Sandusky Township (part 18 of 57)

John Rehberg emigrated from Germany to the United States in June, 1850, and made his way to the shoi-es of Lake Michigan, establishing himself in what is now South Chicago. Illinois. He was a fisherman in Germany for thirty-six years, but after locating in Illinois followed farming. He then came to Sandusky, Ohio, and for a time lived on Cedar Point. In the meantime his son, William Rehberg, had acquired property interests which included part ownership of Middle Bass Island, and among his other enterprises had determined to start a fishery, and it was in order to give' assistance in this undertaking that John Rehberg, about 1859, came also to this island which, at that time was covered with big timber. William Rehberg, Joseph Miller, George Calwell and Andrew Wehrle were the settlers of the island.

About 1863 John Rehberg bought a tract of thirty-six acres from Joseph Miller, his sonin-law, who then owned the western part of the island. He cleared off the timber on a small hill or mound near the shore, selecting the location as a desirable one on which to erect his cabin. In the fall of the year, while digging a pit on his land in which to store his crop of potatoes for the winter, his workmen unearthed human bones and when the mound was thnrnughly excavated there were some forty skeletons exposed in an excellent state of preservation and indications were that probably it had been the Indian burial spot of at least two hundred bodies. Mr. Rehberg decided to select another site for his cabin and another spot, farther from the lake, was cleared and there it was erected, and this homestead has cnntinued in the family ever since, now Ix'iiig the nrnperty of Henry Rehberg, whose modern residence stands on the spot formerly occupied by the pioneer cabin.

During tlie fishing season, John Rehberg was fully occupied in that industry every year, but at other times he cleared his land, cut the timber into cord wood, which he sold to the lake boats, and, as his land was prepared, put in the usual crops, including grain.

Before the land had been cleared, however, another industry thrived. The timber was mainly hickory and walnut, with sycamore in the swamps. William Rehberg, with characteristic business foresight, had joined with the other island owners in the project of importing pigs from the mainland, turning them into the timber to fatten on the nuts. In the fall the hunting of the pigs provided sport and after the shooting the carcasses would be dressed and the meat of fine flavor would be bought by the boats. Another source of income to the early pioneers was the trade in wild pigeons and ducks which were so numerous that it was said that the former in their flights darkened the sun like clouds, and that it was a common experience for a man to stand in one spot and shoot twenty or thirty ducks at a time.

When the first road was laid out across the island, largely through the enterprise of the Rehbergs, it wound through the woods and at times was almost impassable, but as soon as the timber was cleared off and a little draining was done, this land became dry and was found rich in the chemical properties needful for crop raising of any kind. When John Rehberg first came here there were no horses and but four yoke of oxen in the island. As the land was cleared and the raising of grain was begtm the four men purchased a threshing machine and it was generally used over the island. It was in the '60s that the majority of the settlers began to actively engage in the growing of grapes and in this industry John Rehberg was particularly successful and devoted his attention to it as long as he lived afterward. He survived to be eighty-five years of age. In many ways he was a remarkable man.

Henry Rehberg was only a boy when the family came to Middle Bass Island. He had but meager educational opportunities before this and at that time there were no schools on the island. The nearest school was at Sandusky and for a time his father did not possess the means to pay the youth's board in the city on the main land, but entered him as a pupil just as soon as he was able to do so. It was no hardship for Henry when, several years later his father decided to keep the youth at home, -for he was at an age when study was more of a task than a pleasure, and he gladly took up farm work at home and helped his fatlier through the fishing season very contentedly. When his father died he took over the management of his interests.

some of which, like the vineyard, he continued, but many years ago gave up the fishing enterprise. Mr. Rehberg turned over the management of the place in 1915 to his sonin-law, John Messenburg, being now practically retired, although he retains the individual operation of his oil rights. In 1891 he leased the oil rights on his place and an oil well was sunk that produced a substantial flow. Later the company was dissolved and the rights reverted to ;\Ir. Rehberg.

Henry Rehberg was married to Miss Minnie Kaphagstt, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, and died in 1915, on Middle Bass Island. Mr. Rehberg has one daughter, Clara, who is the wife of John Messenburg, of Perkins Township, Erie County, and they have two children, Nellie and John.

In politics ^Ir. Rehberg has always been a democrat and has served with the greatest efficiency in many offices. He has been trustee and supervisor and for eight years was deputy sheriff and for twenty-five years has been a member of the school board. He is interested in everything that promises to be beneficial to his fellow citizens and is particularly concerned in everything pertaining to the public schools. It was Mr. Rehberg who started the agitation for a special school district on Middle IBass and it was through his efforts that others were interested and the result was that the district was secured. This demonstration of public spirit showed how practical men like Mr. Rehberg may be and howsound are their opinions and unselfish their demands for recognition. Mr. Rehberg belongs to both branches of Odd Fellowship, being a member of Commodore Perry Lodge at Put-in-Bay, and of the Encampment at Port Clinton."

B. E. Cook. Since pioneer times New Knoxville has had merchants and active business men of the Cook family. Mr. B. E. Cook is one of the younger generation, and for the past thirteen years has conducted one of the main merchandise establishments of the town. He was born at New Knoxville March 30, 1869, a son of Henrj' and Elizabeth (Venneman) Cook. His grandfather Henry Cook was born in Germany, where the name was spelled Kuck. On emigrating to America he located in the vicinity of New Bremen, Ohio, and later moved to New Knoxville, Ohio, where he bought land from the Government. By the exercise of those thrifty qualities which were inherent in his German ancestry and in his own character he became very successful lor his day and generation. He died near New Knoxville. Besides farming he was also one of the early manufacturers of sorghum. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Cook was Henry VeniiviiKiu. who was also a native of Germany and was (inr of the first merchants at New Kno.wilk'. He opened a stock of goods in one room of his home, gradually expanded, built a store, and at the time of his death had a double store room completely stocked with merchandise for the local demand.

Henry Cook, father of B. E. Cook, was born at New Bremen, Ohio, August 6, 1835, and has now passed the age of fourscore, and is still enjoying life. As a youth he learned the trade of carpenter and for a time was employed in building the locks on the Erie (,'anal. AftPT'wai'ds lie farmed, and finally engaged in tln' iiii'ivautilc husiin'ss at New Knoxville and was aftivr in its management until 1902 when he sold out to his son B. E. Cook. He and his family have been German Reformed people, and politically he is a republican. For thirty years Henry Cook served as postmaster of New Knoxville. His wife, who was born in Ladbergen, Germany, in 1836, died July 3, 1916, at the age of eighty. They were married in Auglaize County. Of six children only two are now living, including B. E. Cook and his sister Elizabeth, wife of L. C. Mahn, an engineer at New Knoxville.

Mr. B. E. Cook grew up in New Knoxville and New Bremen, attended the public schools and the high school of the latter town, and also had two terms of instruction in the Northern Ohio Universit.y at Ada. His first experience was as a farm laborer but in 1902 he bought out his father and began merchandising at New Knoxville. He has a very large store, and keeps his stock up to the best standards, and has shown remarkable ability in meeting the demands of the trade and in carrying on a successful business.

In 1892 Mr. Cook married Anna Eversman. She was born in Van Buren Township of Shelby County, Ohio. They have no children. Both are active members of the German Reformed Church, in which he is a trustee. He has served as treasurer of New Knoxville and treasurer of the school district, and in politics is a republican.

in Napoleon Town.ship of Henry County, wdiose proprietor is Peter J. Clark. This farm, comprising 200 acres of fine black loam soil on clay subsoil, is situated on section tJiirtythree of that township. In every detail it reflects the enterprising character of its owner, and is handled in such a way as to produce the highest revenues and at the same time maintain the fertility and increasing value of everj^ acre. Mr. Clark and family occupy a substantial nine-room house, only recently ^ built, and there is a large stock and feed barn 32 by 100 feet, with shed room 20 by 100 feet. 'Everything is provided with the best of equipment for the raising and handling of cattle, hogs and horses. All the farm buildings are painted a buff color.

Mr. Clark has more than a local reputation as a successful raiser of cattle. He ships about three carloads of cattle every year and feeds over 100 head of hogs, and has also raised some for sale. He specializes in Shorthorn cattle.

This successful Northwest Ohio farmer was born in Perry County, Ohio, April 20, 1882, and is still a very young man for all his success. He was reared and educated in Monroe Township of Henry County, having come to that locality at the age of twelve years with his paniits ill lsi)4. He is a son of William D. and Ala.ujiii.' ( (.'ai'l) Clark, both of whom were natives of IVrry County, Ohio, where they were reared and married. They started there in the country, William D. Clark being a farmer and coal miner. All their children, four sons and four daughters, were born in Perry County not far from New Lexington. On coming to Henry County William D. Clark bought 160 acres of good land in Monroe Township, and has since lived there en.joying the comforts and profits of his good home and extensive equipment. Both parents are still living.

