite pre-medical course and the medical course of the University of Michigan, from which he successfully and creditably graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1909. Then followed four years of professional practice in Portland, Oregon. In 1918, however, he returned to Archbold, and entered general practice in his native place in association with his brother, Edwin A., who had during the previous fifteen years or so developed quite an extensive medical practice in Archbold and throughout that section of the county. During the seven years to the present he has practiced almost continuously in Archbold, and during the war, was a captain of the Medical Corps in the military service, spending two years overseas with the Rainbow Division. He is a skillful surgeon, and has specialized in that branch of medical science, taking postgraduate study, 1915-16, at Harvard University Medical School, and chiang considerably by the wide clinical opportunities of the city ot boston.

Dr. C. F. Murbach is a member of most of the medical societies, belonging to the Ohio State society and to the county organization, and also to some national associations. Fraternally he is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He is unmarried. One might almost say that he is wedded to his profession, for he devotes almost all his time to professional matters, in research and practice.

Henry J. Faarey, partner of the firm of Hirsch and Fagley, wool merchants and seedsmen of Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, has for many years been prominent in the business and civic life of that borough. For four years he was town clerk, and for nine years was a councilman and in his personal, civic and business activities he has been actuated by the same high moral principle which first brought him into favor in his native place.

He was born in Archbold in 1878, the son of Conrad and Anna (Saurerbry) Fagley. His family was of Swiss birth, both his father and grandfather having been born in the Canton of Schauffhausen, Switzerland, but both spent the greater part of their lives in America. Conrad Fagley, father of Henry J., was only four years old when his parents brought him to America. They settled soon afterward in Fulton county, purchasing a tract of wild land about a mile or so distant from Pettisville, Fulton county. Their tract was virgin timber land, and they were evidently not very well circumstanced financially, for notwithstanding that the Government sold undeveloped land in the district at nominal prices, in most cases at about $1.25 per acre, the Fagley family at the outset only acquired from the Government eleven acres of land. This they gradually cleared, and upon the land erected a substantial dwelling, which became known as the Fagley homestead. Conrad Fagley grew to manhood in such an environment, and whether because of such surroundings or through inherited sturdiness of character he developed much strength of purpose and personality as he passed through life. By trade he was a carpenter, and he followed his trade industriously throughout his active life, which ended in 1885. His wife, however, lived to a venerable old age, surviving her husband by twenty-nine years. She died in 1914.

Henry J., son of Conrad and Anna (Saurerbry) Fagley, and eldest of their five children, attended the public schools of Archbold until he was fifteen years old, then having to leave school because of the vital necessity of help his mother needed in maintaining the family of five children, after the death of the head of the house, their father. Henry J., earnestly applied himself to what work then offered in the grist mill of Vernier and Levy, of Archbold. He was a good workman, and his employers soon discovered that quality in him, and his life was a compartively happy one in honest work under those employers for twenty years, during which he advanced in responsibility until he became head miller, which responsibility he held for the last eight years of his official connection with the mill. He would probably have continued as such for many more years had not the ownership of the mill changed hands. When that occurred, and Henry J. Farley had, perforce, to seek other employment, he found it without much difficulty in the factory of the Archbold Veneered Door Company, in which plant he worked for three years, showing a versatility in practical work and an aptness in adapting himself to the circumstances of the moment that was creditable. He proved himself to be a man of distinct practicability, and could have probably made his wav successfully under almost all conditions. For three years he worked in the door factory, and then came another marked change of business, Mr. Fagley then entering the employ of Henry Hirsch, a local seedsman and wool merchant. He was associated with that business as an employe, for three years, at the end of that time becoming more closely interested in it, being then able to purchase a partnership in it. Since that vear, 1914, the partnership trading has been done under the firmname of Hirsch and Fagley, and the six years of trading have been mutually satisfactory, the company expanding its business appreciably. Its sale of clover and field seeds is of great volume, their trading being with most of the responsible agriculturists of the surrounding country. Mr. Fagley is still actively following the business and expects to for many years, but he has already reached a satisfactory competence in material wealth. He is a director and stockholder of the Archbold Telephone Company, and has other business interests.

His record in public service is a good one. He is politically a staunch democrat, and has for very many years been prominent in local affairs. He has demonstrated a worthy and unsélfish public spirit, and also marked ability and faithfulness in the public service. For four years he was town clerk of Archbold, and for nine years sat in the borough council while his general interest in other community work has in very many ways been shown. He has been a helpful resident, and while the World war was in progress demonstrated in a very practical way a useful citizenship. Religiously he 1s a member of the Lutheran Church. ' j

Grorce C. Roepe, senior partner of the Archbold firm of Roedel and Short, clothiers, haberdashers, and shoe merchants, has been among the leading business people of Archbold, Fulton county, for many years. His father was a successful merchant in Archbold throughout practically the whole of his business life and the family generally is of good repute in that section of Fulton county.

