Seneca Township (part 50 of 60)

Wishing to further advance his studies, he entered Assumption College, at Sandwich, Ontario, and there took a classical and scientific course, graduating with the class of 1893. Going then to Baltimore, Maryland, he completed the course of study at St. Mary's Seminary, where, in December, 1898, he was ordained to the priesthood. Returning to Ohio, he was for six months assistant priest in St. Joseph's church, in TiflSn, and from that time until 1901 was the assistant priest at St. Mary's church. During the time he was away from TiflSn, Father Conlon was at Grafton and at Salem as pastor. He came back to TiflSn as pastor of St. Mary's church on the death, in 1904, of Rev. Father Haley, who had been in charge of the church as pastor for forty-seven consecutive years. Father Conlon succeeding to the position, has since been pastor of this large and important church, likewise having control of the parochial school of the parish.

St. Mary's church, which was built during the pastorate of Father Conlon, is one of the largest and finest edifices in the Toledo diocese, and has a large and constantly increasing membership, the pastor being especially influential and popular with his flock.

George Dougherty. - A man of pronounced businesses and executive ability, George Dougherty is actively identified with one of the principal industries of Tiffin, where he is superintendent of the United States Glass Works. Honest and upright in his dealings, his influence as a man of honor and integrity is widely felt and he is held in high esteem throughout the community. He was born, March 17, 1879, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was there bred and educated, completing his early studies in the high school.

Beginning his active career soon after leaving school, Mr. Dougherty entered the employ of the United States Glass Company in Pittsburg as bill clerk, and proved himself so useful and faithful in that capacity that in 1900 the company sent him to Tiffin as shipping clerk. Promotion here awaited him, and ere very many seasons he was made assistant superintendent of the plant, and in October, 1909, succeeded Robert Reid as superintendent of the works.

On June 8, 1904, Mr. Dougherty married Elizabeth Reifsnider, who was born April 29, 1882, in Tiffin, a daughter of C. D. and Elizabeth (Schriver) Reifsnider. Mrs. Dougherty is a woman of culture and refinement, who, having finished the course of studies in the Tiffin schools, was graduated from the Gambier Seminary. Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty have two children, namely: George D., bom December 23, 1905; and Elizabeth, born March 3, 1909. lleligiously Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty are members of the Episcopal church. Fraternally Mr. Dougherty belongs to Tiffin Lodge, No. 77, P. & A. M. ; to Seneca Chapter, No. 42, R. A. M. ; to Clinton Council No. 47, R. & S. M. ; and to De Molay Commanderv, No. 9. K. T.

Byron A. Parmenter. - One of the prosperous and progressive agriculturists of Adams township, of extremely interesting and distinguished ancestry, and one whose prominence in lodge circles gives him an even more extensive acquaintance than he might otherwise enjoy, is Byron A. Parmenter. He was born October 8, 1861, in Williams county, Ohio, on the state line between Ohio and Michigan and his residence in Seneca county dates from the fall of 1875. Mr. Parmenter is a self made man and what prosperity he has achieved is due to his own efforts, for he assuredly was not born with the silver spoon in his mouth. His parents died when he was only six years of age and as soon as he could by any stretch of imagination be counted old enough to take his place in the work-a-day world he hired out by the month and continued thus employed for a number of years.

A glance at the forbears of Mr. Parmenter would be timely at this point. His parents were David and Lydia (Huling) Parmenter, both of whose families were originally from England. The maternal grandfather, Nathan Huling, crossed the Atlantic to seek new fortunes in a land of larger and richer resources at a very early date and shortly after his arrival on these shores, located in Pennsylvania. The Huling and the Wyckoflf families, from both of which Mr. Parmenter is descended on the maternal side, came originally from Holland, and the later spelling of the name is

Wickoflf. The Parmenter family was originally French, and the name in its original form was Paumentier, the change in the spelling having been made about the time of the crusades. The family is extremely good and was related to French royalty. Like the families on the maternal side, they too went to England on account of religious persecution, and came thence to America. Members of the family built the town of Maumee on the banks of Lake Erie about the year 1830. Mr. Parmenter 's grandmother Perde was an Irishwoman.

When in 1893, at the age of thirty-two years, Mr. Parmenter found himself in a position to marry he choose for his wife Rosa Baker, daughter of Fred A. and Ann C. Holtz (Peoge) Baker, the mother being an aunt of Charles D. Iloltz, whose biography appears on other pages of this work. Their marriage was solemnized on the last day of January of the year mentioned. Mrs. Parmenter was bom October 4, 1864. Her mother's parents were Jacob and Susan Feoge, the name having originally been spelt Fiege. It was changed to its present form by an ancestor who hoped to escape the detection of his country, he having deserted from the He^ian ranks and joined the Colonial army at the time of the American Revolution. The grandfather Holtz (on the maternal side), who was a native of Germany, came to Seneca county in 1832, when Tiffin consisted of only a few log cabins. He first located in town, but subsequently bought land about two and one half miles east of Tiffin and in 1834, two years after his arrival, he took up his residence upon this farm and here resided until his death, which occurred December 29, 1859, at the age of seventy-two years, he having been bom July 17, 1786. His wife survived him until May. 1870, her birthdate having been October 13, 1788, and her age at the time of her demise in consequence being some eighty-two years.

Mrs. Parmenter 's father, Fred A. Baker, came to TiflRn, Ohio, in 1848 from Frederick county. Mo. and he worked two years for his brother Ezra, who was the proprietor of a grist mill. This mill, built in 1830, is still standing and was one of the first mills of its kind in Seneca county. Her mother was bom in Frederick county, Maryland, May 24, 1823, and came here with her parents when a young girl in 1834. Three of her cousins, Fred A. Baker, Milton E. Baker and John T. Baker, the latter of whom is living, gave valliant service in the Union army at the time of the Civil war, as did also Clay Holtz, William Holtz and Jacob Holtz.

Mrs. Parmenter 's father died in 1885 and her mother in 1891, and after the demise of the latter and the breaking up of the home she went to live with her brother, Silas W. Baker, and resided with him until her marriage. She had received a good education in the district schools. For three years after their union Mr. and Mrs. Parmenter resided on a fifty acre f ram near Republic, but on March 24, 1896, they removed to Adams township and purchased the valuable seventy-six acre tract upon which they now reside. This with its modern and attractive home, commodious out buildings and beautiful surroundings is a most desirable and frequently visited home. There are no children.

Mr. Parmenter is a stanch advocate of the Republican party and he has held several of the township oflfices, giving faithful and eflficient service as their incumbent. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, having held some of the chairs, and in the Woodmen of the World to which he likewise belongs, he has held nearly all of the offices. He is a member of the order of Pythian Sisters and has held membership in the Patrons of Industry for twenty-one years. He and his wife belong to the Grange. They are also members of the Presbyterian church.

Lucas Stucky. - It is most pleasing to the publishers of this work to be able to incorporate within its pages the brief history of a man whose entire life thus far has been spent in this favored section of the fine old Buckeye state, where his success as an agriculturist has been on a parity with his own well directed efforts. Lucas Stucky, whose name initiates this review, was born in Bloom township, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 24th of May, 1835, and he is a son of John D. and Mary (Schaack) Stucky, the former of whom was a native of Germany, and the latter of whom was born in North Hampton county, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1780. John Stucky was a son of Henry J. Stucky, who was bom and reared to maturity in Switzerland, whence he removed with his familv to Germanv. He was the father of several children. John D., father of our subject, was born in Bavaria on the 4th of January, 1797, and his early educational training was that afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. In 1827, after serving most faithfully for a period of six years in the Germany army, John D. Stucky severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and, after procuring a passport from the king, he emigrated to America, embarking on the 27th of March of that year. After a long and weary trip of fifty days he reached Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and being favorably impressed with this section of the United States h^ acted on a most generous impulse and immediately returned to his old home in Germany to induce his friends and kinsmen to likewise seek their fortunes in the new world. Accordingly one of his brothers, together with a large number of acquaintances, accompanied him on his second trip across the broad expanse of the Atlantic, and two other brothers came about 1837. All four of the brothers now lie in their final resting place in the Reformed church cemetery on Base line.

In course of time John D. Stucky removed to the eastern part of Ohio and in 1834 he took up his residence in Seneca county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in section 31, Bloom township. This tract was then virgin wilderness and Mr. Stucky contracted with a carpenter to build him a house, to be in readiness for occupancy in early spring. lie advanced the man fifty dollars but when he returned to take possession in the spring he found neither man, house nor fifty dollars. His natural resourcefulness came to his aid and he camped in the open until he was able to constnict a more substantial home for himself. In due course of time he owned a fine set of farm buildings and a valuable and well improved farm, on which he passed the residue of his eventful pioneer life, a man deeply loved and highly esteemed by his fellow citizens. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1841 and no native son accorded a more loyal and stanch allegiance to the cause of his country. He was thrice married. He first wedded Miss Boughman, who died, and subsequently was solemnized his marriage to Miss Mary Schaack, whose death occurred on the 15th of January, 1838, and who was survived by three children, Henry, Lucas (the immediate subject of this review), and Adam. In 1840 John D. Stucky was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bippus and they became the parents of five children, only one of whom is now living, John. Mr. Stucky was a most zealous member of the Reformed church and he was summoned to eternal rest in 1870, at the venerable age of seventy-four years.