In August, 1905. Peter J. Clark married a Henry County girl, ^Mi.ss Catherine Laughlin. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, February 13, 1882, and a year later came to Napoleon Township of Henry County with her parents. and grew up on the farm she and her hnsliand now own. Her parents were Joseph and Helen (Kenney) Laughlin. Her father was a native of Ireland and when a young cliild came to this country with his parents, and afterwards took up contracting in Napoleon, where he married his wife. From here he moved to Cincinnati, but subsequently returned to Henry County and located on a farm in Napoleon

Township. Later he resumed contracting in the West, where he died. His widow died on the old farm sixteen years ago at the age of tifty-seven. The Laughlin family were all members of the Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Clark and children are communicants of St. Augustine's Church in Napoleon. IMr. Clark is a democrat in politics. They have four children: K. Augeline, aged eight; M. Geraldine, aged six; Robert William, aged three, and John J., born November 7, 1916.

Lyman S. Gunn represents one of the earliest pioneer families of Northwest Ohio. His grandfather established his home in Henry County, in the wilderness along the Maumee River, in the early days of the last century. Few family groups have contributed more of substantial benefit to a community. As a class they have been farmers. The pioneers lived in the woods, supplied their tables with meat from the wild game that abounded, and were on friendly terms of relationship with the Indians who still claimed this section of Ohio as their hunting ground. What the early generation won from the dominion of the wilderness, subsequent members of the family have improved and continued to enlarge.

One of these is Mr. Lyman S. Gunn, who is proprietor of the Hillside Farm in Napoleon Township not far from Oklahoma postoifice. He has resided there continuously since 1903, but the farm was his birthplace, and scene of his early adventures and experiences as a boy and youth. He owns forty acres as his share of the old Edward M. Gunn estate, and has an additional twelve acres not far away.

The old family stock established their homes more than a century ago under the leadership of Charles Gunn near Damascus. Charles Gunn was a typical pioneer, resourceful, courageous and daring, willing to share responsibilities and hardships, and by his justness and probity was never on anything but good terms with his Indian neighbors. In fact his children and those of the Indians played together when this part of Ohio was a wilderness and the woods were filled with game and the rivers with fish. Charles Gunn and his wife died more than eighty years ago within two or three weeks of each other. At that time their son, Edward M. Gunn, father of Lyman, was eleven years of age. Other children of Charles Gunn were Louisa, Minerva, Elliot, and Lucian. all of whom married and had families. They all became farmers except Lucian, who was a lake and elevator engineer.

Edward M. Gunn took as his .share of the old estate eighty acres, obtaining that from his uncle, Elijah, and after improving this eighty he increased his possessions to 200 acres, and lived in that community until his death in April, 1914. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Stone, died about four years before him. Further reference to this interesting family will be found on other pages of this publication.

Lyman S. Gunn is the oldest of a large family, the other survivors being his brother Fred and his sister Mollie, who is the wife of Fred Dodd of Waterville, Ohio. Lyman S. Gunn was born on the farm he now occupies October 17, 1848. He grew up and was well educated and as a youth learned the trade of carpenter and cabinet maker. He became especially skilled in those trades, and for twenty-seven years he lived in the Village of Maumee, where as a carpenter contractor he built a great many houses and barns, especially in the eastern part of Henry County. In 1903 he gave up his town home and returned to the old farm, where he has found ample employment for his energies and is enjoying the comforts which should go with advancing years. Here, in 1914, he erected a splendid bank barn on a foundation 34 by 50 feet. This barn is painted buff with golden brown trimmings and is the center for his agricultural operations, which includes the raising of good crops and high grade stock. He and his family reside in a good eight-room hovise.

Near his birthplace in Henry County Mr. Giinn was married, November 20, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth Jennie Davis. Mrs. Gunn was born in Dorchestershire, England, llarch 14, 1850, a daughter of George and Charlotte (Hammond) Davis, natives of the same part of England and of old English ancestry. Other children born in England were William, Henry and Harriet. In 1854 the Davis family set out from Liverpool on the sailing vessel St. John, went to Canada, up the St. Lawrence River by Quebec and Montreal, then across Lake Erie to Cleveland, where they landed June 4, 1854. The Davis family lived for a number of years in Lorain County, Ohio, and then moved to Henrs' County, first in Ridgeville Township and later in Napoleon. Mr. Davis died on his farm in the latter township in 1888 at the age of seventy-two, and his widow, who was born in 1818, died two years later. They were members of the Wesleyan ]\Iethodist Church and he was a republican.

born children named Aurelius, Hiram Seton, John Henry and Nellie Leona. Aurelius, born JIareh 15, 1872, died unmarried May 24, 1889 ; Hiram Seton, born April 15, 1874, was accidentally drowned while fishing in the Maumee River May 25, 1890. John H., born October 13, 1875, was educated in the schools at Maumee while the family resided there, also in the college at Ada, first was a pharmacist, later a farmer, and now a sales clerk in a hardware store, besides owning a good farm of 100 acres ; by his marriage to Grace B. Van Rensselaer of Lucas County he has two children, Catherine M. and Isabel Van R. Nellie Leona, who was born November 19, 1878, married Eugene L. Bridenbaugh of Lucas County, and they lived in Toledo, where Mr. Bridenbaugh is connected with the Overland Automobile Company; their two sons are John L. and Edward G. Mr. and Mrs. Gunn and family are members of the Presbyterian Church, while politically Mr. Gunn's associations have always been with the republican part}'.

Oea L. Hinton. In the August primaries of 1916, among the worthy nominations made by the democratic party in Auglaize County, was the choice of Ora L. Hinton as candidate for sheriff resulting in his election on November, 1917. Mr. Hinton has long been in the public eye as a capable and competent official, and practically every one realizes that the duties of sheriff will be efficiently executed during his term of incumbency.

In the line of official service Mr. Hinton served as captain of the fire department in St. Marys five years, and for three years was on the police force. For a number of years he has owned a pack of bloodhounds and has a large kennel from which he has sold dogs all over the country, and that in itself constitutes an extensive business. He has been instrumental with his dogs in the apprehending of many criminals.

Mr. Hinton was born in Mercer County in Liberty Township August 2, 1876, a son of Frank and Isabelle (Howell) Hinton. Grandfather Thomas Hinton was born in Germany, and was an early settler in Mercer County, Ohio. From this county he went out as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, and was with his command in all its engagements until the close of hostilities. Disease contracted while in the army shortened his life and he died soon after his return from the war. Mr. Hinton 's maternal grandfather was also an earl> settler of Auglaize County and a farmer by occupation.

Mr. Frank Hinton, who was born in Ross County, has one of the finest farms of Mercer County and his success is the more creditable for the fact that he started out as a poor boy. With the exception of four years given to official responsibilities as an infirmary director he had given the closest attention to his farm work. He is a democrat and is a member of the Friends Church. His wife Isabelle Howell was born in Auglaize County, and died January 8, 1917, aged sixty-six years. They were married in this county. Mr. Hinton still resides on the home farm. Of their eight children five are living: Ora L. ; Thomas Hinton, a painter at Rockford, Ohio; Ollie, wife of Lawrence Siler, of St. Marys; Pearl, wife of Dillon Smalley, surveyor of Mercer County; and Bessie, who resides with her brotlier Ora.

Ora L. Hinton had the advantages of the common schools of Mercer County during his early life, and his early experiences were those of the farm. A number of years ago, when the bicycle was at the height of its popularity, Mr. Hinton took up bicycle riding as a profession, and during the five years he followed it he was noted as the best rider in Northwestern Ohio.

In October, 1897, he married Lola Hodson, daughter of John Hodson, an Auglaize County farmer. After his marriage Mr. Hinton was employed in the spoke works at St. Marys for five years, and spent a similar period in the spoke factory.

He and his wife have had three children: Goldie, aged sixteen; Donald, aged five; and Elda, who died when three years of age. He and his wife are members of the Presb.yterian Church, though his daughter belongs" to the German Lutheran. Fraternally he is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and is affiliated with the American Insurance Union.

William Heitman. In every community are a few men whom all admire and respect, not on account of their business ability and worldly success, but because of their personal characteristics. Such a man is William Heitman of Okolona in Henry County. Although he is one of the most successful" farmers and merchants in the county men do not speak of him as "one of our big farmers," but as "one of the finest men." He is especially representative of the fine qualities of the "German race. His genial disposition and his public spirit as well as his ability and practical common sense, have won him universal esteem, and his is a career that is stimulating to read, since he has made his success since coming to this country from Europe as a poor boy, and has risen from the humble employment of railroad service to independence as a merchant and farmer.

He was born in Hanover, Germany, June 20, 1845, and comes of old German stock of that kingdom, a substantial family of Lutheran people. His parents and also his grandparents spent their lives in Hanover. His father, John Heitraan, died in 1858 when not yet fifty years of age. He was a shoemaker by trade and had served his full term in the standing army. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Eitzman, who was born and reared and educated in Hanover and died there about 1883, after her son William had come to America. She was married a second time, though she had no children by her last husband. William Heitman had an older brother Henry, who spent his life in Germany and left a" family there. A younger brother, Frederick is a German farmer, a widower, and has three sons and one son-in-law serving in the Imperial armies of Germany.

