Sandusky Township (part 53 of 57)

John V. Dirk received a good education in the public schools and remained on the home farm, assisting his father in his agricultural operations, until he reached the age of twentyseven years. For some time before that he had felt that there was a better future awaiting him in commercial lines, and when the opportunity presented itself he came to "Weston and became a partner with Edward Baldwin in the ownership of the Black Elevator. This enterprise had been founded at Weston by the firm of Milton ChurchiU & Company, which erected the structure and started business in 1898, this concern being succeeded hy the United Grain Company, who, in turn, gave way to the Paddock-Hodge Company of Toledo. From this company Edward Baldwin bought the elevator and ^Ir. Dirk later became his partner, the firm of Baldwin & Dirk continuing to do business in grain and stock buying and selling for four years. Mr. Baldwin retiring at the end of this time. Mr. Dirk took over his partner's interest and has since carried on the business alone. Through perseverance, industry and modem methods of doing business he has built up one of the most successful concerns of its kind among the smaller cities of the county, and now handles from 175,000 to 200,000 ' bushels of corn, wheat and clover seed annually, buying locally and shipping to points all over this section. The elevator is situated on a private siding, connected with the C. H. & D. Railroad. Some time after becoming proprietor of the elevator Mr. Dirk realized that expediency and efficiency were the two great factors in the building of a worthwhile success in this line, and he therefore decided upon a policy which would cover these characteristics of his business. In line with tliis decision, he had installed machinery of the most modern character, including large five-motors of the latest manufacture, which handle every department, including the elevating of gi'ain, the cleaning of wheat and the loading of cars through two channels. Mr. Dirk's success has been purely self won and in its winning he has always maintained high business principles.

Mr. Dirk was united in marriage in Wood County with Miss Marie Reese, who was born in this county, September 22, 1887, and was here reared and educated in the public schools. She is a daughter of Thomas and

Clara Reese, who are agricultural people of Wood Count}', well-to-do and now living on their farm not far from Weston. IMr. and Mrs. Dirk are the parents of two children : Geua, born July 2, 1907; and William, born in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Dirk are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and support its movements liberally. He is independent as to politics. He is one of the well informed and progi-essive young business men of his community, a genial man of approachable manner, and one who takes a keen interest in the affairs which engage the attention and affect the welfare of the community. Since taking charge personally of the elevator he has eliminated the stock business from his field of operations.

William Dunipace. In ilr. Duuipace the law has had a steady and successful votary at Bowling Green, where he has been in active practice for eleven years. In his professional and personal career he has manifested the best (lualities of the intelligent, thrifty and positive character of his Scotch antecedents, and after his admission to the bar he was not long in proving his ability and industry.

Mr. Duuipace graduated from the law del^artment of the Ohio Northern University at Ada in 1904. After leaving college he spent about fifteen months in ti'avel and was admitted to the bar in December, 1905, and at once located at Bowling Green, establishing himself in general practice. In 1908 i\Ir. Dunipace was elected on the democi'atic ticket as prosecuting attorney for Wood County. He served in that office two years. This office is generally recognized by the profession as an invaluable experience and opportunity for public service as well as individual experience, and Mr. Dunipace made the very best of those opportunities and also proved a vigorous law enforcer during his term. Sir. Duuiface is a member of the ^Masonic order and the Modem Woodmen of America and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, being on the official board of the church.

William Dunipace was born in Webster Township of Wood County, October 10, 1879. He grew up there on his father's farm and had a iiiral experience until he entered college and from there went into the law.

On both sides he is of Scotch ancestry. Mr. Dunipace is one of the few members of the family for generations back who have not affiliated with the United Presbyterian Church, which was their faith in Scotland.

His great-gi-aiidfatlier, AVilliam Duuipaee, was born iu Scotland and married tliere Jane .MeGill. Both were of the Lowland Scotch people. All TJii'ir chihlreu were boi-n iu Scotland before tlii'v fame to America. In the family wen' liohert: William: James ; Margaret, who after coming- to the United States married William Webb, who ^vas accidentally killed, leaving two children, William and George; ilariau, who iiinriicil :iftrr coming to America James Mueii-. ;iiiil ili^d leaving a family; Isabel, who never iiiarricd and lived to be ninety-three years of age ; William, was also a bachelor and died at the age of ninetyone. William and Isabel and their widowed sister Marian all lived to a good old age and' they had their home together for many years. The sou James w^as three times married and by his last wife had three children. He died when past seventy-four.

Robert Dunipace, gi-andfather of the Bowling Green lawyer, was born iu Scotland iu 1809 and wa.s about twenty-five years of age when he came wdth other members of the family to America. They made the voyage on a saiiiug vessel aud it took eight weeks to come from England to New York City. Fi'om there they went westward to Buffalo and thence by lake and river and arrived at Pei-rysburg; Ohio, in the year 1834. The familjr had not long been in Ohio when the great-grandfather William died. His \vidow survived him many years and passed away at the home of her son William. Jr., at the age of ninety-six. Robert Dunipace was married near Perrysburg iu 1836 to Jane ^luir. She was born in Scotland and came to this country iu 1832. After several years the ]\luir family located in Webster Township of Wood (!oun"ty, where her father. John ]Muir, was founder of the Scotch settlement and of the United Presbyterian Church. John Muir aud wife both died there and he was ninety-six years of age at his death. In politics the Muir family somewhat regularly supported the republican doctrines, while the Dunipaces as a rule have been democrats. Robert Dunipace aud wife spent their lives on a farm in Webster Township, where he died at sixty-six and his wife at seventy-seven. Robert Dunipace was for a number of years an elder in the United Presbyterian Church. Their children were : William, John, Margaret, Robert, Jane, Samuel and George. Samuel died young, and ilargaret and Jane, who never married, and William and George all taught school. William and John were soldiers in the Civil war, the former in the Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry and the latter in the One Plundred and Forty-fourth Regiment. John was captured at Monocacy, Virginia, but soon escaped and rejoined his regiment. He died soon after coming home from the army.

William Dunipace, father of the Bowling Green lawyer, was born in Wood County in 1842 and served nine months in the Union army. He was given his discharge and subsequently was refused the privilege of reenlisting. He took part in the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, and in various other engagements. William Dunipace, Sr., was a thrifty farmer, lived a long and honorable career and died in 1907. From 1883 to 1886 he served as countj' commissioner. Politically he was usually independent but afterwards maintained a moz-e or less regular affiliation with the democratic party. He held all the offices in the gift of the people of Webster County. His most notable business achievement was as president and tx'easurer and founder of the Wood County Farmers Mutual Fire Insiirance Company. Under his management this company made a record hardly second to any among the mutual fire insurance companies of Ohio. Befoi,'e he gave up his office as president it had $9,000,000 of insurance in force in Wood Count}-. He was also veiy attentive to his duties as a member of the United Presbyterian Church.

On December 1, 1867, at Prairie Depot, William Dunipace, Sr., married Miss Lizzie Adams, who was boru iu Wood County in 1845 aud died in 1898. She was of Scotch parents and the Adamses were influential members of the Scotch settlement in this county. A number of the family taught school at different periods.

Mr. William Dunipace, Jr., was married to Edna Smith, of East Liberty, Wood County. ]\lrs. Dunipace was born in Logan County. Ohio, March 17, 1879, and was gi-aduated from the Ohio Northern Univei'sity with the same class as her husband. She took the normal course and for several years taught in Losjan County before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Dunipace have three children : William, Jr., Max and Winifred. Mrs. Dunipace 's parents were active ]\Iethodists and largely through her influence Mr. Dunipace became affiliated with the Methodist Church.

self with many of the county and state 's most substantial interests. He is a banker, business man, might still be classed as a farmer, and also has a record as a teacher and public official.

J\Ir. JVIiller was born in Todd Township of Crawford County January 22, 1859, a son of John D. and Mary (Kahl) Miller. His grandfather, Daniel Miller, spent his life in Pennsylvania. The maternal gi-andfather, Henry Kahl, was an early settler in Richland County, Ohio. Mr. Miller's parents were both natives of Pennsylvania and are now deceased. They married in Richland County, Ohio, and the father in his younger days followed the trade of cabinet maker and later was a farmer. The family located in Crawford County in 1852. Both the father and mother had been previously married, and the former had by his first union four sons and one daughter and the mother had two children. George W. Miller was the only child of his parents. He has three half-brothers still living, Nathaniel Miller, a retired contractor and miner at Berkeley, California; Ananias Miller, a retired farmer near Shelby, Ohio; and William A. Miller, a retired farmer at Old Fort, Ohio. The parents were reared as Lutherans but afterwards became identified with the United Brethren Church. John D. ililler was an active democrat and filled most of the offices of his home township.

George W. Miller has from an early age carried the key to success in his own hands and has worked for all he has attained. He had a common school education, supplemented by one term in the Northwestern College at Fostoria. He began life as a farmer, and with that occupation he combined the vocation of teaching and spent twelve terms in the schoolroom.

