Sandusky Township (part 38 of 57)

The library was named as a memorial to Dorcas Carey, the mother of Mrs. Cinderella (Carey) Brown of Carey. Mr. and Mrs. Brown gave for the purpose of establishing the library the sum of $5,000. This taken in connection with $8,000 secured from the

]Miss Margie Sutphen, the libi-arian, was born at Carey, daughter of Edmund Garland and Sarah (Shuinan) Sutphen. The Sutphens are a Holland Dutch family that first located in New Jersey, from which state her gi-andfather, Richard Sutphen, came to Baltimore, Ohio, in pioneer times. He cleared up some land aud made a good farm, afterwards removing to Toledo aud finall}^ to Carey, where he died in 1900, at the age of ninety-three. He married Sarah Zircle of Virginia.

jMargie Sutphen acquired her early education in the public schools and was valedictorian of her class wlien she graduated from high school in 1897. She remained at home for several years and in the meantime took the summer library coui-se at the Chautauqua in New York and has since been the ver;^^ efficient librarian at Carey. She is a member of the Ohio Library Association and is affiliated with the English Lutheran Church.

Rob Y. Phillips. A Toledo lawyer with large practice aud influeutial connection, Rob V. Phillips was reared and educated iu Michigan and has been actively connected with the Toledo bar since 1904. He practices alone with offices in the Nicholas Building.

Mr. Phillips was born in Lenawee County, Michigan, April 14. 1879. He is a son of Charles W. and Sarah (Lozier) Phillips. The pateraal ancestors were colonial Americans and some of them fought in the French and Indian wars. His gxandfather. Aaron Phillips, came to Michigan in 1837 during the pioneer period, and w£is one of the early settlers of Lenawee Count}'. Both lie and his son, Charles W., were stiirdy farmers, and Charles W. was born in Michigan and is still living ou the old homestead at the age of sixty-nine. His wife was bom iu Ohio and died in 1905.

Rob V. Phillips attended the piiblic schools of Adrian, Michigan, took his law course in the Detroit College of Law and was graduated LL. B. in 1904.

He soon afterward came to Toledo to enter practice and has made for himself cougenial as.soeiations and a profitable general practice. From 1914 to 1916 he seiwed as police prosecutor of the City of Toledo and in 1916 was unsuccessful candidate for police .iudge. Mr. Phillips is a member of the Toledo Commerce Club, is both a lodge and

Jacob Dier, proprietor of the old Dirr homestead in Pleasant Township of Henry County, represents some of the earliest pioneer stock of Germans to locate in this district of Northwest Ohio. His own life has been one of commendable industry, of thrifty management, and the prosperity he has acquired for himself and his family has been more than well deserved.

Mr. Dirr was born on the old farm originally settled by his father, Henry Dirr. His birth occurred in a log house April 9, 1867. He grew up in Pleasant Township, was educated in the neighboring district schools, and employed his increasing energies with the tasks of the home farm. Mr. Dirr became proprietor of the old homestead in June, 1900. For the past fifteen years he has affected many changes and improvements, which have materially increased the value of the land and property. His home is a substantial ten room modern house, Avith basement, and practically every bit of his 140 acres are well improved. He farms on the rotation principle, and is careful about conserving the fertility of his soil. He keeps good stock and feeds nearly all the grain raised in his fields.

Henry Dirr, his father, was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, in 1816, and came with his parents to the United States about 1832. The .journey to this country was made in a sailing vessel, which encountered heavy seas and adverse weather, and finally landed its passengers hungry and almost exhausted. The Dirr family came West to Cleveland, and in 1836 arrived iu Pleasant Township. They located on the Ridge Road, secured their land direct from the Government, and had the log cabin home so familiar in the early settlement of this country. Many of the difficulties which the family encountered during their early j-ears of settlement have been described ou other pages of this publication.

Henry Dirr grew to manhood on the froutier, became accustomed to all the hardships of pioneering, and in early years was a great friend of the Indiaus who still lingered in this part of Ohio. As a young man he secured woi'k as a mule driver on the canal, but eventually he developed a tract of land as a farm. He had excellent business abilit.v, and had established a material competence long before his death, which occurred March 10,

1890. He was first a whig and afterward a republican in his political affiliations. Henry Dirr married for his first wife Katharina Gardner, a native of Bavaria, Germany. She died in 1862, the mother of eight children. After her death Henry Dirr married Ricka Shore, who was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, July 24, 1836, and had come to America from Bremen, making the voyage in sixty-two days. She lived for a time in Dei fiance Coiinty, until her marriage. Mrs. Henry Dirr is still living and still retains her vitality and mental vigor, though she is now quite old. She is an active member of the Evangelical Church. She was the mother of three children. Catherine, the oldest, is the wife of Henry Graver, of New Bavaria, and they have five sons and two daughters. The second in age is Mr. Jacob Dirr. George is unmarried and lives in California.

;Mr. Jacob Dirr was married in Pleasant Township to Mis.s Jennie Demland. She was born in that township August 17, 1870, and has lived in this locality all her life. Her parents were William and Elizabeth (Hornung) Demland. Her father was born in Bavaria, Germany, but was married in Henry County, his wife having been born and reared here. Mr. Demlaud became a farmer in Pleasant Township, close to the county line, and after a prosperous career died there January 1.3, 1909, at the age of sixty-two. He was a republican, and during the Civil war had served as a soldier for three years in the Sixty-eighth Ohio Infantry. He had many narrow escapes from bullets and other dangers, but was neither M'ounded nor captured. His widow is still living on the old homestead.

ilr. and ilrs. Dirr are the parents of two children. Oliver, who was born in 1891, grew up on ttie homestead farm, and is now successfully directing its cultivation and has assumed much of its management. He married Viola Kilpatriek, who was born in 1894 and was reared and educated here. They have a small daughter, Wilma, now two years of age. Esther Z., the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Dirr, is the wife of John Mansfield and they live in Highland Township. They have a daughter named Imogene. Mr. and Mrs. Dirr are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is an official, while ^Irs. Dirr is a teacher in the Sundayschool.

qualities which they may possess, are objects of peculiar interest in succeeding generations. Those who follow delight to read their names and to treasure in memory their accomplishments. The early colonists and the Pilgrim Fathers, as the years pass, are gradually raised from the level of common humanity and placed upon pedestals for our contemplation, challenging the admiration of posterity. Each successive step in the settlement of the country, as adventuro^^s pioneers pushed out from the populous centers of this or other countries, in the rapidly receding wilderness, has brought to notice courageous men and industrious families who have connected their names indissolubly with rising states and embryo communities.

The first six families to settle in Pleasant Township, Henry County, were the Hofmeisters, the Saurers, the Leshs, the Grims, the Battrings and the Dirrs, all coming from Germany and all making settlement between the years 18.32 and 1835. It will be the object of this .sketch to briefly review the Dirr family, one of the best known and most highly esteemed in the township, of which a worthy representative is found in the person of Peter Dirr, a lifelong resident of the locality, who is still engaged in agricultural pursuits and is the owner of a handsome propertJ^

Henry Dirr, the father of Peter Dirr, was born in the Province of Wuertemberg, Germany, between 1810 and 1812, and when he was a young man - it is believed in 1832 - his parents brought their family to the United States. The journey was made across the Atlantic in an old sailing vessel, which encountered heavy seas and adverse weather, so that an exceedingly bad passage was made, which consumed ninety days. In fact the immigrants, hungry and exhausted, had about given up hope of landing in free America when finally land was sighted and the little party of Dirrs touched American soil in New York. Prom the great eastern metropolis they made their way to Cleveland, where they remained for about one year, and then came to Henry County, by way of Defiance, following the Indian trail a distance of twelve miles east into what is now Pleasant Township. They located on what was popularly known in the community as the Ridge Road, where the grandfather (whose name is not now remembered) secured land from the United States Government, and there erected a log cabin of the type which made up the buildings of the territory at that time. It was onlv a primitive shelter, but it formed a home for the pioneers, and they managed to get along well and to be satisfied with conditions. One of the features of the first dwelling was its open fireplace, which served to cook the family 's corn cake and other articles of food, and which ended in a huge chimney, built of sticks and mud. At first the ci'ops were not to be depended upon ; there was too much to do before the land could be made to satisfactorily produce the grain and vegetables in sufficient quantity and quality to support the family. The timber had to be cut down, the stumps rooted, out, the stones taken from the soil and the land placed under the plow. Then it was found that the rainy .season swelled the small streams and swamps to such an extent that the water covered the roots of the grain and rotted it, and it was thus necessary that the corn be planted upon little hills where the overflow could not reach it. This is but an item in the long list of discouragements aud hardships which the early settlers were called upon to face and overcome. The game, which was plentiful, they secured for their table and sold the .skins and furs, and this went a long way toward paying their living expenses. In time, as the laud came more and more under cultivation, the parents secured greater comforts, and when they died, in advanced years, both were living in comparative ease. They were faithful members of the German Methodist Chiirch after coming to this country.

