Sandusky Township (part 54 of 57)

John G. H. Stein was born on a farm in Freedom Township, Wood County, near Pemberville, Ohio, June 13, 1881, and is a sou of Herman H. and Sophia (Kieueker) Stein. His grandfather was Gearhard Stein, who was born, reared and educated in Hanover, Germany, where he met and married a young woman who was a native of the same locality, and, after the birth of four sons, Henry, William, Fred and Herman H., came to the United States. Leaving their native land just before the outbreak of the Civil war, they took passage on a sailing vessel from Hamburg, which had a stormy trip consuming six weeks, but finally made port at New York, from whence the family came to Ohio and settled on a new farm in the vicinity of Pemberville, Wood County. There the grandparents rounded out long and useful lives as industrious agriculturists and faithful members of the Lutheran Church. Several years after their arrival, in the latter part of 1863, Henry Stein, the eldest son, enlisted as a private in the Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He suffered a sunstroke not long after joining, Init continued to be with his regiment until the close of the Civil war and took part in its many engagements, conducting himself with signal bravery and fidelity. He died in the sumqier of 1917, in Colorado, leaving a widow and family. William, the second son, died in November, 1916, as a Wood County farmer, and he and his wife, who is also deceased, had three children. Fred, the third in order of birth, is now a retired farmer of Postoria, Ohio, and has a family. Herman H. Stein was the fourth in order of birth, and the others, born in Wood County, Ohio, were; Elizabeth ("Lizzie"), who is the wife of Henry Bowman, of the Lake Shore Railroad, resides at Millbury, Ohio, and has children; Angust, a resident of Wood County, who is a widower with a son and a daughter; and Anna, who is the wife of Henry Baker, a farmer of Sandusky County, Ohio, and has two sons and one daughter.

Herman H. Stein, father of John G. H. Stein, was born in Hanover, Germany, November 14, 1853, and was still a lad when brought to the United States. He grew up on a farm in Wood County, where he attended the public schools, and throughout his life has lieen engaged in the pursuits of the farm. In ailditidii Id yvncriil aurii'ultural operations he ciiua^vs cxtciisiNily ill the I'aisiug of livestork, |)iii-iiculaily oi hdi'scs of a high grade^ and continues to be actively identified with Ills business at a time when many men have outgr(nvn their usefulness and agility. He is prominent in liis community as a substantial citizen who stands for the best principles of agriculture and for high standards of business, and in the discharge of his duties as a citizen has always endeavored to give his community his best services, ilr. Stein w'as married in Wood County to Sophia Kieueker, who was born in this county in 1858, and here reared and educated. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary (Hodlebrink) Kieneker. natives of Germany, who came to the United States as young people and met and w-ere married in Wood County. They passed the rest of their lives here as farmers and stockraisers, and were faithful members of the Lutheran Church. They had a large family and their descendants are to be found in various parts of Wood County and representative of honorable citizenship.

John G. H. Stein is the only child of his parents. His father was married a second time, to Anna Krieger, who died leaving seven children: Fred, Sophia, August, and Maria, all married; and Carrie, Edith and Lydia, single, the last-named of whom is a teacher in the public schools of Wood County. For his third wife Herman H. Stein married Mrs. John Hagemeyer, and they have no children. All the members of this family belong to the Lutheran Church. Mr. Stein is a democrat.

The education of John G. H. Stein was commenced in the country schools of Freedom Township and completed at the Davis Business College of Toledo, and until he was twenty-seven years of age he gave his services to his father on the home farm. At that time he began his experiences in the banking line, and three years later became the founder of a private bank at Stony Ridge, a commmiity in Wood County, ten miles from Pemberville. He is still the owner of that bank, which has a capital of $5,000, acting in the capacity of president, with A. E. Herkman as cashier. This bank is in excellent condition, and the fact that it has in the neighborhood of $100,- 000 in deposits is indicative of the amount of business done as well as of the young president's ability and the confidence in which he is held. Mr. Stein had come to Pemberville in March, 1908, and here assisted in the founding of the Pemberville Savings Bank, which was capitalized at $25,000, with himself as president, a position which he has held since that time. The first vice president is W. H. Siek, and the second vice president, Fred Beeker. C. Dewyer, now engaged as a real estate operator at Pemberville, was cashier until 1913, when he was succeeded by H. C. Hohls, a young man of superior ability as a banker and of a likable personality. On July 24, 1917, near Port Clinton, Mr. Hohls was of a party of six who were killed outright in a collision between an automobile and a train. L. H. Kohring succeeded Mr. Hohls in the cashiership, he having formerh' been assistant cashier. The Pembei-ville Savings Bank is located in the midst of a rich and prosperous farming community, and is a live institution, with its specially built banking house situated on Front Street. Its directors are: William Dierksheide, Henry Nieman, A. E. Heckman, L. D. Mercer, J. G. H. Stein and Herman Heckman. It now has resources of more than $368,000, as shown in a condensed statement as to its condition, issued at the close of business March 5, 1917 : Resources: Loans on Real Estate, $28,005.99; Loans on Collateral, $3,870.85; Other Loans and Discounts, $144,186.35; Overdrafts, $118.95 ; State, County and Municipal Bonds, not included in Reserve, $83,242.68 ; Furniture and Fixtures, $1,100.00; Cash Items, $2,- 000.00; Items in Transit, $5,468.10; Expenses, Interest and Taxes Paid, $2,666.64; and Cash in Vaults and Other Banks, $98,225.09. Liabilities, Capital Stock Paid In, $12,500.00 ; Surplus Fund, .$2,200.00; Undivided Profits, $2,604.37; Cash Over, $10.77; and Deposits, $427,000. The Pemberville Savings Bank has its deposits insured by The American Guaranty Company, of Columbus, Ohio, which has -issued a bond to this bank, guaranteeing to each depositor the retui'u of his money. This company is incorporated under the stringent insurance laws of Ohio, and must have on deposit at all times with the State Treasurer of Ohio a reserve fund as required by law, to protect the bond issued to this bank. The Surety Company is not only examined by the examiner of the state in which it is chartered, but is also subject to examination by every state in which it does business. During the decade of years that Mr. Stein has figured prominently in financial matters of Wood County he has proven his ability as a banker and his worth as a man. Upon no other class do the responsibilities of a community rest as heavily as they do upon the shoulders of the men in whose capable hands lie the reins of finance. As the banks of a community are, so is the community itself - so does it prosper or so does it sink into decay. The very life of the country depends upon the strength and probity of those who control the financial institutions of the laud. Every man is not fitted by nature and training to assume the duties pertaining to a banking career, so that it is a self evident fact that when a man makes a success in this kind of work he must be possessed of unusual abilitj' and strict probity of character.

Mr. Stein married in Wood County Miss Anna M. Heckman, who was born and educated in this county. She is of German aneestrj^, being a daughter of Hei'man and Jlary (Blasey) Heckman, the former born in Ohio and the latter in Germany. She came to this country in young girlhood, and after their marriage ilr. and Mrs. Heckman settled down on a farm in Wood County, where they still reside, being highly esteemed people of Freedom Township, the owners of a valuable farm, and faithful members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Heckman is a democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Stein are the parents of two children : Leonard H., who is in the eighth grade of the public schools at Pemberville; and Laurene ]Maria, who is four years old. The family holds membership in the Lutheran Church. Politically a leading democrat of his locality, Mr. Stein has served as a member of the city council for some years.

Frank L. ]Moyer, veterinary surgeon, is one of the leaders in his profession in Northwest Ohio and practices over an area of four counties around Carey, which is his home.

Doctor Mo^-er was bom on a farm at Lovell in Wyandot County, Ohio, March 26, 1883, a son of Cornelius and Emma (Walborn) IMoyer. He is of German ancestry on both sides and all the generations have furnished farmers in the main. The iloyer family on coming from Germany first settled in Pennsylvania. In 1865 they came to Bueyrus, Ohio, and two years later located in Crawford Township of Wyandot County, where they cleared their ovm land and developed a home. Cornelius Moyer's brother ]\Iartin, who is now ninety-four years of age, was a soldier in the Civil war. Cornelius Mover and wife are still living, being retired at Carey.

in Crawford Township, and at the age of fourteen entered the Carey High School, where he silent two years. He graduated in the normal course and received a certificate but never taught. From an early age he worked on the home farm and after leaving school he spent hve yeai's as a practical farmer. He was fond of animals and while on the farm made considerable study along the Hues of practical veterinary surgery, and in 1905 entered the State University, where he pursued the veterinary course and received his certificate in 1908. Since then he has practiced his professiou with home and office at Carey. The four counties embraced in his professional territory are Hancock, Hardin, Seneca and "Wyandot. Doctor Moyer is also a stockholder in the Fi.sher-Fitzgerald Serum Company at Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

Doctor iloyer is a democrat and a member of the English Lutheran Church. On August 8, 1910, he married iliss Daisy Ryder, daughter of Aaron aud Barbara (Mus.selman) Ryder, of Carej-. They have two children : Maurine Y., bom April 26, 1913 ; and Blaine Darrell, born April 13, 1917. ilr. Jloyer is a member of Justice Lodge No. 393. Kniglits of Pythias, of Carey, Ohio.

