Sandusky Township (part 30 of 57)

James P. Feehan was married in his native township in Illinois to Miss Mary Kelley. She was born there March 3, 1877, and grew up in the same neighborhood with her husband. Her parents were John J. and Margaret (Hanley) Kelley, both natives of Illinois, her father born in LaSalle County and her mother in Grundy County, and they married in Livingston County. Both were of Irish parents and after their marriage they located in Nevada Township of Livingston County. There Mr. and Mrs. Kelley improved a good farm. In 1904 they and their children, ineluding Mr. and Mrs. James P. Feehan, moved to Ohio, and as a family they acquired 523 acres of land in Henrv- County. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley both died in Henry County, he on May 31, 1912, and her death occurred January 31, 1914. They were active Catholics and he was a democrat.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Feehan, the first four in Illinois and the others in Henry County, Ohio. Patrick, the oldest, died in infancy. J. Clarence was born July 3, 1900, and is now in the eighth grade of the public schools at Holgate. Joseph E. was horn May 10, 1902, and is a high school student. Margaret E. was born February 25, 1904, and is in the sixth grade. Leo K. was born September 12, 1911, and is now in the third grade of the local schools. Mary Etta was born November 9, 1912, and James A. on October 23, H14. The family are all members of St. ]Mary's Catholic Church at Holgate. Mr. Feehan is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and is a democratic voter.

George Kryder, of Damascus Township, Henry County, has passed the age of four score. He has not only lived beyond the span of average human life, but has filled his years with usefulness, service to his country as a soldier and to his community as a citizen, and has had such experiences and has maintained such a character that his life record is a vital part of the history of Northwest Ohio.

Mr. Kryder was born in Summit County, Ohio, April 25, 1834, but has lived in Henry County now almost half a century. His greatgrandfather came from Germany prior to the Revolutionary war, and located in Center County, Pennsylvania, where he was a farmer during the rest of his life. John Kryder, grandfather of George, was born, according to the best information obtainable, in Center County, Pennsylvania, and spent practically all his life there as a farmer. In the early as well as the later generations of the family the religious faith has been that of the German Lutheran Church, and many of the men were devoted adherents of the whig party.

Michael Kryder, father of George, was born in Center County, Pennsylvania, in 1802. Plis brothers and sisters were named Christian, Jacob, John, Jonas, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary, the last named being commonly known as Polly. There was also another daughter who married a Mr. Ludwig. All of the children married except Mary. With one exception these children became residents of Ohio, spending their last years in that state, and their dominant vocation was farming.

^Michael Kryder was eleven years of age when in 1813 the family moved from Pennsylvania to Stark County, Ohio. Thus he became identified with that section of the state in its pioneer days. As he grew up he learned the trade of blacksmith but gave that up later in favor of farming. Near Canton in Stark County he married Miss Elizabeth Leininger, who was born in 1804 either in Pennsylvania or in Stark County, Ohio. After their marriage Michael located in Manchester, Summit County, Ohio, followed blaeksmithing for a time, but soon turned his energies to farming. His first wife died there in 1845. She was the mother of eight children, seven of whom grew up : Samuel, Lydia, Solomon, George, Elizabeth, Catherine, Ezra, and Jacob, who was the one that died in infancy. Only three of this generation now survive. Samuel, Ezra and George all became soldiers in the Union army during the Civil war. Samuel fought with the Seventy-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, George was in the Third Ohio Cavalry, and Ezra was a member of the Eighth Indiana Infantry, and was later transferred to the First Indiana Light Artillery. For his second wife Michael Kryder married Sarah B. Hankins. Her death occurred during the war, and all her children are now deceased except Edwin, who is married and has a family and lives at Massillon, Ohio. For his third wife Michael married Catherine Booher. She died without children by this marriage, ilichael was a Lutheran, and contrary to the prevailing tendencies of the family in political belief he was a very ardent democrat.

It was on the old homestead in Summit County, Ohio, that Georiic Kryd.n- had his early impressions and ex|ii'i-ii'ii'i^. As a boy he gained a practical aciiuaiiilaiirc with tools, but never followed a mechanical traih-. About sixty years ago he made a hammer, of very solid and expert construction, with stcrl face, and after all its years of use it is still retained as a cherished family keepsake.

In early manhood he went to Huron County, and in that county in 1859 he married Miss Elizabeth Sweetland. She was born in Greenfield, Huron Countv, on the banks of the Huron River, July 20, 1837. All her early days were spent there. Her parents were Elijah and Maria (English) Sweetland, both of whom wei"e natives of New York State.

They were married there, and their first child, Albert, was born in New York. The family then set out as pioneers, going by way of the canal to Buffalo, and on lake boats to Huron, and with teanLS and wagons penetrated the wilderness until they arrived at Greenfield in Huron County. They located there in June, 1837, and six weeks later Mrs. Kryder was born in the humble home which was the fii-st habitation of the Sweetlauds in Ohio. Her parents lived for many years near Norwich, Ohio, where her father died and was buried October 6, 1855, on his forty-fourth birthday. He left a widow with seven children. She without any outside help reared and educated these children, and tearfully but bravely sent four of her sons away to fight the battles of the Union dui-ing the Civil war. These sons were Albert, Henry H., George E., and Loranzo D. Albert clied of fever while on the march during Buell's retreat to Kentucky. He had married before he went into the army, and his wife died only a few days before him at her home in Ohio. The other three served all through the war. George was captured, spent seven months in Libby and Belle Isle prisons, and after the war returned home more dead than alive, but subsequently recovered, married and had a useful career as a printer. Henry Sweetland served as a noncommissioned officer, returned home after the war, married, but is without children and now lives in Toledo. Loranzo D. while in one of the Virginia campaigns was shot and captured, and his leg was so badly injured that it was removed by a rebel surgeon, but he survived the experience and is still active, a resident of South Dakota.

After his marriage Mr. George Krj^der located in Huron County, but was soon called away from his hearth and home and the activities of his farm to serve in the war. He enlisted in Company I of the Third Ohio Cavalry, under Captain Gaylord. His regiment was a part of the army of the Cumberland. He participated in the siege of Corinth in 1862, afterward in the battle of Stone River, was at Chiekamauga, where his regiment and company were badly routed, and later he was engaged in skirmishing all over Tennessee and up and down the Mississippi River. His last engagement was Selma, Alabama.

The war over he returned to Huron County, but lived there only two or three years. In 1868 he brought his family to Henry County, buying forty acres of nearly wild land in section 30 of Dainascus Township. That has been his home now continuously for nearly fifty years. From his own energies and with the aid of his sturdy sons he has brought about a remarkable transformation in the appearance of his land and in the productiveness and value of his farm. One after another improvements have been made, including substantial barns and other outbuildings, and an eight-room house, veneered with brick. On the homestead of eighty acres season after season through a period of almost half a century he has gathered abundant crops from his land.

His oldest child is Mary, who has spent twenty-five years in the schoolroom as a teacher, and is now the wife of John Watts, living at Corvallis, Oregon; she is the mother of two children. Viva and George G. The next two children, Annie and Laura, died in childhood. Alice grew up and married Joseph Gordon, who died .seven weeks after his marriage, and she died fifteen months after marriage, at the age of twenty-one. The only one of the children now living in Ohio is George E. Kryder. However there were two adopted children, Lillie and John Kryder, and Lillie is the wife of Thomas Jacklin," living in Arkansas, and the mother of two sons and one daughter, Charles, Pauline and Stanley, while John lives in Florida, and by his marriage to Emma Dumas has had two daughters and a son, Caroll and Emma and Joseph who is deceased.

George E. Krs'der, son of the venerable George Kryder whose career has been sketched above, has for a number of years been one of the moving spirits in all local enterprises and in politics in Dama.scus Township and Henry County. For some years he has ser^'ed as a member of the state board of supervisors of election, and is a member of the county executive committee, and is a man of such business integrity and of judgment that his advice is widely sought.

He was born on the old homestead in Henry County, February 10, 1872. His education came from the local schools, supplemented with a cour.se in the Ohio Normal University at Ada. For seven years he taught school, but since 1897 has been active manager of the old home, and has conducted operations there so as to constitute the place a model farm. In his home township he married Gertrude M. Hartman, who was born in Harrison Township of Henry County, November 21, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. George E. Kryder have five children. Florence was graduated in 1916 from the McClure High School, spent two terms in the Bowling Green State Normal, and is now a teacher. Julian is in the third year of the local high school. Theodore is a sophomore in high school. Annabell is in the seventh grade, and Emma, the youngest, is in the fifth grade. While the Kryder family have affiliated with no one church, their influence has always counted in the moral progress and uplift of the community. Politically this generation has furnished voters to the republican ranks. Both George Kryder, Sr., and his son have done much to elevate the standards of the local schools, and both have served on the local school board. George E. Kryder is a member of the present board and recently took the lead in getting $35,000 voted for the erection of a fine school building at McClure. While he has always been busy on the farm, his connections with local business matters have become important. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the McClure Grain and Stock Company, was its first secretary and treasurer, and was also an organizer and the fir.st secretary of the McClure Telephone Company, which has become a very successful organization. George E. Kryder has filled all the minor offices in IMcClure Lodge, No. 282, of the Knights of Pythias, and is past district deputy Grand Chancellor.