Henry Dirr, although born in Germany, soon became familiar with American customs and accustomed himself to the stern life of the wilderness. He had the peculiar gift of making friends with the Indians, who always remained loyal to him, his parents and his family, and who frequently stayed all night at his cabin, in the morning leaving half a bear or deer to pay for their accommodation. When still a young man Henry Dirr secured work on the canal as a mule driver along the towpath, but eventually turned his attention to the pursuits of the soil, and, being thrifty, industrious and enterprising, died as the owner of one of the best farms in the township. In his community his reputation was that of an honest and reliable man, credited with a more than ordinary amount of shrewdness, judgment and fore-sight. Originally a whig, with the formation of the republican party he transferred his allegiance to that organization and continued to act with it during the remainder of his life. Mr. Dirr married Miss Katharina Gardner, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, and came as a young woman to America, settling in Henry County, Ohio, in the same neighborhood as the Dirrs. Her father was Adam Gardner, who followed farming all his life in Pleasant Township and died here full of years, his wife being also in advanced age. Mrs. Dirr died in either 1862 or 1863, when she was in middle life, as a member of the Methodist Church, to which her husband also belonged. After her death, Mr. Dirr was again married and had three children : George, Jacob and Kathei'ine. By his first marriage Mr. Dirr was the father of the following children: Mrs. Mary Desgranges, who is a widow and makes her home at Pleasant Bend, Ohio; Henry, a farmer of Williams County, Ohio, who died in 1911, leaving three sons: Peter, of this review, Andrew, who resides on a farm in Pleasant Township, is mari'ied and has a family, and Frederick, who died after his marriage and left a family ; Charles, a farmer of Pleasant township, who is married and has children; Eva, who is the wife of Philip Birrill, lives at Pleasant Bend, and has a family; and J. Wesley, who is a resident of Pleasant Township and the father of several children.

Peter Dirr was born on the old home farm in Pleasant Township, Henry County, Ohio, July 8, 1845, and was given the usual educational advantages granted to youths in a pioneer community where teachers are hard to secure and where the work of the lads is needed in the development of the home farm. However, he managed to gain a fairly good training in the little log schoolhouse, with its puncheon floor and seats, and when he had mastered the ''three R's" proceeded to give his entire attention to the duties of farming. About the time he became of age Mr. Dirr purchased 160 acres located where he now lives, in section 29, Pleasant Township, a tract of land which is now all improved. When he first took up his residence here, he found primitive conditions still existing, the farm buildings consisting of a log barn and a log cabin home, but as the years have passed and he has become more and more successful he has graduall.y added improvements of a modern character, and he now has a commodious barn, substantially built and well equipped, 36 by 60 feet, and a modern residence, attractive and up to date in all its appointments, with eight rooms and a basemeiit. Mr. Dirr has always been considered an energetic and industrious farmer, well capable of taking inW advantage of his possibilities. But in doing so lie has alwa.ys acted in an honorable manner, has built him up an enviable reputation, and in business circles his word is sufficient proof of his fair intentions.

Mr. Dii-r married Miss Fannie Bolley, a neighbor, who was boi'n September 15, 1846, in Pleasant Township, and for more than forty-six years she has proved herself a most ' devoted helpmate, faithful wife and loving mother. She is a daughter of Theobold and Dorothy (Bender) Bolley, the former born in Bavaria and the latter in another province of Germany. Mr. Bolley immigrated to the United States in 1840, with four children, all of whom are deceased. These children were by his first wife, and after coming to America he married Miss Bender, aud here they rounded out their lives in Pleasant Township, improving a farm of large dimensions. Mr. Bolley died when eightj'-nine years of age and iSlts. Bolley when seventy-seven or seventyeiglit. Mr. and Mrs. Bolley were the parents of four children : Elizabeth and Theobold, who both died before their mother ; Mrs. Dirr ; and Henry, who is married and resides at Napoleon, Ohio.

ilr. and Mrs. Dirr are the parents of the following children : Elizabeth, wlio is the wife of William Beck and lives in Defiance County, Ohio, having one son, Clyde, and two daughters, Delia and Jessie; Andrew, who is engaged in farming in Michigan, married Carrie Reed, of that state, and has three children, Fore.st, Willma and Madea; Peter J., a resident of Pleasant Bend, where he is a director of the Farmers Elevator, married ^Nfrs. Rose (Groll) Smith, who has three children by her former husband, George Groll, deceased : Dilla, who is the wife of George Harmon, excounty commissioner of Putnam County, Ohio : Charles, a farmer of Urieh, who married Rosa Buff, of Henry County, had one child, Arthur, who met an accidental death when seven years of age ; and Nellie, who is the wife of George King and resides in Defiance County, where he is engaged in farming, and is the mother of one son, Cloyd.

Mr. and Mrs. Dirr are consistent members of the Reformed Church, in which both are active, and are supporters of all the movements of that denomination. A republican in polities, Mr. Dirr has frequently been elected to office, and his official record is an excellent one. He belongs to E. Gleason Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Holgate, being entitled to membership in that body as a veteran of the Union army during the Civil war, in which he fought for about one year at the close of the struggle, as a member of Company B, One Hundredth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted when a youth of eighteen years, and fought in numerous engagements, among which were the bloody battles of Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee. He has presented half of his farm to his children, but still retains eighty acres, where he has a comfortable home.

iliLO D. Wilson continues the oldest general insurance agency at Bowling Green. He entered that business with his father when he was a very young man, and since his father 's death has kept the business up to the same high plane on which it has been operated for nearly half a century. His office is at 102 South Main Street.

The business was established in 1868 by W. A. Benschoter. It was the first insurance office in Wood County. After the death of Mr. Benschoter the business was taken over by C. E. Ben.schoter, Joseph Martin and a Mr. Baker, though still known as tlie W. A. Benschoter Insurance Agency. Later another change was made and the firm ]\Iartin & Baker succeeded. In 1903 John B. Wilson bought a half interest in the company owned by Mr. Martin. John B. Wilson entered the business in January and in ]\Iay of the same year Milo D. Wilson, his son, took an active part and in the fall of flint vf^iv thev bought the interest of Mr. Baker hihI oi-ganized the firm of J. B. Wilson & Sou. The firm handles general insurance, but for some years has specialized in fire, bonding and casualty lines. It represents some of the strongest companies, including the oldest insurance organization of the world, The Sun of England, and also the North American of Philadelphia.

The senior member of the firm, the late John B. Wilson, was one of Wood County's foremost citizens for many years and until his death on May 2, 1912. His death came after a long illness, but an infirmity of health had not served to break down his valiant spirit through nearly ten years of suffering.

John Blythe Wilson was bom at Grand Rapids. Ohio. November 30. 1853. a son of ]\rathew and Elizabeth fUlythe') Wilson, who were early settlers in Wayne County, Ohio. They subsequently moved to Wood County and located and improved raw land near Grand Rapids. John B. Wilson lived on the home farm until he was seventeen, then went with his pai'ents to Waj-ne County, near Marshallville, where his father and mother spent their last years, both dying when past seventy. John B. Wilson attended the local schools and also the Smithville College at Marshallville, and began his life as a teacher, and for a time was principal of the North Baltimore schools.

He became a resident of Bowling Green in December, 1881, when he accepted the position of deputy auditor under the late E. W. Poe. He was "in that service until Mr. Poe was elected auditor of the state and then filled the office of chief for ten months. His long and commendable record as deputy was followed by liis election as coianty auditor in 1885 and he filled it two terms. He also served as deputy county treasurer, and subsequently became interested in various enterprises until he entered the insurance business in 1903.

The appreciation in which this good citizen was held in the community is well told in an article that appeared in the Daily Sentinel- Tribune of Bowling Green at the time of his death :

"Mr. Wilson has been identified with the most active business life of the city. He was tireless in boosting for Bowling Green. He did much to get the Board of Trade started and was its able secretary. He was responsible in a large measure for the Pitkin and Brooks factory coming to Bowling Green, for B. A. Graram starting a motor track company, and for the organization of the Bowling Green ilotor Car Company to take its place when the Gramm firm removed to Lima. He was president of the local truck company at the time of his death. He also was president of the Grand Rapids Bank and was chairman and active secretary after the death of Mr. Fry of the Fort Meigs Commission, which bought the ground, erected the monument and preserved Fort Meigs' historical features.

"He was very friendly in disposition and enjoyed a wide circle of acquaintances in business, political and fraternal circles over the state. He was a charter member of Kenneth Lodge No. 158, Knights of Pythias, and took a keen interest in that order until his death, being one ef its trustees. He served as representative of the Grand Lodge, had a part in the team work of the third degree, and was a trustee of the Knights of Pythias Children's Home. He was closely identified with the work of the Valley Pioneer and Historical Association."

Baltimore, Miss Catherine Simon, who was born in Wood County, daughter of Israel and Susan (Nesbaiim) Simon, both natives of Ohio 1 and early settlers of Wood County. Her parents were farming people and were active members of the Christian Church. Her father died when ninety years of age, having survived his wife many years. He was a republican, and the republican party has always been accorded strict allegiance bj' members of the Wilson family. The late John B. Wilson was a delegate to the national convention which nominated William McKinley for president. Mrs. John B. Wilson is still living with her daughter at 342 North Main Street. She is prominent socially and is a member of the Christian Science Church. She was the mother of five children, one son dying in early youth. The others are : Milo D. ; Charles S., of Bowling ( Green: Gladys, of Bowling Green; and Dr. Cecil B. Wilson, who died August 10, 1913.