William Heitman spent the first thirteen or fourteen years of his life in the old country, and while there gained a practical education which is afforded German youth. It was partly with an ambition to realize the opportunities presented by America and also to escape the onerous duties of military service and the restrictions of German laws and customs, that he set out for America. He was alone so far as his own family was concerned, and he took passage on tlii> City of Bremen in, the harbor of that name and on the second trip made by that vessel. The vessel left Germany May 1, and fifteen days later landed its passengers at Baltimore. Two days after that young Heitman stepped from the train of the Wabash Railroad at Okolona in Napoleon Township of Henry County. In another two days he was working for the Wabash Railway Company, and for five years he did the heavy work re((uired of him, and also exercised proper thrift in safeguarding his earnings and making provisions for the future. His first purchase was a tract of timber land near Deshler, comprising 160 acres. About two years later he traded this for a .smaller piece of land near Okolona, and gradually added by subsequent purchases until his farm now comprises 140 acres. In improvements and general attractiveness it is one of the most valuable farms in that part of Henry County. It lies in sections twenty-nine and thirty-one, and presents an attractive feature in the landscape, not only by its well cultivated and improved fields, but also by the substantial farm buildings.

Thus for upwards of half a century Mr. Heitman has been identified with the community around Okolona. In 1885, with the late William Schlesser as a partner, he engaged in merchandising at Okolona. Six years later, on St. Patrick's Day of 1891, their store and the two other business houses of the village were burned. Mr. Heitman immediately rebuilt, on the opposite side of the street, and since then for a period of a quarter of a century has been the leading merchant of the village. He has a large store, 40 by 50 feet, well filled with merchandise of all classes and divided into departments, and with a trade drawii from a territory many miles around. For a number of years he has had his son associated with him in the management of this store.

Several years after Mr. Heitman came to this countiy he married Anna Koenemann. She had been on the same shipload with him in coming to this country, was born and reared in the same neighborhood in Hanover, and they were members of the same church. She too had come to this country alone so far as her immediate family was ooncerned. and as they had been sweethearts in the old country they .sub.sequently cemented their alliance in marriage and have lived happily together for forty-five years. To this union were born two sons and one daughter. Fred H., born at Okolona. is a well educated young business man, and for the past fourteen years has been postmaster of Okolona, tlie pnstoffiee being in the store conducted by his father. Fred married Helen Egger, of Henry County, but her parents were from Hanover. Fred Heitman and wife have four children : Laura, a promising young woman who is a member of the class of 1917 in the Napoleon High School : Luella, William and Julian, who are attending the grade schools. Ida, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Heitman, married Daniel Lowry, an engineer on the Baltimore & Ohio and living at Chicago Junction ; they have a son Lester and a daughter Vernice. Alvin. who is associated with his father and brother in the store, married Carrie Long. All the

Charles E. Hatcher. As superintendent of the Henry County Infirmary, Chai'les E. Hatcher is rendering a public service second to none in the county in the way of benefits to those dependent upon state charity. He has all rhe c|ualitications for such a post of responsibility. He was a practical farmer before he took charge of the infirmary in 1911, and his experience in that line and his good business judgment have enabled him to give a good administration to the large farm maintained by the eountj'. Both he and his wife are kindly people who consider it a privilege as well as a duty to do all they can for lightening the burdens of those entrusted to their care.

The institution has about thirty inmates throughout the year, and there is a large building with fortj- rooms for the housing of these unfortunate people. Besides a substantial set of farm buildings, the farm itself comprises 236 acres of land, and it is all improved and under cultivation except four acres of native timber. Mr. Hatcher during the past five years has always maintained a high standard in the administration of this department of the county government.

His entire life has been spent in Heniy County, and he was born in Richfield Township July 12, 1874. He was reared in the country, received a public school education and proved himself very capable as an independent farmer until he was called to his present post.

His father, William Hatcher, is an honored veteran of the great struggle for the integrity of the Union. He was born in Logan County, Ohio, in 1844, was reared in this state, and in the latter part of 1863 enlisted in the Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in at Columbus. For over two years he was a private in the ranks and acquitted himself creditably in every duty he was called upon to discharge. While he escaped wounds, he suffered so much from exposure and hardship that he lost hLs hair and beard. After the war he was married in Logan County to ^faria Argo, and some years later he moved to Henry County. There in 1881 his wife, and the mother of Charles E., died before her fortieth year. She died at the birth of her seventh child, and nearlv all these children were reared and are still living. William Hatcher married for his second wife Adaline

Roberts and they now live retired at Weston in Wood County, and this marriage has also produced seven children. William Hatcher has for many years been an active worker in the ranks of the prohibition cause, and he and his wife -are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In Wood County, Ohio, Charles E. Hatcher married Bertha Brown, who was born in Henry County in 1880, was reared and educated in this county, and is a daughter of Isaac N. Brown, who was also a veteran of the Civil war and died in Henry County. His widow, now past sixty-five, lives at Weston, ilr. and ilrs. Hatcher are the parents of four children : Elzina, who has finished the course of the high school at Napoleon and is still at home ; Oscar, aged fourteen and attending the public schools; Gladys, eleven years of age and in the grade schools ; and Burdette, who was born January 3, 1916.

Mr. and Mrs. Hatcher are active members of the ^lethodist Episcopal Church and he has had his nicmlicrsliip in the church at Weston for the jiast iwcnty ycurs. l'oliticall\- he is an independent ilciiKM-rat and lie is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Weston, Ohio.

William Shaffer in the course of thirty years has succeeded in building up a business second to none in its line in the Town of ( 'ridersville in Auglaize County. 'Sir. Shaffer is an ttndertaker, a furniture dealer, and has used such enterprise and has furnished such reliable service that his trade limits are by no means confined to the country immediately around Cridersville. and he gets custom from as far away as Lima and Wapakoneta. It is noteworthy that every dollar that 'Sir. Shaflfer has earned has been by his own efforts, and he is one of the upstanding and prosperous men of his section.

His birth occurred on a farm three miles we.st of Cridersville. in Allen Cnuiitv, Ohio, July 26, 1865. His |.;,ivnts uviv .Michael and Sarah (Whetstone) ShatlVr. His y-randfather Henry Shaflfer came to Northwestern Ohio in 1836, was a pioneer in Allen County, and developed a farm of forty acres on which he spent his last years. The maternal grandfather Simeon Whetstone was also an early settler in Auglaize County, and was both a farmer and a minister of the Gospel. ^Michael and Sarah Shaffer were married in Auglaize County on May 28, 1847, Israel Johns performing the ceremonv. IMichael was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1816, and was twenty years of age when he came to Allen County. He lived out a successful career as a farmer in Allen County, and died there February 10, 1889. His wife was born in Auglaize County in 1827 and died November 19, 1912. They were members of the Christian Church and he was a democrat in polities. Of their thirteen children, William was the eighth in order of birth and the nine still living are: Simon, a retired farmer at Spencerville, Ohio ; John, in the nursery business at Lima ; Mrs. Justus Romshe, wife of an Auglaize County farmer, living three miles north of Wapakoneta ; Sallie, wife of J. D. Ritchie, a farmer in Auglaize County; Amanda, wife of C. F. Bowsher a farmer in Auglaize County; William; Elza, a farmer near Spencerville ; George, who is in the business of drilling water wells at Cridersville ; Mrs. Jacob Sands, wife of the foreman of the Country Club at Lima, Ohio.

Mr. William Shaffer attended school at Hume country schoolhouse, lived on the farm, gained a practical acquaintance with agriculture as a youth, but has always followed some other lines of business. For a time he was in the nursery business and he studied and gained practical experience with the undertaking profession at Sidney, Ohio, at Muncie, Indiana, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thirtytwo years ago in 1884 he engaged in business at Cridersville and from the first has studied and applied his experience not only for the purpose of rendering an expert service but also one careful and satisfactorv in every detail. On June 1, 1902, :\Ir. Shaffer added a stock of furniture and stoves, and he has developed these lines to an important extent. His business was burned out in 1910 and he then restocked his store and also erected a substantial block in which he has his headquarters.

In 1890 Mr. Shaffer married Miss Luciuda Mowery, daughter of George and Elizabeth Mowery of Allen County. Her father was a farmer. Mrs. Shaffer died November 12, 1891, and her only child is also deceased. In 1895 ]\Ir. Shaffer married Mary Banner, daughter of George Banner, who with his wife was a native of Germany and for many years followed farming in Auglaize County. To this marriage was born one child, Mabel, who is now employed in a store at Lima. The family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Mr. Shaffer is a democrat and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd

Henry Lange. For more than fifty years one tract of land in Henry County has been owned by and has been developed from a wilderness condition to the greatest productivity by members of the Lange family. Its present possessor is Henry Lange. who for years has been a well known farmer in Napoleon Township, and occupies the old homestead on which he was born. This farm lies in section 19.

His father acquired the land, which was a part of the canal land tract in 1854. There Henry Lange was born Becember 25, 1855, his birth being a Christmas gift to his parents. In that one locality he grew to manhood, to work in the fields when a boj\ acquired a substantial education in the local schools, and later came to own the old place which he has impressed with his own skillful management. His farm comprises nearly eighty acres, and it is all well improved and productive of the standard crops, together with some good stock. He has also a group of substantial buildings, including a barn 40x80 feet, a granary 22x34 feet, and a well appointed and furnished home of eight rooms and basement.