_ George C. Roedel was born in Holgate Village, Pleasant Township, Henry county, Ohio, in 1877, the son of Charles and Mary (Woelfel) Roedel. The family is of German-Swiss origin, the home of Roedels being in Berne, Switzerland. His genealogy in the matternal line connects with a family which had early connection with the State of Wisconsin, his grandfather Woelfel emigrating when thirty-five years old, with his wife and three children, and settling in Madison, Wisconsin, where for many years he was a merchant, eventually coming to Archbold, and there for many years being in independent business as a shoe merchant, and also having a livery and posting business at Fayette, Fulton county. He died in Archbold. The Roedels also were shoe merchants in Archbold, Charles Roedel, father of George C., being in good business of that character in the

_town for the greater part of his life, where he was esteemed as an enterprising, responsible and honorable merchant of public-spirited inclinations. He entered actively into community affairs, and contributed more than that quota of one resident to the development of the town. His wife, Mary Woelfel, also was of good life, and esteemed by many for her kindly nature. Their son, George C., spent the greater part of his bovhood in Archbold, attended the local public schools until he reached the age of seventeen years, and then entered upon an active business career. For twenty-two vears he was connected with the firm of Vervier and McLaughlin of Archbold, and during that period, by steady life and commendable thrift, aecumulated not an inconsequential sum of money, with which capital he eventually entered into partnership with his former employer's son, G. J. Vernier, the two for about two years conducting a clothing establishment in Archbold, under the trading name of Vernier and Roedel. This business enterprise came to a sudden and unexpected termination in 1913, their establishment, with so many others, being gutted by the great Archbold fire of that year. The partners after

. that disastrous occurrence dissolved partnership, and in 1914 Mr. Roedel formed a business association with Mr. P. C. Short, the two forming the firm of Roedel and Short, which has since developed into . one of the substantial retail businesses of the town. Their trading in clothing, shoes and haberdashery is extensive, as they have a good country trade and the partners have manifested commendable enterprise, their store being well stocked, up-to-date and well situated.

Mr. Roedel does not actively concern himself with political movements. He isa business man, actively engaged in a growing business, and he has little time for politics. In local affairs he of course takes much interest, and votes intelligently, studying the candidate rather than the party. By religious conviction he is a Lutheran, and as such that many of the most substantial men of the agricultural class laid the foundation of their present prosperity years ago in times of low prices and as a result of a long uphill climb and struggle. An example of this class in Fulton county is William Luman Morey, who began his career as a renter in Gorham Township, and today enjoys his possession of one of the most attractive country homes and valuable farms in the township.

Mr. Morey was born in Wayne county, New York, November 22, 1861, a son of Israel and Mary (Conklin) Morey. His father was a native of Canada, and was married in New York state. where his wife was born. In the fall of 1864 the family came to Williams county, Ohio, and lived on a farm there until 1884, when the parents removed to Isabella county, Michigan. The father died in 1901 and the mother in 1911. Their children were: John, of Palmyra, Michigan; George of Isabella county; William Luman; Barrett, of Kent, Washington; Loren, of Isabella county, Michigan; Tina, the oldest of the family who married William K. Martin and is now deceased ; Nettie, wife of David Riggle, of Isabella county, Michigan ; and Mabel, Mrs. William Sipley, of Isabella county.

After attending the district schools in Williams county William Luman Morey at the age of sixteen began working for monthly wages on a farm. During the next ten vears he managed to accumulate a little capital and equipment and after his marriage he rented a farm in Gorham Township for thirteen years, and by much industry and self denial was able at the end of that time to buy fifty-three and one-third acres in section 36 of Gorham Township. The farm was then regarded as only partly improved. Mr. Morey has carried out a complete scheme of improvement since then, tiling the low ground, building new fences, putting up modern buildings, and in 1914 erected a fine modern home, equipped with electric light and all the conveniences of a city residence. Mr. Morey.also has a farm of fifty acres in Franklin Township.

He has always taken a public spirited interest in the development of the community as well as his own property, and has rendered valuable service as road supervisor and school director.

December 22, 1887, Mr. Morey married Lydia ADell Ritter. She was born in Gorham Township July 13, 1866, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Baer) Ritter. They have one daughter, Hazel Mav, born May 11, 1889, and at home. Mr. Morey is a republican, is affiliated with Fayette Lodge No. 431, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his daughter is a member of Fayette Lodge No. 332 of the Rebekahs. The family attend the Methodist Church in Franklin Township.