Lucas Stucky, who was born in Bloom township, this county, on the 24th of May, 1835, as already noted, was reared to adult age on his father's fine old farmstead, in whose work he early began to assist. He received his preliminary educational discipline in the district schools and has since supplemented the same in life's school of experience. It is interesting to note at this point that he still retains possession of the farm reclaimed by his father so many years ago. He also owns, in Lyken township, Crawford county, this state, three tracts of land of eighty, forty and twenty acres respectively. Through his native thrift and close identification with the great basic art of agriculture he has gained a competency and is now living virtually retired in Bloomville, where he is spending the gracious evening of his life in the enjoyment of the proceeds of his former years of earnest toil and endeavor.

In politics Lucas Stucky is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party and though never an aspirant for public office he has ever accorded a loyal support to all measures and enterprises tending to conserve the general welfare of the community. He is broad minded and public spirited and his life stands exemplar of the best type of American citizenship. Both he and his wife are members of the Reformed church, in the various departments of whose work they have been most active, contributing liberally to all charitable and beneficent organizations connected with the same.

On the 16th of April, 1857, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stucky to Miss Mary Rupert, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, on the 1st of May, 1834. and who is a daughter of Benjamin and Eva (Snook) Rupert, representative citizens of Stark county, Ohio, where the father was engagel in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Stucky became the parents of twelve children, four of whom are deceased, namely, twins who died in infancy, bom in 1867 ; Delorc E., who was bom in 1870, and who died in 1906; and Libby, who died at the age of twenty-two years. Those who are living are: Civilla, bom 1858; Mary E., I860; William H. P., 1862; Magdelene, 1864; Elizabeth, 1866; Charies L., 1868; Emma L, 1872; Benjamin C, 1875; and Earl W. M., 1877. It may be noted here Civilla, Mary E., and William H. P., are all bom on the same day of the month.

David C. Sherck. - Seneca county is one of those favored sections where it is frequently the case that several generations of the same family succeed each other, its many advantages presenting irrefutable argument against change of residence. David C. Sherck, one of the progressive farmers of Adams township, is one of the third generation of his name to play a prominent part in the life of the township, his grandfather, John Sherck, having been one of the pioneers who secured land from the government, walking to Bucyrus to get the deed, which was signed by President Andrew Jackson. He was a native of Pennsylvania, as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Magdaline Krider, and their farm of one hundred and sixty acres was located near Thompson Center. This they redeemed from primitive conditions and converted into a productive and valuable piece of property. He assisted in building the place of worship located where the Dunkard church now stands at Thompson Center and gave his hand to the cause of education and the building of public schools.

David C. Sherck was born October 15, 1866, his parents being Martin and Elizabeth (Good) Sherck. The mother was a daughter of Emanuel and Catherine (Bunn) Gtood, people of the Keystone state, who came to Thompson township in 1830 and located on a farm there. They were descendants of the Pilgrims, their forefathers having been of that brave little band who crossed the seas in the Mayflower. Mr. Sherck 's father was born May 14, 1842, and died December 24, 1906. He experienced the usual fortunes of the son of a pioneer farmer, such as education in the district schools and practical training in boyhood in the various departments of farming. He remained at home until his marriage, which was solemnized in the year 1865. To them were born four children, the subject being the eldest. Charles, born July 30. 1868, resides with his brother in this township; Professor John Sherck, bom December 16, 1869, lives in Bloomville; and Est^lla, bom April 3, 1871, is the wife of Claud Wilder, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The elder Mr. and Mrs. Sherck were members of the Reformed church and were very active in its affairs.

Mr. Sherck remained at home until his marriage in 1892, when he began to farm independently, living for nine years upon a property owned by his wife's parents. They subsequently removed to their present location in Adams township and Mr. Sherck went into partnership with his brother Charles in the operation of a one hundred and sixty acre estate. Charles has property interests in West Lodi, consisting of a house and three lots. They engage in general farming and have made a success of their endeavors.

Mr. Sherck was married, November 10, 1892, his wife being Flora E. Hensinger, daughter of John and Catherine (Neikirk) Hensigner. Mrs. Sherck was born December 7, 1870, while the birthdate of her father was September 30, 1831, and that of her mother, August 30, 1834. The maternal grandparents, Henry and Catherine Neikirk, natives of Maryland, came here at an early day and located in Soipio township. Seneca county. More detailed information concerning this family is given in the sketch of E. E. Neikirk, appearing on other pages of this work. Mrs. Sherek is a member of a family of ten children, of whom the other members are: Timothy J., Henry W., Ida A., wife of J. H. Bennehoff, of Tiffin; Katie M., wife of Bloom Royer; Lester P., of Chicago Junction; Jessie, wife of Prank Sherman, of Tiffin; Effie J., wife of Prank GU)rman, of Indiana; Mary G., wife of Charles Sherek, (deceased) ; and Otto J. The above mentioned Charles Sherek, whose death occurred May 14, 1906, was the father of three children : Inez, Virgil and Thelma.

David C. Sherek and his wife are the parents of five children, named: Oscar C., Bessie E., Charles L., Noble B., and Rachel B. They have also a number of nieces and nephews on the Sherek side. Professor John Sherek of Bloomville having children, named Plorence E., Donald, Edwin Matt and Charles Bernard, while the sister Estella has four, named Leta, Orin, Eula and Arlo. Mr. Sherek 's brother and partner, Charles, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Pellows and has filled all the chairs. He is likewise affiliated with the Rebekahs. John Sherek is a Mason, holding membership in this ancient and important order in Bloomville. The Shereks are active workers in the Christian church and its Sunday school. David Sherek is a Democrat in politics.

Harry P. Black. - Entirely due to his own eflForts has been the advancement of Harry Patrick Black to the status which he now occupies as one of the representative members of the bar of Seneca county, and he is engaged in the active practice of his profession in the city of Tiffin, where he is junior member of the firm of Piatt & Black. Prom his efforts as a skilled artisan he made provision for his earnest and effective work in the preparation for the profession of his choice, and he has been dependent upon his own resources since his early youth, so that the marked success which he has achieved is the more gratifying to contemplate. He has served in various offices of public trust in Seneca county, including that of prosecuting attorney, of which he is incumbent at the present time, and he holds a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community in which he has elected to establish his home.

Harry Patrick Black was born in the town of Kirkcaldy, on the north shore of the Pirth of Porth, in Pifeshire, Scotland, and the date of his nativity was April 4, 1870. He is a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Smith) Black, both of whom were born in the north of Ireland. The lineage on both the paternal and maternal sides is traced back to stanch Scottish origin, and the ancestors of Mr. Black were among those colonistis who emigrated from Scotland to the north of Ireland in 1604, under the reign of King James I of England. Michael Black was a potter by trade and vocation, and when the subject of this review was about three years of age the family emigrated to America and established a home in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in which state the parents passed the residue of their lives, the father having passed away in 1884 and the mother in 1895. Both were devout communicants of the

He whose name initiates this review gained his early educational discipline in the parochial schools of the city of Baltimore and thereafter continued his higher academic studies for two years in Rockhill College, at Catonsville, that state, an institution conducted by the Christian Brothers of the Catholic church. Upon the death of his father it became incumbent upon Harry P. Black, who was then sixteen years of age, to secure employment by which he could provide for his own needs and also assist in the care of his widowed mother and the younger children of the family. It was but natural that under these conditions he should turn his attention to the potter's trade, which had been the vocation of his honored father, and he thus entered upon an apprenticeship in the Maryland Pottery Works, in the city of Baltimore. There his apprenticeship was prolonged over a period of five years, and after the completion thereof he continued to be employed in the establishment as a journeyman for two years, having become a skilled workman in this line of industrial enterprise.

Though successful in the work of his trade Mr. Black had higher ambitions, and after consulting ways and means there was naught of vacillation in his course. He determined to enter the legal profession, and results have emphatically shown the wisdom of his choice of vocation. In the year 1892 Mr. Black came to Seneca county and located in Tiffin, where he began the study of law under the able preceptorship of his present partner and valued friend, James H. Piatt, having instituted his technical reading on the 17th of March, 1893, a significant observance of St. Patrick's day. In the following month he was elected township clerk of Clinton township and he effectively discharged the duties of this office while continuing his earnest and indefatigable study of the science of jurisprudence. He was admitted to the bar on the 7th of June. 1895, and forthwith became associated with his preceptor in the active practice of his profession in Tiffin, where this mutually grateful and eflFective alliance has since continued, under the firm name of Piatt & Black. Mr. Black has proved a most versatile and resourceful trial lawyer, and is a strong advocate before court or jury. In 1896 he was elected city solicitor of Tiffin, and of this office he continued incumbent for two terms of two years each. In November, 1908, there came further recognition of his professional ability and personal popularity, in that he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county. He has made an admirable record in this office, in which he has appeared as public prosecutor in many important cases, both civil and criminal, and his term of office expired on January 1, 1910.