His father, Fred Lange, paid 75 cents an acre for the land more than fifty years ago, and the labors of this family have contributed a large share of its present high value. Fred Lange was born in Hanover, Germany, about 1825, and came to this country in the early '50s. For a time he worked at Kelleys Island on Lake Erie, and in the meantime invested in the timbered tract in Henry County, on which he spent the winter seasons. Besides clearing, he also erected a log cabin, and introduced his bride to that location. He married Mary Schulty, who was born in AVest Prussia in 1832. She came as a girl to the LTnited States and at Befiance, Ohio, was employed for several years until her marriage. Her parents were Henry and Mary (Snitkey) Schulty, both of whom died in Henry County, and this family is referred to on other pages of this publication. Both the Schultys and Langes were of good German stock and all were members of the Lutheran faith.

Mr. Henry Lange chose his wife in Henry County, her maiden name being Freda Kolby. She was born in Hanover, Germany. October 29, 1862, and lost her mother when she was quite young. Her father died only a few years ago. In 1885 she set out alone for America, and arriving at Napoleon lived witb her sister, Mrs. Henry Arps, until after she was grown. Mr. and Mrs. Lange are the parents of four sons and two daughters, and they have given them all a good education in both the German and EngUsh schools. Mr.s. Lange attends the Bethlehem Lutheran Cluirch, while Mr. Lange is a democrat. A brief record of the children is as follows: Emma, still at home; Mary, who is employed at Toledo ; Harmon, aged eighteen and now living in Nebraska; Carl, aged sixteen; Siefried, aged fourteen : and Henry, Jr., aged eleven. Another child, Fred, died when fourteen years of age.

Henry Panning. One of the most progressive representatives of the agricultural interests of Henry County, Henry Panning has worked his way to a position of independence and prominence solely through his own efforts. He started in life with only a good constitution and a resolute determination to get to the front, and his successful career as a farmer furnishes a strong incentive to the aspiring element of the rising generation to follow his example. His fine farm is located on section 17 in Napoleon Township with Okolona as his postoffice.

He is of German birth and old Lutheran ancestry, and was born in Hanover August 11, 1852, a son of Henry and ^lary (Mueller) Panning, also natives of Hanover. His father spent three years in the regular service of the German army, and later became a railway watchman on the line between Hanover and Bremen. He died when a little past middle life, but his widow survived until she was eighty-six years of age. The only children were Henry and his sister Sophia, who married and died in Germany, leaving one daughter.

Mr. Panning was reared in Germany, was well educated according to German standards, and after leaving school became clerk in a public house at one of the noted summer resorts in Germany. Three years later he went to Berlin, then spent some time along tlie River Rhine, and was employed in different parts of the German Empire until 1872.

In that year he took passage on the steamer New York and crossed from Bremen to Castle Garden and from there came on to Henry CountJ^ Ohio, where he joined his iincle, Henry Stockmann. Mr. Stockmann was one of the early German pioneer residents of

Henry County, was a very prosperous farmer, and died without issue, leaving a large estate of improved land. For three years after coming to this country Mr. Panning lived with his uncle in Freedom Township, managing a farm there, and then took po.ssession of the sixty acres given him by his uncle in Napoleon TowTiship. This land he has made the nucleus of his determined efforts and plans and ambitions for the past forty years. Among other improvements he has thoroughly drained it all, has placed eveiy acre under cultivation, and has increased it by the purchase of twenty additional acres. The farm had a substantial residence when he took possession, and it has been his home ever since, though with some re-equipment and remodeling. In 1S90 he built a substantial barn on a foundation 35x84 feet and has all the conveniences and equipment for high class farming and at the same time has made the property an excellent home.

In Freedom Township Mr. Panning married Miss Anna Boeling, who was born March 1, 1850, at Neuenkirchen, Hanover, Germany. When she was twenty-three years of age she came to this country and to Napoleon, Ohio, with her parents. Christian and Hannah Boeling, who for some years lived on the farm now owned by Mr. Panning, ilr. Boeling died before he w-as sixty and his widow when about sixty-seven. Both were members of the Lutheran Church and fine, practical, wholesome people. After marriage Mr. and ]\Irs. Panning devoted themselves with steadfast enthusiasm to the work and improvement of their farm and to the rearing of their children. Mrs. Panning was a splendid helpmate, a noble woman, thoroughly practical, a loving mother, and her name will ahvays be revered by her children and descendants. Her death was a great loss to the family when she passed away September 10, 1914. She was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Napoleon Township, and Mr. Panning and the children all are members there. Henry E., the oldest child, was born in December, 1877. and is now bearing most of the responsibilities of managing his father's farm: he married ^Matilda Gerten of Adams Township, Defiance County, who died July 11, 1914, and there is one child surviving, Ida, born July 24, 1913. Mary, the second child, was born March 17, 1879. and is the wife of Fred Bosselman a farmer in Defiance County, their children being Henry, Fred, Josephine and Hildegard. Freda, the youngest child, is the wnfe of Harmon Schutta, their home being on a farm in Napoleon Township, and they have two sons, Paul and Freddie. Mr. Panning and his son are active democrats, and both take a commendable interest in local affairs. Since the organization of the Napoleon State Bank, six years ago, Mr. Panning has served as one of the directors.

George Wade Ross. A reputation in the law that extends beyond the boundaries of a city or county is usually based upon some very solid attainments and unusual success in the profession. A member of the Findlay bar during the greater part of his practice, George Wade Ross is undoubtedly one of the most widely known lawyers in Northwestern Ohio. In the course of his practice he has handled an immense volume of important cases, and is especially home in the civil and corporation branches of his profession. He has distinguished himself by hard work, a conscientious fulfillment of all "the responsibilities of a professional man. and has concentrated practically all his efforts upon the law rather than polities.

He was born in Milton Township of Wayne County, Ohio, a son of Joseph and Catherine (Peckinpaugh) Ross. He is descended from pure Scotch ancestry. His great-grandfather was the founder of the family in America. Mr. Ross' brother Hiram spent four years in the Union army as a member of the Sixteenth Ohio Infantry.

As a boy George Wade Ross attended country schools his father being a farmer, and after a four years course he graduated from Lodi Academy. He then taught in the district schools for a period of two years, and then taught four years in the Creston High School and two years in the Sterling High School. It was while teaching that he applied himself diligently to the study of law for one year under H. B. Woodward, Medina, and for several years later was with James C. Johnson, who in his time was one of the foremost lawyers of Ohio and was' senior member of the firm of Johnson & Graves of Seville, Ohio.

In 1879 ]\Ir. Ross was admitted to practice by the district court at Medina, Ohio. In 1880, the following year, he married Carrie E. Beardsley, a daughter of Daniel B. and Jane (Hasington) Beardsley. Her father Daniel B. Beardsley was a prominent lawyer and historian, having written the best history of Hancock County ever published.

there laid the basis of his widely extended reputation. Seeking a still larger field and nearer his varied interests he removed to Findlay in 1889, and has been one of the bulwarks of the Findlay bar for more than twenty-eight years. For four years he was a partner with his father-in-law, Mr. Beardsley, then for fifteen years was senior member of the firm of Ross & Kinder until W. H. Kinder was elected in 1908 to the bench of the Circuit Court, now the Court of Appeals. Since then Mr. Ross has practiced alone, and still has his quarters in the office building which he has occupied for many years.

He is general counsel of the Toledo, Fostoria & Findlay Railway Company, assistant counsel of the National Refinery Company, the Continental Sugar Company, The Toledo & Southern Traction Company, the Western Ohio Railway Company, counsel for the Ohio Bank & Savings Company of Findlay and for several other corporations. In 1892 he was elected city solicitor of Findlay and by re-election filled that office four years. Outside of that he has seldom participated in politics, and that office was in direct line with his profession. He is an active republican and in 1900 was a candidate for congress. He has been frequently urged to run for offices but has found his true vocation in the profession of his choice.

Mr. Ross in the course of his practice has assisted in financing and organizing a number of large concerns and is at present a member of the advisory board and is stockholder in the R. L. Dolling Company, a $3,000,000 coi-poration handling investment securities with offices formerly at Hamilton, Ohio, and now at Columbus. Mr. Ross is treasurer of the Hancock County Bar Association, is an active member of the Findlay Country Club, of the Royal Arcanum, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and has served as president of the SjTuposium Literary Society of Findlay.

Mrs. Ross was a teacher in the public schools before her marriage. She has continued her interests in educational affairs and especially in philanthropic work in behalf of the poor and friendless. For twenty years .she was president of the County Board of Visitors and has probably done more than any single woman in Hancock County in behalf of child welfare. Those wlio are in a situation to know state that a great many young boys and girls have been reclaimed and have been made respecting citizens through her efforts. With others she organized the Friendly Inn, an institution to take care of delinquent boys and girls and keep them from being made inmates of a state institution, ilrs. Ross kept up her active charitable work for many years until poor health intervened, and though that has restricted her activities, her interest and sympathy are as keen as ever.