John T. H.werbeck. One of the oldest families connected with the Town of i\Iinster in Auglaize County is the Haverbeck. It is a name of many honorable a.ssoeiations with the life and development of this community, and representing the third generation is John T. Haverbeck, a successful newspaper man and a printer.

He was born in ^linster, August 7, 1880, a son of Anton and ^lary (Niehaus) Haverbeck. The grandfather, Anton Haverbeck, Sr., was a native of Germany, came to Ohio when a young man, and followed his trade of shoemaker all his active career. He was never wealthy, but did his best to provide a home and good advantages for his children. The maternal grandfather was Frank Niehaus, a native of Auglaize County. Both Anton Haverbeck and Mary Niehaus were born in Minster. The father was born in 1847, and died in September. 1908, and the mother was born December 15, 1854, and is still living. They were married at IMinster, and spent most of their lives in the town. Anton Haverbeck was a tinner by trade, and for over thirty years was successfully engaged in the hardware business at Minster. The family were members of the Catholic Church, and as a democrat he served in the city council for many years, and was also on the school board. There were five children : Millie, who is unmarried and has a dressmaking establishment in Lima, Ohio; J. Benjamin, a jeweler at Akron, Ohio ; John T. ; Bernadine, wife of Dr. H. J. Gudenkauf, a physician at Minster ; and Carrie, who is unmarried and lives with her mother.

John T. Havei-beck, partly through attendance at school and partly through work at his trade gained the equivalent of a liberal education. As a boy he attended the public schools of his native village, was also a student in the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, and had his two years of tuition in that institution after he had begun learning the printer's trade. For two years he was employed by the Mennonite Publishing Company at Elkhart, Indiana, then returned to Minster, and from there went to Cincinnati, where he was connected for three years with the Proctor Collier Commercial Printing House. On returning to Minster Mr. Haverbeck engaged in the printing business in partnei-ship with Mr. B. Sherman. He took active charge of the paper, the ]Minster Post, and is now its sole proprietor and editor. The Post has a circulation of 1,100, and is one of the influential organs of public opinion in Auglaize County. In connection with the publication of the newspaper Mr. Haverbeck conducts a large job printing business and handles much of his work in that line on the mail order plan. After being in partnership with Mr. Sherman for a few years he bought his interest, and is now sole proprietor.

Mr. Haverbeck has never married. He is a )nember of the Catholic Church, of the Knights of Columbus, and is a democrat. For two years he served as a member of the local committee of the party, and for three years was town treasurer. His time and energies are almost completely absorbed in his business. Eight people find employment in his printing and newspaper establishment. He is also assistant cashier of the Minster Starte Bank.

Peter Hockman. When the nineteenth century was still young and when Ohio in its length and breadth was an almost unbroken wilderness, a young Virginian named Henry Hockman, who had recently married a young lady of the same state, set ovit on the journey across the mountains and penetrated the western wilderness into Fairfield County, Ohio.

Henry Hockman and wife were the grandparents of Peter Hockman, who is one of the old and honored residents of Damascus Township and represents one of the most prominent families in the eastern part of Henry County. Henry Hockman located in Pleasant Township of Fairfield County, and he and his wife had the usual experiences of the pioneers, living in log cabins, getting their meat largely from the game which was so abundant in the forest, clearing away the woods before plowing up small fields for their grain and other produce, and experiencing the very limited social advantages. All their children were born on their old homestead in Fairfield County, and both Henrv and his wife died there and are buried in Pleasant Run Cemetery. They had four sons : Joseph, Henry, Jr., David and Jacob, all of whom married, and there were four daughters, the names of three of whom are recalled as Lydia, Betsey and Catherine.

The representative of the next generation now to be noticed was Joseph Hockman, who was born in Fairfield County about 1812. That date itself indicates how very early the Hockman family established their home in Ohio. In the same township and county Joseph Hockman married Mary Macklin, who was born there about 1815. Her father, Peter ]\Iacklin, was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock and a native of Pennsylvania, where he married, and he brought up his family on a pioneer homestead in Fairfield County. Peter died there when very old. His widow subsequently came to Damascus Township of Henry County, lived on her eighty-acre farm there, and death came to her also when she was in advanced years.

After his marriage Joseph Hockman located on a farm in Pleasant Township of Fairfield County, and all their children were born there and some of them spent portions of their childhood in that eount.y. These children were named Henry, Jacob, Michael, Peter, David, Maria.

It was just seventy years ago, in 1846, that the Hockman family, lea^^ng their old home in Fairfield County, journeyed through the woods and over the rough roads to Henry County. This was still a new country, much of the land was owned by the Government and the people who lived here at that time still experienced the frontier and pioneer conditions. Joseph Hockman bought Government land to the extent of 160 acres in section 28 of Damascus Township. Before removing his family he had come and made a small clearing in the timber and put up a log cabin. That was the first home of the Hockman family in Henry County. There were few neighbors. The most convenient market was Grand Rapids in Wood County, and they took their corn or wheat to ilaumee for milling. There was no dearth of meat, which was supplied by the deer, turkey, coon and possum found in the forests by the thousands. Joseph Hockman was well fitted for the pioneer tasks that confronted him when he arrived in Henry County. He labored long and earnestly, and in time had most of his land cleared and under the plow, a good house and barn, and he had every reason for contentment and satisfaction when death came to him at the age of seventy-seven. His widow survived him three years and was the same age as her husband when she died. She was an active member of the United Brethren Church, and her husband attended the same church. He was a democrat, and had served as a trustee and in other positions of local responsibilit}^

Mr. Peter Hockman is the only surviving member of his parents' family. He was bom in Pleasant Township of Fairfield County, Febiiiary 13, 1838, and was eight years of age when he came to Henry County. He was old enough to work and bear some share of the duties connected with the clearing up and improvement of the old homestead. At the same time, chiefly during the winter, he attended a log cabin school in the neighborhood, and has always been a close observer and has kept well informed on the topics of the world and on the issues of life. For a great many years his activities have been concentrated on laud in section 28 of Damascus Township. He made his first purchases there, his first being forty acres and two years later he bought another forty, and for many years he worked assiduously in taking away the timber, in rooting up the stumps, in subduing the wild soil to the growing of domestic crops, and he has seen a marvelous transformation take place under his eyes and by the labor of his hands. For several years he lived in a log cabin. Long since those primitive facilities have been replaced by excellent farm buildings, with fences between all his fields, and with all the low lands drained, and he now has a very valuable place.

In 1860 Mr. Hockman married Miss Elida Shepard. She was born at Nelsonville in Athens County, Ohio, July 6, 1835. Her parents were Martin L. ancl Nancy (Nanna)

Shepard. Her mother died when Elida was seven years of age. When the latter was twelve years old her father came to Damascus Township in Henr}- Countj^ Her father married for his second wife, in Athens County, ]Mary Sheraden. On coming to Henry County the Shepards located on a tract of wild land in Damascus Township, and Martin Shepard cleared up 160 acres, and that was the scene of his verj' active and fruitful career. He died at the age of eighty-four, and his second wife passed away when beyond the limit of seventy. Mrs. Hockman was one of five sons and two daughters by her mother, and only she and her sister, Mrs. Margaret Wells, are now living. Her father by his second marriage had four daughters and two sons. She was reared in a Methodist family.

Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hockman. Benjamin F. died in infancy. ' Mary, now deceased, married Harlow Collins, and left one son and two daughters, Clifford B., Flossie M. and Lillie. Ella is unmarried and is living at home with her parents. Delia is the wife of Upton McClure, a well known Henry County citizen elsewhere referred to. Rilla, who lives at home with her parents, is the widow of Charles Collins, who died in 1898, at the age of twenty-six years. Mr. Hockman and family are affiliated with the Christian Union Church. In national politics he has usually been a democrat, though is independent in forming his opinions as to the men and issues in state and local affairs.

Jacob J. Hoffman represents one of the fine old families of Henry County, and has proved his individual worth and ability as a successful farmer in Pleasant Township. He has lived there a great many years, has helped forwai-d the wheels of progress in the way of good roads, good schools, good churches, and has the satisfaction of having made two blades of grass where only one grew before.