John Dickinson Rhoades Lamson was born in Elbridae. New York. June 23, 1859, and died in Toledo, Ohio, July 22, 1915, and was past fifty-six years of age at the time of his death. All his active career was spent in merchandising for which he had manifest inclinations and talent from youth up. He learned the business in his native town, from there went to Syracuse, New York, and gained wider experience as an employe in one of the city's largest retail establishments. In 1885 he came to Toledo to join his brother Julius G. Lamson and with him engaged in the dry goods business under the firra-name of Lamson Brothers. In 1889, Mr. C. E. B. Lamson, who had formerly lived in Toledo and had a large acquaintance there, came from Columbus, Ohio, and joined the firm. In 1905 the firm was incorporated as The Lamson Brothers Company. Jlr. Lamson had been vice-president of this company from its incorporation in 1905 until his death. He was also at the time of his death vice-president and a director of The Commercial Savings Bank and Trust Company of Toledo.

president of the Toledo Baptist Union. He was a prominent member of the Ashland Avenue Baptist Church and for several years served as superintendent of its Sunday School. He was a member of Sanford L. Collins Lodge, Free aud Accepted Masons, and of St. Omar Commaudery No. 57, Knight Templars, and also belonged to the National Laiion and the Royal Arcanum.

Of his father's family there survives two older brothers, Julius G. Lamson and C. E. B. Lamson, with whom he was associated in business at Toledo, and one sister, Miss Mary A. of Toledo, ilrs. Lamson, his widow, survives aud also a daughter and three sons : jMrs. M. S. Ramsayer; Charles M., of Grand Rapids, Ohio; Robert J., of Perrysburg, Ohio; and Harold E., of Toledo, Ohio. There are also five grandchildren.

The Lamson Dry Goods Store at Toledo, in the upbuilding of which Mr. Lamson played so important a part, is noteworthy not only for its size and completeness, but also for certain characteristics of its inner workings and life. It has frequently been pointed out as a model for the high standard prevailing among the employees and for the general consideration paid to all employees. Practically all of the about three hundred seventy-five regular employees of this concern have devoted years of faithful service to the company and have assumed more than temporary interest in the business because of as.surance of continued employment. It was because these employees all felt a personal interest in Mr. Lamson and on account of his extensive relation with the city's business and civic life that the family yielded to the public regard and allowed the funeral to be conducted as a public ceremony.

Lank M. Smith. One of the best known newspaper men of Crawford Count.y, Ohio, is Lank M. Smith, principal owner and director of the Bucyrus Publishing Company and an active leader in the democratic party in this section. He has been a resident of Bucyrus since 1898 and since then has been particularly interested in what is now one of the leading journals here and the party organ in the county, issued under the name of the News-Forum.

Lank M. Smith was born in Lykens Township, Crawford County, Ohio, September 1, 1868, and is a son of Frederick and Lucy Ann (Shupp) Smith. Frederick Smith was born in Saxony, Germanv, and after coming to the

United States lived for a time at Columbus, Ohio, and in 1840 came to Crawford County. He did contract work on the old National Turnpike and afterward purchased a section of land in Lykens Township, all of which, through his efforts, was brought under a high state of cultivation. He was twice married, his first wife bearing the name of Christina Tipman, who was a native of Saxony, Germany, and died in 1846. She left four children, namely : Louis F., who, during life, served as justice of the peace and notai-y public; John F., who M-as a farmer in Lykens Township; Adolph G., who was a contractor and lived at Aurora, Illinois; and Clara, who is the widow of Joseph Laipply, of Bucyrus. The second marriage of Frederick Smith was to Lucy Ann Shupp, a daughter of ^Michael Shupp, who was a pioneer from Pennsylvania to Crawford County. She was born June 3, 1830, and died in' 1891, the mother of the following children : Cornelius, who is a resident of Bucyrus; ^Matilda, who is deceased; Catherine, who married Jacob ^leck, of Holmes Township: Frederick, who is a business man of Bucyrus ; Henry, who is a farmer in Holmes Township ; Lucy Ann, who is deceased ; Jefferson I. ; Emma J., who married Abraham Scheifer, of Lykens Township ; Lank I\I. ; and Sarepta, who is the wife of C. H. Flickinger, of Holmes Township. The father of the above family was a man of prominence in Crawford County, served as town clerk for a number of years, was a member of the school board and belonged to the Grange, and was a justice of the peace continuously from 1862 until his death, December 31, 1877, when aged sixty-one years.

Lank M. Smith spent his early life on the home farm and attended the district schools and probably until he was nine years old had never passed an unquiet moment. But the death of one's father makes a great deal of difference, and in a few years after that, when . sixteen, he began life on his own responsibility. His bi'other was a country merchant and he assisted in the store for a time and then determined to re-enter school and later attended the Bucyrus High School and also a business college at Mansfield and following his graduation was connected with business houses until 1891, when he bought an interest in the New "Washington Herald, and while there assisted his brother, who was deputy county auditor.

the Crawford County News. He had previously proved his business ability and became business manager of this enterprise and brought it to so much prosperity that the old party organ, the Forum, consented to consolidate with them (daily and semi-weekly editions) and the consolidation resulted in the News-Forum. ^Iv. Smith brought about many changes and reforms and brought the business into the field of modern newspaper making. In 1912 the company installed a Goss Comet Perfecting press. The policy of the paper was also changed, party bitterness and acrimonious discussion being eliminated, and more popularity and support has come because of this change.

Mr. Smith, as mentioned above, is a leading factor in democratic circles and has served his party in numerous capacities. For a number of terms he was chairman of the democratic executive committee, was a member of the demo^satic state executive committee one term, and in 1908 was appointed a member of the Ohio Board of Penitentiary ilauagei-s by Gov. A. L. Harris, where his business ability was used to the advantage of that institution. Locally he has always been public spirited.

Mr. Smith was married in March, 1892, at New Washington, Ohio, to Miss Bessie Sexauer, a daughter of Frederick and ^Mary (Zeigler) Sexauer, both of whom were born at Baden, Germany, and came to the United States in 1827, They located at Sulphur Springs, Crawford County, and there Mr. Sexauer died, his widow subsequently marrying J. G. Kinninger, who, with his stepson, C. F. Sexauer, conducted a carriage shop there for many years. The maternal grandfather of ]Mrs. Smith was Dr. G. L. Zeigler, one of the pioneer physicians in Ohio. j\Irs. Smith died May 12, 1917. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Smith was also reared. There were no children born of this marriage. Fraternallj* !Mr. Smith is identified with the Elks and the Knights of Pj'thias. He is a man of character and a truly representative business man of this city.

Henry Nieman. Among the business houses of Wood County which have been in existence for many years and which, through the honorable policy of their proprietors, have attained success and reputation, is that of Henry Nieman, well known in furniture and undertaking circles. Established at Pember- ville in August, 1892, duriug the quarter of a century of its life this house has maintained a high reputation in business circles, and its proprietor at the same time has shown his worth to the community as a citizen. Mr. Nieman was born at Toledo, Ohio, October 17, 1867, and is a son of Louis and Louisa (Meyers) Nieman.

The paternal and maternal grandparents of Henrj' Nieman were born in Germany and both faiuilies located as pioneers in Woodville Township, Wood County, where tlieir first homes were built in primitive style, without the use of nails and included only the absolute necessities. From the wilds they saw the country develop, and with the pa.ssing of the years their resources increased and they were able to secure some of the comforts of life, although the paternal grandparents of Mr. Nieman, John Nieman and his wife, did not live long after coming to this country djing in middle life. Louis Nieman gi-ew up in Woodville Township, in a good Lutheran home, and was reared as a farmer boy, farming being his vocation for some years. Later he moved to the Village of Woodville, where he bought an interest in the furniture and undertaking business of M. C. Veh, who was his partner for several years but eventually sold out to Mr. Nieman, who conducted the business successfully until his death, August 2, 1903. Louis Nieman was a man of unassuming manner, and won and retained friends. His sterling honesty and rigid uprightness of purpose made him trusted by all who knew him, and his keen business sense rendered him valuable in any line in which he chose to direct his efforts. He married Louisa Meyers, a native of the same locality as her husband and a daughter of John G. and Catherine (Klein) Meyers, natives of Germany, who were married in Hanover. From their native land they came to the United States in a sailing vessel, and after a long and perilous voyage reached port at New York, from whence they migrated as pioneers to Ohio and made their first home in the wilds. The father lived to accumulate and enjoy a substantial competence and passed away when seventytwo years, in the faith of the Lutheran Church, of which Mrs. Meyers, who died at the age of past eighty, was also a member. Like the Nieman family, the Meyers were democrats. Loui.se (Meyers) Nieman, the mother of Henry Nieman, died in Woodville in 1911, being about sixty-seven or sixtyeight years of age. She was a devout member of the Lutheran Church who lived her faith eveiy day, and a woman of many fine qualities of character, a faithful wife and a devoted mother. There were two sons in the family : Henry ; and Charles, deceased, whose widow and daughter, Helen, now live at Woodville.

Henry Nieman was still a small boy when his parents removed from the City of Toledo to their farm in Woodville Township, Sandusky County, and spent some years on the farm, learning the business of agriculture and attending the district schools. Farming, however, was not destined to be his vocation in life, for when he was still a young man the family left the farm, and Henry Nieman and his brother Charles came to Pemberville, where they engaged in a furniture and undertaking business. They remained together until 1903, when Charles went to Woodville to take charge of the business left without a head by their father's death, and when Charles died, in 1909, Henry Nieman became sole owner of the business at Woodville. In the meantime the enterprise that had been founded at Pemberville, in August, 1892, had grown to large proportions, and today is accounted one of the leading establishments of the city. Mr. Nieman has a large store room, twentyfour by seventy feet, using two stories of the building, and here carries a complete line of the most up-to-date furniture, including the most artistic designs and a wide range in price, material and variety' In addition he has his store arranged in an attractive way, with modern fittings. The undertaking department includes the latest burial supplies known to the business, with every facility for the proper and reverent handling of the dead, and during the last two years Mr. Nieman has used an automobile funeral car.

