Thompson Township (part 7 of 16)

George Ebbert Seney was brought to Tiffin (then a village of 400 inhabitants) an infant in his mother's arms. Judge Seney (for by this name George E. is universally called) was educated at Norwalk (Ohio) Seminary, then under the charge of Dr. Edward Thomson, subsequently a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. After four years spent at that institution Judge Seney retvirned to Tiffin, and for a year or more was clerk in a dry goods store. In 1848, perhaps, and while a mere boy, he and his uncle. George Ebbert, opened a book store in Tiffin. The stock with which the firm of Ebbert & Seney commenced business was purchased in New York City by the boy partner, who went thei-e for that purpose. Judge Seney remained in this store for less than a year. The business being small and unprofitable for two. Judge Seney retired "and Mr. Ebbert remained. Upon leaving the book store, Judge Seney determined that St. Louis should be his future home, and through a family relative in the East had secured a position in a wholesale dry goods store in that city. This was opposed by his mother and opposed as well by his father, who had his heart set upon making a lawyer out of his son. Judge Seney' s ambition was to be a merchant. To being a lawyer he was stoutly opposed. Simply to please his father, and to show his filial respect to his wishes he entered the office of Luther A. Hall. Esq. , in Tiffin, to read law. but with an understanding that, if at the end of three months he preferred the place open for him at St. Louis, neither father nor mother would further object. Years after, when Judge Seney was strong in his profession, Mr. Hall said : ' 'the first day Creorge was in my office he and the law fell in love, and they have been loving each other ever since. ' ' Neither he, his family, nor his friends have cause to regret that he became a lawyer instead of a merchant. Two years of close and attentive study of the law books prepared Judge Seney for admission to the bar. He was admitted in 1858, and immediately commenced practice in company with his preceptor, Mr. Hall. This partnership lasted about two years. The Judge, preferring to be alone, opened an office close by the one he now occupies, and alone, until his election to Congress, has he practiced his profession, except when on the bench and in the army. At the time Judge Seney left the office of jVIi-. Hall there were eighteen practicing lawyers in Seneca County, several of them being gentlemen of large experience and acknowledged ability. Judge Seney had clients and cases from the beginning; they grew in number, and when at the end of four years he left the bar for the bench his business favorably compared with the best done by either of the older attorneys. The reputation Judge Seney acquired diiring these six years of practice was that of a studious, methodical and reliable lawyer, and an able, efPective anJ eloquent jury advocate. After his election as judge, and before l^term of office commenced, President Buchanan tendered him the appointment of the United States district attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, which he declined, preferring the place on the bench to which he had just been elected; Judge Seney was on the bench five years. He was elected when he was twenty-six years of age, and is perhaps the youngest man who ever held a common pleas court in Ohio. That he was not over anxious for the place is to be inferred fi'om the fact that he refused to take his party" s nomination unless it was tendered unanimously. At a convention held at Carey, largely composed of lawyers from Seneca, Crawford, Wyandot, Hancock and Wood Counties, he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for common pleas judge of the third subdivision of the Third Judicial District. The i)olitics of the district at that time were doubtful ; Judge Seney carried it by a majority of 1,(K)() over his opponent. Gen. John C. Lee. The first court held by Judge Seney was at Perrysburg, in AVood Coiinty, and the first law^^er who addressed him in the argument of a case was Hon. M. R. Waite, then a practicing attorney at Toledo, and now the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. During his term of five years on the bench Jiidge Seney held three terms of court each year at Tiffin, Bucyrus, TTp})er Sandusky, Findlay and Perrysburg, and frequently a term, or a part of a term, in other counties in the first and second subdivisions of his district. In addition to this he and the judges of these two siibdivisions, with one of the judges of the supreme court of the State, held a term of the district coui-t. once a year, in each of the twenty counties comprising the judicial district. Upon the bench Judge Seney met the expectations of his friends. Youthful as he was, he presided with marked dignity, impartiality and courtesy, and by his decisions added to his reputation as a sound lawyer, a dispassionate reasoner and an honest, discreet and just judge. It was while Judge Seney was on the bench that he published what is known to the profession as "Seney' s Ohio Code," and this volume he republished in 1874. Among lawyers this work is highly vahied, and is in constant and extensive use in Ohio and several of the "Western States. Judirf

Seney's term upon the bencli closed during the second year of the war. Om* subject was an ardent Democrat, a stanch friend of the Union and uncompromising in his opposition to secession. Upon the close of the last term of court he enlisted in the One Hundred- and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, he and three others being the first to enlist in that regiment. Judge Seney was commissioned a first lieutenant, and immediately he and his three fellow soldiers commenced recruiting for the regiment. In thirty-eight days the regiment, over 1,000 strong, was upon the Covington (Kentucky) Hills, defending Cincinnati against attack from rebel forces, led by Gen. Kirby Smith. He was appointed quartermaster of the regiment, ser^dng with it in the field for two years and a half under Buell. Rosecrans, Thomas and Sherman. He was with the regiment in its encounters at Perryville, at Lancaster and Nashville. He was present at the engagement at Knob Gap, and was within sound of the guns at Stone River. He saw service at Chickamauga and at Liberty Gap, and witnessed the heroic valor of the One Hundi-ed and First in the battles of Chattanooga and Franklin. He was with the One Hundi-ed and First in its five months' campaign of almost continxTous marching and fighting, under Sherman, from Mission Ridge to Atlanta. Resigning his army commission he returned to Tiflin in December, 1804, reopened his law office, and in a short time was in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative practice. For the next eighteen years few lawj^ers labored harder in his profession than Judge Seney. Early and late, day after day, and night after night, he could be found at his office, or i^4?oiu-t. or if elsewhere, always fiill of legal business. In 1879 a liiogi-apher speaks of Judge Seney in these words : ' 'As a lawj'er he is highly esteemed by his brethren of the profession. His papers are thoroughly prepared, the witnesses are sifted to the bottom, and the case is effectively presented to the court and jmy. While he excels as an advocate, being a fine speaker, and possessing naturally oratorical gifts and graces, as an attorney and counsellor he is no less excellent, being well read upon points of law. From the fact that he is usually assigned the closing of a case, one can judge of the esteem in which he is held by those who are with him in it. As a man he is genial, and possessed of the native delicacy and refinement of the educated gentleman. ' "

With politics he had little to do. unless to attend a convention to help a friend make a few speeches during a campaign, and regularly, spring and fall, vote the Democratic ticket. When elected to Congress in 1882 he was fiftyyears of age and yet the only office he had held was that of judge, twentyone years before. * He was a candidate for presidential elector on the Buchanan ticket in ISof). With these two exceptions his party had never been troubled with him in a convention or at an election, as a candidate for office. With the exception of judge and member of Congress he never held an office, ward, township, city, county, district or State; never was a candidate for one before a convention or the people. In 1874 he was nominated to make the race for Congi-ess against ex-Gov. Foster. There were other able Democrats who sought the place and in the convention were put in nomination. AVithout his knowledge his name was presented. Judge Seney declined to be a candidate, saying that he would not accept the nomination if it was made. In spite of this refusal he was nominated upon the first ballot, receiving nearly all the votes. He again arose to decline, but the convention was unwilling to hear him, and in the noise and confusion that prevailed he was declared the nominee, and immediately the convention adjoiu-ned. It was thought that Judge Seney could carry tlae district against Foster, who had twice before been elected, but Foster beat him by 189 votes. There is no remark respecting that election more common than that Judge Seney did not want the place and consequently made no effort to be elected. It is the opinion of those supposed to know that the Judge was pleased at his defeat. That he had no desire to bo in Congress was satisfactorily demonstrated at Upper Sandustv- four years later. '^The district had been changed, and was then Democratic by 5,000 majority. An election was certain, he was about to be nominated, and would have been had he not arisen and appealed to the delegates not to vote for him. stating that under no circumstances would he accept of the nomination. In 1876 he was made a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis, and assisted in nominating Samuel J. Tilden for President. He was an active' member of that body, and, in the campaign which followed, he eloquently and ably advocated before the people the justness of his party's cause. In 1882 he was made the Democratic candidate for Congress in the Fifth District. Soon after his nomination he made a thorough canvass of the district, speaking at fifty or more places. He was elected by a majority of 5,613. In Seneca "County he received many Republican votes. His majority in this county was 1,472; in Tiffin, 776, and in the First Ward of Tiffin, where he lived, 173. In 1883 his district was changed by taking off Putnam County with 1.417 Democratic majority and adding in Wood County with 496 Republican majority. This change i^educed the Democratic majority in his district, on the vote of 1882, to 3,644. Judge Seney was nominated in the new district in 1884. This was a presidential year. He made a thorough canvass, addressing over seventy public meetings within his district. He was elected by 4,00r) majority. The majority for Cleveland and Hendi-icks in the district was 3,216.

