Fulton Township (part 24 of 34)

_ John A. Wilkins, son of Archibald and Mary (Robinson) Wilkins, was educated in the public schools of Licking county, Ohio, and eventually entered Denison University, Granville, of Licking county. He was only sixteen years old when the Civil war began, and he immediately cast all else aside, enlisting as a private in Company B, of the Seventeenth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on April 24, 1861, re-enlisting on December 6, 1861, in Company H, of the Seventy-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. One interesting 'incident of his early military experience was when he was detailed, as a sergeant, to arrest several men who had failed to answer the call to military service. He promptly effected their arrest, and apparently so expeditiously executed his orders that he was cited in company orders and given a written testimonial by his captain. Young Wilkins saw much of the major fighting with his regiment, and was a member of the staffs of Generals Woods and Osterhaus, during the four years of the war; he served under General Woods in Tennessee in 1862 and 1863; was under General Osterhaus in Arkansas in the winter of 1862; and ultimately took part in General Sherman's southern campaign. Among the major battles in which he participated were: the battle of Shiloh, or as it is sometimes called, of Pittsburg Landing, in Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862, when the Union Army under Generals Sherman and Prentiss had to withstand the sudden attack of almost twice their number of Confederate forces under General Johnston, the two days of battle resulting in the discomfiture and retreat of the Confederate Army, but at a loss to the Union forces of more than twelve thousand men, out of 45,000 engaged; in the fighting before Fort Donelson, on the Tennessee River, where Grant's now famous reply to the besieged Confederate general, who offered to capitulate on terms: "No terms other than unconditional surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works" eventually caused Gen. U. S. Grant to be called "Unconditional Surrender Grant" ; the capture of Arkansas Post, January 11, 1863; the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and the subsequent attempt of the Confederates to capture the place on October 3, 1863; the six weeks' siege of V icksburg, which was terminated by a complete surrender of the Confederate garrison on'the same day that crowned the equally memorable and hardfought three days' battle of Gettysburg; battle of Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863, when the Army of the Cumberland, under General Rosecrans, sustained suck losses, almost sixteen thousand out of 45,000 engaged, that General Rosecrans was relieved and General Grant placed in command; and several other less important engagements. Wilkins passed through all the fighting without _se- rious hurt, excepting once, when his horse was shot under him, in a skirmish near Kenesaw, and in falling badly crushed his left leg. At that time, he held the rank of first sergeant, and was on staff duty, but when he was eventually discharged, in September, 1865, he had attained the rank of staff colonel. The war record of Doctor Wilkins was therefore notable and noteworthy.

His father had died a year or so prior to his discharge from the military forces, so that as soon as he was released from service, Colonel Wilkins returned home, and, with what money he had, cleared the mortgage that still remained on his mother's farm, in Licking county, Ohio. Leaving her thus released from worry, he took employment with the Pan Handle Railroad Company, resolving to work thus so long as was necessary to give him the money wherewith to complete his education, and take a course in medicine. He was evidently a man of much steadiness of purpose, and his record shows that he graduated from Denison University in 1867, and from Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, in 1873. What his financial struggles were between 1865 and 1873, when he had reached the full consummation of his aim and had graduated as a Doctor of Medicine, only he knows to the full, but it may be inferred that at many times during the period he was so circumstanced that only by the exercise of strong determination could he continue to pursue his studies. However he reached the day when he had gained the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and had the right to practice that profession. Soon afterwards, he came to Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, and there set up in practice; and there he has since continued to practice, the long period of such service to the people of Fulton county bringing him enviable professional repute. Among professional men, he is widely known throughout the state, and has been honored by them by election to the presidency of the Ohio State Medical Society. He has also held like capacity in the Northwestern Ohio Medical Society.

He has been prominently identified with the functioning of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has held high office in that organization of veterans, having been elected surgeon-general, at Chieago, on August 30, 1900, and re-elected at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1901.

Throughout his life he has been a staunch democrat, and at one time, before his professional practice became so extensive as to re quire almost his whole time, he took a leading part in political movements in his county. For two terms he sat in the state senate, having been elected state senator in 1879. As such, he served in the senate for two years under Governor Bushnell, and a like period under Governor Nash.

Fraternally, Doctor Wilkins belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to Masonic bodies. He has been an Odd Fellow since 1864, has been through all the chairs of the branch with which he is affiliated, and he belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Delta, to a Toledo commandry, and has been a member of the local consistory of Masons since 1882. At one time he was coroner of Fulton county.

In May, 1873, Doctor Wilkins married Ruth Rebecca Shull, a native of Licking county, Ohio, and a posthumous child, her father having been killed before her birth. Doctor and Mrs. Wilkins have therefore almost reached the year in which they may celebrate their golden wedding. They have two children: Archie M., who has

ARCHIBALD M. Wixxrns, M. D., a graduate in medicine of the Toledo Medical College, 1898, and a graduate also of special courses at the New York Post Graduate Medical College and Hospital, the largest post-graduate medical school in the world, has been in general practice in Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, since 1905, and has had several other professional associations of consequence during his active medical career. He has served as an army surgeon during three campaigns - Spanish-American, 1898-99, the Philippine, 1901- 5, and the French campaign, 1917-19, ten months of hard service in France gaining him promotion to the military rank of major. He has been medical examiner in Fulton county; for the Industrial Commission of the State of Ohio; and was elected coroner of the county. So that the last two decades of his life have been well filled.

He is a native of Delta, Fulton county, born in that place on June 29, 1874, the son of Dr. John A. Wilkins, a prominent physician of Delta, and a Civil war veteran of worthy record. His life work has been the subject of a special article written for this edition of Fulton County History, and further reference is therefore not here necessary. Major Archibald M. Wilkins grew to manhood in Delta, attended the elementary and high schools of the place, and, having resolved to also take up the same profession as that his father followed, eventually became a student at the Toledo Medical College, from which in 1898 he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After graduation he was in private practice with his father in Delta for a while, and served an interneship in a United States Army hospital, in 1901 going to the Philippines as a contract surgeon of the United States Army. Upon his return he applied himself to special post-graduate research in some branches of medical science, going for the purpose to what is probably the best post-graduate school in the country, the New York Post-Gradaute School and Hospital, the pioneer post-graduate medical school in the world, and the largest, its faculty and corps of assistant and adjunct professors and.instructors consisting of more than three hundred of the most eminent medical specialists in the country. "Eventually, in 1905, Doctor Wilkins settled to steady general practice in his home town, Delta, gradually becoming properly established in extensive practice throughout the section of the county, and as time went on forming various outside professional connections. He served as medical examiner for Fulton county on the Industrial Commission for the State of Ohio in 1913, and in 1914 was elected coroner of Fulton county, being re-elected in 1916. His medical service in the United States Army during the Philippine campaign, following the Spanish-American war, developed in him an interest in military matters, and in 1911 he accepted a commission as first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army, and in June, 1917, following the declaration of a state of war with Germany, he was called to active service. In November following he was promoted to the grade of captain, and between that date and February 17, 1919, when he was promoted major, he saw very interesting and strenuous service on the French front. He received honorable discharge in March, 1919, and soon afterward returned to Delta and resumed his private practice. On January 20, 1920, he was commissioned major of the Medical Reserve Corps, United States

Politically Doctor Wilkins is a democrat. He is a Mason and belongs to he fraternal organizations, including the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Modern Woodmen of America. ;

He was married on October 23, 1900, to Bertha E. Morris, and they have had three children, although only one is now living. Robert Archibald, who was born on October 30, 1907.

Rosert Biarne, who for more than twenty years was a resident of Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, and to whom death came in that town on January 19, 1918, came of a family which is placed among the pioneer families of Amboy Township, Fulton county, and which has a notable record of national service during the Civil war, Robert Blaine and his four brothers all having served in the Union Army. Robert Blaine himself also should be classed among the pioneers of the county, for during his active lifetime, which with the exception of his years of war service was spent almost wholly in Fulton county, he cleared a large acreage of wild land, converting the unproductive wilderness into tillable agricultural land. It is by such pioneering efforts as that of Robert Blaine that Fulton county became the productive agricultural district it is; and it was by such wholehearted personal service as that of Robert Blaine and his four brothers that the cause of the Union and of the southern slave ultimately triumphed in the severe and prolonged Civil war.

Robert Blaine was born in Amboy Township, Fulton county, Ohio, August 7, 1837, the son of Charles and Rachel (Bertholf) Blaine. The Blaine family was in colonial days resident in New York state, and Charles Blaine and his wife were both born in that state, although it appears that soon after marriage they settled on wild land in Amboy Township, Fulton county, Ohio, in which township all their children were born, including the five sons whose patriotic war service brought to the family such an enviable record. Charles and Rachel (Bertholf) Blaine were the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters, five of whom are still living. The surviving children are: Charles, who lives in Amboy Township; James, now of Wichita, Kansas; Marion, of Toledo, Ohio; Elmina, who married William Driscoll, of Amboy Township; and Emily, who married Thomas Stedman, of Amboy Township, and lives in the old Blaine homestead in that township.

