Sandusky Township (part 29 of 57)

The head of the family when it arrived in Van Wert County was Jlirabeau Feree Richie. He was a native of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, born there in 1807 and when a child had been taken by his parents to Columbiana County, Ohio. He grew up there, subsequently removed to Crawford County, and from there came into Harrison Township of Van Wert County, locating a tract of government land in section 9. For the temporary accommodation of his household he put up some sort of shack, then cut down the trees and erected his log cabin, and about a year later built a house of hewed logs. In this comfortable and substantial dwelling Horace G. Richie, who for forty years has been an active member of the Van Wert bar was born on August 18, 1844. For many years after the settlement of the family and after the birth of Horace Richie there were no railroads in this section of Ohio. Such surplus crops as the father harvested from his fields he hauled overland to Fort Wayne, about tliirty miles away. The nearest milling center for several years was at Pickaway. When the canal was completed the principal market was at Delphos, and not man.y years afterward the railroad came and thus transportation conditions were gradually modernized. The father devoted his active years to the task of clearing the land, and in the course of time had a splendid farm improved with a complete set of frame buildings. Late in life he sold the old homestead, removed to Convoy, and died there in 1892. Mirabeau Richie married Sarah Eaton. She was born in 1808, probably in the State of Pennsylvania, a daughter of John Eaton, and she lived a long life, passing away in her ninetj'-third year. Her seven children who grew up were named

During the '40s and '50s there were nonpublic schools in the modern sense in Van Wert County. Horace G. Richie got at least part of his education in some of the old log temples of learning which were then scattered far and wide over the Middle West. He has a complete picture in his mind of one of those log schoolhouses. The seat on which he sat was half of a log with pins supporting it from the floor. Wooden pins were also driven into the logs of the side walls and on these pins rested a slanting board, which was the only desk in the room. The chimney was a structure of mud and sticks, and the house was heated with a large fireplace. The floor was made of puncheons. Between the logs were large cracks and these were filled up with sticks and daubed over with clay. The roof was covered with boards rived by hand.

When not in school Mr. Richie took his part on the home farm, and his own labors helped to clear up some of the land. At the age of eighteen he began teaching, and taught for several terms in the winter seasons, while he farmed in the summer. Thus in 1876 Mr. Richie applied his energies to the study of law and made such rapid progress that he was admitted to the bar in 1877. In May of that year he began practice at Van Wert and has been continuously a member of the bar and one of the most successful now for forty years.

On May 17. 1863, Mr. Richie married Miss 'Slary M. Brittsan, who was born in Harrison Township of Van Wert County, a daughter of Isaac and Mrs. (Bring) Brittsan. Mrs. Richie died in 1892. There were no children, but a niece of Mrs. Richie, Myrtle Brittsan, has been a member of the household since she was a child.

Thomas J. Trippy, a member of the Van Wert bar for over twenty years, and former prosecuting attorney of that county, was born on the fai-m in Jennings Township of this county, where his parents were pioneer settlers.

His father, Levi Trippy, born in Columbiana County, Ohio, November 13, 1823, came to Van Wert County in 1850. Only a small part of the county had been cleared at tliat time and he bought a tract of timbered land in Jennings Township. The first home of the family there was a log cabin, and other improvements came as finances warranted. Levi Trippy was one of the successful men of his community, and long before his death he had cleared his land and made an excellent farm. He (<lied at the age of seventy-six. On December 19, 1851, the year after he came to Van Wert County, he married Matilda Fisher. She was born in Pennsylvania, March 7, 1832, and is now spending her declining years at the home of a daughter.

Reared on a farm, with the wholesome discipline of work in the fields, Thomas J. Trippy early learned to become dependent upon his own resources and educated himself for his profession. He completed his eai'ly literary education in the Ohio Normal University at Ada, and after that taught school and was also in the mercantile business. In 1892 he entered the law department of the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and was graduated with the class of 1893. In October of the same year he began practice at Van Wert and has always enjoyed a living practice and a splendid reputation as a lawyer.

In 1895 Mr. Trippy was elected prosecuting attorney of Van Wert County and was reelected "to that office in 1897. He has also served as a member of the city council and as president of the council, and is a stanch republican. Mr. Trippy is affiliated with Van Wert Lodge, No. 130, of the Knights of Pythias, belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal Church and is superintendent of its Sunday School.

In 1881 he raai-ried Miss Cynthia A. Rupert, who was born in Allen County, Ohio, daughter of John W. and Elizabeth Rupert, natives of Pennsylvania.' Mr. and Mrs. Trippy have three children: Clarence W., John H. and Edyth.

George W. Wires, Jr. Pioneer history is usually interesting, for it carries with it the inspiring record of siiccessful human enterprise. The story of the earliest settlement of some of the vine covered islands in Lake Erie, off the coast of Ohio, leads no farther back than the possible memory of men who may yet be living, a fact to wonder over in view of their present highly civilized condition, with their affluent business men, their worldwide markets, their educated and traveled people and their organized political and social activities. Land that but sixty-nine years ago sold for a song, is now priceless, and the fragrant, luscious, wholesome grape is king. The first permanent settler on North Bass Island was the late George W. Wires, father of George W. Wires, Jr., a heavj- grape grower and prominent citizen of North Bass. The birth of George W. Wires, Sr., took place in Genesee County, New York, and there grew to manhood, when he became a sailor on the lakes. It was during a slow trip on a scow carrying stone to Toledo for the construction of the first locks there, that his attention was first attracted to North Bass Island, probably by its luxuriant timber growth. Although not prepared to investigate at that time, he did not forget the impression made. This might have been in 1841, for later, after locating on Kelley Island, he was married there May 16, 1842, to ;Miss Susan Fox. She was born at Gosfield, Essex County, Ontario, Dominion of Canada, and was a daughter of John Fox and a sister of Simon and Peter Fox, who became quite prominent in the affairs of the Bass Islands. The Fox family moved to Peelee Island in the '20s, settling with three other white families among the Indians.

While living on Kelley Island, Mr. Wires worked for others, mainly in clearing land for agrici;ltural purposes. In 1847, however, desiring to settle permanently, he determined on North Bass Island which was vacant with the exception of one man. Roswell Nichols, who had gone there in 1844 from Massachusetts but was only a temporary resident and never bought land nor made improvements. The island was at that time owned by Horace Kelley and Mr. Wires went to him in Cleveland and explained his desire to purchase a part of the island. He was told to go to Nortli Bass and blaze out what he wanted. On his return Mr. Wires selected the southeast corner of the island and his purchase was the first sale made by ilr. Kelley, and the price was $6 per acre. Later, when Mr. Kelley sent a surveyor to cover the island, Mr. Nichols and Mr. Wires carried chain for the job and Mr. Wires' blazed comer surveyed 133 acres.

Mr. Wires went right to work clearing his land and in 1848 erected his first log cabin, back from the south shore, a short distance from the present dock. Fine timber at tliat time covered the entire island. Subsequently the most of it was cut and made into cordwood and sold to the big boats for fuel. A :\[r. Carrier then came to the island on the lookout for ship timber and purchased a great deal of the heavy oak. The trees were felled and hewn out square, by hand, and then shipped to Europe for shipbuilding. North Bass oak going into many, no doubt, of Britain's staunchest vessels. In the course of time, through his untiring industry, Mr. Wires had his first farm all cleared and ready for crops, starting with tlie cultivation of wheat. He was one of the earliest to recognize the profit to be made in disposal of his land when the discovery was made that the grape could be so profitably cultivated here, and obtained excellent prices for his farm, divided into small tracts for vineyards.

[Mr. Wires then went to the north side of the island and there bought another tract of land and set about clearing that also. He was seventy years old when he removed to Peelee Island in order to once more be a pioneer, the wild frontier seemingly having a charm for him and pioneer hardships were overlooked. His family and friends remember a remark he often made when they remonstrated with him for assuming further laboi"s, "A i)iece of machinery will rust out quicker than it will wear out." In spite of almost constant labor and exposure of all kinds, Mr. Wires always enjoyed superb health and outlived the most of his contemporaries, dying May 10, 1900, when aged almost ninety-two years. His widow survived him, her death occurring November 3, 1903, at the age of eighty-three. They had the following children : Charles, who died in Jlontana and is buried at Billings; Jane, who died on North Bass, at the age of seventeen ; Adeline, who is the widow of James Cummings, lives on Pelee Island ; Mrs. Lavina Halleck, who lives on North Bass; William, who is a resident of Pelee Island ; Peter, who is superintendent of the United States Fish Hatcheries at Duluth, Minnesota ; George W. ; Olive and Andrew, both of whom live on the old homestead on North Bass; Rose, who is the wife of Nelson Stockwell, of Huron, Ohio, all being worthy representatives of some of the finest people who ever lived and labored on these islands.

George W. Wires, Jr., was born on North Bass Island, December 9, 1856. His home has alwaj's been on this island and he owns a fine farm here and has about twenty acres of vineyard, in addition to attending to this property, operating the old homestead. On December 7, 1886, he was married to Miss Eliza IMcDonald, of Kingsville, Ontario, and they have three children : Stanley, who was born December 10, 1887, is a marine engineer ; Lloyd, who was born November 2, 1889. resides at home and assists his father; and Mabel, who was born May 5, 1892. is the wife of Herbert Stickradt, residing at i\Iilan, Ohio. In politics IMr. Wires is a republican. For twenty years he has been a trustee and for twelve years a member of the school board. He belongs to no fraternal bodies, but both sons are members of Commodore Perry Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, at Port Clinton.