The reputation of Judge Seney as a laAvj^er followed him to Congress; he was appointed a member of the Judiciary Committee upon which were the ablest lawyers in the House. During the session he was always in his seat in the committee or in the House, giving faithful attention to every duty; modest and unassuming, he talked little, but listened much. His speeches in the Ohio contested election case of Campbell i-.s. Morey, against the repeal of the tax on tobacco and spirits not used as a beverage, and against allowing National banks to increase their circulating notes, are exceedingly able efforts, and attracted, as they deserved, public attention. Judge Seney is known far and near as the friend of the soldiers. To their interest before Congress and in the departments he gives especial attention. All the letters he receives fi'om soldiers about their pension claims, and they number thousands, he promptly answers, and as promptly at'tends to all their requests. In 1884 the Ohio Legislature was Democratic in both branches ; Judge Seney was prominently named for United States senator to succeed Senator Pendleton. He refused to be a candidate, and wrote to those who were urging his candidacy that he would neither seek nor decline the place. He Avas known to be the first choice of a few members, and the second choice of several others. Several of his party newspapers advocated his election, and not a few of the public men, in and oiit of the State, favored his election. It was thought that neither of the leading aspirants - Payne or Pendleton - would be chosen, and in that event. Judge Seney, better than any other Democrat, would be acceptable to the two factions, Pendleton and anti-Pendleton, into which the Democratic members appeared to be divided. Mr. Payne, to the surprise of everybody, was chosen in the caucus upon the first ballot. Among those prominently named as the Democratic candidate for governor of Ohio, in 1885, is the distinguished congressman from the Tiffin district. He positively refused to be a candidate or allow his name to be used in connection with the gubernatorial office.

without substantial rewards to Judge Seney in fortune, as he has been successful. By his own exertions he has accumulated property estimated to he worth $150,000 to $200,000. He is the owner of the Tiffin Gas Works, which thii-ty years ago he assisted in constructing, and was for ihe first three years of their existence the secretary of the company who built them. He is a progressive, liberal and enterprising man. In whatever is calculated to advance Tifiin and the good of her people, he takes an active and leading part. If money is wanted to help the poor, the sick, or the unfortunate, no one gives more cheerfully or liberally. If a church is to be built, a minister la'cks support, the cause of education needs help, or any enterprise for the public good wants assistance, he is always ready and willing with his purse. He is a member of no church, yet the friend of religion and of all Christian effort. Judge Seney has no chikh-en. His estimable wife, Anna (Walker) Seney, is a daughter of the late Joseph Walker, Esq. . long a merchant of Tiffin, and a granddaughter of the late Josiah Hedges, Esq. , who was the founder of Tiffin, and is remembered by older citizens as an active leader in public affairs forty years ago. There are those who believe that still higher honors are in store for Judge Seney. We wi-ite not of the future, but of the past and the present.

WILLIAM HALDERMAN SHAFFNER, dealer in agricultural implements. Tiffin, was born in Daiiphin County, Penn. , September 5, 1824. His parents, Martin and Sarah (Flescher) ShaflFner, were descended from pioneer stock of that State, former of whom came to Crawford County in 1829. and to Bloom Township. Seneca Co-anty, in 1 848. Martin Shaffner had twenty-one childi-en by three marriages, William H. being the youngest of three sods and six daughters by the first marriage. Our subject took up farming, and has been very successfully identified with that industry, buying and selling considerably. He has exchanged nine different farms,* aggregating about"$90.000 or $100,000. He married, in Scipio Township, this county, in 1846, Mary A., daughter of Joseph and Frances (Lanaga) CofiFman, natives of Perry County, Penn., and to this union have been born four sons and five daughters: Joseph Wesley, residing in Wyandot County, Ohio: Sarah F., wife of Jacob Basore. of Huron County, Ohio; Emma, wife of Leo Andrews, of Liberty Township, this county; Charles B.. of Hughes County. Dak.: Mai'tin F.\ of Loudon Township, this county; Alice, wife of Charles Cramer, of Loudon Township, this county; Clara (deceased); Elmer L. and Ida. Mr. and Mrs. Shaffner are woi-thy members of the Methodist Episcoi)al Church, in which he has served as trustee, steward, class leader and superintendent of the Sabbath-school. He has been a member of the Masonic order for several years, and has attained to the degree of K. T. of De Molay Commandery. He is also a member of Isaac Rule Post G. A. R. , having seen service during the late war of the Rebellion as a member of the One Hundi-ed and Sixty-fom-th Regiment Ohio , Volunteer Infantry. Mr. Shaffner' s present farm comprises 240 acres of valuable land in Loudon Township, this county.

JOHN SHAULL, retired farmer. Tiffin, was born December 13. 1818, in Berkeley County, Va. ; son of Jacob and Susan (Pulse) Shaull, natives of Virginia. Jacob Shaull came to Ohio in 1833, and for a few months his familv stopped in Marion until he could find a suitable location. He finally entered land in Williams County, where he and a portion of his family settled, and there he and his wife lived and died, the latter departing this life in 1882. aged ninety-two years. Jacob Shaull became one of the leading farmers of Williams County and was one of its respected pioneers. His family consisted of six sons and three daughters, of whom Milton, Samuel and John, only, survive. Our stibject came with his father to Ohio, but did not remain with the family, coming direct to Seneca County to his grandfather. Michael Shaull, an old pioneer, and here began life, and by industrious habits and economy soon accumulated enough to make a start for himself. He was married, in 1887, to Miss Barbara Shedingham; subsequently purchased a piece of land of his fatherin-law and began life in earnest. To Mr. and Mrs. Shaull were born ten chil dren, nine of whom are now living: George J., Mary E. (Mrs. F. Fisher), Samuel R., David, Lydia (Mrs. R. Hill), Sarah (Mrs. Truman Zise). Conrad. Smiley and Josej^h. The mother of these children dying. Mr. Shaull, October 18, 1868. was married to Mrs. Libby Staub, a widow, a daughter of Henry Stoner, an old settler of this county. John Shoull, who has been a successful farmer, still owns his farm in Hopewell Township, this coimty, but is living a retired life in Tiffin. He has been a leading pioneer; served in the offices of township trustee for several years and also as school director.

REZIN \V. SHAWHAN stands prominent among Tiffin's people as a successful merchant and an active, public spirited citizen. His is an example of a well spent life, of careful, painstaking industry. His parents were Frederick and Eleanor (Wells) Shawhan. the latter a native of Virginia. His father was a native of Kent County, Md. , but had settled in Virginia after the Revolutionary War. in which he was an active participant, having enlisted when but seventeen years of age. He served under Gens. Wayne, Green, Lafayette and Washington. He was at the capture of Stony Point by Wayne, at the battle of Monmouth, at the crossing of the Delaware, and at the subsequent capture of the Hessians at Trenton. In 1812 he moved to Ohio, and first located in Fairfield County, and afterward settled in Seneca County, and died near Tiffin August 26, 1840, in the eightieth year of his age. The subject of this sketch was born October 19. 1811, in Berkeley County. Va.. and worked on a farm xmtil fifteen years of age. His chances for education were very limited, comprising only a common district school education of twentyeight months. In 1827 he entered the store of William McComb,in Wooster, Ohio, as clerk, and when eighteen he w^as employed in the store of Zopher T. Moore, with whom he remained about three years. In 1888 he located in Tiffin, then a village of less than 500 inhabitants. In company with his In-other, L. D. Shawhan. he opened a small store, but at the end of two years L. D. , fearing his health was being injured, withdrew his entire interest, R. W. , thereafter, driving the business alone. In April. 1 889, INlr. Shawhan was married to Elvira Tuller. of Worthington, Ohio, who died May 20. 1880. June 29, 1881, he married Delia Watson, of Toledo. Ohio, still living. Having engaged in many enterprises, many of which were unprofitable, still, by dint of perseverence and unyielding industry', he has accumulated a handsome foi-tune, and has assisted in the growth of many imiwrtant industries, among which may be mentioned the banking and building interests, the - 'Shawhan House' ' built in 1850), l)eing the only one however bearing his name. His enterprise has not been confined to Tiffin" only, but he has been connected with merchandising in other i:>laces. and has been interested in extensive land purchases in Wisconsin, Nebraska and Kansas, all of which accrued to his profit. Mr. Shawhan is a man of excej^tionally vigorous constitution, and gives personal attention to all of his affairs. He has always been a close student of business matters, and hiis given considerable attention to general reading, having acquired a fine library. The subject of "X)ur sketch is the only surviving child in his father's family, and he has an only daiighter, Ella, a lady of excellent attainments.

HENRY SHEATS, farmer, P. O. Tiffin, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., May 28, 1822, son of Henry and Nancy Sheats, who were married in Pennsylvania, came to Seneca County, Ohio, in October, 1889. and remained in Clinton Township until the death of the former. After his death Mr.s. Sheats went to Henrv County, and there remained until her death. Oiu* subject was united in marriage, January 16, 1862, with Anna Ditto, born in Seneca County, Ohio, December 27, 1832, daughter of John W. and Elizabeth Ditto, the former born in 1785, in Northumberland County, Penn. , and the latter born on the Atlantic Ocean in 1795; died August 9, 1885. They were married October 14, 1814. and settled in this county, where they remained until the death of Mr. Ditto, which occurred in 1853. Mr. Sheats is a carpenter and blacksmith by trade, but since his marriage has engaged in farming. He and his family reside on a farm of 214 acres, owned by the late Mrs. Ditto. IVIi'. and Mrs. Sheats are members of Grace Reformed Church.

ELDRIDGE SHERMAN, farmer. P. O. Tiffin, was born in this county Febrary 1, 1844, son of Howland and Huldah Sherman, the former a native of New York State, born June 3, 1814, and the latter a native of Connecticut. born March 3. 1823. They were married March 3, 1842, and settled in this county, where thev remained until the death of Howland Sherman, which occurred June 13, 1865; his widow resides with our subject, the mother of five children: Eldridge, Frances, Phrona, Elnora and Lucinda. Our subject was united in marriage, April 23, 1867, with Catharine Earl, born in this county May 8, 1845, daughter of Matthew and Susanna Earl, the former deceased, the latter now living. To our subject and wife have been born four- childi-en, three now living: William T., Aura I. and Earl J. ; one died in infancy. Mr. Sherman owns eighty- foui- acres of good land. He served his country in the late war, and is a member of the G. A. R. He and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Chiu-ch.

DANIEL SHUBERT, farmer. P. O. Tiffin, was born in Lehigh County. Penn., November 3, 1846; son of Lewis and Esther Shubert, natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married and first settled, remaining there until 1847, at which time they moved to Tiffin, Ohio, where they afterward resided. Our subject was united 'in marriage, December 31, 1868, with Barbara Einsel, born in Clinton Township, this county, a daughter of Henry and Sarah Einsel. whose sketch appears elsewhere. To Mr. and Mrs. Shubert. have been born five children, foui- now living: Cyrus A., Sarah E., Oleva M. and Henry L. The deceased is an infant. Our subject is a carpenter and joiner by trade, but has of late years been engaged in farming, owning 107 acres of fine land. He served his country in the late war of the Rebellion, enlisting in Company B, One Hundred and Seventy-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1863. He was in several sharp engagements, and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of enlistment. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Church.