Mr. Nieman married Miss Mary Schiller, who was born at Aurora, Indiana, of German parentage. Pier father, George Schiller, died at Aurora when past seventy years of age. a Lutheran and a democrat. Mrs. Schillei*, who was formerly Margaret Mohrmiller, is still living at the age of eighty-nine years, making her home with her son-in-law, Mr. Nieman. She is still active in body and alert in mind and takes a keen interest in all that goes on about her and particularly in the movements and work of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Nieman died February 2.5, 1913, the mother of the following eliildren : Clarence, who. like the other children, was given a good education, is single, and now conducting his father's business at Woodville; Louisa and Esther, graduates of Pemberville High School and residing with their father; Luther, sixteen years old and attending- the Woodville Normal School; and ilary E., aged seven years. Jlr. Nieman married for his second wife Elizabeth Schiller, a sister of his first wife. The family belongs to the German Lutheran Church^ in which Mr. Nieman is an elder. He is in politics a democrat, has served one term as a member of the city council, and in various ways has contributed to his community's growth and welfare.

William Jones is a prominent old time farmer and veteran Union soldier of Swanton Township in Lucas County. He is now retired from the active responsibilities of farm life and is living on his old homestead with his children grouped community like around him on adjoining farms. His home is a mile and a half east of Swanton Village.

A native of England, William Jones was born at Shrewsbury in 1844, a^on of Henry and Elizabeth (Lloyd) Jones. The family came to the United States in 1845. Henry Jones was head miller for the big milling firm of Forsythe, operating several big mills at Maumee and other places. Henry Jones died about 1856 and his widow survived until 1906, when she was eighty-five years of age. William Jones has one brother, Henry, who is living in Seattle, Washington. After the death of the father the mother married George Allen, a pioneer settler of Monelova, Ohio.

William Jones was reared on the old Allen farm at Monelova and was still a boy when the war broke out between the North and the South and he answered the call of anns. In 1862 he enlisted in Company K of the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantrv and was with the Army of Ohio until the close of hostilities. Among other battles he participated in the siege of Knoxville and was also at the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, toward the close of the war.

On receiving his honorable discharge from the army he returned to ilonclova and remained on the farm there until 1888. "Sir. Jones then bought a place of his own comprising 161 acres in Swanton Township. That has been +he scene of his energetic efforts and successful management down to the present time. He compounded his success by investing in additional lands and now he owns aboiit 340 acres. Since 1908 he has been retired and has rented his farm. Mr. Jones is a republican without any aspirations for local office.

He married Telenah R. Barton, a daughter of John Barton, of Cambridge, Guernsey County, Ohio. Mrs. Jones is now deceased. The son, George A., also deceased, was an express messenger on the Clover Leaf Railroad. He married Mary Murray, but left no children. Lloyd is a farmer in Swanton Township. He married Millie Scott and has a son, Ralph. Wilbur is also a Swanton Township farmer. He married Bertha Snyder. Lizzie Jlay is still living at home with her father. Elwood is a rural mail carrier and owns a farm in Swanton Township. He married Doris Harris and is the father of a son named Harris E. Jessie is the wife of George G. Fetterman, who is a rural mail carrier and lives on a farm adjoining Mr. Jones. They have three children : Norma, Lena and Barton.

Mr. Jones is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Fraternally he is affiliated with Northern Light Lodge of Masons at Maumee.

Cl.vudb R. Williams. Biography relates countless instances of men who have attained more than the usual measure of success, who, beginning at the bottom of life's ladder, have worked themselves to the top without outside assistance. Such men possess certain peculiar qualities, and, in order to have accomplished what they have, it has been necessary for them to be self reliant, capable, honorable and energetic. Through patient utilization of whatever opportunities have come their way these men of all climes and ages have distanced their associates and become leaders instead of workers in the ranks of the industrial army. Northwest Ohio has for many years been the field of operation of many aggressively successful men, and one who essentially belongs to this class, as a representative of" the smaller cities, is Claude R. Williams, general merchant, oil operator and good citizen of Pemberville.

Claude R. Williams was born in Eastern Ohio, September 13, 1876, but was reared in Western Pennsylvania, whence he was taken as a lad by his parents, Samuel and Elma E. (Ross) Williams. The family is an old one in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, where Samuel Williams was born in January, 1834. He was reared in that community and became a pioneer oil man, being identified with the opening of the second oil well sunk in the Pennsylvania Held. Later he removed to Ashtabula County, Ohio, and for some years engaged in farming, which he also followed to some extent after his return to his native state. Mr. AVilliams had the oil in his blood, however, and ou his return to Ohio, in 1892, at once re-entered that business at Pemberville, sinking wells and producing oil as long as lie was able, and only retiring when he had long pa.ssed man's allotted three score and ten years. His death occurred at Hart, Michigan, September 13, 1913, and his widow, whom he married in iMercer Count}', Pennsylvania, lives in Illinois, and is seventy-eight years of age and still bright and alert in mind, althougli somewhat impaired as to bodily energy by the weight of her years. She is a faithful niember of the ilethodist Church. Her husband was a Presbyterian and was a republican in his political alliance. Of their eight sons, seven are living and the heads of families, and Claude R. is the next to the last in order of birth.

Claude R. Williams was educated in the public schools of Western Pennsylvania, and was a lad of tifteen years when he came back to Ohio with his parents and settled in the locality of Pemberville. Here, with liis father, he became interested in the oil fields, and from that day to this he has been connected in one or another way in the industr.y. For a number of years he followed this kind of work in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and at this time is a producer in the North Lima field, where he has a valuable and paying propei'ty. About the year 1907 Mr. Williams settled permanently at Pemberville, where he formed a partnership with Fred H. Tanlker, under the style of Tanlker & Williams, proprietors of a general store business which had been founded here tliirty years before. This partnerslrip continued until Mr. Taulker left the concern to engage in a garage and automobile business, at which time Mr. Williams took over the entire enterprise. He has a large store, thirty-two by eighty feet, with a commodious warehouse in the rear, free from the main building, and carries a full line of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, notions, and other articles to be found in a first-class store of this nature in the smaller cities. He is also an extensive buyer of wool and clover seed. Through honorable business methods he has attracted and held a large village and country trade, which is increasing annually under his excellent management. Aggressive methods, keen insight into commercial conditions, and a thorough and far-reaching appreciation of the needs of the trade are characteristics which have developed Mr. Williams into a successful factor in the business life of his community. He has worked hard for his success and deserves it in eveiy way, and in its gaining has done nothing to put a blemish upon a clean record of trausactious.

JMr. Williams married at Pemberville Miss Edith Stamman, who was born at Toledo, Ohio, Sc|)tciiil)er 3, 1875, a daughter of natives (if ficiiiiaiiy, both of whom died when past sixty ycirs of age, in the faith of the Lutlieran Cliunh. ;\li's. Williams was reared at Pemberville. wliriv slie attended the graded and high scIhmiIs, and is a lady of education, culture and refinement, and popular in the community of her home. Mr. and ^Irs. Williams are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which both have been active, Mr. Williams having been a trustee for many years, and now a teacher in and assistant superintendent of the Sunday School. Both are also members of the choir. He is a republican in politics and is prominent in fraternal life. He is a member of De Molai Tent No. 211, Knights of the Maccabees; a member of Pemberville Lodge No. 516, Free and Accepted Masons; Bowling Green Chapter No. 157, Royal Arch Masons; Fostoria Council, Royal and Select ^Masters, No. 90; and Toledo Commandery No. 7, Knight Templars. He is a Scottish Rite IMason, belonging to Toledo Consistory, thirty-second degree and a member of Barton Smith .Jubilee Class. He has held the various ofticcs in his lodge and is very popular with his IVIIo\v-meml)ers. He is vice president of the Pemberville Commercial Club and is a member of the Board of Health.

Charles F. D.vniel, ;\I. D., is a successful medical practitioner in Tiffin, specializing in surgery, for which he has shown great skill and talent. He has formed many useful and influential associations both in and outside of liis profession, and is one of the well known citizens of Seneca County.

His birth occurred in Seneca County, January 12, 1880. His parents, Valentine and Margaret (IMiller) Daniel, were both born in Germany. Valentine Daniel was born in 1834, came to America in 1853, working as a day laborer for several years at Sandusky, and afterwards from the accumiilations of his tlirift, bought a farm in Seneca County. He spent his last few years retired in Tiffin, where he died in 1910. He was a democrat and filled various township ofiBces and he and his family were members of the Catholic Church. His wife, Margaret Miller, was born in 1840 and is still living at Tiffin. They were married in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio. Of their twelve children ten are living and Doctor Daniel is the seventh son.