His home has been in Bucyrus since 1898. He was elected secretary of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company and was with that company almost six years. He left that office to become county treasurer, and handled the funds of the county for five years. ^ In 1907 Mr. Miller was one of the men who organized the Farmers and Citizens Bank and Savings Company of Bucyrus. aud has been its first and only president. This is one of the strong financial institutions of Crawford County, has capital of $100,000, surplus of $100,000, and its average deposits aggregate $800,000. Mr. Miller is secretary of the Ohio Wind Storm Insurance Association, a mutual company with many millions of dollars insurance in force. His interest in farming is evidenced by his ownership in two good farms in the county. He has long been an active figure in local democratic politics and has filled various offices. He was a delegate from this county to the recent Ohio Constitutional Convention. He is president of the Ohio Foresters Association, was for six years county school examiner, and has been town clerk and treasurer. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Miller married in 1880 Dell A. Sigler, who was born in Todd Township of Crawford County, daughter of George E. Sigler. Her ^ father was a native of Pennsylvania and was an early settler in the rural community of Crawford County. Mrs. Miller's mother was Harriet Hourick, and she was one of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had one child, ilinta, who died at the age of twenty-two, at the entrance of a promising young womanhood.

Edward Baldwin. It is hardly possible to do full justice to a man who is still in the land of the living, for his deeds and character must be reviewed in retrospect in order that their true value be determined. Some men pass through life without making any appreciable impress upon their times, while others appear to possess that faculty which gives them the power to dominate every situation in which they may be placed. Such men often are of great value to their associates and communities. Through their ability and influence important business industries are founded and carried on ; they take an important part as a general rule in civic activities, either as private citizens or public officials, or both; and oftentimes are also prominent factors in religious, social and educational life. The death of such men leaves vacant places not easy to fill, and this is the case with the passing of the late Edward Baldwin, who for fifty-seven years was identified with affairs at Weston, and who was an acknowledged leader in business life, as well as a helpful factor in securing for his community advancements in the way of religion, education, morality and good citizenship.

Edward Baldwin was born at Towusend, Huron County, Ohio, November 28, 1842, and died at his beautiful home at Weston, Wood County, December 17, 1916. He was a son of Watson and Almira (Church) Baldwin, natives of Pennsylvania and members of old and honored families of that state, where they resided for several years after their marriage. They then went to Huron County, but when their son Edward was but four years of age eame to Bowling Green, Wood County, where Watson Baldwin, a potash burner hy vocation, did a good business in his line as long as the timber was plentiful. When the lumber began to disappear, he turned his attention to agriculture, purchasing a farm east of Portage, where he spent the remaining years of his life in the pursuits of the soil and died when about sixty years of age, after a period of ill health. Later his widow came to Weston and purchased a nice home, and here her last years were spent, her death occurring when she was about seventy-eight years of age. They were members of the Methodist Church. Of their large family of children nearly all grew to maturity, a number were married and^ all are now deceased, Edward having been the last survivor. Two of the sons, Charles and Byron, fought as soldiers through the Civil war. Byron who was color-bearer of his regiment, was killed in battle and buried on a Southern battlefield. Charles returned safely after a gallant service, having been in many battles, and at his death left a widow and family.

Edward Baldwin grew up at Bowling Green, receiving a public school education, and when still a youth embarked upon a career that continued to be active and useful throughout his life. He began as a merchant at Milton Center, and in 1859 came to Weston, where he was a clerk for one of the pioneer storekeepers here, H. R. Atkins. At the time of the raids of the Confederate Morgan, which caused so much excitement in the southern part of Ohio, he joined the organization known as ' ' The Squirrel Hunters, ' ' the members of which sought the wily Southerner and his men. When the danger of the raids had passed he returned to Mr. Atkins' employ, but after the close of the war embarked in a venture on his own account, engaging in grading and contracting for ties and eordwood for the C. IT. & D. Railroad. Later he again centered his activities in the little Village of Weston, as it was then, being proprietor of a hardware establishment, with H. B. Ladd as a partner, but this firm was subsequently mutually dissolved, and Mr. Baldwin became an extensive buyer of grain and stock. He built one and owned several other elevators at Weston, Deshler and other places, and did a large business as a farmer and stoekdealer. For years he was a leader in civic affairs at Weston, serving as trustee and in other official positions and took an active interest in all that pertained to the advancement of the community. Mr. Baldwin was also an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he Avas a member of the official board during a long period, and for twenty-six years was superintendent of the Sunday school at Weston. Fraternally he was a charter member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was prominent in both orders.

Mr. Baldwin was married January 1, 1866, at Weston, to Miss Harriet M. Taylor, who was born near Weston, August 29, 1843. Mrs. Baldwin, who has spent her entire life at and near Weston, where she is widely known, greatly esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances and much beloved by her numerous friends, is now passing her declining years in the enjoyment of the comforts of her beautiful home of modern architecture, located on North JIain Street, where she and Mr. Baldwin resided for more than twelve years, and where their fiftieth wedding anniversary was celebrated January 1, 1916. She is a daughter of Thomas Taylor, of Pennsylvania, a member of an old and honored family of that state, the name of which was intimately associated with a number of events during the Revolutionary war. Her grandfather, also named Thomas Taylor, was an early settler of Loudonville, then in Richland County, where he and the grandmother passed their lives in agricultural pursuits and died on their farm well advanced in years. Thomas Taylor the younger grew up at Loudonville, where he was married to Sarah Keith, who was born in Pennsjdvania and grew up in Richland County, Ohio, where her parents had settled at an early day. In 1834 Thomas Taylor and his family came into Wood County, Ohio, where he entered a lot of valuable land near the Milton Township line. Subsequently he laid out what was first known as Taylorville, but which later because of confusion in the postoffice service, was changed to Weston. One of the principal thoroughfares of the city, Taylor Street, was named in his honor. Here Mrs. Taylor died in 1852, when still in middle life, while Mr. Taylor survived until 1870 and was seventy years of age at the time of his demise. He was a real pioneer of this locality and may be called the father of Weston, for he not_ only laid out the town but fostered its evei-:^' interest and worked unceasingly in its behalf, both in a business and civic way. He was one of the leading improvers of land in his community, was the owner and operator of a saw and gristmill, and later, with his sou, became a merchant of Weston, with the postoffiee and express office at his establishment and handling all the business of the C. H. & D. Railroad for some years. He was a Presbyterian, and in politics was originally a whig and later a republican. Mi-s. Baldwin is the youngest of her mother's ten ehildreu, and the only one now surviving. Her two brothers, William James and Thomas Taylor III, were soldiers in the Civil war, and the former met a soldier's death on the field of battle, being buried in. the South, while the latter returned safely home and died a sirigle man in October, 1903. After the death of his first wife I\Ir. "Taylor married Margaret (Warner) Clark, a widow, by whom three children were born but only one is now living, John W., of Deshler, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin became the parents of three children : Albert Byron, proprietor of a large department store at Weston, married Fannie A. Uhlman, and has two children, Henry A. and Grace V., now attending school ; James M., an automobile salesman and real estate man of Los Angeles, California, who is married and has a son, Andrew, in the United States Naval Reserves; and Harriet A., the wife of Bolton S. Armstrong, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Edward W. Crook has been closely and vitally identified with the business and industrial prosperity of the Village of Hieksville in Defiance County for fully forty years. The industry which more than anything else gives prosperity to that community is the manufacturing concern known and condvieted under the title Crook, Sou & Company. All three members of the family are actively concerned in its management, including Jlrs. Crook, who has proved herself a woman of remarkable financial judgmen^ and general business ability.

]Mr. Crook was born at Elkton, Columbiana County, Ohio, December 23, 1847, a sou of Thomas and Jane (Batehelor) Crook. In January, 1888, a short time before his death, Thomas Crook wrote for the benefit of his children a short autobiography, covering the details of his early life in England, his marriage, and his early experiences in Ohio up to the time he became successfully established in business. It is a narrative which has more than ordinaiy interest, not only for his family but for others. It indicates some of the reasons which caused many families to come to America in the early years of the last century and also some of the definite incidents connected with such an immigi-ation.