Robert Blaine, born and reared in Amboy Township, attended the district school nearest to his father's farm, although the school term in those days was short, the vacation extending through practically the whole of the growing season, during which Robert as a boy did much agricultural work. When he finally left school he took good part with his brothers in the work of the home farm, which was for the most part timber land. He married when he was twenty-one years old, and after taking this step he also began to farm independently, but the farm to which he took his wife was at that time all wild timber land, with just sufficient cleared space to permit of the erection of a log cabin. The early married life of Robert Blaine and his wife was passed under the rigorous conditions of the pioneer. But he was a sturdy pioneer, and during the next few years cleared quite a satisfactory acreage of his farm. He had been married four years when a momentous question came to them for decision. They decided, and the outcome was the enlistment of the husband as a soldier in the Union Army for the term of the Civil war. Some of his brothers had already gone into the service, and all had decided to enlist. Robert enlisted in the spring of 1863, in Company I of the Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which became a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and as such took part in the southern campaign of General Sherman, including Sherman's famous march through Georgia to the sea. Robert Blaine served until after the termination of hostilities in 1865, and having received honorable discharge he returned soon afterward to his native county and township and again took up the task of clearing his eighty acre farm. This eventually he accomplished, with forty acres additional, so that he ultimately possessed a fine tract of tillable soil, upon which he and his family lived until 1894, when he had reached a state of material wealth to enable him to retire from agricultural work. He rented his farm to another, and went with his wife into Delta, building a fine home in the village, and there residing in comfortable circumstances until his death, January 19, 1918. The expressions of sympathy his widow received at that time clearly indicated the respect in which her husband was held in the village of Delta, and in their native township. Mr. Blaine lived a worthy, helpful and unselfish life. He took good part in the public responsibilities of the township, serving for twelve years as justice of the peace, two vears as assessor, and at one time was township trustee and a member of the School Board. Politically Mr. Blaine was a republican, and at one time was a factor of some consequence in political movements in Amboy Township. He belonged to the Delta Post 'of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was an active Mason, belonging to the Delta Blue Lodge and Chapter. Religiously he was a Methodist, a member of the local churches and an active church worker in his younger days. In fact, when he lived in Amboy Township he always served as steward of his church.

Robert Blaine married on July 4, 1859, Laura M. Robb, who had been born in Medina, Ohio, but had lived in Amboy Township for about four years with her parents before she and Robert Blaine married. Her parents were Nathaniel and Calista (Parent) Robb, the former a native of New Hampshire and her mother of Ithaca, New York. Her parents had married in New York state, but had -early come into Medina county, Ohio, of which county they are among the pioneers, and in 1855 moved into Amboy Township of Fulton county, where they lived for the remainder of their lives. Robert and Laura M. (Robb) Blaine lived a praiseworthy married life to within eighteen months of fifty vears. Mrs. Blaine still lives in Delta, where she has many sincere friends. She is in comparatively good health, is comfortably cireumstanced, and has the solicitude of many true friends. She owns sixty acres of her late husband's farm in Amboy Township, which property is in the hands of a reliable tenant. Robert and Laura M. (Robb) Blaine were the parents of two children: Viola, who is the widow of William Carter, who for the greater part of his life was a resident in Delta, where his widow still lives, near her mother; and Ella, who married Frank Penny, of Metamora, Fulton county.

' "Grorce Wasntneron Cupp, whose death occurred September 18, 1919, at his home in Delta, had an experience as varied as comes to most men who were born as long ago as February 4, 1835, he having lived many years before the time of greatest material development and through the thickest of the changes in modern civilization. He was a son of Philip and Elizabeth (Messmore) Cupp, the father an Ohio man and the mother a West Virginia woman.

While the Cupp family first settled in Fairfield they soon moved to Wood county in 1840, where Philip Cupp bought forty acres in timber and cleared it. In his young manhood G. W. Cupp became a substitute Civil war soldier in Company F, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in the fall of 1863 he went on a foraging expedition through Kentucky. While on a march from Hillsboro, Tennessee, his regiment was sent to Bowling Green, Kentucky, on account of the condition of the roads, and July 8, 1864, his time of service expired and he was discharged from the army. He had been nine months in the service.

Mr. Cupp returned to his little farm in Wood county, but after one year as a farmer he engaged in a grocery business for two years in Jerry City. He then sold his land and business and came to Swan Creek in Fulton county. He bought sixty acres of cleared land and lived on it twelve years before he came to Delta. Aside from one year in Wauseon, Mr. Cupp continued his home in Delta.

On September 4, 1859, Mr. Cupp married Hannah Baird. She is a daughter of Ira and Rebecca Baird and lived in Wood county. Their children are as follows: Willametta Clara, who died at the age of thirteen years; Rebecca Viola; Willis Irving, who lives at Prairie Depot, Wood county, Ohio; Ulysses S. lives in Wood county; Ora died at the age of four years; and Lydia died in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 1919. :

Mrs. Hannah (Baird) Cupp died October 2, 1874, and Mr. Cupp married Elizabeth Wimer, of Wood county. She was a daughter of Moses Wimer. They had two children: Bert, of Sygnet, Wood county, and Harriet, who died at the age of twenty-one years. Mrs. Elizabeth (Wimer) Cupp died October 15, 1895, and Mr. Cupp married Mrs. Leah Tefft, a widow with four sons and three daughters. When Mrs. Leah (Tefft) Cupp died Mr. Cupp married Mrs. Sarah Alice Clark, a widow with three children. With his own children and the step-children Mr. Cupp was the head of a large family in Fulton county. He is survived by Mrs. Cupp and five of his children. .

His school days dated back to primitive conditons - the log school house with greased paper windows. He voted with the republican party. He was a member of the Church of God, and of McQuillan Post, Grand Army of the Republic, No. 171 in Delta. He served as post-commander, and was among the oldest members.

StrrpHen Epear Hinxriz. While the immediate ancestry of Stephen Edgar Hinkle of Royalton came from York state, they were early settlers in Fulton county. Mr. Hinkle was born in Royalton April 10, 1858, a son of Ephraim and Susan (Houghton) Hinkle, the father from Cayuga and the mother from Rensselaer county, New York. The grandparents, John and Mercy (Reed) Hinkle, had come early to Fulton county. Stephen and Hulda (Smith) Houghton, in the maternal ancestry, had removed from New York to re site of Toledo, and lived there many years before there was a city.

John Hinkle, the man who brought the family name to Fulton county, entered 240 acres of wild land and later he secured 400 acres where Lyons now stands, part of it having been platted for the town. When the Houghton ancestry settled in what is now Amboy they entered 240 acres of wild land, and before coming to Fulton county they had entered a half section of land in what is now Toledo. This proved an exceilent investment.

On April 10, 1872, S. E. Hinkle married Hattie Cass, of Maumee. She was born March 12, 1853, a daughter of Joseph G. and Mary Ellen (Wilson) Cass. Her father came from New Hampshire while her mother was from Coshocton county. Her grandfather, Barnard Cass, was among the early residents of Maumee. Mr. Hinkle brought his bride to the home of his parents, and then located on an eighty acre farm west of Lyons, remaining there three years. From there he moved to Washington Township, Lucas county, remaining seven years.

When Mr. Hinkle returned to Fulton county he bought out the heirs to the family homestead, and another eighty acre place. He laid out Plainfield addition to Lyons, and sold out some of the lots, and he still owns lots and some improved property there. On the farm Mr. Hinkle always has from twenty to thirty head of grade Holstein dairy cows, and the milk business is a profitable industry.

The children are: Ephraim C., who met death on a railroad, had married Georgia Ferguson, and they had two sons, Kenneth and Ray, who live in Detroit; Philena is the wife of Houghton Ferguson of Toledo and her children are: Harry L. and Keron, the last named, deceased; Herbert H. lives in Royalton; Stephen Eugene, of Royalton, married Ina Disbrow and has one child, Clare; Homer B. married Emma Mallendick (deceased) and he lives with his parents.

Mr. Hinkle supplemented his education in common school at the Toledo High School and at Maumee. His wife attended Maumee Seminary. In polities he is a republican, and he has served as a councilman in Lyons. The family belongs to the Universalist Church, and Mr. Hinkle has served as a trustee for many years. The organization of the Universalist Church of Lyons was completed by Rev. Samuel Binns, in 1867 with thirty-four charter members. A church was built and dedicated in October, 1868. In the year 1904, under the pastorate of Rev. G. H. Ashworth, this church was remodeled with beautiful memorial windows. Mr. Hinkle is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows No. 622 of Lyons, and has passed all of the chairs. Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle are Rebekahs.

It is evident from what has been said above that one of the most useful -members of the pioneer Hinkle family has been Stephen Edgar. While due recognition is given to the work and influence of 'his father and grandfather in the county, Mr. Hinkle has exercised a great energy of his own, and has built both wisely and well on the foundation which was prepared for his own career. Farming, town building and public spirit in all his relations have been prominent features in his life, and his activities and character deserve the memory of the future.