He was born near Pleasant Bend in Henry Count.y on the old home place of his father IMarch 20, 1853. As he grew up he attended the common schools, and was given work to do at home which was as important a part of his discipline as the lessons he learned from books in the schoolhou.se. Thus he was capable and prepared for a career as a farmer before he reached manhood. Thirty years ago Mr. Hoffman bought an unbroken farm of eighty acres in section 30 in Pleasant Township. That has been the stage of his activities ever since. One improvement has followed another and many acres which up to that time had been of no profit whatever to civilized men have borne their fruits in season and have contributed not only to his prosperity but to the consumption of the world. He subsequently added to his original holdings an adjacent eight}' acres, and now has the entire tract under development. He is recognized as one of the most capable farmers in that township. Mr. Hoffman is a son of Valentine and Wilhelmina (Schwartz) Hoffman. The story of the coming of the Hoffman family to America deserves to be told somewhat in detail. The Hoffmans were reliable old German Bavarian stock, belonged to the Reformed Church, and in the main were of the agricultural class. The grandfather on the paternal side spent his entire life in Germany, was a farmer, and the maternal grandfather of ^Ir. Hoffman also died in the fatherland. In tlie late '40s the maternal grandfather, the paternal grandmother, together with Valentine and Wilhelmina (Schwartz) Hoffman and the two children of the latter, Samuel and Caroline, boarded a sailing vessel bound for America. This vessel was hardly seaworthy, was overloaded and poorly handled, and as a result of unfavorable wind's and frequent storms eightyfive days were required in making the trip across the Atlantic. The passengers suffered intensely, and the little Hoffman party particularly. In one storm Mrs. AVilhelmina Hoffman was thrown down a flight of stairs and sustained a broken leg. The ship doctor was incapable of handling the case and the injury became of such serious character that on arriving in New York it was necessary to perform an amputation. About the time the party landed the little daughter Caroline, as a result of the long and rough voyage and the starvation fare died and was buried at New York. As soon as the plucky mother was able to travel the family once more started upnii its way. When they reached Defiance. ( >liio. tliey endured another sacrifice in the death of Mr. Schwartz, the maternal grandfather. His desire had been to visit his people who had settled in Henry County but he was deprived of that privilege and was laid to rest in Defiance. Eventually Valentine Hoffman and wife reached the wilds of Henry County and located in the woods of section 32 of Pleasant Township. His first work was the erection of a log cabin, and that was the home in which the family lived for a number of years. The forty-five acres comprising the original farm were completely covered with heavy timber and the task of clearing that off and making room for fields was one requiring the greatest strength and endurance. A few years later, Mrs. Hoffman, the mother of Valentine, died at this pioneer home and was laid to rest there. Valentine and his wife struggled on. Though she was handicapped by the loss of a limb, she discharged her duties with splendid courage and efficiency and nmde a good home and reared her children to lives of usefulness and honor. Valentine and wife came out after the toil and hardships of many years with financial independence, having accumulated 160 acres in addition to the original forty-five. In their community they were looked upon as model residents, kind and charitable to their neighbors, industrious and thrifty, and God fearing members of the German Reformed Church. They were charter jnembers of that church in Pleasant Township. Valentine Hoffman died January 26, 1903, at the age of eight.y-one and his wife passed away February 15, 1899, at the age of seventy-seven. Valentine Hoffman was a democrat, but never sought public office, being content with the quiet life of the farmer. Of their children the only two now living are Andrew and Jacob J. The son Daniel, who was born in Germany in 1846, spent his active career as a Henry County farmer and died in August, 1916. He had children by two wives, and his widow still survives him. After the family came to this country besides Jacob and Andrew, two other children wei-e born, both daughters and given the names Margaret and Caroline, but both died in childhood.

Mr. Jacob J. Hoffman was married at New Bavaria, Henry County, to Miss Sarah Schall. She was born in Henry County, April 10, 1862, a daughter of Henry and Margaret (Hornung) Schall. Her parents were natives of Germany but were married in Henry County. The Schalls were one of the early families to settle in Pleasant Township, and their example as good and thrifty farmers and kind neighbors proved a boon to the community in many ways. 'Sir. and Mrs. Schall lived to be moi-e than seventy years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman are the parents of the following children : Julius, born January 7, 1888: Andrew, born November 11, 1891; Edward, born November 23, 1893 ; and Hattie, born August 30, 1900. All the children are still at home, all have completed their education in the public schools, and they have been well trained both at home and in school and are looking forward to lives of usefulness and honor. The oldest, Julius, is still unmarried and besides giving his labors to the management of the home farm is also doing a large business as a threshennan. The family all belong to the Reformed Church. Mr. Hoffman and his sons are loj^al democrats.

Joseph J. Diemer is one of the live and progressive young business men of New Bavaria in Henry County. He is a native of this section of Northwestern Ohio, grew up a farm boy, and early in life entered the regular army of the United States, with which he served three years. That experience was valuable to him as an equipment for the work he has since followed. He gained a thorough experience as a mechanical and construction engineer while in the army, and is an all around mechanic and thoroughly familiar with electric and other machinery.

Mr. Diemer now conducts a high class garage and general repair shop at New Bavaria. His headquarters are in a large concrete building 30 by 100 feet, situated on "Walnut Street. He has conducted that establishment since 1913.

He was born in Marion Township of Henry County, April 27, 1872, and grew up and received his education in that locality. At the age of fourteen he began working for his uncle Peter Diemer and remained in his employ for seven years. On December 5, 1894, he enlisted for service in the regular army of the United States, becoming a member of Company A of the Twenty-second United States Infantry. He was granted his honorable discharge on November 4, 1897. For nine months he was with his company at Fort Keogh in Montana, tlie company was then assigned to Fort Yates in North Dakota, where it remained about ten months, and was then sent to Fort Crook, Nebraska, where the entire regiment was assembled. He remained on the F6rt Crook reservation until he was discharged. For thirty-two months of the time he was assistant engineer in the construction of three waterworks plants on the Government reservation.

On returning to Ohio Mr. Diemer became stationary engineer in the sawmill operated by Jacob Hornung at New Bavaria. For eighteen months he was employed in a grist mill at Leipsic, Ohio, and then joined Henry A. Detrick in establishing the grain elevator at New Bavaria. He owned part of the enterprise and for several years was engaged in handling grain, coal, flour and feed. After four years with this concern the business was sold to the Farmers Grain and Stock Com- j pany, and Mr. Diemer continued in the service of the new eompanj- for fourteen months. He then established his present business.

Mr. Diemer is a son of Joseph and Salina (Zoll) Diemer, both of whom are natives of Henry County. The paternal grandparents came from Germany, and the maternal greatgrandparents came from the same country. Jlr. Diemer 's paternal grandparents were John and Catherine Diemer, who were early settlers in Henry County, and spent the rest of their lives in Pleasant Township. They cleared up a portion of the forest, developed a farm, and lived to the respective ages of seventy-six and ninety-five. They were Catholics in religion, and helped organize and became charter members of the first church of that denomination in Pleasant Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Diemer are still living on a farm in Pleasant Township along the Kidge Road, and are now seventy-six years of age. They are active members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at New Bavaria. Of their eleven children, nine are living, eight sons and one daughter, Joseph J. being the oldest.

Joseph J. Diemer was married in Pleasant Township in 1899 to iliss Christina Zens. She was born in Pleasant Township and has always made that locality her home. Her parents were born in America, but her grandparents came from Germany. Her parents are still living on their farm in Pleasant Township and are about three score years of age, both of them being active members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Mrs. Diemer 's grandparents spent many years on their farm in Henry County, where they died.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Diemer: Gilbert P., aged sixteen, who has finished his education in the village school and now assists his father ; Loretta, aged fourteen; Viola, aged eleven; Alfred, aged nine^ all of them students in school; and Ai'thur, who is now five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Diemer and their children are members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. He is afifiliated with the Council of the Knights of Columbus at Napoleon, and in politics is a democrat.

Phh.ip Heckler. For a number of generations there lived side by side in the same province or kingdom of Germany the Lautenslager and Heckler families. They were all of high German stock and of Protestant or Lutheran religion. About 1832 members of both of these families emigi-ated to America. The mother of the Lautenslager branch had died in the old countr.y, but her husband together with four daughters and two sons and a daughter that had married Philip Heckler, Sr., set out from Bremen in a sailing vessel and after many weeks of privation landed at Baltimore. From there the entire company proceeded westward and with wagons and teams finally reached Crawford County, Ohio. They located on wild land in Vernon Township three miles northwest of Crestline.

Philip Heckler, Sr., was born in Germany about 1800. He married there Catherine Lautenslager and it was not long after their marriage that they set sail for the New World.

About a year after the family arrived in Vernon Township of Crawford County a son was born to Philip Heckler and wife. This birth occurred November 11, 1834, and thus was vshered into the world of activity and experience Philip Heckler, Jr., who for many years has been one of the prominent farmers of Monroe Townsliip in Henry County. He grew up in Crawfonl Coniitw was given such advantages as the IcimI scIhkiIs could give in that time and in 18(il cniiif with his father to Henry County. Here Philip Heckler, Sr., bought 120 aei^es of wild land in .sections 10 and 15 Monroe Township. On this farm about 1880 Philip Heckler, Sr., passed away, having lived a strong and re.soureeful life in America and having accumulated considerable means.

On the 120 acres above mentioned in Henry Count.v Philip Heckler, Jr., has staged his active career for more than half a century. He has developed a splendid home and in time acquired 560 acres of high class land. Most of it he lias since given to his children, but still retains a place of 120 acres. On this old homestead, surrounded with all the comforts and the joys which her children could give her, the widowed mother passed away at the age of eighty-four.

In Vernon Township of Crawford County in the fall of 1855, some six years before he eame into Henry County, ^Ir. Philip Heckler was married to Lucy Ann Sprow. She was born in the State of Pennsylvania November 17. 1833. and was quite young when she came to Crawford County, Ohio. Her parents Jacob and Catherine (Wiley) Sprow were both natives of Germany but were married after reaching Pennsylvania. On going to Crawford County they secured a tract of wild land on which they placed a log cabin' and lived in that until the farm was cleared. The Sprow farm was adjacent to the old Heckler homestead and thus the two young people were thrown together socially and their acquaintance ripened into marriage. Jacob Sprow and wife lived out a long lifetime on the old Crawford County homestead. They were members of the Presbyterian Church. Jacob Sprow and also Philip Heckler, Sr., were democrats in politics.