At the beginning of his narration he states that his father, whose name was also Thomas Crook, was born at Bradford on Avon, County of Wilts, England, in 1784, and died there in December, 1868, aged eighty-four, his wife having died the previous year. He was a clothier bj^ trade. Of his family of eight children five were living in 1888. That portion of the narrative pertaining to the late Thomas Crook reads as follows:

"I, Thomas Crook, the third child of my parents, was born in Chippenham, County of Wilts, England, January 11, 1817. When about eighteen years of age I moved with my parents from Chippenham to Bradford on Avon, ily ediication was very limited, there being no public schools at that day. Private or select schools existed, but their terms for tuition were higher than my parents could afi:ord to pay. Sunday schools existed, and were held twice on each Sabbath, in nearly all the churches in the land, and in these schools thousands of children were religiously instructed and taught to read and spell. My parents sent me regularly to the Sunday scliool, whei-e I soon learned to read and also to commit many portions of the Holy Scripture to memory, which has proved a great source of comfort and consolation to my mind when oppressed or troubled. At the age of ten I was engaged to work in a woolen factory located at Staverton, three and one half miles distant from home, at which place I worked daily for ten years, walking five miles a day to and from the factory, thirty miles per week, or one thousand five hundred sixt.y miles a year, working twelve hours per da^'. Another important event took place in 1833 ; through the religious instructions received from faithful teachers at the Sabbath School, I became convinced that it was my duty to take upon me the profession of religion. I had been a regular attendant at the services of the Wesleyan IMethodist Church for some time,. and felt a desire to become a member: application was made and I was accepted into the Society, and soon after experienced a change of heart under the preaching of the Word of God by Rev. John W. Button. I have retained through the Grace of God my integi'ity to his cause and his church with a firm hope of eternal life.

riage to Jane Batchelor, a member of the same church, a noble, pious and good woman who loved the church and served God with all her heart, and became a gi-eat helpmate to me religiously and a true helpmate in all our iinancial and household affairs. lu a vei"y short time after our marriage we were called upon to pass through a severe trial. Business became dull, times rather hard, manufacturers became discouraged, and workmen were put on short time ; many j^eople were out of employment and wanted for bread. Our income was small and we often conversed together about what we could or should do in order to better our prospects and conditions of life financially. Sometimes I worked only two days per week, and not more than three for nearly a year; wages were low, onlj- two shillings per day (about forty-six cents), and there were scores of men offering to work for less. Had we not lived economically previous to the panic, saving some money, we would have suffered want."

About that juncture a relative returned from his home in America and his descriptions of the new country introduced a new prospect to Thomas Crook. It was a matter seriously discussed and debated for a number of weeks. The economic arguments all favored removal to America, but his wife disliked to break home ties, and the parents of both were adverse to their children leaving them. The outcome of the discussion can be told in a continued quotation :

"As I returned from work one evening my wife met me with a smile. 'I have today been tliinking over the subject of our leaving home for America, and have concluded that we ought not to go, and I hope you will not think any more about it yourself.' It took me by surprise, and after a few minutes of thought I said to her: 'I have made up my mind to go this spring, with you or without you, to America. I am determined I won't walk five miles and work twelve hours a day any longer.' To this she made no answer. I sawshe was troubled and we both were silent for some time, the tears came to her eyes and her heart seemed broken; we both felt very sad. Alter some time she said to me, 'if you go I will go with you.' And it was settled at once. We began to make preparations, disposing of our hoiisehold goods as rapidly as possible, drew the money we had saved from the bank, and found it sufficient to take us to America and back again provided we did not like the country. In a few days I went to Bristol and

.secured our passage in the ship Cosma bound for New York. After this our relatives and friends did all they could for us, in helping to provide for our leaving. They also bestowed on us many gifts that proved to be of great service to us.

sailed on the 2Sth day of March, 1838, and arrived in New York on the 12th day of i\Iay. After a tedious voyage of forty-five days we went ashore, wife and Martha, our six months old babe, and stayed in New York with my uncle a few days; then left there for Pittsburg on the 23d of May, 1838. We went by railroad and steamboat to Philadelphia, stayed one day, thence to Pittsburg by the Pennsylvania Canal, and after nine days traveling arrived at Pittsburg on the 3d day of June ; stayed over one day ; then went by" steamboat on the Ohio River to AVellsville in Ohio, remaining one night, from there going to New Lisbon, and next day to Moore 's factory, five miles west of Lisbon, on the west fork of the Beaver Creek. On our way to Moore's we became fearful we were not on the direct road. We met a person on horseback and asked him if we were on the road to Moore's factory, and he answered yes. I asked him if he knew a man there by the name of James Batchelor; he said, 'yes, he knew him' and then began to smile. Wife looked up in his face and discovered that his face had taken a serious turn. He then spoke and said ' Is that Jane 1 ' and dismounted from his horse, making himself known to her by saying, ' I am James Batchelor, your brother, ' and taking her by the hand asked, 'how is mother?' Then turning to me and taking my hand asked after my health and how we stood our journey and many other question.^. He took us to his home, where we rested after nearly four months journeying, and scareehknew whither we were going, but were fully satisfied that a kind Providence was watching over us and leading us safely day by day. We found those strangers living on and along the banks and hills of the West Fork of Beaver Creek a kind hearted people, who showed us no little kindness, but became very much interested in our welfare and welldoings; a more social and clever people I think I can say I have not found excelled. I obtained work in the woolen factory owned by Abner ]\Ioore, and stayed in his employ about one year. After the lapse of a week nr two we found a Methodist Society at the house of a neighbor over two miles from where we resided. Here we found a Christian and religious home, kind people who took great interest in our spiritual welfare. We stayed here a little over a year, then moved to Hanover, where we stayed until May, 1840, then moved to Elki-un township, Columbiana county, where we are still living. Here I went into partnership with James Batchelor and purchased a small woolen factory, which proved a profitable investment, made some money, and for twenty -two years conducted the mill. Those years were the happiest years of my life. It was here where all but two of our children were bom and reared. We had excellent church privileges and enjoyment. ' '

After his twenty-two years as a woolen manufacturer Thomas Crook operated two farms near the Village of Elkton until 1866, and theu was in mercantile business at Elkton with his brother John for three years. After that he lived retired. His brave and true hearted wife died in Januarj', 1864, at the age of forty-eight. Her children were: Martha, Sarah, Edward W., Emma, John Prank and Ida. Thomas Crook married for his second wife Doi'cas Burford, also a native of England, and for his third wife Mary Ann Eaton, who had one child, Homer Crook.

From the time of his birth in Columbiana County in 1847 until 1876 Edward W. Crook lived in that locality. He attended the common schools, spent one term in the New Lisbon High School, and for that part of his higher education he walked 41/2 miles each morning and night. After the age of thirteen he had also worked in his father's woolen factory and there he gained the habits of industry which have always stood him in good stead. In 1866 he apprenticed himself to learn the carriage making business, and after three years set up a small shop of his own at Fairfield in Columbiana County.

In the meantime he had maiTied and in November, 1876, he removed to Defiance and bought a thii'd interest in the Kerr Brothers manufacturing business, the other two partners being brothers of his wife, Mrs. Crook. This business had recently been established at Hieksville to manufacture handles for agricultural implements. Besides the three partners only one hand was employed at the beginning. About 1887 Mr. Crook acquired a half interest in the business, but it was continued as Kerr Brothers & Company until 1902, when it was succeeded by a stock company, Kerr Brothers Manufacturing Company. During 1906-07 ]\Ir. Crook organized the firm of Crook, Son & Company, the son, Thomas Leonard, being a half owner in the business, and this industry has steadily grown, and now has a plant where about seventy-tive Ijersous are employed and goods to the value of about $100,000 are manufactured annually, ^lost of the product goes to wholesale hardware jobbing firms throughout the countiy, and some large shipments have been made to foreign countries. In matters of politics Mr. Crook has always been identified with the republican party. Both he and his wife are prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he has been officially identified with his church for thirty-nine years. Fraternally his onl}^ membership is in the Knights of Pythias.

On July 14, 1875, at Hieksville, Mr. Crook married Miss Alice il. Kerr. She was born at ]\Iiddletown, Holmes County, Ohio, November 5, 1853, daughter of Joseph and Jane (Dowell) Kerr. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Holmes County, Ohio, where they were married. Joseph Kerr was a tailor by trade, followed that occupation in Middletown, and in 1857 removed to Hieksville, where he lived until his death in 1902. His widow died in 1904. At Hieksville he was also a tailor, but subsequently took up the milling industry, put up a large grist mill, and later was manager of the electric light plant. He was a very public spirited citizen, ready to do anything to help his community, and among other things he donated the site for the Methodist Episcopal Church at Hieksville. He was a stanch republican. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr had two sons and two daughters.

Mrs. Crook, who was next to the youngest in her parents' family, attended the common schools, spent several years in higher schools at Ashland and Cleveland, and for two yeai-s was a teacher in Hieksville just before her marriage. After her marriage she and Mr. Crook lived for a year and a half in Columbiana County, but since then her home has been continuously at Hieksville. Almost from the first she has had more than a nominal part in the manufacturing industry originally established by her brothers Joseph, Thomas and R. F. Kerr. She has been the real financier of the business, and in the absence of a bank at Hieksville has had the management and care of the funds used by the factory. The growth and progress of the business have always been a great satisfaction to her, and that, her home, her church and her devotion to the uplifting influences of

Mrs. Crook has always been active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been a member of the church at Hieksville longer than any other woman. She contributed generously to the building of the present church edifice. For three years she was county president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and in 1910 was a delegate to the world convention of that order in Glasgow, Scotland, and while abroad that year she also attended the Passion Play. She is one of tlie most earnest and persistent workers in Ohio for the cause of prohibition and it is a matter of much satisfaction to her that she has contributed at least something to the great movement which has now drawn half of the .states of the Union under the pi-ohibitiou banner. Mrs. Crook has always had a bounding vitality, and in whatever circumstances she has been placed she has turned a smiling and cheerful countenance to the world. She grew up in this rural district of Northwestern Ohio and one of her duties as a girl was hunting up the cows and doing her share of the milking.