Samus, Erastus Merritt. The late Samuel Erastus Merrill was closely associated with the agricultural interests of Fulton county, and during his lifetime became the owner of a fine farm in Swan Creek Township that is now operated by his widow and sons. He was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, on June 24, 1851, a son of Joseph and Nancy (Mardis) Merrill, natives of New Hampshire, who moved to Ohio after their marriage, and all of their children were born in the latter state. Not long after the close of the war between the states Joseph Merrill went to Franklin county, Ohio, and still later located in Putnam county, Ohio.

the district schools during his boyhood. On May 24, 1887, he was married to Mary F. Beavers, born in Franklin county, Ohio, on January 6, 1867, a daughter of James and Sarah (Lane) Beavers, natives of Franklin county, Ohio. The grandparents, Thomas and Sarah (Beavers) Beavers, were also natives of Ohio, and the maternal grandparents, William and Mary (Athy) Lane, were born in Fairfield county, Ohio. ,

Following his marriage Mr. Merrill moved to Henry county, Ohio, where he first leased a farm, but later bought one and conducted it until 1892, when he came to Fulton county, and spent two years in Swan Creek Township. He then bought a farm in Putnam county, Ohio, and lived on it for two years, or until he sold it, at which time he came back to Swan Creek Township, buying the seventy-nine acre farm now owned by his heirs, and on it he passed away on December 2, 1908. ;

Mr. and Mrs. Merrill became the parents of the following children: Jennie L., who is Mrs. Michael B. Smith, of Swan Creek Township; James Harrison, of Ottawa county, Ohio, married Grace Masters, and they have one daughter, Frances Emma; Bertha, who is Mrs. Otto Conklin, of Swan Creek Township, has one daughter, Erma; Francis C., who is now at home, is a veteran of the great war, having served as a member of Company M, Three Hundred and Fifty-sixth Infantry in France and also in the Army of Occupation in Germany; Goldie Vivian, who is Mrs. Ray Watkins, of Swan Creek Township; and Florie M. and Harlow R., who are assisting their mother in conducting the homestead. Mr. Merrill had two children by a former marriage, namely: Emmit Le Roy, who married Mary Westcott, has three children, Orrin, Lenora and Harold; and Ira Elmo, who married Gertrude Haguewood, has two children, Hilbert and Maxine. Mrs. Ray Watkins has two children, Eudora and an infant son.

In his religious views Mr. Merrill was a United Brethren, and his widow belongs to the radical branch of that society. A strong republican, Mr. Merrill always gave an active support to the candidates and principles of his party, but did not care to hold office. He was an upright, honorable and conscientious man, who if he asked much of others was always willing to live up to his requirements himself. A hard worker, he accumulated a nice property, and earned the respect of his fellow citizens to such an extent that his death was regarded as a distinct loss to his community.

CuHartes Jonnson. The late Charles Johnson, of Swan Creek Township, always voted the democratic ticket, and for many years he was a deacon in the Christian Church, of which Mrs. Johnson is a member today. He was ason of John and Cynthia (Saulsbury) Johnson, and was born January 6, 1841, in York Township. He died March 18, 1886, at the age of forty-five years. The Johnson family were early settlers in Fulton county.

In May, 1862, Mr. Johnson married Amanda M. Pierce, of Indianapolis. She is a daughter of Eber and Betsey (Vandalium) Pierce. They resided in Stark county, Indiana, until the fall of 1864, when they moved to York Township. In 1883 they removed to the presnt home in Swan Creek Township. It was an unimproved farm when they came to it. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Johnson has continued living there. A son, Charles, remained several years with her, and then a grandson, Arthur Stits, operated the farm, but now Mrs. Johnson lives alone. The fields are rented and she has a garden and poultry.

There were five children: Ada, who died in young womanhood; G. William, of West Alton, Missouri; Nettie, wife of John Whitmsyer, of Pike Township; Ledora, of Cleveland; and Charles P., of

While he did not live long enough to realize all his plans and ambition for the improvement of his farm and the making of a home in Swan Creek Township, Mr. Johnson had lived effectively and worthily during the years allotted to him, and grateful memory is cherished of his character and deeds by his descendants. Mrs. Johnson on her part did nobly in carrying forward the farm and rear: ing her children, and is one of the very highly esteemed women of Fulton county.

ALEXANDER YOuNG Montcomery, who for more than fifty years was a resident in Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, and for the greater part of the time one of its leading citizens, had a worthy life record In every way. Denied the educational facilities possible to even the poorest boy in these days, he nevertheless acquired much learning, so much in fact that for many years he was himself a school teacher. He saw valiant service as a soldier during the Civil war, was for many years in successful merchandising business in Delta, Fulton county, was postmaster for eight years, and throughout his long life of public activities and service in Delta gave some time to the execution of the duties of almost every public office of the borough, including the responsibilities of the offices of mayor, councilman, treasurer, -and chief of the fire department. Generally, he was esteemed as one of the most helpful and public-spirited of the leading residents of Delta.

He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, December 9, 1835, the son of James and Mary (Young) Montgomery. The Montgomery family is of Scotch ancestry, although for some generations the branch to which Alexander Y. belonged had been resident in the United States. His father had been born in Washington, Pennsy]lvania. His mother, however, was of Swiss descent, although also born in America. His parents were among the early settlers in Belmont county, Ohio, where James Montgomery bought a tract of wild land, clearing it of timber, and eventually developing it into a good agricultural property. Upon it Alexander Y. grew to manhood, and there his parents died. The conditions of life in the vicinity of his parents' property were somewhat primitive during his boyhood. He had to content himself with very little schooling; as a matter of fact he was unable to attend school until he was nine years old, and even then the district school that had been established was only open for four months in the year, the boys of the settlers being needed by their parents for many minor farming duties during the growing season. Alexander Y. Montgomery, however, was a studious youth, was naturally of intellectual bent, and, like Abraham Lincoln, profited much by the reading of good books. He was fortunate also in having some contact with men of letters, so that eventually he had attained a sufficient degree of general-learning to qualify as a school teacher. He followed that profession until his twenty-sixth year, concurrently farming and he might have continued as an educator had not national conditions become such that all young men of patriotic heart felt prompted to cast aside all personal interests and place themselves at the disposal of the nation. Alexander Y. Montgomery was not wanting or even halting when the call to arms came in 1861. He enlisted in the Union forces in that year, and when the first brief term of enlistment had expired, re-enlisted in Company E of the West Virginia Infantry. He served under Generals Siegel, Milroy, Fremont and Pope, his regiment being part of the Army of Virginia, which engaged in most of the battles of Virginia and the Shenendoah Valley, including Cedar Mountain, Bull Run (second) and Cross Keys. In 1863 he entered the hazardous scouting arm of the Union Army, and continued as a scout until eventually mustered out of service, with a certificate of honorable discharge, on June 22, 1864. What his movements were between that time and the spring of 1866 are not known to the present biographer, but from the spring of 1866 until his death in 1918 he lived in Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, and lived a life well filled with consequential activities, of business and public character. For sixteen years he was in an established merchandising business in Delta, having appreciable success in that enterprise and later he was express agent at Delta. He was a man of strong personality, and was a factor of much influence in Delta. He had the confidence and good will of his fellow citizens, and was preferred by them for many public honors and offices of responsibility in civic affairs. His record in public service includes a period as mayor of the borough, as borough treasurer and as chief of the fire department. He was a member of the Cemetery Board, and all his public work, whether of minor or major importance, was marked by a painstaking, honorable attention and devotion to the interests of the community that stamped him as a public servant of the highest type. He was ever ready to give personal and financial support to any worthy local movement, and during the administration of United States President Hayes he was the efficient postmaster at Delta, being continued in the office for eight years. Fraternally he was for many years prominently identified with the functioning of local lodges of the Odd Fellows and Masonic Orders. Of the former organization he belonged to ~ Delta Lodge No. 400, and of the Masonic bodies he was a member of Fulton Lodge No. 248, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of the Octavius Waters Chapter No. 154, Royal Arch Masons; and of the Aurora Chapter. In the order of the Eastern Star he belonged to Fulton encampment No. 197. As a veteran of the Civil war he was of course a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being affiliated with McQuillan Post. Religiously he was a Methodist, member of the Delta Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically he was a republican, and actively interested in national as well as local affairs. He died on April 15, 1919, his obsequies being attended by a very large number of Delta people, in which town he was esteemed: for his commendable private life and notable helpful public work in the community. He succeeded well in his business endeavors, and erected one of the finest residences in Delta, a substantial almost modern house of fourteen rooms. He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, Delta, Ohio, of which he was for so many years a director.

Ffe was married on November 4, 1867, at Lordstown, to Mary McCorkle, who was born in Lordstown, Trumbull county, Ohio, August 22, 1843, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Slough) Mc- Corkle, of that place. Her father was one of the early residents in Youngstown, Ohio, but her mother belonged to an old Pennsylvania family, and was born in Carlisle, Cumberland county of that state. In her girlhood Mrs. Montgomery attended the public schools of her native place, and eventually took the academic course at the seminary at Lordstown, Ohio. In her younger days in, Delta she entered much into the social movements of the place, and throughout her life has been interested in church work. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she and her late husband have been good supporters of the local church of that denomination. Mrs. Montgomery has many sincere friends in Delta, many of long standing.

Wrui1am WaLace WILLIAMS, who during his active life, which ended March 29, 1890, was one of the most prominent citizens of Delta, Fulton county, Ohio, a former mayor and leading attorney of that place, and who also had to his credit personal service in a military capacity during the Civil war, the period during which the manhood of the nation was tested to the uttermost.