Doctor Daniel completed his literary education in St. Joseph's College at Rensselaer, Indiana, and fi-om there entered the Starling Medical College at Columbus, where he graduated M. D. in 1907. For the past ten years he has been looking after a growing practice at Tiffin. Several times he has attended Mayo clinics at Rochester, Minnesota, and is a constant student of his work, especially along the lines of surgery. He is a member of the Seneca County and the Ohio State Medical societies, the American Medical Association, and is now regimental sm-geou of the local district in the Knights of St. John. He also belongs to the Knights of Columbus and he and his family are active members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

In 1910 Doctor Daniel married Miss Olga Hierholzer, of Celina, Ohio. Her father, Conrad Hierliolzer, who was born in Seneca County, moved to Mercer County, Ohio, when ten years of age and followed farming until after his marriage. He then engaged in the mercantile business at Celina and is now president of the Commercial Bank of that city. Doctor and Mrs. Daniel have four children : Ruth, .Alildi-ed, Gerard and Walter.

Dr. F. :\I. Fraziee, LL. D. It is not unusual to find a man eminent in one profession, but when he is found proficient in another it becomes a matter of respectful admiration, for all men are not so gifted. ]\Iedicine and law, both sciences, have, perhaps, to those understanding them, principles in common, but it seems more probable that a versatile mind, not satisfied with legal acquirements alone, turns to the other profession, for it has entirely different methods of probing the mysteries of liuman life.

The subject of this .sketch may be mentioned in this connection. At present he is practicing both law and medicine at Biyan, Ohio, and some years since was a prominent and able member of the bar of Indiana and Iowa and in many parts of Indiana is also recalled with respect as a thorough and popular educator.

Dr. F. M. Frazier was born August 20, 1857, in Blackford County, of sturdy agricultural parents, he being the third of six boys. He remained on the farm with his parents and brothers until twenty -seven years old; in the mean time attending the country scliool at Dundee, Indiana, and later Ridgeville College, the M. E. College and the Northern Indiana University, Valparaiso, Indiana. This training prepared him for teaching and for eight years during the above period he taught in the country schools and as superintendent of the Montpelier, Indiana, High School. During vacation he attended colleges as above, and in 1882 he entered the law department of the Northern Indiana University, Valparaiso, Indiana, from which he was graduated May 29, 1881. He then turned his attention for some years to the law of contracts, becoming traveling collector for two large implement concerns, being in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, North and South Dakota and other parts of the North and West. In the meanwhile he had been preparing for a medical course and entered the medical department of Taylor University, Fort Wayne, Indiana, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. on March 10, 1891.

On December 30, 1891, Doctor Frazier moved to Williams County, Ohio, and engaged in the practice of medicine, specializing in diseases of the eye and digestion.

On July 1, 1892, Doctor Frazier was married to Emma S. Back, to whom have been born four children, two girls and two boys, of whom one died in infancy ; the three living are, namely: Edna C, who is a graduate of the Bryan, Ohio. High School and of the Michigan Agricultural College, East Lansing, Michigan, and is now an instructor of home economics in the higli schools of Detroit, Michigan ; Helen R., who is a graduate of the Bryan, Ohio, High Schools and at present a student of the Michigan Agricultural College, East Lansing, ^Michigan: Sherman ]\I., who is a graduate of the Bryan High Schools, is now a member of Company B. Fifth Battalion, irnited States Signal Corps.

On August 10. 1905, the doctor was nominated on the republican ticket for probate judge of Williams County, Ohio, and on November 7tb following was elected and served in that capacity for seven years. While in office he devised and executed a new index system, the most complete, simple and useful ever in the state.

his success is what he has achieved. He is a man of very strong personalities and that kind make the most devoted friends and some enemies, but all must respect them for their worth.

Frederick Clark Averill, who has been a member of the Toledo bar since 1901, is a member of an old and well known family of Perrysburg, where he has his summer home. The family originally came from New England.

His father, Henry E. Averill, was for many years a prominent lawyer at Toledo with his residence at Peri-jsburg. He was affiliated with the Society of Sons of the American Revolution of Connecticut. Henry E. Averill married Julia M. Dodge.

Frederick Clark Averill was born at St. Louis, Alissouri, December 25, 1875, but was reared and educated at Perrysburg, Ohio. From the high school of that city he entered the University of Michigan, where he graduated Bachelor of Philosophy, and he holds the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from Columbia University. He is distinguished as a lover of books and literature and takes a great interest in the Way Library, which was given to Periysburg through the generosity of the late Willard V. Way, and of which he is secretar\' of the board of managers. It is an unusually well equipped library for one of the smaller towns.

;Mr. Averill was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1901 and has since been in active practice at Toledo, member of the firm Averill & Dodd. His associate in practice is Martin S. Dodd. The offices of the firm are in the Spitzer Building.

Mr. Averill, who is unmarried, is a trustee of the Presbyterian Church of Perrysburg, one of the oldest religious organizations in Northwest Ohio.

Ira L. Craw. It is a well confirmed fact that many of the individuals who have made their influence felt in the world and whose capable forcefulness has made a contributing factor to the prestige of the communities in which they have seen to locate are those who have depended entirely or in a large part upon their own resources. The fact that they have chosen to stand alone has seemed to furnish the needed stimulus for continued and persistent effort. The lad born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth often begins his career with a heavy handicap. No matter how ambitious he may be, the very fact that there is no actual necessity for his exertions hampers him, and in the end oftentimes takes from him the desire to prove his mettle. On the other hand, the one who knows that if he wants to rise above his surroundings and take his place among the worth while men of his generation, he must bend every energy to his task and let no opportunity slip by, is the one who develops his abilities to the utmost. Northwest Ohio has given a home and afforded a wide field of endeavor to many men who have been the architects of their own fortunes, and among these is found Ira L. Craw, senior member of the fii'm of Craw & Fletcher, contracting painters and. decorators of Bowling Green.

Mr. Craw was born on the old Craw farm four miles north of Bowling Green, in Wood County, Ohio, December 1, 1863, and is a son of Hiram A. and Ann (Hall) Craw. On the paternal side he belongs to an early settled family in Ohio from New England and traces his ancestry back many generations in this country. His grandfather, John Craw, was born in. Vermont, in 1787, and in his native state was married to Laura Boardman, who was born at Corinth, Vermont, March 1, 1789. After the birth of several of their children, and probably prior to the year 1840, the grandparents made the long and perilous trip overland to the wilderness of Wood County, where they purchased land in the midst of a forest and here built their first home, a log cabin with a huge open fireplace. Many hardships confronted this sturdy and coiiragous pair, for they were called upon to exist on only the merest necessities, with none of the comforts of life, in a new country, far from neighbors and ignorant of conditions surrounding their new home. Oftentimes in the winter migratory bands of Indians would come to their door, begging food and lodging and always friendly. After having been fed these redmen would throw themselves before the fireplace with their heads towards the flames, and after they had been refreshed by sleep would arise and leave the cabin without ceremony, an infrequent grunt being the only sign of thanks or gratitude. The nearest settlement to the Craw home was the little Village of Perrysburg, which was reached by a blazed trail through the woods, and this journey was a dangerous one in the early days, for wild cats or catamounts were still dangerous and wild hogs were to be found in plenty. However, deer and other edible wild game were also to be found, and their contribution to the family larder compensated in some degree for the dangers attached to the presence of the fiercer beasts. The grandparents rounded out their lives on this farm, which they cleared, improved and brought to a high state of cultivation, and became prosperous people of their locality, judging by the monetary standards of their days. Mrs. John Craw, who traced her ancestry back to Moses Boardmau, iborn in England, in 1615, who came to America and settled in Massachusetts, and to whom she was connected through Isaac, Samuel and Closes Boardman, in a direct line, died on the old home farm in 1881. At the time of his demise, July 7, 1883, at Bowling Green, Ohio, John Craw was one of the oldest pioneers of Wood County; having reached his ninety-sixth year, and having never been sick in his entire life until his final illness. He was a well informed man, particularly as to the Bible, of which he was a close student, and was highly esteemed for his many estimable traits of character.

Hiram A. Craw, father of Ira L., was born in Vermont, March 9, 1829, and was still a lad when he accompanied his parents to the wilds of Ohio. He grew up in this neigborhood, becoming skilled in the arts of the woodsman and hunter as well as the pursuits of the agriculturist, and when ready to establish a home of his own, married a neighborhood girl, Ann Hall. She was one of a pair of twins, born June 19, 1833, in Wood County, not far from Perrysburg, a daughter of James and Jane Hall, natives of New England and of old New England stock. James Hall and his wife came to Plain Towaiship, Wood County, soon after their marriage and, like the Craws, settled in the forest, where they hewed out a home for themselves and their family and became honored and substantial citizens. They were members of the Church of the Advent. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hiram A. Craw settled on a farm in Plain Township, where they continued to carry on general farming operations until their retirement, in the evening of life, to Bowling Green, where both passed away at their comfortable home. No. 415 North Main Street, adjacent to the present home of their son. The father's demise occurred August 10, 1910, while the mother passed away in 1902, both in the Advenist faith. Mr. Craw was a republican in his political views, and after he had established himself in life served in several official capacities in his township. He at all times held the respect and confidence of liis fellow-citizens and was known as a man who included in his makeup the characteristics of integrity and public spirit.

Ira L. Craw received his education in the district schools of Plain Township and the high school at Bowling Green, and when a young man learned the trade of painter, which he followed for several years. He then entered the employ of the Union Mills at Bowling Green, where he acted in the capacities of engineer and miller during a period of twenty' years, when he returned to his first vocation, this time as a contractor. In partnership with Mr. Fletcher he has built up an excellent business in the line of painting and decorating, and a large amount of the important work done in the city has been under contracts with this concern. Although the business has existed for onl_y about four years, its reputation has extended to outside communities, thi§ because of superior workmanship and fidelity to contracts. Mr. Craw is a member of the Stationary Engineers' National Association. Politically he is a republican, but not a politician.