Mr. and Mrs. Crook had two sons. Thomas Leonard, born October 25, 1884, has for a number of years been actively identified with the business at Hieksville. Edward Leland, born July 14, 1888, died in infancy. In 1907 Mr. and Mrs. Crook erected a beautiful home, one of the finest in that section of Defiance County. In 1915 their son Thomas was also provided with a beautiful residence. Mr. and Mrs. Crook in recent years have spent much of their time in travel, their winters being passed in Florida, and they have toured both Europe and their home country.

Henry Daniels. While many worthy civilian efforts have characterized the usefulness of Henry Daniels, it is, perhaps, as a soldier of the Union that he rendered services that he cherishes as his fondest memories. Certain it is that the traits of courage and faithfulness with which Mr. Daniels was so richly endowed found no more certain avenue of expression than in the great struggle between the North and South, where freedom for slaves and unity of government were purchased at the frightful sacrifice of 650,000 lives. As were the great majority of those who came to the rescue of their country in its hour of dire necessity, Mr. Daniels was following the dull routine of the farm, and his life up to that time had known little deviation from the strict fulfillment of home duty, interspersed by attendance at the district schools. Later Mr. Daniels turned his attention to agi-icultural pursuits, and so well did he direct his afi'airs that he became the owner of several large tracts of land and is now the possessor of a handsome competence and is living in retirement at Weston, where he is one of his community's most highly esteemed citizens.

Jlr. Daniels was born in Carroll County, Ohio, October 27, 1842, a sou of Charles G. and Belinda (ilarshall) Daniels, and a grandson of Samuel G. Daniels, who for some years was a miller in Can-oil County, where he died. From Carroll County, Charles G. Daniels removed with his family to Pike County and after a fe*v j'eai"s to Bethel, Sharon Ridge, Paulding County, where he entered unimproved land and succeeded in the development of a productive farm. He had gone to that community over the Black Swamp in a "prairie schooner," the true type of pioneer conveyance. Subsequently he rented what was known as the Barnheizer Mill, which he conducted for some years, and then returned to his farm and cleared up its 160 acres, also adding an additional tract of forty acres, which he also cleared and improved. In addition to this he owned several hundred acres of land in Fulton Count.y, and in every way was one of the substantial and well-to-do men of his locality. After the death of his wife he moved to Kansas, where he secured new land in Gove County, and there passed the rest of his life, dying at the age of about seventy-nine years. His remains were brought hack to Ohio and laid beside those of his wife, who had died at Liberty Center, Henry County. They were faithful menihers of the Seventh Day Adventist Church for many years.

Henry Daniels was reared on the home farm, from whence he enlisted August 21, 1862, in Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry^ Colonel 0. H. Payne. He enlisted for three years, but his service was a few days less than that period, as the war had dosed and he received his honorable discharge. At various times under the commands of Generals Rosecrans, 0. 0. Howard, Buell and Johnston, he was promoted because of meritorious service until reaching the rank of first sergeant. He was in numerous engagements, including the first battle of Franklin, handling himself with gallantry, and at Chickamauga was shot through the left arm near the shoulder. He refused to go to the rear in spite of his wound, but fought bravely on, and in the raging backward and forward of the desperate fight two hours later received a severe scalp wound. He was left for dead, hut after the Confederates had charged over his prostrate body and had again been swept back by the Union forces Mr. Daniels' comrades found him and sent him to the hospital, whei'e he eventually recovered. Later he received a slight wound at the battle of Resaca. Throughout the three years of his sei'vice Mr. Daniels gave to his country the best that was in him, patiently enduring the hardships of the long marches, faithfully performing his arduous duties, winning the respect of his officers by his fearless courage, and tendering innumerable kindly services to less fortunate comrades.

At the close of his military service Mr. Daniels returned to the duties of civil life. He began his career in the cultivation of the soil as a truck farmer on li^ acres of land in Wood County, where his skilled operations gained for him the title of "Cabbage King." He also raised as much small fruit as any one in this locality, and propagated the locally well-known Nonesuch strawberry, which stood highest in Wood Count}' for some years for quantity, quality and flavor. From time to time thereafter he bought land and enlarged the scope of his operations until he was a fullfledged general farmer. At this time he owns forty acres in the corporation of Weston, a part of the old Noble homestead, twenty acres more in ililton Township, and other lands in Weston Township. In 1908 he retired from active pursuits and came to Weston, where he had erected a handsome modem home on North Main Street. His farming propei-ties are all finely improved and have substantial and commodious buildings and modern equipment and appliances. In business circles his name has ever been one connected with honorable dealing and as a citizen he has done his full part in promoting beneficial movements and enterprises. Mr. Daniels is a member of Neibler Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Weston, and the Union Veterans at Lima. He maintains an independent stand in regard to political matters.

In Paulding County, Ohio, Mr. Daniels married IVIiss Emma C. Shirley, daughter of Judge Robert Shirley, who came from the East to Paulding County as an early pioneer and there was married to Sarah Hudson. Both died in that county after years passed in farming. They had five sons in the Union army during the Civil war, Joseph, David, Elias, James and Benjamin, the last-named of whom, a drummer boy, died at Defiance. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels are the parents of two daughters: May, who is the wife of M. D. Hall, a garage owner of Milton, Ohio, and has six children: Jessie R., Lewis H., Edith M., Mildred I., John M., and Montford G. ; Myrtle R. is living with her father, the widow of Charles Baker, who was a teacher in the schools of Wood County for some years. Mr. Daniels and the members of his family attend the Christian Church.

William H. Hatcher. For the past fifteen j-ears a retired resident of Weston, William H. Hatcher demonstrated during the active years of his career the fact that a man can overcome the handicaps of early limitations, and there are few residents of the county who deserve more credit for what they have done in lifting themselves from the surroundings of responsible and cheerless youth. When he returned from valiant service as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war he stmck out boldly for himself in an unimproved section of Henry County, and in the years that followed woi-ked so industriously and managed his afl^airs so well that he became the possessor of several handsome and valuable properties, and as a result liis evening of life is being passed amid comforts that his childhood never dreamed of.

I\Ir. Hatcher was born February 13, 1844, in Logan County, Ohio, and was there reared. His people were honest, but very poor, and as the lad's services were constantly needed at home his educational training was slighted, and in fact he attended school only twenty days of his life. Living in the backwoods, he knew little beyond the drudgery of the home farm, an unproductive tract of land operated in a primitive way with crude implements, but when the news of the Civil war reached his community he was anxious to serve his country and in 1862 presented himself for service, but was declined owing to lack of height and weight. He persevered in his attempt, however, and in February, 1864, was accepted as a member of Company C, Fortyfifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued to serve until receiving his honorable discharge at Columbus, Ohio, havingbeen mustered out of the service at Galveston,.

Texas, November 4, 1865^ He was through the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta and in the siege of the latter city, under General Sherman, whose forces went on "to the sea," but JMr. Hatcher's regiment, under General Thomas, went back to Nashville in pursuit of Hood. At the battle of Resaca Mr. Hatcher was wounded in the leg by a splinter in an explosion in which ninety Union soldiers lost their lives, but he returned to his home safely in spite of the fact that he had been confined to a hospital by sickness for a few weeks. "With an excellent record for faithful discharge of duty and gallantry in action Mr. Hatcher returned to his old home. He had, however, dui-ing his term of service seen enough of the world to be self-reliant and" to know that the Logan County community of his boyhood held out no opportunities to him, and he therefore went into the woods of ITenry County, securing a tract of forty acres of land on Beaver Creek in 1869, where the first settlers located because it was about the only part of the county not inundated. His land, which he secured for a first payment of $100 and a like amount per year for eight years, was in Richfield Township, across which no road had yet been built, and his first home was a small log cabin, erected by a previous owner. Subsequently, by the hardest kind of work, he succeeded in clearing and draining a farm of ninety-three acres, and later bought another farm of ninety-feeven acres, located on section 13, the greater part of which he himself cleared. He still owns these properties, which now have the best of improvements and substantial modem buildings. His capacity for industry and business wrought great changes upon these farms, which today stand as models of what may be accomplished by a man who is bound to win out in the calling he is called upon to piirsue.

]\Ir. Hatcher was married first in Logan County, Ohio, to ilaria Elzina Argo, who was born, reared and educated in that count.y, and who died on the Henry County farm May 20, 1880, aged thirty-seven years. She was the mother" of the following children: Ella B. Hopkins, of Custer, Ohio; her twin, Albert Gallatin, a farmer who died in ^lay 1901, leaving a widow and two children, Nellie and Ralph; Clara J., the wife of Sherman Logan, of Fremont, and the mother of two children. Hazel and Agnes ; Emma, who married James Nicholas, a drayman of Custer, and has three sons, Guy, George and Walter; Charles E., superintendent of the Henry County Infirmary, who is married and has four children, Elzina, Oscar, Gladys and Burdette; Effie, of Fremont, who is the widow of Herbert Spangler and has two chil(Jren, Marie and Virgil; and Olive, the wife of Frank Linedecker, of Custer.