In politics Mr. Black gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, and he has given yeoman service in behalf of its cause, being an able exponent of its principles. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church, and he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the American Order of Red Men.

On the 18th of June, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Black to Miss Ida 6. Wagner, who was bom and reared in TiflRn, where the Wagner family home has been maintained for more than half a century. Mrs. Black is a daughter of Joseph and Josephine Wagner, and the father prior to his death was one of the representative business men and influential citizens of Tiffin. Mr. and Mrs. Black became the parents of two children, one of whom died in infancy, and the surviving daughter, Josephine Elizabeth, was born on the 20th of February, 1909, and is a shining and comforting light in the family home.

Edward Lepper. - A genial, broad minded, law abiding citizen of Tiffin, Edward Lepper has a large circle of acquaintances in Seneca county, each one of whom is his friend. He was bom, October 14, 1838, in Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, a son of William D. Lepper, Jr., coming from honored German stock. His paternal grandfather, William D. Lepper, Sr., was bom in Alsace, Germany, and was a man of much ability and culture, having been a graduate of the far famed Heidelberg University, the oldest and best institution of the kind in all Germany. Emigrating to the United States, he settled in New York, later in Pennsylvania and finally in Ohio, where he carried on a substantial business as a contractor and builder.

Having learned the trade of a carriage painter, Edward Lepper came to Tiffin in 1858, and in following his chosen occupation became proficient as a painter and skilful as an artist, many of the more noted pieces of his handiwork being still in evidence in the vicinity of the court house. While the dark clouds of war were hovering over our land in the early sixties, Mr. Lepper 's patriotic spirit was aroused, and he enlisted in the One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until just after the engagement at Stone River, when he was honorably discharged, the term of his enlistment having expired. Coming home, he reenlisted in 1863, joining the Ohio Guards and being commissioned second lieutenant of his company. He was stationed with his regiment at Port C. P. Smith until the close of the conflict, when he returned to Tiffin.

In 1881 Mr. Lepper was elected county coroner of Seneca county, and has been continuously re-elected to the office ever since, at the present time, in 1910, serving his fifteenth consecutive term, a period of thirty-one years. Attending most faithfully to the duties devolving upon him in this capacity, his services have been highly appreciated by his constituents. Mr. Lepper is a member of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Relief Committee, of which he is secretary, and also belongs to the Seneca County Humane' Society. His grandfather came to Ohio in 1808 and established the Ohio Patriot, one of the oldest papers in the state of Ohio, it being now one hundred and two years old.

Heath K. Cole, B. S., LL. D. - Conspicuous among the younger members of the Seneca county bar is Heath K. Cole, of Tiffin, who has inherited in no small measures the legal talents of his father, John L. Cole, and in the practice of his profession is meeting with good success. A native of Seneca county, he was born, September 16, 1880, in Republic, of substantial New England ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Nathan Cole, was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in 1785. Leaving his native state when young, he migrated first to New York state, where he resided until 1836. Following then the trail of the emigrant, he came with his family to Seneca county, Ohio, locating south of Tiffin, and there spent his remaining days. He married Mary M. Walker, who was born in Cayuga county, New York, March 3, 1808, and died at Republic, Ohio, March 27, 1907. Of the eleven children bom of their union two are living, namely: John L., father of Heath K., and Elsie, wife of Charles C. Pox, of Republic.

John L. Cole was born, February 4, 1840, in Seneca county, Ohio, just south of Tiffin. Entering the legal profession when young, he has gained a position of note among the foremost lawyers of this part of Ohio, and is still actively engaged in the practice of law in Republic. He married A. M. Platte, who was bom December 8, 1841, in Seneca county, about a mile south of the village of Republic.

Brought up in the town of Republic, Heath K. Cole was there primarily educated, being graduated from the common and high schools, receiving his diploma from the high school in 1895. He subsequently taught school a year or more, and in 1897 entered Heidelberg University at Tiffin, and having completed the scientific course at that institution was graduated with the degree of B. S. in 1901. In 1902 and 1903 Mr. Cole was superintendent of the Republic schools, during which time he read law with McCauley & Weller, in whose office he afterwards remained from September, 1903, until September, 1904. Going then to Columbus, he entered the law department of the Ohio State University, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. D. in the spring of 1905. The following eighteen months Mr. Cole spent in Kansas, and on returning to Ohio, in June, 1907, he opened an office in Tiffin, and has since been here successfully engaged in the practice of law, having won an excellent patronage in this city.

Prateraally Mr. Cole is a member of Hildreth Lodge. No. 165, P. & A. M., of Republic ; and of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. Politically he is a firm believer in the doctrine taught by Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft.

might be applied to him whose name initiates this review, but in this case, as in that of the character referred to in the poem fate was cheated in her nefarious designs. Louis A. Smith, born April 14, 1865, is of German extraction on both the paternal and maternal sides of the house. His parents, Henry and Barbara (Pry) Smith, were both natives of the Patherland. The former, born September 20, 1827, came here when a boy of five with his parents. His father was Rudolph Schmidt, and the subject has anglicised the name. These good people landed at New Orleans and gradually made their way to Ohio, locating on the township line of Wolf creek, the grandparents remaining on the homestead then acquired until their deaths, which occurred in the '60s.

The mother of the subject of this review was born September 6, 1830, and came here when an infant with her parents, Charles and ElizabethJRheinbolt) Fry, the year of their emigration being 1831. They were sixty-three days crossing the ocean and after landing at New York, came to Ohio by way of the lakes, locating in Seneca county, near Portland road in the southeast comer of Pleasant township, on land which they secured from the government. They endured with hardihood many diflBculties and herculean tasks in their adopted country, among other things making the journey from Sandusky, a distance of thirty-five miles, on foot, with three children. They built their cabin and cleared and improved their land and lived to enjoy some of the benefits offered by the new but resourceful country, being gathered to their fathers in 1867. The Prys had been preceded to what was then '*the west'* by certain relatives who had subsequently gone on to Illinois, and they followed a route laid out by them.

The subject's father, Henry Smith, was a well known agriculturist. At the breaking out of the Civil war he went to Columbus to enlist, but failed to pass the physical examination. He walked home, making the trip of about sixty miles in one day. His union with Barbara Pry was solemnized February 26, 1851.

Louis A. Smith resided with his parents until his marriage, receiving his education in the district schools of Pleasant township, and at the college at Ada, Ohio. Having passed the teachers' examination when about sixteen years of age, he taught for six years, his pedagogical endeavors being in the townships of Big Spring, Pleasant and Liberty. He was also employed in the post office at Tiffin for three years, but now devotes his whole attention to the cultivation of his land, a tract of one hundred and fifty-seven acres in Pleasant township. After the residence in Tiffin before alluded to he and his wife removed to a part of the old homestead, where they built a house, barn and outbuildings, this being in 1892.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith took place October 28, 1890, the latter before her marriage having been Mary E. Buchman, bom April 4, 1871, to John and Elizabeth (Steigmeir) Buchman, natives of Germany, who came here when the father was a boy five or six years of age. The natal day of the father was September 28, 1827, and that of the mother, November 30, 1842. To the subject and his wife have been bom a family of twelve children, as follows: Celestine E., born January 6, 1892; Florine V., April 12, 1894 ; Clotilda M., November 30, 1895 ; Urban B. A., January 4, 1897 ; Marion J., October 12, 1898 ; Bertha R., December 2, 1900 ; Victoria E., April 8, 1902; Gertmde V., January 8, 1904; Paul J., December 19, 1905; Louis F, and Louisa F., twins, November 2, 1907 ; and Mary A., July 14, 1909. One of the daughters, Florine v., secured a teaching certificate at the age of fifteen years. She is now attending the Tiffin high school, being a member of the junior

Samuel Kistler. - This highly esteemed citizen of Seneca county is a son of Joseph and Margaret (Shawbury) Kistler and was bom July 8, 1867. Joseph Kistler a pioneer in this vicinity, died at his residence in Adams township, February 2, 1899, aged eighty-four years. lie was a son of Michael and Magdalena (Hoppes) Kistler, born January 10, 1815, in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. The record of his baptism shows the date February 28, 1815. He was for more than seventy years a consistent member of the Lutheran church, in which he held important offices greatly to the benefit of the church and to the satisfaction of all his fellow members. He came to the county in the year 1832 and married Elizabeth Payne, May 22, 1836. She died October 2, 1854, after having borne him five children. He married Margaret Shawbury September 11, 1855. At his death he left three sons and four daughters. Fifteen of his children and twenty-one of his great grandchildren were living in 1910. In his time he was one of the men of prominence in his township, a leader in and a generous contributor to every good work. He was a good husband and father, a kind neighbor and a truly patriotic citizen. Miss Shawbury, who became his second wife, was bom in Prussia and in 1833 came to the United States with her parents. They located in Scipio township. She bore her husband five sons and six daughters five of whom died before she passed away. Their father died February 2, 1899. The mother, who was born January 4, 1829, died December 15, 1905. She was an earnest Christian, trying always to love her God and do good to her fellow men and women. She was long an active and very helpful member of the German Lutheran church.