Mr. Craw was married at Bowling Green, November 16, 1886, to Mary M. Whetstone, who was born in Plain Township, Wood County, July 8, 1868, and grew up and was educated in Bowling Green, whence she was brought as a child by her parents, Daniel and Amanda (Ensinger) Whetstone, natives of Hanock County, Ohio. Mr. and ^Irs. Whetstone were married in their native county, where Mr. Whetstone learned the trade of cabinet maker, a vocation which he followed at Portage, Wood County, before the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted in that struggle with a Wood County regiment of volunteer infantry, and served four years, and while never wounded or taken prisoner he was incapacitated by sickness, and when he emerged from the hospital was practically without sight. He returned then to his home, where he was tenderly cared for by his wife and daughter, and through their ministrations and loving devotion recovered his sight in large degree, .so that he was able to again resume his business. In 1868 he took up his residence at Bowling Green and here continued to make his home until his death in 1910. iMrs. Whetstone having passed away in 1902. They were members of the United Brethren Church

Mr. and Mrs. Craw became the parents of the following children : Eva D., born August 28, 1887, educated in the Bowling Greeu High School, and now the wife of Charles Cress, of Sidney, Iowa, where Mr. Cress is manager of the Eclipse Lumber Company ; Hazel A., born January 24, 1892, resides at home and is employed as a bookkeeper in a millinery concern ; and Glenna L., boi-n January 6, 1900, a young woman of marked musical talent. The family belongs to the United Brethren Church, aud ]\Irs. Craw takes a particularly active part in its work, having been a member .since she reached her twelfth year. In November, 1916, Mr. Craw and his family moved into their beautiful new home, a modern .seven-room cottage at No. 407 North Main Street, in one of the most exclusive residential sections of the city.

Fr.\nk H. Frederick is the leading business man of Carey, and is the oldest established grocery merchant of the city. He began selling groceries over twenty years ago, and from that business his interests have expanded to occupy several concerns.

Mr. Frederick was born at Carey in Wyandot County, November 6, 1869, a son of Emil and Mai-y (Sprau) Frederick, both of German stock. His father has been in the grocery business at Carey for a great many years.

Frank H. Frederick secured his early education in Carey and spent one year in high school. His first occupation on leaving home was 'to learn telegraphy at a station of the C. S. & C. Railroad, now part of the Big Four system. After mastering the art he was assigned as operator at Kenton for one year, after which he returned to Carey and was operator one year and then Western Union manager for several years. ;\Ir. Frederick in 1894, with the modest amount of capital which he liad been able to save aud accumulate, ostablislit'il Iiiiiiself in the gi-oeerj' business on Findlay Street. That store is an example of progressive enterprise, expanding in scope and trade each increasing year until it is now the best stocked and equijiped as well as the oldest store of its kind in the city.

Mr. Frederick is also a director and stockholder in the Federal Porcelain Company, a stockholder in the Carey ilill and Elevator Company, and has even gone into a very practical branch of farming, onion growing. He

Mr. Frederick is independent in politics, is a Knight Templar Mason and is afiBiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Upper Sandusky. In 1905 he married Miss Leora Lantz, daugliter of J. A. and Anne (Shuman) Lantz, of Carey. Five children were born to their marriage : Richard, born in 1907 ; Paul L., born iu 1909 ; Frances, born in 1911 and died in 1917 ; Emil R., -born in 1913 and died in infancy ; and Frank H., Jr., born in 1915.

Alvin Mansfield Woolson, founder of the Woolson Spice Company, one of the largest commercial institutions of Toledo, has been a resident of this city more than forty years. Like many other successful early merchants, his early life was one of struggle and he overcame many obstacles in his path to success.

He was born in Erie County, Ohio, October 2, 1841, and is of old and substantial American stock. His remote American ancestor was Joseph Woolson, who came from Canterbury, England, in 1630 and settled at Weston, Massachusetts, where he built a block house for protection against the Indians. He soon removed to Newton, Massachusetts. His son Thomas was born in 1630, and in 1660 married Sarah Hyde, by whom he had six children. The third generation is also represented by Thomas Woolson, who married Elizabeth Chadwick and had eight children. The fourth of these eight children was Joseph Woolson, who was born in 1699, aud married first Eliza Upham, and second Grace Gregory Asa Woolson, of the fifth generation, was born in 1733, married Eliza Knight, aud they had a family of twelve diililreii, ten boys and two daughters. Elijuli Wnolson, representing the sixth generation, wa^ burn in 1769 and married Rebecca Batchellor, who was the mother of eight sons and one daughter. Rebecca Batchellor was a daughter of Nehemiah Batchellor, a captain in General AVashington's army in the American struggle for independence. Rebecca was the grandmother of Alvin Mansfield Woolson.

Ira Knight Woolson, father of the Toledo merchant, was born in 1812 at Lisbon, New Hampshire. He married at Buffalo, New York, Arietta Mansfield, and they soon afterwards moved to Northern Ohio.

As soon as he was old enough to see over a counter he was placed in a store, but the next year did the work of a printer 's devil, carrying newspapers, until the confiniug nature of a printing ofBce caused him to seek outdoor employment. He worked a year on a farm, greatly to his physical benelit, and he also learned the machinist's trade.

He was not twenty years of age when the war broke out. He enlisted in Company M, First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Heavy Artillery, formerly the One Hundred Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He made a gallant record as a Union soldier, was promoted to sergeant major, and was in the Union army from 1862 until September, 1865, when the regiment was honorably discharged.

On October 12, 1916; at Tiffin, Ohio, Company M held a Golden Jubilee Reunion, at which J\Ir. Woolson was made the guest of honor. A souvenir program with a splendid portrait of him was distributed to each member. The inscription on this program was: "Our Guest of Honor, Comrade Alvin M. Woolson. The boy sergeant-majoi*, member of the Staff of the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, Second Brigade, Fourth Division, Twenty-third Army Corps; who served with distinction during the war for the Union, 1861 to 1865, in the campaign through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. ' '

After the close of the war Mr. Woolson went to what was then the Far West, and at Kansas City, Missouri, was employed by the Union Pacific Railway Eastern Division in the capacity of accountant, having charge of the government freight. This work he continued while the railroad was being built from Kansas City to Denver. Railroad building, especially across the great plains, was a very hazardous undertaking. Many times the builders had to virtually fight their way through bands of hostile savages. Mr. Woolson's particular services required the supervision of the government freight, which was carried by the railway company to the end of the tracks, at which point the government wagons received it and conveyed it to the different army reservations.

A year and a half of this arduous and rather exciting outdoor life constituted one of the most noteworthy of Mr. Woolson 's early experiences. He then returned to Ohio and became a country merchant at Berlin Heights in Erie County. While he was in business there he selected his future partner for life. Soon afterwards he sold his store at Berlin Heights and engaged in a new business at Wauseou, Ohio. A few months after getting established there he returned to Berlin Heights and married Miss Frances D. Tillinghast. They were married October 12, 1870. Mrs. Woolson, who was born November 30, 1846, is also of a prominent American family. Her father, William Tilliughast, who died at Toledo September 12, 1890, was a descendant of Pardon Tillinghast, who was one of the first pastors of the Roger Williams Church at Providence, Rhode Island, serving that congTCgation from 1712 to 1717. Mrs. Woolson 's mother was Eliza Squire, who was born in 1812 and died July 15, 1884, at Toledo. Her ancestors were members of the Buckley family, related to Gen. Israel Putnam, one of the heroes of the Revolution. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Woolson are: Maude Ellen, who is married to Hei'man H. Brand and lives in Toledo; Weona, who is now the wife of Walter J. Engle, and whose home is in Chicago ; and Constance Fenimore, who is now Mrs. John E. Barney and resides in Toledo. Mr. and IMrs. Woolson reside at 2057 Parkwood avenue.

After several years of business activity at Wauseon, Mr. Woolson came to Toledo in 1875 with the express purpose of starting in the coffee and spice business. He found that his capital was not sufficient to enable hira to undertake such an ambitious enterprise, and he accordingly entered the retail grocery business, which he handled on a successful scale until 1882. Toledo had had for some years a firm known as C. C. Warren & Company, coffee roaster's and spice dealers, but they became involved in financial difficulties for several months, when the remnant was offered for sale. After over a month's negotiation Mr. Woolson bought out this firm. He had in the meantime succeeded in interesting thewholesale grocers of Toledo, all of whom became stockholders in the new company under Mr. Woolson 's management. That was a strong point in his organization, but Mr. Woolson 's personal faith was so strong in the business that there was no question of its success from the start.

It was Pliny Watson, of the Emerson Company, wholesale grocers, who suggested that the name of the company be the Woolson Spice Company, as he remarked he desired to name the company after a man who had never failed. All of the wholesale grocers of Toledo at that time were represented in the original list of stockholders, includiug Pliny Watson, George Emerson, James Secor, Jolm Berdan, John B. Ketcliam and S. B. Wood. Having stock in Liie Woolson Spice Company, these merchants naturally became interested in the sale and distribution of the products, and R. A. Bartley and others were added to the board of directors later. Fi-om the very start the Woolson Spice Company prospered, and continued to grow until it was the second largest coffee concern in the United States. The business was finally sold to the Haveme3'ei-s, the great sugar refiners, and a small interest was also purchased by the Arbuekle Brothere coffee concern, for the purpose of ruining the business. This interest resulted in a great deal of litigation between the sugar and coffee corporations, and while this is a matter of note, it occurred just a few months before ilr. Woolson retired from the company. The business is still conducted at Toledo under the original name and is engaged in roasting coffee and marketing spices, as formerly. They still enjoy the reputation of being the leaders in their line of work.