Some time after their marriage Philip Heckler and wife came to Henry County and by working in harmony and by strict economy reached a condition of prosperity where they passed as among the very weU to do people of the county. After sixty years of married companionship Mrs. Philip Heckler passed into the rest of eternal life on November 20, 1915. Her memory will always be sacred among her descendants. She was reared in the Presbyterian faith. There were nine children. Eight of the nine are still living. Solomon S., a farmer and horse breeder at Malinta, married Adella Lowmaster and has two children, Harmon and Ray. Catherine is the wife of Howard Overhultz, a farmer in Monroe Township, their children being Lawrence, Daisy and Ernest. Philip died in infancy. Albert, a farmer in Monroe Township, married Sarah Spangler and has three children. Myrtle, JMartin and Victoria. Ella married Jacob Burr and has two children, Gladys and Hazel. Josephine is the wife of Charles Long, a farmer in Harrison Township, and has children named Floyd, Lucile, Herman and Nellie. Philip, who was given the name of his infant brother who died and also his father and grandfather, is >commonly known as Peter, and he married Bertha Switzer and has children named Josephine, Maud, Roy, Lucy and Ruth. Ann is the wife of Grant Overhultz, who formerly was a high school teacher and is now a farmer in Jlonroe Township, their children being Glenn, Lloyd, Brooks, Mildred and Forest. Frank, who is a farmer, married Nelia Detmer and has Herbert and Lillian. Mr. Heckler and all his grown sons are democratic voters.

Otis W. Delph. The principal trading center for a large number of people in Jlonroe Township of Henry County is the general merchandise store at Malinta conducted by Mr. Otis W. Delph and his brother. These enterprising merchants carry a general stock of goods to .supply the needs of the surround- ing country and have built up one of the best stores in the county. Mr. Otis W. Delph succeeded in business Mr. Martin Winburg and has been connected with the business more than twelve years. He was first a partner of Mr. Winburg, but in 1908 he succeeded to the business and soon afterwards took in his brother, George R. They have since conducted the business jointly.

Otis W. Delph and his brother also were born in Monroe Township of Henry County, Otis on March 21, 1876, and George in 1882. Both were reared in this county, received their education in the public schools, and have found in merchandising a congenial and profitable vocation.

They are the sons of Philip and Elizabeth (Witztcell) Delph. His father was born in Crawford County and his mother in Summit County. Ohio, and both are now about seventy years of age. The paternal grandparents came from Wurtemburg, Germany, and the maternal grandparents were also German people. The Delphs on coming to America located in Crawford County, Ohio, while the Witztcells were settlers in Summit County.

Philip Delph was still a child when his parents died. He was then taken into the home of Philip Heckler, and for a number of years bore the Heckler name. Philiji Heckler died a number of .veai-s ago when quite an old man. Wlien sixteen years of age Philip Delph was brought to jMonroe Township, in Henry County, by the Heckler family, and from that time on has steered his own independent course in the world. He began working by the day, afterwards by the month, and when between twenty-four and twenty-five years of age was able to make his first purchase of land. This was a tract of forty acres of completely wild land, and after his marriage he started out to make a living there. He had a small house, and for a number of years most of his time was consumed in clearing up the land and in erecting buildings and other equipment required for his business. He still lives on the old homestead. He was married to Miss Witztcell at her home in Monroe Township. Both Philip and Mrs. Delph are active members of the Xiutheran Church and in politics he is a democrat. Philip Delph has two widowed sisters, Mrs. Margaret Weaver of Crestline, Ohio, and Mrs. Callie Porter of Portland, Oregon.

Martin and Chester. Julia married M. M. Spangler of Malinta. Otto W. is the next in age. Elizabeth married Lem Ordway and lives in Malinta, their children being Fay Philip, Frederick K. and Marie. Henrietta is the wife of Bruce Robinson, a farmer at Rudolph, in Wood County, Ohio. George R., partner in the store with his brother Otis, married Emma Schultz, and they have two children, Carl and James. Clarence P. is a farmer in Henry County and married Ella Bailey, who by a former marriage has a son, Morris Bailey. Cecil B. lives at home and clerks in the store of his brothers during the summer and is a member of the class of 1918 in Wittenberg College.

Otis W. Delph grew up on the old homestead in Monroe Township, and was trained to a farmer, though most of his adult experience has been in merchandising. In 1907 he married at Malinta Miss Elsie Hemsoth. She was born in Germany in 1882, and when a child came to the United States, first to Fulton County, Ohio, and a year later to Malinta, where she grew up and met her husband. Her parents subsequently moved to Toledo and her father died there, her mother then returning to Malinta, where she lives at about the age of three score. The Hemsoth family are members of the German Reformed Church, ilr. and Mrs. Delph have four children : Elizabeth, now eight years of age; Maxwell, aged six;- Norman and Mary E. All the family are members of the Lutheran Church, and ^Ir. Delph is a democrat.

John- Wesley Desgr.4nges. Among the well-known families of Henry County, one of the best and most favorably known is that of Desgranges, the members of which have long been prominent in agricultural afl:'airs in Pleasant and adjoining townships, and havealso taken a part in the matters which have served to contribute to the advancement and material prosperity of this section. One of the worthy representatives of this name is John Wesley Desgranges, who owns and operates a handsome and valuable farm in Pleasant Township, a property which was formerly owned by his father, one of the mast highly esteemed' early residents of the locality.

The Desgi-anges family, as the name would indicate, is of French origin, but at an early period moved from France to Bavaria, Germany, where, probably, the grandfather of John W. Desgranges. Jacob Desgranges, was born. There he grew to manhood and was married, and there all his children were born, including: Mrs. Charles Hornung, Christ, Jacob, Daniel, Margaret and Peter. The lastnamed, the father of John W. Desgranges, was hilt .seven years of age when the family started for the United States, a journey that was made in an old-time sailing vessel. This craft was tossed about at the mercy of the waves for sixty-four days before it finally arrived in sight of the City of New York, and then there was an exasperating wait of fully two weeks before the captain would risk making a landing. This finally effected, the little party made its way on the Hudson River and Erie Canal to Buffalo, New York, then to Toledo, Ohio, and via canal to Independence, Ohio, on the ^laumee River. In the same year Charles Hornung, of Pleasant Township, Henry County, an old settler, induced them to come on to this locality, and here they finally located on the Ridge Road. The homestead was a wooded tract, surrounded by swamp land and absolutely without improvements of any kind. Primitive conditions prevailed everywhere, only the absolute necessities of life could be obtained, and even these were at a premium, but the Desgranges were more fortunate than some others of the pioneers, for on their arrival they were possessed of $2,000 in gold, and with this were able to purchase many of the comforts that all were not able to afford. The first home, of course, was built of logs, and this furnished the family with shelter for a number of years. Wild game of all kinds usual to the region was to be found in the woods and swamps, and the meat from these animals added materially to the family larder, while skins and furs were used in the fashioning of wearing apparel and in the making of various articles of utilitarian value. Here Peter Desgranges worked indti.striously and faithfully in the forming and establishing of a home for his family and the developing of a farm. He was successful in both directions, and when he died, when about sixty-nine years of age, this worthy man had the satisfaction of knowing that he had rounded out a useful and helpful life. In the early life of the community he took a prominent part, and while he was not active in politics, except as he cast his vote for the candidates of the democratic party, he was an influence for good government in his township and a supporter of all good movements. He was a member of the German Reformed Church, in the faith of which he had been reared in his native land, and was one of three persons to purchase the land for the cemetery of that denomination at New Bavaria. Mrs. Desgranges, who was also a member of that church and one of the most highly respected among the early women of the township, died at the home of her son Peter when past eighty years of age, having survived her husband for many years. Of their children, all grew to maturity, were married and had children, but all have now passed away.