Frep FE. Skrers. One of the enterprising men of York Township who is profitably engaged in conducting the homestead of his father is Fred E. Skeels, a native son of the township. He was born on March 18, 1870, his parents being William and Clara (Struble) Skeels, and his grandfather Benjamin Skeels. The latter was one of the pioneers of York Township.

After their marriage, William Skeels and his wife located in section 33, York Township, their farm containing eighty acres, This continued to be his home until his death. which occurred January 1, 1901. His widow only remained on it for four years after he died. and then removed to Wauseon, where she is still living. Their children were as follows: Fred E., who was the eldest born; and

Growing up on his father's farm, Fred E. Skeels learned to be a practical farmer and attended the Blue district school. In 1900 he was married to May Myers, who was born in York Township, a daughter of 'George and Rhena (Farwell) Meyers. For the first two or three years following his marriage Mr. Skeels lived on his father-in-law's farm, but then went on the old Skeels homestead, where he is still engaged in general farming. He has always been a farmer with the exception of 1899, when he spent a year at carpenter work. ;

Mr. and Mrs. Skeels became the parents of the following children: Floyd, who is a farmer of York Township, married Dorotha Leist, and they have two children, Vera and Carma; and Ward, who is at home. Both these sons were'sent to the local schools and learned farm work under their father's experienced supervision. Unlike some young men of the country they have not cared to leave farming for city life, and Mr. Skeels is glad that he has taught them a love for the country and developed in them a taste for agricultural activities. In politics Mr. Skeels is a republican, but he contents himself with exercising his right of suffrage, not caring to participate more fully in public affairs. Fraternally he belongs to Wauseon Camp No. 3902, Modern Woodmen of America, and is interested in its growth. Mr. Skeels is a friend of the public schools and of the good roads movement, and can be depended upon to give both these important questions an intelligent support whenever they come up for consideration in his neighborhood.

Peter ©. SHort, partner in the firm of Roedel & Short, clothiers, haberdashers and shoe merchants of Archbold, Fulton county, is an able business man and has had wide experience. He has many business interests outside that of the firm above named, being a large stockholder in and vice president of the Elmira Elevator Company, Elmira Ohio, and connected with the E. F. Hansen Company, of Wauseon, Ohio, and the Winner Manufacturing Company of the same place. He has been active in community affairs, has been a councilman, and might have had other local offices had he so wished.

He is a native of Fulton county, born in German Township, in 1878. the son of Peter C. and Mary (Stuckey) Short. The Short family has had long residence in Fulton county, and Peter C., Sr., farmed for the greater part of his life in German Township, clearing a somewhat extensive acreage of wild land. Peter C., son of Peter C. and Mary (Stuckey) Short, spent his young days in German Township attending the district school during the winter months, and during the very long summer vacations gave most of his time to his father, and thus became almost an experienced farmer before he reached manhood. He attended school until he was eighteen vears old, and thereafter until he was twenty-one years old helped his father in the work of the home farm in German Township. Soon after he became of age Peter C. Short left home and went to Woodburne, Indiana, where for two years he worked as a clerk in a general store. Returning to Fulton county, he was for a short while in the employ of J. P. Flury, owner of a general store in Archbold and after leaving that store young Short for a vear clerked in the general store of Theohald Brothers of Archbold. He had been of steady life and had saved some of his earnings, and about that time was able to purchase an interest in the Elmira Elevator Company of Elmira, Ohio. For six months he worked in the office of that company as bookkeeper, and then became manager of the West Unity plant of that same company, maintaining that connection for eight years, and aiding appreciably in the expansion of the trading of the firm. At the close of that time he sold a portion of his interest and severed his official connection with the West Unity plant, retaining only a seat on the directorate and the corporate office of vice president. As such he is still identified with the Elmira Elevator Company. After relinquishing the management of the West Unity plant he again went into Indiana and at Shipshewana, LaGrange county, conducted a general store for about a year, selling the business to advantage and returning to West Unity, Fulton county, Ohio. He came to Archbold and in May, 1914, formed a business partnership with George C. Roedel, the two becoming established then as clothiers and shoe merchants. Since that year the partners have substantially expanded the business, which today is of wide scope, well patronized, both by the people of Archbold and country people of that section of Fulton county. The firm has a good reputation for reliable goods at reasonable prices, and the partners are placed among the enterprising, substantial business men of the county. Besides his holding in the Archbold firm, to which he gives practically the whole of his time, Mr. Short has an interest in the E. F. Hansen Company, of Wauseon, Ohio, and in the Winner Manufacturing Company of the same city, as well as official connection, as before stated, in the Elmira Elevator Company.