He was born in Michigan February 3, 1833, while his parents, David and Phoebe Williams, were on a visit in Michigan, to a brother of Mrs. Williams. William W., however, was early thrown upon his own resources, his parents dying when he was still comparatively. young. He went to live with Doctor Taylor in Wauseon, Ohio, attending the public schools of that city. What he did in his early manhood does not appear in data before the present biographer, excepting that during the Civil war he was in the military forces. of the Union, enlisting in Company I of the Thirtyeighth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and eventually receiving honorable discharge from the national forces. In 1867, being then thirty-four years old, he married, soon after which important event in his history he began to study law, resolving to qualify for admittance to the legal profession. Eventually he was admitted, and for many years thereafter was one of the most prominent lawyers of the Delta section of Fulton county. He resided in that place, his law practice centering there, and in that city he was greatly esteemed. He was a man of commendable public spirit, a convincing public speaker, and he took a helpful part in the civic affairs of Delta. He was popular in that part of Fulton county, and held the confidence of the people of Delta; so much that they elected him mayor of the town. He was fifty-seven years old in the year of his death, 1890, and his life, although not of very long duration, was yet filled with consequential achievements, not the least of which was his strength of purpose in making his own way after the death of his parents.

He was a good Christian, member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Delta, and a steady supporter thereof. Politically he was a republican, and was a factor of some consequence to that party in his home district. He took a leading part in political movements in his own district; in fact he was active and useful in almost all phases of the public affairs of Delta. As a veteran of the Civil war he belonged to the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. ' vears have passed since she, Jane Casler, was married to William Wallace Williams. She was born within twenty-five miles of Toronto, Canada, January 30, 1845, the daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth (Yake) Casler, who were both Canadians by birth, although Mrs. Williams is descended in the maternal line from an old colonial New York family, her grandparent having been born at Mohawk River, New York state, the son of John Yake, who came from Germany to one of the New York settlements. In the paternal line Mrs. Williams evidently belongs to a family of British antecedents, long resident in Canada. She has lived quietly in Delta amid a large circle of good friends since the death of her husband thirty years ago, and she owns an artistic bungalow on Front street. The children born. to William Wallace and Jane (Casler) Williams were: William} who is a successful and enterprising business man in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ila, who married Lewis Cameron, of Delta; Charles, who died at the age of twenty-one years, just as he had entered promising manhood; Harry, now of Detroit, Michigan, is a veteran of two wars, having served through the Spanish-American war, rising to the rank of sergeant, and as a commissioned officer in. the World war, 1917-19; Paul, now of Wauseon, also a former soldier, having for seven years been in the United States Regular Army ; Leland S., of Wauseon, who is also a veteran of the Spanish-American war. The family is thus of military record in the last three wars in which the nation has engaged, a noteworthy record of patriotism, seeing that in each case the service was voluntary. Mrs. Jane (Casler) Williams is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in her younger days took an earnest part in church work, and also in the social functions of community life of Delta.

Tsaac Witry. While there is Scotch in the ancestry of Isaac Wiley of Fulton, his birth occurred October 24, 1850, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He is a son of Robert and Maria (Walters) Wiley. In 1851, when Isaac Wiley was one year old, his parents came from Pennsylvania via Cleveland and Toledo to Fulton Township, and in 1854 they bought eighty acres of timber, except a clearing of about five acres, where they made their home in Ohio. They lived in a log house until 1869, when they built a frame house.

With the assistance of his son Isaac Wiley, Robert Wiley cleared all this land but ten acres and later the son cleared that tract. Robert Wiley was a cripple and unable to walk without a cane and a crutch, and yet he made a farm in the wilds of the new country. His wife died in 1885, and he died two years later. Beside Isaac, who relates the family history, their children were: Sarah, widow of Eli Winchell, of North Adams, Michigan; Susan, deceased wife of Harrison Hamp; and John. By a previous marriage Robert Wiley had pase children: William, Lemuel and Jemima, but none are living today.

As long as his parents lived Isaac Wiley lived with them and eared for them. When he was nineteen he worked away from home less than two months, the only time he ever lived away from the family homestead. In January, 1872, Mr. Wiley married Iva Hamp, who was the daughter of a neighbor and born April 26, 1852, in Fulton Township. Her parents are John and Rebecca (Norris) Hamp, the father born in Germany and the mother in Lucas county. For a time they lived with his parents and then they built another house on the farm, but later they moved in with his parents again. He bought the other shares, and has always lived on the one farm.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Wiley are: Eugene, of Fulton, who married May Fraker. He has one son, Fraker Wiley. Minnie is the wife of George Percival, of Toledo, and has two children, Homer and Harold.

Until he was sixteen years old Isaac Wiley had common school advantages, but from that time on his life has been given to hard work, grubbing and otherwise developing the farmstead. For eleven years he has served the township as a school director. In politics he is a republican. Mr. Wiley is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 528 of Swanton, and has occupied all of the chairs. Together, Mr. Wiley and his wife are members of the Rebekahs, Pythians, Women's Relief Corps and Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Swanton.

__, This brief record seems to indicate that the dominating characteristic of Mr. Wiley has been faithfulness to duty, wherever duty has called him. While his present prosperity is due in some degree to an enlightened self interest, it is proper to say that he has worked for others as well as for himself, and the esteem in which he is generally held is due to the unselfishness that has guided his labors.

Oxtver Witi1aM Detwiter. Although living in Delta, Oliver William Detwiler gives personal supervision to his farm interests in Fulton county. He was born November 2, 1853, in Marion county. He is a son of Jacob and Penelope (Miller) Detwiler. The father came from Pennsylvania and the mother from Maryland. They lived on a farm in Marion county, Ohio, but in 1865 they moved to Swan Creek Township in Fulton county. He bought a tract of wild land and improved it. They both died on the old homestead in Swan Creek Township. O. W. Detwiler was the sixth child in order of birth into this pioneer family. Martha, a daughter, is mentioned in the H. B. Mann sketch. Oscar lives at West Unity, Williams county.

Oliver W. Detwiler married Mary Tefft January 17, 1877. She is a daughter of Gardner and Leah (Wollam) Tefft. After his marriage Mr. Detwiler bought a farm in Swan Creek Township. He lived there twenty vears. When his father died he sold the place and moved to the old Detwiler homestead. There were 225 acres of the land, and he bought some of the shares and now has a quarter section of it. In 1908 he rented the farm and located in Delta.

Mr. Detwiler bought a property in the business section and removed an old blacksmith shop and built a modern house. The children are: 'Ellen, wife of Fred Richards, who lives on the farm; Minnie, wife of Karl Slagel, of Swan Creek; and Alpheus living in New York. Mr. Detwiler votes with the democrats.

As this brief record shows, the Detwilers have been factors in the development of portions of Fulton county for fifty-five years. Some excellent farms represent their aggregate and productive energies, and whether living in Delta or on his farm Mr. O. W. Detwiler has ever manifested a degree of public spirit expressive of his high character and a constant willingness to promote the best interests of his community.

GEORGE ScHaMpP. Fulton county has some of the most energetic and successful farmers in this part of the state, and these men are satisfied with the results of their years of endeavor, for they have not only made an excellent living, but have built up valuable property interests and been of use to their community. Such a representative citizen is George Schamp of York Township, who is conducting his valuable farm in a modern manner and carrying on general crop raising and stock breeding. He was born in York Township on January 8, 1858, a son of Henry G. and Catherine (Batdorf) Schamp, natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively. They were married in Wayne county, Ohio, and in 1853 came to Fulton county, buying a farm in York Township. On it they built a brick residence, and lived in it, both passing away in 1899, although she survived him for a few months. Their children are as follows: James and John W., both of whom are farmers of

York Township; Helen, who died in infancy; David, who died in 1881, when twenty-five years of age; George, who was the fifth in order of birth; Mary, who is Mrs. F. M. Moyer, of Wauseon; and Lucy, who is Mrs. William Kline, of Wauseon.

On September 30, 1880, George Schamp was married to Amanda Hortense Barnes, of Clinton Township, a daughter of Leonard P. and Mary Ann (Bay) Barnes, natives of Pennsylvania, who became early settlers of Fulton county, Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Schamp lived for a year on his father's farm, and then moved on a rented farm, where he remained until 1889, in that year buying eighty acres of land in section 33 of York Township. There were log barns and an old frame house on this property, and about fifty acres of it was under cultivation, the remainder being in timber. Mr. Schamp went right to work improving his farm. All but eight acres are now under cultivation, and he has put up his present buildings, all of which are modern in character. He takes great pride in place and strives to keep everything in first-class order. His operations are carried on in the line of general farming and stockraising. _

Mr. and Mrs. Schamp became the parents of the following children: Stella D., who is keeping house for her father; Dola May, who is Mrs. Roland T. Holmes, of Lucas county, Ohio; and Roy T., who was a farmer of Swan Creek Township, passed away February 2, 1920. Mrs. Schamp died on September 24, 1916, leaving a desolated family and many warm personal friends to mourn her loss, for she was a charming lady of Christian character. Mr. Schamp belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he has served as steward for many vears. He is a republican, and for two terms was on the School Board. He maintains membership with the Wauseon Camp, Modern Woodmen of America. Having spent his entire life in York Township, his interests are centered here and he is ready and willing to give his support to measures which he believes will be beneficial to the majority.

GrorGE Jacop Mooa. A man of naturally sound judgment and shrewd perceptions, characteristics of the race of which George J. Moog, superintendent of the waterworks plant at Wauseon, is a descendant, he has so ordered his career as to be eminently eligible to representation in a work of this kind. He has risen through his strictly moral habits, his attention to the work before him and his mastering of the details of the line of effort to which he has applied himself. Thus he has earned the sincere esteem of those who are conversant with his life work and today he stands as one of the useful aie representative men of the community, honored by his citizenship.