Peter Desgranges, the father of John Wesley Desgranges, was born October 26, 1834, in the Town of Elderblough, Bavaria, Germany, and, as before noted, was still a lad when the family emigrated to the United States. He grew up amid the most jDrimitive surroundings, early learned to accustom himself to the use of fire arms, and as a youth did much to help the family in the way of provisions through his skill as a hunter. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits and chose that vocation when he came to young manhood, his first property being a tract of eighty acres of land, located two miles east of the A'illage of New Bavaria. Here Mr. Desgranges was married to Mary Dirr, who was born near New Bavaria, Pleasant Township, September 16, 1842, and they resided on their first farm until after the birth of their first sons : Peter and Jacob. The former was bora there in 1863, and is now a retired resident of Big Rapids, Michigan, married but without children; the latter died unmarried when twenty-one years six months six days old. In 1866 the little family came to Section 32, in the same township, and here secured eighty acres of slightly improved land, residing on this property for many years and bringing it to a high state of cultivation. Mr. Desgranges, who was industrious and enterprising in his operations, later secured 120 acres in the same township and eighty acres ad.ioining the homestead, and in the last years that he lived there he purchased the 160-acre homestead. Later he located on the eighty-acre property now owned by his son, John Wesley, and which was the south eighty of the 160-acre homestead. There his death occurred December 21, 1903, he being buried at Ayersville, Defiance County, on Christmas morning of that year. Jlrs. Desgranges, who survives her husband, is now a resident of Pleasant Bend, where she is comfortably passing the evening of life in a new and modern cottage home. While seventy-four years of age, she is still alert in mind and active in body, and is a busy member of the iMethodist Episcopal

Church, where she has many friends who have had evidence of her many lovable qualities of heart and mind. Mr. Desgranges was a member of the Reformed Church. He was a republican in polities and at various times tilled positions of importance and trust in the community, being township trustee for two terms and holding other offices. As an official he bore the same high reputation as that which he had earned in business life as an honorable, straightforward man, and as a citizen bj' his willing support of public-spirited measures. He passed on to his children an unsullied name, one which had always been connected with things worth while. The following children were born on the homestead farm in Pleasant Township : Samuel, born in 1867, passed his life as a Henry County fanner, and died March 14, 1915, married Nida Davis, widow of Charley Davis, who had by her fii-st union two sons and one daughter; Charles, born in 1869, engaged in farming in Farmer Township, Putnam Count.y, Ohio, married Bertlia Parcher, and has six sons and three daughters: Edward, born December 12, 1871, reared on the homestead, now a prosperous and intelligent farmer of Farmer Township, Putnam County, married Miss Delia Fender, who was born in 1875 on the farm in Pleasant Township which is now owned by John W. Desgranges, went to Michigan when five years old and was there reared, and has no children; Philip, born in 1874, passed his life as a farmer in Michigan, and died June 12, 1914, married Minnie Hoffman, of Pleasant Township, and left two sons and one daughter at his death ; John Wesley, of this notice : Frank, who is engaged in operating a part of the old homestead in Pleasant Township, married Katherine Leader and has one daughter, ilary ; and Carrie, who is the wife of Clyde Foltz, a farmer of Putnam County, Ohio, and has one son and three daughters.

John Wesley Desgi'anges was born on the old homestead place in Pleasant Township, April 23, 1877. and grew up in this locality, securing his education in the public schools. When he came to manhood he decided upon farming as his life work, and to this vocation he has constantly devoted his attention, with the result that he is now the possessor of a handsome property, finely improved and well drained, on which he has carried on operations since the death of his father. Mr. Desgranges is one of the up-to-date and progressive agriculturists of his locality, using modern methods in his work and making a close study of his vocation. His land is improved with good buildings, these including a barn 36 by 50 feet, with posts 18 feet, and a comfortable and commodious 8-room house, which was built in 1888, and all other conveniences known to the modern farmer may be found on his land. He carries on general farming and keeps a small herd of cattle, incidentally doing something in the line of dairying and the other branches of agricultural work. He is adjudged a good business man, and has a reputation for honorable dealing and integrity that makes his name an honored one in commercial circles.

Mr. Desgranges was married to Miss Ruth L. Rowlader. who was born in Barry County, Michigan, May 23, 1897, and reared and educated in the vicinity of Vermontville, daughter of James M. and Lula (Wright) Rowlader, natives of New York. Her father was of German stock, and her parents were married in Michigan. They are now residents of Woodland, Michigan, Mr. Rowlader being sixtyfour years of age and Mrs. Rowlader sixty, and of their eight children Mrs. Desgranges is the youngest daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Desgranges have had two children : Laura Mildred, born June 13, 1914; and Jess Willard, born March 3, 1916. They are consistent members of the German Reformed Church. Mr. Desgranges is a popular member of Lodge No. 745, Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor.

James W. Shidler. As much as any other man in Northwest Ohio, James W. Shidler deserves to be numbered among those "sons of toil" who in every time and generation have found favor and honor among the peoples of the earth. Mr. Shidler as the years have come and gone has seen his work blos- .som and fruit into a considerable fortune, and while he deserves every penny of his wealth because he has made it himself, the wealth has not been the sole end which has urged him on, and it has been gained not without a great share of advantage to the ' entire locality.

When he reached his ma.iority he was stiniidated by an ambition to make a success in the world. He had only the primal energies of strong hands and a willing heart, and these directed by intelligence have carried him over every successive obstacle to the goal.

tition to secure this land. It was considered a permanent waste and wild, and any man of less determination and courage than young Shidler would have chosen a more favorable spot. It was situated in one of the wildest swamps found anywhere in Henry County. He had to delay the beginning of his operations until the waters receded and he was able to get to the land across logs, which formed a sort of roadway. There he set himself to clearing and making a home. There were no roads in that community, no ditches to drain off the surplus water, and he and one or two others who had land in the same vicinity had to dig out the ditches and make all the roads. Not only that, but he had to contend against the criticism and the opposition which usuallj' stands in the way of every progressive improvement. It took many months of the hardest kind of labor and hardship to get the first twenty acres cleared. That was the nucleus, from which his labors and enterprise have spread over a large amount of laud, and the clearing and development of this land in itself constitutes an important achievement and is of great benefit not to ;\Ir. Shidler alone, but to the entire county. After his twenty acres were ready for cultivation he bought forty acres more in Damascus Township, and subsequently forty-seven acres adjoining his first homestead. Another purchase gave him eighty acres in Section 6, also near the first homestead, and he now has a 127-acre farm and considerable other land elsewhere. Every acre of it has been redeemed from the wilderness by his own hands and with the aid of his horses.

It is not too much to say that 'Sir. Shidler has performed as much physical labor in the clearing up of land in Henry County as any other living resident. He has made sacrifices almost innumerable in his efforts to acquire independence. He has worked longer hours, walked further to earn a dollar, and has been regardless of personal discomfort and every obstacle that stood in the way of his achievement. Such a man deserves the highest honor and respect, and every dollar that he has earned for himself can be counterbalanced against at least equal value which his work has represented to the community at large.

At the present time, though ]\ir. Shidler is only a little past the meridian of life, he might retire and spend his remaining years in complete comfort. His farm represents manv modern improvements, including a main barn 4n by 60 feet, wing 20 by 30 feet, various other sheds and outbuildings and a covered barnyard 40 by 42 feet. He has a cement tank for water 7 by 14 feet, and from time to time has added every implement and convenience necessary for the operation of his farm. His home is one of the landmarks of the rural comuiunity in Richfield Township. It is a substantial two-story brick hou.se, containing ten rooms and all the comforts, such as bath, hot and cold water, furnace room and a capacious basement. As a farmer Mr. Shidler gets his revenues largely from the stock which he raises. He keeps about twelve head of horses, twelve head of cattle, twenty head of hogs, milks a small dairy of five cows, and he takes pains in improving and keeping up the grades of his livestock.

James W. Shidler is of German ancestry. His grandfather, Daniel Shidler, was born in Germany, where he grew x\p and where he married. Before he left the old world two sons were born, Benjamin and David. In the latter '20s he set out with his little family in a sailing vessel, and after six weeks arrived in this country and located in Seneca County. Ohio. He lived there among the Indians and surrounded by the forests and wild game. His home was close to the spot sacred in the history of the West, where the gallant Colonel Crawford many years before had been burned at the stake by the hostile Indians of Ohio. It is said that" Daniel Shidler cultivated the land about his grave, and the tradition is that though he sowed seed on the grave, none of it ever grew. Daniel Shidler and his wife spent their last years in Seneca County. He was a noted character in that community. Strong, rugged, a physical giant, he did feats which were recounted by the firesides of that community for jnany years. There were no improved highways in that day in Ohio, and it is said that Daniel Shidler when his wagon would become imbedded in mud would bodily lift the vehicle and would practically hold it up until the horses could pull it to solid ground. He died when in middle life.

After Daniel Shidler came to this country other children were born as follows: Catherine, who died young : John, who improved a farm and left a family: Jonathan, who was commonly known as Jack.

Jonathan Shidler. father of James W. Shidler. was bom in 1830. After the death of his father he lived for a time with a brother and later among strangers. On reaching his majority he started out to make his own way in the world. He was known in the early days of Ohio as an expert shingle maker. He was married in his native county to Miss Sarah Wagner, who was born in Seneca County about 1832, a daughter of Abraham and Mary Wagner, who were early settlers in Seneca County, having come from Pennsylvania with teams and wagons. The Wagners cleared up a home in the wilderness, and lived there for many years, though Abraham Wagner died in Wood County, his widow subsequently returning to Grelton, in Henry County, where she died some years later.

After Jonathan Shidler was maiTied, he became a tenant farmer. From Seneca County he moved to Wood County, and in 1876 located at Grelton, in Damascus Township of Henry County. There he lived until his death at the age of seventy-five. His widow died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sarah Battles, near Grelton, about eight years after her husband, and when about seventy-seven years of age. She was a member of the Methodist Church.

James W. Shidler was born while his parents were living in Seneca County, on October 4, 1861, and was reared and received his early advantages from the schools of Wood and Henry counties.