Mr. Short is a man of much interest in public affairs, although he is not able to give as much time as he would like to such matters. When he resided in West Unity he was for two years councilman of that community, and since he has lived in Archbold he has given willing support to many local projects of public character. He is an earnest churchman, member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

He was married in 1909 at West Unity to Mary, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Smith) Beach, of that place. They have two children: Ralph Beach, who was born in 1915, and Paul Nathan, born in 1916. Politically Mr. Short gives staunch allegiance to the democratic party in national politics, but locallv he is more inclined to study the candidate. During the recent World war Mr. Short demonstrated by his actions that he is a man of steady, patriotic citizenship and helpful loyalty.

JAMES CLARK Srruste. The late James Clark Struble was one of the progressive men and successful farmers of York Township, whose untimely death put an end to his activities just when he was beginning to take life a little more easily. He was born in York Township on February 2, 1851, a son of William and Elizabeth (Dixon) Struble, who were among the earliest settlers of York Township. They bought a farm from Lawyer Rawson, who had entered the land from the government. The original farm comprised 160 acres of land, and to it they later added twenty acres, all of it being wild timberland. At the time of their settlement there were Indians in the neighborhood and plenty of deer, and William Struble shot manv of the latter from his own doorstep. On this farm was a small mound or elevation, an ideal site for residential purposes. and it was selected for the first home. This somewhat primitive building has been replaced in turn by two others. the last one being a fine modern residence. In the spring of 1881 William Struble and his

_ James Clark Struble was reared in York Township and attended its rural schools. On August 6, 1878, he was married to Rose Steanbarge, born in Lorain county, Ohio, a daughter of Artemus and Louisa (Gillet) Steanbarge, who were married in Seneca county, Ohio, although he was a native of Vermont and she was born at Colchester, Connecticut, on April 15, 1819. After his marriage Mr. Struble moved to Pettisville, Ohio, where both he and his wife taught in the public schools for two years, and then they returned to the old farm and rented it from his parents for fifteen years. They then bought 120 acres of it, and Mr. Struble began making extensive improvements, tiling, building new fences, and erecting new buildings, including the present residence, but was not spared to see them all completed, he dying October 13, 1918. Always a hard worker, he never shirked anything and took a pride in having everything modern and in good order. The one child of Mr. and Mrs. Struble, Arthur Leland, who was born September 18, 1887, died on February 20, 1893.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Struble received better educational advantages than fell to the lot of many, he attending both the Wauseon High School and the Ada Normal School, and his wife the schools of Liberty Center, Ohio, and the Ada Normal School. Mr. Struble was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and took an active part in its work. In politics a republican, he served as a justice of the peace and as a member of the school board for a number of years. Mrs. Struble continued to reside on her farm until November 12, 1919, and then moved to her residence at 120 Cherry street, Wauseon. She is a lady held in the highest esteem by the whole neighborhood where she had lived for so many years, and where her excellent traits of character are known and appreciated.

Epwarp ALBERT LEINiInGER. It is not so remarkable that men who have inherited valuable farms prefer to devote themselves to agriculture, but when a man spends his best years in farming and works with the end in view of investing his savings in land on which he can make a permanent home for his family, then he deserves the highest praise, for there is no calling in which more need is felt for intelligent, dependable men than that which has to do with the tilling of the soil and the production of foodstuffs. One of the men who has been connected with the agricultural life of Fulton county » for many years, and who within recent ones acquired ownership' of a fine farm of eighty acres of land in Franklin Township is Edward Albert Leininger.

The birth of Edward Albert Leininger took place in Henry county, Ohio, on January 30, 1888, and he is a son of W. A. and Catherine (Brodbeck) Leininger. Until he was seventeen years old Mr. Leininger attended the rural schools of Henry county during the winter months, and in the summer season assisted his father in operating the homestead. After he left school he worked for his father until he attained his majority. For the year subsequent to his com-' ing of age Mr. Leininger worked with threshing outfit and baled hay. and then took charge of the Bailey Hay Farm and conducted it until 1918, when he purchased his present farm, on which he is now carrying on general farming. Although his property was an improved one when he bought it, Mr. Leininger has made a number of 'desirable changes, and is contemplating others, for he takes a pride

In 1910 Vir. Leininger was united marriage with Carrie Letherman, daughter of Jonas and Elizabeth (Althouse) Letherman. Mr. and Mrs. Leininger became the parents of three children, all of whom are living, namely: Jonas, born March 22, 1911; Pearl, born July 17, 1915, and Lodema, born May 23, 1917. A man of independent thought and action, Mr. Leininger makes his own selection of candidates for whom to cast his ballot and does not definitely connect himself with any party. The local Lutheran Church holds his membership and benefits from his donations. Entering upon his career with nothing but his willingness to work and a natural aptitude for farming, Mr. Leininger has distinctly made good in his undertaking, and at the same time he has won the respect of his neighbors for his sturdy traits of character and his interest in township improvement.