H. E. SIMON, born in Boardman Township, Mahoning Co., Ohio, July 1 <, 1847. In 1851 the family moved to Bloom Township, Wood County, arriving there September 1, and in the public schools of that township our subject was educated. He was deputy auditor of Mahoning County in 1865-66, and in 1870-71 he was deputy recorder of that county. In October, 1872, he came to Tiffin, Seneca County, where he was engaged with the Baltimore & Ohio engineer corps until the line was located, upon which that railway was built in the spring of 1873. September 15, 1873, he entered the Tribune office (Locke & Bro.. proprietors) to learn the printer's trade, and remained at the case for about eighteen months until March 7, 1875, when C. N. Locke, the junior editor died. At this time Mr. Simon entered the counting room of the Tribune office and took the position left vacant, and became associate editor with O. T. Locke, a position which he has held over ten years. Mr. Simon was married.

May 14, 1879, to Miss Mary L., daughter of Michael and Mary (Einker) Wall, old settlers of Tiffin, then residing at Toledo, moving to Toledo in 1878, after about thirty years' residence at Tiffin.

JAMES V. SIX, dealer in groceries and provisions. Tiffin, is a native of Tiffin, this county. His father, William Alfi-ed Six, was born in Frederick County, Md., of pioneer German ancestry in that State, and, at the age of twentv-one (1843). came to Tiffin and learned brick-making, eventually taking an important part in the building interests of the city for many years. He married, in his native State, Henrietta A. Filler (whom he buried here), and the issue of this union was three sons and three daughters: James V., David H. (a mason and builder); Winfield Scott (deceased); Ida (deceased); Lizzie (deceased); and Emma. The subject of our sketch was reared to his father' s business, which he followed, doing considerable building, many of the business blocks, factories and residences of Tiffin being monuments of his handiwork. Retiring from that industiy he took up merchandising. Mr. Six married, in Tiffin, Ohio. Hattie Crawford, a lady of estimable attainments, a graduate of the academy at Republic, and this union was blessed with three children, of whom but one daughter, Mabel, survives. Our subject and wife are worthy members of the Evangelical Church. He is a member of the K. of P. , and of the American National Union Insurance Company of Mansfield, Ohio.

SAMUEL BAUGHER SNEATH, banker and merchant, one of Tiffin's prominent conunercial citizens, is a native and to the "manor born;" his parents, Richard and Catharine (Baugher) Sneath, settling here in 1827, and his birth occurring December 19 of the following year. His father was a native of Connecticut, and was a prominent pioneer and business man of Tiffin. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania, descended fi'om a pioneer family of that State. Three sons and one daughter of the family survive: William O. and Richard G. , residents of San Francisco, Cal. ; Catharine, wife of James T. Drake, of Missouri; and Samuel B. The subject of our sketch, in early life, engaged in manufacturing business, and was successfully identified with that industry here till 1858, when, he turned his attention to merchandising, and embarked in business with Jesse Shriver, the firm of Shriver & Sneath continuing with good success for many years. In 18()0 or 1861 Mr. Sneath retired from the fii-m, and established a produce and commission business, which he still carries on, and in 1862 he bought his former partner (Shi-iver) out and continued in dry goods and merchant tailoring for a year or so, when he sold to P. Scheib. who still pursues the business. In 1865 he became an incorporator and stockholder of the National ^Exchange Bank, severing his connection with that institution recently. In 1870 he took an active part in the organization of the Commercial Bank, and has remained its cashier since. He is a very cordial supporter of measures tending to the city's growth and development, and has contributed in no small degree to its social and industrial institutions. Mr. Sneath married, in 1861, Mary L. Davis, a native of Tiffin, and daughter of Levi Davis, a native of Maryland, and pioneer farmer of this county. IVIi's. Sneath passed away from this liie in 1868, and is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, leaving a daughter and son: Fannie, now the wife of C. F. M. Niles, an 'attorney at law and banker, a resident of Garden City, Kas. , and Ralph D. , associated in the bank. In November, 1879, Mr. Sneath married Laura A. Stephenson, of Findlay, Ohio, a lady of excellent attainments, daughter of William Stephenson, a pi eminent farmer near Findlay. To this union has been born one daughter, Marian Lee. Mrs. Sneath is a member of the Presbyterian Church, to which ]\Ii-. Sneath has alwavs been a liberal contributor. * In public life he has kept aloof from holding office, but has nevertheless considered the importance of the ballot, his motto being ' ' What is worth doing is worth doing well. ' ' Mr. Sneath has applied his abilities to the furtherance of the commercial interests of this locality, in which he stands a i:)rominent character.

CALVIN SNYDER, proprietor of saloon and restaurant. Tiffin, was born in Tiffin, Ohio, August 28, 1847, son of John W. and Barbara (Hammon) Snyder, natives of Baden, who settled in Tiffin in early times, and who reared a family of eleven children, of whom five sons and three daughters survive. Calvin Snyder was reared to the molder's trade, which he followed for many years. He spent a number of years traveling through the Western and Northwestern country, trading and trapping. In 1881 he returned here and embarked in his present business. In 1882 Mr. Snyder married Mrs. Emma (Rhu) Smith, who was born in New Riegel, this county, and by this union there is one daughter, Edith Smith. Mr. Snyder is a member of the Molder's Union and Veteran Firemen, and of Rescue Hose Comj^any No. 1.

WILLIAM A. SPONSLER, manufactm-er and dealer in boots and shoes, was born in Boardman, Mahoning Co., Ohio, in 1834, and comes of a line of pioneer Pennsylvania people of German ancestry. His parents were pioneers in Ohio. The subject of this sketch was reared in Cuml^erland County, Penn., and, at twenty- one, went to Burbank, Wayne Co., Ohio, where he eventually engaged in merchandising. In 1874 he removed thence to Tiffin, this county, where he has since carried on a prominent business in his present industry. He was united in marriage at Burbank, in 1857, with Miss Sarah Jane Bowman, daiighter of George and Elizabeth (Smith) Bowman, natives of Pennsylvania and pioneers of Wayne County, Ohio.

C. D. SPRAGUE. manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, Tiffin, was born in Fowler, St. Lawi'ence Co., N. Y., June 28, 1847. His parents, Seth and Cynthia (Bowen) Sprague, are of Scotch and English ancestry, respectively; the Spragues of pioneer Scotchmen in Connecticut and Rhode Island, who settled there in the seventeenth centviry, of the family lineage of Gov. Sprague of Rhode Island; the Bowens of early English settlers in New York State. The subject of our sketch was the youngest of a family of four sons and five daughters, of w^hom three sons and three daughters survive. His father carried on mercantile business in St. Lawi-ence County, N. Y. C. D. Sprague took uj) telegraphing at fifteen, at Gouverneur, that county; the year following he came to Elyi-ia, Ohio, and clerked for awhile, completing his education in telegraphy. He was creditably identified with his profession in Ohio and New York States, alternately, till 1872, when he came to Tiffin, and has been connected with his present occupation here since, meanwhile taking an active part in other important pursuits. Mr. Sprague was married in Morristown, Minn. , to Jane, daughter of Joseph Hopkins, of St. 'Lawrence County, N. Y. She is a lady of estimable attainments, and was reared and educated with Mr. Sprague. This union has been blessed with fourchildren: Mildi-ed, Mamie, Charles B. and Sadie. Mr. and Mrs. Sprague are worthy members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is treasurer, superintendent of the Sabbath-school, and leader of the choir; she is treasurer of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. Mr. Sprague has been a Mason, socially, since he was twenty-one years old, passing all the chairs of the chapter and council, and is a member of the Royal Arcanum. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and served as private secretary to Gov. Foster during his canvass in 1877.

(Beery) Stalter, natives of Fairfield County, Ohio, were old residents of Eden, and his father, one of the township's most entei-prising farmers until 1863. Mr. Stalter attended the common schools of the district until 1859, when, owing to the death of his mother, he was compelled to work as a farm laborer. Early in 1865 he moved to Indiana, and dui-ing the summer of that year worked on the Pittsburgh. Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad as a section hand. In the fall of 1865 he removed to Michigan, and was there employed in brick-making, and subsequently in the lumber industiy. During the latter part of the year 1867, he retui'ned to Ohio; entered a select school at Adi'ian, in 1868; soon obtained a teacher's certificate; took charge of a school in Big Spring Township, and subsequently presided over the school at Melmore for eleven terms. During this period of school-teaching he saved sufficient money to meet the expenses of schooling at Heidelberg College several terms. In 1873 he accepted the position of traveling correspondent for a Toledo paper, and eventually became t)ne of its stocldiolders. His natiu-al tact and industry, aided by the experiences which this position offered, pointed out to him other fields of labor. Disposing of his interest in the Toledo newspaper, he purchased a half interest in the Ottawa County Neics, and became editor and manager of that journal. The columns of this newspaper he stamped with his individuality, and its business department with marked success until the spring of 1878, when he purchased the Wyandot Democratic Union, which journal he published at Upper Sandusky until November, 1879. Like the News of Ottawa County, he built up the interests of the Democratic Union until the joiu-nal became valuable property under his management. Early in 1880 he founded the Tiffin Netvs, a new journal which has won for itself a large measui-e of suppoi-t from the people of Seneca County since the day of its establishment. Mr. Stalter' s marriage, with Miss Lucy M. , daughter of Amos and Penelope (Thompson) Westover, natives of Ohio, was solemnized at Nevada, Wyandot Co., Ohio, July 2, 1874. Two children were born to them - David K. and Miss Tonie Bernice; the former died in 1883, and was interred in Green Lawn Cemetery beside his mother, who died in February, 1883. Mr. Stalter was nominated by the Democratic Convention of 1883 to represent his native county in the Legislatiu'e. The nomination was bitterly opposed by the machine section of his party; and, in a measure, this opposition was carried to the polls, but the votes thus lost were largely compensated for by the votes of Republicans, as he received 4,762, or 966 votes over his Republican opponent, 4,717 votes over his Greenback opponent (W. H. Patterson), and 4, 655 votes over A. T. McDonald, the candidate of the Prohibitionists. In 1872 he was elected clerk of Eden Township, the only Democrat ever chosen for that position by the people of Eden. His nominations for the major and minor offices were only agreed to by him on representations made by the best men of the party, and on condition of retiring after one term of office. Whether in the news})aper office, Legislature or Masonic and Odd Fellows' circle, with which he is connected, industry and zeal mark his every action.