He married for his first wife Ericka Fisher, who was born and reared in Damascus Township. She died eight days after her marriage. For his second wife he married an orphan girl, Clara Howe, who had the happiness of only three years of wedded life. She left one child, Charles R., who died at the age of ten years. Mr. Shidler 's third wife was Tena, daughter of Peter Deitrick of Monroe Township, Henry County. She was born and reared there, and died ten years after her marriage, leaving one son, Peter, who is still unmarried and at home with his father. Mr. Shidler married for his present wife Mrs. Lina (Bolton) Hollepeter. She was born in Morrow County, Ohio, but was reared in Henry County. By her marriage to Richard Hollepeter she has two children: Bernice, aged nineteen, and Richard, or Dick, aged seventeen. Both live at home with their mother, and Bernice is a teacher, while Dick has finished the cour.se of the Grelton High School with the class of 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Shidler by their marriage have the following children: Beatrice. ^label, William, all three in school, and Dorothy, now two years of age. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church at Grelton and Mr. Shidler is a democratic voter.

Hon. J. Frank Meyers. While farming has been the business at which Mr. Meyers has made his living, has provided for his fine family of children, he has also for many years been closely identified with the educational welfare of his home county and state, and a number of years ago when he was called upon to serve in the Legislature much of his attention and effort were given to educational measures. Mr. Meyers is an impressive speaker, a man of fine address, has a broad knowledge of the best literature, is well informed on current affairs, and is one of the most broad-minded farmer citizens of Henry County.

He comes of old American stock. Some of his ancestors served in the Revolutionary war. The Meyers family were Pennsylvanians for a number of generations, and his great-grandfather spent all his life in Berks County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Jacob Aleyers, was born in Berks County, and one of his brothers fell in the defense of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Jacob was married in Berks County to Catherine Miller, who also represented a line of substantial people. From Pennsylvania Jacob Meyers emigrated to Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He brought with him a family of four sons and six daughters. Some of these were already married and had children.

John B. i\Ipyers, father of J. Frank Meyers, was born in 1829 in Berks County and was fourteen years of age when the family went to Tuscurawas County, Ohio. In that section of Ohio they cleared up some of the wild land, and Jacob and his wife spent their last years there, dying when past middle age. They were buried in the Gnadenhutten Cemetery. They were verv active members of the German Lutheran Church, and practically all the male members of the family have been Jackson democrats. Jaeoli ileyers and wife had the following children : William, Samuel, Jacob, Jr., John B., Sarah, Christina, Esther, Elizabeth and another daughter who married a I\Ir. Born. All the children except Elizabeth married and had children of their own.

John B. Meyers grew up in Tuscarawas County on a farm. He was married there to Annetta Werner. She was born in Schuylkill County. Pennsylvania, in 1831, of Pennsylvania German stock. Her parents were Jacob and Theresa (Born) Werner. Jacob Werner was a German teacher in Pennsylvania, and al>out 1846 removed to Tuscarawas County, where he bouglit and improved a tract of land on which he lived the rest of his years. There were three sons and four daughters in the Werner family. The sons were Jeremiah, Albert and Jacob. Jeremiah was a skilled mechanic and pattern maker. Albert became a soldier in the Civil war and died from homesickness in Tennessee. Jacob was a preacher in the Evangelical Church, but also a millwright and skilled mechanic.

After the marriage of John B. Meyers and wife they stai'ted out as farmers in Tuscarawas County, near the village of Trenton. While living there J. Frank Meyers was born September 3, 1853. His sister Elizabeth was also a native of the same locality. In 1856 the family removed to another farm in Tuscarawas County. This farm was the birthplace of Albert and Samuel. In 1863 they made another move, this time to Wyandotte County, where the sons John and George were born.

In 1867 the Meyers family came to Henry County. They made the journey with two covered wagons and teams, and spent several days over the rough roads. The land which they chose was new and raw, and was located in Monroe Township. From the woods of that section John B. Meyers cleared up a good farm. While the parents lived there two more children were born, Etta and Charles. John B. Meyers and wife both died on the old homestead within ten days of each other, in the months of February and IMareh, 1893. They were long consistent members of the Christian Union Church, and he was a sterling democrat who held several local offices. Four of their sons and one daughter are still living.

J. Frank Meyers was about fourteen years of age when the family eame to Henry County, and while he assisted as his strength permitted in the work of the farm, from an early age, he also wisely improved his opportunities to get a good education, and those who know him say that he has always been a student as well as a practical and progi-essive farmer. When he was seventeen years of age he was granted a certificate to teach school. It was his long experience as a teacher that gave him the fundamental and lasting interest he has always retained in the welfare of the public schools. Altogether Mr. Meyers taught thirty tenns, and his work was largely in Henry County.

In the meantime he bought forty acres of wild land in Marion Township of Henry County, and before he left that he had it improved with buildings, with drainage and fences, and sold out at a great advance in value over what lie paid. His next purchase was eighty acres in Section 13 of Monroe Township, which constitutes his present attractive rural home. Since taking possession he has cleared up thirty-five acres of this land, and has it all under drainage and otherwise well improved. For his stock and grain Mr. ^Meyers has a large barn 30 by 60 feet, and has added many improvements to the substantial 9-room house which is the family home. In farming Mr. j\Ieyers follows the rotation principle, and one of his valuable crops is sugar beets, which averages from 12 to 15 tons per acre.

In Harrison Township of Henry County ]\lr. ]\Ieyers married Miss Lillie Leatherman. Slie was born in that township, and her gi-andparents were Pennsylvania people. Her parents, Joseph and Effie (Beckham) Leatherman, were born in Ohio, and after their marriage and the birth of one child they settled in Harrison Township of Henry County. They made settlement there a short time before the Civil war. From there they removed to Richfield Township, where Mr. Leatherman died in 1899. His widow is now living in Malinta and is bearing the weight of eightj'-three years very gracefully and bravely. Both were members of the Disciples Church, and Mr. Leatherman was a democrat who was elected to several local offices, including justice of the peace and a place on the board of education.

Mr. and Mrs. Meyers have every reason to take pride in their children, who have grown up to worthy ideals and to useful careers. Grace L., the oldest, is the wife of Isaac Long, a farmer in Hancock County, and they have two children, Gladys and Bruce. James C. is sales manager for a wheel company in Toledo and is very active in church work in that city; he married Wilda Heckler. Dollie married Bert Patterson, and they have a son Donald. Harry is in charge of rural route No. 1 out of Malinta where he resides, and by his marriage to Gladys Franz has children named Kenneth and Norman. Edith, still at home with her parents, is a very successful teacher in tlie public schools and a capable musician. All the children were given the best of educational advantages, and all of them have taught school at some time.

Mr. Meyers and his sons are active democrats. It was in 1891 that he was first nominated and elected as representative of Henry County in the State Legislature. He was re- elected iu 1893, and gave two terms of very useful service to the state. In the Legislature he was a member of the military committee, and in that capacity he reported for passage a bill for the purpose of marking the position of the Ohio troops on the battlefield of Chiekamauga and other scenes of notable engagements in the South. He was also a member of the committee on universities and colleges, and this gave him a special opportunity to do all in his power to forward the improvement of educational institutions within the state. Some of the plans which he projiosed while in the Legislature have borne fruit in subsequent years, and his entire service was one that reflected high credit upon the representative from Henry County.

Charles A. Seiders. The following is a sketch of a highly successful Toledo lawyer. Those best acquainted with his attainments rank him high not only in the local profession but at the American bar. The law with him is a profession, a great calling, and not an occupation. He began as a "country lawyer" and by sheer ability has reached secure prestige in one of the leading cities of the state.

Charles A. Seiders is of that class of Americans known as Pennsylvania Germans. His ancestors on his mother's side came to this country in the first years 'of the eighteenth century, and on his father's side some years later.

The Pennsylvania German is a most thorough American. His ancestors coming to this country to escape religious persecution, the old country is so completely left behind that there is no connection. He knows of no relatives in Europe ; he has no letters from there ; he knows only in a general way what part his ancestors came from ; there are no household gods emanating from beyond the seas ; no traditions connected with the other side ; no heirlooms; no old letters, documents or furniture said to have been brought by the "first settlers." In short, the Pennsylvania German is about as thoroughly identified with America only as is the American Indian; he knows no "Fatherland" but the United States.

Mr. Seiders was born in the Village of East Texas, near Allentown, Lehigh County, Pemisylvania, June 1, 1857, and in April, 1866, his parents moved to the Village of Flatrock, Seneca County, Ohio, and after two years moved to a farm in Adams Township, that count\-. and five vears later to another farm in the same township. "While but a boy he commenced taking a great interest in reading, which he indulged by such books as he could borrow from the neighbors and teachers, and s^on subscribed to inexpensive young folk's magazines and weekly papers. His first sub- ^ scription to a weekly was the Cincinnati Weekly Times, the first copy of which received by him contained an account of the Chicago fire, and which copy he still retains. In moving on to the second farm he came into a neighborhood where great interest was taken in books and education. To procure these Mr. Seiders had to rely on his own eftorts, his father being financially unable to help him, and not having the fortune of good health he was unable to graduate from college. Having made up liis mind at the age of sixteen to become a lawyer, he commenced reading for that profession in the fall of 1878, but, having to work his own way, his studies were often broken into, and he was not admitted until March, 1882, when he passed the examination of the Ohio Supreme Court. In the meantime, and as a means of livelihood, he had in July, 1879, established and edited The Greenspring Times in the Village of Greenspring, Ohio, and the two starved and struggled along together for eight months, when they parted company.