Fred Panning, proprietor of the Plainview Farm in section 19 of Napoleon Township, has a long and honorable record that identifies him with this section of Northwest Ohio, where he has spent all his life from birth.

Though most of his .years have been spent in Henn- County, he was born across the line in Adams Township of Defiance County on Decciiilicr s, ls.")2, only a few months after his parents laiiic frnm the old eountrj'. His early youtli to manhood was spent in Adams Township, but in 1886 he bought his present farm of eighty acres in section 19 of Napoleon Town.ship, and has devoted the subsequent thirty years to the improvement and development of this place, which now i-anks as one of the model farms of Henry County. Many of its valuable features are the fruits of his own enterprise and labor. One is a large red barn 40x80 feet for his stock and grain, and he and his family enjoy the comforts of a very attractive and convenient nine-room hou.se built of l)rick and located on a site that commands an eiilraiiciim view of tlic surrounding country. llislan,i is of sii.-h cliaracter of soil as to produce any of the standard crops of Ohio, and for many years lie has exercised his .judgment in bringing about the gi-eatest possible yields and at the same time conserving the resources of bis land. He has farmed on the rotation principle of crops. At the same time he has kept good grades of live stock. Besides his home place Mr. Panning owns thirty-eight acres adjoining in Defiance County and some years ago he gave an eighty-acre tract to his son, this also being situated in Adams Township of Defiance County.

Mr. Panning comes from old and substantial German Lutheran stock, originally Hanover people. His parents, Henry and ^Mary (Brunce) Panning, were both bom in the year 1820 in Hanover. They were married in Germany, and began their careers there as poor but honest folk. While in Germany their fir.st child Catherine was born in 1844. In 1852 this little family group set sail from Bremen and after a tedious ocean voyage of eight weeks, not without hardships and privations, they landed at New York, and from there came on west until they reached Adams Township of Defiance County. There they located in the wilds and securing eighty acres of laud which had perhaps never yielded a crop and certainly had no improvements upon it, they erected the typical log cabin of the eai-ly settler and gircled themselves to the heavy task of pioneering in the woods. They cleared off the timber, drained the swamps, and there they passed their honored and useful lives. The father died in 1886, and the mother some years later. They were devout Christian people, were charter members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and as long as they lived contributed actively of their work and their means to its support, Henry Panning serving for years as one of its officials. Politically he was a democrat. Their daughter Cathei-ine, after coming to this country, married George Freytag, and they became well to do farmers of Napoleon Township and reared a large family.

Fred Panning grew up in Napoleon Township and took up as a permanent vocation the work to which he had been reared and trained, farming. Pie was married in Henry County to Dora Panning, who though of the same name has no close relationship, though her parents, Fred and Catherine Panning, were also natives of Hanover, Germany, and were early settlers of Henry County, where they were among the substantial German Lutheran people of that section. Mrs. Panning M'ns born at the old home of her parents in 1855. She was a devoted wife and mother, gave the best of her character and ability to the training and rearing of her children, and her death on November 9, 1908, was the hardest loss Mr. Panning and his children have had to bear. She was a confirmed Lutheran and was always devoted to her church.

Mr. Panning and his family are all members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. The children are: Henry, who lives on his farm in Defiance Count.y, married Doretta Gerken of Adams Township, and their three children are Olivine, Doris and Fred. Lenna is a trained nurse living at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Caroline is still immarried and looks after the household duties for her father. Augusta is the wife of Bernhardt Arps, and they look after the farm for Mr. Panning, being the parents of one child, Regina, who was born

Dietrich Panning. A native son of Henry County, a resident still on the farm where he was born in Napoleon Township, Dietrich Panning has long been known as an industrious, painstaking and energetic farmer, a man of progressive ideas, thoroughly alive to the needs of his community and a citizen who has always been ready to perform his duties and responsibilities.

His labors have brought him a full measure of success. He has a fine farm, has reared and is rearing a household of children who do him honor, and his name is always spoken with respect in the community where he has spent his life. He was born in section 18 of Napoleon Township, November 27, 1859. His present farm comprises 120 acres, one acre of which has been set aside for cemetery purposes and is known as Breman's cemetery. JMr. Panning has been constructive in his work, and has a fine group of buildings. He built his large red barn, which stands on a foundation 32 by 84 feet, and also has a substantial nineroom house.

His parents were Henry C. and Dora (Othmer) Panning, both natives of Hanover, Germany. His father was born about 1822 and his mother in 1834. Both were of Lutheran stock. They came to this country separately in sailing vessels, landing at New York. Henry C. Panning first went to Kelley 's Island near Sandusky, worked in the stone quarries there, and finally came to Henry County, .where he met and married his wife. They then started to develop their new home in the woods, the land they acquired being the farm now owned by Dietrich Panning. There, being industrious and thrifty, they found their greatest comfort in hard work and in providing a home for their children. Thus in time they had much to be satisfied with, and after their death the old homestead went to their son Dietrich, who has kept up its improvements and members of the third generation of the family are now living upon it. The parents were among the organizers of the Lutheran church in that neighborhood and the father was long one of its officials.

Dietrich Panning was one of two sons and seven daughters, all of whom grew up. One daughter died unmarried and another died leaving three children.

In his home township Mr. Panning married Miss Amelia Sheele, who was born in Germany December 20, 1863, and when five years old came to the United States and to Henrj- County with her parents, Christof Sheele and wife, whose maiden name was Schroeder. They spent their lives as farmers in Henry County, and died when about seventy years of age. Mr. Sheele was a democrat and he and his wife were Lutherans.

Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Panning one, Ella, died at the age of eleven years. Those living are: Ferdinand, age twenty-eight ; Emma, Arnold, Emil and Carl. All received good advantages in the local schools, and Carl is still a student. The family are members of the Lutheran Church, of which Mr. Panning is an official, and he and his older sons are democrats in politics.

Scott Xeely. One of the best known residents of Allen County is Scott Neely. He has been distinguished by a special genius for ability to render service thoroughly and well in every undertaking. That has naturally kept his talents in demand, and there has never been a time when he has not been able to accept opportunities to keep himself busy and to live profitably and usefully.

His family have been identified with Allen County since the early settlement. His grandfather, Thomas Neely, was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to the United States when a boy, his family locating in Allen County, in Bath Township, prior to 1830. James Neely, father of Scott Neely, was an auctioneer and farmer, and owned a large amount of land in Allen County. He was an honored soldier of the Civil war, having served four years and eight months. He died August 10," 1894. He also did considerable business as a contractor, and was quite prominent in German Towmship, where he served as trustee and clerk. James Neelv married Mary C. Barriek, a daughter of William and Mary Barriek, of German Township. They reared a family of seven children, named Frank, William, Charles, Scott, Alice, ^largaret and Ida May.

Scott Neely was bom in Gei-man Township, of Allen County. August 3, 1861. For some time lie was associated with his father in contracting work, and in the meantime acquired an education in the public schools. For over twentv years he was a teamster with the American Straw Board Company of Lima, and when the plant of that companv was destroyed by fire he was selected out of many applicants as foreman to oversee the work of tearing down the ruins. He has also bought and sold horses and 'for many years has been considered one of the' best auctioneers in Allen and adjacent counties. His most successful enterprise in recent years has been the buying of hay and straw on a large scale. He now has an equipment of four hay balers and employs from twenty to twenty-five men in the work. His business as a hay baler and dealer extends all over Allen County and adjacent sections of Ohio, and he ships to New York, Boston and other ea.stern markets. In his native township he has a fine farm of 240 acres and has, of course, made the operation of this a source of profit.

Mr. Neely is now treasurer of Gennan Township and for twelve years was a member of the school board. He is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Allentowni. a treasurer of the Epworth League, and for years was treasurer of the Sunday school. Fraternally he is affiliated with Lima Lodge No. 783, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also with the Encampment.

On December 31, 1883, he married Sarah Bruner, daughter of Martin and Sarah jBruner of Auglaize Countv. At her death on October 30, 1886, Mrs. Neely left two children. The son, Clem, who was born August 17, 1884, is now a partner with his father in the hay business, and is a member of both the subordinate and encampment degrees of Odd Fellowship: in 1910 he married Delsie Sears of Ada, Ohio, and their two children are Fanella and Bernice. Neva Etta, the second child, was born September 16. 1887, and was married in June, 1903, to A. T. Whyman, a business man of San Antonio. Texas; their three children are Opal, Ola May and John Ernest.

On Januarj' 5, 1897, Mr. Neely married Lydia Cary, a daughter of Henry and Rebecca Gary. Her father was bom in Hanover. Germany, and came to America at the age of six years, the family locating in Allen County. Mr. and Mrs. Neely have seven children : Gary May, Cecil Marie, Lester Lloyd. all three of whom are students in the Lima High School; Russell Earl, James Oliver, Harry Clyde and Juanita.

V. 0. Moore, M. D. Since completing his medical education Doctor ]\Ioore has been in successful practice at Toledo, covering a period now of almost twenty years. A physician of the highest standing, he is also known for his participation in business and civic affairs and is one of Toledo's bankers.