Since retiring from active business in May, 1897, Mr. Woolson has traveled extensively and given his attention to his private affairs. j\Ir. Woolson has long been counted one of Toledo's public spirited citizens. In point of service he is one of the oldest directors in the Second National Bank, was for a quarter of a century a director in the Northern National Bank, and is one of the founders and a director in the Union Savings Bank. He is a memlier and has long been active in the Society of Colonial Wars, and in 1916 was deputy governor general of the National Society. He is a member of Anthony Wayne Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and in 1916 was vice president general of the National Society. He is a member and one of the board of managers of the Society of Sons of the Revolution. He is one of the vice presidents of the Star Spangled Banner Association and in 1915 was selected as one of the two delegates from Ohio by Governor Cox to attend the convention at Baltimore celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Mr. Woolson has in many ways befriended the old soldiers of our country and has been a member of Toledo Post, Grand Army of the Republic, since its organization and held many of its offices. He has attended nearly all the national encampments of the Grand Army of the Republic since 1866 and for

1916-17 was one of the seven members of the executive committee of the national commander-in-chief. Mr. Woolson is president of the Toledo Soldiers' Memorial Association, is a member of the Maumee Valley Pioneer and Historical Society, life member of the Ohio Archeological and Historical Society, member of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, the National Geographic Society, and many other organizations, and is a trustee of the First Congregational Church of Toledo.

He is an honorary member of the United Spanish War Veterans and a member of the Ohio Society of New York. He is also a member of both the Toledo and Country clubs, the Toledo Art Museum and the Toledo Newsboys ' Association.

iMr. Woolson was one of the first organizers of the Chamber of Commerce during the exciting times of the discovery of natural gas, and was particularly active in securing many new enterprises to locate in the city, some of which are today among the most prominent in Lucas County. He was chairman of the committee appointed by the mayor to visit the natural gas fields for the purpose of determining whether it would be beneficial to the best interest of the city to build a pipe line from the gas fields and offer free gas to manufacturers as an inducement to locate in Toledo. Upon the return of the committee Mr. Woolson reported adversely, while the other two members reported favorably, and the older residents will remember that the majoritj^ vote upon the matters was in favor of issuing a million dollars in bonds for the purpose, with the result that it turned out to be one of the most hazardous investments the city ever made.

Grove Hir.vm Patterson has alread.y reached an important position in the newspaper world, although still a young man. He is now the editorial manager of three metropolitan journals in as many large cities. These papers were the Toledo Blade, the Newark, N. J., Star-Eagle, and the Detroit Journal. .

Mr. Patterson was born at Rochester, ]\Iinnesota, November 5, ,1881, the son of Joseph S. Patterson and Nellie M. (Sayles) Patterson. His preliminary education was obtained in the high school of Carlyle, Illinois. From there he went to the Oberlin Academy and later Oberlin College, from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He also attended Syracuse University. In 1905 he was made associate editor of the Lorain

Times-Herald of Lorain, Ohio, and remained with that paper for three years. In 1908 he became night city editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In the following year he came to Toledo as managing editor of the Toledo Times. In 1910 he began work with the Toledo Blade as news editor, filling that position with conspicuous ability for five years. In 1915 he became managing editor of the Blade, and two years later was promoted to his present imjjortant and influential position.

Mr. Patterson was a member of the Phi Delta Society of Oberlin College. He is a member of the Toledo Commerce Club and the Rotary Club. His religious affiliation is with Epworth Jlethodist Episcopal Church. He was a delegate from the West Ohio Conference of that church to the Quadrenuial Conference, the great Methodist legislative body, held at Saratoga Springs in 1916. He is unmarried. Mr. Patterson has always taken an active interest in civic aifaii-s and has delivered many addresses, and his sympathies are always with the progressive movements of the age.

Jacob Geiger. One of the industries which give life and character to the City of Bucyrus is The Bucyrus Copper Kettle Works, established by Jacob Geiger in the fall of 1879, when he took into partnershij) P. E. Bush. It is an institution of long and steady development, supplying the output throughout the United States, and the factory has handled a number of contracts for the United States Navy.

Mr. Geiger is now eighty years of age, and while still owner and active in the business lias turned over most of its details to his capable son, Judson Dale Geiger. Mr. Geiger was born in Bavaria, Germany, April 2, 1837, a son of Peter J. and Anna Maria (Riedel) Geiger. His parents were born and married in Germany and about 1840. when Jacob was three years of age, came to Ohio, settling on a farm in Chatfield Township of Crawford County. Peter Geiger had learned the locksmiths trade in the old country and upon coming to this countrv^ he learned the blacksmiths trade and plied both trades to advantage in the pioneer district in which he resided. He and his wife spent the rest of their days in the quiet and comfort of that rural community. Of their six children only two are now living, Jacob and Michael, the latter a retired farmer in Chatfield Township.

Peter Geiger after the death of his first wife married again and had three children by the second union. He was an active member of the German Lutheran Church and in politics a democrat.

Jacob Geiger gi-ew up with a limited education, attending the country schools aud also a school at Bucyrus and Hayesville in the intervals of self-supporting work. When about fourteen years of age he found a place in a local dry goods store at Bucyrus, being assigned to the duties of sweeping out in the morning aud such other responsibilities as were fitted to his age and strength. The proprietor of this store was A. P. Widman, and young Geiger worked for him about four years. For a similar time he then clerked for J. P. Bowman, a dry goods merchant, and thus laid the foundation of a substantial business experience. He realized the need of a better education, and finally left off clerking to attend school at Haj^esville for two sessions. Then for one summer he lived on the home farm and retui-uiug to Bucj'rus became clerk for E. Blair in a hardware store. Three years later he utilized his modest capital and his experience by entering a partnership with Daniel Picking, in the hardware, stove and tinware business, under the firm name of Picking & Geiger, I\Ir. Geiger taking the responsibility of the management while Mr. Picking looked after the mechanical department. This partnership continued with mutual satisfaction and profit for fifteen years, and during that time they built up a very large trade.

ilr. Geiger left merchandising to establish the Geiger & Bush Company, known as the Bucyrus Copper Kettle Works, of which Mr. Geiger is now sole proprietor. In this shop ilr. Geiger began the manufacture of copper kettles and other copper cooking utensils. At first was made the copper apple butter kettles wliich were once fount! in nearly every country home. They next manufactured an improved kettle known as a steam jacket copper kettle, largely used for fruit preserving and the canning of vegetables. The business has gradually been adapted to the manufacture of a complete line of fruit and vegetable canning equipment, and also copper utensils for use in the confectioneries and public institutions. United States Navy and in hotels and restaurants. The plant is also equipped for producing much special design copper work. At present the establishment is conducted in

In 1877 Mr. Geiger married Millie Fenner. She was born at Bucyrus, daughter of Hiraui and Elizabeth Fenner, both natives of Pennsylvania but early settlers in Crawford County. To I\Ir. and Mrs. Geiger were born five .children, only two of whom are living. Alberta is the wife of Charles W. Kern, a druggist at Bucyrus. Judson Dale, the only living son, is associated with his father in the manufacturing business. Both children are graduates of the local high school and the daughter completed her education in the Oxford Woman's College of Ohio. The son took technical courses in the Rose Polytechnic Institute at Terre Haute, Indiana. Mr. and Airs. Geiger are members of the Alethodist Episcopal Church and were formerly active in its cause. The daughter is a member of that church, while the son is a Presbyterian. Mr. Geiger in politics has always been a republican.

Robert D. Henderson. Certain individuals seem destined to rise above their surroundings and to dominate whatever conditions may be theirs. Every opportunity seems to offer a direct appeal to their active minds and they know how to grasp it to their own benefit and the expansion of their business interests. There are no anachronisms iu the lives of such men, for their progress is steady and ever onward and upward. Their work means something from the beginning, and the aeeumulativi- results are astounding. Wood County is, and has been, for some years the home of many such men, and one who has won the right to be numbered on such a list is Robert D. Henderson, who is now living in retirement after many years of successful commercial activity at Weston.

Robert D. Henderson is of Scotch-Irish descent and was born in 1848, in Armsti-ong County, Pennsylvania, a son of James Knox and Susanna (Hine) Henderson, both born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1825. He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry and she of Pennsylvania-German stock, and they were married in 1847, in their native county, where they lived until 1856 or 1857. About that time they moved to Southern Ohio, where they resided for six years, then returning to Pennsylvania, and in 1867 again came to the Buckeye state, this time locating at Bucyrus. There the father, who was a physician by calling, embarked in business and for several years was a merchant, but eventually returned to the practice of his profession, which he followed for fifteen years at Ada, Ohio. He built up a large and important professional business there, but in 1896 retired and came to Weston, wlu-re they lived quietly during the remainder of their long and useful lives, Mrs. Henderson dying iu November, 1913, being within a few months of ninety years of age. :\lr. Henderson did not survive his faithful helpmate long, as he died at the home of his sou Frank A. Henderson, at Bucyrus, in November, 1916, being within a month of ninety-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Henderson had celebrated the sixtysixth anniversary of their wedding. While they were reared in the faith of the Lutheran Church, early in their married lives they joined the Presbyterian faitli, to wliieh they continued true until their deaths. ]\Ir. Henderson was a life long republican in national politics, and while not a seeker after personal l^referment was a good citizen of his community and one who enjoyed in full degree the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Five sons and one daughter of this worthy couple survive, all married and all at the head of small families.