I\Iilo D. Wilson was born at North Baltimore, October 31, 1880, and was brought when an infant to Bowling Green, in which city he grew up and received his education in the grammar and high schools. He also spent two years in the pharmacy department of the State University and was a registered pharmacist before entering the insurance business with his father.

community where her life from early girlhood had been spent. Mr. Wilson is a Blue Lodge and Chapter IMason in Bowling Green and also a member of the Knights Templar and the Scottish Rite bodies in Toledo, and a member of Zenobia Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Bowling Green Lodge No. 818. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a republican and has worked for the good of the local part.y and more particularly for everything pertaining to the advancement and welfare of his home city.

Jonathan E. Ladd, former prosecuting attorney of Wood County, has been in active practice as a lawyer since 1900. Ability and integrity of character have commended him to the confidence of the people generally in Wood County, where he is a local leader and possesses large influence.

law studies under P. C. Beard, a well known Toledo attornej'. He was admitted to the bar in 1900. For a number of years Mr. Ladd taught school, and from that profession turned his attention to the law. He attended when a young man Fostoria Academy and was for a number of years engaged in teacliing in Sandusky County and for ten yeai's was connected with the schools of Braduer in Wood County.

]\Ir. Ladd was elected prosecuting attorney of Wood County in 1904, and for four years gave an administration characterized by vigorous enforcement of the law. It was au invaluable experience to him in his profession and since the close of his term of of&ce lie lias enjoyed a large private practice. He lias also been connected with the board of education at Bowling Greeu. Mr. Ladd practices as a member of the firm of Ladd & James, his partner being William B. James. They have been associated for eight years.

Mr. Ladd was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, September 21, 186.3. He was reared on a farm and his first advantages were those of the country schools. He comes of an old Virginia branch of the Ladd family, but his people have been in Ohio for a century. His greatgrandfather, James Ladd, brought the family to Ohio and located in Columbiana County in the eastern part of the state about 1812. He cleared up a farm and he and his wife died there when cjuite old.

Cornelius Ladd, grandfather of the Bowling Green lawyer, was born in Virginia in 1806 and was six years of age when brought to Ohio. His early surroundings were those of a frontier community. He was married in Columbiana County to Sarah Hoiles, a native of Ohio. She died when in the prime of life and at the birth of her second child, Sarah A. Her first child was Amos T. Ladd. Cornelius Ladd married for his second wife Therza Meyers, and soon afterward, in 1850, removed his family to Ladd Ridge in Wood County, where his .second wife died a few years later, leaving several children. For his third wife he married Eliza People. There were no children by that unK)n. Cornelius Ladd and his third wife continued to live on the old farm at Ladd Ridge and he died there at the age of ninety-one. He was a whig in his early political views and afterwards affiliated with the republican partv. He and his wife were Baptists.

County, and he gTew up on a farm there and married Sarah Barr. She was the mother of William, Sylva M. and Melvin 0., the last two being twins, at whose birth she died. For his second wife Amos Ladd married 5ose McCreary, and she was the mother of Jonathan E. Ladd. She was born in Morrow County, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. One of her ancestors served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Her grandfather, George ile- Creary, was born in 1812, was a California forty-niner and made two trips out to the gold coast. He afterwai-ds lived for many years in Wood County, where he died. He was a prominent democrat and a man of considerable local reputation. He followed the trade of cabinet maker and was also a talented musician. Rose McCreary was one of the early teachers of Wood Countj^, and taught for a number of years before her marriage. She became the mother of eleven children and died at the birth of the last child on December 16, 1882. She was then forty-five j'ears of age. Amos T. Ladd, who died at Bradner, Wood County, SpptiMiiIir.r 1."). 1906, was a successful farmer,, stdi-k i-aisci-, drover and shipper. Through his varied business relations he became well known all over this part of Ohio. Politically he was a republican.

Jonathan E. Ladd was married in Sandusky County to Miss Addie Jennings. Her father, Capt. Joseph H. Jennings, was also a California forty-niner. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ladd, all living but one, Luella, who died in childhood. The oldest is Jesse A., who was born September 21, 1887, and is an officer in the regular United States army. He was appointed when a youth to West Point Military Academy, where he graduated in June, 1911, with the rank of second lieutenant. Since then he has been in active military service, liaving been first stationed at Vancouver in the State of Washington, later spent two years in Honolulu, and is now stationed along the Mexican border. He was married in Bowling Green to Florence Von Cannel, formerly a teacher. Dale, the second child, is a graduate of Bowling Green High School. He married Miss Margaret Ray and they have a daughter, Jane. Raymond E., who was liberally educated in the high school and Dennison University and in the Ohio State University, was graduated from the law course in 1916, having passed the bar examination the previous December and is now in active practice with his father at Bowling Green. Donald McK. completed the course of the high school and is a graduate of Dennison University with the class of 1916. While in university he was prominent in athletics and captain of a footbaU team. He is now secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association at Honolulu. Paul is a graduate of the Bowling Green High School and is now a student in the State Normal School at Bowling Green. Florence and Rena are both students in the high school and the two youngest children, Jonathan B. and Joseph J. are in the grammar schools.

air. Ladd is affiliated with Pemberville Lodge of Masons, with the Royal Arch Chapter at Bowling Green, with the Knights Templar Commandery at Fostoria and belongs to Zenobia Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Toledo. He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias at Bowling Green, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of that city, is a republican, and he and his family are all members of the Methodist Church.

D^vNiEL Frick was one of the pioneer business men and farmers of Hancock County, and for many years was identified with the locality known as Van Buren. His life was purposeful and regulated according to the strictest principles of honor and integi'ity and he left above his ample matei-ial possessions the priceless legacy of an honest name.

He was born on a farm near Pittsburgli, Pennsylvania, in 1829, a son of Daniel Frick, who was of Pennsj'lvania German ancestry. Daniel Frick was married in Pennsylvania to Esther Dinsmore, of Irish ancestry, and a daughter of John and Susan Dinsmore of Pennsylvania, ilrs. Daniel Frick is still living at Van Buren and at the age of eighty years is still active and thoroughly capable of managing her business affairs.

In 1856 the late Daniel Frick came to Hancock County and located at Van Buren, where he opened a general store on Main Street. He continued in business as a merchant and also operated a farm of 160 acres near the village and these. enterprises claimed his time and attention until 1870. He then retired and two years later, in 1872, his death occurred.

Mr. Frick was a republican in politics and was the recipient of numerous official honors in his home township. He and his wife were the parents of two children: Loderaa, who was born in 1856 and died at the age of eleven years, and John, who was born in 1852 and died at the age of four years. Mr. and Mrs. Frick reared a nephew, Daniel Frick, who is living near his foster mother. The late Mr. Frick was active in the United Brethren Church and that is the religious faith of Mrs. Frick.

Judge John Kaull Rohx, who gained a high position in the Seneca County bai" and as a member of the bench, had many achievements and accomplishments to his credit, though his life was comparativelj' brief. He died June 15, 1901, at the age of forty-two.

He was born at the old Rohn homestead two and a half miles east of Tiffin April 5, 1859, a son of Asia and Eliza (KauU) Rohn. His grandparents were Daniel and Catherine (Helman) Rohn, the former of French and the latter of German stock. The maternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Swartz) Kaull, the former a son of John and Maria (Steiniuger) Kaull, and the latter a daughter of Samuel and Mollie (Gregory) Swartz. The family were identified with Pennsylvania for a number of generations. Judge Rohn's father was born in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1814, the youngest in a family of eleven children. The mother of Judge Rohn was born also in Lehigh County, October 14, 1817. They were married in Pennsylvania and in the spring of 1849 arrived in Seneca County, making the eutii*e journey overland by wagon. For twenty-six years they lived on the farm east of Tiffin and in 1875 bought another place near the Greenlawn Cemetery.

Judge Rohn, who was the sixth in a family of seven children, spent his early life on the farm, attended public schools, and in the fall of 1875 entered Heidelberg College at Tiffin, from which he was graduated in the scientific course on June 19, 1879. He then taught a country school for one winter and began the study of law in the firm of Noble & Adams at Tiffin. His admission to the bar before the Supreme Court of Ohio occurred October 2, 1882, and from the spring of 1883 he was identified with a growing and successful practice at Tiffin. He made a specialty of corporation law, and among other clients represented the Pennsylvania Railway Company and also the Lake Erie and Western Railway Company. He. was a man of force and power in everything he undertook. It was because of his prominence in legal circles and a.s one of Ohio's most representative lawyers that Gov-

He was as resourceful in business affairs as he was in the law, and was one of the organizers of the National Machinery Company of Tifttn, an industry which he served as secretary and member of the Board of JManagers. This business continues as one of the largest industries of Tiffin and Mrs. Rohn, his widow, is a director of the company. Judge Rohn was a republican in politics. He is remembered by his old associates as a true gentleman, a scholar and a lawyer, and a man whose character measured up to the highest ideals of his profession and social life.

On June 16, 1886, he married Miss Augusta Schlitt, of Spi'ingfield, Illinois, daughter of Frederick and Helen (Kessberger) Schlitt. Her parents were both born in Weisbaden, Gennany, and came to the United States on their wedding trip, locating in Springfield, Illinois. Her father became an extensive land holder, a sheep raiser and the owner of considerable coal properties. Mre. Rohn was the seventh in a large family of nine children. She is an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, and since her husband's death has proved a diligent and judicious business woman, carefully looking after the property at Tiffin and elsewhere and giving close personal attention to the education and training of her two daughtei's. These daughters are Helen Elizabeth and Margaret Louise. The elder daughter is a graduate of Vassar College and was married June 16, 1917, to Valentine Brunner Holman, of Washington, D. C. The younger is still pursuing her studies in Vassar College.