George M. Parks has given to Toledo its finest service as an undertaker and funeral director. Mr. Parks has been in that business for twenty-five years, his location being at 213-215 Main Street in the East End.

Mr. Parks, who was born at Perrysburg, in Wood County, Ohio, July 19, 1864, is a son of the late James J. Parks, long famous as a breeder and raiser of horses. He made a national reputation in that business, which, however, was partly in the nature of a diversion fi'om his main interests as a farmer. James J. Parks was born in Cumberland County, Penn.sylvania, and came to Ohio in 1859, locating in Wood County. He was a merchant there, also a farmer, and acquired very extensive interests, owning several large farms. The raising of blooded horses was his chief delight, and from his stables came a number of fine animals that made their records on the race tracks of the country. At times he had as many as 140 head of horses on his farm. He was very .successful in business affairs and along with thorough ability he possessed a genial disposition and other social qualities which drew to him a host of friends. His was an exemplary life, he was interested in politics and in the welfare of his fellow citizens. At one time he was elected to and represented his fellow men in the State Legislature several terms and was a stanch republican. In 1881 James J. Parks moved to Toledo and after that lived a retired life until his death in 1885. He married Catherine Collier, and they had a family of three sons and five daughters. Five of the children are still living.

The youngest of the family, George M. Parks was the last to leave home. He had his education in the public schools of Perrysburg and at the age of tweuty-one he came to Toledo. For four years Mr. Pa^s conducted a livery and sales stable in the city, and in 1891 entered the undertaking and embalming business at his present location, 213-215 Main Street. The success of that line is largely due to his progressive methods. He was the first operator to own and operate a private ambulance, and he has kept his equipment in every department up to the highest standards. He owns several automobile ambulances and

"While his best years have been devoted to his business and profession his public spirit has been awake to make him a participant in every movement for the civic welfare. He is a member of the East End Commercial Club, is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the National Union and the Foresters. He is a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Parks was married in Michigan May 13, 1886, to Miss Kate Rae Dresser. Her father was a native of IMaine, and Mrs. Parks is one of four children. Two children have been born to Mr. and IMrs. Parks. The older is Jes.sie June, married Charles George Emmert, and they have three children, one boy and two girls, Parks Dresser, Marjorie May and Bonnie Jean. The second child of Mr. and ]\Irs. Parks, Verna Ruth, is a student at Toledo University.

John Henry Andreas, who is now district manager at Findlay for the National Casualty Company of Detroit, is a man of unusual experiences and character. As a boj' he did more than dream about exploits in the Far West and answered the call of the wild, and for the best years of his life he was mining, prospecting, making hazardous trips over the mining fields of the Northwest and Alaska, and though his life has been passed in the comparatively peaceful times of the last half century he has been able to satisfy a thirst for adventure and excitement beyond the possibilities given to most men.

Mr. Andreas was born on a farm at Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio, in 1865, a son of John R. and Mary Ann (Collar) Andreas. He is of Scotch and French ancestry and his forefathers came to America with General Lafayette to fight the battle of independence for the colonies.

Mr. Andreas spent his early years on his father's fariy, attended the country schools, and for two terms was a student in the Valparaiso Normal in Indiana.

He was seventeen when he took his first trip to the Far West. He became an employe of the Anaconda Mining Company in ]\Iontana and during the four years spent with that company he was advanced in responsibilities until he was made superintendent of a department. He left the Anaconda Company to become a prospector for gold, silver and lead in the mountains of Idaho.

In 1887 Mr. Andreas and his brother, Frank, discovered and promoted the great Franklin gold mine at Pine, Elmore County, Idaho. That is a mine which has been worked now steadily for nearly thirty years and is still a producer. After four years Mr. Andreas sold his half interest to his brother, and locating at Lincoln, Nebraska, became identified with the trade paper. Western Resources, and from that city as his headquarters he also promoted various mining properties for a year. In 1893 he removed to Chicago and continued his business as a mining promoter. For several j^ears Mr. Andreas lived at Bowling Green, Ohio, conducted a restaurant four years, but in 1897, with the first news from the great Klondike region in Alaska, he contracted his services in the interests of a syndicate of Bowling Green men and went to the Far North as a mining expert to report on prospects. After three years spent in the Klondike region he returned to Bowling Green in 1900. The following two years he leased and operated some oil land, and after that was once more in Idaho, promoting gold, silver and lead mines. He remained in Idaho until 1904. For a time he was in the real estate business at Boise, Idaho, and the years 1910 to 1913 were spent at Atlanta, Georgia, as a land agent and colonizer in Northwestern Florida lands. Another year was spent at Gibsonburg, Ohio, where he was a laud promoter and photographer. In 1916 Mr. Andreas came to Findlay and became district manager for the Findlay-Tiffin district of the National Casualty Company of Detroit. His ability to work hard has already brought him three honors as a business getter for the company, and a fourth honor will soon be awarded him.

A few years ago Mr. Andreas took an unusual plea'sure trip. With a dog sled he went over the snow and ice, with limited provisions and with adventure and excitement on almost every mile of the journey, to Point Barrow, Alaska.

In 1895 he married Villa Moore, daughter of Randle IMoore, of Bowling Green, Ohio. By that marriage he has a daughter, Leah Moore, now twenty-one years of age. For his present wife Jlr. Andreas married Cora of Selma, Alabama. They were married in 1910. Their two children are: Jean, born in 1911, and Mary Lorinda, born in 1916. Mr. Andreas is a republican voter.

W. C. Fisher, after a long and thorough business training and experience at Lima, came to St. Marys in 1902, the year the Glass Block Company was incorporated and the depai'tmeut store established, and became bookkeeper with the lirm and is now its secretary and treasurer and general manager.

The Glass Block Company, which has a capital of $60,UU0, is one of the largest and most complete department stores in Northwest Ohio outside the City of Toledo. The kind of service which begins with reliable merchandise and almost unlimited stock to select from, together with good salesmanship and wide advertising, has made this store the center of a trade which is by no means limited to Auglaize County. It has seven distinct departments, with the one price system prevailing throughout, and with nothing but the best quality of merchandise displayed on the counters and on the floors. The departments are dry goods, ladies' ready-to-wear garments, furniture, stoves, pianos and phonographs, queensware and the bargain basement. . Over 37,000 square feet of floor space are devoted to these different departments, and the store occupies a building three stories and basement, 75 by 125 feet, the structure having been planned and built especially for this business.

W. C. Fisher gives all his time and energies to the conduct of this splendid business, and his personal management has been a large factor in the company "s success. He was born in Lafayette, Ohio, November 30, 1872, a son of James M. and Rachel (Nash) Fisher. His grandfather, Emanuel Fisher, came from his native state of Pennsylvania to Perry County, Ohio, in the early days, subsequently removing to Allen County, where he died. He was a country merchant, and merchandising has been the prevailing line of business followed in the family for several generations. Emanuel Fislier also served two terms as county treasurer of Allen County. The maternal grandfather, John Na.sh, was also an early settler in Allen County and was a farmer. James M. Fisher was born in Perry County, Ohio, in 18-45, and died in July, 1915. His wife was born at Lafayette, Ohio, in 1846, and is still living. They were married in Allen County. James M. Fisher for over twenty years was in the groceiy business at Lima. He was a well read and educated man, and always progressive in his citizenship. He was a democrat and a member of the Lutheran Church. There were three children : Emmett

After getting his education in the Lima public schools W. C. Fisher became clerk in a furniture store at Lima, and spent TYo years carefully laying the foundations for his future career. After that for three years he was assistant secretary of the Lima Waterworks. In 1902 he came to St. Marys, became bookkeeper of the Glass Block Company, was advanced to other responsibilities and since September 1, 1915, has been manager of the company, is one of its stockholders and is secretary and treasurer, ilr. Fisher was married in February, 1917, to Clara Caroline Stadder, native of St. Marys, Ohio. He is affiliated with the Masonic oi'der, the Independent Oi'der of Odd Fellows, the Lutheran Church, and is a democrat in polities.

David Armstrong, Jr., whose career as a lawyer has begun with great promise at St. Marys, was admitted to the bar in 1914, and was not long in securing recognition and standing in the bar of his native community. In 1915 he was elected city solicitor of St. Marys, and he gives all his time to that ofSee and to his growing practice.

He was born at St. Marys March 20, 1891, was graduated from the high school of his native city in 1909, attended Wooster College for two years, and for three years was a student of law in the University of Michigan. ;\Ir. Armstrong is unmarried, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, is a democrat in polities, and fraternally is affiliated with the Blue Lodge, the Royal Arch Chapter and the Council of Masonry, and is a member of Wapakoneta lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

He represents some old and honored names of Auglaize County. His grandfather, David Armstrong, Sr., was a native of Virginia, came to Auglaize County, Ohio, in the '40s, and for more than sixty years has been a successful merchant, is still active and is one of the oldest business men in Auglaize County and the oldest merchant at St. Marys, where he has a large dry goods and carpet store. He is a democrat, has been quite active in party affairs, and has served as a member of the town council of St. Marys.