Doctor Moore was born January 11, 1870, in Morrow County, Ohio, son of Royal and Rachel (Evans) Moore. His father was born in Ohio of English and Irish ancestry, while the mother was of Welsh stock. Royal Moore had a long and successful career, having been a teacher, farmer and stock raiser. He had a gift for business, and everything he did seemed to prosper. Doctor ^loore, the j^ounger of his father's two children, had good home advantages when a boy and was also the recipient of a liberal education. He attended the public schools, afterwards the Ohio Wesleyan University, and then the Ohio State University, in wliieh he received the degree of bachelor of science in 1895. He took his medical course in the Starling Medical College. In 1898 he located at Toledo and has been engaged in practice there ever since. His home is at 1107 Starr Avenue and his office is at 1105 Starr Avenue. He is a member of the Lucas County and the Ohio State Medical Society. Doctor Moore is vice president of the People's Savings Bank at Toledo and has financial interests in various other business enterprises. He is prominent in Masonry, has attained the thirtj'-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is master of ceremonies in the Consistory of Toledo. He has served as master of the Blue Lodge, high priest of the chapter and has held chairs in the Commandery of the Knights Templar and in the other branches of the York Rite. He is a member of the Greek letter society Alpha Chapter of Kappa Sigma.

Doctor Moore was married October 13, 1895, in Morrow County, Ohio, to Miss Gertrude B. Bliss. Her father was a successful physician at Delaware, Ohio. Mrs. Moore, who was one of a farail}^ of two children, was educated in the public schools and was graduated from the Ohio Weslevan University with the class of 1893.

George H. Drewes. Jlore than seventy years ago the members of the Drewes family, of German stock, came to Henry County and established themselves in what was still a wilderness. Here for three generations they have lived, prospered, enjoyed to the full community esteem, and have left as monuments to their labors and enterprise many acres cleared, many buildings erected, and at the same time have performed their duties and upheld their responsibilities as citizens, so that the name is associated with honest work and upright manhood and womanhood.

One of the well known members of this family is now a successful farmer in Napoleon Township. George H. Drewes was born in Henry County August 30, 1870, a son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Freytag) Drewes, both of whom were natives of Hanover, Germany, where they were born in 1844 and 1845 respectively. When children they came with their respective parents to America. Grandfather William Drewes was a tailor, and on coming to the United States located in Henry County, where in connection with his trade he also took up farming. He acquired a large estate of 400 acres or more, and was one of the vei-j' prosperous early settlers. His death occurred at the age of seventy-eight in Napoleon Township. His wife had died there not long after coming to this country. Both were members of the Lutheran Church. George H. Drewes' maternal grandfather. Fred Freytag, came with his family about 1850, and also secured and improved lands in Napoleon Township, where he died when past eighty years. The Freytags were also Lutherans and both families supported democratic principles in politics. Henry Drewes and wife both grew up in this wild timbered country, were married in the county, and eventually by their idustry secured 160 acres, eighty acres in Adams Township of Defiance County and eighty ad.ioining it in Napoleon Township of Henry County. On that farm Wilhelmina Drewes died in 1880, when in middle life. Her husband married for his second wife ]Mrs. Sophia (Imbroch) Rohrs, who was born in Henry County of German parentage. Henry Drewes and his second wife a few years ago moved to Ridgeville and are living there retired and in comfort. Both are members of the Lutheran church and he is a democrat.

George H. Drewes was one of five children, three of whom died j'oung. His only brother, William, is now married and a prosperous farmer in Napoleon Township, the father of two sons and a daughter.

Reared and educated in Henry County, George H. Drewes finished his schooling with the district advantages and early applied his labors to making his own way. By thrift and earnest endeavor he was able to make his first purchase of eighty acres in 1898. This purchase was in section thirty-three of Napoleon Township. Later a subsequent purchase of eighty acres gave him a farm of 160 acres, and this is one of the well improved places of that section of the county. He grows all the staple crops including sugar beet, and he has made that a profitable item of his agricultural efforts, usually raising from fifteen to seventeen tons per acre. In 1899 he erected his large barn, 80 by 40 feet, which constitutes one of the conspicuous improvements along the country highway in that section of the county, and he has another barn 25 by 40 feet besides various outbuildings. He keeps a luunber of good graded stock.

In Freedom Township of Henry County Mr. Drewes married Sophie ^lahnke. She was born in Freedom Township, where her parents had settled on coming from Germany. Her father died in 1903, while her mother is now living with her youngest daughter, Mrs. Ida Panning, and is sixty-seven years of age. This family also are Lutherans, and her father was a democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Drewes are the happy parents of eight children. The three oldest. Arnold, George H. Jr. and Lorena, have all been confirmed in the Lutheran Church at Flatrock, and are attending school. The A'ounger children are Harold, Richard, Edwin, Erna and Luther. ^Ir. Drewes takes an active interest in local affairs, and is now serving as a member of the school board. Politically he is a democrat.

John J. Vollmayer. One of the leading financial institutions of Toledo is the Market Savings Bank Company, which in the past twelve years has had a remarkable record of growth and development and as a savings institution stands in the front rank of such organizations in Northwest Ohio. Active from the very first as one of the organizers, and now the first vice president of the company, John J. Vollmayer has had much to do with the success of this concern, though the active responsibilities of organization and management have from the fii-st devolved upon his son, William G. Vollmayer, who is cashier of the bank, and to whom reference is made on other pages.

For more than forty years John J. Vollmayer has been actively identified with the mercantile, financial and civic life of Toledo. In fact, most of his career has been spent in this city, though he was born in Cleveland, August* 14, 1848. He was the oldest of four children, three sons and one daughter, whose parents were Michael and Barbara (Opple) Vollmayer. The latter were both natives of Germany, where they married, and in 1846 emigrated to the United States, first locating at Cleveland, which was their home for two years, and from there they came to Toledo. Michael VoUmayer was a farmer by occupation, and on moving to Toledo he established his home on Detroit Avenue, where he died in 1857. His widow survived until 1894. Of their children the only two now living are John J. and Rev. Michael Vollmayer, who is now pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church at Massillon, Ohio. The other son, George, died at Toledo in 1896. and the daughter, Mrs. Mary Gluckstein, died at Baltimore, Marjrland, in 1895. Rev. Michael Vollmayer, it should be noted, was graduated from Canisius College, a Jesuit institution at Buffalo, New- York, was educated for the priesthood at St. Marj^'s Seminary in Cleveland, and for a number of years has been active as a priest and pastor. All the children except John were born at Toledo.

John J. Vollmayer grew up in Toledo, attended the parochial schools, and first learned the trade of woodworker. His business career began in 1873 as proprietor of a modest retail grocery establishment at the corner of Page and Locust streets. He continued in active busines.s there, serving a greatly increased trade until 1898. In that year he embarked in the wholesale and retail liquor business at 125 Superior Street, and that was his business headquarters for about ten years.

He actively assisted his son in organizing the Market Savings Bank Company, and since the institution opened its doors for business. May 2, 1904, he has been the active vice president. Mr. Vollmayer ha.s also acquired much valuable real estate in Toledo and is one of the responsible and substantial business men and public spirited citizens.

He wa.s very active in democratic politics at Toledo and in Lucas County until the campaign of 1896, when he refused to support the party platform ahd the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan. However, he is still a believer in what he considers real democratic principles, and in 1912 he supported the nominee, Mr. Wilson, for the presidency. In 1877 Mr. Vollmayer was elected a member of the police board from the old Seventh Ward, and in 1879 was elected to represent the same ward in the city council. In 1881 he was again chosen a member of the police force, but was legislated out of the office by the Foster bill. In 1882 he was elected member at large for the four-year long term on the police board, and his services justified his renomination, though he was defeated in the election.

He has identified himself with manv religious and fraternal movements. He is a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, of St. Michael's Benevolent Society of the parish, the Bavarian Benevolent Society, the Catholic Knights of America, the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Toledo Commerce Club.

On May 21, 1872, while a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, where he was temporarily engaged in business, Mr. Vollmayer married IMiss Emelia C. Becker of Baltimore. To their marriage have been born five children : William G., cashier of the ^Market Savings Bank Company; Dr. Robert H., a dentist at Toledo, who is a graduate in the dental department of tlie University of Michigan; Florence. Gertrude and Claude, all at home. William G. wa.s born in Baltimore, but the rest of the children are all natives of Toledo.

Henry Th.wer Niles. A man who possessed all the breadth and depth of New England culture was the late Henry Thayer Niles of Toledo. He was known as a scholar, lawyer and educator, and for years commanded one of the highest positions in the Urbana bar and in the ranks of citizenship. Upon coming to Toledo he formed a partnership with Morrison R. Waite, later chief .justice of the United States Supreme Court but Mr. Niles' health failed and his partnership was abandoned.