Frank P. Mohler was the type of sturdy and intelligent farmer citizen such as any community cau ill afford to lose. He spent his years industriously, and acquired prosperity in Washington Township of Henry County, where his death occurred January 2, 1914, in his sixty-first year.

He was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, November 23, 1853. of Pennsylvania ancestiy. His parents, David and Maria (Sehriver) Mohler, came in the early days and located on new land in Ohio, cleared up and improved eighty acres, and made it their home for many years. David Mohler died at the age of sixty, and his wife aged seventyfour. They were very fine people, good neighbors, devout Christians, members of the Reformed Church, and David Mohler was a democrat who was elected to several local offices. In their family were six sons, all of whom grew up, all married, and all are still living except Frank P. Mohler.

Frank P. .Mohler was reared on the old home farm, and his education came from the common schools. He had au ambition to become a farmer and land holder, and after his first marriage he bought forty acres in section 18 of Washington Town.ship in Henry County. Then followed years of unceasing toil until the land was thoroughly cleared, after which he bought au adjacent forty acres in the same section, and he lived to see that not only cleared and well improved, but equipped with excellent buildings. During liis lifetime he erected the substantial barn, 36 by 56 feet, and he was one of the progressive farmers who had covered barn yards. This yard was 56 by 52 feet, and furnished slielter for a large number of stock while feeding. He also built a corn crib, a separate granary and had arranged everything so as to simplify and make his farming operations more efficient. His home was a tenroom house, situated in the midst of the large grove and surroimded with an ample lav^Ti. This feature gives the name to the farm by MJiieh it is known far and wide, Maple Grove Farm. Some years later Mr. Mohler bought eighty acres of highly improved land in. section 19 of Washington Township. Thus at the time of his death he was pi-oprietor and owner of 160 acres of some of the most productive and best improved farm lands of Henry County.

Mr. ]\Ioliler was first married in Washington Township to Caroline Kesler. She was born in Sandusky, and was brought to Henry County by her parents. She died at her home in Washington Township when in the prime of her yeai-s. One child survives her. Earl, who is a farmer near Delta in Fulton County, Ohio. He married Bertha Kigar, and they have a daughter, Irene, now sixteen years of age and attending the Delta public schools.

On December 11, 1888, in Hem-y County, Mi: Mohler married Laura Rearick. Mrs. Mohler, who survives her honored husband and has shown much capability as a manager of the estate, with the assistance of her children, was born in Washington Township January 20, 1870, and was reared and educated there. She is a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Skinner) Rearick, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Sandusk^%

Ohio, where they were married. At ouce after their marriage ilr. aiid Mrs. Rearick came to Henr}- County and secured a tract of land iu Washing-ton Township, which they cleared up and developed as a farm, and later were able to live retired iu Liberty Center, where both of them died, the father at the age of seveuty-five and the mother still older. They were members of the Reformed Church, and Mr. Rearick was a republican.

ilrs. Mohler became the mother of the following children: A. Zerba and Bessie J., twins, who were born in 1889 and both are still at home. A. Zerba married Etheline Weirick and they have the active management of the IMoliler farm and are the parents of tlie following children, grandchildren of Mrs. Mahler: Grace L., Carrie A., Ruth M., Charles C. and Lawrence H. Grace E., the third child of ^Irs. Mohler, is the wife of Dennis Lethenuan, a farmer in Washington Township, and their three children are Vernon, Lowell and Josephine, ilary :M. is a member of the class of 1917 in the Liberty High School. Laui-a E. has completed her education in the Liberty High School and is still at home. Jessie ilary also lives at home. The family attend the ^Methodist Episcopal Church.

Jacob Anthony Kimjmell, il. D., who in point of continuous service is one of the oldest medical men in Northwest Ohio, has spent practically all his life in this state, was a boy soldier of the L'nion during the Civil war, and graduated in medicine and began practice half a century ago. Doctor Kimmell has always been interested in local history and in its preservation, is editor of a recentlj' published history of Hancock County, and is advisory and contributing editor for that county to this publication.

He was born in Carroll County, Ohio, September 17, 1814. a son of David and Christina Kimmell, who moved to Hancock Countj^ in 1851. His father was a farmer and Doctor Kimmell grew up in a country environment. He attended common and high schools at Findlay, and was not yet seventeen years of age when tlie war broke out. He .served three years as a volunteer in Company A of the Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After the war he entered the Western Reserve University Medical School at Cleveland, was graduated M. D. in 1869, and in 1875 was graduated Ad Eundera at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City. Doctor

Kimmell early became recognized as a phj'sician of exceptional attainments, and during his more active years had a splendid practice througliout Hancock County. Through his profession he earned a competency necessary for a comfortable old age.

Other honors than professional have come to him from time to time. He was a member of the Seventy-second General Assemblj- and while in the House secured the passage of the House Bill No. 76 creating the Board of Registration and Examination for physicians in Ohio. His first public honor was appointment as postmaster at Cannonsburg, Ohio, during Grant "s administration in 1869. Doctor Kimmell was elected a member of the city council of Findlay in 1892, a member of the Findlay Gas Board in 1894, and his service in the Legislature from Hancock County was during 1895-97. From 1905 to 1917 iie has been secretary-treasurer of the Majestic Building Company of Findlay. Politically Doctor Kimmell is a republican. He was made a blaster Mason in 1865 in Lodge No. 227, Free and Accepted Masons, at Findlay, joined the Findlay Lodge of Elks No. 75 in 1888 as a charter member, and has long been an active member of Post No. 54 of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Doctor Kimmell was married at Findlay -lune 4, 1869, to Eliza Ellen Bonham, daughter of Robert Bonham, deceased, of Findlay. On January 12, 1875, at Findlay, he married Rose Evaline Graber, daughter of Ambrose Graber, deceased, of Findlay. For his third wife Doctor Kimmell was married at Detroit, :Michigan, September 30, 1909, to EfSe Afton Gibson, daughter of George Johnson of Detroit. Doctor Kimmell 's only child is Alfred G. Kimmell, who married Helen Sutphen, of Cincinnati, now deceased.

Shadr.\ch W. Bowman. Honors have accumulated rapidly about the professional career of Shadraeh W. Bowman, who is today recognized as one of the most prominent lawyers of the Wood County Bar. ^Mr. Bowman is now serving his home city of Bowling Green as mayor. For a number of years he practiced as a member of the firm of JlcClelland & Bowman, until ]Mr. McClelland was elected in 1915 judge of the Common Pleas Court.

j\Ir. Bowman was born in Liberty Township of Putnam County, Ohio, February 20, 1876.. When he was twelve years of age his parents removed to the vicinity of Weston in Wood Countv and he continued his common school education there. lu 1893, at the age of seveuteen, he began teaching, and subsequently continued his education in the normal school at Angola, Indiana. During his work as a teacher he was superintendent of two schools, I\Iilton Center and Haskins.

Mr. Bowman was elected county recorder of "Wood County in 1900, and was at the time the youngest official who had ever served the county. He was re-elected in 1903 and gave a most creditable administration of the affairs of his office. In 1906, after leaving the county office, he entered the law department of the State University at Columbus, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1909. In the same year he was admitted to the bar, subsequently was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the state and in 1913 of the Federal Court. Mr. Bowman is chairman of the Wood County Central Committee of the republican party and has proved a vigorous exponent of republican principles in this section of Ohio.

He is of old Pennsylvania German ancestry. The name was originally spelled Bauman. His gi'eat-grandfather, John, and his grandfather, Jacob Bowman, were pioneers in Northern Ohio, locating in Medina County in the early part of the last century. From there they moved to Seneca County, where the wife of John J. Bowman died. He also died in that community and had been a prosperous farmer for years.

In the early '70s Jacob Bowman and wife and family removed to Putnam County and located in the midst of the forest in a district that had not yet been cleared up for the i;ses of civilized man. He made a farm by cutting down the woods and rooting out the stumps, and a great deal of material prosperity followed his efforts. A strong bent to mechanics has run through the Bowman family and all of them were capable of performing the work required for the construction of homes and the many mechanical arts required for successful farm husbandry. Jacob Bowman died at the age of seventy-five and his wife at eighty-nine. Her maiden name was Snyder, and she was also of Pennsylvania German stock. The Bowmans in the early generations were all democrats.