Aaron LEININGER, who for more than forty-five years has been in independent business in Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, as a wagon maker and repairer, is widely known throughout that section of Fulton county. The family was among the earliest pioneer settlers in Archbold, and Aaron Leininger was for more than twenty YP see connected with the public administration of the neighborhood, being deputy sheriff for sixteen years and marshal for four years. He has been a responsible, useful citizen, and his friendship is esteemed by many of the older residents.

He is a native of Archbold, born in the old Leininger homestead, which was situated in the borough of Archbold, in 1850. The family was originally from Alsace, France, and with the children of Aaron Leininger four generations have had residence in America. Jacob, his grandfather, was the American progenitor of the family. He brought his wife and children, including George, then only eleven years old, to America, and soon afterward came into the wild territory of Ohio, entering government land in Fulton county, his holding being situated where eventually grew the borough of Archbold. At the time he acquired it the land was a wilderness, and the purchase price was $1.25 per acre. He purchased eighty acres, the government deed for which is still in the possession of his grandson, Aaron, and in course of time, by dint of hard work and cheerful endurance of the rigors of pioneering life, he cleared his acreage, bringing it into good cultivation. George Leininger, son of Jacob and father of Aaron, grew to manhood and hardihood in the rugged environment of frontier life, and as he grew in strength and years gave increasing assistance to his father in the work of the familv holding. Eventually he succeeded to the property, and there raised his own family, including Aaron. George Leininger was a man of worthy characteristics, steady of purpose and honorable in his actions. He had a good reputation in Archbold, and is still respectfully remembered by many Archbold residents. He lived to a good old age, death not coming to him until 1914. He survived his wife, Nanev, by eighteen years, her decease being in 1896. Both were buried in Archbold.

Aaron, their son, attended the log school house on the border of Archbold borough until he had reached the age of thirteen years, gaining what general academic knowledge was possible in the somewhat primitive facilities of the district at that time. After leaving school he took to farming occupations, there being more than ample work to fully occupy his time on the home farm. He remained at home, assisting his father, until his twenty-first year, when he went to Bremen, Indiana, in order to learn the trade of wagon-making under his uncle. Louis Theobald. He remained with his uncle for three years, qualifying as a journeyman, and as such he worked in various places during the succeeding two years, following which he spent about twelve months at his trade in his native place, and then for thirteen months he was in Toledo, and for seven months in Ottawa Lake, Michigan, after which he returned to and settled in Archbold, in which borough he has ever since been in business, a period of forty-six years of industrious and generally profitable business. It may safely be stated that the majority of the agriculturists that come into Archbold are acquainted with Aaron Leininger. Most of them at some time or other have done business with him, and those that have not, know him quite well by reputation, for he has been prominent in the vicinity for very many years. He has always been staunchly republican in his political affiliations, and has entered much into the civic movements in the borough that has grown around his parental homestead. He was the city marshal of Archbold for four years and city councilman for three years. For sixteen years he was deputy sheriff, under Sheriffs Blair, Shimberger and Rittenhouse.

Religiously Mr. Leininger is a member of the English Lutheran Church, and throughout his life he has been earnest in church support. Generally he has proved himself to be a man always ready to enter personally and enthusiastically into movements that have the welfare of the community as an object, and he has amply demonstrated his capability in public office. During the World war he showed a worthy patriotism, following the progress of the nation in the war with close interest, and co-operating with the efforts of war workers in his own community to accomplish the aim of the national administration in the various war fund campaigns.

On July 1, 1875, Aaron Leininger married Emma Base, daughter of Andrew and Frederica Base, of Pettisville. To them have been born five children, all of which have been raised to healthy, useful manhood and womanhood, and all are now established in life and in independent state in various parts of the country. He with his brother Philip are doing well in Oklahoma, having large landed interests, and being connected with one tract of Oklahoma land, 119,000 acres in extent.

Perer P. Roru. For his long residence, the hard work he performed in his active career and the wholesome relationship he has always sustained to the community, Peter P. Roth thoroughly deserves the respect and esteem paid him in German township, where he has lived the greater part of his active life.