When he died at his home on CoUingwood Avenue in Toledo January 13. 1901, he was seventy-two years of age. He had been born in West Fairlee, Vermont. His early environment was one to stimulate and bring out the best in his mmd and character. With the individual endowments of his own mind combined many worthy qualities inherited from his forefathers. It was in the early years of the seventeenth century' that the first ancestors of the Niles family landed at Block Island in Connecticut. All the male ancestors of the late Mr. Niles were college graduates, many of them from Princeton and Harvard, and one was a member of the first graduating class from old Harvard. There were also members of the family who took part in the Colonial and Indian and later in the Revolutionary war. His grandfather. Nathaniel Niles, was born at South Kingston. Rhode Island, in 1741, gradiiated from the Princeton University in 1766. and durinsr the rest of his life was a man of many distinctions. He took up the ministry, and was a splendid pulpit orator and writer. He published several books of sermons. He also wrote a patriotic ode which was set to music and which was sung by some of the marching companies in the war of the Revolution. For twenty-seven years he was a trustee of Dartmouth College, and while serving in that capacity he prepared the records and other data for the celebrated Dartmouth College case in which Daniel "Webster gained enduring fame as an orator and established precedents which are still vital in our political and industrial life. Although he was never admitted to the bar he was elected to a place on the' Supreme bench of Vermont, and filled that ofSce as admirabl.v as if he had been a lawyer by profession and training.

The late Henry Thayer Niles was a graduate of Dartmouth College, the institution with which his grandfather had been so prominently identified, and after leaving college he traveled abroad for two years. Returning home, he took the chair of Greek and Latin languages in the college at Urbana, Ohio, and while there studied law and eventually took up its practice. From Urbana he moved to Toledo, and thereafter in his practice he was associated on equal terms of abilitj^ and success with the leading members of the bar. At his death his remains were taken to Urbana, Ohio, and are now at rest in the family lot in that city.

Though a New Englander born and bred, he was an unswerving democrat in politics, and alwa.vs ready to make any reasonable sacrifice to advance the principles of his party. He was not a politician nor a radical partisan. He studied politics and all political and social problems with a breadth of comprehension beyond most men, and as his own convictions were based upon reason, he could afford to take a tolerant view of divergent opinions. He was a citizen such as any community should be proud to possess, and those who knew him intimately had a great admiration for his scholarship, his thorough and well rounded culture, his purity of motive, and the dignity with which he bore himself in all the relations of life. He was a man of retiring disposition, and for this reason was not known intimately by a large circle of acquaintances. Thoueh he po.ssessed some friends who were bound to him by the ties of real and enduring friendship and loyaltv. his bonks were liis best and most constant friends and companions, and when not engaged in work he found his chief pleasure and recreation in the midst of his library. He was not a collector or buyer of books in the ordinary sense of the term, since he bought onlv those books which he knew or whose contents he desired to master. It was said that he was practically master of every book in his library. He took enjoyment in a wide range of literature. He was familiar with the poets and nearly all the ancieht and modern standard authors, and he had read such authors as Homer, Horace, Shakespeare and Burns not only in his college days but kept up his associations with those great minds throughout his life. He was himself able to wield a facile pen, and some of the verse which he wrote at different times possesses more than ordinary merit. One literary distinction in particular should be noted. He translated the Agricola of Tacitus in fewer English words than are found in the original Latin. This capacity for condensation was somewhat characteristic of his style as an English writer, and there was a charm as well as a forceful vigor about his prose writing.

Mr. Niles had a home life that was nothing short of ideal. He had congenial domestic relations, always enjoyed the confidence of his children, and made their joys and sorrows his own. He was survived by his widow, two daughters and one son. The son is Hon. Frank B. Niles of Toledo.

George Arps. A man who has accom-- plished as much as George Arps as a good citizen, home provider and straightforward honest gentleman has a just cause for pride. His home is one of the fine farms in section nineteen of Napoleon Township in Henry County, and he is now living with his children and has surrounded himself with everything to make life comfortable and enjoyable.

In business he has been a general farmer and stock raiser, and owns 177 acres of the farm where he was born December 25, 1868. He grew up, receiving his education in the local schools, and has lived on one farm since early youth to the present time. For the past eighteen years he has been owner of the old place and his own contributions to its improvement include a large barn 40 by 90 feet, besides a grain and tool house. His residence is a substantial house of eight rooms and was built thirty-four years ago by his father, Henry Arps. Henry Ai-ps also put the first habitation on the land, a logj cabin covered with clapboards and 16 by 28 feet in dimensions. This old building, which is still standing and in a jjood state of repair, was erected in 1852 and is an interesting landmark.

not far from the City of Hauover, Germany, iu 1826, and was reared and educated there. He was quite young when his mother died, and about 1850 he and his father set out for the United States, coming by a sailing vessel that required eight weeks to make the ocean voyage from Bremen to New York. From there they came by the Hudson River, Erie Canal and the lakes to Toledo, and then struck out through the woods on foot until they arrived at the home of a cousin, Herman Arps, who about two years before had come to this country and located in section nineteen of Napoleon Township. Henry Arps' father died the same year of his arrival. Henry then spent a year or so working on the Wabash Railroad and the canal, and then invested his meager capital at the rate of 75 cents an acre in forty acres of wild land iu section 19 near the home of his cousin Herman. Not long afterward he put up the log cabin already mentioned, and to that humble abode brought his bride when he married. The maiden name of his wife was Melissa Gerken. She too was a native of Hanover, Germany, and had come to this country as a young woman with her parents and by the same route and manner as the Arps had made their emigration, though she arrived about two years later. The Gerken family located in Adams Township of Defiance County, but not far from where the Arps had their home. After Henry Arps married he and his young wife faced the serious responsibilities of life and undertook the heaviest kind of labor in providing a home for themselves and their children. Henry Arps was a very industrious man and by his long continued labors cleared the dense timber from his fields and developed a farm of ninety-six acres including some of the best and richest soil in Henry County. His career of usefulness came to a close with his death n 1898. The mother of George Arps died when the latter was nine days old, and she was then only thirty-two years of age. Henry Arps married for his second wife Mary Badenhope of Freedom Township, but a native of Hanover. Germany. She had come to this country and to Henry County with her mother and two brothers, Henry and Herman, the little family locating in Freedom Township, where her brothers are still living and have fTmilies. The second Mrs. Henry Arps died on the old homestead in 1905. She left no children. Henrv and all his familv were members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in \(1-'tiis Township of Defiance County.

George Arps is one of five children by his mother. Mary is the wife of Fred Scheele, a farmer of Bartlow Township in Hunry County, and she has four sons and two daughters. John lives on a farm in Monroe Township of Henry County and has three sons and four daughters. Elizabeth died after her marriage to the late Henry Panning, and they left a family of three sons and two daughters. Henry, Jr., is a farmer in Bartlow Township and has five sons and two daughters.

George Arps was married in his native township to Miss Katie Heldberg, who was born in Hanover, Germany, in February. 1868. In 1875, when she was seven j'ears old, she came to the United States with her parents, Fred and Jlargaret (Norden) Heldberg, this family locating on a farm in Adams Township of Defiance County, where her parents spent the rest of their days, her father dying at the age of sixty-five and her mother at seventy-nine. Both the Heldberg and Arps families have been loyal members of the Lutheran Church and in politics the prevailing affiliation has been with the democratic party. Mr. George Arps is one of the trustees of Bethlehem Church.

To the marriage were born three children : Ernest, who was born on the old homestead August 9, 1896, received his education in the local public schools and is still at home. Mary, born April 7, 1901, is now in the seventh grade of the public school, while Amelia, born September 6, 1905, is in the sixth grade. Mrs. Arps, the devoted mother of these children, passed away at her home May 1, 1907, when her youngest child was two and one-half years old.

Christian W. Beub.\ker, whose home is in Napoleon Township on one of the fine farms of that locality, represents some of the true pioneer stock of Northwest Ohio, and has himself lived more than threescore and ten years and in early youth experienced some of the primitive conditions which prevailed in all this region when his parents first settled there.

His birth occurred on a farm in Sugar Creek Township of Stark County, Ohio, September 27, 1843, and when he was four years of age, in September, 1847, his parents moved to Henry County. His father, John Brubaker. had come out to Henry County some years previously and had prospected all over the country. He made this journey on foot, and at that time he erected the log cabin in the woods which subsequentlv became the first habita- tion of the Brubaker family in Henry County. This first home of the Brubakers was a mile north of Florida Station, and few people in the present time can imagine the extreme wildness of the country at that time. There was abundance of wild game in the woods, very little of the land was broken or cultivated, and people confined themselves to the barest necessities of existence. The first home of the Brubakers was a typical log cabin, with a clapboard roof, and with a stick and mortar chimney and fireplace. All the cooking was done at this fireplace, and the furnishings of the home were extremely simple. It required many days of hard labor to clear up an acre of ground and put it into cultivation, and even when a surplus of crops was produced a little market could be found. John Brubaker had all the energy- and aggressiveness of the true pioneer. He was constantly at work, and his enterprise showed itself in bountiful fruits in later years. He developed a fine farm, and his first purchase of eighty acres was increased from time to time until he owned 480 acres. He lived to see all of this land improved in a general way and he left it with substantial house and barn, strong fences, and increased in value many fold over the figures at which he had acquired it. He not only raised crops but also did diversified farming with stock raising. His death occurred in April, 1894, just fifteen days before his eightieth birthday. He was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and when a young man went to Wilmot, then Milton, Stark County, Ohio. When quite young he learned the carpenter trade and conducted a saw mill for several years in Stark County. In that county he married Saloma Wyandt, who was a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Henry Wyandt. The Wyandt family also joined the early settlers of Stark County, Ohio, and all the older members of the Brubaker and Wyandt families died there. Mrs. John Brubaker died at the old home in Flatrock Township of Henry County when past eighty years of age. She and her husband were highly respected people, were greatly beloved by a wide circle of friends and should be remembered among the loyal and thrifty pioneers of this section. John Brubaker was first a whig and afterwards a republican, and for many years filled the ofSee of township trustee. In the family were five sons and three daughters, all of whom grew up and all married except one, and all the sons and one of the daughters are still living.