Air. Hatcher was married second, in Henry County, to Adeline Roberts, who came from Logan County when only nine years old, her father, Thomas Roberts, being the only teacher Mr. Hatcher ever had. To this union there were born the following children : William T., who is superintendent of schools of Napoleon, Henry County, married and has two children, Ruth and Mildred; May U., who is the wife of Harry Barnes, of Metamora, Ohio, and has one daughter, Chloetta; John E., former superintendent of schools of Hamler and Florida, Ohio, and now postmaster of the former place, married Rilla iMcFadden, and has three children, Lucile, Norma and Iva J. ; Verna B., who is the wife of Charles Fahrer, of Custer and has three children, Harold, Clara and Richard; Burton C, a railroad man of South Dakota, who is married and has a son, John H. ; Katharine, who is the wife of Ross Hoskinson, telegraph operator at Deshler, and has a son, David; ]Martha, who was educated in the Weston High School and resides with her parents; and James P., who is a volunteer member of Company H, Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, soon to be called into service for participation in the gi-eat European war. He is a graduate of Weston High School.

The family for many years have belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and i\Ir. Hatcher assisted in the biiilding of the Laramore Church in Richfield Township, of which he was a steward and trustee from its organization until he came to Weston. He has served as trustee of Richfield Township for six years and held other offices, and in principle is a pioneer prohibitionist. Remembering the trials of his early life, he is kindly disposed and generous toward those less fortunate than himself, and is accounted an honorable and high-minded as well as a publicspirited citizen.

George W. Bish is a merchant and business man of wide experience and splendid ability, and is now sole proprietor of the Bish grocery establishment at 105 Findla.v -Street in Carey. Mr. Bish has been connected with mercantile enterprise for a great many yeai-s, though part of his experience was as.

an agriculturist. He was boru October 21, 1877, on a farm near Limestone Ridge not far from Carey, Ohio. His parents were Henry and Sarah Ann (Oman) Bish. The family have been farmers as far back as there is any record. The stock is Pennsylvania German and the Bishes settled in that state when they first came to America. Afterwards the family moved to Fairfield County, Ohio, where Henry Bish was born. Henry Bish made a splendid record of three years' service in the Civil war. He enlisted August 12, 1862, at Findlay, Ohio, in Company D of the Ninety-ninth Ohio Infantry. This regiment was part of the First Brigade, Third Division, Fourth Army Corps. His first important battle was at Stone River in January, 1863, where he was among the Union soldiers captured. He was sent to Libby prison at Richmond, remained there three months and on being exchanged was sent to Annapolis, ilaryland, and then to Camp Dennison, Ohio. There the Ninety-ninth Regiment was consolidated with the Fiftieth Ohio, and formed a part of the Fourth Brigade, Second Division, Twenty-third Army Corps. With this organization Henry Bish was soon in active service, and the more notable battles in which he engaged are a striking testimony to his gallant service. He fought at Cliiekamauga, Lookout IMountain, Mis.siouary Ridge, and in many battles of the great Atlanta campaign, including Ringgold, Rocky. Face, Buzzard Roost, Pumpkin Vine and others of minor importance. He received his honorable discharge at Camp Dennison, Ohio, in 1865.

George W. Bish received his early schooling in Seneca County, and at the age of seventeen he began work for his father in a grocery store. His father was in poor health for a number of years and finally died in 1895. After that George Bish continued, the management of the store a year, then sold out. He next did what might be called a journeyman experience as a merchant, working in different grocery stores about Ohio and Indiana, being at Fort Wayne for some time. In 1902 he came to Carey, Ohio, and became clei-k for Mr. Chesebrough. In 1907 he bought a half interest in the business, and the firm was Chesebrough & Bish until the death of the senior partner on April 4, 1917. Since then Mr. Bish has continued the business under his individual management. He conducts his store on modern business principl&s. keeps a full and fresh stock, and supplies a large demand both in the town and surrounding country.

Mr. Bish married in 1902 Hallie V. Chesebrough, a daughter of George and Catherine (Lytle) Chesebrough. They have one child, George Henry, boru in 1907. G. W. Chesebrough was one of the oldest merchants in Carey, Ohio, at the time of his death having been continually in business as a groceryman forty-one years and he was one of the representative citizens of that place. He married Catherine A. Lytle, and they were the parents of two childi-en: I\Iyrta, who married W. H. Houk, and they have two children, Harold G. and Gertrude C; and Hallie V., who became the wife of Mr. Bish. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chesebrough were Methodists. Mrs. Chesebrough died in 1901 and Mr. Chesebrough married a second time, in 1903, wedding Mrs. Margaret A. Shoupe, who still survives. Mr. Chesebrough, was a leader in the church choir many years and was a member of the Masons, Knights of Pythias, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was prominent in all these ordei-s.

Mr. Bish is a republican in politics, is affiliated with the Carey lodges of Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees, having held chairs in both orders, and is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. His success in life is due to the expression of his own talents and energies, and he has always used his individual means and influence to promote the welfare of his communit.y.

H. A. Hartman, superintendent of the city schools of Marion, has spent practically all his active life as an educator. He has taught school and has been connected with school administration in Ohio and in various other states, including tlie South. In his younger years he had not only himself to look after but other members of the family, and lie" earned a living in addition to paying for a lilieral education.

Mr. Hartman was born in Van Wert County, July 2, 1864, a son of George A. and Emeline (Bowers) Hartman. His grandfather, Christopher Hartman, was a native of Pennsylvania and located on a farm in Stark County, Ohio, in the '30s. Christopher's father was German born, and came from the picturesque and historic section of the Harz Mountains. The maternal grandfather. Benjamin Bowers, was a native of Pennsylvania and also located in Stark County in the '30s. He was a farmer and stock buyer and was also of German origin. George J. Hartman and his wife Emeline Bowers were both uatives of Stark County, where he was born in 1836 and she in IbiO. He died in 1891 and the mother in 1914. They married in Stark County in 1858 and at once removed to Van Wert County, where thej' located on a farm. George Hartmaa began life poor, but was able to make a creditable provision for his familj'. He had taught school before his marriage. He was a democrat in politics and in his home county served as township assessor and clerk. He and his wife were active Presbyterians. They had a large family of eleven children, and the six now living are : H. A. Hartman, the oldest; B. F., in the lumber business at Seattle. Washington : J. B., a resident of Toledo; W. C, wlio also lives in Toledo and is connected with the street car system ; Dema, wife of 0. J. Sponseller, a farmer near Bloomville, Ohio ; and Lottie, who is unmarried and lives with her brother, J. B.

H. A. Hartman grew up on his father's farm and received his first instruction in country schools and also in the schools of the City of Van Wert. He took a teacher's training course at Valparaiso, Indiana, and subsequently spent three more years in that institution. He was a teacher in the winter and a student in summer. For three years he was instructor of Latin and Physiology in the Normal School at Middle Point, Ohio, and while there received his A. B. degree. He next went to Wetumpka, Alabama, where for two years he was supei-inteudeut of city schools. He entered the State College at Troy, Alabama, taking the summer courses, and after two years received the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the State College in 1893. He tlien taught in the Department of Langi;ages in the Agricultural College at Athens, Alabama, until 1895, and in that year was elected principal of schools at Van Wert, his home town back in Ohio. He was there until 1898, and then went to Ti'inidad, Colorado, where he accepted the superintendency of the city schools and remained until 1900. His next position was as superintendent of schools at Decatur. Indiana, where he remained until 1906, and then accepted a call to the State University of Colorado as instructor in education. He was instructor in education until 1910, when he returned to Ohio and entered upon the duties that still engage him as superintendent of the city schools of Marion. For six years while in Alabama he was instructor in the Peabody Institute, and has done much

In 1895 Mr. Hartman married Ida Brandyberry of Decatur, Indiana. They have five children : Dale A., a junior in the law department of Western Reserve University of Cleveland, now holds the rank of corporal in the United States Artillery service, having first enlisted in Troop A of the cavalry, but subsequently changing to the artillery ; Joyce I. is a junior in the medical department of Western Reserve L'niversity ; Jesse B. is member of the senior class of the Marion High School; Paul B., also in the last year of the local high school; and Ruth Rae, in the sixth gi-ade of the grammar schools.

^Ir. and Mrs. Hartman have taken great pains with the education and training of their children and may well be proud of the attainments of the younger members of their household. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is teacher of the Young Ladies' Class of the Sunday school. Mr. Hartman has passed all the chairs of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is also a Knight of Pythias and Mason, and in politics is independent.

Benjamin Meck has had a long and honorable career as a lawyer in Northwest Ohio, and enjoys the prestige and honors of his profession at Bueyrus.