Mr. Roth, who still lives on his 120 acre farm in that township, was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, in 1845, and was brought to this country at the age of ten vears by his parents, Peter and Catherine (Rich) Roth. More than sixty years ago the Roth family bought 140 acres of land a mile west of the present homestead of Peter P. Roth. The latter grew up there, went to school a few months each,winter in the nearby schoolhouse, and in early manhood employed his strength in association with his two brothers, Christian and John, in clearing up a ninety acre farm. Both these brothers are now deceased. After four. years they traded that land. and in 1865 Peter P. Roth came to the farm where he now residés. His father and mother lived with him until their death.

Mr. Roth continued growing crops and looking after his farm interests under his personal supervision until 1906. Since then he has enjoyed a well earned retirement. .

August 10, 1876, he married Barbara Roth, daughter of John and Mary (Amstutz) Roth. Four children were born to their marriage. Mary is still at home with her father. Daniel P. married Kate Reichhardt and has a family of four children. Katie B. is the wife of William Rupp, and their two children are Bessie Alice and Levi William.

James H. Nosss. In 1920 occurred the death of a man whose life and career: were of more than ordinary interest in Fulton county. For eighty-four years James H. Nobbs was a resident of this section of northwestern Ohio. He had the distinction of being the second white child born in the county, and while this was a distinction conferred by the accident of birth, the productive labors of his hand and brain, his good character, and his relations with the community serve to make his memory peculiarly grateful in the section where he lived so long.

- He was born June 2, 1836, in the home of John and Jane (Mason) Nobbs. The family is of English origin, and had lived for a number of generations in Gloucestershire. John and Jane Nobbs crossed the ocean and settled at Syracuse, New York, in 1834, and soon afterward sought a better home in the western country, traveling by the Erie Canal and Lake Erie to Toledo. During the 30s and '40s what is now Fulton county was a part of Lucas county. John Nobbs on coming here entered forty acres covered with heavy woods, and with courage and hope of the future started the work of developing a home and incidentally developing the country. He and his family knew all the hardships of the frontier. John Nobbs was born in England in 1796 and died in Fulton county in 1870. His wife was born ten years later than he was, and she died fifteen years later. Most of their children are now deceased, the record being: Thomas, of Swan Creek; Sarah, who became the wife of Samuel Saeger, of Delta, and both are now deceased ; James H.; John, of Delta; Robert, deceased; Daniel, of Fulton; Anna, who was the wife of J. G. Halsey; and Jane, who married Edward Vaughan and both are now deceased. In this as in many families who have lived many years in the community there are more names on gravestones than in current directories.

_ James H. Nobbs grew BR in a real pioneer environment. He lived among the great woods, saw the swamps before they were drained, attended a pioneer school, and his muscles were hardened and his resolution strengthened by the strenuous activities of boyhood. At the age of twenty-one he began farming for himself on rented land. In 1862 he bought an eighty-acre tract in partnership with his brother-in-law, J. G. Halsey, but a couple of years later they divided the land in two separate farms. Mr. Nobbs increased his portion until he owned 107 acres, all under cultivation except about fifteen acres of woods pasture. Though he lived to be an octogenarian, he carried on the work of agriculture until a few years before his death.

July 4, 1861, Mr. Nobbs married Julia Ann Fetterman. She was born in Pennsylvania, daughter of George and Rachel (Bacon) Fetterman, who came from Pennsylvania to Ohio. To the marriage of James H. Nobbs and wife were born the following children:

Hattie Gertrude, wife of Elmer Dolph, of Ai; Etta, wife of Frank Merrill, of Fulton; Jennie, wife of D. A. Snyder, of Delta; Cora, widow of W. H. Critzer, of Delaware, Ohio; Robert O., of Coleman, Michigan ; Ethel, wife of Emerson Snyder, of Delta; George Lloyd, of Fulton ; Nellie, wife of John Williams, of Swan Creek; Alta, who died at the age of fourteen; and Anna Belle, wife of Fred Miley, of Ai.

The late James H. Nobbs came to his majority soon after the republican party placed its first national ticket in the field, and he became identified with the cause and steadily supported republican tickets through many local and national elections. As a progressive farmer he was identified with the local Grange, was affiliated with Swanton Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and during his long life accepted many opportunities to be of service to his community as well as to his own family. ©

CuarLes W. Tremain. From colonial days there has been a continual improvement in American agriculture, while during the past half a century the development has been remarkable. Two main reasons for American pre-eminence in agriculture are to be found in the fine quality of the soil and the high character of the farming class. One of the men who is rightly included among the successful farmers of Fulton county and who is aiding in maintaining this prestige for his community and country is Charles W. Tremain, of York Township.