The second son and fourth child, Christian W. Brubaker, spent his early life in Henry County, and was at home with his parents until past his majority. The first money he ever earned was $70 paid him for cutting cord wood for the Wabash Railway, which was built about that time. He was verj- strong, handy with the ax and with other tools, and in the process of time he helped to clear up and develop three different farms in Henry County.

In 1876 Mr. Brubaker bought the southwest quarter of section 33 in Napoleon Township, and in 1882 established his family on that home. In the thirty-five years that have since passed he has developed a farm equal in improvements and equipment to the best that can be found in this section of Northwest Ohio. Besides his own dwelling he has another residence on the farm, and also two large barns and other buildings. The farm is well stocked, year after year produces the staple crops of Northwest Ohio, and in recent years the growing of sugar beets has been a feature of the farm productivity. Mr. Brubaker also owns 135 acres comprising a well improved and valiiable farm, with house, barns and other buildings in Flatrock Township. As an owner of real estate Mr. Brubaker pays annually $600 in taxes, and is one of the largest taxpayers among the farming class of this county. He is a stixdent of the soil and on his own farms owns what is called burr oak and elm tree land, a soil which is a black loam, and of almost inexhaustible fertility when properly cultivated and conserved.

In Flatrock Township Mr. Brubaker married Mis,s Martha A. Glore. She was born in Ohio, was reared and educated in Henry County. Her parents were John and Catherine fZeiter) Glore, both of Pennsylvania, though they were married and spent most of their lives in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker became the parents of eleven children. Two of them died in infancy, one being scalded to death when three years of age. Eight are still living: Albert, who lives on his father's farm in Flatrock Township, is married and has five children named Daniel, Ola, Ethel, Nora and Mina. Charles Edward is a bachelor, and is assisting his father in the management of the home farm. Irena is the wife of George Thorn, a Harrison Township farmer, and their children are Yance. Martha and Opal. Hattie E. is the wife of ]\Iahlon Neff, a farmer of Flatrock Township, and they have two children named Harold and Howard. Logan is still unmarried and helps run the home farm. Lawrence E., who is associated with his brother in conducting the homestead and lives in the separate residence on the old farm, married Ada Von Deyleu, and they have a son named Vernon. Helen S., the youngest, is the wife of Walter C. Box, a carpenter in Napoleon, and they are the parents of one daughter, Evelyn.

Frederick H. Gautschi, D. 0. At Napoleon one of the physicians who can claim a patronage of exceptional numerical strength and value is Dr. Frederick H. Gautschi. who is the representative of the osteopathic school of medicine and has met with splendid success. He is a representative of the sturdy Swiss stock, and is himself a native of that little republic.

Doctor Gautschi graduated from the Still College of Osteopathy at Des Moines, Iowa, with the class of 1913. After serving as an interne in a hospital at Des lloines he came to Napoleon and opened his office October 7, 191.5. His office is on Perry Street in one of the best blocks of the city, and his practice has already spread to the outermost limits of Henry County.

He was born in Switzerland August 14, 1888, a son of Henry and Christina (Hager) Gautschi. His parents were married in Switzerland at the age of twenty-four. The father was a cabinet maker by trade, and when Doctor Gautschi was about one year of age the family consisting of parents and four children set out for America, embarking on a vessel at Ha\Te, France, and after arriving at New York coming on to Bluffton, Ohio. The father followed his trade for some years there and then located at Pandora, Ohio, where the father and mother still live, he at the age of seventy-two and she at seventy. Both are still active, and by his skillful work as a mechanic the father has been quite prosperous. They are members of the Reformed Church and in politics he is independent. The four children born in Switzerland were: Alfred H., who is married and lives in the State of Nebraska and has a daughter and a son ; Polena, who died leaving two children ; Sophia, wife of Menno Egly of Phoenix. Arizona ; and Doctor Gautschi. After coming to America two other children were born : Helen, who died in young womanhood; and Marie, who is a nurse.

Pandora in 1909, and for several years' of his early life worked on a stock farm. He then took up the study of medicine, and though less than thirty years of age is already securely established in his profession. He is also a German scholar and speaks the language fluently. Doctor Gautschi belongs to the Methodist Church and in politics is independent.

J. Albert Brown. While one of the most progressive and enterprising farmers of Henry County would hardly be known by the name J. Albert Brown, his many friends in that section would immediately recognize him when he is referred to as "Doc" Brown. Doc Brown inherited many of the sturdy characteristics of his father, the late James K. Brown. But he has not kept the talents bequeathed him by his father under a napkin. His has been a profitable stewardship, and his enterprise is well represented in the splendid country home he has in Harrison Township.

He is of Protestant Irish ancestry. His grandfather, James Brown, was born in Ireland, was educated there, and when a young man came to the United States. For a" number of years he taught school and farmed in Morgan and Perry counties, Ohio. He was away on a trip through the West when he was accidentally drowned in 18.36. While the details of his death have never been known to his family it is probable that he lost his life in the Mississippi River. He was then in the prime of his years. He married a Pennsylvania girl, Pallas Kriger, who was of German Catholic parents. She survived her husband only a year or two and died in Morgan County, Ohio, when comparatively young. They were the parents of twelve children, including sons named Joseph, George, James K., Jacob, and daughters named Mrs. Nancy Stump, Mrs. Eliza Hughes, Mrs. Jane Thorp and Elizabeth. All these children are now deceased.

James K. Brown because of the early death of his parents had to start life almost with no advantages and his success is therefore all the more remarkable. He was born in Morgan County, Ohio, October 8, 1827, and grew up and married there. His wife was Miss Debbie Johns. She was also a native of Morgan County and was a few years younger than her husband. More than sixty-eight years ago James K. Brown arrived in Henry County. He was one of the early pioneers of Flat Rock Township. He made "a rather humble start there with only forty acres of wild land, and he and his wife not only worked hard but denied themselves the simplest comforts in order that they might get a home and bring up their children to be worthy men and women. The only active capital James K. Brown had when he arrived in Henry County was a yoke of cattle. He used these cattle in clearing up his land and before the war broke out he had a fine farm and was in prosperous circumstances. In 1867 he removed to Harrison Township, where he bought 160 acres of partly improved land. From that time forward his circumstances improved almost with every year. After a few years he bought another forty acres, later twentyfive acres, then seventy acres, and finally forty acres in Liberty Township. He also owned a good house in Napoleon City, but he died at the place of his first settlement in Napoleon Township on March 6, 1916. His first wife was the mother of all his children, and she died in 1851, before she had fully realized the prosperity which she had worked so hard to attain. She was in the prime of life when she died. For his second wife James K. Brown married Rebecca McCormiek, a widow, whose fir.st husband had died of illness while a soldier in the Civil war, and for his third wife Mr. Brown married Mrs. Pauline Knapp. She is a resident of Napoleon, Ohio. James K. Brown and his fii"st wife had the following children : George, who entered the army when a boy and died of the measles at Chattanooga, Tennessee, being then a little past fifteen years of age ; Daniel, who became a railway conductor and died at Fort Wayne, Indiana, unmarried ; Mary, who died in young womanhood ; Wilson, who lives in Napoleon and has a family by his marriage to Jessie Randall: J. Albert; and Millie, wife of David Hnffer of Liberty Township and the mother of one son. J. Albert Brown grew up in Henry County, and has spent most of his life in Harrison Township. He and his children now own 280 acres of some of the finest land in the entire county. His home place has a handsome eleven room house with basement and furnished with all the modern conveniences which can be found in the average city home. The lighting is from an acetylene plant. There are two big barns each 40 by 80 feet, and numeroiis other buildings. Two silos, 14 feet in diameter and 40 feet high, with a capacity of 300 tons, are an index of the kind of progressive farming that goes on at the Brown homestead. He also keeps some of the better grades of stock. The Brown farm for a inimber of vears has been famous for its large crop yields. As high as forty -seven bushels of wheat have been threshed from one acre, and 100 bushels of corn have been gathered from a similar quantity of land.

In Napoleon Township Mr. Brown married Vina Bales, daughter of Mr. Jacob Bales by his first wife. Jacob Bales was one of the early settlers of Napoleon Township and was long an honored citizen of that community. Mrs. Brown grew up in Henry County, received careful training both at home and in the local schools, and has proved a most devoted mother to her children.