EDWARD W. STEPHENSON, jobbing and commission house in general merchandising. Tiffin, was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1845, son of Cliarles H. and Emily (Bellchamber) Stei^henson, natives of England, the former born in Yorkshire and the latter in London. The subject of our sketch served an apprenticeship at the tinning business, and at the age of twenty came to this country and after traveling through the States a few years located in Tiffin, this county, in February, 1870, and united with Mr. Ranaldo A. Gray in the establishment of the present enterprise. Mr. Gray retiring in 1878. The business at first was small, but by dint of steady and persistent industry, Mr.

Stephenson has reared it to an annual accounting of over $20, 000, and it now employs eighteen well equipped wagons on the road. Mr. Stephenson was married, in Tiffin in 1872, to Mary Cooper Gray, only surviving child of llanaldo A. and Elizabeth (Jolly) Gray, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Zanesville, Ohio. They have an adopted child, Daisy May Stephenson. He and his wife are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is an active member of the K. of P. , is Grand Inner Guard of the Grand Lodge of the State and recorder of the Uniform Bank of that society. He is a member of the P. O. of A. , and of the I. O. O. F. ; is expresident of the National Union Insurance Company of Mansfield, Ohio. In industrial matters Mr. Stephenson has always contributed liberally, and was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the National Machinery Company of Tiffin. In public life he has done efficient service and has contributed in no small degree to the advancement of the Republican party.

JAMES STINCHCOMB, farmer, P. O. Tiffin, was born in Bloom Township, this county, March 25, 1831. His grandfather, George Stinchcomb, emigrated from Scotland, Avith his family, to America, and died in Maryland. The father of our subject, John Stinchcomb, came from the neighborhood of Baltimore, Md. , to this county, December 3, 1825, and settled in Bloom Township, where he purchased land and remained until 1851, when he removed to Clinton Township, and where he died, his widow, Barbara (Turnflinger) Stinchcomb, soon following him. They had ten childi-en: Elizabeth A., George S. , James, Mary J. , Frances A. , Daniel, Catharine (deceased), Amanda M. , Hem-y and John. James Stinchcomb, the subject of this sketch, began to receive his education at the age of twenty-one, in Heidelberg College. He gradually worked up in his classes, and after the first term taught school, and continued teaching for twenty years. He is a quick observer, a lover of books, and a natural scholar. Mr. Stinchcomb was twice married; his first wife being Matilda, daughter of Ezra and Mary Baker. This wife dying February 15, 1871, our subject mamed, September 17, 1875, Annie S. Baker (a sister of his first wife), by whom he has one son - Robert Sherman.

FRANCIS EDWIN STONER, late auditor of Seneca County, was born in this county. April 15, 1842; son of Dennis Caspar and Charlotte (Smith) Stoner, who settled here from Frederick County, Md., in 1833. The Stoners were descended from German pioneers of Maryland, the name being originally ' ' Steiner. " ' The Smiths, originally fi'om Holland, were also pioneers of Maryland. Of the family of nineteen children (born to the two families) nine now survive - four sons and five daughters. Francis Edwin Stoner was reared upon the farm in Clinton Township, this county, and was educated in the schools of the county. In 1872 he embarked in the grocery business, which he retired from in 1881, upon accepting his late incumbency, which he creditably filled to the time of his death. He married, in April, 1872, Juliet, daughter of the late Hon. J. D. O'Connor, M. D., and to this union were born two sons: Clark and Francis Edwin, Jr. Mr. Stoner died, after a short illness, at Ridge Farm, near Paris, 111. , August 9, 1885, and was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, Tiffin. He was an obedient, affectionate son, a devoted, loving husband, and a kind, indulgent father. Mr. Stoner was a member of the Presbyterian Church, a woi-thy member of the I. O. O. F. He was always a generous supporter of all public measures, and contributed liberally toward the development of the social and industrial interests of his city and county. He was a most sociable gentleman, di-awing around him a very liberal support, fi'om all parties, to his official position. His widow is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

CHARLES J. M. SULLIVAN, Tiffin, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. September G, 1849. His father, the late William Sullivan of Tiffin, was a native of Cork, Ireland, and son of Michael Sullivan, who died there in 1852. William Sullivan was reared to mercantile pursuits in his native land, and came to America in 1846, eventually locating, in hardware merchandising, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he married Miss Hanora Leonard, a native of County Leitrim, Ireland, who bore him a family of nine children, of whom three sons survive: Charles J. M., Dr. Emmett W., of Cleveland, and Jerald E., business manager of the /o?m State Leader, at Des Moines, Iowa. In 1855 William Sullivan removed his family and business interests to Tiffin, this county, and was favorably known as an upright and successful business man, and an excellent citizen/till his death, which occurred in April, 1873. The subject of this sketch received a good literary training in the college at Notre Dame, Ind. , and in June, 18(37, graduated from that institution in a commercial course of study. He continued in the hardware business of his father, retiring fi-om it in 1875. In 1883 he opened his present business, insurance agency, and has operated it successfully since. He married here, in 1879, Miss Aldee M. Coonrod, a graduate of the Ursuline Academy, and daughter of the late Uriah P. Coonrod, of Hopewell Township, this county. They have two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. He and his wife are regular communicants of the Roman Catholic Church. He is a member of St. Patrick's Total Abstinence Society and Catholic Knights of America. Is a liberal supporter of all measm-es tending to the development of the interests of his locality. He was clerk of Tiffin from 1879 to 1885.

IRA H. TOMPKINS, dealer in agricultural implements. Tiffin, was born in Thomson Township, this county, August 20. 1843, and comes of Welsh ancestry on his father's side. His father, Isaac, was a son of William, whose father, William Tompkins, Sr. . settled in this country from Wales before the Revolution, and was a soldier in that war to its close. His mother, Christina (Scothorn) Tompkins, was a daughter of Samuel Scothorn, of pioneer Virginia stock, and settled in Reed Township, Seneca County, in 1823, fi-om Fairfield County, Ohio. She and her one-year old sister, Ann, were the first white childi-en in Reed Township. Ira H. is the fourth child and eldest son in their family of five sons and five daughters, and was reared to farming pursuits. At the age of twenty-three he embarked in the grocery business at West Lodi, this county, but after three years' successful work his store was destroyed by fire, and he subsequently engaged in diy goods and general merchandising there for about five years. In the meantime he dealt in agricultural implements, and upon retiring fi-om his other interests there he came in 1875 to Tiffin, where he has since been identified with the implement business, meanwhile doing considerable in inventions in that industry. Mr. Tompkins was married in Adams Township, this county, May 8, 1870, to Louisa Jane, daughter of Henry and Catharine fBeard) Neikirk, of Adams Township. They have one son and one daughter: Cosie Dale and Vance Vick. Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins attend St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a worthy Mason, and has attained to the degree of K. T. of De Molay Commandery. Mr. Tompkins is a practical business man and an excellent citizen, and has contributed liberally toward the futherance of many social and industrial interests of Tiffin.

DAVID C. TUNISON, of the firm of Tunison & Son, photographers. Tiffin, is a native of New Jersey, of Scotch ancestry. He learned his profession in New York City, where he completed a first-class education in the art. In 1854 he came to Tiffin, Ohio, where he has since been favorably known to the profession and to the public. He was united in marriage with Abigail Fraser Dolbier, of New Jersey, of Scotch pioneer ancestry of that State. This union has been blessed with one son and three daughters: Emma, wife of Samuel S. Hunter, of Tiffin: Gusta, unmaiTied: Oscar Barnett, and Addie, wife of John De Witt, a manufacturer and machinist of Richmond, Ind. Mr. Tunison is a worthy member of the Odd Fellows' Society and of the National Photographers' Association.

OSCAR BARXETT TUNISON was born in New Jersey, November 11, 1842, but was reared and educated in Tiffin, where he learned the profession of his worthy sire, and joined him in the business. He was married, in Tiffin, to Mary E., daughter of John J. and Frances Hanna (Boyer) Steiner. worthy pioneers of Clinton Township, and this union was blessed with two bright sons: Hal and Berton. Mr. Tunison is a member of the National Photographers' Association. ]\Irs. Tunison is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

DR. JOHN FRANKLIN AVAGNER, dentist. Tiffin, was born in Liberty Township, this coiinty. August 1, 1857. His father, Edmimd Carpenter AVagner, was a native of Franklin County, Penn. , and settled in Liberty Township in 1843. His mother, Catherine Berkey, was born in this county. They were married April 18, 1850. and resided in Liberty Township, where they reared a family of eight sons and one daughter: Levi J., Byi-on A., Edmund Berkey (deceased), John F.. George W., W. Scott, Rose B., AVilliam B. and Elmer E., all except John F. and W. Scott residing in Ai'kansas City. Kas. W. Scott resides in this coimty. The subject of our sketch completed a good common school ediication, and at twenty-one entered the Cincinnati Dental College, and after two years passed a very' creditable examination before the Ohio State Board of Dentistry. He then located here, and has been very favorably connected with his professional work here since. He is a member of the K. of P.. and P. O. of A. Societies.

AFRELIFS C. WARNER, di-uggist. Tiffin, was born at Congress, AVayne Co. , Ohio, February 28, 18(30, and comes of honorable pioneer stock there. His father. Dr. C. J. Warner, stands among the most prominent men of the medical profession of that locality as well as' of the State, being present member of the board of censors of the medical department of the University of Wooster, at Cleveland, Ohio; his mother was Mary Ellen (Pancoast) Warner, and both were of Pennsylvanian ancestry. Aurelius C. W^arner, the eldest in a family of two sons, was reared to medical studies, and completed a regular pharmaceutical study at the College of Pharmacy in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1883 he came to Tiffin, and, in company with Mr. Winkler, purchased his present extensive drug business, which he has successfully conducted since. He is an active and progressive business man and citizen, a clever gentleman, and altogether eminently fitted to till no small position in the growth of the lively, commercial interests of Tiffin. He is a member of the K. of P.