R. H. Armstrong, father of David Armstrong, Jr., was born at St. Marys in 1860. and after a common school education took up business life with his father, with whom he was associated for ten years, and since 1891 has been in the shoe business at St. Marys for himself. He still gives all his time and energies to his business affairs. He is a democrat and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He. was married at St. Marys to Miss Anna Birk, who was born at Wapakoneta, Ohio, in 1870, a daughter of Jacob Birk, who was born in the same locality and was a farmer until he entered the Union army during the Civil war. After he had been out for nearly two years he received a wound, on account of which he was given his honorable discharge, and his death was the direct result of this injury incurred while fighting the battles of his country. R. H. Armstrong and wife are the parents of five children : Fredonia, at home ; David ; Anna Birk, now in Miami University at Oxford, Ohio ; Henrietta, a teacher ; and Louise, still attending the grade schools.

Charles H. Neumeier. "When a young man Charles H. Neumeier learned the cigar maker's trade. He learned it well and thoroughly, became an expert individual workman, and in time was promoted to responsibilities of oversight and direction of other makers.

His executive ability and his general all around knowledge and expertness in the cigar business were well attested when a few years ago he was appointed superintendent of the St. Marys plant of the Deisel-Wenner Company, one of the largest and most successful cigar making concerns in America. They manufacturer the celebrated San Felice and El Verso cigars. The plant at St. Marys employs 200 people, and it makes more than 8,000,000 cigars a year. The company has various plants over Northwest Ohio, and the one at St. Marys was established about 2V2 years ago. Mr. Neumeier has shown a great deal of ability and has been largely responsible for the success of the industry at St. Marys.

He was born at Wapakoneta October 28, 1881, a son of Andrew and Catherine (Fisher) Neumeier. His paternal grandfather, Andrew Neumeier came from Germany and was an early settler in Auglaize County, where Andrew, Jr., was born in 1847. The mother was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, near Dayton, in 1849. They were married in Wapakoneta, and are still living there. Andrew Neumeier learned the carpenter's trade as a young man and has followed it all his active career. The family are members of the Catholic Church and he is a democrat in politics. Of the nine children six are still living: Charles H. ; Loretta, wife of Clem Hartman, a jeweler at Wapakoneta; Amelia, wife of Ralph Cleaves, agent for the American Express Company at Marysville, Ohio; Raymond, in the National Cash Register Company at Dayton, Ohio; Harry, who is employed in an ammunition plant at Dayton; and Robert, still at home.

Charles H. Neumeier grew up in Wapakoneta and gained his early education in the public and parochial schools. He is a graduate of the College of Mechano-Therapy of Chicago, Illinois, and also of the Scranton Correspondence School, taking, a course in ;\Iechanical Drafting. In 1904 he married Miss Estella Burden, who was box-u near Wapakoneta. They have three children: Edwena, Don and Bob. They worship in the English Lutheran Church, and Jlr. Neumeier takes much interest in Masonry, being affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter and Council, and has filled the post of senior deacon.

John M. Rowland. One of the distinctions of John M. Rowland, now living in Deshler, is that he is the oldest native son still living of Richfield Township, Henry County. It was more than three score and ten years ago, on May 13, 1846, that he was born in a little log cabin which stood on section 23 of that township. His was an industrious lifetime and he made vigorous application of his energies to the business of farming on the very section on which he was born. His home was never beyond the limits of that section until he removed, in April, 1916, to the town of Deshler, where he now has a comfortable residence and enjoys the conveniences of the town. He had acquired an ample competence for his future needs and he and his wife sold their forty acre farm before moving to the town.

The land which he worked so successfully and with such profit year after year and season after season was a tract which he and his wife cleared up from the heavy woods and had drained from the swampy condition in which they had first found it. Mr. and Mrs. Rowland's first home there was a log cabin, not greatly different from the humble home in which John M. Rowland first saw the light of day. An ambition to get a home is one of the strongest driving powers that influence human activities. John il. Rowland when he started home life of his own had little money, and while he provided for his material necer- sities by working in a sawmill nearby he spent several hours every night clearing and grubbing and gradually extending the area of cultivation. In those early years times were hard, money was scarce, and the rewards of toil were only a small per cent of what they are today.

Mr. Rowland is a son of Silas and Catherine (Stotler) Rowland, both of whom are natives of Stark County, Ohio, and of Pennsylvania parentage. His paternal grandparents, John and Polly Rowland, were farmers in Stark County, were of the sterling old Scotch Presbyterian stock, and they lived long and useful lives, dying when past eighty years of age. John Rowland was a whig and subsequently became a republican.

Silas Rowland was the oldest in a family of five sons and two daughters, all of whom grew up and married and all are now deceased except Thomas, who is eighty years of age and is living in Damascus Township of Henry County, having spent his life as a farmer. His wife is now deceased, but he has children living. Silas Rowland and wife were married in Stark County, Ohio, and for their honeymoon they made the journey to Henry Coiuity with wagon drawn by ox team. Silas Rowland had previously acquired a tract of land from the government in Henry County, pajdng $1.25 per acre. Many years later that same land sold for $200 an acre. They journeyed to Henry County with a minimum of possessions. The wagon had a small stock of bedding and other household goods, and among the implements they brought the axe and the grubbing hoe were perhaps the chief. Their cash capital amounted to only seventyfive cents. Section 23 in Richfield Township was then remote and an almost unbroken wilderness. They had to scale and clear a road for the passage of their wagon and team through the forest, and in the midst of the heavy timber and in the swamp land they built a log cabin, the chinks daubed with mud, a stick and mud chimney, a puncheon floor, a roof of clapboards bound down with weight poles, while the wooden door, merely a big puncheon, swung on wooden hinges. At one end of this cabin was a wide deep and open fireplace, in which swung a crane from which the pots and kettles were suspended. In that fireplace all the cooking was done. Around them the woods extended for seven or eight miles in every direction. Wild game abounded and Indians were not infrequent visitors at the little cabin. Mrs. Silas Rowland never saw a white face, except that of her husband for eighteen months in a stretch. She finally met an old gentleman named Bobby Dukes of East Milton, Ohio, and meeting him was a wonderful event in varying the monotony of pioneer isolation. The 160 acres in Richfield Township they eventually cleared, replaced the log cabin with a good frame house and barn, and it was classed as one of the niosl productive farms in that neighborhood, growing abundant crops of corn, oats, hay, potatoes and other crops. The land was just sandy enough to be pei-fect for all purposes qJl crop growing. Here Silas Rowland died in 1872. He was ' born about 1815. His widow survived him about twenty years and passed away at Delta, Ohio, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ella Benier. She was then a vei-y old woman. Both she and her husband were active members of the Presbyterian Church. Silas Rowland became a republican upon the organization of that party and for eight years served as justice of the peace.

In the simple home surroundings above described John M. Rowland spent the first twenty-three years of his life. He hac| such limited education -as was supplied by the local schools of his day. At the age of twentythree he was married at the home of his bride, a simple log cabin, to Margaret Walker. Mrs. Rowland was born in Delaware County, Ohio, December 14, 1844, and she was t\^enty-three years of age when she removed to Richfield Township of Henry county. She taught school in this county before her marriage. Her parents were Harvey and Frances (Thurston) Walker, both natives of Delaware County, where they were married. Mr. Walker became a practical farmer. His first wife, the mother of Mrs. Rowland, died in 1857 in the prime of life. She left two sons, John and Octavius, and daughters Ruth, Frances and Mrs. Rowland. Mr. Walker married for his second wife Mrs. Harriet Greenley, whose maiden name was Main They then removed to Richfield Township of Henry County, locating on a farm, where Mr. Walker died eight years later. He was then about sixty years of age. His second wife survived him a number of years but was not an old woman when she died. The Walkers were also active members of the Methodist Church and were faithful people and excellent neighbors. Mr. Walker was a republican.

and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. Silas Harvey is a farmer at Westhope in Henry County and by his marriage to Lillie Rodgers has a son Orville, now twenty-tlu'ee years of age and a farmer. The third child, Arthur, died at the age of eight mouths. Nellie is the wife of Edward Rogers, a tile manufacturer in Richfield Township, and their children are Marie, Lawrence, Helen, Clyde, Ethel and Opal. Homer E. is a general merchant at Westhope, Ohio, and he and his wife have three sous and one daughter living. Otto is connected with the Adams Express Company in Chicago, is married and has a daughter^ Virginia A. Mr. John M. Rowland is a republican, having begun to vote with that party when it was still a young organization, and has never deviated from the political faith in which he was reared.

Charles L. Hunter has been busied with those things that make up a newspaper man's life, everything from standing at the case and setting type to the writing of editorials and business management, for the greater part of his active career. He has spent altogether fully twenty-seven years in this line of work.