Robert D. Henderson completed his education in an academy, following which he began teaching country school and was so engaged for several terms. His talent, however, lay in the direction of commercial activity, and he was shrewd enough to recognize this fact even when a youth. He first came to the little hamlet of Weston in 1872, and three years later, when the village began to develop, became associated with the firm of Ladd & Singer in the hardware liusiness. In August, 1877, he bought the interest of Sir. Ladd, and in partnership with Air. Singer succeeded iu building up a large business in hardware and farming implements, the firm continuing until Air. Henderson disposed of his holdings in 1907. During the years that he was engaged iu business at Weston he established his name firmly in a place where it was known as standing for commercial integi'ity, business straightforwardness and personal probity, and this matter still holds good in Air. Henderson's occasional real estate transactions, which are for the most part carried on in connection with Mr. Singer, who remains his partner in this respect. Air. Henderson is the owner of several fine farms in Paulding, Henry and Wood counties, the greater part of this land being under a high state of cultivation. While corn and oats comprise the standard crops, these farms grow all the staple commodities and are good producers under the modern methods and good management of Mr. Henderson. He is personally the owner of several hundred acres of land, as well as other realty, and has interests in business enterprises which make him one of the well-to-do men of his community. Before retiring from business Mr. Henderson built himself a handsome modern home on Taylor Street, a very desirable residential locality. Aside from business he has been active in the busy life of Weston, having taken a prominent part in all movements and enterprises which have affected the thriving little city or its people. He has served as councilman, an office to which he was elected on the republican ticket, and has been active in the work of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a trustee.

Mr. Henderson was married in Crawford County, Ohio, to Millie R. Lowe, who was born in Pennsylvania and was still a child when brought to Ohio by her parents, Israel and Mary Lowe, natives of Pennsylvania, who located in Crawford County in 1866. Five years later they came to Wood County and purchased a farm near Weston, and in their declining years came to this city, where Mr. Lowe died in 1900, at the age of sixty-nine years, and Mrs. Lowe in 1907, aged seventyfour. They were reared as Lutherans, but after coming to Ohio joined the Pi-esbyterian Church. Their only child now living is Mrs. James Young, of Toledo, who has two children, James and Althea. Mrs. Henderson died at her beautiful home at Weston November 4, 1912, being then in her fifty-ninth year, a woman who had lived a full and useful life and one of many accomplishments and virtues. She was a devoted wife and mother, a faithful mgmber of the Presbyterian Church, and one whose passing left a feeling of distinct loss among those with whom her life had been passed. She was the mother of two daughters: Louise M., who died in July, 1914, was the wife of C. E. Steinbaugh, ex-county auditor of Wood County, who resides at Cleveland, Ohio, and Alice F., at home. Mr. and ^liss Henderson are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Henderson belongs to Weston Lodge No. 681, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is identified with several banks either as a director or

George Shafer. The retirement of George Sliafer from active life in February, 1904, was justified by the accomplishment of success in its broadest sense, by many years of devotion to the science of farming, by faithfulness to public aud private duties, by honorable se^'vice in his country's military forces, and by conscientious regard for the honorable perpetuation of liis name and labor in the bringing up of his children. Since the close of the Civil war he has made his home in Wood and Henry counties, and he now resides at Weston, in a pleasant home on JMain Street, furnished in accordance with refined taste and practical ideas of comfort. His life has been a steadfast and busy one, and the end of his working days finds him prosperous financially and rich in the esteem of a large circle of appreciative friends.

Mr. Shafer was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, October 28, 1838, and on both sides of the family is of German origin, although his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth (Long) Shafer, were both born in Pennsylvania. They were married in Mahoning County, Ohio, where they lived on a farm and carried on agricultural pursuits, and all their children, five sons and three daughters, were born there. Of these seven grew to maturity and all married and had issue, but the only ones now living are George, of this notice, and a younger sister, Mrs. Mary J. Starweather, a widow of Lorain Count}', Ohio, who was seventy years of age in August, 1917. After their marriage .Mr. and ilrs. Shafer settled on a farm in Poland Township, Mahoning County, and there carried on farming until the year 1863 or 1864, when they removed to Huron, Erie County, and there both passed away. Mrs. Shafer, an active church member, died when nearly four-score years old, one of the highly respected women of her community, while Mr. Shafer survived her for a long time and died in 1907, having reached the remarkable age of nearly one hundred years. He was a republican in polities, a good citizen, and a man who enjoyed in full degree the confidence and regard of his fellowmen.

The third in order of birth in his family, George Shafer grew up in iMahoning County, where he received the ordinary advantages offered by the country schools. He was an industrious youth and early developed habits of strict integrity and deterraiued perseverance, and when twenty-two years of age established a home of his own by marriage. He followed farming for a short time thereafter, but was destined to be interrupted in his career by the outbreak of the Civil war, which called for the services of the able bodied young men of the eomitry, and Mr. Shafer answered the call. Ou January 13, 1862, he was enrolled as a private of Company E, Twentythird Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and from the time he went to the front under Col. W. S. Roseerans until the close of his service saw some of the hottest lighting of the great struggle between the forces of the N'(n-th and South and participated in some thrilling experiences. Mr. Shafer 's lieutenant-colonel was Stanley Mathews; his major, Rutherford B. Hayes, who was later to become president of the United States, and among his comrades-at-arms was Private ilcKinley, who was also to fill the chief executive's chair and to fall at the hand of an assassin, although passing safely through one of the greatest wars of all times. Private JIcKinley rose to the rauk of major, while Major Hayes was advanced to the rank of general. George Shafer took part in every battle in which his regiment participated, some twenty in all, among them being included the bloody and important fights at South Mountain, Antietam, Buffalo Gap, Lynchburg and Winchester, the last-named under the intrepid Gen. Phil Sheridan. There he was severely wounded, a Confederate bullet raking the top of his head from front to back, and although the physician later said that it was the narrowest escape from death that he had ever seen, Mr. Shafer did not allow the W'Ound to .stop him, but with a gaping hole in his head finished the fight with his comrades. After an eminently brave and faithful service he was mustered out of the service at Cumberland, Maryland, July 26, 1865, and was honorably discharged August 2, 1865, at Cleveland, Ohio. On the following day he joined his wife in Wood County, where he iias made his home, with the exception of fourteen years spent in Henry County. Mr. Shafer followed farming for a number of years in Wood County, but about 1890 went to Henry County, where he owned a good property in Damascus Township. In February, 1904, he disposed of his holdings and came to Weston, where he is now the owner of an attractive and comfortable home of seven rooms, located on Main Street.

Mr. Shafer was married in 1860, in Mahoning County, to Mary J. Stacy, who was born in that county in 18-41, a daughter of William and ilargaret Stacy, who came to Center Township, Wood County, in 1863, and here pa.ssed their lives in agricultural pursuits, dying when well on in years. Mrs. Shafer died at her home at Weston, January 21, 1905, the mother of these children : John, who died when a small child ; Ellsworth, who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Weston, married Mary Baird, and has no children of his own, but is rearing a niece; William H., who died as a lad of about six yeai-s; Harry T., proprietor of a grocery at Weston, married Sadie France and has three children, Frances, Helen and Donald; and Lillia M., who died as the wife of James Beaverson, a farmer of Wood Count}% and left four sons and two daughters, and one son died after her demise.

Mr. Shafer is a republican and has taken some part in local governmental affairs, having served as a member of the Weston City Council for eight years. He is a genial and S3'mpathetic man, and the grind of labor has not hardened him or rendered him less the friend of youth and happiness. As a fraternalist he belongs to Milton Lodge No. 598, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

John Edward Bicknell has been a factor in commercial affairs at Findlay for the past quarter of a century. He is connected with several of the large industries that have giveu this city a place of prominence in the industrial world, and is also president of the American National Bank.

Born at ^lorrisville. New York, September 10, 1863, a son of J. Bennett and Hannah W. Bicknell. he started life with only such equipment as the average American youth has and has relied upon his own spirit and industiy to win himself a place in the world. He attended country schools and also the Central High School at Cleveland. His first employment was one year spent in handling a pulp machine with the Cleveland Paper Company. For the next five years he was a timekeeper with the Merriam and Morgan Parafine Company. He becanie superintendent of the refinery and in 1885 went to Oil City, Pennsylvania, as superintendent of the Keystone Oil Company, building a refinery for that firm. In 1889, returning to Cleveland, he took an active part in the business of the Hughes Steam Pump Company, but sold his interests in 1890.

lay. For eight years Mr. Bicknell was superinteudeut of the Peerless Retiuiug Company. He also became an oil producer and devoted a number of years to that industry until 1911, and still has interests in a number of wells. In 1910 he bought and reorganized the Findlay Electric Porcelain Company of Findlay, and is now president of what is one of the foremost manufacturing concerns of the kind in Ohio. Through that and other financial interests he touches the commercial life of Hancock County at many points. Mr. Bicknell was elected president of the American National Bank of Findlay in 1915.