HENRY J. WELLER. attorney at law. Tiffin, was born in Thompson Township, this county, January 21, 1856. His parents, John and Christina (Orner) Weller. were natives of Pennsylvania, the former of whom settled here in 1843. from Snyder County, Penn. ; the latter is a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Orner. pioneers in this county. The subject of our sketch (the eldest of a family of five sons and three daughters) obtained a good common school education in his native township, and developed such ability that at the age of fourteen he received a teacher' s certificate. He, however, com])leted a normal education at Republic, this county, and at seventeen engaged in teaching, continuing in very reputable connection with the profession for five sue- cessive terras. In April, 1878, he commenced to read law in the office of Messrs. Noble & Adams, and June 2, 1880, was admitted to the bar of the State, at Columbus, being the first fi'om the county to receive his license fi'om the Supreme Court of Ohio under the new law. He continued in the office of his worthy i^receptors, till in INIarch of the following year, he opened an office for himself, and may be found in professional dignity over the Commercial Bank. Mr. Weller has always been an ardent aspirant for the highest honors in his different professions, and while attaining them in teaching he is (since leaving that profession) rapidly gaining the golden promises of his present calling. June 10, 1885. Mx.^ Weller associated himself with Hon. John McCauley, ex-judge of the Ohio Supreme Court, and now composes the law firm of McCauley & Weller, with office over Commercial Bank, Tiffin, Ohio. Our subject married, in Tiffin. December 30, 1884, Miss Julia M. Paynter, u lady of estimable attainments, daughter of Martin S. and Sarah L. (Koller) Paynter, natives of Maryland and Pennsylvania respectively. Mr. "Weller has taken an active part in the development of the social and industrial life of his native county. He has been a member of the Seneca County Agricultural Society for several years: has been its secretary for the past five years, and is its present treasurer; is now a member of the city council of Tiffin, having been elected from the Fourth Ward of said city (a Republican ward) by the Democrats, by a majority of thirty-eight votes. He is a F. & A. M. . and is Past Grand of the I. O. "O. F. He speaks German fluently, and is a popular man with the German element in this county. A peculiar characteristic of Mr. Weller is that while busy in his different professional pursuits he has never missed an entry in his diary, which he has continued since his eighteenth year, and which contains not only the events of his locality but his personal monetary receipts and disbiu'sements.

H. C. AND T. E. AVELLS, physicians and surgeons of the New School of Medicine, Tiffin, come of pioneer Ohioans and are the only sm-viving sons of Job and Deborah (Butler) Wells, of English and Welsh descent, respectively. They reckon amongst their ancestry, on the father's side, some physicians of repute. Richard Wells, father of Job Yv' ells, was of Quaker lineage from English stock in Virginia; he was a veterinary surgeon by profession, and came to Ohio from Virginia in early days and settled in Morrow County. His people were planters and owned slaves, and some of them figured in the Confederate servicediu-ing the late civil war, a brother's son serving with j^rominence as surgeon in that army. The family of Richard, however> with the exception of Job, settled in the West, principally in Iowa and Missoim, and he returned from Iowa to be buried near the old home in Morrow County. Deborah (Butler) Wells, was a daughter of Barrick Butler, a native of Pennsylvania and of Welsh descent in that State. They were a literary people and developed some prominent teachers. The immediate family of Job and Deborah (Butler) Wells was three sons and three daughters; of the latter two are married and have families in Morrow County. Richard, the third son, died at Tiffin October 10, 188!2, a student at Heidelberg College. Henry Clay Wells, senior member of the firm of Wells Bros., at seventeen entered the Union Army August 8, 1862, as a member of Company C, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and continued in field service till after the fall of Vicksburg and Jackson, Miss., when he received an injury to his back, was taken sick and sent to hospital at New Orleans, where, after recuperating, being unfit for field duty, he was appointed ward master in the United States Marine and later to- St. Louis hospitals. Receiving an honorable discharge at the end of the war he returned home and completed a coiirse of study at Cardington Academy.

from which he and his brother graduated. He then taught school and studied medicine, graduating fi-om the Homosopathic Hospital College ot Cleveland in 1872. He then located in Tiftin and has been very successful in his profe^;- sional practice since. He married, in Bellevue, Ohio, Amanda J., eldest daughter of John and Angeline (Close) Hilbish, pioneers there from Pennsylvania. This union has been blessed with one son and one daughter: John Hilbish and Mabel Grace. Thomas Elwood Wells (junior partner of the firm of AV ells Bros.) after graduating from Cardington, taught school and subse- (|uently embarked in the drug business with Dr. L. L. Benson, an eclectic school physician, with whom he read medicine for nearly two years. He, however, became convinced of the greater advantages of the practice of the homoeopathic, and sold his interest in the drug business, and after a thorough course of study (of three years) graduated from Pulti College of Medicine and Surgery at Cincinnati in January. 1877. He located in the practice at Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he remained until 1884, when he joined his brother at Tiffin, this county. Dr. T. E. Wells is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. . a very genial gentleman and of prepossessing appearance.

BERNARD WELTER, cigar manufacturer, Tiffin, born in Echternach, in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, March 10, 1828, is a son of Henry and Elizabeth Schomer Welter. In 1851 he came to America and located where his brother Valentine had preceded him in 1841». Here he carried on the cigar manufacturing and tobacconist business. He married, in 1861, Agnes Riley, who bore him two daughters : Annie (deceased), and Elizabeth. Mrs. Welter died in September, 1864, and in 1868 Mr. Welter married Mary Kerch, daughter of Nicholas Kerch, a native of Greivelding, Luxemburg, and to this union were born nine children : Mary. Henry. Lucinda, Bernard, Florence, Blanche, Elsie and Pearl living: and Henry the eldest son (deceased). Mr. Welter and family are communicants of St. Joseph's congregation of the Roman Catholic Church. He is a member of the Bruderl)und.

FRED L. WENNER was born in Tiffin, Ohio, January 8, 18()4, second son of Henry S. and Sarah A.Wenner. both of whom were natives of eastern Pennsylvania, and of German descent. At the age of seven he entered the public schools of the city, and. with the exception of three intervals, he remained in them for twelve years, graduating from the high school on the 1 7th of June, 1888. Early in life he evinced an aptness for rapid composition, and during his first year in the High School he edited a small amateur paper called the High School Reporter, and the rest of the four years acted as correspondent for several papers. June 21 , four days after graduating, he accepted a place as reporter on the Tiffin Daily HeraUL and in the following October became local editor of the same. In November he resigned his position, owing to failing eyesight, and began teaching school in sub -district No. 1, Seneca Township, teaching a successful term of five months, and boarding at Eden Lease' s. At the age of thirteen he had met with an accident, which destroyed the sight of his left eye, and caused him considerable trouble. He now entered the homeopathic hospital at Ann Arbor, Mich. , where several operations were performed, which partially restored the sight and greatly relieved him. April 28, 1884, he again became local editor of the Daily Herald, and remained in that position until October 25, of the same year, when he resigned to accept a similar one on the Tiffin Tribune, which he holds at the present time. He was united in marriage, January 18. 1 885, with Ammy D. Myers, a teacher in the Bloomville public schools, and the eldest daughter of Rev. S. P. and Ursilla Myers, of that place, her father being a minister of the Reformed Church.

THOMAS JEFFERSON WEST, M. D., Tiffin, comes of hardy pioneer descent in this" county and State. His i^arents, Thomas and Margaret (Donnell) West (the former of English jjioneer ancestry in New York State, and the latter of Scotch Irish ancestry, of Pennsylvania), were married here, and reared five sons and one daughter. Thomas West came to this county in 1820, and located land in Edea Township in 1822. The subject of oui- sketch received a liberal literary training in the Academy at Republic, and taught school. On the breaking out of the late war of the Rebellion, he enlisted in Company C. Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and did active and honorable service for over three years, and upon the expiration of term of service of his regiment, he was hon orably discharged. He was wounded in the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.' After the war, Mr. "West taught school and engaged in the study of medicine. In 1866-67 he attended Charity Hospital Medical College of Cleveland, from which he graduated. He located in the practice of his profession at Melmore, this county, where he remained in creditable professional work till the spring of 1884, when he came to Tiffin. The Doctor is a member of the State. Northwestern and County Medical Societies, and has contributed in no small degree to the advancement of his profession in this locality. He was married in 1871, to Mary Horner, a native of Darlington, England, who bore him two sons and one daughter : Nettie May, and Freddie and Eddie (twins). Mrs. West passed from life in 1881, in full communion with the Presbyterian Chm-ch,and is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery. Our subject was married on second occasion to Mrs. E. Steele, daughter of R. C. Steele, of Eden Township, this county, and by her he has one son - Robert Karl. Mrs. West is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church, to which the Doctor is a liberal contributor and respectful attendant of. He is a worthy member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained the degree of K. T. in De Molay Commaudery. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F. and of Isaac Rule Post, G. A. R., and of the Pioneers' Society of Eden Township.