His home and associations since childhood have been around St. Marys. He is now the honored postmaster of that little city. He was born there January 6, 1869, a son of Anderson R. and Julia A. (Emerick) Hunter. The Huntej-s were originally a Scotch family. Both the Hunters and Emericks came to Ohio from New England. Anderson R. Hunter was born in Stark County, Ohio, August 22, 1824, and died in 1892. "During the war he served as provost marshal, was a democrat in politics, and filled several minor town and village offices. His principal occupation was butcher and stock buj^er. He was known as a man of integrity and his many years of hard work were rewarded in a competence. He was married at St. Marys, and his wife, who was born in Mercer County, Ohio, in 1845. is still living, and an active member of the United Brethren Church. To their marriage were bom eleven children, and the eight now living are : Anderson R., a sawmill man ; Charles L. ; James L., who is an oil well driller at Tulsa, Oklahoma; John G., a chain maker at St. Marys; Nancy, wife of Dorsey Howe, of St. Marys; Norvil, a painter and paper hanger; Russell A., in the butcher business and farming at St. Marys; and Wilbur S., a machinist at New Bremen.

the St. ;Marys High School. His first occupation was that of a printei-, and from that he gravitated into general newspaper work. For a number of years he was editor of the St. JIarys Leader, and was also associated with D. A. Clark in the weekly Argus at St. Marys. He was one of the men who established the Evening Leader, and successfully managed it and edited it for eight years.

On March 28, 1914, Mr. Hunter was appointed postmaster of St. Marys, and has since given his principal time and attention to the duties of that office. On July 4, 1891, he married Matilda Caldwell, who was born near St. Marys. Three of their four children are living: Julia, who graduated from high school in 1910, is also a graduate of the Columbia College of Expression in Chicago; Robert G., a linotype operator at Stubenville, Ohio; and ilarie, who is a graduate of high school with the class of 1914. The daughter, Hannah A., died aged eleven years. Mrs. Hunter and her children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has always taken much interest in fraternal afi'airs, is affiliated with Mercer Lodge, No. 121, Free and Accepted Masons, St. Marys Chapter No. 51, Royal Arch Masons, St. JIarys Council No. 81, Royal and Select Masters, with the Consistory of the Scottish Rite at Dayton, is a past master in the Blue Lodge, and is now secretary, and also secretary of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Council, and a member and past worthy patron of Hawthorne Chapter No. 119, Order Eastern Star. Mr. Hunter is a member of Shawnee Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and St. ilarys Encampment, and has been through the various chairs of both these bodies of Odd Fellowship and is a member of Earnest Rebekah Lodge No. 299. He was a district representative in the state encampment for six years.

In newspaper work Mr. Hunter showed an ability to write forcefully and with a broad comprehension of current affairs, and has himself been a leader in local politics for a numl)er of years. He is a democrat.

Guy E. Noble, M. D., of St. Marys, is one of four brothers, all of whom are doing commendable work as physicians, and it is doubtful if any one family in Northwestern Ohio is better represented in the medical profession today than the Nobles. The other brothers are Harry S., Nathan Vernon and Walter A. Walter is a specialist in the diseases of

Through the various generations the Noble family has been identified with Northwestern Ohio since pioneer times. The founder of the family here was Elisha Noble, who was born in Maryland, moved to Clinton County, Ohio, and afterwards to Mercer County, which was later included in Auglaize County, where he died. Originally the Nobles came from England. Henry S. Noble, son of Elisha, was born in Clinton County, Ohio, August 26, 1811, a date which in itself fixes the early residence of the family in this part of the state. He came to Auglaize County in 1837, bought eighty acres of land, and was a successful and prosperous pioneer farmer, leaving a large estate, consisting of 320 acres, at his death. He was a Mason, a democrat who filled various township offices, and with his wife worshiped in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married in Clinton County, Ohio, Cynthia A. Roberts, who died in 1858. Her father, William Roberts, was born in Maryland and died in Clinton County, Ohio. Henry S. Noble, who died March 22, 1879, was the father of three children, all of them now deceased except Albion V. Noble.

Albion V. Noble was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, February 5, 1851, was educated in the district schools of Noble Township and at an early age began working on the farm. He has been a farmer all his active career and he lived on the old homestead until 1911, when he retired to his town home in St. Marys. As a democrat he has been quite active in county politics, filled the office of justice of the peace twenty-one years, and for a number of years was a member of the school board. He married Mattie Wlieatstone, who was born and reared in Allen County, Ohio. They were married in Auglaize County. Besides their four sons who are physicians and have ah'eady been named they were the parents of four other children : Luella, wife of V. A. Caldwell, a major in the regular United States Army and a graduate of West Point Military Academy ; Frank, who is a farmer in Auglaize County; Gynette, wife of A. W. Graver, an attorney at Youngstown; and Stafford S., a machinist in Youngstown.

Dr. Guy E. Noble was born on a farm three miles north of St. Marys June 22, 1881. He spent his early life on the farm, and graduated from St. Marys High School in 1900, and then entered Starling Medical College at

Columbus, where he took his degree in 1905. He soon afterward located at St. Marys and began pi-actice with his brother, Harry, and they have continued as a firm ever since and have as good standing and as large a practice as any other firm of doctors in the county. The firm of Noble & Noble now consists of Harry S., Guy E. and N. Vernon Noble, the latter having entered the firm in 1917. He is a graduate of Starling Medical College, class of 1911.

In April, 1916, Dr. Guy Noble married Hazel Kelehner, who had been a trained nurse at Lima. Doctor Noble is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Marys, while his wife retains membership in the United Brethren Church at Lima. Fraternally he is a Roj-al Arch and Consistory Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Auglaize County and State Medical societies, and the American Medical Association, and in politics is a democrat.

Albert Hebzing. The greatest and most important industry at St. Marys, and one of the most distinctive concerns in its line in the State of Ohio, is the St. ]Marys Woolen Manufacturing Company, of which Albert Herziug is president. His father, the late Philip V. Herzing, was the fii'st president of that business. This company employs a capital stock of $300,000. It has a large plant, furnishing employment to a considerable part of the working population, at St. Marys, wtith B large payroll annually, and the output is almost explicitly a fine line of woolen blankets. There is not another company in the LTnited States that manufactures superior blankets to those that are produced at St. Marys. It is a business that has been built up by many years of careful attention to details and the excellence of the output, and any man might be proui to occupy the position of president of the company.

The Herziug family has been identified with Auglaize County for a great many years. Albert Herzing was born at St. Mai-ys October 15, 1859, a son of Philip Y. and Elis'e (Pauck) Herzing. His father was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1808, was a graduate of the German L'niversity of Wurzbui-g, and was a highly polished and cultui-ed gentleman, as well as an able business executive. He came to the United States in young manhood, and was married at Cincinnati in 1842 to Miss Pauek, who was born in Belefeld, Prussia, in 1824, and died in 1911. Before coming to America Philip Herzing served in the customs service. From Cincinnati he removed to Wapakoueta, where he conducted a general store for a time. "When he came to St. Marys he was still a poor man, and his big success in life was won in this locality. For a time he was in the hardware business, but afterwards engaged in the flouring mill business and other enterprises. On the i-eorganization of the St. Marys Woolen Manufacturing Company he became th-e first president and directed its affairs for many years. His success in business naturally brought him into prominence in local affairs. He was a member of the St. Marys School Board, served as collector of port at St. Marys, and for four times in succession was elected a member of the state board of public works, being the only citizen to be thus distinguished by repeated re-elections. He was a republican, a member of St. Paul's German Reform Church, and a very early member of St. Marys Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His death occurred in 1883. Of his nine children, the two now living are Mrs. Julia Stephan, a widow, at St. Marys, and Albert Herzing.

Albert Herzing grew up in St. Marj's, attended the public schools there, and in 1876 entered the woolen mills, where he remained nine months, familiarizing himself with all its technical processes and business management. After that he was employed in a bank for a year, but finally returned to the mills, and has assumed all the various grades of responsibility to president. Mr. Herzing is a member of St. Paul's Reform Church and in politics is a republican.

March 16, 1882, he married Fredericka Moser. Her father, John Jacob Moser, was an early settler at Wapakoneta, where for a number of years he was in the jewelry business. Mr. and Mrs. Herzing have four children: Helen, wife of Walter E. Meyer, a hardware merchant at St. Marys; Norma, wife of Dr. C. W. Clark, a chemist at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Wanda, wife of Lowell P. Rietger, assistant secretary of the Mead Pulp & Paper Company of Dayton, Ohio ; and Philip, who is now fifteen years of age and is in the third year of the local high school.

Clarence W. Springer bears some of the important responsibilities of the industrial activities of St. Marys. In 1898 he came off his father's farm and entered the shop of the St. Marys Wheel and Spoke Company, and by solving the various problems as presented and by inviting added responsibilities from time to time he has been promoted until he is now assistant manager of that large business.

This firm has a national if not international reputation as manufacturers of vehicle wheels, wheel material, carriage woodstock and hardwood lumber.

Mr. Springer was born in Mercer County, Ohio, January 6, 1879, grew up on the old homestead in Mercer County, attended the high school at Celina and also took a course in the business college at Lima, Ohio, for two years. It was with this educational equipment that he entered the plant of the' St. Marys Wheel and Spoke Company.

Mr. Springer is a worthy descendant of one of the oldest and most illustrious families in America and in Europe. There is not a missing link in the lineage from the cradle of today back to some of the renowned royal families of the middle ages. The family annals are made conspicuous by such names as Alfred the Great, Henry the Fowler, Otho the Illustrious, the Czar and Grand Duchess of Russia, and even further back to old Charlemagne in 742 A. D., whose father was Pepin the Short, born 714, and died 768. The family headlines go even further back to 420 A. D. It is indeed a remarkable family that can trace its ancestry back to Charlemagne who reigned over the Franks for forty-seven years, conquered and Christianized his enemies, and was one of the builders of modern Europe. There is an authentic Springer coat of arms and many other relics and memento&s of their historic and illustrious ancestry.