Charles W. Tremain was born in Henry countv, Ohio, on March 2, 1880, a son of Abram and Ida (Skeels) Tremain, natives of Fulton county, Ohio, where Garner Tremain and Silas and Martha (Van Fleet) Skeels, the grandparents, were very early settlers. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Abram Tremain moved to Henry county and conducted their own farm there until 1883, when they sold it and returned to Fulton county, buying another farm in Swan Creek township. There Mrs. Tremain died in 1885. Mr. Tremain then married Rosa Neill, and they now live at Delta, Ohio. The children of Abram Tremain are as follows: Gertie, who is Mrs. Wesley Wieland, of Williams county, Ohio; Terry, who is a farmer of York Township; Ross, who is a farmer of Delta, Ohio; Charles W., whose name heads this review; Carl, who is a resident of Littlefield, Texas, and Atlee, who died at the age of twenty-five years.

Charles W. Tremain attended the Raker district school and the Delta High School for one vear, and then began farming. After his marriage in 1902 he rented a farm from his Grandfather Skeel for seven years, after which he bought 108 acres of the property, on which he has made many improvements, either replacing or rebuilding all of the buildings then standing except the house. Here he is carrying on general farming and dairying, his herd being of the Holstein strain. He is a republican. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias of Delta, and the Order of Owls of Liberty, Ohio.

On December 23, 1902, Mr. Tremain was united in marriage with Sadie Slagle, born in Henry county, Ohio, a daughter of Solomon and Mary (Sharp) Slagle. Mr. and Mrs. Tremain have one daughter, Marie, who is at home. His career as a farmer is one of which be may well be proud, for his success is certainly due to his native abilities and his earnest, honest efforts along a line for which he was eminently fitted by inheritance and inclination.

rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the concensus of opinion on the part of his neighbors and fellow citizens. The life of George C. Brown, one of the successful farmers of Fulton county, has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best. He has spent the major portion of his life here, engaged in the pursuits for which nature and training have best suited him, and is a creditable representative of one of our much respected old families.

George C. Brown, who is the owner of a fine farm of fifty-four acres in Clinton Township, was born at Burlington, in this county in 1869, and is a son of Judge Levi W. and Nancy (Ames) Brown. His father was during his active life one of the most prominent and well-known citizens of Fulton county, having rendered effective service as judge of the Probate Court, to which office he was elected for three consecutive terms. He also held for four years the position of United States Consul at Glasgow, Scotland, under appointment from President Benjamin Harrison. He later became president of the T. & I. Railroad Company, holding that position at the time of his death, which occurred in 1907 at Greensboro, North Carolina, where he-was interested in woolen mills. To him and his wife were born seven children, five sons and two daughters.

George C. Brown was reared under the parental roof and attended the public schools of Wauseon, including one year in the high school, after which he was a student at the Normal College at Ada, Ohio. He then accepted a position as superintendent of construction for the Sinecod Heating and Ventilating Company of Toledo, Ohio, during which time he installed many heating systems at various points in the country. After spending two years at this empose Mr. Brown engaged in farming on his father's farm, emracing 175 acres, which engaged his attention for a short time, when he bought his present farm, comprising fifty-four acres in Clinton Township, near Wauseon, where he has devoted himself to general farming operations, in connection with which he also gives considerable attention to the breeding and raising of Duroe hogs. which he has found a profitable source of income. He has exercised good judgment in all his business affairs and is today numbered among the progressive and enterprising agriculturists of his section of the county.

In 1899 Mr. Brown was married to Lillv Gorsuch, the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Kahoe) Gorsuch, of Wauseon. To them has been born a son, Howard Levi, whose birth oceurred in 1914. In politics Mr. Brown is independent of party ties, while fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. What he has he has gained entirely by his own exertions, and has demonstrated himself to be a man of industry, discrimination and integrity.

GrorceE WILiIAM BrRINKMAN. Intelligent thinkers recognize the definite relationship of the farmer as a factor of modern civilization, and the fact that the up-to-date agriculturist is at the point of focus of live forces in whom are concentrated the great currents of modern life. This has always been true, but not until within modern years has it been generally admitted. The modern farmer brings to his work not only a love for it. but also careful training; and he can take advantage of the experiments of others in carrying on his operations. For these and many other equally cogent reasons the farmer of today is a man of importance; and thus many of the best men of any locality devote themselves to agricultural work. One of the men who has achieved an enviable success along this line of profit and dignity is George William Brinkman, owner of eighty acres of valuable land in Clinton Township.

George William Brinkman was born in York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, in 1874, a son of Frederick Christopher and Mary Ann ( Orth) Brinkman. Frederick Christopher Brinkman came to the United States from Germany and became one of the reliable and responsible citizens of Fulton county.