Samuel Kistler married Miss Mary B. Miller, December 29, 1889. She was born August 3, 1870, a daughter of J. J. and Sarah (Robinalt) Miller. A biographical sketch of her father graces another page of this work. She has borne her husband one son, Albert D. Kistler, born April 21, 1891. Out of the goodness of their hearts, they raised Charles A. McLeod, a native of Maine, who was a member of their household until his marriage and who is now living in Scipio township.

Albert J. Henzy. - A man of acknowledged business ability and tact, Albert J. Henzy holds a position of note in the business circles of Tiffin, being at the head of the firm of A. J. Henzy & Company, -undertakers and dealers in furniture. A native of Ohio, he was born October 4, 1864, in Sandusky, Erie county, coming from thrifty German ancestry. Growing to manhood in the city of Sandusky, he attended the public schools until fourteen years old, when he entered the employ of J. Krupp & Son, furniture dealers and undertakers, with whom he remained four years. Feeling then the need of* a better knowledge of commercial matters, he entered the Sandusky Business College, and there completed the course of study. After his graduation Mr. Henzy was clerk in a shoe store in his native city for two and one half years, when, in 1883, he accompanied his mother on a trip to her early home in Germany, being away about three months.

Returning to Ohio, Mr. Henzy located in Cleveland, where for a year he was employed as a clerk in the carpet and furniture store of M. J. Moriarty. Coming from there to TiflSn in August, 1885, he accepted a position as clerk in the shoe store of J. H. Kuebler, with whom he continued for two and one half years. Forming then a partnership with Otto Wagoner, he purchased the furniture and undertaking establishment of P. Grummel & Son, and has since carried on a substantial business under the present firm name of A. J. Henzy & Company.

Mr. Henzy married on May 25, 1886, Rosa M. Kuebler, who was born in Tiflln and was here educated, attending first the parochial schools and later being graduated from the Ursuline Convent. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Henzy, namely: Urban L., a graduate of the Buffalo Commercial School; Herman A., who completed his studies in the parochial school; Helen F., a graduate of the Ursuline Convent; and Louisa M., a pupil in the same convent. Mr. Henzy and his family are consistent and valued members of St. Joseph's Catholic church. Fraternally Mr. Henzy belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is treasurer of his lodge. An active member of the Democratic party, he was elected sheriff of Seneca county in 1902, and served from January, 1903, until January, 1905.

W. H. Stover, M. D., who owns and occupies a beautiful home at No. 45 West Perry street, TiflSn, Ohio, has been identified with this city as a physician and surgeon for more than four decades.

Dr. Stover is a native of eastern Pennsylvania, having been born in Northampton county September 23, 1839, and has now passed his three score years and ten. When a young man, in August, 1861, he enlisted as a soldier in the Union ranks, and as a member of the Nineteenth Ohio Battery helped to put down the rebellion. During his long, hard service in the war, from the time of his enlistment until his honorable discharge, in June, 1865, he suffered from exposure and hardships which later resulted in his deafness.

After the war he pursued a medical course at Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated in the Homeopathic College in 1867, and later, in 1874, further prepared himself for his life work by a course in the Detroit Homeopathic College. In the meantime, April 9, 1867, he took up his residence at Tiffin, which has since been his home and where he has had a successful career as a practitioner. He is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and the International Hahnemann Association.

A few months after establishing himself at Tiffin, in November, 1867, Doctor Stover married Miss Anna M. Snook, who shared life's joys and sorrows with him for forty-two years. Her death occurred in 1909.

"-^ Phiup H. Reif. - A man of upright principles, strong in his coDvictions and fearless in the performance of his duties, Philip H. Reif, of Tiffin, now sheriff of Seneca county, is one of the most respected and popular officials in the county. He is a native bom citizen, his birth having occurred on May 30, 1866, in Tiffin. His father, John Reif, was bom in 1826 in Gemiany, and in 1832 came with his parents to the United States. He is now one of the most venerable and highly, respected citizens of Tiffin, where the greater part of his long and useful life has been passed. He married

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Eber K. Echelberry was educated at district schools and at the academy at Republic. He married Olive Metzger, bom August 9, 1875, a daughter of H. H. and Rebecca (Drinkwater) Metzger, who in the maternal line traces her ancestry to William the Conquerer. After his marriage, October 21, 1896, he established himself as a barber at Bloomville. After five years successful business there he moved his shop to Republic, where he remained another five years. Then he and his wife moved into the old Drinkwater house, which she had inherited. They have three sons, Klhar, born August 10, 1897; Don, born April 17, 1903; Welton, bom May 10. 1907.

Mr. Echelberry is one of a family of six children. One of them died in infancy. Agnes, born February 14, 1869, is the wife of Ervin More, of Scipio. William, bom May 28, 1871, lives in Scipio township. Eber K., was born October 7, 1874. Roy, who lives in Scipio township, was born June 29, 1880. Virginia, born March 6, 1883, is employed in Cleveland. H. H. Metzger, Mrs. Eber Echelberry 's father, was born June 29, 1837, and died January 20, 1910, in Adams township. He was a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Hoeltzel) Metzger and was the eldest of five children - H. H., John, Jacob, Sarah and Levina. He married June 9, 1859, and his wife died January 13, 1906. Of their five children, Allen died in infancy and Frank, Ida and Adelaide all live in Adams township. In 1878 Mr. Metzger united with the United Brethren church and nobly kept the faith to the end of his days, dying secure in the promise upon which he had turned from the world to better things. In all the relations of his life he was always upright and honorable, helpful to those who needed his sympathy or his material assistance. Mrs. Rebecca Metzger, daughter of Reuben and Sarah Drinkwater, born in Adams township January 28, 1842, died on the farm which had been the scene of her birth, January 13, 1906, in her sixty-fourth year. She had five brothers and a sister, Reuben, Bud, James, William, Addison and Catharine Drinkwater. She was a consistent member of the United Brethren church, a loving wife, mother and sister. Mrs. Echelberry has the old family Bible of her father, bought iij 1860, and the much older family Bible of her mother's parents, dated 1775.

As a Republican Mr. Echelberry was in 1909 elected to the office of township trustee, in which capacity he is serving with faithfulness and discretion. He is interested in having good roads throughout the township and county, and is exerting all his personal influence in that direction. As a member of the township school board, he has done much locally to advance the cause of public education. He is a Knight of Pythias and a Junior. It is to such public spirited citizens as Mr. Echelberry that the people of his township look for the advancement of any measure which promises to improve the condition of any considerable number of them, and he is always in the forefront of those who unselfishly labor for the general good. He is the friend of the church, of the school, of good and honest polities, of everything that makes for public enlightenment and public advancement.

Samuel H. Metzoer was bom December 4, 1875, a son of John C. and Sarah Miller Metzger. John C. Metzger is a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Holtzel) Metzger. Samuel's grandparents, Henry and Catharine (Highland) Metzger, came from Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and located in Pennsylvania. The earliest known ancestor of the family in the paternal line was Theobald Metzger, of Hesse-Darmstadt. Samuel and Rebecca (Holtzel) Metzger were natives of Union county, Pennsylvania. Samuel's parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Sheimer) Metzger, bom in New Jersey, the father July 22, 1769. They came with others of their family to Pickaway county in 1813. Jacob's first wife, mentioned above, died and he married Sarah Dilion. By his first marriage he had children as follows : Annie, bom July 5, 1792 j Mary, August 28, 1794; Henry, January 8, 1797; John, November 2, 1799; Jacob, May 15, 1802; Catharine, April 3, 1804; Christina, January 15, 1806 ; Adam, Pebmary 14, 1808 ; Elizabeth, April 9, 1810 ; Samuel, April 21, 1813. By his second marriage he had two sons, Jonathan R. and George A. The former, bom about 1820, was killed iu Missouri ; the latter died at Holtsdale, Michigan, in 1888. Jacob Metzger and his first wife were English Lutherans and diligent and efficient workers in their church.

Like all old families the early history of the family of Metzger has been found somewhat difficult to trace. Descendants of Theobald Metzger of Hesse-Darmstadt settled in Wurtemberg and from there, as appears, came the first Metzgers to America, landing at New York. Some of the traditions of the family trace it to Holland, where it is said to have borne the name of Von Metzger. It is- related that the original Metzger emigrants to the United States came over on a ship on which there was a scourge of smallpox, which took oflP forty-three of the forty-four children on board, one Jacob Metzger being the only survivor. This child seems, in the plan of providence, to have been spared for terrible death in another form. In his earlier years he was a great hunter, and he amused himself in that way long after his children thought it unsafe for him to do so. In his old age he went to the woods one day against the protest of his friends, a terrific storm came up, he did not return and when sought could not be found. It was not until years afterward that his bones and his gun were found beside a partly subterranean stream whose course he had followed underground from the open country in which he had been hunting. It was thought that he might have been dazed and blinded by the storm.