The origin of the name Springer is traced to Louis II, a military officer who incurred the enmity of his emperor, Henry IV. Because of unjust suspicions concerning his character and motives, he was imprisoned in the old Castle of Giebiekenstein. 100 feetJ above the River Saale. No attempt was madel to bring him to trial, since it was known thatj he was innocent and the purpose in imprisoning him was merely to keep him out of the! way on account of his popularity. In 1089j he made his escape by an adventurous leap, or spring, from the tall battlements of thel castle into the Saale River. He came from the! water apparently unhurt. Captured and!

taken before the Emperor Henry, the latter expressed a great surprise at his courage and pardoned him outright. Prom that incident he received the surname Springer, and was thenceforward known as Louis II, The Springer. This Louis the Springer was born in 1042 and died in 1128. He built Wartburg Castle. His son, Louis III, succeeded him as Landgrave of Thuringia. His son, Christopher Louis I, was named Count Springer and presented with Waldenburg in Silesia by Emperor Henry IV.

While the descendants of Louis the Springer became scattered throughout the civilized world, many of them remained in Germany. Christopher Christlieb Christian Springer, born in 1550, died in 16.30 at Lamstedt, Province of Hanover, Germany. Christopher, his son, was born at Lamstedt in 1592, emigrated to Stockholm, Sweden, and at Upsala and Westergotland owned seven taxable farms and was endowed by the king with two county seats and owned other vast estates with heavy bank accounts at Stockholm. He died in 1669. His widow was his third wife, and she was given by his will the rental of his vast estate, without depriving the half sister, Christina of Russia, and her half brother, Lorentz, of any of their inherited rights. The only children of his third wife to have issue were Charles Christopher Springer, born 1658, and Lorentz, a half brother, born in 1646.

The American line begins with Charles Christopher Springer, last named. While attending college in London, England, and at a time when emigration to America was brisk, he was invited aboard one of the emigrant ships, and while busily reveling in a last farewell to some of his friends the ship pulled anchor and was out to sea before he knew it. He made the best of the situation, worked out part of his passage and arranged a loan from a Virginia planter aboard for the balance with a contract to woi'k on his plantation until he was repaid. He landed in Virginia, where he fulfilled his obligation to the planter. Learning of the Swedish colony at what is now Wilmington, Delaware, he started alone through the wilds of Virginia, and after many days of travel and hardship reached his destination, overjoyed to be among his native people.

He soon became prominently engaged in the business affairs of what is now the City of Wilmington. A man of deep religious convictions, he set about to build what remains today of Old Swedes Church, completed in 1698. His name with others is signed to a contract guaranteeing the brick mason, Joseph Yard of Philadelphia, dated May 19, 1698; also on the first subscription after his name appeared the amount, £6, about $30. Under a list of labor donated the pastor makes note : "Charles Springer is not reckoned for any work in his account, though in some days assisting the carpenters, he has from the beginning to the end been engaged in various journeys gathering material, such as brick, lime, nails, boards and other things, in Philadelphia, Upland, Sandy Hook and Maryland, devoting days and wcrks absent from his own home, at his dwii fx|>.'iisp, and with his own horse and witliout the least expense to the congregation." (Records Old Swedes

Church, pages 44 to 50, translated from the original Swedish record.) Much of the success of the colony and the future prosperity attained was due to his efforts in connection with others like him.

He was married in 1692 at Wilmington to Maria Hendricks. She died March 13, 1727, and on June 13th of the same year he married Anika Walraven. His children were all by his first wife : Rebecca, 1692 ; Magdalena, 1694; Christopher, 1696; Jacob, 1698; John, 1700; James, 1703; Joseph, 1709; Charles, 1722.

The present generation of the Springer family in Northwest Ohio has Springer blood on both sides. This is due to the following "loop" in the genealogical records. A sister of the George Springer mentioned above was born in 1763, married a member of the Past family, and became the mother of Jacob Fast, Sr. Jacob Fast, Sr., married for his first and second wife Sally and Catharine, respectively, both the children of George Springer, 1763. Sally was born in 1798 and Catharine in 1794. The children of Jacob Fast, Sr., were: Phillip, Sally, Rebecca, Simon and Jacob, Jr. Jacob Past, Jr., was born January 22, 1820, and died January 7, 1872. By his marriage to Barbara Stuck he had Sarah, Amanda, Christina, Mary, Ellen, Jacob Charles, Benjamin and Phoebe Ann

Now to take the other side of the "loop." Jacob Springer, 1788, sou of George, died October 4, 1855. His children were : John, 1812; Jacob, 1811; Andrew, 1817; Henry, 1819; Catherine, 1822; and Abraham, who was born April 14, 1824, and died December 7, 1899. Abraham Springer's children were: David, Levi, Abraham, Rebecca, Kaziah Jane Lucy and Joseph Springer. The last named Joseph Springer was born ' September 11, 1856, and married Phoebe Ann Fast.

Both Joseph Springer and his wife Phoebe Ann (Fast) Springer are still living. They were born in Mercer County, and Joseph has made a gi-atifying success of his life, having started as a poor man and for a number of years has been engaged in the manufacturing business near Celina, but is now living on his farm practically retired. He is a republican, has served on the school board for a number of years, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellojws, and he and his wife belong to the United Brethren Church. Both of them worked hard and denied themselves many luxuries as young people in order to provide for the education and training of their large family of ten children, six sons and four daughters.

The names of these children, all of whom are living, are as follows : Clarence Wilfred Springer, born January 6, 1879, and mentioned at the head of this sketch. Elnora Esther, born March 5, 1880, married Aquilla Shupp and resides at Mercer, Ohio. Dennis S. Springer, born May 15, 1881, unmarried, and now serving in Company K of the Second Regiment Ohio National Guard on the Mexican border. Ashley B. Springer, born July 30, 1883, unmarried, and living at Celina, Ohio, where he is assistant manager of the Celina ]Manufacturing Company. Walter L., born March 26, 1886, employed at the Celina Manufacturing Companj' in Celina, where he resides, and is married. Russell C. Springer, born September 15, 1887, married and residing on a farm near Neptune, Ohio. ]\Iary E. Springer, born July 1, 1890, married M. Duse and resides in Celina. Barbara Alice Springer, born February 28, 1892, unmarried and a stenographer in Toledo. Lawrence N. Springer, born September 19, 1893, married and residing near Mendon, Ohio, on a farm. Elsie Hannah Springer, born May 19, 1897, unmarried, and attending Oxford College.

Marys Wheel and Spoke Company Clarence W. Springer is secretary of the Celina Manufacturing Company of Celina, is second vice president of the W^heatley Spoke Company of Wheatley, Arkansas, and president of the Hardwoods Product Company, Incorporated, at Itta Bena, ilississippi.

On October 9, 1900, Clarence W. Springer married Miss Katharine Gertrude Makley, who was born November 16, 1878, daughter of George Makley, a blacksmith and carriage maker of St. Marys. Their five children, all except the oldest now in school, are: Paul Makley Springer, born March 22, 1903 ; Mary ilagdaliu Springer, born January 27, 1906; Charles Christoper Springer, born May 6, 1907 ; JIary Gertrude Springer, born July 8, 1908 ; and Robert Wilfred Springer, born September 29, 1916. Mrs. Springer is a member of the Catholic Church. In politics he is a republican and fraternallv is affiliated with the Tribe of Ben Hur.

L. G. Neely, of St. Marys, is one of the men who have supplied the personal initiative and energy and the material resources to the development of the oil deposits of Ohio and Indiana. He was one of the men who made the oil district around Lima, and is today probably the foremost oil man in the State of Ohio. Those acquainted with his resources say that he controls more active capital than any other man in Auglaize County.

He practically grew up in the oil industry. His father in the early days of the oil business in Pennsylvania was employed as a laborer in the wells, and though he provided as best he could for the family, L. G. Neely did not have a youth surrounded by luxury and all the advantages, and has practically carved his own destiny in the world.

L. G. Neely was born in Clarion County, Pennsjdvania, May 31, 1861. He belongs to a very old family of German descent. His great-grandfather, Paul Neely, was born in Prussia, came to this country when young, and was killed as a soldier in one of the battles of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Neely 's grand father, Henry Neely, was born in Westmore land County, Pennsylvania, and served as i captain in the War of 1812. In 1805 he went into one of the wilderness districts of Penn sylvania and cleared up a farm by the sti'enU' ous exertions of his body.

who was born in Pennsylvania in 1816 and died in 1S78. Her father, David Sigworth, was a native of Germany and after coming to Pennsylvania married a Miss Henlen, and followed farming. Jesse and Mary Neely had eleven children, and the five now living are: Agnes, widow of Henry Clover and living at St. Marys; Esther, who lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the widow of J. C. Forgie ; Rose, wife of Henry C. Smullin, who has been in the oil bitsiness all his life and lives in St. iMarys; Henry M., formerly an oil worker and now a farmer at Red Key, Indiana ; and L. G. Neely. The parents were active members of the German Reformed Church, the father was an Odd Fellow and in polities a democrat.