The Bowling Green lawyer is the son of John Bowman, who for many years followed farming in both Putnam and Wood counties. He and his brothers Jacob, Hiram and Walter were all Union soldiers. Hiram and Walter both died in the service, one killed in battle and the other dying from iUness. The other two returned from the war, and Jacob was married and . lives at Fostoria. All four brothers had enlisted from Fostoria and were all members of Company I of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

In 1888 the Bowman family removed from Liberty Township of Putnam County to Milton Township of Wood County, and here John Bowman died on his farm March 25, 1892, at the age of fifty-one. While in the war he was captured and made prisoner at the battle of Winchester and for a long time was confined in the notorious prison stockade at Andcrsonville, Georgia. He suffered all manner of hardships and -privations and there became a victim to the stomach trouble which subsec[uently took him off. In early days he had voted with the democrats but became eonverted to the republican doctrine under the influence of Governor Foraker and was long prominent in that party in a local way. He held various township offices. John Bowman married Eliza Wolfe. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Virginia. In the maternal line her gi-andfather had been a Virginia slaveholder. Mrs. Eliza Bowman is still living, her home being at Weston, and she is a woman of remarkable vitality and of great intellectual interests. She is sixty-six years of age and still does her part as a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, in the Missionary Society and other activities of the Methodist Episcopal Church and keeps perfectly informed on all local and current events.

Sliadi-ach AV. Bowman is affiliated with the Lodge of Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a past exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge and a member of the Grand Lodge. Mayor Bowman was married in Wood County to Blanche Wood, who was born in Milton Township and reared and educated there. She was a successful teacher before her marriage. jMr. and Mrs. Bowman have three children: K. Bert, who. graduated from the Bowling Green High School in 1917 ; Mildred G., aged fourteen and a student in high school; and John, aged twelve, in the grammar schools.

John Schirmer. That quality of entei-- prise which enables a man to start at the bottom and climb steadily to influence and success in Inisiness affairs has been exemplified to a high degree by John Schirmer of Arlington. Mr. Schirmer only a few years ago was a hard working farm hand, but is now at the head of a growing and flourishing business at Arlington as a contractor and merchant and is proprietor of the Arlington Grain Company.

He was born on his father's farm two miles south of Van Lue in Hancock County, March 30, 1873. His parents are Albert and Julia (Beck) Schirmer. His mother was of Pennsylvania German ancestry. His father was born in Germany and at the age of twenty-two lauded in New York City. For six months he found emjjloyment in a lumber yard in the East and then came West to the vicinity of Van Lue, Ohio, where he worked on a farm for a relative for two years. Having the German quality of thrift he saved nearly all his earnings and then started out for himself as a renter. He has been identified with the farming community near Van Lue for many years.

J\Ir. John Schirmer was the only son in a family of seven children. The family were poor and it devolved upon him to become selfsupporting at as early an age as possible. Consequently he had but two winter terms in school. As a small boy he began working out for neighboring farmers, and continued as a hired man until twenty-one. He then worked for his father on the farm for a year and for two years did county work on public ditches as a sub-contractor. This experience opened the way for a permanent business career.

His father having bought some propei-ty at Arlington, Mr. Schirmer moved to that village to take care of it and also set up as a public paving contractor, while at the same time he helped farm. This work he continued until 1904 and then started business as a coal merchant. He had only a small frame building to start with, and that is still standing as a landmai-k in his business career. IMr. Schirmer bought the fii*st carload of coal shipped to Arlington on March 17, 1904. Since then he has been regularly dealing in fuel, buys and sells grain, and also handles all kinds of seeds and wool. He is practicallj' the only contractor for public work at Arlington. His business success is one that he can well be proud of.

In 1908 Mr. Schirmer married Mary Herndon, daughter of Jonas and Ellen (Knoll) Herndon. , Her parents have lived for many years at Arlington. Mr. Schirmer is an independent republican in politics. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, both of Arlington.

at Columbus Grove for many years, and over the county at large his name is most familiar through his connection with the office of sheriff. Mr. Tate has been sheriff of Putnam County for the past two terms and is not only one of the most popular officers of the courthouse in Ottawa but has displayed the efficiency that is the highest requisite of any public official.

Mr. Tate was born on a farm in Putnam County October 1, 1858. He is a son of Francis and Elizabeth Tate, and in the paternal line he is of Scotch ancestry. His father was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, and his mother in Licking County. Francis Tate followed farming during all his active career, and in 1878 he removed to the Town of Columbus Grove. He was one of the influential members of the democratic party in the county. His widow is now living at the old home in Columbus Grove.

Sheriff Tate was the oldest in a family of five children, all sons. His early experiences were those of the country and he grew up on a farm and attended the public schools of Columbus Grove. When he began making his own living it was as a farm hand at monthly wages of thirteen dollars. He earned every cent that was paid him and in all his career he has never been afraid of hard work. By study at home and in leisure intervals he mastered the trade of stationary engineer and for fourteen years he was employed in that business in the planing mills, stave factories and flour mills in this section of Ohio. About sixteen years ago Mr. Tate worked in an axe handle factory at Columbus Grove, one of the first important industries of that community.

In 1913 Mr. Tate was elected sheriff and has held that office continuously to the present time. He has been a leader in local democracy for many years, has supported the candidates of the party since Tilden was first nominated, and he lovallv voted for Mr. Wilson in 1916. From 1902 to 1915 he was a member of the Putnam County Democratic Central Committee. Mr. Tate is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of the Maccabees and several other fraternities. He and his family worship in the Christian Church.

On January 1, 1880, at Pandora, Ohio, he married jMiss Amarillous Blakesley, daughter of James Blakesley. They have four children : Zelma, May, Myrtle Ethel, Flossie and Francis James.

A. L. Tate is a native son of Putnam Robert Place. An exceptional .iudgment County, has been a factor in business affairs in estimating vahies and in handling business transactions on a large scale has given Robert Place a position among the most noteworthy business men of Northwest Ohio. He is a native of Wood County and for many years his home has been in Bowling Green.

He is president of the Home Telephone Company, former vice president of the Commercial Bank of Bowling Green, is vice pi'esident of the Royee & Coon Grain Company, having been oiBcially connected with that organization for ten years, and was president of the Lake Erie, Bowling Green & Napoleon street car lines for eight years, until those public utilities went into receivership three years ago. He was also for some years proprietor of the Place hardware store. This business he traded to the present owner, Fred H. Prieur, for a 400-acre farm in jMichigan. Mr. Place gi'ew up on a farm and has always kept in close touch with agricultural activities. He owns 200 acres of land at Rudolph in Wood County, and this is one of the model farms and is also a central section of activity in the oil district, comprising twenty-seven active wells. Mr. Place owns 1,24:3 acres in Ashtabula County, Ohio. This large estate is personally looked after by his only son. His son has a half interest in all his father's farming and other business interests. Mr. Robert Place was one of the men who reorganized the Universal Machine Company, which is among the leading enterprises of Bowling Green and of Northwest Ohio. As noted elsewhere, Mr. B. J. Urshel is president of this company and Mr. Place is vice president. Mr. Place also has 400 acres of rich and well improved farm lands in Wyandot County. His home is a large and attractive residence at 227 Buttonwood Avenue in Bowling Green.

Mr. Place was born at Scotch Ridge in Wood County, August 21, 1851. He grew up in that community and acquired a good education, finishing in the academy at Maumee. At the age of seventeen he taught his first school at Prairie Depot. Teaching was his principal work for nine years. He was not the inheritor of wealth, and in fact began life on a plane with thousands of others of hard working and earnest young Americans. His personal ability has counted largely in his success. While teaching he entered mei-ehandising and at twenty-two he had saved up over $1,000 as the foundation of his financial success. He built and opened a store at what was then called Bobtown, now Rudolph, Ohio. His was the first store in a large section of country

In 1S74 he married Miss Almira Mercer, who for over forty years has been his close companion and business counselor as well as a capable home maker. Mrs. Place was born in Portage Township of Wood County and grew up and received her education in that locality. Her father, Daniel Mercer, now deceased, was a successful farmer and man of more than ordinary prominence in his community. After their marriage Mr. and ]Mrs. Place worked hand in hand to establish a home, and they were farmers until twenty years ago, when they removed to Bowling Green.

Three children were bom to Mr. and Mrs. Place. Flora A. died in infancy. Alta M. died ten months after her marriage to John Clayton. The only living child is Alfred W., whose life has been one of unusual achievement and experience.

Alfred W. Place was born in Liberty township of Wood County, May 8, 1876. He was reared and liberally educated in this county. At the end of ten years he joined the Christian Church and much of his time has been given to the extension and iipbuilding of religious affairs. He afterward entered and gi'aduated from Bethany College in West Virginia, an institution founded by Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Christian Church in America. He subsequently pursued post-graduate work in Butler University at Indianapolis and at the University of Chicago. While he was a student of the University of Chicago he joined other members of his class and under the leadership of a university professor made a tour of the Holy Land. On returning from abroad he married at Indianapolis Miss Mary C. Graham. She was born in Indianapolis and her father was at one time a minister to Canada but is now deceased. Mar_y C. Place graduated from Butler University and from the University of Chicago, having been in that institution several years before her husband. After his marriage Alfred W. Place became a minister at Aki-on for two years and then for three years had charge of one of the large churches at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He and his wife then went as missionaries to Tokio, Japan, where in addition to the routine missionary' work he taught in Drake University in that city. His wife was also instrumental in establishing a kindergarten, to the support of which Mrs. Robert Place gave $500. Mrs.

Mary Place was active in supervising the building and management of this school for these young Japanese children. For six years Mr. and ih's. Alfred Place labored in that field. It was owing to the failing health of ]Mr. Robert Place that they returned home and since then he has given his time and energies to the supervision of his father's extensive interests. Alfred Place and wife have three children : Graham, aged fourteen ; Robert, aged eleven; and Alta, aged five. Alta was born in Japan.