He is a member of the Findlay Country Club, of the ilasonic Order and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He married Miss Ida Grove, and they have one daughter, Helen G.

D.VNiEL DiLDixE, Jr., for three-quarters of a century among the most widely known men of Tiffin and Seneca County, was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, on a farm, on November 12, 1808. In that county he received his early education and in 182-1, with his parents, moved to Seneca County, his father, Daniel Dildine, Sr., having purchased a tract of land near to Tiffin from the United States Government. This land is now a part of Greenlawn Cemeterv, the principal burial grounds of Tiffin's dead.

As a young man the son, Daniel Dildine, Jr., engaged in teaching school, being among the first school teachers in the county. Later he took employment as a clerk in a Tiffin store and followed this occupation for some years when, with Benjamin Stevens, he started a foundry for the making of castings, the first foundry in Tiffin. Retiring from this industry in a few years, he again entered the mercantile business as a clerk, which employment he followed during the decade of the '50s. In the latter '30s he was deput.v county recorder and in the '60s and early '70s deputy county treasurer and deputy county clerk. At different times he served as clerk, treasurer and assessor of Clinton Township, in which the City of Tiffin is located. In 1872 he was elected justice of the peace for Clinton Township and for twenty years, by successive elections, held this office. Wlien he retired one of the local newspapers, writing of the fact, said of him: "He was one of the most efficient and trastworthy officials Clinton Township and Seneca County ever had."

1843, to Miss Laura M. Perkins, whose death occurred in March of 1875. Three children were born to them : Dallas P., Isa B., and Frank. The second, Isa B., now dead, was the wife of Josiah B. Frost, for yeai*s a leading clothing merchant in Tiffin. Dallas P. is vice president of the Commercial Savings Bank and Trust Company of Toledo, and Frank is one of the editorial stafi^ of the Tiffin Daily Tribune at Tiffin, Ohio. The death of Mr. Dildine occurred on June 9, 1899, at Tiffin, at the advanced age of ninety-one years, the exact age. within a few months, reached by his father, Daniel Dildine, Sr.

Hon. Charles M. Davis. On the list of agriculturists who in Northwest Ohio are rendering public spirited service to their communities is found the name of Hon. Charles M. Davis. A skilled and successful farmer, who has won success through capable management of his affairs, he is now acting in the capacity of mayor of the thriving little city of Weston, which is the home of some substantial business and financial institutions and the center of a rich farming community. Like many of the men who have won success in this part of Ohio, Mr. Davis is a native of Illinois, having been "born on a farm in Stanton Township, Champaign County, Illinois, November 9, 1871, a son of Thomas and Susan J. (Harper) Davis.

Thomas Davis was bom in Logan County, Ohio, in 1844, and was a .young man when he went to Illinois, first settling in Champaign County, where he met and married Miss Harper, who was a few years his junior and had been born in Fayette County, Ohio. At the time of their marriage they had nothing to start upon except their youth, industry and ambition, but with these they cheerfully faced the world and after years of hard and constant effort succeeded in the accumulation of a property of 160 acres in Stanton Township, Champaign Count.v, where they made many improvements and rounded out their lives, the father dying in 1905, at the age of sixty-one years. He was one of the highly respected residents of his community and a man of fine moral character, a pioneer in the prohibition movement and a leader in that part in his locality, and a man whose honorable conduct at all times and in all directions won and held for him the confidence of his associates and those with whom he came into contact. Mrs. Davis, who survives her husband is hale and hearty despite her seventy j-ears, active in body and alert in mind, and resides at the home of her daughter, Mrs. William Duncan, of Moline, Illinois, whose husband is a draughtsman in the John Deere Plow Company's works at that place. ]Mrs. Davis was formerly a member of the United lirr^^hren Cliurch but is now affiliated with the ?,liili(i(list episcopal. A brother of :Mayor Davis. Tlionuis II. Davis, lives at Milton, Wood (.'ounty, Ohio, where he has a farm, is married and has two children, Georgia and Richard. A sister, Frances, is the wife of John Stephens, a farmer near Boone, Iowa, and has two children, Edith and Mollie.

The pnblif sdinnls of his native township funiislird Cliailfs :\1. Davis with liis educational advaiitagt's, ajid his rai'ly training was secured ujion the farm of his fatlier. Avhere he was taught to do the tasks of the agriculturist in a practical way. From Champaign County, Illinois, he went to Shelby County in the same state, there carried on farming for four years, and then went to the vicinity of Frankfort in Clinton County, Indiana, whicli comnmnity he made his home until 1911. In that year he came to Wood County and purchased 240 acres of farming land, which he has since brought to a high state of cultivation, and on which he now raises all the standard crops in abundance. Mr. Davis is one who uses modern methods in his work, but who is practical enough to differentiate the really useful from what is merely showy. lie has the best of improvements of all kinds, with a fine set of buildings. In 1914 he completed the erection of a beautiful nine-room and basement home, with velvet brick finish, located on Taylor Street, and here he has since resided amid all the latest modern conveniences and comforts.

Mayor Davis was married in his native township to Josephine Thompkins, who was born there, a daughter of Leander and Julia (Treese) Thompkins, natives of Hamilton County, Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thompkins went to Stanton Township, Champaign County, and there secured and improved land in the best section of the county, where they passed the rest of their lives, the father dying when seventy years of age and the mother when sixty-two. They were devout members of the United Brethren Church. Mayor and Sirs. Davis are the parents of four children : Charles Gleason, a graduate of Weston High School, class of 1915, and now assisting his father in the management of the home farm ; Clara JIarie, who is fourteen years old and a student in the Weston High School; Julia B., aged twelve, attending the graded schools; and Charles M., Jr. Mayor and Mrs. Davis and their children are all members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has for a number of years been interested in public matters, and has been an ardent supporter of prohibition. It was on the citizens ticket that he was elected mayor of Weston in 1915, and during his administration has shown himself capable, energetic, progressive and conscientious in the discharge of his official duties, upholding law and order and giving his best support to all that has promised to benefit the community. A man of charitable impulses, he has always given liberall.y to those who needed assistance, and all in all is a man highly esteemed by those who have the honor of his acquaintance.

James A. Smith is one of the young and active business men of Upper Sandusky, and early in life identified himself with a trade which has brought him increasii}g experience in thd enlarging field of industry opened up by the use of the automobile. Mr. Smith is now proprietor of the Reliable Automobile Accessory Store at Upper Sandusky.

He was born at Dayton, Ohio, in 1883, a son of W. J. and I\Iary (Agen) Smith. He is of English ancestry. His grandfather, Abner Smith, better known as "Yankee" Smith, drove a wagon and team from Pennsylvania to Western Ohio, settled on a farm, cleared it up by his own labor, and reared a family there. He was born in 1806 and died in 1S91. at the age of eighty-five. When James A. Smith was an infant his parents removed from Dayton to Marion, Ohio, and two years later located in Upper Sandusky when James was three years old. W. J. Smith followed mechanical trades all his active career.

James A. Smith acquired a common school education and at the age of eighteen started to learn the carriage trimming trade with the Central Ohio Buggy Company. He was with them through his apprenticeship of four years and then went to Toledo and was employed in the Pope-Toledo works as an automobile trimmer for one year. His next connection was with the Cleveland Automobile Company of Cleveland, and after that he went about the country in different localities following his trade, and again for four years was employed by different companies in Cleveland. He then went back to Toledo and for two years was with the Overland Automobile Company. In 1915 Mr. Smith returning to Upper Sandusky, established his accessory store, and has built up a business by no means confined to the town, but extending all over the surrounding country.

Mr. Smith, who is unmarried, is a republican in politics, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men, and is a member of the English Lutheran Church. What success he has attained is the result of his unaided efforts, and his future now stretches before him clear and much is to be expected of his energies and abilities.

William J. DuPont has the ability of the real salesman and has a record that puts him among the forefront of the selling agents of the Overland cars. He now has the Wyandot Overland Company Agency at Upper Sandusky.

JMr. DuPont was born on a farm near East Toledo, Ohio, August 10, 1884, a son of Louis and Adeline (DuVal) DuPont, of French ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Jam'es Du- Pont, was a native of Belfort, France, and came to America just before the Civil war, locating near East Toledo, where by his own labors he cleared up a farm of fifty acres and lived there in contentment and prosperity until his death at the age of ninety-two.

William J. DuPont grew up on a farm, had a country school training, and also the advantages of the public schools in East Toledo and the Tri-State Business College. He entered business life as a bookkeeper, and for upwards of two yeai-s was connected with the Pope-Toledo Automobile Company. After several years of office experience he returned to the home farm and conducted it four years, until failing healtli obliged him to give up the vocation of an agriculturist. His next resource was as a salesman for the Overland automobile. He was located at East Toledo until 1916, when his record as a salesman caused the company to give him the distributing agency for Wyandot County. He now has supervision of the various sub-agencies in the county and his large and completely equipped garage, stock and salesrooms are on North Sandusky street.

In 1906 Mr. DuPont maiTied Jennie Alice Newbart, daughter of W. D. and Rosemary CSexhour") Newbart of Toledo. They have four children: Ruth Adeline, born in 1907; Robert Louis, born in 1909; William James,

IMr. DuPont is one of the live members of the Upper Sandusky Chamber of Commerce. He is an independent democrat in politics and with his family worships in St. Peter's C^atholic Church.