With only a district school education, L. G. Neely gained his first experience in the oil industry at the age of fifteen. He learned every phase of it, from the dressing of tools to the drilling of wells, and later as a contractor and producer.

He became identified with the Ohio fields when he located at Lima December 17, 1885. As much as any other man he helped in the actual development of that important oil field. In August, 1887, he came to St. Marys, and began drilling wells in that vicinity. His success has not been due to luck, but to shrewd management and foresight, and during the past thirty years he has helped finance some of the biggest oil producing centers in Ohio and Indiana. He also developed mineral wells at Martinsville, Indiana. Mr. Neely is a director in the First National Bank at St. Marys and the St. Marys Trust Company and the Lima Trust Company.

In March, 1886, he married Carrie M. Jamison, who was bom in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Neely have had four children: Jessie, wife of Freeman T. Egleson, an attorney practicing law at Columbus, Ohio ; Harold G., who lives at home with his parents; and Clarence Lee and an infant daughter deceased. '

Mr. Neely has attained the supreme thirtythird degree in Scottish Rite Masonry, is a member of the Royal Order of Scotland, is a Knight Templar and Shriner. and also a Knight of Pythias. Politically he is a democrat, and formerly served one term in the State Legislature and for one year was a member of the board of managers of the Ohio penitentiary.

Charles E. Fisher. There is no better known or more highly esteemed citizen of Auglaize County than Charles E. Fisher, who represents one of the old and solid families of Wapakoneta, and whose activities have brought him into close connection with the business affairs of his native city. Mr. Fisher is now serving as deputy county auditor, his term expiring October 15, 1917, and he will then take over the oflice of county auditor.

He was born in Wapakoneta December 22, 1870, a son of Anthony and Anna T. (Wiss) Fisher. His paternal grandparents, John and Mary Fisher, were born respectively in Bavaria, Germany, and New Riegel, Ohio. Grandfather Fisher at one time owned the ground where the county infirmary of Auglaize County is now located. He was one of the very early settlers here, followed the butcher business for many years, and both he and his wife died at Wapakoneta. He was a prominent and influential citizen in his time and generation. The maternal grandparents of Charles E. Fislier were John and Catherine Wiss. John Wiss, who was a native of Alsace-Lorraine, France, came to America at an early day, spent a number of years in Columbiana County, Ohio, where he was married, and from there brought his family to Auglaize County, where he died. By trade he was a shoemaker. His wife was a native of Ireland, and belonged to a Protestant family of Orange affiliations. Mr. Wiss was a Catholic, and after her marriage she joined that church and became very devoiit. She lived to be ninety-two years of age. The late Anthony Fisher was born in Auglaize County January 16, 1847, and died in June, 1897. He became widely known over the county, and all who knew him Ijad a warmth of admiration and affection for his many genial qualities of mind and heart. At the time of his death he was in the hotel business. He started in life poor and his constant generosity and helpfulness to every one who came within the range of his influence kept him a comparatively poor man all his days so far as material circimistances were concerned, though he earned a great wealth of esteem and left his children an honored name. He was a democrat, and for two terms served as city marshal of Wapakoneta. In early life he learned the trade of butcher. His wife was born in Auglaize County December 25, 1850, and is still living. She is a member of the Catholic Church. Of the six children of Anthony Fisher and wife the four now living are : Charles E. ; Joseph F., who is proprietor of the Burnett House at Wapakoneta; Mary L., wife of Joshua Bailey, who is connected with the Auglaize Mausoleum Company at Wapakoneta; Anna C. Schaefer, a widow, lives at Wapakoneta and is employed under the State Industrial Commission as inspector of workshops and factories over a large part of the state.

Charles B. Fisher was reared in Wapakoneta, was graduated from the high school May 18, 1888, and since then has been diligently achieving his own destiny in the world and has been noted as a hard and conscientious worker. For two years he studied law, but gave up his plan to make that a profession. He has followed different lines of business and spent a short time in Dayton and Piqua, Ohio. On returning to Wapakoneta he managed a hotel for a time, afterward was an insurance man, and for eight years was on the road as a traveling salesman for cigars. For nine months he was steward of the Elks Club at Wapakoneta.

Much of his time in recent years has been taken up with official duties. He entered the tax department of the county as tax clerk in the district assessor's office in 1913 and for the past two years has been chief deputy under the district tax commissioner. In August, 1916, he was nominated on the democratic ticket for the office of county auditor and was elected to the office at the election held the following November.

On November 5, 1891, Mr. Fisher married Molly M. Burley, daughter of David Burley, who was a veterinary surgeon. Mrs. Fisher was born in Lima, Ohio. They have a family of three children : Frank J., proprietor of a barber shop at Wapakoneta; David A., associated in business with his brother; and Adelia, who graduated from the high school in 1914, and is now employed by the Timmermeister & Rogers Company.

Fraternally Mr. Fisher has been frequently honored by chairs in the various orders to which he belongs. He has been junior warden and secretary of Masonic Lodge No. 169, is affiliated with the Royal Arch Chapter, Council No. 51, Royal and Select Masters. He is a member of Wapakoneta Lodge No. 1170, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Lodge No. 691, Fraternal Order Eagles; Auglaize Lodge No. 168, Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; Council No. 17 of the United Commercial Travelers at Lima, and the Travelers Health Association at Omaha,

Nebraska. He was the first president of the local organization of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is a past Noble Grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At one time he was president and secretary of the Northwestern Ohio Volunteer Fireman's Association.

He has long been one of the recognized leaders in democratic politics in Auglaize County. He served as city clerk of Wapakoneta, and also as township clefk.

Rev. Willi.\m Russ. Numbered among the representative members of the priesthood of the Catholic Church in Northwest Ohio, Father Russ is now in pastoral charge of the Church of St. Joseph at Wapakoneta, and is laboring with a consecrated zeal and devotion that have characterized him during his entire career in the ministry. He is a man of deep human sympathy, has a faculty of winning friends from all classes, and has done much to further both the spiritual and the temporal prosperity of St. Joseph's parish.

A native of Auglaize County, Ohio, he is a son of John and Barbara (Litz) Russ. Both his parents were natives of Bavaria, Germany, where they were married, and about 1848" they settled in Auglaize County, at Minster, where their son was born.

Father Russ was liberally educated. He took his early courses in Carthagenia, Ohio, and was ordained June 8, 1882. His first charges were St. Paul's and St. Bernard's at Sharpsburg and Burkettsville, Ohio. He made a splendid record there for eight years, and was then appointed to the church at Celina, and was in charge of St. Mary's parish for four years.

In 1894 Father Russ entered the seminary at Carthagenia as professor of theology and remained there until February 7, 1897. Since that date he has been in charge of St. Joseph's Church at Wapakoneta. The record of his ministry here shows a large advancement in the general activity and membership of the parish, and also in material improvements. The members of the parish were worshiping in a brick structure that had been built in 1857 when he became pastor, and he soon afterward started the campaign which resulted in the erection of a handsome brick edifice in 1910-1911. In 1900 he also built a large school. There are now 255 families in the congregation, and the schools are eonducted by a staff of five trained sisters. Under

J. F. Stout. During the greater part of his active career J. F. Stout has been identified with the City of St. Marys, where he now has one of the principal agencies for general insurance and has been entrusted with the handling of many important business affairs.

He was born in Wayne County, Ohio, April 8, 1855, a son of Daniel and Catherine (Oberlin) Stout. His grandfather, John Stout, was a native of Pennsylvania, married Elizabeth Gable, and at one time he owned a farm now included within the city limits of Philadelphia. Mr. Stout's maternal grandfather was William Oberlin, also a native of Pennsylvania, and of the family which gave the name to the town and the college of Oberlin in Ohio.

Daniel Stout was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1811, and was brought out to Wayne County, Ohio, when a boy. He was a man of unusual education and learning for his day. His means of livelihood were as a farmer and as a stone mason, and he was in that occupation in Wayne County for many years. He took a considerable interest in politics as a democrat, was well informed on the political issues of his time and for some years held the office of justice of the peace. He and his family were members of the Lutheran Church. Daniel Stout was married at Madisonburg, in Wayne County, to Catherine Oberlin, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1818. She died in 1880, and her husband survived until 1899. There were thirteen children in their family, and four of the sons saw active service in the Civil war. John W., born June 15, 1837, organized a company at Wooster and served as its captain. Daniel S. became a member of Mc- Laughlin 's squadron of cavalry. Jacob Oberlin, born May 8, 1841, was captain of Company B in McLaughlin's Cavalry. William Henry, born August 25, 1843, also served with the rank of captain in the same regiment of cavalry and was captured and died in prison. The five living children of Daniel Stout and wife are : Daniel S., who was born August 2, 1839, and lives on the old home farm in Wayne County; Simon P.. born July 1, 1845, and living with his hrnther. Daniel; Susan E., born July 14. 1847, and unmarried ; Sarah C, born April 3, 1851, unmarried ; and J. F. Stout.