IMr. Meck was born in Crawford Countv, Ohio, March 1, 1860, son of John Frederick and Christina (Schiefer) Meck. Both parents were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, where the father was horn September 1, 1816, a son of John F. Meck, who subsequently came to the United States and died in Crawford County. Christina Schiefer was born ^May 11, 1830, a daughter of Conrad Schiefer. They were married in Crawford County, where John Frederick Meck settled about 1832 as a pioneer farmer. He was a hard working German, thrifty, and acquired a good estate as a farmer and stock raiser. He was a man of iinassuming character, well read, but never sought the honors of public life. He was a democrat, and his church faith was represented by the Pietist creed. He and his wife had eleven children, eight of w^hom are still living : Conrad F., a timber dealer at Bueyrus ; Mrs. Paulina Adler of Toledo: Benjamin; ]\rrs. Sarah Hesehe of Bueyrus ; David C, an educator living at Cleveland; William H., who is also an educator living at Dayton,

Benjamin Meek spent his early life on his father's farm and besides the public schools he completed a course and graduated from the Ohio Normal University in 1883. He studied law under Allen Smalley of Upper Sandusky and was admitted to the bar in 1889. From that year to the present he has carried increasing burdens as a lawyer and successful practitioner. He continued to practice at Upper Sandusky for twenty years and while there served as prosecuting attorney of the county for six years. Since 1907 Mr. Meek has had his home and offices at Bucyrus.

December 30, 1883, he married Mary Mc- Laughlin, a native of Wyandot County. They have five children. Henr_y Lehr j\Ieck is now practicing medicine at Petersburg, Michigan. Abraham K. Meek is a lawyer at Eugene, Oregon. Chester Allen Meek is also a lawyer and associated with his father in practice. Nina Augusta married D. M. Wirth, a clothing merchant at Bucyrus. Calvin Benjamin Meek is still pursuing his studies in the local high school.

Mrs. Meek is a member of the Reformed Church. jMr. Meek takes an active part in fraternal affairs in the Masonic Order, the Xnights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose. He has served as senior deacon of the Masonic Lodge and as past dictator of the Loyal Order of Moose. Politically he is a -democrat, and has done considerable campaign work for the party and is a speaker of much ability.

Henry C. TThlmax. Tracing the lives of prominent men of Northwest Ohio, it is easy to see that progressive characters have never lacked for opportunities, and that opportunities have not signified so much as has the man liimself, the problems of professional, industrial and financial life having been solved in many ways by the ability of individ- With the expansion of trade, the need of capital for building up and maintaining the many large industries and institutions, there has arisen a need for concerted effort, but the personal factor has always been potent. During the last half a century the financial institutions of the various communities have played an important and most helpful part, and one of the men of financial integrity is Henry C. Uhlman, formerly for many years a leading merchant at Weston, Wood County, ex-mayor of the city, and now president of the First National Bank at that place. Mi*. Uhlman's career has been interesting and is typical of modern progi-ess and advancement. Alert and enterprising, he early utilized the opportunities offered in this county, and close application, indefatigable energy, integrity and determination liave constituted the foundation of his achievements.

Mr. Uhlman was born in Hanover, Germany, June 3, 1842, in which locality the family had lived for many generations, and where they were known for their industry and probity and as members of the Lutheran faith since the days of Luther. His parents were Casper H. and Catherine M. (Hacke) Uhlman, the former born in 1810 and the latter in 1812, and both in Hanover, where they were married in 1833. In his native land Casper H. Uhlman followed the trade of wagonmaker, but, although he was energetic and enterprising in his labors, did not make the progress that he desired, and eventually decided to try his fortunes in the United States, where opportunities for advancement were being held out to ambitious men of industry. In 1843, with his family, he took passage on a sailing vessel at Hamburg, and after a somewhat extended voyage arrived at Baltimore. For a time after his arrival he followed the ti-ade of carpenter, but eventually located on a farm in Sandusky County, near the town of Woodville, this being an English-speaking community where his children soon learned the tongue and customs of the country and were glad to have the opportunity of becoming good American citizens. In that locality Casper H. Uhlman and his worthy wife rounded out their careers in the pursuits of agriculture, and not only established a good home for their family and amassed a competence for their declining years, but at the same time built up a substantial reputation for sterling integrity of character. They were devout members of the Lutheran Church and lived their faith, and Mr. UMman became a supporter of the principles of tlie democratic party. They had the following children : Mary, who married John Shumaker: Louise, who became the wife of C. Habler; Caroline, who married William Bruns; Charles, who died i'> Cerniany: Henry C; Annie, who died in childhood; and an infant who died unnamed.

and was a little more than fifteen years of age when he started to work. On October 20, 1857, he began as a clerk in the employ of Ira B. Banks, of Pemberville, when that place was a mere hamlet with a handful of houses. In 1864 Mr. Banks removed his stock of goods to Weston. In the meantime Mr. Uhlman, who was receiving only four dollars per month and his board, had in 1860 left the services of Mr. Banks after a disagreement as to the remuneration he should receive, and had gone to Toledo, where he secured a position with a better saUiry attached. In March, 1867, Mr. Banks, who was fully aware of his former employe's ability, persuaded Mr. Uhlman to return to his store, where the latter was given an interest in the business. They made a great success of the enterprise, and in 1874, purchased 200 acres of land north of the village, and when, four years later, they mutually agreed to dissolve the partnership Mr. Banks took the farming land as his share, while Mr. Uhlman retained the store and stock. Their association had always been a most agreeable and profitable one, without even a harsh word between the partners, and when Mr. Banks returned to Weston and again engaged in business as a merchant, the friendship was resumed and friendly relations existed between the men up to the time of Mr. Banks' death. Mr. Uhlman continued to be actively interested in the store for a period of thirty-six years and was one of the best known merchants of tlie city, attracting trade to his large store by attractive goods and honest prices and holding it by honorable business methods. In January, 1903, he sold the business to his son, Fred Uhlman, and his son-in-law, A. B. Baldwin, who carried on the business successfully for several mm is. In this time Fred Uldman had cnininincr,! to engage in the business of buying iij) hankrupt stocks and selling them, and this became such a large enterprise that he finally sold his interest in the store at Weston to his partner, Ml-. Baldwin, and devoted his entire attention to his new line of endeavor. Soon he was buying and selling large stocks in this direction and in this way has become one of the most successful business men of this locality, being the owner of stores at Bowling Green, North Baltimore, Defiance, Bryan, Sanduskj' and Fremont. Since 'becoming sole owner of the business at Weston, Mr. Baldwin has done very well at the old stand, where he has an establishment forty by 90 feet, filled with a

The First National Bank was started at Weston about 1887 as a private institution by A. J. Muun, who conducted it for many years. About 1900 the bank was taken over by A. E. Royce, and three years later Mr. Uhlman and Mr. Royce reorganized it as the First National Bank of Weston, with a capital of $25,000, Mr. Uhlman being made president ; A. E. Royce, vice president ; and W. R. Noyes, cashier. The first directors were : A.

F. E. Whitaker and Henry C. Uhlman, with several others, since which time there have been several changes. The institution now has a surplus of $10,000 and deposits of $175,000, and the institution is accounted one of the strongest in this part of the state, having an excellent country from which to draw its depositors and possessing a directing board tliat includes in its membership some of the wealthiest men of this locality. The banking house is a modern structure, erected especially for the bank in 1908 and is finely equipped throughout. Mr. Uhlman, as president of this institution, is widely known as a man of substantial worth, one whose judgment is sound and sagacity keen. He never has been known to sacrifice a safe conservation to personal ambition, in all his career having sought advancement founded upon well-established business principles. Few men of Northwest Ohio are better informed concerning the financial problems which are always an issue in the management of large interests. He is concerned in all that pertains to modern advancement and to improvements along material, intellectual and moral lines. He makes no show of his charities, but they extend to many worthy enterprises. A republican in politics, he has long been identified with that party, having cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He was the second mayor of Weston, nn.l f(ir twenty years was a member of the srh,,..! Imni'il, iluring which time he was largely iiisii'iiinciital in the securing of two new schn.il Idiildiiigs, one of them still being used as the Wfston High School. Fraternallv he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs. He has been a member of the Presbyterian Church for upwards of forty years and during the greater part of this period has served in the capacity of elder, which position he holds at this time. He has been an active workei- in the movements of this church, is a member of the building committee which completed the erection of the present church edifice, and is a generous contributor to all the work of the congregation. Among other things Mr. Ulilman has contributed materially to the upbuilding of his adopted city by the erection of a number of brick houses, and in other ways is a leader of all progressive movements.

Mr. Uhlman married in 1870 Miss Lizzie Hill, of Weston, who was born in the State of New York, August 20, 1844.. To them have been born three children: Fannie Augusta, married A. B. Baldwin, and is the mother of two children, Henry A. and Grace Virginia; Grace Maj^ is the wife of J. C. White, of Bowling Green, Ohio, who is connected with the Uhlman interests; Fred W. Uhlman married Grace Millikin, of Bowling Green, and he is proprietor of several clothing establishments.