GEORGE W. WILLIARD, D. D., president of Heidelberg College, Tiffin. Ohio, was born in Burkettsville, Frederick Co., Md.. June 10, 1818, and is the fourth son and fifth child in the family of five sons and two daughters of John and Mary (Shaffer) Williard. natives of Frederick County, Md. Elias Williard, father of John Williard and a native of Germany, reared a large family in Maryland. John Shaffer, father of the mother of om- subject, also a native of Germany, reared his family in Maryland. The subject of our sketch received a good rudimentary education in the common schools, and at sixteen went to the high school at York, Penn. , and after its removal to Mercersburg (where it was merged in Marshall College) he pursued and completed a thorough literary and classical training in that institution, graduating at the age of twenty - one. He then pursued a theological course of study with his alma mater, and after about a year entered the ministry of the Reformed Church, and was ordained at Jefferson (in his native county) at twenty-two years of age. He continued in charge there for over four years, when he removed to Huntingdon, Penn. . where he had charge of an academy in connection with his pastoral work. He afterward removed to Winchester. Ya., and after laboring there three years he came to Columbus, Ohio, iu the spring of 1850, where he carried 9n church work for about five years, during which time he took charge of the Western Missionary (1853), which paper he conducted for thirteen years thereafter. During his stay in Columbus, he translated fi'om the original Latin and published the Commentary of Dr. Zacharias l^rsinus on the Heidelberg Catechism

(the confessional book of the Reformed Church) into the English language. In 1855 he removed to Dayton, Ohio, where he edited and published the Western Missionary, in connection with his pastoral work, till his call to the i^residency of Heidelberg College, Ti£fin, Ohio, in 1866. During the first four years of his residence in Dayton he had charge of the First Reformed Church there, and subsequently served congregations in the vicinity of Dayton. In 1866 he accepted his present incumbency from the Board of Trustees of Heidelberg College, and has also performed ministerial work in a variety of forms. Dr. Williard married, in Mercersburg, Penn. , in 1842, Louisa Catharine Little, fourth daughter in the family of two sons and five daughters of Dr. P. V*. Little, a prominent physician of that place, a native of Maryland and of German ancestry. To this union four sons and one daughter were born, of whom three sons survive: John Newton and Dr. George P., of Tifiin, and the Rev. E. R. Williard, of Germantown, Ohio. In September, 1868, Mrs. AVilliard departed this life, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, at Dayton, beside her son and daughter, Cephas L., who died at the age of twenty-six, and Mary Louisa, who died at the age of six months. In 1866 our subject was married ao-ain; on this occasion in Xenia, Ohio, to Emma Jane Hivling, a lady of estimable attainments, and a daughter of Col. John Hivling, banker, of Xenia, and a prominent pioneer of Greene County. Dr. Williard while busy with his professional work has always taken a prominent part in the various benevolent enterprises of the day, and has contribixted liberally thereto. He is the author of several books and a regular contributor to the periodicals of the Reformed Church. He is apparently as active as ever in his professional work and has the o-ratification of seeing many of his students occupying important positions in the various professions of life.

GEORGE PARKER WILLIARD, M. D. , was born in Huntington, Penn. , July 1, 1845, son of Rev. G. W. Williard, D.D. (president of Heidelberg College) and Louisa C. Williard, daughter of Dr. P. AV. Little, of Mercersburg, Franklin Co., Penn. The subject of this sketch received a liberal literary training in the schools of Dayton, Ohio, and at the age of eighteen years began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. John Davis, of Dayton. He attended his first and second collegiate courses, at the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati, and completed his professional studies at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Penn., graduating from this honored institution March 9, 1867. In the following Jvme he came to Seneca County, Ohio, locating at Fort Seneca, and carried on an active practice till 1874, when he went to California and located at San Buena Ventura, Ventura County, entering into partnership with Dr. Cephas L. Bard, a prominent physician of that place. He returned to Tiffin, this county, in 1876, and soon afterward entered into i>artnership with the late Dr. A. B. Hovey, with whom he remained two years. Retiring from that partnership, he established himself independently, and has carried on an active practice ever since. He has been prominently nominated, and has served as examining surgeon for many life insurance corporations ; is a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, and of the Seneca County Medical Society. He has always given a cordial support to all measures calculated to elevate the character and standing of his chosen profession, and is ever ready and willing to lend his assistance in matters pertaining to the social and industrial development of Tiffin. During the war, and upon the organization of the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio National Guards, he enlisted as a private in Company A, of that regiment, and was shortly afterward promoted to the position of hospital steward. During its term of service, and while the regiment was stationed at Baltimore, Md. , garrisoning Forts Marshall and Fed(>ral

Hill, lie was appointed post-steward of Fort Federal Hill Hospital. Althougli broken in health from close confinement at the hospital, and the arduous duties of his position, he remained in the service until the term of his enlistment had expired, and he was honorably discharged with his regiment. In February. 1881, he was married to Miss Electa A. Stout, of Dayton, Ohio, a lady of estimable attainments, cultured and refined and of high Christian character. She is a daughter of Elias Stout. Esq, , of Dayton, a merchant and native Ohioan.

FEEDERICK WOLF, dealer in boots and shoes. Tiffin, was born in Eppingen, Baden, April 14, 1834. son of Ludwig and Catharine (Heiser) Wolf. the former of whom died in that country in 1845, and the latter in Tiffin, in October. 1856; the names of their children are as follows: Frederick; Elizabeth, widow of Christian Bloom, of Mexico; Christina, widow of Joseph Schoertschinger. and Jacob (deceased). The subject of our sketch learned shoe-making in his native city, and at nineteen came to this country, locating in Tiffin June 8, 1853, and in 1862 embarked in business with which he has been successfully connected since. He was married in Tiffin, in 1857. to Catharine Baker, born in Detwiler. Rhenish Bavaria, November 18, 1835, and who came to this country in 1853. To this union four sons and one daughter, were born: Henry, a merchant; Frederick, a harness-maker; Caroline; Louis Ludwig, a grocer, and William Dietrich. Mr. Wolf is a member of the Sangerbund and Briiderlmnd societies. He and his family are members of the German Lutheran Church. Jacob Wolf learned his trade here and iinited with Frederick in business, continuing with him until his death, August 8, 1884; he left five children.

CHARLES J. YINGLING, merchant. Tiffin, was born in Baltimore, Md.. October 26, 1847, and descends fi'om a line of mercantile people on both sides of his parentage. He is the fifth child and second son of Joshua and Margaret (Shi'iver) Tingling. The former a prominent business man and banker of Westminster, Md. , and son of the late Jacob Yingling. a tanner and merchant of Westminster; and the latter a daughter of Hon. Isaac Shriver. banker of Westminster and of pioneer family of the State. The subject of our sketch completed a liberal education in the high schools of Westminster, and at seventeen entered the First National Bank of that place as teller, in which capacity he served with credit for about four years, when he was compelled by ill health to withdraw from the business and to travel through the West, principally in Iowa. Returning, he embarked in the diy goods merchandising with his father, January, 1869, firm being known as J. Yingling & Son. In September, 1872. he retired from that firm and came to Tiffin and engaged in manufacturing ladies' shoes, which he abandoned just two years later and then purchased his present extensive dry goods business. Mr. Yingling was mari*ied, in Taneytown, Md. , in October, 1875. to Miss Mary E. Rudisel. only surviving child of the late Tobias Rudisel, merchant of that place. To our subject and wife have been born two sons: Tobias Rudisel and Charles Shriver. Mr. Yingling has, since locating here, established an excellent reputation as a business man and citizen. He has cordially supported all measiu'es tending to the progressive development of this locality. He and his wife are estimable members of the Methodist Protestant Church, of which he has been for many years a member, and of which he has served as superintendent of the Sabbath- school, and secretary of the board of stewards. He is a K. T. and a member of the R. A. and K. of P. societies. Mr. Yingling comes from a line of slaveholders, but upon the event of the late war, his people renounced their principles and remained steadfast with the Union tenets for which they had always maintained strong preference.

JOHN FKEDERICK ZELLER, coal merchant, Tiffin, was born at Canal Fulton. Stark Co.. Ohio, May 4, 1842. His parents, John and Doretha (Jacobs) Zeller, Avere natives of Germany, the former born in Weiden, in the kingdom of "Wiirtemberg, and the latter in Kaiser Lantern, in the kingdom of Bavaria. They came to America in 1834 and settled in Stark County where John Zeller carried on contracting and building for many years, rearing a family of one son (John Frederick) and two daughters. The subject of this sketch was reared to building with his father. November 12, 1801 , when nineteen years of ao-e. he enlisted his services in defense of the Union, in Company K, Seventy- sixth Ohio Voltmteer Infantry, and veteranized in Jackson County, Ala. , in 1864, serving in all three years and eight months, receiving an honorable discharge at Camp Chase. Ohio, July 2. 1805. He served in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh. Siege of Corinth, Chickasaw Bayou. Arkansas Post. Jackson, Miss. , Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Taylor' s Ridge and Missionary Ridge, and was in the engagements at Lovejoy, Atlanta, Marietta, Kenesaw Mountain, Pumpkin Vine Creek and Sugar Creek Gap; was with Sherman in his march to the sea. February 26, 1805, he was captured by Gen. Hampton's cavalry at Cheraw, S. C. , and spent four days in Libby prison, after which he was paroled. Omsubject marched and traveled by rail and water over 11. 000 miles, and after his capture, as just related, he was marched over 500 miles barefooted and half naked over rough and often frozen ground. Aftei- the war he spent several years in the drug business in his native place and in 1873 embarked in the coal business, in Norwalk, Ohio, which he retired fi'om there, and opened up in Tiffin, in 1878. Mr. Zeller was married in Canal Fulton, Ohio, in 1867, to Margaret Jane Porter, a lady of estimable attainments, daughter of Alexander and Nancy (Stotler) Porter, the former a native of Beaver County, Penn. , the latter of Wayne County. Ohio, and by this union there are three sons living: Clarence Porter. William Ne\vton and John Logan; two deceased, Carl Frederick and James Garfield. JNIr. Zeller is an active member of the F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. , has served his ward in the city councils. Politically he is a stanch Repul)lican and has been an active worker for his party.

L. W. ZIMMER. bookseller and stationer. Tiffin, was born in Tiffin, this county, November 25. 1850; son of Jacob and Caroline (Von Blon) Zimmer, the former a native of Windesheim, Prussia, and the latter of Waldmohr, in Rhenish Bavaria. They were married in Tiffin, and reared two sons and a daughter: L. W., Caroline Louisa and Jacob, latter a clerk with L. W. Mr. Zimmer was reared to bookliinding, and followed the di-ug business for a few years. In 1880 he joined Mr. Emich in the book and stationery business, fi-om which he retired in 1883, and established his present business. He was imited in marriage, in 1881. with Emma, daughter of John and Susan (Gross) Laux, natives of Bavaria. He and his wife are members of the Second Reformed Church. Mr. Zimmer is a member of the U. A. O. D. and Turnverein Societies.