In April, 1883, Mr. Seiders began the practice of the law in Paulding, Ohio, the county seat of Paulding County, which was then being just developed, it up to that time having been largely covered by a dense growth ol timber. A few years later he became the attorney for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company for that county, the general offices of that company being at Cleveland, and Paulding County being hard to get at, General Williamson, then general counsel, entrusted all the work to Mr. Seiders, and for twenty-five years he performed it, having continued to do so after his removal to Toledo and after Hon. John H. Clarke, now associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, had become general counsel. In the meantime there was soon added a large general practice which extended into other and surrounding counties. In the fall of 1888 he also became the local counsel for the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinac Railway Company, and continued to represent that company iintil his removal to Toledo. On November 15, 1897, he went into the office of Doyle & Lewis, Toledo, Ohio, and remained with that firm until January 1, 1902, when he went into practice for himself.

While reading law with Lutes & Lutes at Tiffin, Ohio, a firm composed of Nelson B. Lutes and his wife, Nettie Cronise Lutes, Mr. Seiders met .Miss Edith Sams, who was then practicing law in partnership with Miss Florence Cronise, a sister of Mrs. Lutes. Mr. Seiders and Miss Sams were married on May 1, 1883, at Tiffin, Ohio, and about a month after Mr. Seiders had commenced practicing law at Paulding. Miss Sams was admitted to the bar of Ohio in December, 1881, and was the first woman admitted to practice in that state by the Supreme Court.

Miss Sams was the fourth child of Alexander Brannen and Marianna Stuart Sams, both of English birth, her mother being a lineal descendant of the royal house of Stuart of Scotland. Mr. Isaac Sams, the grandfather of Mrs. Seidei's. came to this country from England in 1824 and established Rock Hill .\cademy at Ellicott City, Maiyland. In 1834 he removed to New York City and there reopened his school, but in 1835, his health having become impaired by overwork, he acquired 1,000 acres of land adjoining the Town of Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio, and in that year removed thither with his family. After the recovery of his health he became the head of a boys' school at that place and continued so for a UTimber of years. He took a great interest in education and everything pertaining thereto, and was during the remainder of his life a member of the board of county examiners. He opened a library and reading room at Hillsboro, was the means of establishing teachers' associations and educational publications, and in many ways, by his culture and energy, lifted educational standards in Southern Ohio. Being Episcopalians, Mr. (Isaac) Sims and his two sons (the uncle and father of Jlrs. Seiders) took a leading part in organizing an Episcopal Church in Hillsboro, and. in 1853, in the erection of the beautiful Episcopal Church at that place. The memorial window placed in the church to commemorate the names of the founders contains the name of the grandfather, uncle and father of Mrs. Seiders. together with five others. Her grandfather was senior warden from the time of the establishment of the church until his death on December 1, 1878. while her father was secretarv of the vestry from the time of

;\Ir. Alexander Brannen Sams, father of ^Irs. Seiders, was educated in New York City as a pharmacist, and lived there until 1848, when he too came to Ohio, where he met Miss Stuart, who, with her mother, was then making a tour of this eountiy, and they were married shortly after. They lived at Hillsboro, part of the time on his father's farm and part of the time engaged in the hardware business and also as collector of internal revenue, until 1869. wlien he purchased a drug store at Tiffin, Ohio, and removed there, where he died in 1893. liavinu' liis wife eight years. Both of the [liii'i'iits lit' .Mi's. Seiders were not only well hut liberally eihirated.

After their children were of school age Mrs. Seiders joined with her husband in the practice of law at Paulding, Ohio, under the firm name of Seiili'ix & Seiders, and so continued until Deeeiiiliei-. IsiKi, when Mr. A. M. Waters was associated with them under the firm name of Seiders, Seiders & Waters, and when, in November, 1897, Mr. Seiders removed to Toledo, Mrs. Seiders and Mr. Waters continued the business at Paulding until December, 1898, when the family removed to Toledo. She did not resume the practice in Toledo. While living at Paulding she was elected a member of the board of education and .served the full term of three years, being also elected clerk throughout her whole term.

Aside from holding the office of village solicitor for one term at Paulding, during the first years of his practice, and being a member of the board of education at Toledo from :\rarch 5. 1906. to June 15, 1908. at which time he resigned, and during the greater part of which period he was president of the board, Mr. Seiders has neither held nor sought political office. His only diversion has been the studying of history, on which subject he has accumulated a library larger than any other private library in the city of his residence.

After removing to Toledo, ilr. and Mrs. Seiders became identified with the Unitarian Church, Mr. Seiders being for nearly fourteen years a member of the board of trustees of the First Unitarian Church of that city and. for nearly all of that period, its president. He is a member of the Toledo Club, Toledo Commerce Club, Toledo Automobile Club, Toledo Museum of Art, the American Historical Association and the Maumee Valley Pioneer and Historical Association. ^Mrs. Seiders is a member of the Toledo Women 's

Henry D. Panning. An honored name in Henry County is that of Panning. Many worthy people have held it, and it has been a synonym for industry, integrity and those hard-working virtues which convert a wilderness into a smiling landscape of villages and farms.

One of this name was the late Henry D. Panning, who was born in Napoleon Township of Henrji- County, ^March 1. 1861, and died on his homestead farm in section 18 of the same township on November 1, 1908. Though he M'as not yet fifty years of age when he died he had accomplished a great deal and had filled his years with usefulness and honor. His parents were Fred and Catherine (Bennegen) Panning, both natives of Hanover, Germany, and of old Lutheran stock. The paternal grandparents came to America during the decade of the '50s, bought a tract of wild land in Napoleon Township of Henry County, where the grandfather cleared up a good farm. He and his wife died there when quite old. They were among the early Lutherans of that community and they left descendants who carried on their good name and their reputation for industry. Fred Panning, father of Henry D. Panning, grew up in Henry County, as did also his wife, and after their marriage they settled on the old homestead on section 18 of Napoleon Township. Fred Panning developed his farm of 120 acres, and died there at the age of seventy-six. His widow passed away at the age of seventy-two. Both are now buried in the Bremen Cemetery of Napoleon Township. All of tlieir children are also deceased. Their daughter Dorothy died in 1910, the wife of Fred Panning, who is mentioned on other pages. The son George died when quite young.

Henry D. Panning grew up on the old farm and attended both the English and German schools. His entire career was worked out on the farm in section 18. He became owner of that place and in many ways added to its improvements and was very suceessfvil as an agriculturist. He was an active member of the Lutheran Church, was a substantial Christian gentleman, and in polities his affiliations were with the democratic party.

Elizabeth Arps. She was born in Napoleon Township, March 29, 1863, and died at the home on section 18, March 7, 1900. Her father, Henry Arps, married again after the death of ]Mrs. Panning 's mother, and he and his second wife passed away when about sixty years of age. They were Lutherans and were active farmers of Henry County. Mrs. Elizabeth Panning left six children and six months later her daughter Helen also passed away. Those now living are: John A., a carpenter and threshermau who lives with liis stepmother, Mrs. Panning, at her home in section 5 and is unmarried; Freda, still single and emplo.yed in Napoleon; Johanna, who is twenty-two years of age and lives at home; Anton, who helps work the home farm; and Otto, also contributes his labors as a farmer on the old place.

For his second wife Henry D. Panning married Caroline Witte. Mi's. Panning, who after the death of her husband in 1911 bought a 55-acre farm in section 5 of Napoleon Township, and now resides there, was bom in Toledo, September 26, 1873. When she was quite young her parents, Detrick and Anna (Lange) Witte, moved to Henry County. Her father was bom April 21, 18.50, in Hanover, Germany, and her mother about seven years earlier. They were married in Toledo, where her father was employed at wages for some years, and in 1881 the Witte family came to Henry County. There the mother of Mrs. Panning died, and her father married a second time and is now living at Holgate, in Henrj' County.

I\Irs. Panning has one daughter, Clara, now nine years of age and attending the local schools. Mrs. Panning and her step sons give capable management to her good farm and she lives in the comfort that she deserves. Tlie farm is improved with a large barn and with a good 7-room house. All the family are members of St. Paul's Lutheram Church.

Henry F. Damman. Probably every resident of Ridgeville Township has had occasion to admire the capable management and wellkept appearance of the Damman farm in section 13. Its proprietor is a man who has effected a great deal in the course of his career. He started life with very little capital except what he earned himself, and from youth to the present has been one of the thrifty, industrious workers in this section of Ohio.

the same name in Illinois ou June 19, 1857. His parents were Henry and Sophia (Brinkerhoif ) Damman, both of whom were natives of Hanover. They were of early Lutheran stock of that country. Grandfather Damman was a soldier in the Napoleonic wars from 1812 to 1815 and was wounded at the battle of "Waterloo, and for his bravery and gallantry was decorated with several medals. This old soldier and his wife spent all their lives in Germany, as did also the maternal grandparents.