J. F. Stout grew up on a farm, learned his first lessons in the common schools and also attended Smithville Academy. His opportunities to gain a liberal education were not very liberal and he had to study privately and largely pay the expenses of his higher schooling. For two years he read law at Lima, but never practiced that profession. Mr. Stout is generally regarded as one of the best read men in Auglaize County.

On June 19, 1884, he married Miss Nellie Armstrong, who died February 9, 1894. She is survived by one child, Lewis F. Stout, who was born August 23, 1885, was graduated from the law department of the University of ilichigan in 1908, having previously been a student in Oberlin College and Wooster University. He is now in practice at Wapakoneta as a member of the firm of Hoskins, Connaughton & Stout, and is recognized as one of the coming lawyers of the state. He has aU the qualifications for success in his profession, is well grounded in the science of jurisprudence, and is a hard and conscientious worker.

On September 12, 1895, J. F. Stout married Julia Althausen, daughter of the late Albert Althausen, whose sketch appears on other pages of this work. To this marriage was born one son on September 16, 1902, and he is now in the first year of the high school.

Mr. Stout has filled the various chairs in the orders of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, having been an Odd Fellow since 1880" and a Pythian Knight since 1883. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. In polities he is a democrat and has performed a yeoman's share of party duties.

Abandoning his intention to become a lawyer, Mr. Stout took up the life insurance business for two years and then removed to St. Marys, and after his marriage entered the dry goods business with his father-in-law. He was connected with the store for fourteen years. He gave up the routine of a quiet mercantile career when he was stricken with the fever to go to Alaska, to the gold fields. He went with a party of eighteen men in 1898, leaving Ohio in April and returning in the following October. Since then he has been in the general insurance business and he is also a notary public and is constantly busy with the tasks of conveyancing, preparing important papers and documents and doing a general office business. He and his wife have one of the comfortable homes of St. Marys.

George M. Raudabaugh. "WTien the little City of St. Marys needed a first class executive for the office of mayor it chose George M. Raudabaugh, a prominent citizen of that locality, and for a number of years successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry. Doctor Raudabaugh was elected mayor in 1914, and his first term was so satisfactory that he was re-elected in 1915.

He was born in Jlercer County, Ohio, December 20, 1875, a son of Albert and Melissa Jane (Newcomb) Raudabaugh. His paternal grandfather, George Washington Raudabaugh, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, and was an early settler in Mercer County. He was a man of unusual prominence. A shoemaker and afterward a farmer, with only an ordinary education, and never a student of law, he none the less was elevated, because of his high character and level headed ability, to the office of circuit judge. He was a democrat in politics, and was widelj' and favorably known in his section of Ohio. Doctor Raudabaugh's maternal grandfather was Melitius Madison Newcomb, a pioneer settler of Mercer County, who assisted in the building of the old reservoir there in 1839, and spent the rest of his life in this state, passing away when about eighty years of age. He was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting at the last call for troops and being out but three months.

Both of Doctor Raudabaugh 's parents were born in Mercer County, his father in 1853 and his mother in 1855. They were married in 1871, and are now living retired at Celina. Albert Raudabaugh spent his active and successful years as a farmer, and he still owns two of the well improved fanns of Mercer County. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and as a democrat he was elected and served for fifteen years as a justice of the peace. There were six children : George M. ; John William, a farmer in Mercer County ; Orville, now probate judge of Mercer Coiuity; Daisy Belle, wife of William Pierce, an educator at Bowling Green, Kentucky; Sarah Hannah, wife of Dr. Benjamin Olds, formerly assistant state veterinarian of Ohio and now engaged in the private practice of his profession at Conneaut, Ohio; and Maggie May, wife of Dee Miller, a farmer in Mercer County.

Doctor Raudabaugh acquired a good education, partly by his own efforts and earnings. He attended high school two years in Celina, graduated from the Commercial College at Lima, and taking up the study of dentistry he was graduated in 1904 from the Ohio Medical College at Columbus. For a year and a half he practiced at Mendon, another similar period in Darke County, and since 1907 has looked after his many clients in St. Marys. Doctor Raudabaugh is a member of the Psi Omega Dental fraternity.

September 11, 1902, he married i\Iiss Josie Rice, a native of Mercer County. They have three children : Audrey, Daisy Belle and George Edward. Mrs. Raudabaugh takes a very active interest in the Methodist Episcopay Church at St. Marj's, and is a member of the various church societies. He' is affiliated with St. Marj's' Lodge, No. 121, Free and Accepted Masons, with Lodge 1170 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Wapakoueta, with the Knights of Pj-thias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He has served as master of finance in the Knights of Pythias, and has passed the various chairs in the Eagles, and is also a member of the Maccabees and the American Insurance Union, having hekl the chairs in both organizations. In matters of politics Doctor Raudabaugh is a democrat. He is a man of wide interests, and for two years served as captain of Company K, Second Ohio Infantry, in the Ohio National Guard.

Charles E. Biirgett, M. D. When he was twelve years of age Doctor Burgett lost his father. Since that date he has earned every dollar used by him for his education and his support. He is the type of man who begins life with limited means, but with unlimited determination, and that he has made good needs no other evidence than the large practice he enjoys as a physician and surgeon at McClure and the general esteem which the community pays him.

By hard work he qualified himself for a teacher. From teacher he became a student of medicine, and in 1898 he completed a thorough hospital training and medical course in the Kentucky School of Medicine, graduating M. D. in that year. He also spent a year in the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

As a location for practice he returned to Melrose, in Paulding County, Ohio, where for three years previously he had been head of the public schools. He at once found himself in congenial surroundings, was given a living practice almost from the start, and he still has a host of friends in that community. While he was a teacher at Melrose he served as mavor of the town, and at that time had the distinction of being the youngest man to occupy such a post in the State of Ohio. After beginning practice in ]\Ielrose he served eight years on the county board of medical examiners, and also was pension examiner under the old law. He has long been actively identified with both the County and State Medical societies. Ue carries on a general practice of medicine and surgery.

Doctor Burgett removed to McClure in 1911, and succeeded to the practice of Doctor Sharp, who removed at that time to Toledo. Doctor Burgett has built up for himself a large practice at McClure, and has made himself very popular among the citizens.

He was born near Riplej', in Brown County, Ohio, in 1874. On account of the early death of his father he had to depend upon his own exertions to secure all his education except two terms in the common schools. He attended a national normal university at Lebanon until graduating; also completed a college course at North Liberty, and was only seventeen when he taught his first term of school in Adams County, Ohio. He taught three terms and later taught in his home county, near Ripley, for two years, during which time he lived in the Rankin home, where Harriet Beecher Stowe gained much of her inspiration for the writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin. That old building is now a permanent memorial to this great author. Whether as teacher, as student, as doctor, Mr. Burgett has throughout shown a liberal public spirit, has been a factor in every community where he has lived, and has done well everything he has undertaken. He is a director of the Farmers State Bank, which was organized in 1917.

At McClure he is an active member of the Woodmen of the World and the Order of Gleaners, and is the medical examiner for both orders in that place. He is afBliated with Masonic Lodge No. 570, is past grand chancellor of Melrose Lodge No. 503 and a member of the Grand Lodge of Ohio of the Knights of Pythias, and also belongs to the Order of Elks at Defiance, Ohio.

In Wood County, Ohio, in 1913, Doctor Burgett married Nettie (Wall) Hager, who was born and reared and educated in that county and represents an old Ohio family. Mrs. Burgett is an active worker in the United Brethren Church at McClure. They have no children.

Northwest Ohio, and his own career has been in keeping with the high standards set by his ancestors. He owns one of the fine farms of Damascus Township, and has been continuously identified with its management for the past forty years. He was born in Wayne County, Ohio, March 3, 1832, a son of Campbell and Elizabeth (Robinson) Willford. The paternal grandfather, Joseph Willford. and the maternal grandfather, George Robinson, were both natives of Pennsylvania, were married there, afterward settled in Ohio, and they finally moved out to Iowa, where they died when quite old. Campbell Willford, who was one of nine sons and four daughters, all of whom grew up and married and most of whom passed the age of sixty-five and some of them lived more than four score, was born August 31, 1808, and died at the age of sixty-nine in

Township of Henry County. When a young boy he accompanied his parents to Wayne County, Ohio, grew up and married there, and about 1830 the family moved to Seneca County, where a number of the children were born. In 1850 he brought his family to Henry County, and before his death had cleared up and improved a fine farm in Damascus Township. He married Elizabeth Robinson, who was born in Pennsylvania, August 29, 1809. When she was eleven years of age her mother died, and she early assumed the responsibilities of housekeeper. She lived part of her young womanhood in Tuscai-awas and Wayne counties, and after her mai-riage she devoted herself wdth aU of the ardor of

, her nature and her unselfish spirit to the welfare of her home and children. She died at the old home in Hari-ison Township, July 4, 1895. Both she and her hasband were members of the United Brethren Church, and he was a follower of democratic party principles. J. Leonard Willford grew up in Wayne and Henry counties, and when still very young went out to what was then the northwestern frontier, to the Territory of Minnesota, and was married in Minnesota, after that territory became a state. It was from Minnesota that he went into the army as a member of the Fourth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. He was in Company C, and served with his regiment two years. The Fourth Minnesota took part in the tremendous campaigns under the leadership of General Sherman from Chickamauga, in the hundred days advance upon Atlanta, the siege and fall of that city, and afterward marched to the sea and the pursuit of Johnston 's army up through the Carolinas.