George Jacob Moog was born in Noble Township, Defiance county, Ohio, on May 3, 1880, and is the son of Martin and Salome (Stuckey) Moog. The subject's paternal grandfather, David Moog, was a native of Alsace-Lorraine, where he was reared and lived until about thirty years of age, coming then to the United States and locating in Defiance county, Ohio, where the family is still living. He was a farmer by vocation and spent the remainder of his life on his first farm there. Martin Moog was reared to the life of 'a farmer, but subsequently turned his attention to the operation of a saw mill, and still later became connected with railroad operations.

George J. Moog attended the schools of Hicksville, Defiance county, until he was fifteen years of age. He then turned his attention to well drilling and threshing, which occupied his attention for about nine years. He also operated a saw mill for 414 years in Defiance county. Then for a year he was employed as night fireman for the Defiance Gas and Electric Company, and during this period he took a course in engineering with the American School of Correspondence at Chicago, so that at the end of the first year he was advanced to the position of chief engineer of the plant, remaining in that capacity for one year. He then went to Stryker, Wenry county, as chief engineer for the Toledo & Indiana Railroad Company, with whom he remained for three months, going from there to LaPorte, Indiana, where he was prominently connected with the LaPorte Light, Gas and Heating Company for three months. His next employment was as chief engineer of the waterworks and electric light plant at Coldwater, Michigan, where he remained for seven vears. During these years Mr. Moog had been gaining a high reputation as an expert in his special line of work, so that it was with confidence he was engaged on April 1, 1918, as superintendent of the waterworks plant at Wauseon, Fulton county, which position he is still filling. The confidence placed in his technical ability was not misplaced, as has been abundantly demonstrated by the efficient manner with which he has discharged the responsible duties devolving upon him here.

In 1901 Mr. Moog was married to Katherine Cox, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Mulby) Cox, of Evansport, Ohio, and to them seven children have been born.

Politically Mr. Moog is independent, voting for the men and measures which meet with his approval regardless of party lines. Fraternally he is a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Though a man of unpretentious demeanor, he possesses those qualities which attract men, and because of his success and his commendable qualities he is deservedly popular among those who know him.

Watter JAMES CLrarK. Except for about a year when he was in the army service Walter James Clark was connected with the schools of Fayette from 19138, the greater part of the time as superintendent, until April 1, 1920, when he resigned that position and is now representing the Henry Holt & Company, publishers of college and high school text books.

Mr. Clark was born at St. Clairsville in Belmont county, Ohio, October 26, 1888, son of E. T. and. Minerva (Gray) Clark. His parents were natives of Ohio and his father for many years was in the furniture and undertaking business at St. Clairsville, but since 1915 has lived retired at Columbus.

Walter James Clark graduated from the high school at St. Clairsville, and in the intervals of teaching and other work acquired a liberal education at Muskingum College, the Ohio State University, Western Reserve University and Columbia University at New York. He took the post of assistant principal of the Fayette High School January 1, 1918, and during the following regular school year was principal and in the fall of 1914 became superintendent of schools.

He left his post of local duty and entered the army service April 80, 1918, and was assigned to special duty as a psychologist at Camp Greenleaf, Georgia, Camp Custer, Michigan, and Camp Merritt, New Jersey. He received his honorable discharge June 1, 1919, and then returned to his duties at Fayette. Mr. Clark is organizer of the Fayette Post of the American Legion and is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, one of his ancestors having fought for American independence. He is affiliated with Fayette Lodge No. 387 of the Masons, Lyons Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Defiance Commandery No. 30, Knight Templars, the Wauseon Council and Mecca Temple of the Mystic Shrine of New York City. He belongs to the college fraternities Phi Rho Sigma and Pi Rho Phi. Politically he is a democrat, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and served as a member of the Board of School Examiners of Fulton county.

October 16, 1913, he married Elizabeth Flanagan. Mrs. Clark was born at Steubenville, Ohio, a daughter of Charles E. and Kathleen (Tanner) Flanagan. Her father, now deceased, was an expert mathematician. The widowed mother lives at Wheeling, West Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have three children: Walter James, Jr., Elizabeth Jane, and Robert Charles.

F. L. S. Darsy. It is a long time to look back to the days when Pottawattamie Indians still wandered through what is now Fulton county, Ohio, but the memory of one of Wauseon's most highly respected citizens, Dr. F. L. S. Darby, goes back that far. He was born in 1844, in Franklin Township, Fulton county, the youngest ie seven children born to Samuel B. and Sepharna (Guilford) Darby.

The Darbys came to the American colonies from Derbyshire, one of the most beautiful sections of England, settled first in Vermont and later became people of substantial worth in Alleghany county, New York. In 1835 the parents of F. L. 8. Darby drove across the country with oxen, after reaching Ohio stopping first in Huron county, but later settled on Bean Creek in Franklin Township, Fulton county, where they secured forty acres of government land. The country at that time was a practical wilderness, few settlers having ventured so far and the nearest mill was at Maumee. Deer were often seen and wild turkeys were plentiful. For several years Indians followed their trails near the little pioneer settlements, and Mr. Darby remembers one of the stories told him in childhood by his anxious mother, of an occasion when an Indian squaw, bereaved of her pappoose, tried to steal him. His father cleared his forty acres and added to them, becoming a man of consequence in Franklin Township, was county recorder as well as teacher, farmer and merchant. His death occurred in 1884, the mother surviving until 1898, passing away in her ninety-eighth year.

F. L. S. Darby had such educational advantages as the district schools of his day provided. He applied himself closely to his studies because he had become ambitious and wished to qualify as a teacher, which he subsequently did and afterward taught the Archbold, the Burlington and Franklin district schools, and in this way provided for a course in Oberlin College, after two years entering the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, having previously read medicine with his brother, Dr. A. B. Darby, at Waterloo, Indiana. He entered the above medical school in 1864 and was graduated from the same with his degree in 1866.

During his stay of two years at Waterloo, while a student of medicine, Doctor Darby had formed many pleasant acquaintances in that city, and there he entered into practice and after two years opened a drug store there, which he conducted for two years, when he came to Wauseon. Here he bought an established drug business and continued the store for five years on the corner of Depot and Fulton streets, when he retired in order to give attention to other lines of business. In 1889 he was one of the organizers of the Fulton County Building & Loan Company, of which he was made secretary in 1896, and has continued ever since. The company deals in farm lands and city property, Mr. Darby having personal as well as company interests in real estate.

Mr. Darby was married to Minnie M. Waid, who is a daughter of William and Orpha (Canfield) Waid, a pioneer family of Fulton county, and three children were born to them, namely: Orpha, who is the wife of H. F. Dinske, of Wauseon; Roscoe B., who was born in 1878; and Florence, who died in 1896, at the age of fourteen years. In political sentiment Mr. Darby has always been a republican, and he has been a member of the county election board for more than twenty years. He has been active in Wauseon affairs, working always for the best interests of the city, and has served with great usefulness on the City Council and the School paca He is one of the older members of the Knights of Pythias

Roscoe B. Darby was born on a farm in Fulton county, first attended the public schools of Wauseon, then Baldwin University, in 1897 entering the Ohio State University, and was graduated with his LL. D. degree in 1900. In June of the same year he was admitted to the bar and since then has maintained his office at Wauseon and practices in the state courts. He is a republican in politics, and served six terms as city solicitor. In 1896 he was married to Herma Winzeler, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Winzeler, and they have two children, John Franklin and Dudley Bryant. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. He is recognized as one of the able members of the Fulton county bar.

ApoLrH WILLIAM HINDERER is senior partner in the F. Hinderer & Sons Company, proprietors of the big general mercantile establishment at Burlington. Mr. Hinderer practically grew up in this store, and he and his brother Emil are among the most successful examples of enterprising country merchants, who have brought an immense volume of trade to them and have had no reason to fear the competition of large city stores.

Adolph W. Hinderer was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1880, and was two years of age when he was brought to this country by his parents, Frederick and Catherine (Zwicker) Hinderer. His father, a blacksmith and wagonsmith by trade, followed that occupation in Defiance county one year, and then settled at Lauber Hill in Fulton county. Here he established a blacksmith shop, and made his trade a medium of good service to that community for fourteen vears. From there he moved to Elmira and again resumed blacksmithing, but also opened a small grocery store, and his two sons took the latter branch of business and have developed it through subsequent years until it now supplies everything needed by the people living in a radius twenty miles around. They handle groceries, dry goods, farm implements, hardware and furnaces.

Adolph W. Hinderer attended school at Lauber Hill to the age of thirteen, and ever since that time has been working and acquiring experience as a merchant. In 1903 he married Emma Herr, a daughter of Charles Herr, and they have one adopted child, Phyllis Catherine, now two years of age. Mr. Hinderer is an independent voter in politics.