Samuel Metzger, father of John C. Metzger and grandfather of Samuel H. Metzger, was a man of ability, active in all public affairs, and he made a fine property which included a farm of two hundred and thirty-five acres. Rebecca Holtzel, who became his wife, was bom August 19, 1812, in what is now Hardy county. West Virginia, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Holtzel, who came to Brown county, Ohio, when she was twelve years old. She married Samuel Metzger April 23, 1836. Of her eleven or twelve brothers and sisters, Jacob, John C, Susan, Charlotte, Christian and Dorothy were all born in Virginia, and all lived to a ripe old age. The others, born in Ohio, all died in infancy or in childhood. Her father left Brown^county and later lived in Pickaway county, Ohio, whence he moved to Noble county, Indiana, settling on a farm near Ligonier. His wife died in 1840. She was of the old German- American family of Bersgtresser. About 1860 he married Elizabeth Hull, of Albion, Indiana, who survived him. The sketch of D. L. Miller in this work will assist to a better knowledge of this part of the family history of the Holtzels.

Samuel and Rebecca (Holtzel) Metzger had five children: Henry H., born June 29, 1837; John C, born December 4, 1838, near the geographical center of Adams township; Sarah, bom November 5, 1840, who married Christian King and died in April, 1877; Jacob, born November 21, 1842; Levina, born November 23, 1849, who is Mrs. Alford Prontz, of Adams township. John C. Metzger was brought up on his father's farm and gained a practical education in the public school near his home. He married Sarah Miller, sister of Jacob J. Miller, March 29, 1860, and they had three children: Alwilda, bom December 23, 1860; Gertrude, born August 21, 1872, who married A. J. Weller, of Sandusky ounty; and Samuel H., whose name is at the head of this article and of whom more will be said further on. Mrs. Metzger died May 21, 1888. Mr. Metzger married Lydia (Lee) Berry on June 2, 1889. By his second marriage he has a daughter, Julia, Mrs. Henry C. Tanner, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1862 he moved to Steuben county, Indiana, where he bought forty acres of land and for seven years farmed and operated a threshing machine. Returning to Adams township, Seneca county, Ohio, he bought the farm of sixtyseven acres, which has since been his home. During the last few years he has been a somewhat extensive traveler, especially in the United States, with special reference to the west, and his different tours have taken him to most of the western states and territories. An observer as well as a traveler, he has widened his outlook and broadened his mind by study and analysis of what he has seen. He is a man of great affability and kindness of heart, a friend to 'every worthy person he meets, held in the highest regard by all who know him. A Democrat, solicitous for the success of his party locally as well as nationally, he takes a deep interest in all important township and county affairs and has served his fellow citizens ably and with rare integrity and diligence as town clerk and as a member of the school board. His second wife died March 7, 1899. His declining years are cheered by several children and four grandchildren. The latter are Lela Billman, of Scipio township, daughter of his daughter Alwilda; and Milen B., Carno D. and Loretta C. Metzger, children of his son Samuel H. He enjoys such good health that he appears fifteen or twenty years younger than he is and is so thoroughly alive to present day interests that his farm is one of the best kept and most up-to-date in the township. A son of pioneers, he defights in talking of the old times when the country was new and the people were simple and friendly and helpful to one another. He has an interesting old sabre that his grandfather, a captain of Ohio militia, carried in the war of 1812.

Samuel H. Metzger, of Adams township lived with his father and helped him in his farming operations until he married and contemplated setting up a rooftree for himself. His wife was Stella M. Somers, and they were wedded on February 26, 1896. She was born December 1, 1875, a daughter of John and Catharine (Newkirk) Somers, descendants of Germans from Hesse-Darmstadt who came early to this country. Her father, bom in 1829, was a farmer in Scipio township. Educated in good district schools and at Republic, Mr. Metzger was well equipped to take up the battle of life as a farmer. After his marriage he began farming on his own account and he has been so successful that he now owns two hundred and one half acres, well stocked, fitted out and cultivated. He bought his first one hundred acres in 1899, fifty-three acres in 1902 and forty-seven and one half acres in 1910. He has bought several tracts of timber land, owning now from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five thousand feet of lumber in the tree. For several years he has dealt extensively in lumber and hay. Last year his shipment of lumber was very large and he shipped one hundred and eighty car loads of hay. Taken all in all, he is one of the busiest and most progressive men in his part of the county, one whose future is roseate with promise of big things well accomplished. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat. Toward all local movements promotive of the good interests of his fellow citizen he is helpful beyond some of his abler neighbors. His sons, Milen B. and Carno D. were bom April 20, 1897, and April 25, 1899, respectively, and his daughter, Loretta C, April 22, 1903.

John B. Maule. - The present postmaster of Greenspring is a native son of Seneca county and is numbered among its well known and highly honored citizens. He is a scion of a family whose name has been identified with the history of the old Buckeye state for nearly three-quarters of a century and the genealogical record is one of particularly interesting order, as even the brief data incorporated in this review will indicate.

John B. Maule was born in Hopewell township, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 7th of August, 1863, and is a son of Charles L. and Mary J. (Nichols) Maule, the former of whom was also born in Hopewell township, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 19th of January, 1835, and the latter of whom was bom in Kentucky, on the 27th of April, 1838. Their marriage was solemnized on the 17th of May, 1857, and of the four children the subject of this review is the youngest. Of the other children it may be noted that Victoria V., who was born on the 1st of March, 1858, is the wife of Aaron Zink, a resident of Pleasant township, Seneca county, Ohio. Laura I., who was born on the 7th of May, 1859, is the wife of Henry Zink, of Sandusky county, and Diadama A., who was bom on the 28th of October, 1860, is the wife of George McNutt, of Sandusky county.

Charles L. Maule was a son of John and Elizabeth (Derr) Maule, the former of whom was born October 21, 1792. and died October 31, 1866, and the latter of whom was born September 14

1804, and died May 23, 1885. The lineage of the Maule family is traced back to distinguished French origin and the ancient family of Maule the original of whose coat of arms is set up in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, A. D. 996, had its estate not far from the city of Paris and this estate remained in the possession of the family for four centuries. Definite record traces the genealogy back to L. A. Maule who was living near Paris in the year 996 A. D. The Lords of Maule owned a large estate eight leagues from Paris, which remained in the family as stated for four centuries. Guarin, a son of one of them, went with William the Conquerer to England. He died in 1098, leaving two sons, one of whom attached himself to David, king of Scotland. He obtained large grants of land in Mid-Lothian from the King. It was from him that the Maules of this country descended.

Thomas Maule, of Salem, Massachusetts, left England about 1655 for the island Barbadoes. When only twelve years old he went from there to Boston, then to Salem, where he was persecuted for his religious belief, he being a Quaker (as are most of his descendants of this section). Thomas had one son, John who came to Philadelphia about 1701 and who married Charity Jones in 1704. They left one son, Thomas, who had a store on Second street, Philadelphia. He married Zillak Walker. They sold the store and moved to a large tract of land he had purchased near what is now Strafford Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad. They raised a large family of children: Thomas, Daniel, Benjamin, Ebenezer, John, Jacob and others. John died about 1792 of yellow fever contracted while attending Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia.

Thomas, the oldest son, moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he engaged extensively in business. Three of his grandsons came from there to Philadelphia. After Thomas' death his widow, Zillak Walker, married Jeremiah Brown, of Lancaster county, and to them one daughter was born, Zillak who married James Morgan.

John Maule, grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was born and reared in Maryland, as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Derr, and there their marriage was solemnized on the 24th of May, 1827. In 1830 they emigrated to Ohio and established their home in Seneca county, where the grandfather engaged in the work of his trade, that of blacksmith, and where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. John Maule had two brothers and one sister. The brothers finally established their homes at Richmond, Virginia, and the sister, Lydia, came to Ohio, whence she later went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she died in 1866. Thomas Maule, father of John, died in Baltimore, Maryland, as the result of an attack of yellow fever. The family name was utilized by Hawthorne in his famous work, the House of Seven Gables, and the data therein incorporated by the distinguished author was authentic in so far as it related to this family. John and Elizabeth (Derr) Maule became the parents of children concerning whom the following brief record is given : Lleuellah Thomas, who was named in honor of the founder of the family in America, was bom on the 14th of February, 1829 ; Ann E., was bom on the 23rd of March, 1830, and on the 27th of December, 1853, she became the wife of Adam Repp; William W., who was born December 11, 1831, was united in marriage to Elizabeth Zell on the 26th of May, 1857; Lydia M., who was born March 18, 1833, became the wife of William Dick on the 19th of October, 1854; Charles L., father of him whose name introduces this sketch, was the next in order of birth; John E., was born May 18, 1839, and died on the 5th of the following August ; Charles, who was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he served under General Sherman, in Georgia, died while in service, on the 23rd of May, 1865 ; and William W., the youngest of the children, died in Hopewell township, on the 28th of January, 1908. John Maule, the founder of the Ohio branch of the family, died on the 31st of October, 1866, and his devoted wife was summoned tc the life eternal in 1870.