Edwin H. Baggaley. The career of the late Edwin H. Baggaley, of Weston, was an expression of well-directed and intelligent industry, of devotion to the best interests of the community, and promotion of the best tenets of commercial life. His financial standing was indicated by the possession of some valuable properties and other interests, which came to him through the exercise of thrift, good management and business sagacity, and his personal reputation was built up through years of integrity in the various affairs of life with which he was connected. He was bom July 4, 1850, in Staffordshire, England, and came of an old and respected English family, being a son of Jacob and Hermine (Lawton) Baggaley, natives of Lancashire, England. His father, who was an inn keeper by vocation, died of dropsy at the age of forty-two years, while his mother survived to the age of sixty-three.

Edwin H. Baggaley entered school when a small lad and attended until he wa.s thirteen years of age, when he had acquired knowledge that many of his fellow scholars gained only after much more study. Throughout his life he continued to be a well-read man, quick to learn and with a receptive and retentive mind. He had some experience in regard to working with machinerj' in his native land and at the age of sixteen years left England and came to the United States to ,ioin \\is aunt, Mrs. Josephine Woodisse, who had come here prior to the Civil war and was living in Wood County, Ohio, near Weston. Shortly after his arrival he went to Lima, where he secured employment in a machine shop and there received a substantial training, but subsequently returned to Weston and became associated with the late Edward Baldwin, one of the leading business men of this place, the owner of several elevators and a man connected with many of the prominent enterprises here. He remained for several years as a clerical worker with Mr. Baldwin, and then became associated with his bi'other-in-law, John E. Clark, but eventually again returned to Mr. Baldwin's employ. In 1895 he went to Toledo, where he became bookkeeper and manager for the firm of Lorenz Company, wholesale and retail manufacturers of and dealers in perfumes and druggi-sts' sundries, but in 1901 returned to Weston and became identified with Oswald Brothers, extensive dealers in lumber and coal, with which concern he continued to be associated until his death, June 21, 1916. Mr. Baggaley was a useful citizen and much respected as such and as a man who was always endeavoring to do something for his fellows. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Church. In politics a republican, he was township clerk and corporation clerk for years, and was also well known fraternally, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Weston and active in the Knights of Pythias from the time of its organization, being the first keeper of the seals and kej's in its history. A very well read and well informed man as to current events, he was noted for his intelligent and sound views on many subjects, and these characteristics assisted him in the accumulation of a good property.

Mr. Baggaley was married July 4, 1875, at Weston, to ^liss Ella B. Clark, who was born near Weston in Wood County, where she was well educated and was given a certificate to teach. She is a daughter of Alvin and Harriet M. (Jeffrey) Clark, natives of New Y^ork state, where Mr. Clark was born in 1804 and his wife in 1815. As young people they went with their parents to Seneca County, Ohio, where they were married in the vicinity of Tiffin, and after the birth of their first child, in 1835, came across the country into Wood County in ox-carts and located in Milton Township. There they took up a whole section of land from the United States Government, a part of which is the tract upon w^hich the city of Weston now stands, the Clarks being the original pioneers of this locality. They built as their iirst home a small log cabin, in the midst of a country where wild game still abounded and where the Indians were frequent visitoi's to their little home, although for the most part the redmen were peaceably inclined and friendly. It was necessary that they go to either Grand Rapids or Perry.'iburg for their sugar, other eatables and milling products, and from the yarn which thej' themselves spun the mother not only made the hose and mittens for her own family but for those of the neighboring settlers as well. They lived to clear up their land and develop a handsome and valuable farm, and the log cabin was replaced by a comfortable residence, surrounded by all the conveniences and comforts of advanced civilization. Here the father died September 25, 1872, as an old-school Presbyterian, and the mother September 3, 1899, in the faith of tlie Methodist Episcopal Churcli. He was a republican, but not a politician, being content to devote himself to his agricultural labors. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were the parents of the following children : ]\Irs. Elizabeth Atkins, who died leaving one son and one daughter; John E., who fought as a soldier of tlie Union during the Civil war and died leaving three children ; Emmeline, who died as Jlrs. Byron Baldwin and left no issue; Anna A., who married George W. Pore and died four years later, leaving no children; Daniel S., deceased, who liad one son and one daughter ; and Ella B., now Mrs. Baggaley.

To Mr. and Mrs. Baggaley there was born one daughter, Bertha C, who was educated in the public schools and married Erwin M. Worcester, who was born at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1871, and grew up and was educated in Massachusetts. He was of English stock, a son of James and Harriet (McRobert) Worcester, who came at an early day to Oberlin, Ohio, and passed the rest of their lives in this state. Mi-. Worcester dying when seventy-eight years of age and his wife ten years younger. Mr. Worcester is a successful dairyman of Oberlin, Lorain County, and he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church. They have four living children: Marian E., class of 1918, Oberlin High School; Jladge Elizabeth, thirteen years of age and in eighth grade; Irene, eleven years old and in the public schools; and Kenneth Edward, aged five years.

nine rooms located at Locust and Clark Streets, Weston, and furnished with taste and discernment. Mrs. Baggaley is a cultured lady of many attainments and who is well known at Weston, where she has many friends, particularly in the Methodist Church, where she has been an active and helpful worker in various movements, and in the Pythian Sisters, where she passed through several of the chairs.

Ger.\ld L. Good, proprietor of the only automobile establishment at Arcadia, known as tlie Good Garage, volunteered for service in the war in Company D, Sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteers and is now (1917) stationed at Youngstown, Ohio. He is a very enterprising young business man and a capable machinist and mechanic.

He was born on his father's farm near Arcadia in 1895, a son of O. V. and Sarah L. (Narragang) Good. He lived at home, working on the farm in the summer and attending the Arcadia public schools. After he was twelve years of age he worked steadily on the farm evei'v summer and also had considerable experience as a steam traction eneineer. At the age of sixteen he began to w(irk strndily on the home place and at eiglitci'ii went to Toledo and served ILj years ;is a inai-liiiiist in the Nagel Machine Company. For the following two years he worked for an engineering contracting firm at Detroit and then for seven months was employed at Findlay. He then resinned his place on his father's farm, but in December. 1916, invested his modest capital and established the only garage in Arcadia. He has modern equipment and is rendering efficient service.

On March 25, 1915, Mr. Good married Cynthia Cornelius, of Fostoria. Their happy married life continued only six months, until Mrs. Good passed away August 14, 1915. Politically Mr. Good is a republican.

Judge Emmett L. S.\v.\ge, judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Paulding County, has been active in his profession as a lawyer for twenty years. His life has been spent in Paulding County and he represents one of the old and prominent families of this section.

He was born in that county April 18, 1872, a son of Wesley A. and Annie (Shafer) Savage, the former a native of Defiance County and the latter born near Monroeville, Indiana. Wesley A. Savage, who died in Pauldinsr County, had lived there since 1852. He and

Thomas Emery, attorney, late of New York City, were joint proprietors of a newspaper at Paulding up to 1875. Most of his active career was spent in merchandising. He was a grocer, and afterwards for sixteen years conducted a large hardware store at Paulding. Through these various business enterprises he made a more than ordinary success, and is also widely known as a citizen, having the complete confidence of the people with whom his business transactions have been so long and satisfactory. During President Cleveland's administration he served as postmaster of Paulding from 1885 to 1889. Of the five children four are still living, Judge Savage being the oldest.

He acquired a liberal education, and as a boy he assisted his father in the grocery .store, but in 1889 entered Wooster College, graduating with the class of 1893. He completed his law course in Harvard University, receiving the degree LL.B. in 1894, and he began active practice at Paulding in 1897.

Judge Savage served as prosecuting attorney of Paulding County during 1913-14, and he owes his present office as judge of the Common Pleas Court to appointment from Governor Cox. He has always been a stanch democrat and liis administration of the judicial office has justified all the expectations entertained by his large personal following. Judge Savage is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity and is also a member of the ]\Iasonic Order. On August 9, 1898, he married iliss Sadie Campion, daughter of Thomas J. Campion. Her parents were both Scotch people.

Frank T. Campbell, present postmaster of Marion, represents a family that has been identified with this section of Northwest Ohio for over eighty years. His grandfather, Francis Campbell, of Scotch-Irish ancestry and a native of County Donegal, Ireland, came to the United States in 1828 and settled in Marion County in 1834. He was here among the pioneers and acquired a portion of his land direct from the Government. He developed a farm and died in Marion. Ohio, in 1885.

Thomas H. Campbell, father of the postma.ster. was bom and died in the same house near Marion. His birth occurred June 16, 1842. and he died in May. 1910. He began life in modest circumstances and as a farmer and stock rai.ser made a success and at the time of his death owned 224 acres of Marion

County land. He was a democrat in politics. April 8, 1870, at Marion, Thomas H. Campbell married Mary Walters. She was born at Marion January 18, 1851, and is still living. Her father, David Walters, was a native of Wales and was also among the early settlers of Marion County. Mrs. Campbell is the mother of four children : Frank T. ; Fray D., who lives at the old farm with her mother ; James E., also on the old homestead ; and Mary E., wife of Isaac Snyder, their home being a mile east of Marion.