JOHN BURGERT ZINT, of the firm of Zint & Kreader, plumbers and gas-fitters, Tiffin, was born in Paris, Stark Co.. Ohio, July 31. 1842; son of Joseph and Jiilia Ann (Burgert) Zint, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Pennsylvanian German ancestry. The subject of our sketch was reared in Adrian, Ohio, and in 1861 came to Tiffin and began the trade of harness-making. August 12, 1802, he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and did honorable - service till the end of the war; was honoral^ly discharged as drummer from the Eighth Veteran Reserve Corps, to which he had been transferred. Returning to Tiffin. Ohio, he engaged in the woolen-mills, where he spent fifteen years, the last eight of which he was engineer. Upon the dissolution of that company, in 1881. he embarked in his present industry. iVIr. Zint was married in Tiffin. Ohio, to Ellen Lowe, by whom he has two daughters : Laura Bell and Myrtie May. He and his wife are members of the M. P. Chui-ch. He is a member of the I. O. O. F.. and of Leander Stem Post No. 31., G. A. K.

BAKER FAMILY. Among the well known pioneer families of Seneca County, and of Eden Township, was the Baker family of four brothers : Franklin, Thomas. John and Richard, and four sisters : Mary Baker. Sophia Stearns. Lucretia Arnold, and Ann Knapp. They were the children of Judge Samuel Baker, a native of Branford, Conn. , and a descendant in the fourth generation of Thomas Baker, who settled at Milford. Conn. . in 1639, whence in 1650 he removed to East Hampton, L. I. . which town he represented in the Colonial Assemblies of New York and Connecticut. Dui'ing the invasion of New York by Bm-goyne, Samuel Baker, then a boy of thirteen, was captm-ed by Indians, taken to Burgoyne's camp and sold to a British officer. He was released by the surrender of Bui-goyne's army, and afterward enlisted in Col. Marinus Willett's regiment and served until the close of the war. He was one of the first settlers in Steuben County: was for many years first judge, and one of the most prominent citizeixs of that county. Franklin and Thomas Baker came to Eden Township in 1822. Franklin entered the farm known as the Umsted farm on the Kilboui-ne road, where he resided until his death in 1831. Th(imas entered the farm adjoining, and there lived until his death in 1863. Samuel Baker and ISIi-s. C. Y. Brundage. of Eden Township, and INIrs. Albert Ewer of Tiffin are children of Thomas Baker. His widow, Sarah B. Baker came to Seneca County with her father. Col. Boyd, in 1821. and since 1863 has resided in Tiffin. John Baker came soon after his brothers and settled upon the farm on Rock Creek upon which he died in 1876. Mary Baker, with her husband. Joseph Baker, settled in Scipio Township in 1822. Mi-, and Mrs. Stearns settled on Rock Creek in 1828. Ten years afterward Mi-. Stearns died, and his widow married the late William Fleet, and soon afterward died. John B. and George W. Stearns, two of the largest farmers of Scipio Township, are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Stearns. Mrs. Knapp and Mrs. Arnold removed to Garden Grove, Iowa, where they now live. Richard Baker, the youngest of the foui- brothers, came to Seneca County in 1835. and piu'chasing several small farms made the fine farm of 400 acres upon which he resided until 1871. and which is now owned by his son. Grattan H. Baker. In 1836 he was married to Fanny "Wheeler, daughter of Grattan H. Wheeler, who was a member of Congi-ess, and for many years a State Senator fi-om Steuben County. N. Y. , and granddaughter of Captain Silas Wheeler, who. in April, 1775, enlisted in Capt. Thayer's company of Rhode Island Volunteers; was at Bunker Hill: with Arnold in his terrible march through the forests of Maine and Canada, to attack Quebec: was captured in the unsuccessful attack on Quebec, in which Montgomery was killed and Arnold woimded. and kept a prisoner and in irons until August, 1776. when he was exchanged. He again entered the army: was again captui-ed and taken to Ireland, whence he escaped to France through the aid of Henry Grattan, the Irish orator and patriot, after whom he named his onlv son. In 1871 Richard Baker removed to the farm adjoining Melmore, on whicli lie now resides with his wife, whom he brought to what was then little more than a wilderness almost fifty years ago. Time and fortune have dealt kindly w4th them both. "With six sons and twenty grandchildi-en, intc their family, death has never come. Notwithstanding the weight of seventyseven years, Mr. Baker is still erect, vigorous, strong, self-reliant, but kind and tender-hearted. For years his class in the Methodist Sunday-school (of which church he and his wife have been members for more than forty years) has been the infant class into which no child was too small to enter, and fi'om which nci child was ever willing to go. Of the six sons of Eichard and Fanny Baker, Silas is a farmer in Dickinson County, Kas. ; Frank, a lawyer in Chicago; Job, a farmer in Wyandot County; Grattan H.. a farmer, and the owne]- of the old homstead; Ralph, a farmer at Garden Grove. Iowa, and Richard W., still at home. Richard Baker brought to his farm, in 1 837, thirty pure Spanish merino sheep, the first brought into Seneca County, and probably the first in northern Ohio, and has been one of the most successful wool growers, as well as one of the best grain farmers in the county.

JOHN W. BARRICK, farmer, P. O. Morris, was born January, 1817, in Frederick County, Md. . son of George and Margaret (Cramet) Barrick, also natives of Maryland. George Barrick died in Maryland, and in 1840 his widow came to Ohio and settled in Eden Township, this county, where she died in 1858. Their children were six in number: William, Catharine (Mrs. Dean), Margaret (deceased), John W., Mary C. (widow of Mr. Shriner) and Albert. Our subject was united in marriage, in 1839, with Catharine S. Devilbiss, by whom he has seven children: George W., married to Elizal^etb O^T-den: Simon F., married the first time to Martha Burnside (by whom he had one child, Howard; and' the second time to Ella Kemp, by whom he has one daughter. Bertha); Margaret, wife of A. Cox; Virginia R. ; Alice A. ; Mary C. : and Walter, married to Sarah Kemp. Mrs. Barrick died in 1881. Our subject, in 184(5, moved on the farm where he has since lived, and which was partly improved. He has been very successful; has served as assessor, assisttant assessor, and as school director. He is a member of the Reformed Church of Tiffin.

JAMES H. BRINKERHOFF, farmer, P. O. Melmore, was born March 1 7. 1819. in Gettysbtirg, Adams Co., Penn. ; son of Hezekiah and Jane (Kerr) Brinkerhoff, natives of Pennsylvania. Hezekiah Brinkerhoff came to Ohio in 1834, and settled in Seneca Township, this county, where he purchased land, made a home for his family, and there remained until his death in 1847. Of his ten children six are now living: Alexander W., Sarah J.. Margaret M., John N., George F. and James H. Our subject, who received his education in his native State, taught school after coming to Ohio. He was reared on a farm, and has followed agricultural pursuits as an occupation. Mr. Brinkerhoff was twice married; first, in 1843, to Esther McGeehan, who bore him one child; Robert A. , married to Flora Stewart (have two children). Our subject was married on second occasion, October 23, 1852, to Sarah A. Marquis, and t(j this union were l^orn two children : Nelson M. , married to Mary F. Burns, and Elizabeth, wife of G. A. Bassett. Mr. Brinkerhoff is one of Eden Township's thorough-going farmers and good business men. Politically, he is a Republican.

JOHN L. CROSS, farmer, P. O. Tiffin, was born July 17, 1812, in Berkeley County, Va. ; son of John (a farmer) and Deborah (Comegys) Cross, na lives of Maryland, and who came to Ohio in 1828, settling in Eden Township, this coimty;' their family, Maria, Benjamin C, John L., Deborah A. and Cornelius, accompanying them. Of this family only John L. and Deborah A.

(Mrs. Boroff) survive. Here John Cross entered a piece of unimproved land, and began the life of a pioneer. Our subject has lived in this county since he was sixteen years old. He was married, in 1839, to Eliza, daughter of Henry and Sarah Boroff. of Virginia, and who was one of four children to come with their widow^ed mother to this county, their father having died in Virginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Cross have been born seven children: Mary E. (wife of A. Woolpert), Henry C. (married to Mary K. Geary), Hamilton J. (married to Susan Kinser). Newton (married to Ida Geary), Lewis C. , Benjamin F. and Eliza J. (The three last named are deceased.) Our subject owns a farm of 102 acres in this county, and eighty acres in Wyandot County, Ohio.

WILLIAM R. DE' tray, farmer, P. O. Tiffin, was born June IG, 1811, in the village of Johnson, R. I., a son of Anthony and Am}' (Mathewson) De Tray, the latter a native of Rhode Lsland. Anthony De Tray, born in Connecticut, emigrated to New York State in 1821. where he remained iintil 1822, when he came to Ohio and settled in Crawford County, near Melmore. and there spent the remainder of his days. His family consisted of two sons and two daughters: Amy. widow of Philip Perdew; Jackson, who died in Michigan; Naficy, formerly the wife of R. Weeks, now Mrs. Barijett. and William R. Our subject was married, December 28. 1886, to Mary S., daughter of Robert Weeks, and by this union were born six children: Mary E., now Mrs. Ebersole (the only one surviving, has one child named Minnie), and Annie, Anthony W. . Charles,. Alice and Willie, all deceased. Anthony W. had two children: William W. and Josephine. ]VIr. De Tray came to this county and settled in Eden Township, where he still resides, having a farm of 160 acres of land, with fine improvements, located on the Melmore Road. He is a thorough- going and successful farmer, and a highly respected citizen. The familv are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Tiffin and Rock Creek.

JOHN L. DOWNS, farmer. P. O. Melmore, was born August 22, 1812, in Ross County, Ohio; son of John and Caroline (Holden) Downs, the former a native of Virginia, the latter of Kentiicky. John Downs, Sr. , came to Senecfi County in 1821, and with his brother entered 480 acres of land, which he afterward took himself. In 1828 became again, and let the job of clearing ten acres and putting up a cabin. The following year he brought his family and began pioneer life. There were fourteen children in his fainily. four of whom are living: Catharine (Mrs. P. Minich), Eliza M. (Mi-s. J. Corbett), Lemuel, a neighboring farmer, and John L. Our subject was married, in 1845, to Margaret A. Wheaton. born in Brown Coimty, Ohio, daughter of Jehosaphat AA'heaton, and who bore him ten children: James (deceased), Frances A., Orville. Caroline (deceased wife of C. H. Funk, had one child - Nettie M. ). Sarah J., Lehre, Katie, Dora. Ida M. and Mertie (latter died in infancy). Mr. Downs occupies the land which his father entered, now a well -improved farm of 200 acres. Having been a successful farmer, he is now enjoying the fruits of his labor. His first vote was cast for Martin Van Buren for President.