Charles L. Maule devoted the major portion of his active career to the vocation of farming and he continued to maintain his home in Hopewell township until his death, which occurred on the 23rd of May, 1865. He was a man of sterling integrity of character and of strong intellectual powers so that he wielded no little influence in connection with local affairs of a public order and held a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community. In November, 1864, he tendered his services in defense of the Union by enlisting in the Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he participated in a number of important engagements, including the battle of Atlanta, and he continued in service until his death. His widow was a daughter of Cornelius and Isabel (Wiley) Nichols, who were natives of Kentucky, whence they removed to Ohio, in 1840, establishing their home in Sandusky. Mrs. Mary J. (Nichols) Maule was two years of age at the time of the family removal from Kentucky to Ohio, and in the latter state she has since maintained her home. After the death of her first husband she contracted a second marriage. On the 4th of June, 1872, she became the wife of Josiah Jackman, now deceased, and they had two children, Verne, who was bom October 21, 1876, and Meda E., who was born May 29, 1880.

John B. Maule, to whom this review is dedicated, passed his boyhood and youth on the homestead farm in Seneca county, and he continued to be identified with its work until the time of his marriage. After duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools he entered the Northwestern Ohio University at Ada, in which he prosecuted his studies for eight years. Mr. Maule devoted his attention to the work of the pedagogic profession for a period of fifteen years and in this vocation his success was of most pronounced order. The most of his work as a teacher was done in Pleasant township, Seneca county, and finally he became superintendent of the public schools of Greenspring, a position of which he remained incumbent three years, within which he did much to elevate the standard and systematize the work of the schools of this attractive village. On the 15th of April, 1898, he was appointed postmaster of Greenspring, at the time of the first administration of President McKinley. He has continuously served in this position since that time and he received re-appoint- ment under Presidents Roosevelt and Taft. Prom 1898 until 1903 he was a member of the board of education of his home village and served as treasurer thereof. He served as village clerk of Greenspring for two years, was for four years a member of the village council and in 1905 he was elected mayor of Greeni^pring, of which office he remained in tenure two years, during which he gave a most satisfactory and progressive administration of the municipal affairs of the village. He also served two years as justice of the peace. Mr. Maule is affiliated with Greenspring Lodge, No. 427, Pree and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master, and he is also identified with the local organizations of the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, in both of which he has filled the various official chairs and both of which he has represented in the grand lodges of the state. As may be naturally inferred he is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party and he attends and gives his support to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is a zealous member, besides which she holds membership in the Order of the Eastern Star.

On the 13th of Pebruary, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Maule to Miss Viana Mull, who was bom in Sandusky on the 6th of May, 1865, and who is a daughter of Amos and Anna (Voorhees) Mull. Mr. and Mrs. Maule have four children, concerning whom the following brief data are incorporated in conclusion of this brief article : Charles B., who was bom on the 25th of November, 1891, is now his father's assistant in the post office; John C. Howard Maule, who was born October 19, 1893, is now a student in the Greenspring High School as a member of the class of 1912; Zella, who was born July 30, 1895, is likewise a student in the high school ; and Harry R., who was born May 2, 1904, attends the public school.

John Henry Brinkman, a farmer of Adams township, Seneca county, Ohio, was born in Westphalen, Prussia, April 2, 1833, and was there reared and educated. He came to the United States in 1869 and located on his farm of seventy-one acres in Adams county on which he has since lived, making a record as a farmer of whioh any man might well be proud and winning esteem as a citizen from his fellow townsmen of all classes.

Mr. Brinkman was married in his native land on April 7, 1867, to Miss Menia Talgamaear, who died June 19, 1909. They had five children. Of these, Sophie, bom April 10, 1868, married J. Oswald, of Clyde ; Settia, born October 10, 1869, is a member of her father's household; Harmon bom December 15, 1870, is a popular citizen of his native township. They were educated in the good schools of Adams township, and each is fully equipped to take his or her place in line for the battle of life, able to make his or her way honestly and valiantly to the success that crowns the efforts of the worthy and industrious. Mr. Brinkman is a man of fine character, respected by all who know him and influential in all affairs in which his most advanced townsmen are interested. He likes to speak of the fatherland, and he has taujrht his children to revere it while giving their allegiance to the land of his adoption.

His voyage across the Atlantic when he came here, with his young wife, is ever fresh in his memory, and he recalls the fact that in their passage they were beset by fierce storms which at times menaced the destruction of their sturdy vessel. It was a long journey from their old home in Prussia across the ocean to their new home in the interior of the great United States, but with all its perils, all its discomforts, it brought them to its rewards.

W. 0. DiLDiNE has for more than three decades been in public service at Tiffin, Ohio, and is well known throughout Seneca county. The Dildine family, of which he is a representative, originally came to this country from Holland. They were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and it was in the ** Keystone State" that Mr. Dildine 's grandparents, Daniel and Margaret (McEwen) Dildine, were bom. They came to Ohio in the early history of the Western Reserve, stopping first in Fairfield county and in 1822 removing to Seneca county, where he entered land on the present site of Green Lawn Cemetery. He later sold this and bought a farm about three miles east of there. Daniel Dildine here spent the rest of his life, and died in 1872. While they were in Fairfield county, near Lancaster, on August 9, 1815, their son William M., was born. He was brought by his parents to Seneca county, where he grew to manhood and married Christenia A. Berger, who had come to this county in 1830 with her uncle, and who passed the rest of her life and died in this county. Their son, W. 0. Dildine, was born May 12, 1849, at Republic, in Scipio township, and spent a portion of his early boyhood with them on the farm. In 1858 the family home was established in Tiffin, and here he has ever since lived. At the age of sixteen he entered the county clerk's office as deputy under his father, who had been elected clerk of the court of Seneca county in 1863, and who filled that office for six years. From August, 1865, until 1882, young Dildine served as deputy, having been re-appointed by his father's successors. Again, in 1886, he took up the work of deputy in the clerk's office, and continued there without interruption until 1897, all told a period of twenty-eight years. And for six years afterward, until February, 1909, he was deputy in the probate court.

Mr. Dildine has a wife and five children, a slaughter and four sons, namely: May, wife of L. J. Beecher, of Dayton, Ohio; Charles G., of Tiffin, Ohio; William 0. Jr., manager of the telephone exchange at McAlister, Oklahoma; Phares W., a traveling salesman, representing the Sterling Emery Wheel Works of Tiffin, Ohio; and Franklin H., at home. Mrs. Dildine, formerly Miss Anna M. Glick, is a native of Clinton to\vn8hip, Seneca county.

Politically Mr. Dildine is a Republican, he having allied himself with this party in 1896 and cast his first Republican vote for President McKinley.

Burton Metzger is one of Adams township's agriculturists, a man who has given valuable service in public office and one of the well known educators of the county, having served as the first school superintendent of the township in which he resides. He was born September 25, 1868, in Adams township, and he is thus not only a native son, but one who has so well appreciated the advantages of this favored portion of the country that he has spent the greater part of his life here. Mr. Metzger's parents are H. V. and Elizabeth (Petticord) Metzger, both likewise natives of Seneca county. His grandfather, Daniel Metzger, one of the Buckeye state's plucky pioneers, who came to what was then the **west'' early in the ninteenth century, entered a tract of land from the government. He was prominent and a man who was very active in his township in the welfare of the new country. He resided upon his homestead until his death in 1893, his son, H. V. Metzger, taking up the reins of management when he was called to lay them down. Mr. H. V. Metzger is still in charge of the old place. He and his wife were the parents of six children, namely : Homer, an attorney living in Clyde; Burton, on the farm in this township; Charles, deceased; Eva, wife of Arthur Jennings, and living at Liberty Center, Henry county, Ohio; Jacob, a farmer of this township; and Leroy, whose home is in Fremont, Sandusky county.