Emit C. Hinverer is junior partner of the F. Hinderer & Sons at Burlington. This firm is one of the most stimulating examples of successful merchandising in a country district found anywhere in northern Ohio. at:

Emil C. Hinderer was born at Lauber Hill in German Township, Fulton county, in 1887, a son of Frederick Ulrich and Catherine (Zwicker) Hinderer. His parents came from Germany, bringing with them their two sons. Frederick Hinderer was then thirtyfive years of age. He had learned the trade of wagon maker in his native land and followed that line of work for a number of years. For a short time his home was in Defiance county, Ohio, and from there he moved to Lauber Hill and opened a wagon shop and also did blacksmithing. After seven years he moved to Burlington, where he opened a small stock of groceries, that being the foundation and the nucleus of the present immense business conducted by his sons. He also continued work at the trade of blacksmithing, and lived and died there, highly honored and respected until 1915. His widow is still living. :

Emil C. Hinderer attended the Barnett country school a mile east of Lauber Hill, and finished his education in the schools of Burlington at the age of fifteen. In the meantime, since the age of eleven, he had been helping his father about the store, and at the age of fifteen he was given practically entire charge. During the past fifteen years or so the business has enjoyed a steady increase and growth. From the original line of groceries the stock now includes dry goods, shoes, hardware, implements and other supplies adequate for the demands of the surrounding agricultural district. The firm are also agents for the Pipeless Furnace, and they sold the first furnaces of that type in Fulton county, while Emil Hinderer installed the first Pipeless Furnace at Toledo. The firm are also agents for the International Tractor.

In May, 1919, Mr. Hinderer married Elsie Shoch, daughter of Henry Shoch, of Bryan, Ohio. Politically independent, while not a politician he is always interested in every community project. He and his brother Adolph own together a 130-acre farm in Franklin Township of Fulton county. This farm is the home of some good livestock, including a dairy of Holstein cattle.

A successful farmer representative of the family, who has held many offices of trust and responsibility in Pike Township, is John Milton Sindel. He was born in Pike Township January 4, 1846, son of John and Harriet Newell (Dixon) Sindel. His father was born in New York state and his mother in New Jersey, and they were married in the latter state. On Sentember 28, 1834, they arrived in Fulton county and established a home one mile éast of Winnemeg in Pike Township. They took possession of a tract of land that had been entered by her father, Lott Dixon, direct from the government. From that time John Sindel never left his home in Pike Township, but by the incidents and fortunes of history he lived in Lenawee county, Michigan, Lucas county, Ohio, and Fulton county. The Sindel family came west by way of the Hudson River to Albany, Erie Canal to Buffalo, by lake boat to Toledo, and thence overland to what is now Pike Township. John Sindel cleared and improved 160 acres of timbered land. He died in 1877, having been born in 1810. His wife, who was born in 1814, was just twenty years of age when she came to Fulton county, and she died May 24, 1904, seventy years later. They had a large family of children: Edward C., Dixon, Theodore J., William Henry, Leonard, William Holland, John Milton, George, Elizabeth and James, twins, Helen Y.., James Eugene and Mary Catherine. Only three are now living, John Milton, Helen Y., and James Eugene, the latter in California.

John Milton Sindel has some early memories of Pike Township when the country was still only a few years removed from a virgin wilderness. He attended a log cabin school, and early learned the arts and discipline of farm life as practiced sixty or seventy years ago. On March 1, 1868, he married Elizabeth Elliott, who was born in Medina county, Ohio, a daughter of Simon and Susan (Scott) Elliott.

Township, later rented a farm for two years at Marseilles, Illinois, and then spent another four years on the Elliott farm in Pike Township. April 6, 1874, Mr. Sindel bought an eighty acre brush farm in Pike Township, in section 3, clearing and improving the place. In March, 1905, he bought a partly improved place in the same section, and has cleared up all of this land, built a modern home, and for the past three years has hired all the farm labor. His son' lives on his other farm. _ Mr. and Mrs. Sindel have two children, M. Leonard and Bernice. Leonard, who lives on his father's farm in Pike Township, married Blanche Shaffer. They have five children: Elsie, wife of Paul Clough, who was a soldier in the National Army; Marian, who is Mrs. Clinton Miller, of Delta; Richard, Robert and Irene. The daughter Bernice is the wife of Erwin Tappin, of Pike Township, and has two children, John and Mary.

Mr. Sindel is a member of the Christian Church and has been an elder since 1912. His official record comprises two terms as township trustee, two years as assessor, one term ag justice of the peace, and a number of years of service as school director, constable and road supervisor. He has held all the offices in the Etna Grange and is a republican in politics.

Water Eart Disprow. While most midwest families are able to trace their lineage through two, three and sometimes four generations, it is vouchsafed to Walter Earl Disbrow, a clerk in the Wauseon postoffice, to look backward through six generations to the Revolutionary period in American history to Henry Disbrow who carried the family name in that war. He also looks through three generations before that time, during the Colonial period; is in the tenth generation from the first Disbrow of whom he has any knowledge.

"The Colonial record shows that Henry was a son of Caleb Disbrow, whose wife was Sarah Davis, and he was one of nine children born to them. Caleb was a son of Thomas Disbrow, whose wife was Abagail Gooding, and he was one of seven children born to them. Thomas was in turn a son of another Thomas Disbrow, whose will was probated February 7, 1706 - the earliest Disbrow of which there is any record, and the second Thomas Disbrow was his only child. The name of the wife was Mercy Jones, and thus ends the Colonial history of the Disbrow family.

Disbrow is eligible to membership in the patriotic society of the Sons of the nome e Revolution, was born April 19, 1757, and he had not yet reached his majority when the colonists declared their independence from England. The records indicate that he lived in Connecticut. He married Hannah Merriam, April 1, 1819, at Harperfield, Delaware county New York, and May 15, 1838, he died at Medina, Ohio. His children were: James, Smith, Rachel, Caleb and Rebecca. The Fulton county Disbrows are descended from the oldest son, James. He married Polly Knapp and Orville Disbrow was one of five children born to them. :

Orville and Fanny (Buck) Disbrow passed their early married life in Lorain county. Their life story began in Fulton county in 1859, when they located in Chesterfield. He died in 1882, aged sixty-five years, while his wife attained to more than ninety years. Their children were: David J., Caleb E., Francis, Betsey and Adeline. David J. Disbrow married Angeline Briggs August 6, 1865, and through this alliance Walter E. Disbrow is in the fourth generation from Col. Alanson Briggs, who was in command of a regiment of "Green Mountain Boys" in the second war with England. He treasures the sword carried by this ancestor in 1812, and few men anywhere have more direct military ancestry, beginning with the first war with England - the American Revolution.

The name Disbrow has been in America so long that "Bluebellied Yankee," is a term applied to the pioneers. The name Briggs is also in the earliest annals of the community. In 1834 Colonel Briggs visited northwestern Ohio and the Michigan strip, and he invested in a large tract of unbroken wild land, and in 1835 he removed his family from Cleveland to what is now known as Chesterfield. He was a merchant, and brought a stock of goods to the Indian Trading post he established, and as he came to stay he brought livestock with him, coming through the Black Swamp to this wilderness country. Colonel Briggs was the kind of settler to build up any frontier community.

While Colonel Briggs thought he was the first white settler in that particular "Neck o' the woods," imagine his surprise when one day Chief Winameg came into the Trading Post with other Indians and told him of Chesterfield Clemmons, a "white man with a wigwam," who had been there "many moons." While the late Col. D. W. H. Howard was an Indian trader who came through the territory sometimes, Colonel Briggs was unquestionably the first merchant in Fulton county. While he has posterity, the name is not perpetuated, as he had no son to reach manhood.

Colonel Briggs married Olive Sweet June 2, 1829, and one son, Roderick A., was born, but died sixteen days later. The wife died September 2, 1830, and on December 8, 1839, the colonel married Lucinda Rogers. They had four daughters: Betsey, Maria, Eliza and Angeline. Only two, Eliza and Angeline, lived to womanhood. It was the marriage of David J. Disbrow and Angeline Briggs that united these two pioneer Fulton county families. Their children are: Charles Eugene and Eva Emma. Through the son comes Walter E. Disbrow, of this sketch. The daughter, Eva Emma, is the wife of George W. Corlett, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and they have one son, Robert.

C. E. Disbrow, of Chesterfield, known to all as Gene, was born January 1, 1869, and on August 14, 1889, he married Reta Todd. She is a daughter of Henry M. and Alwilda (Newcomb) Todd. She had two brothers, Francis C. and Royal T. Todd, and a step-sister, Alta Terpenning Retan, and two half brothers, Merritt and Homer Stewart, and a half sister, Mamie Stewart. The brother Francis C., and the two sisters are gone the way of the world. Mrs. Disbrow was reared by her great-grandmother, Susannah K. McLaughlin, near Delta, of whom she speaks in highest terms of praise as an excellent pioneer woman. Mrs. McLaughlin was a widow for many years.

The Disbrow children of today are: Walter Earl and Montral Mack. Three children are deceased: Eugene, born May 19, 1890, died the same day; Sybil, born December 13, 1896, died three days later. Fern Eva, whose untimely death occurred February 10, 1920, was married November 29, 1916, to Fred E. King, of Jasper, Michigan. She was in the bloom of a beautiful young womanhood, and is survived by her husband and one daughter, Evlyn Fern. Montral Mack Disbrow lives with his parents on the hilltop overfee Oak Shade, and he is a pupil in the Chesterfield Centralized

Walter E. Disbrow graduated from the Wauseon High School and from the International Business College at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has been keeper of records and seal for the Knights of Pythias Lodge for five vears. He is the record keeper of the Order of the Maccabees, and he belongs to the following Masonic orders: Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council and Knights Templar. He is financial secretary of Wauseon Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a member of the firm Campbell & Disbrow, Insurance.