Mr. Place and his son are members of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mr. Place, Jr., his wife and mother all belong to the Eastern Star. Mr. Robert Place has for some yeai-s served as a member of the City Council at Bowling Green, and was president of the board two terms. He and his son are active republicans. All the family have for years been leading members of the Christian Church. Mr. Place for over twenty years was an elder and has also been a leader and large contributor to the missionaiy work of the church.

John Edward Hoplet, advisory editor for Crawford County, to tliis histoiy of Northwest Ohio, has been first and last a newspaper man, is a veteran of the printing trade which he began to learn fifty years ago, . and for a great many years has been editor of the paper at Bueyrus which was founded by his father.

]\Ir. Hopley was born at Elkton in Todd County, Kentucky, August 25, 1850. His parents were John and Georgianna (Rochester) Hopley. The ancestry of the family introduces some notable characters.

His gi-andfather, Edward Hopley, was a surgeon in the Royal Navy of England and served wdth Admiral Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar. Edward Hopley "s wife, Catlierine Cooper Prat, descended from a long line of English divines. Her great-grandfather, Samuel Prat, was dean of Rochester Cathedral in 1697, canon of Windsor, chaplain to Queen Anne, and was buried at Windsor. For six generations, commencing with Daniel Prat in 1574, all her ancestors were high in the Church of England. Daniel Prat wrote an English grammar years before the celebrated work of Liudlay Mvirray, the standard textbook with which most Americans were familiar during the early half of the last centuiy.

Through his mother Mr. Hopley is a grandson of John and Marian (Gladdel; Rochester. JIarian Gladdel was descended from a long line of French ancestry. The Gladdels wei'e driven out of France at the time of the massacre of the Huguenots and fled to England. Her father was a captain in the British army and died fighting against Napoleon in the Spanish campaign. His daughter married Jolui Rochester in London in 1816 and came to America in 1820.

John Hopley, youngest child of Edward and Catherine (Prat) Hoplev, was born at Whitstable, England, May 21, 1821, and was educated in the Royal Naval Academy at Greenwich. He came to America in 1842, and clerked in the store of his uncle. John R. Prat, at Zanesville, Ohio. lu 1848 he began teaching at Logan, Ohio, where he was married April 19, 1848, to Georgianna Rochester. He afterwards taught in Tennessee and Kentucky and at Granger's College at Columbus.

On April 1, 1856, John Hopley came to Bueyrus as superintendent of the Union schools. He introduced the first graded school system there. He was admitted to the bai', and when Salmon P. Chase was made secretary of war under President Lincoln he went to Washington and became Chase's confidential secretaiy. After the war for two years he was national bank examiner for the southern states. In September, 1867, he bought the Bueyrus Journal, which he edited up to the time of his death. In 1870 he was appointed postmaster at Bueyrus by President Grant, was reappointed in 1874 and in 1890 was appointed postmaster by President Harrison. For years he was president of the Ohio Republican Editorial Association and was in that office at the time of his death. On April 19, 1898, Jolm Hopley and wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversaiy. He joined the ilasonic Order when he was eighty years of age. The death of this venerable Ohio editor and citizen oecuiTcd June 3, 1904. His Avife, who was born at Englishtown in Athens County. Ohio, Pebiiiary 22, 1826, died at Bucviiis October 21, 1904.

John Edward Hopley was brought to Bueyrus when a child and was ediicated in the Bueyrus Union schools. In 1867 at the age of seventeen he began learning the printing trade in the office of the Bueyrus Journal under his father, and while working at the trade read law and was admitted to the bar in 1876. However, he has never prac- ticed, thoug-li liis knowledge he lias found valuable iu his newspaper wdik. l-'di- a number of 3-ears he was aL-1i\ely iis^nri^ted with his father in the newspaper liiisiness, and on October 17, IMST. lie siai'te,! and pul.lished the Evening Telee-raph, the ,hiily of tlie Buc.yrus Journal, whieh is a weekly publication. 31r. Ilopley still continues editor of the Evening- Telegraph, and the Bucynis Journal, and is president of the Hopley Printing Company, publishers of these two papers and also maintaining a plant and organization for general printing and supplies. Joseph W. Hopley is vice president, and Frank L. Hopley ti-easurer of the company, with James R. Hopley secretaiy and business manager.

The onh' important interruption to his work as editor at Bueyrus was from 1898 to 1905, when he was abroad as a United States consul. He served as United States consul to Southampton, England, from July, 1898, to ilarch, 1903, and from April, 1903, to April. 1905, was consul in Montevideo, South America.

Mr. Hopley was member of a local military company from 1873 to 1876, helping to start the company but refusing any office. As a republican lie has done much for the benefit of the Crawford County organization and was for a number of years active iu state politics, especially from 1885 to 1898, several years of which time he was a member of the State Central Conunittee. In 1912 he was elector at large on the republican ticket. For some years Mr. Hopley has taken a keen interest in permanent roads. In 1914 he became identified witli llie Lincoln Highway, which passes through lliieynis and was api^ointed state consul fur Ohio. In 1915 at a meeting of all the consuls in the state he was elected ijresident of the Liucoln Highway Association in Ohio.

Mr. Hopley has done his share toward the preservation of local history and is author of a history of Crawford County published in 1912. On his twenty-first birthday in 1871 he sent in his petition to become a Mason, and has attained prominence in that order. He became a Royal Arch Mason in 1872, a Knight Templar in 1875, a meniher of the council in 1895, of Lake Erie Consistory of the Scottish Rite at Cleveland in 189-t. of the Eastern Star in 1899, and the White Shrine of Jerusalem in 1914. He is a past officer in the chapter and council, was for six years an officer in the Eastern Star and for two vears in the White Shriue. He served as the first exalted ruler of Bueyrus Lodge of Elks when it was re-organized in 1894. Mr. Hopley belongs to the Masonic Club of Bueyrus and Elks Club of the same city, and attends the Presbyterian Church. He is unmarried.

Henry P.vyram, now living retired at Desliler, is one of the best known former hotel men of Northwest Ohio. He conducted the leading hotel at Deshler from the time it was completed by ilr. Giauque until 1913, and made n great success of the house. The hotel was the favdi'ite stopping place for hundreds of the .-iiiiiiiiiriial men traveling over Northwest Ohio.

Mr. Payram has been a resident of Deshler since 1887. On coming to the town he conducted the Ross House until the new hotel was built, and he took over its management and conducted it as the Payram lintel. It is now the Hotel Samuel, ilr. Payram continued in active business until lUi:;, wh^n In? sold his interests as a landloril ami i-- now living retired, looking after his luvestments as a farmer. A number of years ago he bought some valuable land.s in this section of Ohio, including a farm in Bartlow Township of Henry County and another in Jackson Township of Wood County, Both places are thoroughly improved and represent a large amount of cajiital invested. One of the farms has a complete set of high grade buildings. IMr. Payram made friends on all sides when he was in the hotel business, and there are many of his ardent admirers who inquire after his welfare every time they come through Deshler, He is now enjoying retired life in a comfortable nine-room house at the corner of Maple and Lind streets.

Mr. Payram came to Deshler from Detroit, Michigan, but was born in Sheffield, England, March 16, 1860. He is of an old English family and a son of Amos and Slartha (Blackmore) Payram, both natives of England. His father was well educated in the English schools and became a private and pulilic accountant. Five of the children were born in England, Henry being the youngest. About that time the family left the old country and landed at Quebec, Canada. Amos Pa.vram established a home at Hamilton, Ontario, and for a number of years represented the Canadian Life Insurance Company. In 1869 he moved to Detroit, Michigan. Largely through his influence the Michigan Legislature passed a bill permitting the organization of building and loan associations. Under this measure Mr. Fayram organized an association in Detroit, the first of its kind, and he was a pioneer in this popular means of promoting thrift and savings. At the same time he continued to practice his profession as an expert accountant and was frequently called in for consultation on complicated cases. He is now living retired at Detroit at the age of eighty-nine. His wife died in that city in 1892, at the age of sixty-two. Both were active Methodists and when he became an American citizen he aligned himself with the republican party.

Henry Fayram was one of a family of ten children, seven of whom are still living, now in different states of the Union and all are married. His oldest brother, Fred, has long been prominent as an editor. For twenty years he was manager of the Detroit Free Press, subsequently was editor of the Housekeeper Magazine, published at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is now editor of Uncle Remus, a southern magazine.

Henry Fayram spent his early life from the age of nine .years in Detroit, and acquired his education in that citj\ He then served an apprenticeship at the cabinet maker's trade and was a worker in this mechanical line in Detroit until he removed to Deshler, where he found himself in his true and most congenial sphere, that of a landlord.

He was married in Detroit to Miss Maud Winter. Mrs. Fayi'am was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, fifty-two years ago of Scotch and English ancestry. Her father, George Winter, was born in Canada of Pennsylvania parents. He married Christiana McNeill, who was born in Prince Edward Island of Scotch stock. Her parents were Charles and Christiana (Johnston) McNeill, natives of Scotland. They were married in Prince Edward Island, and died there, Charles McNeill when past sixty and his wife when about eiglitA-. Christiana Johnston's father died when past a htindred years of age. Two of her brothers were soldiers at the battle of Waterloo. I\Irs. Fayram 's uncle, William McNeill, was at one time speaker of the House of Commons in Prince Edward Island. Mrs. Fayram 's were married in Chatham, Ontario, and some few years later moved to Bay City, ^Michigan, where her father was a foreman in a lumber mill, where he died. Mrs. Fayram 's mother is still living, at the age of seventysix, residing with a daughter in Toledo. These families were all strict Presbyterians. Mrs. Fayram has two sisters : Ada, Mrs. John

Wiekeuheiser, and the mother of a son Fred; and Oral, wife of Harrj^ Smith, living in Detroit, and they have a son Howard. Mr. and ilrs. Fayram are active members of the Presbyterian Church at Deshler.