After their marriage Henry Damman and wife emigrated to America. They were seven weeks in crossing the ocean on a sailing vessel between Bremen and New York. From there they proceeded west to Henry County, Illinois, and after their son, Henry F. Damman was thirteen months old they moved to Ohio and located in Adams Township of Defiance County. Here they settled on a tract of wild land in the midst of the woods. Henry Damman secured for his first farm eighty acres. After clearing that up and improving it with a log house and stable he continued the successful cultivation of his fields, and in time had a substantial frame house and barn, and then bought a second eighty acres and eventually a third farm of similar size. All of these he put in excellent condition by tillage and drainage and after a long and useful life he died March 24, 1892, when nearly seventyone years of age. His wife passed away at the old homestead October 26, 1904. They were among the earliest settlers from the Kingdom of Hanover in this section of Northwest Ohio, and they did more than an average part in developing the country. They were among the organizers of the Bethlehem Lutheran Chui-eh, and he served for many years as one of the officials. Politically he was a democrat.

After these parents removed to Adams Township, in Defiance County, the following children were born : Mary, wlio is a widow and had a son, now deceased, and two daughters, Clara and Hulda, both of whom are married; Ida, who died after her marriage to Henry Banefelt, leaving Harry and Matilda; Fred, a retired farmer at Hicksville, Ohio, married Sophia Rohrs and has two children, Ralph and Arvilla; John, who owns and occupies the old homestead in Defiance County, married a Miss Sehroeder, and their children are Alvina, Loretta, Arnold, Helen, Emma, Chai-les, Carl and Ida. the last being now deceased.

It was on the old homestead in Defiance County that Henry F. Damman spent his early years. He finally took the management of the eighty acres which his father had last purchased in Section 5 of Adams Township, and devoted a number of years to its improvement and cultivation. He built a fine barn 38 by 64 feet, a granary 24 by 36 feet, and had a splendid rural residence of sixteen rooms with basement. In 1911 Mr. Damman sold this farm and bought his present place of ninety-nine acres in Section 13 of Ridgeville Township. He has all the land under cultivation except eight acres of native timber. This is splendid soil, well above the average, and he has made it grow large and profitable crops. His farm has a fine group of buildings, including a barn 36 by 80 feet with 14-foot shed, other buildings for the care of tools and ecjuipmeut, and his home is a 13- room modern clwelling.

In October, 1876, Mr. Damman was married in Adams Township to Dora Bremer. Mrs. Damman was born in Napoleon Township of Henry County, Febraary 17, 1865. She was reared and educated there, and is a daughter of Detrick and Mary (Haase) Bremer, both natives of Hanover. Her father was born in 1805 and died November 26, 1893, and her mother died in 1887 aged sixty-one years one month seventeen days. Detrick Bremer and Mary Haase had come to America as young people from Germany. They made the passage on a sailing vessel, and were many weeks in crossing the ocean. Some years after their arrival in Henry County they married. Detrick Bremer was for a number of years employed on the canal running through Henry County, and was one of the German pioneers of that county. Later he bought eighty acres of good land four miles west of Napoleon City, and was identified with its improvement until his death. The Bremei-s were active members of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church and assisted in organizing it and maintaining it. The children in the Bremer family were : John, who is married and lives in [Monroe To-^vnship on a farm and has two sons and a daughter; George, who is a farmer and has a son named Arthur; ]\Irs. Damman; Henry, a farmer in Monroe Township and the father of a son and four daughters.

Mr. and Mrs. Damman have two children. Verna is the wife of Fred Yungman, a farmer in Ridgeville Township on the Yungman farm. Alvin C. is now engaged in operating his father's homestead, and married Lela Meister of Henry County. Mr. .and Mrs. Damman also have an adopted child, Leona B. Parker, now sixteen years of age. The family are all members of the Lutheran Church at Ridgeville Corners, in which Mr. Damman is a trustee. Politically he is a democrat, and his public spirit has led him to keep in close touch with community affairs, and his individual success has been an important contribution to the welfare of every community where he has lived.

Henry Witte. It is a record of a thrifty and progressive Hanover family in Henry County that tells the story of Henry Witte, one of the most prosperous farmers of Freedom Township. Mr. Witte has not only done well for himself, but has achieved a great deal for others. He was the first of his family to come to America, and furnished the means by which his parents and brothers and sisters arrived in this land of plenty.

He was born at Salton, in Hanover, September 3. 1871, a son of Fred and Louisa (Hulsehe) Witte, both of whom grew up in Hanover. Fred Witte was a son of Henry and Angel (Wienselmann) Witte. All the represenl^atives of the different generations were members of the Lutheran Church, and all of them were farmers by occupation.

Reared and educated in Germany, Henry Witte set out between sixteen and seventeen vears of age as the first of his family to seek a fortune in the New World. He came by steamer from Bremen to Baltimore on the ship Brunswick, and was thirteen days in crossing. From there he came on to Napoleon and later went to Freedom Tow^lship, in Section 22, where his present home is, and was employed as a laborer. He not only worked hard, but saved nearly all his wages, and as soon as possible sent this money back to bring his brother William and sister Dorothy to the new country. A year later he sent the money necessary to pay the passage of his grandfather, his parents, and the other children, Minnie, William, Dietrich, Fred and Alta. Most of the family located in Sherwood, Defiance County, and Henry Witte bought and gave his parents some stock to make a start. The family bought eighty acres of land in JIark Township of Defiance County, and developed that as a farm. A few years later Henry Witte and his father went out to Oklahoma" Territory and acquired 320 acres in Woodward County. After four years they sold this at a profit and returned to Ohio, and the father spent his last years in Napoleon, where he died December 23, 1914, aged seventy-one. The grandfather, Henry, died at the age of seventy-six in Freedom Township. Henry Witte 's mother is still living with her son Fred in Adams Township of Defiance County and is sixty-nine years of age.

Henry Witte, as the record shows, has been exceedingly thrifty and energetic. After getting his family established he started to build \ip a home of his own, and with the loyal co-operation of his wife has acquired a beautiful homestead known as the Silver Poplar Farm, in Section 22, of Freedom Township. The land under his supervision grows abundantly all the staple crops, and he has excellent building improvements, including a 10-room house with basement, a barn 30 by 52 feet and other buildings. He also grows all kinds of fruit.

In 1893, at the home he now owns and occupies, Mr. Witte married Miss Anna Kopka. She was born on the farm where she now lives February 14, 1874, and has spent all her life in that vicinity. She is well educated both in the German and English languages. Her parents were Theodore and Elizabeth (Heldt) Kopka, her father a native of Pomern, Prussia, where he was born in 1835, and her mother a Bavarian, born in 1845. Theodore Kopka came to America at the age of thirty, while his wife came when five years of age. Though they emigrated a numlDer of years apart, both came on sailing vessels and landed at Baltimore, and both were seven weeks three days in crossing the ocean. They were married in Ohio, and lived for some time near Cleveland, where two of their children were born : Charles, who died in infancy, and William. The Kopka family in 1873 moved to Freedom Township and there developed an 80-acre fann from the wilderness and swamp. They lived for some years in a log cabin, and finally built a substantial house and barn. Mr. Kopka then bought another 40-acre tract and subsequently forty acres additional, both being adjacent to the original home farm. Theodore Kopka died at the homestead in May, 1901, and his wife in August. 1911, both at the age of sixtyseven. They were active members of St. John 's Lutheran Church, in which Mr. Kopka was an official, and he was a democrat.

Mr. and Mrs. W^itte have had no children of their own. They are foster parents of several children. One of them. Fred Moehring, is married and lives on a farm in Clinton Town.ship of Fulton County and has a daughter Bertha, now two years of age. Mr. and

Mrs. Witte have also adopted a son, Wilmer, taking him whrni he was an infant. Mr. Witte is one of the official members of St. John's Lntlieran Clmrch.

Victor Claty has been one of the prosperous agriculturists of Washington Township, in Henry County, for the past twentyfive years. He has made a close study of farming, lias applied the results of his experience and his observation, and he runs his business from tlie beginning of one season to the end with system and efficiency.

Representing an old French family, Victor Claty was born in the north of France in 1863, a son of Theophilus and Juna (Veno) Claty. His parents were also born in Northern France and their respective parents spent all their lives there as farmers and devout members of the Catholic religion. Theophilus Claty and wife lived in Pi*ance for a number of years, and he followed the trade of baker there. All their children were born in France except Mary. In 1875 the family, consisting of the ]3areiits, four sons and one daughter, set out for the United States. They traveled on a French liner from Havre to New York, and thence .iourneyed westward to Ohio, locating at ^lilton Center, in Wood County. Theophilus Claty soon bought a fami of 120 acres in that community, and by his own energies and with the help of his growing family cleared it up and added many improvements. He lived a very active life and was in well-to-do circumstances when he died in 1901 at the age of seventy-three. His widow passed away in 1909 aged seventy. They were life-long Catholics, and after becoming an American citizen Mr. Claty voted with the democratic party. All their children are still living, all married, and all are residents of Wood County except Victor.

Victor Claty was twelve years of age when he came to America, and he was educated both in the French and the English languages. He grew up on tlie farm, learned farming by practical experience, and at the time of his marriage in 1891 he bought the 80-acre farm he now owns in Washington Township, Henry County, in Section 13.