WILLIAM FERGUSON, farmer. P. O. Rockaway, a native of Pennsylvania, was born May 6, 1817; son of Thomas and Jane (Marshall) Ferguson, also natives of Pennsylvania, .and who were the parents of twelve children (all of whom grew to maturity and had families), nine surviving. Our subject, the second born, is the onlj' one of the family now living in Ohio, the others reside in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri. William Fergiison received his education in his native State. There he was married, in 1848. to Martha C. Tittle, by which union there were six children (two now living): an infant (deceased, not named); Marshall Beatty, educated at Heidelberg College and graduated from Wooster University, and was one year at Princeton Theological Seminaiy of New Jersey, and died soon after, March 8, 1877; J. T., died July 20, 1850; and J. A., died June 7, 1862; Thomas Calvin received his education in Heidelberg College, and was married to Gusta Philips (have four childi'en: Nellie May, Martha Louise, Grace and Kate); and William Wilson, who received his education at Heidelberg College, and graduated at Iron City College, Pittsburgh, Penn. . and maiTied Tilly Outhwait. William Ferguson came to Seneca County in 1845, and first lived on Silver Creek, afterward purchasing the farm of forty acres on which he now resides, and to which he has added thirty acres from the old Clark farm and sixty acres from Mr. Breininger's farm. Mr. Ferguson has been fully alive to the advantages of his children, giving them good education. His grandfather, William Marshall, was held prisoner bv the Indians in this count v at an earlv dav.

DR. W. D. FLEET, farmer, P. O., Tiffin, was born January 8, 1849, in Eden Township, this county, son of William and Eliza Ann (Ogden) Fleet, natives of New York State. William Fleet, who began in the world a poor boy, came to Ohio in 1880 and settled in Eden Township, where he worked by the month for a time; afterward he went to Indiana, where he entered land near Waterloo: while there, on one occasion, he was lost in the woods a,nd remained with a tribe of friendly Indians until morning when they put him on the right track for Fort Wayne; he was twice married, on first occasion to Sophia Sterns, by whom there is one child lisdng, Mrs. Sophia Nolan; he was again married, this time to Eliza Ann, daughter of Amos Ogden, and she bore him five children: Dr. William D. : Frank, married to G. H. Baker; Abram K. , married to Hattie Wood; Lucy M. , married to Newton Ward; and Grettie L. William Fleet, Sr., had about 1,000 acres of land in Eden Township, this county, which was divided among his family at his death, which occuired June 20, 1880. He extensively engaged in stock-raising, was a successful farmer, and gave his children the advantage of a good education. Our subject was married, February 15, 1870), to Laura, daughter of James Dunlap, of Wyandot County. Ohio, by whom he has three children living: William, Nellie M. and Eliza. Dr. W. D. Fleet and his brother Abraham occupy the old home farm in Eden Township.

SAMUEL HERIN, farmer. P. O., Melmore, was born August 21, 1812, in Columbia County, Penn., son of James and Mary (Smith) Herin. He is a. grandson of Richard Smith, a native of England (who was sold to pay his passage to America) and John Herin, who came from Ireland, and both of whom were early settlers in the United States. James Herin (father of subject) was united in man-iage in Bucks County, Penn. , and had a family of ten children, of whom foiir are now living: Joseph, Hannah. David and Samuel. The subject of this sketch came to Ohio in 1828, with his parents, and settled near Tiffin, this county, where his father entered eighty acres of land, making some improvements. He bought 100 acres of land on which he lived and where he died in 1833. His widow, who survived him five years, resided in Risdon (now Fostoria). Our subject was married, in 1835, to Tabitha A., daughter of Aaron Umsted. and they wei*e blessed with four childi'en: Mary E. (deceased); Ann C. (deceased); Caroline D. , wife of Philip Garrick (have seven childi-en); Jennie L. , wife of Alfi'ed P. Cook (have one child). Mr. Herin was elected justice of the peace in 1845. which position he retained nine years; he served three terms as coroner in the early history of the county ; was county treasurer from 1859 to 1803. Previously he had bought the farm on which he now lives, and on which he settled at the expiration of his term as county treasurer. Mr. Herin. who is a genial, kindlv old gentlemen, lost his wife in 1881 and has since made lii? home with his son-in-law Mr. Cook. He sold the land on which the county infii-maiy was erected. His family were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; he himself is not a member of any sect. Politically he is a Democrat.

EDEN LEASE, farmer, P. O., Melmore, was born October 29, 1S13, m Frederick Connty, Md. , son of Henry and Barbara (Jacobs) Lease, also natives of Maryland, where they lived and died. Of their seven children, six came to Ohio: Otho (deceased), Joseph (deceased), Jacob, Eden, Henry and Mary (latter now Mrs. AValsh). The svibject of oui- sketch early came to Ohio, arriving in this county May 17, 1835, where he went to work at his trade (carpentei-ing), which he carried on in connection with running a saw-mill for some years. ^He was elected sheriff of the county in the fall of 184(3, and v,'as reelected, serving in all four years. After this he commenced agriculture, purchasing a farm' of Dr. Coon, which he afterward sold, then bought the property on which he now resides. IVIr. Lease was united in marriage, October 12, 1843, with Mary, daughter of John Keller, of Clinton Township, this county, and by this union there'were born eight children : John D. ; Jesse (deceased in infancy); Lewis C. ; Ami (deceased in infancy); Clinton D. ; Almeda E., wife of James B. Gibbs, of Eden Township, this county; Mary A., wife of Milton McComic; and Clementine B. Mr. Lease is now occupying a pleasant farm which is well-improved. He has filled the office of justice of the peace three years, and also served as intirmai-\- director for six years.

WILDMAN LOOMIS, farmer. *P. O. Tiffin, a descendant of one of the I)ioneers of this county, was born March 24, 1819. in Fremont, Sandusky Co., Ohio, son of Reuel and Anna (Lyon) Loomis. who had three sons: Samuel C, Rudolphos L. and Wildman (the latter being the only survivor). Reuel Loomis. a native of Massachusetts, came thence to Michigan, arriving in Detroit in 1811, where he was taken prisoner by the British and kept in confinement for six months after Hull's surrender; he then settled in Fremont, Sandusky Co.. Ohio, in 1814, where he remained until 1822, when he came to Eden Township, this county, and_here lived on Section 16, until his death in 1852, his widow following in 1857. He was a tanner and currier by trade, and also made shoes for his neighbors in an early day. Oui- subject was educated in Seneca County. He was married, in October, 1839, to Miss Catharine, next to the youngest in the family of nine children of George Myers. This union was blessed with five children: George, married to Susan Beery; Elizabeth (deceased): Lacy, wife of Matthias Wagely (died leaving fom- children) ; 'Mary (deceased while" young), and Omar, married to Alice Woolf (have one child). All the family reside in this county. Mr. Loomis enlisted during the late war of the Rel)eliion. iii 18(34, serving" 100 days as a member of Company B. One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment, under Col. Lee and Capt. Benj. M. Gipson. Mrs. Loomis took charge of the farm during his absence. Our subject lives on his father" s old farm, and on which the first schoolhouse (a log cabin, with slab desks and benches) in the township was built. He is one of the leading farmers and has served many years, at different times as constable.

° ROBERT M. C. MARTIN ^(deceased) was born September 18, 1822. in Perry County. Ohio; son of Samuel and Mary Martin, natives of Pennsylvania, and who came to Seneca County in 1827. Samuel Martin first bought a tract of land in Seipio Township, which he traded for land on Section 19. Eden Township, holding the same until his death, though he piu'chased other property at different times. Of his children, eight in number, five now smwive; Absalom, Samuel, Nathan, Nancy and Hannah. Hugh, one of the sons, and who became a noted lawyer, read law under Gen. Gibson, opened practice in Iowa, and was killed by a rolling boulder at Colorado. Our subject, the eldest son, received a fair education, and was reared a farmer. He was married, October 12, 1848, to Miss Barbara, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (WroufF) Kagy, and by this union there were thirteen children, ten now living: Mary E.. Samuel S., Hannah J. (Mrs. Clinton Lease), Eliza E., Isaac R. (married to Hattie Hoverstock), John V., Hugh Mc, Charles E., Francis A. and Anna C. Robert M. C. Martin was a successful farmer, having acquired several large farms, together with everything that denotes prosperity. He was appointed county recorder to fill an unexpired term, and then was elected and subsequently re-elected to this ofi&ce. He was present at the last reunion of the Kagj' family, where there were over 100 members of the family gathered. He died April 4, 1879, leaving his property to his widow during her life time, and at her demise, to his childi'en. IVIrs. Martin and some of her childi-en occupy the homestead. She is a pleasant lady, striving to make home comfortable for her family.

DANIEL PRICE, farmer, P. O. Melmore,was born March 24, 1885, in Eden Township this county; son of Jacob and Esther (Heisbaum) Price, natives of Virginia, who came to Ohio in 1823, and settled on Section 20, in Eden Township, where Jacob Price's father-in-law entered land the same year, and where he began as a pioneer, having to cut the bushes to enable him to turn his team. Jacob Price" s children were eleven in number, four living : Isaac, Daniel, Josej)h and Esther, wife of Abraham Saul, residing in Indiana; all educated in Eden Township, this county. Our subject was married, in 1859, to Delila. daughter of Thornton Cross, and to this union was born one child, G. C. Price. The mother of this child died April 4, 1864, and Mr. Price then married, in 1867, Martha, daughter of Henry Berry, by which union there were four children: Pearl (deceased), Harvy, Robert M. and Dallas J. (latter deceased). Daniel Price's parents are deceased, and he now occupies the old home farm, comprising 160 acres, well -improved and watered by streams. Mr. Price' s f amilv are members of the United Brethren Church.