On July 19, 1916, Walter E. Disbrow married Rosella R. Crew, and their daughter is Geraldine Eleanor. The Crews and Disbrows live as one family. Mrs. Disbrow is the only daughter of Alva and Mary (Bond) Crew. The mother died and Sadie DeWitt came into the family circle, the daughter knowing nothing of another mother. Mary Bond was a daughter of Reuben and Sarah (Bollander) Bond, who were numbered among the pioneers of Fulton county. Alva Crew is a son of Micajah Crew, who was a native of Columbiana county. When he came to Fulton county he married Ellen Jane Lillich, thus connecting the Crew-Lillich families, who meet in annual reunions.

While the early Fulton county Disbrow family history began in Chesterfield, there are now Disbrow relatives in many different communities. "Gene" Disbrow was agent of the Dayton, Toledo & Ironton Railway at Oak Shade for many years, and it was through his efforts that the postoffice and general store were located there. Mr. Disbrow was at once railway agent, postmaster and merchant in the Oak Shade community. The family homestead today is a farmhouse overlooking the village, and Mr. Disbrow devotes his attention to agriculture. and its kindred industry, livestock. The family furnished several Revolutionary soldiers, the head of the house of Briggs was a colonel in the second war with England, and the family also furnished its quota of Civil war soldiers. If there were any first families in Ohio, then the name Disbrow would be among them.

Epwin James BowrrmMan. Among the good influences which have brought about the improvement of farming conditions may be mentioned the opening up at different times of vast areas of new land; the inventive genius of those who created labor-saving ma- chinery; the development of transportation by land and water and the consequent drawing together of the farm and markets; the establishment of government experimental stations and other agencies for the promulgation of agricultural information; co-operation among the farmers, and the ready adoption of such important aids as irrigation, dry farming, selective plant and animal breeding, specialization in crops, fertilizers and cold storage, all of these have played an important part in the transition from crude beginnings to methods and appliances of the present day. Among the farmers of Fulton county who is living up to the conception of the modern agriculturist and doing his part to bring about further improvement of existing conditions in this region is Edwin James Bowerman of York Township. '

Edwin James Bowerman was born on the farm he now occupies in section 36, York Township, December 25, 1866, and he has spent his life here. He is a son of Edwin R. and Maria J. (Smith) Bowerman, he born on June 1, 1835, in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and she born in Seneca county, Ohio. The grandparents were James and Phoebe (Tollman) Bowerman, of New York state, and 'Henry and Martha (Bergstresser) Smith. The great-grandfather Tollman was a soldier in the American Revolution. It was while the paternal grandparents were on their way from New York to Ohio that Edwin R. Bowerman was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, they being attracted to Ohio by the promise of work on the Maumee Canal, which James Bowerman helped to construct, and he was also a captain of one of the canalboats. The family settled on the Maumee River, but he later bought a farm in what is now York Township, Fulton county, owning at one time 480 acres of timber and prairie land, and being at the time of his death in 1854 a man of considerable means. After their marriage his son, Edwin R. Bowerman, and his wife settled on the old farm and became the owners of 320 acres of land. For some years he was engaged in further improving it, but spent his last days at Delta, Ohio, where he died in 1907, his widow surviving him until 1916. Their children were as follows: Eva, who is the widow of Charles Gross, of Wauseon; Martha, who is the widow of Adam D. Mann, of Wauseon; and Edwin James, who was the youngest.

After the death of his father Edwin James Bowerman secured 120 acres of his father's farm, which includes the homestead, and on it he is carrying on general farming and dairying, his herd numbering from six to ten cows of the Holstein strain. In his farming he has been successful and takes a pride in keeping everything in first class order.

April 22, 1888, Mr. Bowerman united in marriage with Orpha Cameron, a native of Fulton county, Ohio, and a daughter of Alexander and Jane (King) Cameron. She is a member of that distinguished pioneer family of King, whose story is briefly told on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Bowerman became the parents of the following children: Frank, a farmer in York Township; Clarence; Louise, Mrs. Marvin Greisinger, of York Township; and Florence, at home. Politically Mr. Bowerman is a democrat.

Kine Faminy. Hardly any of the pioneers of Fulton county came earlier and none were people of more substantial character than the King family, who settled in the woods near where the Village of Delta now stands in the year 1834. Many years ago the history of this family was compiled by one of its members and a portion of the account is given here as an historic record that properly belongs in any history of Fulton county. -

The Kings went to Ireland in the seventeenth century as part of the English and Scotch Protestant occupation of the Ulster plantations. For many generations they lived in the County of Londonderry. About the close of the eighteenth century some of the original land was owned by William King. William King married Elizabeth Torrence, whose ancestry was Scotch, while William King's family came from England. Their children, three sons and four daughters, were born on the farm near Newton-Lamavady. These children were named James, John, Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Catherine and William. The sons James and William were given a liberal education, while John received the farm. John found the homestead too small for his family, and in 1824 moved to a large farm he rented, and lived there until 1833. At that time the rented farm was disposed of and the homestead sold. His brothers James and William also came to America at the same time. While the other members of the family remained in New York, William had come west to Ohio. He met the other members of the family at Cleveland in the spring of 1834, and they proceeded by boat to Manhattan at the mouth of the Maumee, where two lumber wagons were obtained to take the party and their baggage to Providence at the head of the Rapids, intending to go on to Fort Defiance, where William had discovered a place he thought would be suitable for settlement. While waiting at Providence John King examined a tract of land in the "six mile woods." He was so well pleased with the land and the location that he determined to go no further and bought a section of Government land densely covered with timber. That formed the original homestead on which the family settled in June, 1834.

The country was all new with only a few families who had settled there that spring. The following week after the family came into the woods a tornado swept through where they had settled and laid the timber flat. It took a whole week to cut their way out to the oak openings. The family were mercifully preserved, a few trees having been cut where the shanty was erected, which saved them.

Three of the daughters of the family, Elizabeth, Mary and Catherine, had married in Ireland. The other two families remained behind, but they all came out afterward and settled near the homestead in Fulton county. The parents lived after settling in the woods to a ripe old age and were buried in the family burying ground on the farm. James and William remained on the farm one year after they settled. They then went south and lived in Louisiana.

The present sketch is chiefly concerned with John King, who was born in County Londonderry June 20, 1796. He had a peculiar talent for farming, and, as noted above, soon found the homestead too small and carried on extensive operations with rented land. He was also a road contractor in Ireland. The first year he spent in the woods of Ohio he cultivated little more than a garden, but after that the area of cultivation was steadily extended.

In 1840 John King married Miss Barbara Shoemaker, of Muncy, Pennsylvania. She died October-14, 1846, the mother of two sons. In 1847 John King married Miss Elizabeth Shoemaker, a sister of his first wife. By this marriage there were five children: John, born April 2, 1848; Mary Jane, born February 16, 1850; Elizabeth, born December 4, 1851; Martha A., born July 9, 1853; and Thomas

W., born March 4, 1855. The only one of these children to remain on the old Fulton county homestead was Thomas W. King, who married Elizabeth Goodwin.

During the first thirteen years in the woods the Kings had no Presbyterian preacher visit them. The Sabbaths were spent in reading the Bible and other religious books. John got up a subscription to build a Presbyterian Church at Delta and a petition to the Presbytery of Findlay to send them a missionary. A missionary was appointed in 1847 and a congregation was soon formed at Delta. Tabi King had the first Presbyterian Church erected there and was ordained one of the elders of the church. He held that office continuously until his death on September 27, 1865.

Mary Jane King, the oldest daughter of John King, the pioneer, was married January 1, 1867, to Alexander Cameron, born October 17, 1845. Alexander Cameron spent most of his life in Fulton county, and served three years as a Union soldier in the One Hundredth Ohio Infantry: He and his wife had eight children: James K., born October 9, 1867; Orpha A., born November 21, 1869, now the wife of Mr. E. J. Bowerman, of York Township, Fulton county; Arthur D., born August 31, 1872; Nelly M., born November 13, 1874; Charles L., born September 23, 1877; Frank S., born May 25, 1880; lay T., born July 24, 1882; and William F., born November 3,

Witr1am Exswortu Nurt. An old and honored resident of Fulton county, owner of a valuable and well improved farm in Swan Creek Township, located on rural toute No. 25 from Delta, William Elsworth Nutt has received many appreciative tokens of community esteem, and for twenty-seven years altogether has had some participation in the official affairs of his county or township.

Mr. Nutt was born in York Township October 27, 1862, son of John and Sophrona Adeline (Kelley) Nutt. His father was born near Kingbolton, Huntingshire, England, and married for his first wife Susanna Hankins on May 14, 1837. She died in England, and two of her children came with the father to Fulton county, Ohio. On November 24, 1859, John Nutt married Sophrona Adeline Kelley, who was born at Norwalk, Ohio, and moved to York Township about 1850. John Nutt by his first marriage had the following children: Rebecca, who married Gilbert Carver and both are now deceased ; John, who enlisted as a Union soldier and was killed in battle in 1864; and William, who died in England September 18, 1839. By his second marriage John Nutt has two living children, William E. and Charles Emory, the latter a resident of Monroe, Michigan.