Frank T. Campbell was born at Marion October 6, 1871, and spent his active younger years on the farm. While growing up in the country he attended the local schools and also the city schools of Marion and afterwards the Marion Business College. He became one of the leading j'oung farmei-s in the county and continued that vocation until 1913, since which year he has lived in the City of Marion. His appointment as po.stmaster was dated September 8, 1913, and he has since given all his time to the faithful and efficient discharge of his responsibilities in that position.

ilr. Campbell married August 24, 1893, Catherine S. Hoch. She was born at Prospect, Ohio, and her father, Charles Hoch, was a native of Germany and moved to Marion County, Ohio, in the early '50s. He was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have one son, Carl T., born May 9, 1905, and now attending the grammar schools in Marion. Mr. and ilrs. Campbell are members of the Lutheran Church. He is a democrat in politics and has wielded a strong influence in the party in his home county for a number of years. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and Knights of Pythias.

John William Lewis Jr. is president and general manager of The Lion Dry Goods Company of Toledo, is president of The Fair Store Company and vice president of The Mc- 1 Alpin Company, both of Cincinnati, and is general supervisor of The Central District Stores of the Mercantile Stores Corporation of New York. His supervision extends to Central District stores in five cities, including The Lion Dry Goods Company of Toledo, TBe McAlpiu Company and the Fair Stores Company of Cincinnati, the J. Bacon & Sons of Louisville, Kentucky, and the Root Dry Goods Company at Terre Haute, Indiana, and the Spring Dry Goods Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

It is superfluous, after reading over the above, to say that Mr. Lewis is one of the foremost merchants of the Middle West. The responsibilities indicated would be a heavy burden to any man.

It is well known that if a man desires to live and handle a large weight at ease and without strain it is necessary to begin practice with smaller weights and keep it up persistently day after day. In practicing with the burdens of business responsibilities few men have been more faithful, energetic and persistent tlian John William Lewis Jr.

A fact that should be stated at the beginning is that he is still a young man, though old in business experience. He is now in his thirty-seventh year. It is a far cry from his present position to the humble employment of his boyhood. When asked for information as to the various incidents in his business progress, Mr. Lewis replied that they were too numerous to mention. However, he did enumerate souie of the fii-st tasks to which he applied himself and which vindoubtedly gave him the foundation of his business training. These preliminary successive experiences were recalled as follows: selling newspapers, carrying telegrams, driving a grocery wagon, operating a hand press in a brick yard, working in a steam laundry, work in a clothing store, and work in a drj^ goods or department store. There are many men who may be called self made, but few might take more satisfaction in what they have accomplished through their own unaided efforts than John William Lewis Jr.

He was horn August 21, 1879, at Hopkinsville. Christian County, Kentucky. "While experience and practice have undoubtedly shaped and moulded his career toward success Mr. Lewis finds occasion to render a splendid tribute to his mother, who he says a genuine mother in the fullest sense of that term, and undoubtedly he credits her -with many of the influences which have guided and benefited his own career. Her maiden name was Lucy Donaldson, and she died at Louisville, Kentucky, Deeemlier 9, 1914. His father is the Rev. John William Lewis, who will soon complete his fiftieth year in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In the early days he was an itinerant Methodist preacher, was several times a member of the General Conference of his branch of Methodism and was twice a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference.

John William Lewis Jr. attended public schools in the various places where his father was minister and his education, so far as books and schools were concerned, came to a close when he was fourteen. Needless to say he is not a college man and does not boast of a college degree. By hard work, by the application of honesty to his conduct he made himself fit for increased responsibility with increasing years and when he came to Toledo October 7, 1904, it was to assume the position of vice-president and general manager of The Lion Dry Goods Company. Then in 1908 he was made president and general manager, and is now busied with the tremendous i-esponsibilities of the numerous companies and establishments above mentioned. In fact, he spends more than twothirds of his time outside of Toledo looking after the stores in other cities.

For four terms ilr. Lewis wa.s president of the Retail Merchants Board of the Toledo Commerce Club. He is a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association of Toledo, is a member of the Toledo Club, the Inverness Club and the Toledo Yacht Club, and with all his business cares he finds time for active membership in St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a steward.

On October 10, 1910, at Covington. Kentucky, Mr. Lewis married Miss Laura Frances Bowe, who was bom and educated in Toledo, a daughter of Mrs. A. M. Bowe of that eity. They have one' daughter, Laura Lucile Lewis, who was born at Toledo.

Nathan D. Patterson. The residence of Nathan D. Patterson in Wood County has covered a period of sixty-five years, with the exception of the three years which he spent as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war. In this long period he has been engaged principally in successful stockraising and general farming operations, and his career has been crowned by the kind of success that is given only to those who have led lives of industry and integrity. During the past twenty years Mr. Patterson has made his home at Weston, where he is highly regarded as a substantial, useful and public-spirited citizen.

Nathan D. Patterson was born in Chautauqua County, New York, September 4, 1838, and is of Scotch descent, a son of Nathan D. and Polly (Judd) Patterson, natives of Canada. After their marriage Mr. Patterson's parents came to the United States and settled in Chautauqua County, New York, where, on a farm, were boru the following children : Mary M., of Mill Grove, Ohio, widow of Andrew Hall, who has two children ; Wilbur P. and Sarah, who are both married and have families ; William and Wilson, twins, the former of whom was killed accidentally in a horse race, and left a small family, and the latter also deceased, leaving several children ; Nathan D. ; Sarah, who died after marriage, leaving no children. In 1841 the parents, with the above children, came to Lorain County, Ohio, where Mr. Patterson secured plenty of work at his trade, that of cabinet making, principally in the manufacture of chairs for the early settlers, but later removed to Perry Township, Wood County, locating on a farm among the pioneers of 1852. There they took up an unimproved farm, which they succeeded in developing into a valuable property, and on this land the worthy couple completed their lives, the father dying at the age of sixty -seven and the mother when seventy years old. Jlr. Patterson was a good citizen of his community and a sturdy republican. He contented himself with his activities as a farmer and did not seek public office, but belonged to the class of men who have done so much to develop this section's resources and forward the advancement of its institutions.

Nathan D. Patterson, the younger, was a child of three years when the family came to Ohio and the greater part of his education was secured in the country schools of Lorain County, although he came of age in Wood County. Here, in September, 1861, he enlisted for service for three years during the Civil war in Company B, Fifty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteers Infantry, Colonel J. C. Lee commanding, and went to the front with these organizations, participating in many hard-fought engagements. Among these was the spirited and bloody battle of Chaneellor.sville, where his captain, Sautter, was killed, and where Mr. Patterson himself sustained a wound. For a time he was connected with the Veteran Reserve Corps at Washington, D. C, but at the end of his enlistment, in September, 1864, was honorably discharged and returned to Wood County. Here he followed the trade of carpenter, a vocation which he had learned in his youth, but after his marriage, in 1867, settled on a farm of 125 acres in Plain Township, which he developed into one of the most productive tracts in the localitv. There he resided until

Mr. Patterson was married April 26, 1866, in Perry Township, Wood County, to Mary Eleanor Stearnes, who was boru in Montgomery Township, AVood County, May 23, 1844, and there reared and educated. She is a daughter of Justice and Eliza (Cross) Stearnes, the former born in Northwest Pennsylvania and the latter in Canada, and they were married in Wood Coimty, where the mother died in 1850, when in middle life. Later Mr. Stearnes married for his second wife Mary Hall, and they became farmers in Plain Township in Jlay, 1887. Mr. Stearnes, who . married four times and had children by three of his wives, died at Bowling Green, aged seventy-eight years, two months. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have had the following children : Anna, who is the wife of A. U. Porter, a farmer of Milton Township, and has two children : Cyril and Kenneth; Charles, a farmer of Weston, who married Lucy Aller, and has three children : Wayne, Raymond and Harold ; Blanche, who married Samuel Schwartz, of Jerry City, Ohio, and has five children: Mary, Lester, Lee, Wilbur and Nathan; and Wilbur, who is a factory worker of Fremont, married Florence Meyers.

Mr. Patterson has never forgotten his comrades who wore the blue uniform, and belongs to Niebling Post, Grand Arm.y of the Republic, of which he was twice commander. With his wife, he belongs to the Christian Church. He has served as trustee of his township two terms, and has always voted the republican ticket. Both he and his wife are held in the warmest regard by their neighbors and friends, and are profoundly respected by a wide circle of acquaintances.

John G. H. Stein. "When the lives of men who have met with success in their undertakings in any community are traced it will be found that each possesses in common some traits and qualities, among which are included perseverance, industry and determination. To these, as in the case of John G. H. Stein, president of the Pemberville Savings Bank and proprietor of a private bank at Stony Ridge, also in Wood County, are generally added sound judgment, unswerving integrity and a thorough appreciation of responsibility, these all combining to form a man of force, usefulness and capacity for undoubted acliievement. Pemberville is fortunate in having such a man in its midst, and doubly so in the fact that the finances of so important an institution as the one of which he is the head are in the hands of so capable a man.