Burton Metzger was reared upon his father's farm, receiving a practical education in agriculture. He resided under the home roof until his marriage to Miss Delora Albright, which was solemnized November 2, 1890. Mrs. Metzger was bom October 12, 1872, and is the daughter of Jacob and Jane (Kissler) Albright, who were among the early settlers in this part of Ohio. Three children have been born to this union, the eldest having died in infancy. Darl A. was born December 20, 1897, and Delton B*., January 24, 1902. For ten years following his marriage Mr. Metzger taught school winters and in summer conducted operations on his farm. He is a public spirited man, the friend of good education and the supporter of all those good causes likely to result in the attainment of the greatest good for the greatest number. He is a Democrat and has been active in party ranks. He has held several township oflfies, having been trustee for nine years and he is president of the Good Roads Commission of Seneca county. He was Adams' Township's first school superintendent and was appointed by Judge Hoke of Tiffin, as one of the Blind Relief Commission. One of his most meritorious works was his promotion of the graveling of the roads in the locality. An additional business interest is his presidency of the West Lodi Creamery Company. Mr. and Mrs. Metzger are members of the Christian church and are active in its good works.

he entered the public schools of this city, and being an ambitious and diligent scholar completed each grade, being graduated from the Tiffin High School with the class of 1903. Thrown practically upon his own resources, he resolved to further advance his education if possible, and proving himself industrious and trustworthy found plenty of employment, devoting a part of his time for several years in handling laundry and selling papers. In the meantime he read law with Piatt & Black, acquiring legal knowledge of value, after which he entered the law department of the Ohio Northern . University at Ada, and was there graduated in June, 1907, with the degree of B. L. Returning to Tiffin, Mr. Staley was associated with the firm of Piatt & Black until February 1, 1909, when he opened his present office. He is meeting with satisfactory success in the practice of the profession of his choice, and is now giving satisfactory service as city solicitor, a position to which he was elected in November, 1909.

Mr. Staley married, July 22, 1907, Rose A. O'Brien, and they have two children : Alice R., born February 10, 1909 ; and Martha Jane. Mr. Staley is a Methodist in religion, and an active member of the Democratic party. Fraternally he belongs to Tiffin Lodge, No. 94, B. P. 0. E. ; to Tiffin Lodge, No. 402, F. 0. E. ; to the Junior Order of United American Mechanics ; and to the Improved Order of Red Men.

Albertus B. Smith. - It has often been said the farmer is king of the earth, and one of the younger representatives of this independent and honorable calling is Albertus B. Smith, in whose hands has lain the management of the old Abbott homestead for the past six or seven years. Progressive in his methods and inclined to investigate the latest discoveries in his line he is one whose short record has been very satisfactory in result. He was born April 25, 1881. and is the son of D. A. and Eliza Tompkins Smith, natives of Ohio, whose early home was near Republic. Seneca county. The paternal grandparents were David and Susan (Niekirk) Smith, natives of Pennsylvania. D. A. Smith was bom in 1845 and his wife's birthdate was September 12, 1853. Previous to his marriage D. A. Smith bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he moved just after the above mentioned event and improved it in a thorough manner. Here he has made his permanent home, for it is nearly forty years since it came into his possession and here his family of five children have been bom and reared. They are Albertus B., Bertha A., R. T., Mattie and Eva. The elder Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Lutheran church, and the former is a stanch Democrat and has held office, as a member of the school board and is active in other township aflFairs.

Albertus B. Smith received his educational discipline in the public schools and became well grounded in the various departments of agriculture under the able tutelage of his father. After his marriage he assumed a more independent footing and removed to the old Abbott estate, where he has ever since engaged in farming. He is a public spirited citizen and keeps well informed on the questions of the day, while in the matter of politics votes the Demoeratic ticket. He and his wife are consistent members of the Reformed church and Mrs. Smith belongs to the Ladies* Aid Society and is one of the teachers in the Sunday school.

Mr. Smith's marriage occurred April 6, 1904i the young woman to become hi3 bride being Miss Gayetta Abbott, a daughter of Byron and Sarah (Fry) Abbott, born September 17, 1880. Byron Abbott is also a native son of the county, his birth place having been Fort Seneca, and the date of his nativity December 16, 1844. His wife was bom November 26, 1851, the daughter of John and Margaret (Ross) Fry, natives of Germany and Ohio respectively. John Fry was one of a family of four children, the other members being Philip, George and Mary Nemier. The brothers when young men decided to leave their native country and to come to the *Mand of promise*' across the seas, of which they had heard so many dazzling reports. They made the voyage in a sail boat and were six weeks on board. They landed in New York and later came on to Ohio. After taking upon himself the duties of a husband, John Fry located on a farm near Fort Seneca and became one of the progressive and successful farmers. This is especially worthy of remark when it is considered that when he came to Ohio he had only fifty cents in his pocket and that he worked out his own salvation from that humble beginning. He was born April 12, 1813, and died June 29, 1879 ; his wife was born September 15, 1826 and died February 18, 1861.

Byron Abbott was a man of good education and was a man of remarkable conversational gifts. He was reared upon the farm and resided upon his father's farm at Fort Seneca until his marriage en November 18, 1875. His father knew many of the thrilling experiences of the pioneer, among other things assisting in the capture of the Indian Peter Pork, who was a leader of the Seneca Indians. Byron Abbott and his wife were the parents of two children : John Fry, born January 19, 1879, and dying in infancy ; Gayetta, wife of the subject of this biography. The latter was afforded good educational advantages, graduating with the class of 1896 at Fort Seneca and afterward gave seven years of efficient service as a teacher in the township schools, beginning upon this career when only seventeen years of age.

Byron Abbott, who was one of Seneca county's estimable citizens was independent in politics, voting for whom he believed the best man to fill an office, irrespective of party considerations. He gave a long service as member of the school board and for twelve years was president of this body. He was very young at the bejrinning of the Civil war, but as soon as he became eighteen he joined the minute men or "Squirrel Hunters" as they were called. He died August 24, 1907, his loss being generally mourned. His widow resides on the old homestead with her daughter and son-inlaw, the subject of the sketch. The family of Mrs. Abbott's mother, the Rosses, came from New York and located in Seneca, they also being of agricultural stock, and among those progressive people who have made the county what it is. The family are now all deceased with the exception of Samuel, who resides in Pekin,

Illinois. He and his brother William served throughout the whole Civil war period. Mrs. Smith 's grandfather, Lorenzo Abbott, was born January 18, 1802, and died September 19, 1876. His wife, whose maiden name was Jeannette Sherwood, was born November 24, 1809, and died March 15, 1877. She was of distinguished ancestry, being a descendant of Ethan Allen. ^

John H. Hodge. - Among the substantial and honored citizens and agriculturists of Reed township, Seneca county, is John H. Hodge, who was born across the line in the sister county of Hancock, February 16, 1842. Having always enjoyed the respect and confidence of his associates Mr. Hodge has held public office and has been city clerk and trustee and he is one of the prominent Civil war veterans of this section. Glancing at his ancestry it is found that Mr. Hodge's father, William Hodge, was bom in Pennsylvania, and his grandfather, the original Hodge emigrant to America, came from the Emerald Isle. William Hodge was a life long farmer and one of the worthy men of his locality. He married Nancy J. McGill, who like her husband was born in the Keystone state, and the ensuing is an enumeration of the children born to their union : Mary, married Samuel Arnold and both she and her husband are deceased ; Sarah, became the wife of Samuel Eberson : Isabelle is deceased; Rachael, married Thomas McElroy and both are deceased; Angeline, married George Ream and resides in Lima, Ohio; James A. was killed by a falling tree; Lydia Marguerite, married Oscar Shetterlv and makes her home at Geneva, Ohio: Eliza J., married John Sherman and has passed to the great beyon* I; Alexander lives in Pulton, Ohio. The subject is the fourth in order of birth,

William Hodge and his family moved from the Keystone state to Hancock county, Ohio, in the early '30s and continued his agricultural activities, while at the same time teaching school for twenty years. He served as justice of the peace for a number of years and was one of the most valued members of the Christian church. John H. Hodge passed the usual early life of the farmer's son, attending the district school in the winter season and assisting in the manifold duties of the farm in the summer. At the age of sixteen he considered his education completed and being well versed in agricultural pursuits he decided to begin an independent career and hired as a farm hand for three years. Then the long lowering Civil war cloud broke in all its fury and Mr. Hodge with most of the other young men of his acquaintance forgot all selfish interests and offered himself to the defense of the Union. He enlisted in Company A, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until March, 1863, being mustered out at that time, owing to ill health. He served under General Rosecrans and participated in the battles of Ivy Mountain, Le Verne and Stone River. After his discharge he returned to the farm and exchanged the muske^ for the agricultural implement.

On January 1, 1867, Mr. Hodge became a recruit to the rauKb of the Benedicts by his marriage with Lodemy Thompkins, daughter of William Thompkins and a native of Ohio, To their union were bom the following children: Aurora, who married William Miller and resides near Chicago Junction, Ohio; Bertha, now the wife of John Bond and residing in Wood county; Clement, of Huron county ; Lida, wife of Harry Wilds, of Toledo, Ohio ; Grace, wife of John Fackler, making her home near Chicago Junction, Ohio. The first Mrs. Hodge was summoned to her eternal rest, and in 1896 Mr. Hodge chose for his second wife Mrs. Nettie Young. [ Mrs. Hodge, whose maiden name was Miss Nettie Riley, is a native most honorable pioneer families in Ohio, its founders having come to the Buckeye state from Virginia. She was one of three daughters, Mary being deceased and Ella, who married Jerry Gheen, residing in Columbus. By her previous marriage she is the mother of two children. The son, Earl Young, who graduated from the Chicago Junction High School in 1908, resides with his step-father j and teaches the district school in District 5, and the daughter, Edith

J. Young, also resides with him. Miss Young attended the Tiffin High School and is proficient in music. The Hodge household is the center of refinement, good will and happiness and the most ideal of relations exist between step-father and step-children, the latter having always been devoted to the former. Mrs. Nettie Hodge graduated from the Shawnee public schools of Perry county, Ohio, in the year 1886, in a class of fifteen young ladies and two boys. She read an essay entitled, ** Public Schools.'* She graduated with the honors of the class, and as a reward received free tuition of thirty-six months at Adrain, Ohio. Mr. Hodge is an enthusiastic lodge man. "He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has occupied all the chairs and to which he has belonged since 1868 and he is also affiliated with the Rebekahs. He served as secretary of the latter for eighteen years. Both he and his wife are generous and faithful members of the Baptist church. Mrs. Hodge is one of the useful and worthy ladies of Reed township and has membership in the Rebekahs and Women's Relief Corp of Attica. Mr. Hodge has resided for thirty-three years on the present homestead, which is located four and one-half miles northeast of Republic. He is vice president of the Lodi Creamery Company, a creamery located in an inland town and which transacts a business of sixteen thousand dollars a year.