Ralph S. Gillespie. Among the officials of Wood County there is none more popular and on every hand given more credit for thorough competence and ability in handling his particular office than Ralph S. Gillespie, now county auditor, ilr. Gillespie entered upon the duties of his present office in the fall of

For ten j^ears prior to his first election he had served as deputy auditor and was thus thoroughly qualified by detailed experience for the duties of his present position. In April, 1915, he was also appointed by Governor Willis as district tax assessor. He held that office from April 1, 1915, to January 1,

1916, at which time the office under the law was abolished. In the meantime he had taken up his work as countj' auditor, and by his individual motion Goveimor Willis vacated the office of district tax assessor since all its functions had been carefully performed by Mr. Gillespie. He first became deputy county auditor under F. W. Toan in 1906.

Mr. Gillespie has been one of the wheel horses in the republican party in Wood County for a number of years. At first his efforts and activities were entirely for the good of the party and to help his friends, and it was through the urgings of his large following that he entered politics for himself and not due to his personal inclination. In 1898 'Slv. Gillespie served as township assessor of his native township, Plain.

He was born in Plain Township, near Tontogany, August 15, 1874. He was reared on his father's farm, was educated in country schools until sixteen, and after that attended the public schools at Toutogany. For eight years Mr. Gillespie was a successful teacher, and many of his former pupils are glad to claim his friendship. His school work was done in his native township and in Washington Township.

Mr. Gillespie's family have lived in Wood County since 1869, when the,y came from Crawford County, Ohio. The family lived at Portage until 1871, when his father bought forty acres of land in Plain Township and there spent the rest of his days as an active and prosperous farmer. Ralph S. Gillespie is a son of "William T. Gillespie, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, and is a grandson of William A. Gillespie, also a native of Ohio. The earlier generations of the family had come out of Scotland and for many years lived in Washington Coimty in Southwestern Pennsylvania. After his marriage to Miss Smith, a Pennsylvania girl, gi-andfather William Gillespie moved to Montgomei-y County, Ohio, and in the early days operated a canal boat from Toledo to Cincinnati, along the old Miami Canal. He was well known among the canal men of that period, and it is said that at times as his boat was proceeding along the canal the towpath would be disturbed by the incursion of wild Indians and savage beasts. Grandfather William Gillespie died in old age.

As a young man William T.Gillespie learned the trade of carriage maker, serving his apprenticeship with a veteran in that industry at Dayton, ]Mr. Bookwalter. Subsequently he removed to Sulphur Springs in Crawford County, and after his marriage started a carriage shop of his own. This he conducted until he removed to Wood County in 1869, and from that date until his death was a farmer. He died in February, 1911, when eighty years of age. William T. Gillespie was married in Sulphur Springs, Ohio, to Sarah Rice, daughter of Isaac Rice, a native of Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Simmons. Isaac Rice took his bride to a pioneer home in Crawford County, Ohio, and developed a farm from the forest. To get supplies of food and the family milling it was necessary to make the trip to Maumee and Waterville. Isaac Rice soon tired of this, and built a little mill of his own on his own farm. There he did grinding not only for himself but for all the people in that district, and the mill was kept turning night and day. Every phase of pioneer expe^nence characterized the life of this worthy pioneer couple. Their home was .surrounded by forests and swamps, there was wild game in all plenty, they lived in the rough log cabin home, and with all the privations and lack of familiar modern comforts, they were happy, sturdy developers of a new land. They lived long and died after age had stooped their shoulders. Both were members of the German Lutheran Church. Mr. Gillespie's mother died in IMareh, 1914, at the age of eighty-two. She and her husband were active members of the -Presbyterian Church and he was a republican.

Mr. Gillespie was first married in Washington Township to Viola Potter, a native of Wood County, where she was reared and educated. She died at their home in Washington Township a year after their marriage, when in the prime of vigorous womanhood. For his second wife Mr. Gillespie married Cora Smith, who was born, reared and educated at Weston in Wood County. Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie have three bright young children, William R., born in 1913 ; Helen D., born in 1915 ; and Grace E., born in 1916.

Mr. Gillespie is a member and keeps up active connection with Lodge No. 755 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Tontogany, in which he is a past noble grand, and was past exalted ruler of Bowling Green Lodge No. 818 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and also belongs to Bowling Green Lodge No. 158, Knights of Pythias and to the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Charles Smith, M. D. One of the veiy successful physicians of Elida and Allen Coimty, Dr. CImrles Smith is a native of this section of Northwest Ohio, and has made his profession an opportunity for hard work and diligent service to humanity.

He was born on a farm in Allen County, October 2, 1882, and is a son of George C. and ]\Iaria C. Smith. His grandfather, Solomon Smith, located on a farm northeast of Lima in very early times, and along with farming combined the trade of shoemaker. He spent his last 3'ea.rs in Bath Township of Allen County. George C. Smith went to Allen County with his father when he was three years of age and spent practically all his life as a farmer in Bath Township, where he owned 160 acres of land. His death occurred in 1898. There were eleven children in the family, ten of whom are still living.

Doctor Smith, who was the ninth in order of birtli, grew up on the home farm and attended the township schools of Bath Township until fifteen yeai's of age. His higher education has come as a result of his own resolute purpose and energy. He lived at home until he was twenty-one, and then attended the Elida publie schools a year and Lima College two years. He was also a stiadent in Miami Universitv a year and from there entered the Ohio State Medical College at Columbus, where he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1913. Doctor Smith at once returned to Elida and began the practice which he successfully continues to the present time. He was a member of the board of health of his township for two years and is now secretary of the Allen County Medical SocietJ^ He also belongs to the American Medical Association, is a Knights Templar Mason, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Loyal Order of Moose. In politics he is a republican.

Earl R. Stouder is a merchant of Upper Sandusky, has a flnelj' appointed store and an unusually complete stock of clothing and haberdashery, and is building up a constantlywidening circle of patronage.

Mr. Stouder 's success in business is due to long and thorough concentration of his abilities in one line. He was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1887, a sou of J. W. and Sarah A. (Rea) Stouder. His father was at one time in business as a merchant at Antioch, Indiana, and when Eai-l was one year old the familj- moved to Van Wert. Ohio. In that Ohio eitj- Mr. Stouder attended school until he was eighteen, having three years of the high school coui-se. On leaving school he immediately identified himself with commercial work as an employe in the New York Store, a general mercantile establishment. He was there three years and then for six years was at Tiffin, Ohio, with the Zirger Clothing Company. This company sent him to Upper Sandusky as local manager for their store, but after a year he engaged in business for himself on Wyandot Avenue with Mr. Fred Warner as partner, under the firm name of Stouder & Warner. The.y opened tlieir store in 1915 and in 1916 Mr. Stouder bought out the interests of his partner and is now sole proprietor.

In 1906 he married IMiss Georgia E. Mounts, of Van Wert, Ohio, daughter of J. E. and Anna (Kunkle) Mounts. They have two children: Eugene R., born in 1911; and Virginia M., born in 1915. Mr. Stouder has identified himself with the best life of his home community, is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in polities he is a republican.

John G. Weaver has been in the general hardware at New Bavaria since the fall of 1892. Nearly a quarter of a century of reliable merchandising in one locality has proved him not only one of the successful young men but also a citizen of tlie highest standards and qualifications. Hundreds of people in that section of Henry- Countj- have patronized his store for years and all of them are his wai-m personal friends.

For a short time before coming to New Bavaria, ilr. Weaver was in similar business at Holgate, Hemy County, and had gone to that town from Reedtown in Seneca County. For lliirteen years he was proprietor of a general country store in Seneca County.

Mr. AVeaver was born at Waterville on the Dutch Road in Lucas County, Ohio, May 13, 1844. When he was twelve years of age his parents removed to Lorain Coimty, Ohio, and when he was twenty he came to Henry County. Mr. Weaver lived in Henrv CouutV from 1865 to 1878, and in the fall of the latter year, after his marriage, and after his first child had been born, he i-emoved to Seneca County and engaged in business.

His parents were John and Catherine (Pitzeru) Weaver, both natives of ^Germany. They were married in Germany, two children were born there, and thej- then set out to find homes in the New World, sailing from Havre to New York. They were sis weeks in crossing the ocean. They came west to Detroit and then went south to Maumee, where John Weaver found employment on the canal. Later he rented laud and eventually acquired the ownership of a small farm. In 1865 he brought his familj' to Pleasant Township of Henry County, and he lived on the Ridge Road and developed a good farm there. His good wife died in Pleasant Township in the spring of 1876 at the age of seventy-three. Later he went to live with his son, John, in Seneca County-, and died there in 1885. John Weaver, Sr., was born in 1801, and had a long and useful career. He was a poor man when he came to America, but by hard work and thrift did well for hinxself and by his family. He was a democrat, and he and his wife and children were all members of the Catholic Church.