Mr. WiUford fought in many of the pitched battles of that campaigu, and was a witness of the surrender of General Johnston, and after the war was over he went back to Minnesota and was never wounded in any engagement. Prom Minnesota he removed to Wisconsin, but in 1876 he returned to Ohio to take care of his father, who died in the following November. Mr. Willford for many years has owned an excellent farm of twenty-three acres in section 2-i of Damascus Township, and he has that place well improved and has sufficient for all his requirements.

It was in 185S that he went to Minnesota, and in that state in 1862 he married Sophia Morey. She was born in Courtland County, New York, April 2, 1843, and was taken as a child to Illinois, and at the age of twelve years Iier family moved with ox teams and wagons to - Fillmore County, Minnesota Territory. They spent a number of weeks on the way, and for some years they lived and endured the privations of frontier existence. Her father, Elias Morey, died in Minnesota in 1870, and his widow subsequently moved to Wyoming, where she passed away at the age of eighty. She was born in Vermont, her maiden name being Anna Plumtoe, daughter of a Frenchman who was born in Paris.

Mrs. Willford died at her home in Damascus Township February 11, 1914, when past seventy years of age. She was reared in the Methodist Church. There were three children. Anna, who was born in Jackson Count}', Wiscopsin, August 19, 1870, was reared and educated in Damascus Township,, was a successful and popular school teacher in Henry County for fourteen years, and is now the wife of Dorr C. Emery, who was born in Henry County in 1873, spent part of his early life in Kansas, where he was educated, and is now a successful farmer in Henry County. Mr. and Mrs. Emery have two foster sons, Edson Willford and Francis Meglan, both of whom are attending school. Frank, the second child of Mr. and ;\Irs. Willford, died in infancy. Ross H., who was born in Henry County December 28, 1883, was educated in his native county and now lives with his sister and his father in Damascus Township. Mr. Willford and son and son-inlaw are all republican voters.

David A. Fawley. In the spring of 1886 David A. Fawley plowed the first furrow of land turned over to the sunlight on that section of Richfield Township where his valuable and highly improved farm is now located. He also put up the third house in his home school district, which extends over four sections. Thus, although his activities there have been comprised within thirty years, he was closely connected with the pioneer activities, and the work he has accomplished has a wider range of benefit than merely for hiii^self and family.

In the farm that he now owns and cultivates it is difficult to recognize the crude picture presented by the face of nature thirty years ago. The farm contains eighty acres, with well tilled fields, with good fences, and the home improvements include a barn on a foundation 40 by 70 feet, with a wing 20 by 40 feet, and also a granary with a capacity for 2,000 bushels and a crib holding 1,000 bushels of corn. He has a brick cellar 16 by 24 feet, and his commodious and comfortable home contains twelve rooms, with an inviting porch on two sides of the house. Since coming to this land Mr. Fawley has also set out a large number of trees, and his work and labor have added several thousand dollars to the land since they began operations there. With his wife he also owns forty acres adjoining his homestead on the east.

Mr. Fawley has spent nearly all his life in Ohio. He was born at Warsaw, Indiana, February 7, 1861, a son of Aaron and Anna (Saul) Fawley. He was born after his father's death. Aaron Fawley was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1841, and the mother was also a native of that county, born in 1836. They were married in Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1857. Aaron Fawley was a son of Jacob and Margaret ( I'riee ) Fawley, both natives of Virginia and of old Virginia stock. On coming west they first settled in Fairfield County, Ohio, later moved to Seneca County, and from there to Warsaw, Indiana, improving a good farm near that city in Kosciusko County, where they died when past eighty years of age. They were members of the Baptist Church.

After the death of Aaron Fawley and soon after the birth of David A., the latter 's mother returned to Seneca County, Ohio. David A. Fawley spent his early boyhood in that county, and when thirteen years of age his mother married Thomas Singer, of Henry County. The family then removed to the Singer farm in Liberty Township of Heniy County. Mr. Singer later parted from his wife, and the latter has since made her home with her son David and is still vigorous active and constant in her devotions as a member of the Baptist Church, though eighty years of age. David Pawley has one sister, Catherine, now the wife of Isaiah Liest, the well known and successful druggist on Washington Street in the City of Napoleon.

David A. Fawley reached manhood in Damascus Township, and besides such advantages as he acquired in the local schools he gained a thorough training as a farmer. He was married in Damascus Township to Miss Emma King, who was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, May 18, 1861. When she was four years of age she was brought to Damascus Township of Henry County by her parents, Samuel and Sarah (Adams) King. They were also natives of Ohio, were married in Sandusky County, and after coming to Henry County they secured and improved the excellent farm where Mr. King still lives, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife passed away in 1910. They were both active church people, and he is a democrat.

Mr. and Mrs. Fawley have four children, all of them now grown. Samuel A., born November 20, 1884, was educated in the public schools, is operating one of his father's farms, and by his marriage to Lena Tuttle, of Damascus Township, has three children, Clyde, Zoe and Irene. Clarence F., born August 11, 1886, is still at home and assisting his father on tlie home place. Sadie J., now twenty-eight years of age, is the wife of Charles C. Fischer, of Napoleon. Hattie A., aged twenty-six, completed her education in the high school and has taught several terms in Henry County. The daughters are members of the Christian Union Church. Mr. Fawley has given his time and means liberally to the support of public movements, has served as township trustee and also as a member and treasurer of the local school board.

James P. Peehan. As a farmer James P. Feehan stands for those up-to-date processes and practices which are transforming American agriculture and are revolutionizing and elevating the entire business of tilling the soil. Mr. Feehan is an Illinois man by birth and training, and came to Henry County, Ohio, about a dozen years ago. He and other members of the family acquired a large tract of the rich soil of Pleasant Township, and there he has demonstrated the possibilities of farming on a modern scale. Mr. Feehan is one of tlie few men in Northwest Ohio who employ a tractor as power on the farm. He uses the tractor for a variety of purposes but its most profitable use is hauling a gang plow over his fields and breaking up the soil before planting. In that way he accomplishes an astounding amount of labor and in a very brief time compared to the horse power methods. The tractor is only one of a number of modern farming implements and machines which Mr. Feehan uses on his place. He annually grows 100 acres of corn and 100 acres of oats, and he also has a large acreage in clover as a part of his rotation scheme of crops.

The Feehan place is in section 6 of Pleasan* Township. He owns 240 acres, all in a body, and his main barn is 40 by 60 feet with 20- foot posts, and he has a modern and commodious eight-room house. These buildings were erected about twelve years ago. He keeps everything in an excellent state of repair and loose methods are not practiced anywhere on the Feehan farm.

James P. Feehan was born in Livingston County, Illinois, August 11, 1873. He grew up there and received a good education in the public schools. He learned farming on his father's place and then did farming on his own account in his native township of Nevada in Illinois. From Illinois he came to Henry County in 1906, and after making his first purchase has increased his holdings by another eighty acres bought in 1914. He has also added to the value and productiveness of his farm by extending and improving the drainage system.

Mr. Feehan is of Irish ancestry. His grandfather Owen P^eehan was born in Ireland and married a girl from Queens County. Three children were born to them in Ireland, and then about 1844 the little family started for America, three months being required for their passage across the Atlantic. From New York they went west to Grundy County, Illinois, lived there fifteen years, and in that time Owen Feehan cleared up a farm. He next removed to Livingston County, and there broke out a tract of wild prairie land. He was still engaged in the supervision of his interests and was a resident of Livingston County until his death. He was a man of very sturdy mold and of remarkable vitality. When he died in 1911 he was nearly at the century mark. Through all the j'ears he was a very active man, and to the last he made daily visits tf the village half a mile from his home. He was an inveterate smoker, but had little to do with strong drink. The secret of his long life was no doubt his constant activity and his cheerful

Owen Feehan and wife brought with them to America three cliildreu named Patrick, John and one daughter. The daughter died while crossing the ocean and was buried at sea. Patrick Feehan, father of James P., was born in Ireland in 1841 and was three years of age when he came to America. He came to his majority on the old farm in Livingston County, Illinois, and was married there to Maria Flattery. She was born in Livingston, Illinois, and was several years the junior of her husband. She was a child of Irish parents, John and Bridget Flattery, both natives of Ireland, and on coming to America they located in LaSalle County, Illinois, and finally moved to Sunbury Township of Livingston County. They developed a farm from the raw prairie and lived on it until they passed away. Both the Feehan and Flattery famiUes were devout communicants of the Catholic Church and had been for generations. As American citizens they were democratic voters. After his marriage Patrick Feehan started housekeeping and the business of life on eighty acres of prairie land in Illinois. He improved it as a farm, and his good wife and the mother of James P. Feehan died there in June, 1882, when thirty-three years of age. Later the father sold his first farm, and bought 160 acres on another section in the same township. He then married Mrs. Catherine Sullivan, whose maiden name was Turner. Her first husband Daniel Sullivan died leaving two children, ilary and Jeremiah. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Feehan are still living, still active and vigorous, and by their marriage they have eight children. Patrick Feehan by his first wife had six children. All of this large household are still living, showing the great vitality of the family stock, all of them are married, and all have families. These different families are now scattered over several states. \