William Elsworth Nutt while a boy on his father's farm attended the district schools and was not yet twenty-one years of age when on December 7, 1882, he married Miss Alice Fouty. Mrs. Nutt was born in York Township March 4, 1865, a daughter of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Visher) Fouty. Her father was born in Columbiana county and her mother at Sylvania, Ohio.

Mr. and Mrs. Nutt lived for a time with his parents, and then took forty acres of the home farm, all woodland, put up a small house, cleared away the timber, and did nearly all the work of improvement. In the course of years that forty acres has become a very productive and valuable tract. The buildings now there are the second set erected by Mr. Nutt. Subsequently he added another forty acres, partly cleared that, and later sold twenty acres, so that his present farm contains sixty acres, practically all in cultivation. He now has three sets of buildings. He has made a judicious combination of dairying and general farming.

His two children are Lulu and Clement. Lulu is the wife of Rolland Gawdern of Swan Creek Township, and they have one child, Leta, born March 5, 1916. Clement married Pansy Clace.

The family are member of Shiloh Union Church and Mr. Nutt served as the first elder and trustee. For eight years he occupied the office of justice of the peace, and -has always been a school director and road supervisor, and his fellow citizens have always regarded him as completely worthy of their confidence and trust. Politically he is identified with the republican party.

GerorcE W. BERKEBILE. One of the best improved farms in York Township is that known as the Grove Fruit Farm, which has been brought to its present fine state through the efforts of the owner, George W. Berkebile, one of the representative farmers and fruitgrowers of Fulton county. He was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, on April 12, 1857, a son of Jonathan and Catherine. (Stutzman) Berkebile, natives of the same county as their son.

In 1870 the family moved from Pennsylvania to Fulton county, Ohio, where Jonathan Berkebile bought 150 acres in section 21, York Township, and here he was engaged in farming until his death which occurred in 1901. His widow survived him until 1903. Their children were as follows: Abram, who died in November, 1914, aged sixty-two years; George W., who was the second in order of birth; Nathaniel, who died at the age of four years; Samuel, who lives in York Township; Sarah, who died at the age of five years; Jacob, who lives at Delta, Ohio; Amanda, who is Mrs. William Dailey of Delta, Ohio.

George W. Berkebile grew up under the parental roof and attended the district schools. He continued to live on his father's farm until in March, 1894, when he moved to an eighty-acre tract in section 22, York Township, which was cleared but not improved. Since then Mr. Berkebile has erected the necessary buildings, making them modern in every respect. There are electric lights in the house and other buildings, water is pumped from a reservoir in the basement to all of the buildings where it is needed, and the house is provided with a tiled bathroom and hot and cold water. In fact it would be difficult to find any city residence more comfortable than that of Mr. Berkebile. Owing to the fact that Mr. Berkebile is a practical carpenter and was engaged in contracting and building for a number of years in part accounts for the superior plans and execution of these buildings. He also owns sixty acres of land in Pike Township, and is a man of ample means. The distinguishing feature of his farm is its magnificent fruit, he having set out an apple orchard of 100 trees, a peach orchard of 140 trees, and a plum orchard of 100 trees, and also has about fifty cherry trees, some pear trees, and all kinds of small fruit and berries. Of late years he has specialized in fruit growing, and his produce is recognized as being of superior ality. be In 1878 Mr. Berkebile was united in marriage with Sarah Harmon, born in Pike Township on September 11, 1858, a daughter of David and Barbara (Steele) Harmon, natives of Tuscarawas and Ashland counties, Ohio, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Berkebile became the parents of the following children: Franklin, who died at

Florence, who is Mrs. Ira Seymour, of California; Nora, who was Mrs. Carl Savage, died in 1909, aged twenty-three years; Lawrence, who lives at Toledo, Ohio; Floyd, who died at the age of 244 years; Roy, who is a resident of Toledo, Ohio; and Orpha and Laverne, who are both at home. In politics Mr. Berkebile is a republican. Although he has never cared for public preferment, Mr. Berkebile, like all intelligent men, recognizes the necessity for careful supervision of local affairs and a broad-minded Lee of genuine improvements, and can be depended upon to do his duty by his neighborhood whenever the occasion arises.

CuarLeEs L. Sureves. One of the men who is prominently identified with the best agricultural interests of Fulton county is Charles L. Shreves of York Township, a practical farmer and good business man, whose fine rural property shows the results of his enterprise and industry. He was born in Huron county, Ohio, May 17, 1863, a son of Charles R. and Thankful (Stone) Shreves, natives of New Jersey and Connecticut, respectively. The paternal grandparents, William and Elizabeth (Reeves) Shreves, were natives of New Jersey, and they and the maternal grandfather, Oramil Stone, were early settlers in Mahoning county, Ohio, in which the parents of Charles L. Shreves met and were married.

Soon after their marriage the parents moved to Huron county, Ohio, where they lived until 1864 and then went to Hancock county, Ohio. In 1867 they settled in York Township, Fulton county, first renting land, and then in 1890 buying a small tract on which he died in 1906, she having passed away in 1904. Their children were as follows: Oramil, who began preaching at the age of twenty-one years and was sent as a missionary from the Toledo district to India, where he spent six years and while there was married to the widow of Melville Birdsel, they had two children born in India, and he is now deceased; William L., who died in 1908; Alice, who is Mrs. Elmer W. Struble, of York Township; Clarinda, who is Mrs. William Frederick, of Liberty Center, Henry county, Ohio; Maria, who is Mrs. William Bartlett, of York Township; Charles I.., whose name heads this review; and Lodema, who is Mrs. Henry Hall, of Defiance, Ohio.

On January 1, 1888, Charles L. Shreves was united in marriage with Mina E. Wise, born in York Township, a daughter of John S. and Angeline (Struble) Wise, natives of Pennsylvania and Fulton county, Ohio, respectively. For four years following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shreves lived with Mr. Wise, and then bought seventyeight acres of land which was in those days considered as improved, but since he has owned it he has spent considerable money upon it, anong other things tiling the whole farm. This property is in section 5 and he now owns forty acres additional in section 8, operating Sh and doing general farming and dairying with very gratifying results.

Mr. and Mrs. Shreves became the parents of the following children: Blanche, who is Mrs. O. W. Spiess, of York Township; Opal, who is Mrs. J. R. Lemon, of York Township; and Clive, who is at home. Mr. Shreves is a member of the Taylor Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was steward for many years and has been a trustee for thirty years. A republican, he has been elected on his party ticket as a school director a number of times. Believing in the value of the Grange to farmers, Mr. Shreves has been very active in it and is now master of the local organization, having been elected to that office three successive times. Enterprising and practical, Mr. Shreves has forged steadily ahead and his present standing has been honorably earned through his industry and foresight.

JoHN CLARENCE GerEsEy. Not only does John Clarence Geesey operate his father's valuable farm of 100 acres in German Township, but his own 100 acres additional, and he is recognized as one of the most progressive agriculturists in his neighborhood. He was born on his father's homestead in German Township on May 8, 1867, a son of William H. and Eliza Jane (Wolverton) Geesey. The grandfather, a native of Germany, came to the United States in middle age and bought 113 acres of land in German Township, Fulton county, being one of the pioneers of this region. He and his wife had twelve children born to them, of whom William H. Geesey was the third in order of birth. When a young man twenty-one years of age he took a trip to the western coast in search of gold, during the excitement occasioned by the discovery of gold in California. He was one of the first to leave Fulton county for California, remaining there six years, and returning to the States during the year of 1864. The following year he purchased the farm of 100 acres located in German Township of Fulton county, Ohio. July 15, 1866, he was united in marriage to Eliza Jane Wolverton and resided on this farm until the year 1896, when they retired and moved to West Unity, Ohio, leaving his farm under the management of his son John Clarence Geesey, who still operates it.

John Clarence Geesey attended the Edinburg School and the West Unity High School, acquiring an excellent public school education. When he reached his majority he moved on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-seven years he was married to Minnie Irene Misel, a graduate of West Unity High School, and a daughter of John and Sarah (Fisher) Misel, of West Unity, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Geesey have the following children: Mildred, who is Mrs. Frederick Salter, and has one child, John William, born on October 2, 1919; Donald D., who is twenty-one years old; Ralph M., who is nineteen years old; Frieda Gertrude, who is seventeen years old; Charles Albert, who is fifteen years old; and Helen Marie, twelve years old.

With the exception of four years spent at West Unity when he operated a bakery, Mr. Geesey has been on this farm and is engaged in general farming. In national matters it is his practice to vote the republican ticket, but in local matters he prefers to exercise his judg- - ment and support the man he deems best fitted for the office in question. He belongs to West Unity Lodge No. 637, Knights of Pythias, and to Brady Grange No. 2164. At present he is trustee of German Township, and he is the only republican who ever acted as presiding judge of election in this township. Understanding farming as he does, Mr. Geesey has been enabled to make his work and his land pay him a fair profit, and he is proud of the fact that he, his father and his grandfather have all been producers of foodstuffs from land which belonged to them.

Grorce J. Hatnaver, manager of the Northwestern Ohio Telephone Company at Wauseon, is an expert in many branches of the electrical business, and for many years was a valued worker with the telephone company at Wauseon, where he learned his trade and profession.