Of the three sons of the family that grew up, John G. Weaver is the only one now living. In 1876 in Pleasant Township of Heuiy County he married ]\Iiss Susan A. Spangler. Mrs. Weaver was born in Pleas- ant. Township Ortoliri- 27, l.s.')?, a daughter of Gottlieb and Aiii], I i.Mrs-i Spang-ler. Her father was born in iJiiviiria and her mother in Luxembourg, German^-, her mother being a sister of J. B. Mess. They canie to Amei'- iea when young and were married at Defiance. Ohio. Gottlieb Spangler was a shoemaker, also farmed, and a few ycais altn- his marriage he removed to Pleasant Td^iiship, buying land on the Ridge which he cleared up and developed as a good homestead of eighty acres. That was his home until his death in 1900. His wife passed away July 1, 1901. They were also Catholics and Mr. Spangler was a democi'at, taking an active part in local affairs, and serving as township treasurer for a time.

Mr. and ilrs. Weaver have ten living children. Erben, who is now a foreman in the National Stove Works at Lorain, Ohio, is .married and has four sons named Clarence, Harold. Charles and Howard. Clara is the wife of Joseph Minch, and they reside at Bryant in Jay County, Indiana; their two children are Paul and Lucile. Catherine married L. A. Krupp, who is superintendent of a ditching machine company ; their children are Malcolm, Genevieve, and Leonr. Joseph represents the Libbey AVholcsale Hardware Company at Charleston, South Carolina. He married Gertrude Caspen^- of Charle.ston and their children are Beulah, Floriau, Alberta and Joel. George is al ttaehelor and still lives at home. Dorothy is a seamstress living at Pindlay, Ohio. Frances is tlie wife of Floyd Pritchai'd, who is with the Overland Automobile Company at Omaha, Nebraska; they have a daughter, Virginia. Florian, who lives at Lorain, Ohio, married Elizabeth ililler of Henry County and has two children, Paul and Joseph. David, unmarried, is assisting his father in the store at New Bavaria. Laiu-etta is still pursuing her studies in the local schools. Mr. and ilrs. Weaver and family are all members of the Catholic Church, belonging to the Sacred Heart Parish, of Pleasant Township. His political affiliation is with the democratie partv. and he has filled the office of township clerk.

Joitx B. CooNROD, now serving in his fifth consecutive term as .judge of the Probate Court of Sandusky County, has long had a prominent and viseful part in his home county.

sou of Henry and Nancy (Ellis) Coonrod. His parents were also natives of Sandusky County, his father born in 1836 and his mother in 1838. The father died in 1914 and the mother in 1908. The paternal grandfather, John Coonrod, was born at Marietta, Ohio, and he and his father, whose name was also John, both fought in the W^ar of 1812. They were stationed at Fort Seneca when the battle of Fort Stephenson was fought within the present limits of Sandusky County. After his discharge from the army Grandfather Coonrod went to Pickaway County, married there, and in 1821 settled in Sandusky County, taking lip a tract of Government land. He and his family lived in log cabin days and endured many privations in establishing homes in the wilderness. Judge Coonrod 's maternal grandfather, James Ellis, was of English ancestry and birth and died when a young man^ Henry Coonrod was a farmer for a number of years, was sheriff of Sandusky County from 1874 to 1878, and until a few years before his death was keeper of the Ottawa Club House. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and quite an active figure in democratie polities. He and his wife had four children: Sarah, who lives in Toledo; Judge Coonrod; Frank; and William, of Fremont.

Judge Coonrod has had a very active career and has had experience in different lines. After completing the course of the public schools at Fremont he was a teacher for ten years. He also took a business course in the Tri-State Business College at Toledo. For several years he was on the Great Lakes, part of the time as captain of a boat and later as an engineer. From 1897 to 1903 he was deputy probate judge of Sandusky' County and in the latter year was elected .judge of probate and has been retained in the ofSce ever since, having been elected for his fifth term in 1916.

Judge Coonrod was married in 1892 to Miss Elnora Shepler, a native of Sandusky County and daughter of Frank Shepler, who was a marine engineer. Judge and Mrs. Coonrod have three children : Glad.ys, who is clerk in her father's office; Gertrude, now a student in a business college; and Haldon, also in school. The family are members of the Episcopal Church. Judge Coonrod is a democrat and has done a good deal of work for his party. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 169, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and in Masonry has membership in the Blue Lodge,

Chapter, Council and Commandery. He is also affiliated witli the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modem Woodmen of America and the Woodmen of the World.

His civic spirit and interest in the public welfare have brought him various positions of unremimerated trusts. He is a member of the board of trustees of Birchard Library, is secretary of the board of trustees of the Memorial Hospital at Fremont, and is secretary of the trustees of the Masonic Temple. During the great Ohio floods of a few years ago he was prominent in relief work. He is secretary of this relief commission and in charge of rescue work, and is president of the Fremont Chapter of the American Red Cross Society.

RuxTON S. Sweet, public accountant, city auditor of Bowling Gi-een and for many years secretary of the Wood County Fair Company, has lived a life of serious interests and of earnest capabilities and service in this section of Ohio.

He was born near Perrj-sburg September 2, 1852, gi-ew up on a farm, and largely by dent of his own efforts and through the leading of an earnest ambition he acquired a liberal education and qualified as a teacher. For twelve years he was engaged in educational work, and has never lost an opportunity to benefit the schools of his home county. For a time he was a student in Oberlin College. Mr. Sweet is a scholarly man, and outside of the duties that connect him with the public welfare finds perhaps his chief delight in company with his books. He has been a reader as well as a buyer of books, and has surrounded himself with a fine library in his home at 120 East Reed Avenue in Bowling Green.

The Wood County Fair Company, of which he became secretary in 1904, is one of the oldest and most prosperous organizations of its kind in Ohio. It is a corporation, capitalized at $10,000, and maintained for the purpose of conducting a local Wood County Fair. It was incorporated in 1881, and has held successful fairs ever\' year since that date. The first president was A. J. Manville and the first secretary, M. P. Brewer, both of whom are now deceased. The second president was R. W. Mc]\Iahan and the second secretary was Frank A. Baldwin. Since 1914 the president has been C. D. Yonker. The fair is one of the great annual events of Northwest Ohio, and is noted not only for its races and agricultural exhibits but for the many other departments that serve as a stimulus to the arts and crafts of home and industry. In recent years about $7,000 have been paid annually for the racing premiums, and more than $7,000 for other awards. Largely through the influence of Mr. Sweet a sum of about $500 has been set aside for the educational features. The public school exhibit always attracts much attention. One of the events is the spelling contest, participated in by students from all the county schools and prizes are paid to the six best scholars and the aggi-egate individual award to individual pupils and teachei-s amounts to $70. All the directors of the Fair Company are local citizens of Wood County.

Since 1910 Mr. Sweet has been city auditor of Bowling Green. He was first appointed by I. M. Taylor, a democrat, and has since been elected three times as a republican. Once he was elected on a citizens ticket in opposition to a ticket nominated as a factional opposition within his own party. Several years ago Mr. Sweet was candidate for county recorder, being defeated by a very small majority. Without doubt he is one of the most popular citizens of Wood County.

For many years Mr. Sweet has carried on his profession as a public accountant. He was formerly private secretary to the late Albert E. Royce, a prominent gi-ain dealer of Bowling Green and for twenty-seven j^ears president of the Fair Company. In 1901 Mr. Sweet established an office of his own as a public accourftant, and has practiced his profession in addition to his various official duties. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Local Building and Loan Association and is clerk of the city council. Fraternally Mr. Sweet is a Lodge and Chapter Mason, is past junior warden of his lodge and is past secretary of Lodge No. 818, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Bowling Green.

Mr. Sweet married in Troy Township of Wood County Miss Emma J. Brough, who was born in Troy Township in 1862, the daughter of a substantial farmer in that district. " She attended school taught by Mr. Sweet, and after she had finished her studies she became the wife of her former instructor. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet have two children. Corrington G., aged thirty-five, was educated in the p^iblic schools and was given liberal opportunities to improve his special talent as a musician. He is an accomplished violinist, and for a number of years has been an orchestra leader and teacher. He conducted orchestras in the Palace Hotel at Denver and in other cities, but for the past five years has been located as a teacher in Bowling Green and spends one day each week 'in his profession in Toledo. Geraldine, the only daughter, is still at home and assisting her father in his office. She was educated in the Bowling Green High School and in the Thomas Normal School at Detroit.

J.VMES Elmer Huntington, who has had a long and active career as a farmer, and also as a practical veterinary surgeon, is now living largely retired at the Village of Van Buren and is serving that community as mayor.

Mr. Huntington was born on a farm in Allen Township near Van Buren in Hancock County in 1854, a son of Anthony and Lucy (Campbell) Huntington. His people are of Pennsylvania German stock and in the early days they left Harrisburg, Pennsjdvania, and came by wagon across the country to Hancock County. J. E. Huntington acquired a country school educatiou, working on the farm in summer and attending school in the winter. He not only helped his father but worked out for neighboring farmers until he was twenty-one years of age. He then began farming for himself and continued that work actively for upwards of forty years.