During his boyhood William Brinkman attended school during the winter months, and in the summer time made himself useful on his father's farm, and he remained with his father until he was twenty-five years old. At that time, in 1900, he was united in marriage with Clara Nettie McKibben, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wires) McKibben, of Clinton Township. Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman have children as follows: Thomas, Frederick, Rav Claire, Mary Elizabeth, Katie Lavinie, Charles Herman, Harry Francis, George William and Emma V. Mrs. Brinkman was born in Fulton county of which her parents were pioneers, coming here from Holmes county, Ohio. :

Having acquired a capable helpmate, Mr. Brinkman decided to engage in farming on his own land, and in 1901 bought his present farm, on which he has always carried on general farming. Here he has worked to make improvements and put his land under a fine state of cultivation, and has succeeded, his place being one of the nice ones in Fulton county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman are religious people and find expression for their faith in the creed of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Wauseon, of which they are members, and where they worship. They are products of Fulton county, and proud of their birthplace and home. Improvements of this region if properly entered upon and carried out meet with their approval, and thev are in favor of the good roads movement, realizing the necessity for them in order to bring the great automobile traffic through their neighborhood. as well as to afford comfortable and safe highways for their own use, thus putting them into close connections with the centers of industry and interest. They are pleasant people to meet, and they, with their children, have many warm, personal friends in their neighborhood.

CreistoPpHEeR K. Miniter. For thirty years Christonher K. Milier, of Gorham, has served his communitv as a school director. He is president of the Gorham Township School Board and a member of the Fulton Countv Board of Education. For two years he was its president. Mr. Miller was born Januarv 14, 1858. in Brady Township, Williams county. He is a son of Adam and Melvina (Green) Miller, the father a native of Richland and the mother of Medina county. ;

The ancestry farther back - Peter and Rebecca Miller, had come from Pennsylvania to Richland county. On the maternal side, Frederick and Weltha Ann Green came to Medina county. Later thev lived in Milwaukee. When Adam and Melvina Miller were married thev settled in Williams countv, where he enlisted as a Civil war soldier. He was in Company C, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under command of Captain Sherwood. He received a gun-shot wound and was home on a furlough for several months. However, he reioined his regiment and was discharged at the close of the war. He returned to Williams county. In 1881 he moved to Frontier, Michigan. He died there in 1916, aged eighty-eight years. His wife died two years earlier in Michigan, the scene of their last days on earth. '

The children born to Adam Miller are: Rebecca Jane, wife of George Finch, of Owosso, Michigan; Ellen, wife of Samuel Wasnich, of Frontier, Michigan; Christopher K.; Weltha Ann, who died in childhood; Etta, wife of Byron Miller, of Pioneer; Martha, deceased wife of William Suter; Emma, who died in childhood; William, of Frontier, Michigan; Della, who died in childhood, and Orpha, wife of Edward Hukill, of Frontier, Michigan.

In August, 1880, C. K. Miller married Alice Ritter. While she was born in Gorham, her parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Bear) Ritter, had come from the vicinity of Lake Cuyahoga, New York. They settled in Gorham Township in 1848, and they bought eighty acres from the government, on which they lived until their death, Mr. Ritter passing away December 27, 1891, and Mrs. Ritter on July 13, 1902. They were the parents of five children. The old Ritter farm is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Miller, on which they have a modern home. Mr. Miller tiled and thoroughly improved his farm, making it one of the best farms of Gorham. While he does general farming, he.raises registered Holstein cattle. He now owns a farm of 190 acres. :

The children born to C. K. Miller are» Elta, wife of Martin Kanauer, of Toledo, and she has two children, Gwendolin and Atha. Carl K. died December 7, 1918, leaving a wife, Goldie (Blaker) Miller, and two children, Violet and Carmon.

Mr. Miller is active in local republican politics, and he represents Fulton county in the Ohio State Legislature. He is a stockholder and a director of the Farmers' State Bank of Favette, a member of the Independent Order Odd Fellows Lodge No. 431, and the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Fayette. He is a member of the official board. Mr. Miller has long been an active man in Fulton county's political and business affairs.

ArtuurR Scotr Brake. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, the man who spends his life in an effort to alleviate human sufferings in any way is a benefactor of his kind, and to such men as Dr. Arthur S. Blake. the well-known dentist of Wauseon, are entrusted the comfort and safety and in some cases the lives of those who place themselves under his care. Dactor Blake is a scion of one of the old and influential families of this section of the state, and is regarded as standing in the front rank of professional men, having gained a wide reputation in his chosen calling while yet comparatively young in vears, and at the same time establishing a good name because of his exemplary character in all the relations of life.