Henby Vale Metzger, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Whiteman) Metzger, was bom in Adams township August 22, 1847. His father was bom in Pickaway county, Ohio, August 18, 1818, his mother, in Ohio in 1819. She was a daughter of Daniel and Susan (Coleman) Whiteman and came to Ohio with her parents in 1832, locating on a farm in this 6ounty owned by Burton Metzger at this time. The land was entered by Daniel Whiteman, and the subject of this notice now holds the original parchment bearing the signature of President Andrew Jackson. Daniel Metzger and Sarah Whiteman were married about 1838 and began farming on grandfather Whiteman 's historic purchase. That pioneer was bom in Pennsylvania in 1797. His wife was bom there in 1794.

They were married in the Keystone state and soon came to Ohio, locating first in Fairfield county, whence they removed to Pickaway county, a mile south of Circleville. Thence they moved to a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Adams township. They made the trip on horseback, blazing the way in order that others might the more easily come after them. Mr. Metzger's greatgrandfather also was a pioneer in Seneca county, entering land just north of Whiteman*s, in Adams township, so early that there were then only fourteen voters within the present borders of the township. These worthy pioneers were active in advancing civilization in this then new country, especially in the establishment and maintenance of schools and churches.

Mr. Metzger lived with his parents until his marriage. Elizabeth Petticord became his wife on November 8, 1867, and they located on a farm on the Clyde road inherited by her. It was a comparatively new place of eighty acres. They built a house on the land, cleared it and eventually made of it a good farm. Mrs. Metzger was a daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Rule) Petticord, natives of Maryland, who came to Seneca county with her grandparents, John and Mary A. (Guisbert) Petticord, early in the nineteenth century. It is of record that John Petticord entered about six hundred acres of land in the county. The traditions of the vicinity are to the eflFect that the Petticords were among the very foremost citizens, active in all that tended to the public weal. Mr. and Mrs. Metzger lived at their first location seven years. They moved thence to a favorable location on Honey creek, thence to Fulton county. After four years residence there they returned to Seneca county and bought their old homestead on which they have since lived, farming industriously and successfully. They have had born to them six children : Homer, is a lawyer at Clyde ; Burton, lives in Adams township ; Charles is dead ; Eva lives in Henry county ; Jacob is a citizen of Adams township ; Leroy lives at Fremont, Ohio. Mr. Metzger is a member of the Union Christian church. He has been a life long friend and advocate of improvement in the public educational system. As a member of the school board for a dozen years, he devoted himself heart and soul to the introduction of the graded system, working, planning, arguing with opponents, smoothing away difficulties, overcoming obstacles, until at length he succeeded in having the system adopted in Adams township, the first township in the county to take that important step and which marks that township in 1893 as a pioneer in a work that is now valued everywhere in all the country round about. Mr. Metzger has given his children excellent educational advantages, sending them to Heidelberg College. Their son. Homer took a four years' course, making up two years in teaching. He was the valedictorian of his class and his valedictory address, in its substance and in its delivery, demonstrated his breadth of view and his dramatic intensity as a public speaker. Mr. Metzger himself was a student at the old academy at Republic, under the preceptorship of Prof. Aaron Schuyler, later and until recently the incumbent of the chair of mathematics at Oberlin. Later he pursued his studies at Heidelberg.

Mr. Metzger is a Democrat in all that honored descriptive implies. It was not as a Democrat, however, but as a citizen whose love of public enlightenment was well known and widely respected that he was repeatedly elected to offices in which he had to do with the public schools of his township and county. For their advancement he has spent much time and money that the legitimate demands of these offices did not call for. His children have some of them been efficient teachers in public schools. His career is of sufficient length to cover the cruder experiences of former years as well as the pleasanter ones of these days of public conveniences. He recalls with much interest the fact that when he began his married life in the township he split basswood logs to make slabs out of which to build his house, the same that was his home for several years, until he was enabled to replace it with a better one.

Herman Soheiber. - ^Measuring his own ability and hewing his way straight to the line thus marked out, Herman Scheiber has gained a position of worth among the substantial and respected citizens of Tiffin, as secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Tiffin Manufacturing Company being identified with one of the leading enterprises of this part of Seneca county. A son of John Scheiber, he was born in Warren township, Huntington county, Indiana, March 22, 1852. While a resident of Stark county, Ohio, John Scheiber married Rufina Weiler, and very soon after taking that important step in life he migrated to Indiana, settling, in 1851, in Warren township, Huntington county, where they lived for a number of years, from there moving to Huntington township in the same county.

Living in Warren township, Indiana, until fourteen years of age, Herman Scheiber obtained the rudiments of his education in the old log school house typical of pioneer days. After removing with the family to Huntington township, he assisted his father on the home farm until attaining his majority, when he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed several years, his natural mechanical skill commanding good wages. Coming to Tiffin, Ohio, January 1, 1887, Mr. Scheiber purchased an interest in the Tiffin Manufacturing Company, a stock company which had been established in this city in 1875 for the especial purpose of manufacturing all kinds of church furniture. Since becoming a stockholder in the concern he has ably filled the position of secretary, treasurer and general manager, Mr. J. W. Hoffman being president. Under his efficient management the business has been largely increased, the products of the factory being shipped to every part of the union.

Mr. Scheiber married, in 1889, Pauline Wagner, of Tiffin, and into their home four children have made their advent, namely: Richard and Paul, graduates of the Dayton School, are associated with their father in the management of the factory; and Herman Jr. and Mary E. are still in school.

Mr. Scheiber and his family are trust worthy and valued members of St. Joseph's Catholic church. Politically Mr. Scheiber is a firm supporter of the principles promulgated by the Democratic party. Feeling entitled after his many years of successful labor

Ledbu B. Parker. - This well known citizen and influential business man of Fostoria is not only a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Ohio, with whose annals the name has been identified for nearly a century, but he is also a scion of a family that was founded in America in the early Colonial epoch. The lineage on the paternal side is traced back to Edward Parker, who came from England and settled in Plymouth colony, in 1643. It is a matter of record that this worthy ancestor was finj^ six shillings and three pence for not having in his possession a flintlock and proper ammunition. Members of the family were found enrolled as soldiers in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution.

Ledru R. Parker was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of January, 1850, and is a son of Moses A. and Catherine (Christy) Parker, the former of whom was bom in the state of Connecticut and the latter in Kinsman, Ohio. Moses Parker came with his parents from Connecticut to Ohio in 1816 and the long and weary journey was made principally with ox teams. The family located in Kinsman township, Trumbull county, and there Moses Parker continued to maintain his home and to be identified with agricultural pursuits until 1846, when he removed with his family to Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, where he remained for a period of eight years, at the expiration of which he returned to Trumbull county, Ohio, whence he removed a niimber of years later to Henry county, this state, where he died in 1890, his cherished and devoted wife having passed away in 1880. They became the parents of twelve children, Ledru, the subject of this review, being the eleventh in order of birth. Mary, is the wife of Marvin Trott, of Kearney, Nebraska; Orestes H., resides at Cochranton, Crawford county, Pennsylvania ; Caroline, is the wife of Samuel MoflStt, of Warren, Ohio. The other eight are deceased. Andrew C, who was a resident of Kinsman township, Trumbull county, Ohio, died July 5, 1910. He was a soldier in the Union army at the time of the Civil war. He was a member of the Forty-first Ohio Regiment (Company A), his service for the cause being of nearly five years' duration, in which time he participated in all the engagements with which his regiment was identified. .He was twice married, first to Mary A. Rogers in 1861, and second to her sister, Miss Charlotte Rogers, who survives him and resides in Kinsman, Ohio. Anothei* brother, James A. Parker, was killed in battle on June 14, 1862. He was a member of the One Hundreth Pennsylvania Regiment, known as the Roundhead Regiment. A third brother, Albert L. Parker, was a member of Company A, of the Forty-first Ohio and died in a hospital at Victoria, Texas, September 16, 1865.